Lions Release CB Bly, 19 more

Football Betting Lines

09/04/2010 - Allen Park, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cornerback Dre' Bly was among the players released by the Detroit Lions on Saturday, as the team pared its roster to the 53-player NFL maximum.

Bly, an 11-year NFL veteran who returned to Detroit in the offseason after having previously played four years with the team (2003-06), could not withstand what has become a crowded cornerback rotation in the Motor City.

A second-round pick of the St. Louis Rams in 1999, Bly has previous experience with the Rams (1999-2002), Broncos (2007-08) and 49ers (2009).

Also released were defensive tackle Rob Callaway, linebacker Caleb Campbell, linebacker Vinny Ciurciu, wide receiver Brian Clark, defensive tackle Landon Cohen, running back DeDe Dorsey, guard Noah Franklin, center Dan Gerberry, kicker Steven Hauschka, cornerback Jonathan Hefney, tackle Jon Jansen, cornerback Eric King, tackle Cliff Louis, wide receiver Michael Moore, cornerback Paul Pratt, cornerback T.J. Rushing, safety Ko Simpson, wide receiver Tim Toone and cornerback Dante Wesley.

Notables among that group include Campbell, the West Point product originally drafted by the team in 2008 before being required to serve two years of military service; Jansen, an 11-year veteran who appeared in 11 games with the Lions last season; and Simpson, a five-game starter for Detroit a year ago.

The club also waived/injured defensive end Korey Bosworth (leg) on Saturday.

On Friday, the team released defensive tackle Jaron Baston.

Detroit will open its 2010 regular season slate next Sunday, when they travel to meet the NFC North rival Chicago Bears.

Genxcasino Football Betting News

<< Irvin, Tyler among Panthers' final cuts
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defensive linemen Corvey Irvin and Tank Tyler were among the notables released by the Carolina Panthers on Saturday, as the team reduced its roster to the 53-player maximum Irvin, a third-round draft choice o

<< Castroneves prevails at Kentucky
Sparta, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Helio Castroneves conserved enough fuel at the finish to win Saturday's IZOD IndyCar Series race at Kentucky Speedway. Castroneves drove the final 53 laps around the 1.5-mile oval without pitting. The Team P

<< Raiders dump ex-starters Lawton, Morris, Richardson on cut day
Alameda, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fullback Luke Lawton, center Chris Morris and defensive end Jay Richardson were among the prominent players released by the Oakland Raiders on Saturday, as the team reduced its roster to the NFL-mandated maximum o

<< White Sox edge Boston again to sweep doubleheader
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gavin Floyd tossed six solid innings and Carlos Quentin posted two hits and scored twice as the Chicago White Sox edged Boston, 3-1, to sweep a doubleheader at Fenway Park. Mark Teahen also had a pair

<< Newton accounts for 5 TDs in Auburn's opening rout
Auburn, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Junior quarterback Cameron Newton was impressive in his Auburn debut, throwing for three touchdowns and rushing for two more, as the 22nd-ranked Tigers dominated Arkansas State, 52-26, in the season opener

Lee's eighth-inning HR pushes Astros past D'Backs >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Lee hit the game-winning three-run home run in the eighth inning and drove in four to lead Houston to a 6-5 come-from- behind win over Arizona in the middle meeting of a three-game series. Lee finished

Cummings brace leads Rapids past Goats >>
Commerce City, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Colorado Rapids' striker Omar Cummings scored two goals and helped set up another to lead his team to a 3-0 win over Chivas USA at Dick's Sporting Goods Park on Saturday night. After the two teams b

Dalton leads TCU past Oregon State >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andy Dalton threw a touchdown and ran two in, including the go-ahead score in the third quarter, as sixth-ranked TCU downed No. 24 Oregon State, 30-21. Dalton went 17-for-27 with 175 yards and two interce

Rams finish cuts; Adeyanju, Carpenter, Null all chopped >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Rams pared their roster to the 53-player maximum on Saturday, releasing 16 players to complete their "cut- down day" moves. Excised were defensive end Victor Adeyanju, wide receiver Danario A

RSL equals longest home undefeated streak with win over N.Y. >>
Sandy, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Salt Lake earned a 1-0 victory over Red Bull New York on Saturday night at Rio Tinto Stadium to equal the longest home undefeated streak in Major League Soccer history at 22 games. Fabian Espindola scor

Terrell Owens could return for Cowboys next game
A bye week will allow Terrell Owens broken hand to recover just in time for the next game the Dallas Cowboys are slated to play, according to reports. MySportsbook.com, an football sportsbook, has posted football betting lines on TO playing.

Owens broke the bone leading to his right ring finger Sunday night and had a plate surgically attached to it Monday. Although Owens' hand was swollen and aching Wednesday, Dallas Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said he's optimistic the receiver will be back at work next week and catching passes a week from Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.

MySportsbook.com online sportsbook listed Terrell Owens with odds of 7-2 (or $7 paid out for every $2 bet) to return back for the game against Tennessee.

"I certainly wouldn't rule it out now," Parcells said, referring to Terrell Owens immediate return. "Maybe five days from now I might, but I wouldn't rule it out now. ... I know we're looking to try to get him moving around pretty good in the next day or so. So we'll see where we are."

Owens did not speak with reporters Wednesday, but said Sunday he'd be out two to four weeks. A return against the Titans would be 13 days after the surgery. The Cowboys were listed as an early -7 1/2 favorite vs. the Tennessee Titans for Week 4 at MySportsbook.com

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

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.