11/20/2008 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Bengals deactivated wide receiver Chad Johnson for their Thursday night game against the division rival Steelers for violation of a team rule.
After a season of relative calm for the mercurial wideout following a turbulent offseason, Johnson will sit out Thursday night's game in Pittsburgh for the unspecified violation. The Bengals made the announcement in a statement from the team's hotel, and said there would be no other announcement until after the game.
Johnson had been the center of the Bengals' attention for much of the offseason. He unsuccessfully lobbied for a trade and threatened to sit out if he wasn't dealt to another team. After the Bengals refused, he gave up and reported to minicamp, but complained that his right ankle was bothering him.
He had bone spurs removed from the ankle and was limited at the start of training camp. In the second preseason game, he landed awkwardly and temporarily dislocated his left shoulder.
The 30-year-old wideout then made headlines for legally changing his surname to Ocho Cinco -- the nickname he created for himself based on an incorrect Spanish translation of his jersey number, 85.
Johnson has been relatively quiet since, however, not generating much news either positive or negative for the 1-8-1 Bengals. His production has dropped off, as he is on pace to finish with less than 1,000 yards receiving for the first time since 2001, his rookie season out of Oregon State. Through nine games Johnson has 41 receptions for 383 yards and four touchdowns.
<< Red Wings begin road trip in Edmonton
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Red Wings aim for their fourth straight win
tonight, as they begin a three-game tour of western Canada with a stop in
Edmonton to take on the Oilers at Rexall Place.
The Red Wings were last in action on Monday,
<< Blackhawks aim for rare road win in Big D
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Though their six-game road trip got off to a good start,
the Chicago Blackhawks face a stiffer challenge tonight, as they try to record
a rare road win against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center.
The Blackhawks h
<< Trojans take on Pirates in Puerto Rico
San Juan, PR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 19th-ranked USC Trojans and the Seton Hall
Pirates have arrived in San Juan to begin play at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.
USC opened its season on Saturday with a 78-55 decision over UC Irvine and
followed tha
<< Gators and Thunderbirds get together in Gainesville
Gainesville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 18th-ranked Florida Gators seek their
seventh straight 3-0 start to a season, as they welcome the Southern Utah
Thunderbirds to Gainesville for a non-conference matchup at the Stephen C.
O'Connell Center.
Thrashers, Pens both try to get back in win column >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of teams who recently had long winning streaks
snapped will meet tonight in Atlanta, as the Thrashers welcome the Pittsburgh
Penguins to Philips Arena.
The Penguins had won six straight before being dealt a shootout
Sens hope to end skid versus slumping Habs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ottawa Senators will try for their first win in two
weeks when they invite the struggling Montreal Canadiens for tonight's
Northeast Division matchup at Scotiabank Place.
The Senators have lost five straight contests s
Trying to match season-high win streak, Wild host Canucks >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Wild will try to match their longest winning
streak of the season tonight, when they host the Vancouver Canucks in a
Northwest Division showdown at Xcel Energy Center.
Vancouver and the Wild will battle for f
Steelers Look to Knock Out Last-Place Bengals >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Steelers will look to remain above the fray
in the AFC North on Thursday night, when Mike Tomlin's team welcomes the
struggling Cincinnati Bengals to Heinz Field.
Pittsburgh opens Week 12 with a one-game adv
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.”
To visit this internet sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your sports betting needs and World Series odds.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting