Holmes is clubhouse leader at Oakland Hills

Golf Betting Lines

08/08/2008 - Bloomfield Hills Township, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - J.B. Holmes bogeyed two of his last four holes Friday, but still managed a two-under 68 and got into the clubhouse lead during the second round of the PGA Championship.

Holmes finished two rounds at Oakland Hills at one-under 139.

Charlie Wi (70), Justin Rose (67) and 2003 British Open champion Ben Curtis (67) are in the clubhouse at even-par 140. The 67s by Rose and Curtis were the lowest rounds of the championship.

Overnight co-leader Jeev Milkha Singh is even-par through five holes Friday and is alone in the lead at minus-two.

Aaron Baddeley and Sergio Garcia are both one-under for the championship and just started their second rounds.

The first round was completed Friday morning after play was suspended for darkness on Thursday. It was a one-hour, 25-minute weather delay on Thursday that set the tournament back, but the second round is in full swing.

When the horn sounded Thursday night, Andres Romero was tied for the lead with Singh and Robert Karlsson at minus-two. When Romero came back Friday morning, he bogeyed 18 to fall out of the lead.

Sadly, the worst was yet to come for Romero.

The Argentine shot an eight-over 78 in round two, including a quadruple-bogey eight at 16 and a double-bogey six at 18, to fall to seven-over-par 147 for the championship. That is currently outside the cut line, but could move since Oakland Hills is not getting easier in the afternoon wind.

"It's tough out there," admitted Holmes.

Holmes played a great opening nine with two birdies and a bogey. It wasn't until he made the turn that he vaulted up the leaderboard.

At the par-five 12th, Holmes chopped his third from the thick rough near the green to three feet. He kicked in that birdie putt and made it two in a row with an eight-footer at the 13th.

Holmes made an unlikely birdie at the 501-yard, par-four 14th. From just short of the putting surface, Holmes rolled in a 25-footer for birdie to get to three-under par.

Things came undone a bit when Holmes played the final four holes into the wind. At the 15th, he came up short and right with his approach and made bogey.

After an errant tee shot, Holmes three-putted from a long distance for another bogey at 17. A par at the last got Holmes in as the only player from the morning wave under par.

"I hit some good shots on those holes and made birdie," said Holmes. "After my third birdie, the next four holes were pretty much into the wind right there and I was just trying to make par on those holes.

"Glad I got in with that. But I felt I left a few out there."

David Toms, the 2001 PGA Champion, and Henrik Stenson (70) finished 36 holes at one-over 141.

Phil Mickelson is even early in his round and just off the lead at even-par.

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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.