Yankees appear set to acquire Berkman from Astros

Baseball Betting Lines

07/30/2010 - St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees are reportedly set to acquire Lance Berkman from the Houston Astros.

A story from MLB.com cites a source in reporting the impending deal, adding that Berkman gave general manager Ed Wade his approval to be traded to the Yankees, among four teams. Berkman has the right to veto any trade as a 10- and-5 player, meaning that he has been in the league for 10 years, spending the last five with one team.

The New York Post reports that the deal is done, but can't be announced until Saturday because of a rule that states trades involving 10-and-5 players can't be announced until 24 hours after the player gives his approval.

Berkman was not in the starting lineup for the Astros on Friday.

For the last several seasons, Berkman has played first base for Houston, but with Mark Teixeira at the position for the Yankees, Berkman could fill the designated hitter role.

Berkman is in the final year of a six-year contract and has a salary of $14.5 million this season. His contract has a $15 million club option for 2011 with a buyout of $2 million.

The 34-year-old has spent his entire career with the Astros, and the apparent deal comes on the heels of Thursday's trade, in which Houston dealt ace Roy Oswalt to the Phillies.

Berkman is hitting .245 with a .372 on-base percentage, 13 homers and 49 RBI in 85 games this season.

Over 12 major league seasons, the five-time All-Star is a .296 hitter with a .410 OBP, 326 homers and 1,090 RBI.

Wwpogo Baseball Betting News

<< Stewart tops in qualifying at Pocono
Long Pond, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tony Stewart claimed the pole for Sunday's Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 after posting the quickest lap in qualifying at Pocono Raceway. Stewart, a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, turned a lap of

<< Twins send P Blackburn to minors, place INF Punto on DL
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins demoted pitcher Nick Blackburn to Triple-A Rochester on Friday to make room for newly acquired reliever Matt Capps. Blackburn, who received a four-year, $14 million contract la

<< Cowboys' WR Bryant injured
San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas Cowboys rookie wide receiver Dez Bryant suffered an apparent right ankle injury during Friday's practice. Bryant was helped off the field after colliding with a defender toward the end of the se

<< Hat Trick: Jets bring back Coles for third time
Florham Park, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Jets and wideout Laveranues Coles have renewed relations. The Jets' Twitter page on Friday revealed the signing, and while terms have yet to be released, the New York Post repo

<< Senators re-sign D Campoli
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ottawa Senators have re-signed defenseman Chris Campoli to a one-year contract, the team announced Friday. Campoli, 25, appeared in 67 games for the Senators last season, collecting four goals and 18

A's sign first-round selection Choice >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics have signed their top pick of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft, outfielder Michael Choice, to a minor league contract. Choice was taken 10th overall in the first round. He was

Isles acquire D Wisniewski from Ducks >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks traded newly signed defenseman James Wisniewski to the New York Islanders for a conditional third- round pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. Earlier Friday, the 26-year-old Wisniews

Cards agree to terms with Blair >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals on Friday agreed to terms with pitcher Seth Blair. Blair, who was the club's supplemental first round pick, 46th overall, in last month's draft, will report to Single-A Batavia in th

Padres option Cunningham to Portland >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres on Friday optioned outfielder Aaron Cunningham to Triple-A Portland. Cunningham was batting .312 with a home run and 13 RBI in 30 games this season for the Padres. The outfielde

Overton shoots 62 for Greenbrier Classic lead >>
White Sulphur Springs, WV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Overton fired an eight-under 62 on Friday to take four-shot lead midway through The Greenbrier Classic. Chasing his first PGA Tour win, Overton had eight birdies in a flawless round and fini

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.