Bogut-less Bucks visit Bulls

Basketball Betting Lines

01/27/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It has been a season of frustration for Bucks center Andrew Bogut and his latest setback will keep him out of action indefinitely. That leaves Milwaukee a big hole in the middle this evening as it visits a Chicago Bulls club looking to rebound from its first home loss of the season.

Bogut, Milwaukee's leading rebounder with 8.3 per game to go along with 11.3 points and 2.0 blocks a night, sat out four straight games due to personal reasons from Jan. 3-8 and also missed a game on Jan. 13 due to concussion-like symptoms. He returned to action three nights later and played in six straight contests including Wednesday's 105-99 victory over Houston.

The seven-footer played just nine minutes and 29 seconds though before suffering a left ankle injury that was revealed by an MRI yesterday to be a fracture. That will put the top pick of the 2005 draft out of action for the foreseeable future.

It's just the latest setback for Bogut, who has also battled right elbow, wrist and hand injuries as well as a lower back issue in his career.

"I just can't seem to catch a break," said Bogut on Wednesday in what was his 400th career game. "Coming back from injuries is tough. It's unlucky and frustrating. Someone has a voodoo doll and is putting pins in me."

Milwaukee was able to survive without its big man, getting 20 points each from Brandon Jennings and Stephen Jackson for the club's first win in Houston since Nov. 2, 1999. It was the Bucks' third win in four games overall and third straight on the road after starting the season 0-8 as the guest.

Jennings, who is averaging 26.0 points per game over his last five contests, added six assists and Mike Dunleavy Jr. deposited a season-high 18 points as Milwaukee won for the first time this year when trailing at the half. It has its bench to thank after the unit outscored Houston's reserves by 51 points. Ersan Ilyasova stepped in for Bogut and grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds.

"It was a good win," said Dunleavy. "We're starting to play well on the road. We got a cushion in the fourth quarter and held on to win."

The Bucks recent success on the road figures to be challenged tonight by the Bulls, who captured their first eight in Chicago prior to Wednesday's 95-90 setback to the visiting Pacers. The loss snapped the Bulls' four-game overall win streak and was only their second in their past 11 overall.

Though Derrick Rose played in his second game since missing the previous five due to a left toe sprain, the guard netted just two of his 24 points in the fourth quarter. Ronnie Brewer added 20 points and 10 rebounds for a Chicago club that remains without Luol Deng and Taj Gibson. Deng has missed the past two with a left wrist ailment, while Gibson is battling a left ankle sprain.

Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau didn't think his team was ready to play, and Rose respected that position.

"As a player, I didn't see it. But as a coach, he sees everything," said Rose. "So the only thing we can do is come here (next time) and go through the shootaround and the walk-though and be professional."

Chicago wraps a four-game homestand looking to avoid consecutive losses for the first time this season. The club hasn't lost two straight in nearly a year, since Feb. 5-7, and has still won 44 of its past 50 at home dating back to last season.

The Bulls swept the Bucks in four games a season ago for the first time since the 2006-07 season and have won seven of the past 10 encounters overall. Milwaukee has lost two straight, 10 of 11 and 17 of its last 20 in Chicago.

Wwwtribune Basketball Betting News

<< Cavs and Nets meet at The Q
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Nets have yet to win consecutive games this season. The Cleveland Cavaliers have done it just once. Both teams will be trying to put together win streaks this evening at Quicken Loans Arena. The Nets have

<< Mavs hope to rebound with Jazz in town
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Celebrations don't seem to be agreeing with the Dallas Mavericks and the reigning NBA champs are probably glad they can put the ceremonies in the rearview mirror as they get ready to host the Utah Jazz. The Mav

<< Nuggets aim to stay hot vs. Raptors
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The streaking Denver Nuggets aim for a sixth straight win tonight when they host a Toronto team that expects to be without leading scorer Andrea Bargnani. The Nuggets are fresh off a brilliant 5-0 road trip tha

<< Blazers welcome Suns to Rip City
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Blazers haven't been much of a threat away from Rip City this season but things have been far different when they are hitting the hardwood in the Pacific Northwest. Portland will shoot for its sixth straight win a

<< Thunder, Warriors collide in Oakland
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Western Conference-leading Thunder will kick off a three-game road trip tonight when they visit Oakland to take on the Golden State Warriors. The Thunder (15-3) won their third straight game and for the 11th

Wolves welcome Spurs to the Twin Cities >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Timberwolves were able to snap a 16-game losing streak to the San Antonio Spurs when the two clubs met in early January and shoot for a rare win streak in the series tonight at the Target Center. The Timberwo

Sixers try to bounce back vs. bumbling Bobcats >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia 76ers try to bounce back from a rare loss at home this evening when they welcome the hapless Charlotte Bobcats to the Wells Fargo Center. Philadelphia lost for only the second time in 10 tries in front of

Wagner will play FBS school for first time >>
Staten Island, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Wagner College football program will open its 2012 season at Florida Atlantic - the Seahawks' first game against a Football Bowl Subdivision school. Wagner announced an 11-game schedule on Friday, beg

Phillies sign OF Pierre >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies on Friday inked outfielder Juan Pierre to a minor-league contract with an invitation to spring training. The 34-year-old veteran finished 2011 with a .279 average, two home run

Inter aims to bounce back against Lecce >>
Lecce, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Inter Milan will attempt to get back to winning ways on Sunday at Lecce after the club saw its eight-match winning streak halted in the Coppa Italia by Napoli in midweek. The 2-0 setback prevent

NFL Football Office Pool Printable Schedules
MySportsbook.com , leading online sportsbook, offers free NFL football office pool printable sheets! Run your own NFL Football Office Pool. Create your own pool, invite your friends to join. Compete with your with co-workers, friends or family for bragging rights every week. Exchange some hard hits without risk of injury -- Trash Talk with your fellow co-workers.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football sportsbook needs.

