Tomasulo fires 62 for Chiquita Classic lead

Golf Betting Lines

07/15/2010 - Maineville, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Peter Tomasulo continued his spectacular run of golf with a 10-under 62 on Thursday for the first-round lead of the inaugural Chiquita Classic.

Tomasulo won last week's Wayne Gretzky Classic after three straight birdies to end his final round gave him another 10-under par score. It was a 61 and it was vaulted him from 97th to ninth on the Nationwide Tour money list.

"It felt a lot like last Sunday," acknowledged Tomasulo. "I've never shot back-to-back rounds this low. I felt the momentum like this before. I just want to keep playing right now. I don't want to stop."

Tommy Gainey, who is fifth on the Nationwide Tour money list, shot an eight- under 64 and is second at the TPC River's Bend.

David McKenzie, Jesse Hutchins, Troy Kelly, Peter Gustafsson, Jason Gore and Justin Smith are knotted in third place at seven-under 65.

They are all chasing the hottest player on tour.

Tomasulo parred his first three holes, then caught fire. He birdied the next four in a row, but found trouble off the tee at the par-five eighth. Tomasulo hit a bad hybrid-club shot and ended up three-putting for bogey from close to 70 feet.

"I got a little excited and hit a bad tee shot on eight," admitted Tomasulo. "I calmed myself down and went on a good little run there."

Tomasulo birdied Nos. 9 and 10, then eagled the par-five 11th to get to seven- under par for the championship. He parred his next two and joined Gainey in first with a birdie at the par-four 14th.

Tomasulo birdied 16 and 17 to get to 10-under par. He had 12 feet for birdie at the par-five closing hole, but the putt stayed above ground.

"It feels great right now. I'm on a high," said Tomasulo. "I'm playing well, I'm seeing my lines really well. It gives me great momentum. I feel great over all my clubs and I want to keep trying to knock it close."

Brad Elder, Brice Garnett, Ron Whittaker, John Kimbell, Colt Knost and Chris Nallen are tied for ninth place at minus-six.

NOTES: Tomasulo's 62 was a new course record at TPC River's Bend...Of the 156 players in the field, 123 shot par or better in Thursday's first round...Chris Kirk, the leading money winner this year on the Nationwide Tour, shot a five- under 67 and is tied for 15th.

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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.