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07/21/2010 - Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Leake threw five innings of one-run ball before a nearly three-hour rain delay and Joey Votto smacked a three-run homer, as the Reds hung on for an 8-7 win over Washington in the continuation of a four-game series.
Leake (7-1) stretched his unbeaten streak to five straight starts by holding the Nationals to five hits and a walk while fanning three before the rains came at Great American Ball Park.
Leake also notched an RBI for the Reds, who have won four of five games coming out of the All-Star break.
Nationals starter Luis Atilano (6-7) was limited to just four innings because of the weather and gave up five runs on five hits with three walks.
Mike Morse hit a three-run, pinch-hit triple and Ryan Zimmerman hit a two-run homer during a six-run sixth inning for Washington, which has lost four straight and six of seven overall. Nyjer Morgan had two hits and drove in one in the loss.
<< Enright, D'Backs shut down Mets
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arizona rookie right-hander Barry Enright
turned in eight solid innings following a shaky start, and the Diamondbacks
beat the New York Mets, 3-2, in the second portion of a three-game series at
Chase F
<< Lugo's RBI hit in 13th inning lifts O's over Rays
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Julio Lugo's RBI single in the bottom of the
13th lifted the Baltimore Orioles to a wild 11-10 win over the Tampa Bay Rays
in the second of three games at Camden Yards.
The Orioles needed to score twice i
<< Phillies P Moyer leaves game, DL stint looms
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer
left Tuesday's 7-1 loss to St. Louis after one inning with a left elbow
strain and is headed for a stint on the disabled list.
Phillies manager Charlie
<< Ramirez's three homers propels Cubs over Astros
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aramis Ramirez recorded his fourth career
three-homer game and drove in seven runs, as the Chicago Cubs rallied past the
Houston Astros, 14-7, in the second installment of a three-game series at
Wrigley
A's top Red Sox in 10 innings >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Kouzmanoff's RBI single in the bottom of
the 10th inning lifted the Oakland Athletics to a 5-4 win over the Boston Red
Sox in the middle installment of a three-game series.
Kouzmanoff and Jack Cust both
Torres leads Giants to late win over Dodgers >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andres Torres sparked a three-run top of
the ninth with a two-run double, as the San Francisco Giants rallied past the
Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-5, in a wild game between these NL West rivals.
Holding a
Cubs look ahead after Piniella says he will retire >>
CHICAGO (AP) -Just like a long line of predecessors, Lou Piniella thought he could lead the Chicago Cubs to that elusive championship and end a drought that dates to 1908.Barring an epic turnaround, he can forget about that.General manager Jim Hendr
Report: Hornets to name Dell Demps general manager >>
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Hornets have reportedly
found their next general manager.
The Times-Picayune reported late Tuesday night that the Hornets are expected
to name San Antonio Spurs vice president of bas
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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