Kansas City signs Mexican striker Bravo as DP

Soccer Betting Lines

08/13/2010 - Kansas City, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Wizards signed Mexico international striker Omar Bravo as a designated player, the Major League Soccer club announced on Friday.

Bravo will join the Wizards prior to the 2011 season after agreeing to a loan agreement between Kansas City, MLS and the and Mexican Primera Division's Guadalajara. Bravo will remain with Chivas Guadalajara for the remainder of the 2010 Apertura, or fall season.

"We are very pleased to have signed Omar Bravo, who is an exceptional player," Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes said. "Although he won't join us until 2011, we feel that it will be very beneficial for Omar to go through a whole season with us, beginning with the preseason. The 2011 preseason will give Omar a great start to the year and allow us to indoctrinate him into our system. Omar's high-pressure, attack-oriented mentality will complement our style of play extremely well."

Bravo has been a mainstay on the Mexico national team since making his first appearance in 2002. He has scored 16 goals for Mexico in 65 appearances, including two goals in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He also scored two goals during the 2004 Olympics.

The 30-year-old is also Guadalajara's second all-time scorer, with 106 goals in league competition for the club. Bravo won the league scoring title during the Clausura in 2007 and was the leading scorer in the 2007 CONCACAF Champions Cup.

"I am very happy about joining Kansas City in 2011 and staying with Chivas through the finals of Libertadores and the Apertura," Bravo said. "I want to win two more trophies for Chivas and then focus on bringing championships to Kansas City in Major League Soccer."

Kansas City and Guadalajara have also agreed to play home-and-home friendlies at their new stadiums in 2011 as part of the loan agreement. The Wizards will play at Chivas' new Estadio Omnilife during Kansas City's preseason, and Guadalajara will play in Kansas City's new soccer stadium after the venue opens next summer.

Playsoccergamble Soccer Betting News

<< PGA Championship back after another fog delay
Kohler, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The first round of the PGA Championship resumed Friday morning following another fog delay and Matt Kuchar seized a one-shot lead. Kuchar birdied No. 6 at Whistling Straits -- his 15th hole -- after pla

<< Marseille ready to rebound from slap in the face
Valenciennes, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marseille opened defense of its Ligue 1 title with a shocking defeat to newly-promoted Caen, and midfielder Mathieu Valbuena called the loss a "slap in the face." "We're defending champions, up aga

<< Sixers hope lightning strikes twice with Thorn, Stefanski
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The expression "lightning never strikes twice" is often used to describe a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Of course, science tells us that lightning strikes occur frequently in specific areas and, although r

<< Burke cutting it close with Kaberle
Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brian Burke is currently engaging in a risky waiting game with his most valuable trading commodity, All-Star defenseman Tomas Kaberle. Burke has less than three days remaining to decide wha

<< Angels ready for key series with visiting Blue Jays
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After getting swept by the dreadful Baltimore Orioles early last week, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have responded in a positive way. Still a long way off from a playoff berth, the Angels look to keep the drive going

Washington Redskins 2010 Season Preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There's two things that can be counted on what it comes to the Washington Redskins. Change is an endless constant, and controversy seems to never go away. The Redskins had plenty of both following a dreadful 4-12 season th

Report: Bush apologizes to Haden >>
McLean, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Southern California star running back Reggie Bush has reportedly apologized to new school athletic director Pat Haden for his role in the NCAA violations that landed the Trojan football program

Giants add Guillen in trade with Royals >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco Giants added depth for their stretch run by acquiring outfielder Jose Guillen from the Kansas City Royals for a player to be named later. Guillen's three-year, $36 million contract

Jordan joins Wade, Anthony, Paul for Harlem clinic >>
NEW YORK (AP) -First, Dwyane Wade blocked shots from elementary school kids. Then Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul swatted away questions about their NBA futures.The three NBA stars were at Harlem's famed Rucker Park on Friday for a basketball clinic

Merriman: Signs tender with Chargers >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shawne Merriman is finally with the Chargers in training camp after signing his one-year tender contract. Merriman, 26, was made a restricted free agent when the Chargers offered him the tender in the o

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.