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05/24/2009 - Beachwood, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michael Allen drilled his final drive 315 yards down the 18th fairway, then stuck his last approach shot to 12 feet.
"About freaking time!" he called out.
The 50-year-old from San Mateo, Calif., had a reason to be so effusive.
Winless in 334 PGA Tour stars, Allen won his Champions Tour debut by shooting a three-under 67 in the final round of the Senior PGA Championship on Sunday.
Clinging to a one-shot lead over Larry Mize through 17 holes, Allen turned his two uninhibited shots at No. 18 into a closing birdie and a two-shot win at six-under-par 274.
His first title in 11 years was also a major championship, the first of the season on the over-50 tour.
"It's been a great week," said Allen.
Mize, the 1987 Masters champion, coughed up the lead on the tough back nine at Canterbury Golf Club, also closing with a 67 to end at four-under 276. He watched as Allen clinched the win at 18.
"Two great shots. You gotta take your hat off to him," said the 50-year-old Mize, playing his first full season on the Champions Tour. "He played well."
Bruce Fleisher, an 18-time winner on the Champions Tour, joined Allen and Mize with a 67 in the final round and took third place at three-under 277. Tom Watson (66) was the only other survivor to par, ending at even-par 280.
Fred Funk (70), Jeff Sluman (73), Gil Morgan (72) and Chris Starkjohann (70) tied for fifth place at one-over 281.
Allen and Mize, after steady front nines, battled for the lead. Fleisher showed up late as a challenger, but the 60-year-old former U.S. Senior Open champion may simply have run out of holes against his younger competitors.
"Obviously 50 years old is a lot younger than 60," said Fleisher.
The final round was tight throughout.
Mize tied Allen for the lead with 15-foot birdie putts on the first two holes, then moved two shots ahead when he collected back-to-back birdies at the seventh and eighth. Allen climbed within a stroke when he rolled in a 20- footer for birdie at No. 9.
But neither player was going to win without playing well on Canterbury's back nine.
In Saturday's third round, Mize made an eagle, a birdie, three bogeys and a double-bogey on the demanding stretch of holes, while Allen had a trio of birdies.
Allen was better on Sunday, as well.
Mize hit two offline drives in two holes, the 11th and 12th. He saved par from a fairway bunker at 11 when he chipped to a foot, but made bogey from the rough at 12 to fall into a tie for the lead with Allen at four-under par.
That allowed Allen to take the lead with a five-foot birdie putt at the 12th.
Allen, however, gave the shot back when he missed a six-footer for par at No. 14 -- making his only bogey of the round and forging another tie for the lead with Mize at four-under.
Taking a long time over his shots towards the end of the round, Allen drained an eight-foot birdie putt at No. 15 to regain his one-shot lead.
Mize saved par from 15 feet at the 18th, placing all the pressure on Allen to make at least a closing par for the win.
Which is when Allen pulled driver on the last tee -- an unnecessary risk -- and unloaded his 315-yard blast down the fairway. As impressive was his gutsy approach to the green, taking the ball over a bunker and right at the hole.
"To hit a drive like that on 18 under the gun in awfully impressive," said Mize.
Allen, who turned 50 in January, had made 271 professional starts since winning the 1998 Greater Austin Open on the Nationwide Tour. He opted to play this tournament instead of the Byron Nelson Championship, the $6.5 million event on the PGA Tour this week, accepting a special invitation from the PGA of America to join the field.
It paid off.
Allen became the 14th player to win his Champions Tour debut, earning him $360,000 and a one-year exemption on the senior circuit. He is already fully- exempt on the PGA Tour, where he has made 9-of-12 cuts this season without posting a top-20 finish.
Short on experience in situations like the one he found himself in Sunday, Allen nevertheless appeared calm -- if meticulous -- as he found all but one fairway on the back nine.
Afterward, he smiled broadly on the 18th green, holding the Alfred S. Bourne Trophy in his hands.
"It's really heavy," Allen said.
Apparently, the pressure was not.
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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.
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