Chara breaks his own record, but Team Alfredsson wins

Hockey Betting Lines

01/28/2012 - Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Zdeno Chara's record-breaking blast was part of the highlights at the NHL SuperSkills competition on Saturday.

Chara was captain of his own team that eventually lost to Team Alfredsson, 21-12.

In the hardest shot competition, Chara came into the event with a record 105.4 mph blast in 2011. His first shot shattered that record as it reached 108.8.

In the final round, his shot went down to 107.0, but it was still enough to beat Shea Weber of Nashville, who fired his 106.0 mph.

"It was probably the new stick," said Chara. "It's so much fun out here, and breaking the record adds to it."

Weber had a shot of 104.9 in the first round for the fastest shot for Team Alfredsson, but lost both rounds to Chara.

These two were also the finalists in the 2011 competition.

In the fastest skater competition, Carl Hagelin of the New York Rangers defeated Colin Greening of the Ottawa Senators.

The two rookies were the fastest in the opening round, with Greening posting a time of 12.993 and Hagelin skating to a time of 12.963.

The final round, though, saw Hagelin win that one with a time of 13.218 while Greening was just back with a time of 13.303.

"It was kind of tough on the first race because we hadn't been on the ice much lately," said Hagelin. "But that second one I felt real good and was able to win it."

In the breakaway challenge, Patrick Kane of Chicago won to get Team Chara a victory.

After missing his first attempt, Kane donned a Superman cape along with the thick Clark Kent glasses for his second shot.

On that one, he scored as he dove to the ice, threw the puck from the left side to the right with his hand and tapped it in with the stick.

His last attempt saw him use a trick puck that broke up into several pieces when he slapped it.

The winner of the event was determined by fan votes, and Kane garnered 49 percent of the vote to get his team one point.

In the accuracy event Jamie Benn of the Dallas Stars, who had an appendectomy on January 15, won for Team Chara.

In the qualifying round, he had the fastest score with a time of 13.583 seconds and then beat Matt Read of Philadelphia in the final round with a time of 10.204.

In the skills relay challenge, Team Alfredsson won all three points available.

The skills challenge consists of one-timers, target shooting, passing, puck control and stickhandling skills, eight players on each side compete against each other for the fastest time.

Team Alfredsson had a time of 2:28 in the first round while Team Chara did it in 2:45.

The second round saw Team Alfredsson win again with a time of 2:08 compared to 2:14 for Team Chara.

Each heat won Team Alfredsson a point, and the squad got an extra point for fastest overall time.

In the final event, Team Alfredsson defeated Team Chara in the elimination shootout.

Consisting of breakaway attempts, both teams sent 12 skaters on net and Alfredsson's team scored six times in the first round while Team Chara had just three goals.

It went to another round with the original goal scorers having a second shot and Team Alfredsson scored three more while all three of Team Chara's shooters were stopped.

Steven Stamkos scored in the final round to win the event as John Tavares and Jason Pominville were stopped.

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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.