Houston signs academy player to developmental contract

Soccer Betting Lines

03/09/2010 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Dynamo signed Dynamo Academy product Francisco Navas Cobo to a developmental contract, the Major League Soccer club announced on Tuesday.

The 18-year-old midfielder joins goalkeeper Tyler Deric as the second Dynamo Academy player in team history to be signed to a first-team contract.

"To have a successful Academy, you need talent and opportunity," Dynamo Director of Youth Development James Clarkson said. "In Francisco Navas Cobo, we have talent, and through [Houston Dynamo head coach] Dominic Kinnear's vision and support of the Dynamo Academy, we've been able to provide opportunity to Francisco and the other young men in our development system. This signing shows that the Dynamo Academy is working, and we look forward to the day when one of our Academy players makes his MLS debut."

Originally from Houston, Navas Cobo spent several years in Colombia before returning to his hometown in 2009. He immediately joined the Dynamo Academy, with Kinnear seeing him play several times last fall before inviting him on trial with the first team for the 2010 preseason.

Wwwc2i Soccer Betting News

<< Big East Conference Tournament Recaps
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dominque Jones scored 20 points with nine rebounds as South Florida downed DePaul, 58-49, in first-round action at the Big East Tournament. Mike Mercer added 14 points and five boards for the Bulls (20-

<< Pats make it official with Wilfork, Neal
Foxborough, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New England Patriots officially announced the signings of defensive tackle Vince Wilfork and guard Stephen Neal on Tuesday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but a report from Bost

<< NASCAR suspends crew members for substance abuse violation
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR on Tuesday indefinitely suspended two crew members for violating the sanctioning body's substance abuse policy. According to a news release, William Keith, a crew member of the No.38 Front Row

<< UL-Lafayette to look for new men's hoops coach
Lafayette, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Louisiana-Lafayette has decided not to retain men's basketball coach Robert Lee, whose contract expired at the conclusion of this season. Lee had spent the past 14 seasons with

<< Turf to Dirt Angle Works Best
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Both of Saturday's three-year-old Kentucky Derby preps were won by horses that raced on the turf in their previous start. One was favored at Aqueduct while the other was the sixth choice in the betting at S

Browns part ways with QB Anderson >>
Berea, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Browns terminated the contract of quarterback Derek Anderson on Tuesday. The move comes less than 24 hours after the Browns traded for Seneca Wallace and seems to open the door for Brady Q

Nurnberg loses Breno for rest of season >>
Nurnberg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nurnberg has been rocked by confirmation that on-loan defender Breno will miss the remainder of the season. Breno was stretchered off during Sunday's 3-2 victory over Bayer Leverkusen and subsequent s

Broncos sign DE Green >>
Englewood, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Broncos signed free agent defensive end Jarvis Green on Tuesday. Green had spent each of his eight NFL seasons with the Patriots after New England made him a fourth-round pick in the

San Antonio Silver Starts (WNBA) >>
Signed forward Tasha Humphrey to a training camp contract.

Lions release QB Pierce >>
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The British Columbia Lions released quarterback Buck Pierce on Tuesday. The 28-year-old California native threw for 2,272 yards, 10 touchdowns and 12 interceptions on 199-of-315 completions in 2009

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 sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.