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01/28/2012 - Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tiger Woods and Robert Rock posted matching rounds of six-under 66 Saturday to move atop the leaderboard after three rounds of the Abu Dhabi Championship.
The duo ended 54 holes at 11-under-par 205. They share a two-stroke lead over four players.
Woods, who is playing this event for the first time, posted his best round since round two of last year's Masters, where he also shot 66.
Rock, who has a pair of top-15 finishes already this season on the European Tour, is aiming for his second tour title. He won the Italian Open last year.
Peter Hanson, who shared second at this event in 2007, had the low round of the week as he fired an eight-under 64 to jump into a share of third at minus- nine. He was joined there by former British Open champion Paul Lawrie (68), Francesco Molinari (66) and reigning U.S. Open champ Rory McIlroy (68).
Second-round leader Thorbjorn Olesen managed a one-under 71 and dipped into a four-way tie for seventh at eight-under-par 208 at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
Woods and Rock broke through a large pack of players to share the lead. At one point in the third round, there were eight players tied atop the leaderboard. At another juncture, there were five leaders.
However, it was Woods, who had a bogey-free round, and Rock, who birdied the final two holes, that broke through the crowded leaderboard.
Woods drained a 10-footer for birdie at the first. After five straight pars, he sank a six-footer for birdie on the par-three seventh to again get within one of the lead.
Around the turn, Woods made his charge. He two-putted for birdie on the par- five 10th to grab a piece of the lead at minus-eight.
Woods drained a seven-foot birdie try on the 12th to join Lawrie at nine- under, then poured in a 25-footer for birdie at 14 to take the lead by himself for the first time.
After two-putting for par on the next three holes, Woods found the green with his second to the par-five 18th. He lagged his eagle putt within three feet and knocked that in a for a closing birdie.
"I was just kind of consistent. I didn't do a whole lot wrong, I didn't do a whole lot right," Woods stated. "Six birdies piled up, but I was methodically going about my business and grinding. This course is playing difficult enough. You can make birdies, but you can go the wrong way quickly. I've still got to post a good number."
Woods hasn't won on the European Tour since he claimed the 2009 JBWere Masters, his last official win anywhere since the turmoil of his car accident and divorce that started shortly after that victory.
Rock, who was one group behind Woods, also had a pair of birdies on the front nine, with his coming on the third and seventh.
The Englishman birdied the 10th and 12th to move into a share of the lead at minus-nine. He converted a birdie chance on No. 14 to match Woods at 10-under.
However, Rock stumbled to a bogey on the par-four 16th, a hole that he also bogeyed in the first round. He fought back with birdies on the final two holes, both from inside eight feet, to join Woods atop the leaderboard.
"I've played some pretty good golf the last few days, so I'm more than happy," Rock said. "I holed a lot (of putts), and I nearly holed two long ones at the end. I just kept trying to hit them all the same, and that worked alright."
Olesen was joined in seventh place by James Kingston (67), George Coetzee (65) and Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (69).
NOTES: Woods, who has 37 European Tour titles, hasn't won in the Persian Gulf region since claiming the 2008 Dubai Desert Classic...Fifty-nine of the 69 players that made the cut shot par or better on Saturday.
<< Bryans dethroned in Aussie doubles final
Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek ended
the three-year Australian Open reign of Bob and Mike Bryan on Saturday,
beating the top-ranked twin brothers in the men's doubles final.
Paes and Stepanek
<< Historical games part of Maine's 2012 schedule
Orono, ME (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Maine football's 2012 schedule includes the 100th
game against rival New Hampshire and a trip to Boston College for the 1,000th
official game in program history.
Coach Jack Cosgrove's Black Bears are coming off a
<< UC Davis set for first Big Sky season
Davis, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - UC Davis football is set to enter a new era in
2012 with eight Big Sky Conference games as well as a visit to San Jose State
as part of an 11-game schedule.
The Aggies are joining the Big Sky from the Great West
<< Coastal Carolina's Norman playing in Senior Bowl
Mobile, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coastal Carolina cornerback Josh Norman will
play in Saturday's Senior Bowl - the fifth FCS player named to the college
football all-star game.
Coming off a recent appearance in the East-West Shrine Game, Norman
Knicks limp into Houston to face Rockets >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A Carmelo Anthony-less New York team limps into South
Texas on Saturday to face off with the red-hot Houston Rockets.
The Knicks lost for the eighth time in nine games and fell to 1-2 on a four-
game road trip Saturday in
Jimmer returns to SLC when Kings visit Jazz >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jimmer Fredette will return to Utah Saturday as the
Sacramento Kings attempt to put the brakes on a three-game skid when they open
up a brief two-game road trip against the Jazz.
The Kings were blown out in their last enco
Grizzlies finish road trip in the desert vs. Suns >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Memphis Grizzlies hope to finish a four-game road trip
on a winning note Saturday when they pay a visit to the struggling Phoenix
Suns.
The Grizzlies started their trek in a positive fashion, winning at Golden
State b
Lakers begin tough stretch in Milwaukee >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fresh off halting a three-game skid, the Los Angeles Lakers
will begin a tough stretch tonight in Milwaukee in which they will play eight
of nine games on the road.
Kobe Bryant netted 24 points to go with seven rebounds an
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. “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).
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.
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.”
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The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.
They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.
"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."
Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.
New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.
Not so sound on the ground
If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.
Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com
“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.
Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
Brees says bring it on
Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.
Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.
Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.
"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."
SportsBooks ready for a shootout
Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.
“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”
New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.
The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.
“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”
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