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05/08/2010 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros have activated infielder Chris Johnson from the 15-day disabled list and optioned him to Triple-A Round Rock.
The 25-year-old was placed on the DL on April 20 with a strained intercostal muscle. Johnson is hitting .227 with two RBI in eight games this season, with five starts at third base.
<< Isner, Querrey advance to final at Serbia Open
Belgrade, Serbia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Americans John Isner and Sam Querrey both
took a straight-set victory Saturday to move into the final at the clay-court
Serbia Open, a French Open tune-up.
The second-seeded Isner beat fourth-seeded Swis
<< Vidic content at Old Trafford
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Serbia central defender Nemanja Vidic
has again dismissed rumors linking him with a summer move away from Manchester
United.
The rugged 28-year-old stopper still has another two years of his Red Dev
<< Beasley make accept pay cut to stay at Rangers
Glasgow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rangers midfielder DaMarcus Beasley is
still hoping he can reach agreement which will see him extend his stay at
Ibrox beyond the end of the season.
The United States international is one of six
<< Surging Suns one win from sweeping Spurs
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -The Phoenix Suns are saying what every team with a 3-0 lead always does: the series isn't over yet.Even if history plainly says otherwise.The San Antonio Spurs regrouped Saturday on the verge of possibly being swept from the Wester
Montanes ousts Federer in Estoril semis >>
Estoril, Portugal (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning champion Albert Montanes will
have a chance to defend his title at the clay-court Estoril Open after ousting
top-seeded and world No. 1 Roger Federer on Saturday in the semifinals.
The fourth
Markakis, O's take first game of doubleheader over Twins >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nick Markakis went 2-for-4 with three RBI
and a run scored to help Baltimore take a 7-3 win over Minnesota in the opener
of a doubleheader at Target Field.
Julio Lugo went 3-for-5 with an RBI while Cesar
O'Neill vows to stay at Aston Villa >>
Birmingham, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill has
vowed to remain at Villa Park beyond the end of the season and hopes to have
ended continuing rumors about his future with the club.
O'Neill has led his side to
Penn State's Battle withdraws from draft >>
University Park, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Penn State point guard Talor Battle
removed his name from consideration for the NBA Draft on Saturday.
Battle averaged 18.5 points and 5.3 rebounds while starting all 31 games last
season as a juni
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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