Hendrick injured in plane crash

Autoracing Betting Lines

11/01/2011 - Key West, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick sustained a broken rib and a broken collarbone after a private jet carrying him experienced braking issues and ran off the runway while attempting to land at Key West International Airport on Monday night.

Hendrick Motorsports said in a news release that Hendrick, his wife, Linda, and the two pilots on board the Gulfstream G150 aircraft were treated and released from Lower Keys Medical Center early Tuesday morning. Linda suffered minor cuts and bruises, both pilots did not sustain any injuries, and all four have returned to North Carolina.

The aircraft is co-owned by Hendrick and five-time defending Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, who drives for HMS. The incident, which occurred approximately 7:45 p.m. local time, is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board.

According to the Miami Herald, the plane skidded completely off the 4,800-foot runway and came to a stop along a 600-foot unpaved safety area that had just been added at the airport in May. Peter Horton, director of the airport, said the pilot and co-pilot radioed to the tower that they had no brakes.

"If this area hadn't been added the outcome would have been different and probably catastrophic," Horton told the newspaper. "Before we had only 100 feet of overrun and then they would have gone into a salt pond and hit an embankment."

The accident occurred seven years after a plane owned by Hendrick crashed while en route to a race held at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia. All 10 people onboard were killed, including Hendrick's son, brother and two nieces.

Wwtroppolotto Autoracing Betting News

<< A major fine for a moderate guy
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NBA essentially fined Micky Arison $500,000 on Monday for being a moderate. The Miami Heat owner made the mistake of speaking his mind on Twitter, responding to a critic that took a direct

<< Heat owner Arison fined
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Heat owner Micky Arison has been fined by the NBA, reportedly for $500,000, for recent Twitter posts about the lockout. NBA spokesman Tim Frank confirmed in an email that Arison was fined, but did not conf

<< Prayer for Relief sidelined from Breeders' Cup Classic
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Three-year-old colt Prayer for Relief has been scratched from Saturday's $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic after developing a fever. The colt is owned by Zayat Stables and trained by Bob Baffer

<< Caps host Ducks, aim to stay perfect at home
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Capitals have dropped back-to-back games since their record-setting start to the season, but still have a perfect home record to brag about. The Capitals will put their 5-0-0 mark as the host on the line ton

<< Lightning aim to strike Hurricanes at RBC Center
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The surging Tampa Bay Lightning will shoot for a fifth win in six tries when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes for tonight's Southeast Division clash at RBC Center. The Lightning were one win away from making last year's

Yankees sign Cashman to three-year deal >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees announced Tuesday that they have signed Brian Cashman for three years, keeping him entrenched in his role as senior vice president and general manager through the 2014 season. The

Leafs forward Kessel named top NHL player for October >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Toronto Maple Leafs forward Phil Kessel has been named the NHL's First Star for the month of October. Kessel led the National Hockey League with 10 goals and 18 points in only 11 games -- the best star

Messi, Ronaldo highlight Ballon d'Or shortlist >>
Zurich, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning two-time world player of the year Lionel Messi and former winner Cristiano Ronaldo, who has been second the last two years, are among the 23 finalists announced Tuesday for the 2011 FIFA Ballon

Breeders' Cup Classic has the speed >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Going into Monday's post position draw for the Breeders' Cup I already had Havre de Grace penciled in as the 5-2 favorite for the $5 million Classic. So I was surprised that Churchill Downs handica

MLB stars win in Taiwan after Granderson slam >>
New Taipei City, Taiwan (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Curtis Granderson hit a grand slam to lead Major League Baseball to a 7-0 victory over the Chinese Taipei national team on Tuesday, in the opener of the 2011 Taiwan All-Star Series. The ev

How to bet pro football

There is little doubt that the NFL is where the sportsbooks see the most action and also make the most loot. The NFL possesses betting friendly attributes that are unlike any of the other major sports. First off, there are relatively few teams to keep track of in comparison to college football betting or college basketball. And second, these teams play only once a week which makes staying on top of the results much easier than it is in the daily leagues such as the NBA, NHL, and MLB.