Sportsbook Betting Lines

Who Makes the Sportsbook Betting Lines?

Las Vegas Sports Consultants (LVSC) is the world’s premier oddsmaking company and the most respected authority on making the lines. Mike Seba is a Senior Oddsmaker at LVSC and has been making lines for the last six years. In our extended interview, Seba explained that there are 4-5 oddsmakers assigned to make lines for each of the major sports (pro & college football and basketball; MLB, NHL, boxing, golf). Each of these oddsmakers bring unique opinions, strengths and weaknesses to the process. Oddsmakers at LVSC are professional sports junkies who love what they do and would probably do it for nothing if you asked them, but they do get paid for it. By necessity their approach is very research-oriented and concise, since with millions of dollars at risk there is little margin for error.

“You either have a passion for it or you don’t,” Seba said.

“The #1 thing for us is to make a line for each game that creates good two-way action. We do this by drawing from past experiences and applying them to current situations. People think it’s much more complicated, but it’s not. “

What are the Football Betting Lines Trying to Accomplish?

There is a common misconception that point spreads represent the oddsmakers’ prediction of how many points the favorite will win by. That is not the case at all – their intent is NOT to evenly split the ATS result between the teams; rather, their goal is to attract equal betting action on both sides. Stated another way, they want to create a line that half the people find appealing to bet one way while the other half find it appealing to bet the other way (known as ‘dividing the action’).

Divided action means the sportsbook is guaranteed a profit on the game because of the fee charged to the bettor (called juice or vig – typically $11 bet to win $10).

How the Opening Line Is Made

The opening line is the first line created by the oddsmakers, which is then sent out to sportsbooks. Of course there is an entire method to the madness on how the opening line is created. Seba explained that it all starts with each oddsmaker creating a line on each game based upon their own personal approach. This usually includes having up-to-date power ratings on each team.

Power ratings are the oddsmaker’s value of each team and are used as a guide to calculate a "preliminary" pointspread on an upcoming game. The power ratings are adjusted after each game a team plays. Examples of non-game factors that would require an adjustment to a team's power rating are key player injuries and player trades.

Once a game’s power rating based pointspread is determined, the oddsmaker will make adjustments to that line after considering each team's most recent games played and previous games played against that opponent. Also, adjustments are made after reading each team’s local newspapers to get a sense of what the coaches & players are thinking going into the game.

Since the oddsmaker’s ultimate goal is equally dividing the sports betting action, public perception and sportsbook betting patterns must be taken into account. For example, the public might have heavy betting interest week after week on a popular college football betting team such as USC. If an oddsmaker comes up with a preliminary line of USC -7, then an adjustment up to -7.5 or -8 would be made in response to the public’s expected USC bias.

The last step in the line-making process for each oddsmaker is taking one final look to determine whether or not the line "feels right." This is where common sense and past experience with how games are bet enters into the picture.

A round-table discussion among the 4-5 oddsmakers involved in making the line for each sport is then conducted and a consensus line is decided upon by the Odds Director before it is released to the sportsbooks. Of the 4-5 oddsmakers, generally the 2 most respected opinions are weighed more heavily by the Odds Director before he decides on the final line.

Why Sports Betting Lines Change

Once the opening line is released by LVSC, the individual sportsbooks decide if they want to make any adjustments before offering it to the public. Reasons for such adjustments include:

Experts working for the individual books having a strong opinion on the game

Individual books having players who consistently bet with certain tendencies (such as an extreme bias toward favorites or toward a certain popular team like USC)

The purpose of these adjustments, like all line adjustments, is to more equally divide the betting action.

Once betting begins, sportsbooks can adjust the line at any time. In doing so they attempt to make more attractive the team that is getting less action. By moving the line, sportsbooks can influence how the public bets on a particular game.

For example, if the pointspread on a game is 7 and most of the money is coming in on the underdog (taking the +7), sportsbooks will then move the number down to 6 ½ to try and attract money on the favorite.

Moving the line is the oddsmaker's effort to balance betting action, and often times such moves can have a major impact on a bettor’s decision. Oddsmakers can also change the line depending on various event-related factors such as player injuries or weather. Obviously, if the line comes out a week ahead of the event (which is the case in football), there is much that could happen during the week leading up to the event that could affect the line. Oddsmakers have to determine if any changes are necessary and send out an "adjusted line."

“The main objective is that our clients get equal action on both sides,” Seba said. “We’re not trying to pick the team that covers the spread, we’re trying to make it a coin flip, a tough decision (for the bettor). If we’ve done that, we’ve done our job.”

To visit this internet sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your sports betting needs and World Series odds.