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06/22/2010 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves activated reliever Takashi Saito from the 15-day disabled list Tuesday.
Saito felt tightness in his left hamstring while pitching in the ninth inning of Atlanta's 4-3 win against the Dodgers on June 3. He was placed on the DL the next day.
The Japanese right-hander has worked to a 1-2 record and 2.92 earned run average in 25 relief appearances this season. He has 34 strikeouts and only eight walks over 24 2/3 innings.
Righty Craig Kimbrel was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett to make room on the roster. Kimbrel, after being called up for the second time this season when Saito was sidelined, did not give up an earned run in five relief innings.
<< Serena, Sharapova roll; Stosur falls in Wimbledon opener
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Serena Williams began her quest for a
fourth Wimbledon title with an easy straight-set win over Portugal's Michelle
Larcher De Brito, while former champion Maria Sharapova also rolled, and
French Open r
<< 2010 NHL Entry Draft Preview
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National Hockey League will hold its
annual Entry Draft this weekend at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, and the
Edmonton Oilers, holders of this year's No. 1 overall pick, will get the event
started Fr
<< Serbia, Australia eye knockout stage
Nelspruit, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Both Serbia and Australia have been
through their share of ups and downs after two matches in Group D at the FIFA
World Cup.
But when they get together at Mbombela Stadium on Wednesday in the final
<< Germany, Ghana battle for Group D supremacy
Johannesburg, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Germany has qualified for the
knockout stage of the last 14 FIFA World Cups, but enters Wednesday's Group D
finale against Ghana in need of a victory to secure advancement.
Germany dropped it
Scott Niedermayer calling it a career >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scott Niedermayer has reportedly decided to
announce his retirement after an 18-year NHL career.
The Anaheim Ducks have scheduled a press conference for Tuesday afternoon and
the Orange County Register re
Staubitz inks two-year deal with Wild >>
St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Wild signed forward Brad
Staubitz to a two-year contract on Tuesday, one day after acquiring the rights
to the restricted free agent in a trade with San Jose.
Financial terms of the deal
Quinn moves into front office, Renney named new Oilers coach >>
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Edmonton Oilers announced Tuesday that
Pat Quinn will step down as head coach and take over as a senior hockey
advisor and Tom Renney will be the team's new head coach.
Quinn guided the Oilers
Athletics send Fox to Baltimore >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics have traded utilityman
Jake Fox to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for minor league pitcher Ross
Wolf and cash considerations.
Fox was designated for assignment by the Athletic
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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