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08/18/2010 - Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coco Crisp went 3-for-4 with a walk and scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, as the Oakland Athletics rallied for a 6-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in the middle contest of a three-game series.
Daric Barton added two hits and batted in a run for the Athletics, who scored three runs in the seventh to take control. Dallas Braden (8-8) gave up two runs -- one earned -- in seven innings to get the win for Oakland, which snapped a four-game slide.
Brian Tallet (2-5) allowed two runs in two-plus innings and took the loss for Toronto, which had won four of five. Tallet was pitching in relief of Brandon Morrow, who gave up two runs in four innings.
<< Royals put Bannister on DL
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Royals have placed pitcher
Brian Bannister on the 15-day disabled list because of right rotator cuff
tendinitis.
Bannister has not pitched since August 2. In 22 starts this season, the
<< Thome's HR in 10th pushes Twins' division lead to four
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jim Thome played hero against his former
team, drilling a two-run homer off Matt Thornton in the 10th inning, as the
Twins edged Chicago, 7-6, to widen their lead to four games over the White Sox
in the
<< Top seeded Jankovic falls in Montreal
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Iveta Benesova, a qualifier from the Czech
Republic, upended top-seeded Jelena Jankovic, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, Tuesday at the
$2 million Rogers Cup, a U.S. Open tune-up. The event is being played on the
hardcou
<< Greinke helps Royals edge Indians
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wilson Betemit and Yuniesky Betancourt each
hit a home run to back six strong innings from Zack Greinke, as the Kansas
City Royals edged the Cleveland Indians, 2-1, in opener of a three-game set.
Greink
Hurricanes' Thomas granted extra year >>
Coral Gables, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miami-Florida forward Adrian Thomas was
given an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA after injuries cost him nearly
two full seasons.
Thomas suffered back-to-back season-ending injuries four gam
Eli Manning back on the field with Giants on Wed. >>
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -Eli Manning is back on the field.The New York Giants quarterback joined teammates for stretching on Wednesday morning at training camp at the University at Albany.Manning, who needed 12 stitches to close a gash on the left side of
Yankees resume series with Tigers in the Bronx >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees will once again be without star third
baseman Alex Rodriguez this evening when they continue their four-game series
against the Detroit Tigers at Yankee Stadium.
Rodriguez left Monday's tilt with
Als seek return to win column in clash with Bombers >>
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hoping to bounce back from just their second
loss of the season, the Montreal Alouettes entertain the Winnipeg Blue Bombers
at McGill Stadium on Thursday night.
According to the most recent power rankings in t
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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