Brodeur goes for milestone win in Devils-Blackhawks tilt

Hockey Betting Lines

03/17/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Brodeur got to tie Patrick Roy's all-time wins record in his hometown. Now, he will get a chance to set a new mark in front of the fans that have supported him for 16 seasons.

Brodeur gets his first shot at career win No. 552 tonight in the New Jersey Devils' home test against the Chicago Blackhawks at the Prudential Center.

A Montreal native, Brodeur took the ice on Saturday in front of a Canadiens crowd that included Roy and turned aside 22 shots in a 3-1 victory over the Habs. The 36-year-old was flooded by teammates after the final buzzer and was given a standing ovation by the Montreal faithful that witnessed the bulk of Roy's 551 career wins.

The victory was New Jersey's and Brodeur's seventh in eight games since he returned from elbow surgery that sidelined him for 50 contests from early November through late February. The four-time Vezina Trophy winner, who is also just three shutouts away from tying Terry Sawchuk's all-time record of 103, is 13-3-2 with a 2.06 goals against average in 18 starts this year.

A seven-time 40-win netminder, Brodeur had started at least 70 games in each of his previous nine seasons and is 551-293-22 with 105 ties and a 2.20 GAA in 986 career games. He began his career with the Devils in 1991-92 and has never worn another uniform, guiding New Jersey to three Stanley Cups.

Brodeur also sports a 7-2-0 career mark with four ties and a 1.88 GAA versus the Blackhawks. He is one of the main reasons that Chicago is winless in its last seven trips to New Jersey (0-5-1 with a tie) and hasn't won in the Garden State since December 30, 1997.

The Devils are also unbeaten (9-0 with two ties) in their last 11 overall matchups versus Chicago and notched a 2-1 shootout win at home when the clubs last met on November 9, 2006.

Lost in all the Brodeur focus is the fact that Patrik Elias will get his first chance at becoming New Jersey's all-time leading scorer tonight. Elias had a goal and an assist versus Montreal to give him 701 career points, tied with current Devils assistant coach John MacLean for first-place on the team's all- time list.

Brian Rolston notched his 300th career goal in the win over the Canadiens, while Jamie Langenbrunner had a goal to extend his point streak to eight games (5 goals, 5 assists).

New Jersey also brings a nine-game home winning streak into tonight's game. The Atlantic Division-leading club, which is one point up on Washington for the East's second seed, is 24-10-1 at home and hasn't lost at The Rock since February 7.

The Blackhawks don't seem like the ones who will end that run, as they went just 1-3-0 on a four-game homestand and have lost four of five overall with Sunday's 4-2 setback to the New York Islanders.

Chicago's recent slide has allowed Vancouver to pull within two points of the Blackhawks for the fourth seed in the West.

The Blackhawks' Kris Versteeg scored in his third straight game on Sunday, allowing the rookie to reach the 20-goal mark, while Patrick Kane also scored in the loss. Nikolai Khabibulin returned to the ice for the first time since suffering a groin injury on February 11 against Atlanta and allowed four goals on only 19 shots.

Chicago is 19-13-3 on the road this year and will visit Columbus on Wednesday.

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Sportsbooks to bet on football

Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.

He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.

"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.

He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.

Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.

Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.

Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.

Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.

With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.

Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).

And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)

The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.

While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.

Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.

One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.

Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.

What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.

That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.

MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.

"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.

"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."

So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.

In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.

MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.

The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.

Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.

MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.

To visit this online football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.