Burke helping turn over new Leaf

Hockey Betting Lines

09/06/2010 - Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In the past 12 months, the Toronto Maple Leafs have advocated change more than a campaigning politician.

Like a political party during election season, the Leafs are under constant scrutiny. And when the public loses faith in the abilities of the product, it's only a matter of time before an axe falls on someone's head.

First came personnel changes - out with the old and in with the new. Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman, Ian White, Jamal Mayers, Vesa Toskala, Jason Blake, Alexei Ponikarovsky, Viktor Stalberg and Lee Stempniak were all victims of the winds of change.

Replacing these former representatives of the Blue and White are Dion Phaneuf, J.S. Giguere, Kris Versteeg, Colby Armstrong, Mike Brown, Clarke MacArthur and Brett Lebda to go along with rookie hopeful Nazem Kadri.

Aside from Brian Burke's affinity for North American players, the polarizing General Manager made these moves to change the identity of a brand that was no longer feared, nor respected.

Much like the team he helped create in Anaheim, Burke's mold for success relies heavily on the pit-bull mentality of his players - a cranky, aggressive, never-say-die swagger.

Based on the moves he's made to date, there's no doubt the Leafs will be a much more formidable opponent in 2010-11.

But aside from a revamped roster, Burke's purge on all that was wrong with the club over the past five seasons underwent a cosmetic makeover as well.

Back in June, the club named Dion Phaneuf the 18th captain in team history and the first since Mats Sundin relinquished that honor after the 2007-08 campaign.

On the same day, the refurbished Leafs also unveiled new uniforms. This shrewd move not only symbolized the spawn of a new era, it buried all that remained from a punchless period where a paper-bag became a familiar accessory among fans.

To go along with a new roster, new captain and new uniforms, the Leafs also made a subtle change last week when they introduced a new paint job at center ice of the Air Canada Centre - a row of Canadian flags stretching the span of the red line.

Upon revealing the altered design, MLSE chief executive officer Tom Anselmi said, "It seemed like just another fun little way to express the patriotism of our team, our organization and our fans."

While it may be a minor nuance, it fits in perfectly with the direction Burke is steering this fledgling franchise.

The Maple Leafs have long been considered Canada's team, with all due respect to the Montreal Canadiens, and now Burke is pushing to put theory into practice.

But amidst all the patriotic posturing and restructured team values, success is only weighed in wins and losses.

If Leaf Nation is forced to endure another miserable season, the hope that was used to sell the change that has been made over the past year, could just as easily turn to pessimism and dismay.

Selling a vision is all well and good, but leaving a successful legacy is what matters most. For Burke and the Maple Leafs, this upcoming season represents the beginning of that legacy.

Although Burke is only entering his second full year on the job, if the change that has inspired excitement amongst fans fails, it will not only be devastating to the diehards, it will jeopardize a vision that has closely associated itself with Canadian culture.

Ganblerscorner Hockey Betting News

<< Rangers scratch Lee from Tuesday start
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers have scratched lefty Cliff Lee from his scheduled start Tuesday against the Blue Jays because of a strained muscle in his lower back. Lee was given an injection to deal with disc

<< Underwhelming Madrid need special touch
Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - When Jose Mourinho left Inter Milan this summer for the bright lights of the Bernabeu, he took a calculated risk. After all, Inter had just come off a season where they won both the domestic league and cu

<< Santana scratched from Tuesday start
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Mets ace Johan Santana will miss his next scheduled start Tuesday versus Washington with a strained pectoral muscle. Santana was forced to leave his last assignment against the Braves Thurs

<< Cardinals to begin critical road trip with clash vs. Brewers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coming off a much-needed series win, the playoff-hopeful St. Louis Cardinals know they still have a lot of work to do. St. Louis continues that uphill battle this afternoon with the opener of a three-game series at Miller

<< Division rivals collide as Mariners visit A's
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second-year lefty Brett Anderson can pitch the Oakland Athletics a game closer to .500 and keep them an outside contender in the American League playoff race today, when the team hosts the Seattle Mariners for the first of th

Report: Ravens sign WR Houshmandzadeh >>
Culver City, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Ravens added depth to the wide receiver position by reportedly agreeing to a one-year contract with T.J. Houshmandzadeh on Monday. The NFL Network, among others, are reporting the signi

McEnroe to step down as U.S. Davis Cup captain >>
White Plains, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Patrick McEnroe announced that he will resign as United States Davis Cup captain immediately following the World Group playoff against Colombia next week. The U.S. and host Colombia will squ

Montana ascends to No. 1 >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The move was only one spot, but it was a big one for the University of Montana football team as the Grizzlies advanced to No. 1 in The Sportsbook Betting Lines/Fathead.com FCS Top 25 on Monday. Montana was selected

Rangers promote INF German, designate Cora >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers purchased the contract of infielder Esteban German from Triple-A Oklahoma City and designated infielder Alex Cora for assignment on Monday. The 32-year-old German has been with Oklahoma

Kuznetsova exits the Open >>
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova was a fourth-round upset victim Monday at the U.S. Open. Talented Slovak Dominika Cibulkova cut down the 11th-seeded Kuznetsova 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) at the USTA Billie

Sportsbook Betting Lines

Who Makes the Sportsbook Betting Lines?

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. “

What are the Football Betting Lines Trying to Accomplish?

There is a common misconception that point spreads represent the oddsmakers’ prediction of how many points the favorite will win by. That is not the case at all – their intent is NOT to evenly split the ATS result between the teams; rather, their goal is to attract equal betting action on both sides. Stated another way, they want to create a line that half the people find appealing to bet one way while the other half find it appealing to bet the other way (known as ‘dividing the action’).

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).

How the Opening Line Is Made

The opening line is the first line created by the oddsmakers, which is then sent out to sportsbooks. Of course there is an entire method to the madness on how the opening line is created. Seba explained that it all starts with each oddsmaker creating a line on each game based upon their own personal approach. This usually includes having up-to-date power ratings on each team.

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.

Why Sports Betting Lines Change

Once the opening line is released by LVSC, the individual sportsbooks decide if they want to make any adjustments before offering it to the public. Reasons for such adjustments include:

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.