Bobcats sign Larry Hughes

Basketball Betting Lines

03/13/2010 - Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Charlotte Bobcats have signed guard Larry Hughes.

Hughes appeared in 31 games for the Knicks this season, then was dealt to Sacramento at the trading deadline and subsequently waived without playing a game for the Kings.

The Saint Louis product is averaging 9.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.3 steals in 26.5 minutes. Hughes, the eighth overall pick of Philadelphia in 1998, will be reunited with former 76ers coach and current Charlotte bench boss Larry Brown.

In 704 career games (507 starts) with the Sixers, Warriors, Wizards, Cavaliers, Bulls, and Knicks, Hughes has averages of 14.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists.

Luckusurf Basketball Betting News

<< Berkman sidelined 2-4 weeks after knee surgery
Kissimmee, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston Astros first baseman Lance Berkman underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Saturday morning. The Astros said the procedure involved removing loose cartilage debris from the knee. There w

<< Rockets kick off homestand vs. Nets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The chances of the Houston Rockets making the playoffs seem to fade by the day. Tonight they'll have to get past the woeful New Jersey Nets at the Toyota Center in the opener of a four-game homestand and hope for some help ar

<< Maple Leafs host Oilers in matchup of last place clubs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A battle between the bottom two teams in the NHL is on tap tonight in Toronto, pitting the Maple Leafs against the Edmonton Oilers at Air Canada Centre. Despite having won two straight and three of their last four, the Map

<< Lumberjacks look to cut down Bearkats in Southland title game
Katy, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With an NCAA Tournament bid on the line, the top- seeded Sam Houston State Bearkats will battle the second-seeded Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks in the Southland Conference Tournament championship game at the Merrell

<< 49ers aim for record fifth Big West title against top-seeded Gauchos
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Long Beach State tries to raise its total of Big West Conference Tournament titles to a record five, as the 49ers clash with the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos in the championship round of the 35th-annual event at Anahe

Twins sign OF Span to five-year contract >>
Fort Myers, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins announced the signing of outfielder Denard Span to a five-year, $16.5 million contract on Saturday. The deal also includes a $9 million club option for the 2015 season. Span hit .311 i

Bobcats sign G Hughes; Wallace's MRI negative >>
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -The Charlotte Bobcats have signed veteran guard Larry Hughes to help with depth in the backcourt as they attempt to reach the playoffs for the first time.Meanwhile, an MRI on forward Gerald Wallace's left ankle on Saturday reve

Rangers 2B Kinsler has sprained ankle >>
Surprise, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler will be sidelined at least a week with a high right ankle sprain. Kinsler suffered the injury in pre-game warmups on Friday and did not play in the proceeding exhibit

Houston steals NCAA bid with upset of UTEP in C-USA final >>
Tulsa, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kelvin Lewis stepped up with 28 points and drained six three-pointers, as the Houston Cougars claimed their first Conference USA Tournament title and a return trip to the NCAA Tournament for the fir

Tottenham reaffirms CL ambitions >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tottenham took another step towards a top- four finish on Saturday as the club downed Blackburn, 3-1, at White Hart Lane behind two goals from Roman Pavlyuchenko. Jermain Defoe put Spurs in front righ

Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.


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.