These dynamics, along with the sheer excitement of watching and wagering on football, brings more square action to the table than any of the other sports. Almost every Tom, Dick and Harry in America is an NFL expert in their own mind and that is precisely what the oddsmakers prey upon.

Understanding who bets the games is just as important as understanding which teams are playing the games. The market at times will dictate price, which in the betting world means the oddsmakers cater to the public rather than reality.

Knowing the market inside and out is the basis of our NFL handicapping model. That is, our approach to NFL handicapping is of the contrarian or value seeking variety. We will at times place a higher premium on public sentiment than on the fundamentals. This strategy dictates playing dogs and/or lesser competent teams, or teams the public wants nothing to do with. Or better yet, fading the teams the oddsmakers want you to bet on.

Along these same lines, we carry a similar notion that the first week of the NFL season presents one of the ripest opportunities for the astute gambler. This conflicts with conventional wisdom and/or handicapping lore, as most would say it is better to watch a few games and assess each team before jumping in with both feet. That’s all fine and dandy, but there are some interesting trends to exploit in Week 1 and we’d be remiss to ignore them. Let us quickly explain.

Gone are the days of dynasties, where the same core players stay intact and dominate the league year after year. Free agency and player movements can completely transform teams from one season to the next. In today’s parity-driven NFL, poor teams typically don’t stay poor for all that long and excellent teams must constantly reinvent themselves to stay on top.

The temptation might be to assume prior year results are the best indicator of who is going to cover in Week 1. To Joe Public, playoff teams from the prior season, home teams, favorites, and so one, look even more enticing than usual since there is no current season performance to judge them against. But the question begs: are the oddsmakers setting a trap?

To find the answer, we culled five years worth of Week 1 NFL data. As always, all of our analysis is done from an ATS perspective. The purpose here is to share the most important angles we unearthed and try to explain the logic behind them. So strap on your helmet, throw on your shoulder pads, and follow our lead as we expose some rare holes in the oddsmakers’ line of defense.

Home vs. Away Teams

Over the past five seasons, NFL home teams in Week 1 are just 31-42-7 ATS (42 percent). This of course implies that roadies are a 58 percent winning proposition during this time. The public at large has a tendency to overvalue home teams and this is especially true in Week 1 when there is no current season data to make predictions from. Consequently, the oddsmakers almost surely shade the home teams, by and large making road teams the choice for the value player.

Conclusion: Look long and hard at road teams first when handicapping the opening week.

Price ranges

Favorites are just 31-42-7 ATS (42 percent) in the opening week over the past five NFL seasons (Coincidentally, home teams hold the same ATS record as noted above). This means that underdogs bark at a 58 percent clip. Mid-range favorites performed the worst among our specified price ranges. In particular, favorites priced between –3 1/2 and –6 1/2 are only 8-15 ATS (35 percent) during this time.

The same basic pattern holds true when looking at home favorites (road favorites gravitate towards a 50 percent mean). Home favorites indeed are just 21-32-3 ATS (40 percent) in the first week of NFL action since 1999. Again, mid-range favorites are similarly the poorest performers when we look at home teams. Consider that home teams priced between –3 1/2 and –6 1/2 have stumbled to a 6-13 ATS (32 percent) mark in Week 1 games the past five seasons.

Conclusion: Like home teams, favorites and particularly mid-range favorites are generally overvalued in Week 1.

Playoff teams

It might surprise you to learn that playoff teams from the prior year versus non-playoff teams from the prior year are a mere 16-23-3 (41 percent) ATS in NFL Week 1 games over the past five seasons. Home teams which made the playoffs versus teams which did not make the playoffs from the prior season drop to a meager 7-14-1 ATS (33 percent) during this time.

Why are playoff teams, and in particular those at home, such bad bets the past five openers? Just as the case with home teams and with favorites, oddsmakers intentionally overprice playoff teams in the opening week to compensate for the public’s propensity to over bet them.

