Murray tops Federer in rain-soaked Rogers Cup final

Tennis Betting Lines

08/15/2010 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andy Murray successfully defended his Rogers Cup crown on Sunday, downing Roger Federer in straight sets in the final of the $2.43 million ATP Masters event.

The match featured several rain delays in the second set that took some of the energy out of the crowd at Rexall Centre, but Murray outlasted the weather and the Swiss superstar in a 7-5, 7-5 victory.

The title was Murray's first on the ATP Tour this season after winning six in 2009. It also improved his record to 7-5 against Federer and avenged his loss to the 16-time Grand Slam champion in this year's Australian Open final.

Murray, seeded fourth in this U.S. Open tuneup, won the first three games of the match with relative ease but lost his second service game at love to quell some of his momentum. Ahead 5-4, he attempted to serve out the set but went down 15-40 and double faulted to put things back on serve.

The third-seeded Federer fought off a pair of break points in the next game, but lost the deuce exchange to give Murray the advantage again. This time, the Scot finished the set when Federer was long on a baseline rally with the score 40-15.

The score was 2-1 in favor of Federer in the second set before a rain delay of 55 minutes. Murray held serve when play resumed, but the match was stopped on two more occasions, with each player losing service games upon returning to the court.

It was 5-5 when Federer errantly hit several shots into the net to go down 0-40. He saved two break chances, but Murray put away an easy volley to go on top, 6-5.

Federer, who was vying for his 63rd career title, had a break chance nullified by a huge ace from Murray, who followed with another right up the middle on the first point of the deuce. He wasted his first match point by hitting one into the net, but won the next two points to win his 15th career crown, celebrating as Federer's lob went well long.

Murray only dropped one set during the week and became the first player to win back-to-back titles in Canada since Andre Agassi in 1994-95. He collected $443,500 with the victory.

"It's been one of the best weeks of my life," Murray said to the crowd following the win. "Hopefully I can keep it going."

The tournament was highlighted by a semifinal that accounted for the last seven champions at this event. Top-seeded Rafael Nadal had won here in 2005 and 2008, while Novak Djokovic titled in 2007. Federer, the 2004 and 2006 champ, downed Djokovic on Saturday, while Murray straight-setted Nadal.

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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.