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03/11/2010 - Surprise, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brian Giles, who recently signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, announced his retirement on Thursday.
The 39-year-old outfielder battled an arthritic right knee last season while with San Diego and was limited to 61 games. He went on the disabled list in June with the injury and never returned to action, having batted a career-low .191 with just 23 RBI to that point.
A two-time All-Star while a member of the Pirates, Giles appeared in 1,847 games over 15 seasons of major-league service with Cleveland, Pittsburgh and San Diego.
He had a .291 career average with an on-base percentage of .400, while hitting 287 home runs and totaling 1,078 RBI.
<< Blue Bombers ink CB Glover
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Winnipeg Blue Bombers signed four players
on Thursday, including defensive back LaVar Glover.
Glover has spent the past four years with Winnipeg and in that time has
accumulated 116 tackles along
<< Hoyas knock off top-seeded Orange in Big East
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Wright scored 27 points and Greg Monroe
contributed 17 with 10 rebounds and seven assists, as 22nd-ranked Georgetown
pulled off a 91-84 victory over No. 3 Syracuse in the quarterfinals of the Big
East To
<< Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament Recaps
Greensboro, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sammy Zeglinski scored a season-high 21
points to lead Virginia to a 68-62 victory over Boston College in the first
round of the ACC Tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum.
Virginia (15-15), seeded ni
<< Hoyas knocked top-seeded Orange in Big East
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Wright scored 27 points and Greg Monroe
contributed 17 with 10 rebounds and seven assists, as 22nd-ranked Georgetown
pulled off a 91-84 victory over No. 3 Syracuse in the quarterfinals of the Big
East To
New York officially adds midfielder Robinson >>
Secaucus, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Red Bull New York acquired midfielder Carl
Robinson from Toronto FC in exchange for a fourth-round selection in the 2011
draft, the Major League Soccer club announced on Thursday.
"Carl is a very consis
Report: MLS players set to strike if CBA isn't reached >>
Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major League Soccer players overwhelmingly
voted to strike if a new collective bargaining agreement isn't reached with
the league by the season opener on March 25, according to a report in The
Washing
Onuaku injures knee in Syracuse loss >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Syracuse forward Arinze Onuaku injured his
right knee in Thursday's loss to Georgetown in the Big East Tournament.
Onuaku was hurt with just over five minutes to play in the 91-84 loss when he
tried to
Colts bring in G Alleman >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Indianapolis Colts signed guard Andy
Alleman on Thursday.
Alleman played in nine games with Kansas City in 2009, with three starts.
He appeared in 15 games two years ago with the Miami Dolphins.
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.
Academy Award Betting Odds for Best Picture Offer Great Value
If there is any category that is not an obvious win for any one nominee in this year's Academy Awards, it would be for Best Picture. Sure the Departed is a 5/7 favorite, but that's hardly anything when we look at Helen Mirren and her "out-of-reach" 1 to 40 odds (which means you would win a whopping $1 for every $40 bet).
For value, take a look at MySportsbook.com Oscars betting odds on my personal favorite, The Queen - a remarkable 12 to 1 long shot. The film hasn't won any pre-awards for Best Picture (compared to The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine), but there is a tremendous following and it is a strong enough film to warrant a surprise win.
TV Guide advises Oscar watchers should be cautioned not to discount the drama "Babel" with its strong social themes about overcoming communication gaps among people of different cultures.
"While 'Babel' lost several guild awards to 'Sunshine' and 'Departed,' it still enjoys loyal support, and historically Oscar voters favor dramas with social messages over comedies like 'Sunshine' and violent crime movies like 'Departed'."
"It hasn't done well in the guilds, which means there isn't much industry support," said Tom O'Neil of awards site TheEnvelope.com, "But several critics are expecting it to win, and that gets my attention." Babel had 7 to 2 odds at press time.
Who is to say independently produced Little Miss Sunshine won't be this year's Crash. Last year, Crash won for Best Motion Picture, shocking those who bet on gay cowboy flick, Brokeback Mountain, as the favorite to win.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Visa needs.
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