This theory holds true just looking at straight-up records from the past season as well. That is, home teams with winning records from the prior season vs. road teams with losing records from the prior season are just 8-13 ATS in Week 1 NFL games since 1999.

Conclusion: Playoff teams from the prior year and in particular, home playoff teams, are overvalued in Week 1 NFL games.

Scoring defense and scoring offense

Do good defenses and for that matter good offenses from the prior season fare better against the number the following year in Week 1 games? Well, sort of. Generally speaking, teams with a solid offense or defense from the prior season tend to do well in the opening week so long as they are on the road. As a host, however, the best offenses and best defenses from the prior year tend to be overvalued in Week 1.

Consider that the top five scoring defenses (i.e. points allowed) from the prior season are a nice 8-4 ATS (66 percent) on the road in NFL openers the past five seasons. Meanwhile, the top five scoring defenses from the prior season are just 3-8-2 ATS (27 percent) as a host in Week 1 during the same time period.

There is no discernable advantage or disadvantage for teams with a top five scoring offense (i.e. points scored) in Week 1 games. However, when we look at scoring offenses from the bottom up (isolating the five worst offenses from the prior season), the results are rather interesting. In particular, teams ranked in the bottom five in scoring offense from the prior season are 9-4-1 ATS (69 percent) when on the road in Week 1.

The logic is simply that the public perception is a poor scoring offensive unit from the year prior will have little chance of winning on the road in Week 1. In turn, the oddsmakers compensate for this perception and these poor offensive teams from the year prior carry extra line value on the Week 1 trail.

Conclusion: Teams with top-ranked defenses from the previous season are good bets when playing on the road, but poor bets when playing at home. Also, teams ranked among the bottom five in scoring offense from the prior season are generally a good value in their Week 1 openers, provided they are playing on the road.

Scoring margin

An exceedingly straightforward way of measuring scoring offense and scoring defense together as a whole is to look at a team's “margin." Margin is simply scoring offense minus scoring defense, which is a fairly clear-cut measure of how a team does on both sides of the ball. Typically, the higher the margin, the better the team.

In this regard, it might seem counterintuitive that teams carrying the higher margin from the prior season in week one matchups are merely 31-42-7 ATS (42 percent). Furthermore, road teams with the higher margin are 14-20-6 ATS (41 percent), while home teams with the higher margin are 17-22-1 ATS (44 percent). Once again, these results line up with the theory that better teams from the prior year are overvalued come opening day of the following season.

Conclusion: “Better” teams, which often boast a higher margin than their opponent, are overvalued the following season in NFL openers.

In sum

Oddsmakers cater NFL betting lines to match public perception and also to bait the public into poor bets. The temptation to use the prior year’s success as a buy sign for how a team will perform against the spread in Week 1 of the following season is an enormous trap.

The fact is, isolating road teams, road dogs, non-playoff teams vs. playoff teams, teams with a losing record or low margin vs. playoff teams or ones with a high margin from the previous year is where the line value resides. Quite simply, taking the road less traveled is your surest path to NFL betting profits.

To visit this sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Visa needs.

MySportsbook.com - The World's Leading Online Sportsbook

For more than 11 years now, MySportsbook.com has been the World’s BEST online sports book website, providing a safe and secure place for sports wagering. Our world-class level of experience and industry sportsbook expertise is unmatched.

Offering a wide array of sports to wager on, MySportsbook.com leaves no stone unturned in our search to provide you with great football betting lines and online blackjack options. From teasers to parlays, from futures to wacky propositions, we add more game excitement than any other sportsbook. Fully licensed in two gaming jurisdictions, MySportsbook.com is open and eager to assist you 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Whatever the sporting event, this online sportsbook has you covered. Enjoy some of sport’s most memorable moments that much more with MySportsbook.com. With increased interest, follow the game-winning field goal, the walk-off homerun, the buzzer-beater or the hole-in-one shot. Bank on that clutch glove save, the upset TKO or an incredible Hail Mary pass. MySportsbook.com quenches your thirst for action.

To visit this online blackjack got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts credit cards needs.