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02/20/2012 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookies aren't supposed to win the Daytona 500, but Trevor Bayne proved that to be wrong last year. So why can't Danica Patrick be the next rookie to accomplish the same astounding feat?
She's got the talent to do it.
When a reporter asked Patrick if she could win the Daytona 500 during last Thursday's media day at Daytona International Speedway, she replied, "Do I think I can win the Daytona 500? Yeah."
Patrick is making her first career Sprint Cup Series start this week at Daytona. After placing 29th in time trials for the Daytona 500 over the weekend, Patrick will start 17th in a field of 25 cars in Thursday's first of the Gatorade Duel twin 150-mile qualifying races at Daytona.
No driver has won a Sprint Cup race in his or her first start since 1963 when Johnny Rutherford took the checkered flag for the second Daytona 500 qualifier race. The qualifiers counted as wins and points back then.
Bayne's win in the 2011 Daytona 500 came in just his second Sprint Cup start. He made his series debut in November 2010 at Texas, where he finished 17th.
Patrick is expected to be the third female to compete in the Daytona 500, joining Janet Guthrie and Shawna Robinson. Guthrie holds the record for best finish by a woman in the Daytona 500 -- 11th in 1980.
The Gatorade Duel will serve as Patrick's first chance to race with the big boys in NASCAR's premier series. She's competed in 25 Nationwide races so far, with three of them at Daytona.
One thing is for sure. The Duels will be Patrick's first day of school in Sprint Cup competition.
"Oh, wow, bigtime," Patrick said. "It's going to be about getting some rapport with some of the drivers I haven't raced with yet and getting a feel for how the pack running is going to go. I'm not completely unfamiliar with the pack running.
"The first year here [2010] was some pack, and even last year in the first race of the year in Nationwide, we did pack running. It was interesting to watch how you can be very organized in a single file line. You can pull away. It was interesting to see how the tandem will work in the end. So, trust me, I'll be studying that last pass at the end [of last Saturday's Budweiser Shootout on tape] with Tony [Stewart] and Kyle [Busch] to see when the perfect time is to do that."
During her 2005 rookie season in the IndyCar Series, Patrick started and finished fourth in the Indianapolis 500, setting records for her gender at the time. She also became the first women to lead laps during the Indy 500, running in front for a total of 19 laps. Patrick finished a career-best third in the 2009 Indy 500 to reset the gender record.
But that's the Indy 500...This is the Daytona 500.
"I think with the Indy 500 there's all the work that goes up to it," she said. "There's the team that you drive for, and there's the race car that you've worked on and made handle the way you want it to. I think there's a little more luck in certain ways with the Daytona 500 just because of the style of racing that it is."
"There is no bad driver that wins the Daytona 500, that's for sure," continued Patrick. "But things have to fall your way, and you've got to stay out of trouble that might not have even been your making, so I just think there is a little more of a luck side involved with it, and you can't account for that."
Regardless of her performance in the qualifiers, Patrick is guaranteed a starting position in the Daytona 500. Thanks to Tommy Baldwin Racing's recent alliance with Stewart-Haas Racing, Patrick's No.10 team is now among the top-35 in last year's owner points. TBR's No.36 entry finished 33rd in points. The 36 transferred over to the 10.
Patrick's team co-owner and reigning Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart thinks she certainly has a chance to win NASCAR's most prestigious race of the season.
"Did anybody think Trevor Bayne could win the race last year," Stewart questioned. "Anything can happen here; it is anybody's ball game. She did a really good job in July last year in the Nationwide race when I ran with her. I was really impressed at how smooth she was and how good a job she did in the two-car deal. Talent, there is no doubt in my mind. She has the talent to do it."
Stewart has yet to win the Daytona 500 in 13 attempts.
Patrick's team boss in Nationwide, Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won the Daytona 500 in 2004, revealed who he would rather like to see win this race -- him or her.
"Me! She don't drive for me in the 500, so it wouldn't matter to me if she won it," Earnhardt Jr. said. "If I win it, it would be a big deal for me. As far as what everybody else thinks, everybody is going to have a different opinion about that."
If Patrick were to win the Daytona 500, it would indeed be the biggest Cinderella story in NASCAR's history, more so than Bayne's triumph in this race one year ago.
Let's see if the glass slipper fits on her this Sunday.
