Logano, Harvick have at it at Pocono

Autoracing Betting Lines

06/07/2010 - Long Pond, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The next chapter in NASCAR's "boys, have at it" story of the season was written on Sunday at Pocono Raceway, with Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick re-igniting their feud.

While Logano's teammate, Denny Hamlin, drove into victory lane at Pocono for the fourth time in his career, Logano and Harvick faced off on pit road after the two tangled in the closing laps.

Harvick bumped Logano and put him into a spin while the two were battling for the fifth position with less than two laps remaining. The incident set up a green-white-checkered finish. Logano charged through the field during the two- lap overtime finish to salvage a 13th-place finish.

After Logano's pit crew tried to simmer down their 20-year-old driver during his cool-down lap, Logano parked his car right next to Harvick's ride and then proceeded to have a shouting match with the current Sprint Cup Series points leader.

Harvick's crew members blocked Logano from getting face to face with their driver, as NASCAR officials intervened to prevent a post-race brawl. Logano's father, Tom, also partook in the confrontation.

A generally calm and easy-going Logano expressed his ire towards Harvick during an interview with television network TNT.

"I don't know what his problem is with me, but it's probably not his fault; his wife wears the fire suit in the family and tells him what to do," Logano said.

Harvick finished fourth and left Pocono with a 19-point advantage over Kyle Busch, who also is Logano's teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing.

"I got into him there going into [turn] three, and he just races with not giving people any respect and not much room," Harvick said. "So we just wound up getting together. It's unfortunate, but that's the way it goes."

It's not the first time Logano and Harvick have butted heads. In March, Harvick bumped Logano on the final lap of the Nationwide Series race at Bristol. Logano, who ended up finishing 14th, tried to confront Harvick on pit road, but his JGR crew kept him distant from Harvick.

It's obvious that Logano and Harvick are not the best of friends these days.

I don't know what I ever did to [tick] him off, but he is apparently stupid," Logano added.

Following his argument with Harvick at Pocono, NASCAR officials summoned Logano and his father to the sanctioning body's hauler for a post-race chat.

"I think we probably missed the fire that's inside of Joey," team owner Joe Gibbs said. "You're talking about somebody we signed when he was 15, and we kind of watched him race at different places. I think he does have a real fire. Now, he controls himself. He's somebody that rarely gets out of control. But I definitely think he's got a real passion for what he does. It means a lot to him."

Tom Logano has been in trouble with NASCAR in the past. Logano had his NASCAR annual credential (hard card) taken away after his involvement in a post-race skirmish between Joey Logano and Greg Biffle in a Nationwide event last October in Fontana, CA.

Maybe it's time for daddy Logano to start letting his son - now out of his teens - handle his own problems. Makes you wonder who's wearing the younger Logano's fire suit, doesn't it?

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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.