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08/21/2010 - Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees placed third baseman Alex Rodriguez on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left calf after Saturday's 9-5 win over Seattle.
Rodriguez returned to the lineup as the designated hitter for Friday's series opener after a three-game absence, only to leave after just one at-bat with tightness in the calf area.
Rodriguez has swatted 21 home runs and knocked in 97 runs this year while holding a .265 average through 112 games.
Eduardo Nunez made the first start of his major league career Saturday at third base in Rodriguez's absence, recording his first hit with an RBI single in a three-run seventh inning.
Right-hander Ivan Nova will be called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to replace Rodriguez on the roster. Nova will make his first career start on Monday in Toronto.
<< Atwal alone at the top of Wyndham Championship
Greensboro, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arjun Atwal fired a five-under 65 on
Saturday to take sole possession of the lead after the third round of the
Wyndham Championship.
Atwal, who fired a 61 for the first-round lead and shared
<< Chargers OT Thomas retires
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Chargers revealed on Saturday
that left tackle Tra Thomas has retired.
Thomas had been signed to a one-year contract back in June, but knee troubles
ended his preparation for the upcoming
<< Strong seventh gets Yanks by Mariners
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mark Teixeira's sacrifice fly capped a three-run
seventh inning, as the New York Yankees beat Seattle, 9-5, in the second
portion of a three-game set.
Robinson Cano hit a two-run single and Jorge Posada ad
<< N.Y., Marquez end Toronto's home unbeaten streak
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rafael Marquez scored his first goal in Major
League Soccer and Red Bull New York handed Toronto FC its first home defeat in
more than a year, 4-1 on Saturday at BMO Field.
Marquez scored off a swerving, 25-
El Hamdaoui's double leads Ajax over Roda >>
Amsterdam, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mounir El Hamdaoui scored twice and
Luis Suarez added a goal, leading Ajax to a 3-0 win over Roda on Saturday and
into first place in the Dutch Eredivisie.
El Hamdaoui scored the first goal at Ams
Lehman moves in front at the Tradition >>
Sunriver, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tom Lehman posted a three-under 69 on Saturday
to move in front after the third round of the Tradition, the fourth Champions
Tour major of the season.
Lehman, who won one of those majors, the Senior PGA Cham
Wondolowski's early goal is enough for San Jose >>
Santa Clara, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A goal from Chris Wondolowski in the fourth
minute was enough for the San Jose Earthquakes to claim a 1-0 win over the Los
Angeles Galaxy at Buck Shaw Stadium on Saturday.
The goal came after Bobby Convey'
Fish dunks Roddick, reaches Cincy final >>
Mason, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mardy Fish rallied past fellow American
Andy Roddick in the early rain-slowed semifinal matchup Saturday at the $3
million Western & Southern Financial Group Masters, a U.S. Open Series event.
R
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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