<< Diggins powers Notre Dame to win over Louisville
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Skylar Diggins scored a game-high 21 points
to lift No. 3 Notre Dame to a 68-52 win over 16th-ranked Louisville.
Diggins, who made 11-of-12 free throws, dished out seven assists, grabbed
three rebounds
<< Ko Olina to host LPGA event
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The LPGA Tour announced Monday that Ko
Olina Golf Club will host the LPGA LOTTE Championship Presented by J Golf.
The new event will be contested April 18-21.
"The LPGA is proud to partner with LOTTE
<< Dodig ousts Tomic in Memphis
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Croat Ivan Dodig upset eighth-seeded Aussie
Bernard Tomic in Monday's opening-round action at the $1.155 million Regions
Morgan Keegan Championships.
Dodig blasted 19 aces and came from behind to stop the risin
<< Karlsson picks up 4 points as Sens blank Isles
Uniondale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Erik Karlsson totaled four points on two
goals and two assists as Ottawa chased Kevin Poulin before the game was two
minutes old and cruised to a 6-0 victory over the New York Islanders at Nassau
Coliseu
Bulls' Rose returns to lineup against Hawks >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose returned
to the starting lineup Monday against the Atlanta Hawks after missing the past
five games with back spasms.
Rose has been battling the ailment since February 6,
More surgery for Oden >>
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Portland Trail Blazers announced that
center Greg Oden will undergo an arthroscopic procedure on Monday to remove
debris from his left knee.
It's the fifth surgery for the 7-foot Oden, who had
At the Net: Raonic on the rise >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If you're trying to find young tennis
stars from Canada (or anywhere else for that matter), look no further than
Milos Raonic.
Okay, Raonic (pronounced Rau-nitch) plays under the Canadian flag o
Castro doubles up on Zaragoza >>
Aragon, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A goal in each half from Ruben Castro was
enough for Real Betis to claim its second successive win on Monday as the club
topped Real Zaragoza, 2-0.
Castro's first tally arrived in the 41st minute when he
Sportsbook betting odds favor Europe in Ryder Cup
September 19, – Despite holding a decided edge in the all-time series, with 24 wins, 2 ties and 10 losses, Team USA is the underdog again heading into the Ryder Cup in Kidare, Ireland this weekend, according to MySportsbook.com. The Europeans have captured four of the past five editions, including their largest victory ever, an 18 ½ to 9 ½ thumping in Michigan in 2004. Current Ryder Cup betting odds favor the Europeans to continue their winning ways; they are a 4-5 bet to take the title, compared to 6-5 for the Americans.
Despite being knocked out in the first round of World Match play by Shaun Micheel, Tiger Woods is predicted to lead the US charge and be their highest point scorer for the week, with odds listed at 9-4 that he outpoints all other American players, including Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco to name a few. Team USA has four relatively unknown players on the roster but all four are 2007 tournament winners and have posted some of season’s best performances, each earning over $1.5 million on the PGA TOUR. They include Zach Johnson, Vaughan Taylor, JJ Henry and Brett Wetterich.
The experienced European squad includes the likes of Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington, Jose Maria Olazabal and Darren Clarke, who’s emotions will be tested after the passing of his wife to a battle with cancer. Donald and Garcia are in particularly good form and each is a 5-1 bet to lead the European squad in the points race. Donald has proven he can go head to head with Woods at a major event after a run for the $1.2 million purse at the PGA Championship. Garcia’s Ryder Cup credentials prove he’s ready for battle too.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your golf sportsbook needs.
Ryder Cup Odds| Europe Tie USA |
4-5 10-1 6-5 |
| Tiger Woods Jim Furyk Phil Mickelson Chris DiMarco David Toms Stewart Cink Chad Campbell Scott Verplank Zach Johnson Vaughan Taylor JJ Henry Brett Wetterich |
9-4 4-1 5-1 7-1 8-1 12-1 15-1 15-1 25-1 30-1 30-1 50-1 |
| Sergio Garcia Luke Donald Padraig Harrington Colin Montgomerie Darren Clarke David Howell Lee Westwood Paul Casey Henrik Stenson Jose Maria Olazabal Paul McGinley Robert Karlsson |
5-1 5-1 6-1 13-2 8-1 9-1 9-1 11-1 12-1 12-1 20-1 25-1 |
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com
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.
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