Biffle holds off Edwards to win Las Vegas Nationwide race

Autoracing Betting Lines

02/28/2009 - Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Greg Biffle survived a crash-filled Sam's Town 300 and held off his Roush Fenway Racing teammate Carl Edwards in an overtime finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Saturday to end a 76-race winless streak in the Nationwide Series.

After leading 46 consecutive laps, Biffle ran out of fuel and coasted into the pits on lap 146. He fell one lap behind after his stop. Biffle, however, rebounded quickly and was back in front when his other Roush Fenway teammate David Ragan crashed while he held the lead during a round of green-flag stops on lap 169.

A wreck involving Mike Bliss and Denny Hamlin in the closing laps setup the green-white-checkered finish. Hamlin cut a tire, which slowed his progress. Bliss then slammed into the back of Hamlin, putting him into the wall.

On the final restart, Edwards moved ahead of Jason Leffler for second after Leffler ran out of fuel. Edwards then challenged Biffle for the lead, but could not make the winning pass during the final two laps.

"I ran out of gas on the restart going into turn one," Biffle said. "I think they said (Leffler) ran out of gas also. I just kept it on the bottom, and the fuel pressure came back. I tried to block Carl going down the back, but I couldn't do it. So I just stayed on the throttle on the outside and my car was just so good. I was able to pass him back."

Biffle, who led a race-high 86 laps, beat Edwards to the finish line by 0.391 seconds for his 19th career Nationwide victory, but his first since February 25, 2006 at California.

Despite a cut tire just before the 100-lap mark, which put him a lap down, Edwards moved back into winning contention in the late-stages. His second- place finish gave Roush Fenway a one-two finish at Las Vegas.

"I drove in there as deep as I thought was reasonable, and Jason Hedlesky, my spotter, was telling me, 'He's still there, he's still there,' and I'm thinking, 'he's got me'," Edwards said. "I wanted to keep my leg in it, but I thought I would wreck him. So I did the best I could."

Brian Vickers finished third, followed by Leffler and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Rookie drivers Michael McDowell, Brendan Gaughan, a Las Vegas native, Justin Allgaier and Scott Lagasse Jr. were sixth through ninth, respectively. Jeff Burton completed the top-10.

Edwards moved into the lead in the series championship standings. He now holds a 48-point advantage over Vickers after the first three races of the season.

The almost three-hour event featured 12 cautions for a track record 60 laps.

Two of this year's favorites to win the series title were involved in crashes that now have them behind in the early season point standings.

Kyle Busch made hard contact into the wall on lap 22. Busch dove beneath Kevin Harvick in an attempt to take the lead from him, but Busch lost control of his car as it skidded up the track and bounced off the wall.

"It was just a mistake on my part battling for the lead that early in the race," Busch said, "It was 100 percent my fault trying to race for the lead."

Busch ended up finishing 39th and dropped to fifth in points (-109).

Scott Speed's day at Las Vegas ended early when he rammed into Busch's car. Speed, in his first career Nationwide start, led the opening two laps before Harvick passed him for the top position. He won the pole earlier in the day, becoming the ninth driver in the series to qualify first in his debut.

The incident forced NASCAR to halt the race 10 minutes for track clean-up efforts.

Mike Bliss and Brad Keselowski made contact on the seventh lap. Bliss got turned sideways, while Keselowski suffered damage to the left front panel on his car.

Keselowski's troubles continued on lap 16 when he cut a tire and slammed into the wall. He returned 35 laps later and finished 27th.

"I don't know what I could have done differently," Keselowski said. "It's just the way these cars are. This is a great Chevrolet and it's tore up. We've had three great race cars this season and just can't seem to close the deal."

After finishing third in the Nationwide championship standings last year, Keselowski currently sits 22nd in points (-244).

The race was stopped for another 10 minutes on lap 92 to clean up the mess from Robert Richardson Jr.'s badly damaged car. D.J. Kennington bumped Richardson from behind, sending him into the wall. Rookie Michael Annett also was involved in the incident.

Just after the restart, Jeff Burton got loose coming out of turn four. Burton slid into the wall and collected Harvick's car in the process. Harvick suffered heavy damage to his car after running in the top-five during the first half of the race.

"(Burton) wasn't all that good, and he just got up there, and got himself in a bad spot and spun out," Harvick said. "Unfortunately we were the ones that hit him...We had a car capable of winning the race."

After lengthy repairs, Harvick returned to the track 54 laps down and settled for 29th-place finish.

Steve Wallace, David Green, Brandon Whitt and Stanton Barrett were also involved in the wreck.

The next Nationwide race is scheduled for Saturday, March 21 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com

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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.