Donald to miss rest of 2008 golf season

Golf Betting Lines

08/12/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luke Donald will miss the remainder of the 2008 golf season after undergoing surgery on his left wrist Monday.

Donald was hurt during the final round of the U.S. Open in June. He hit a drive on the 15th tee at Torrey Pines and immediately sought medical attention before deciding he could not continue.

The 30-year-old Englishman first opted for rehab, then decided to have surgery. Monday's procedure was performed by Dr. Andrew Weiland in New York.

"The injury Luke suffered is not all that uncommon for golfers and baseball players and I'm confident he will make a full recovery with the proper rehabilitation and training," said Dr. Weiland in a release by Donald's management. "I'm extremely pleased with how the surgery went."

Donald will begin strengthening exercises in six weeks and should be able to begin chipping and putting after three months of recovery and rehab.

"While there is never a good time for an injury, the timing of this injury was especially disappointing for me considering that it forced me to miss the [British] Open Championship and it comes in a Ryder Cup year," said Donald. "But taking proper care of it is my highest priority and I'm encouraged by Dr. Weiland's experience with this type of injury and his outlook towards my recovery and rehabilitation."

Donald, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour, had been a part of Europe's last two Ryder Cup teams. He notched three top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour this year, with a runner-up at the Honda Classic his best result.

Wwwlassiters Golf Betting News

<< Report: Vikings S Williams to miss opening of season
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Minnesota Vikings safety Madieu Williams could miss the first three weeks of the regular season due to a neck injury. Williams, who signed as a free agent in the offseason, missed Friday's presea

<< Report: Dolphins release Jay Feely
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Dolphins have reportedly released kicker Jay Feely, who spent just one season with the club. According to the Miami Herald, Feely was told of the decision Tuesday morning and said the team made t

<< Lazio furious about Rocchi injury
Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lazio president Claudio Lotito is furious after learning that Tommaso Rocchi will be sidelined for some time after being injured while on Olympic duty with Italy. The 30-year-old striker overcame a ca

<< Brewers try to keep frothing in San Diego
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National League's hottest team squares off against one of the circuit's least successful clubs tonight at San Diego's Petco Park, where the Milwaukee Brewers put a six-game win streak on the line against the host Pa

<< Everton's Pienaar breaks toe, likely out six weeks
Merseyside, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Everton's South African midfielder Steven Pienaar faces around six weeks out of action after suffering a broken toe in a friendly against PSV Eindhoven. The 26-year-old will miss the start

Georgia loses OT Sturdivant for season >>
Athens, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - University of Georgia sophomore offensive tackle Trinton Sturdivant suffered a season ending knee injury on Monday and will miss the entire season, according to head coach Mark Richt. Sturdivant started all

Petrova wins Cincy opener >>
Mason, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova was an easy first-round winner Tuesday at the $175,000 Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open, a hardcourt U.S. Open tune-up. The former Top-10 star Petrova p

Dolphins release Jay Feely >>
Davie, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Dolphins have released kicker Jay Feely, who spent just one season with the club, and will turn the duties over to rookie free agent Dan Carpenter. Feely connected on 21-of-23 field goal tries

Cammi Granato, Hull, Leetch and Richter to enter U.S. Hockey HOF >>
Colorado Springs, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Catherine "Cammi" Granato will become the first woman inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame when she and a triumvirate of NHL stars will join the vast list of American greats in a ceremon

Hamilton's Williams highlights CFL's weekly honor roll >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Richie Williams was among those selected as the CFL's top players for Week 7. Williams earned offensive honors after connecting on 15-of-24 passes for 293 yards with three to

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.