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07/15/2010 - Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton left Thursday's game against the Boston Red Sox with a sore right knee.
Hamilton went 3-for-4 in the game with three doubles and upped his batting average to a major league-leading .351.
He left in the seventh inning after hitting his third double of the game.
<< Scola staying in Houston
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Rockets and forward Luis Scola have
reportedly agreed to a five-year contract on Thursday.
The Houston Chronicle is reporting that the deal will be for $47 million.
Last season with Houston, his
<< Liverpool's Torres could play in EPL opener
Liverpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Spain international Fernando Torres
could feature in Liverpool's first Premier League game of the season against
Arsenal at Anfield in just over four weeks' time.
It had been feared that the st
<< Chelsea's Essien, Mikel will be ready for EPL
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ray Wilkins is confident that Chelsea duo
Michael Essien and John Obi Mikel will have recovered from injuries in time
for the start of the new season in mid-August.
Blues' assistant Wilkins is pleased
<< Brazilian midfielder Cicero joins Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wolfsburg has confirmed that Brazilian
midfielder Cicero has joined the club on a one-year loan deal.
The 25-year-old joins the Bundesliga side after spending two seasons with
Hertha Berlin after
Bettencourt leads DiMarco in Reno >>
Reno, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Bettencourt shot a six-under 66 to take the
first-round lead Thursday at the Reno-Tahoe Open.
Bettencourt earned his first 18-hole lead on the PGA Tour largely due to an
eagle at the 17th hole. He moved
Seattle edges D.C. United with late winner >>
Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roger Levesque scored in the 89th minute
and Kasey Keller made five saves, leading Seattle Sounders FC to a 1-0 victory
over D.C. United in MLS on Thursday night at RFK Stadium.
Keller made a few great s
Rangers use big first inning to beat Red Sox >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bengie Molina's two-run home run capped a six-
run first inning as the Texas Rangers downed the Boston Red Sox, 7-2, to start
the second half of the season.
Nelson Cruz went 3-for-5 with three RBI and a r
Goldberg leads Canadian Tour's Players Cup >>
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aaron Goldberg shot a six-under 65 to take the
first-round lead Thursday at The Players Cup.
Goldberg had six birdies in a flawless round on the Pine Ridge course to build
a one-stroke lead over Brady Stockto
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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