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09/04/2010 - Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Lee hit the game-winning three-run home run in the eighth inning and drove in four to lead Houston to a 6-5 come-from- behind win over Arizona in the middle meeting of a three-game series.
Lee finished 2-for-4 while Jeff Keppinger also went 2-for-4 and scored twice for the Astros, who have won four of five.
Mark Melancon (2-0) tossed a scoreless inning to grab the win in relief and Brandon Lyon stranded the potential tying run at third base in the bottom of the ninth to earn his 12th save of the season for Houston, which defeated the hosts for just a second time in their last 10 meetings.
Aaron Heilman (5-6) continued the D'Backs' year-long bullpen implosion by coughing up a three-run lead. He suffered the loss after allowing four runs on four hits while recording just two outs for the Diamondbacks, who fell for only a second time in their last nine contests.
<< Irvin, Tyler among Panthers' final cuts
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defensive linemen Corvey Irvin and Tank Tyler
were among the notables released by the Carolina Panthers on Saturday, as the
team reduced its roster to the 53-player maximum
Irvin, a third-round draft choice o
<< Castroneves prevails at Kentucky
Sparta, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Helio Castroneves conserved enough fuel at the
finish to win Saturday's IZOD IndyCar Series race at Kentucky Speedway.
Castroneves drove the final 53 laps around the 1.5-mile oval without pitting.
The Team P
<< Raiders dump ex-starters Lawton, Morris, Richardson on cut day
Alameda, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fullback Luke Lawton, center Chris Morris and
defensive end Jay Richardson were among the prominent players released by the
Oakland Raiders on Saturday, as the team reduced its roster to the NFL-mandated
maximum o
<< White Sox edge Boston again to sweep doubleheader
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gavin Floyd tossed six solid innings and Carlos
Quentin posted two hits and scored twice as the Chicago White Sox edged
Boston, 3-1, to sweep a doubleheader at Fenway Park.
Mark Teahen also had a pair
Dalton leads TCU past Oregon State >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andy Dalton threw a touchdown and ran two in,
including the go-ahead score in the third quarter, as sixth-ranked TCU downed
No. 24 Oregon State, 30-21.
Dalton went 17-for-27 with 175 yards and two interce
Rams finish cuts; Adeyanju, Carpenter, Null all chopped >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Rams pared their roster to
the 53-player maximum on Saturday, releasing 16 players to complete their "cut-
down day" moves.
Excised were defensive end Victor Adeyanju, wide receiver Danario A
RSL equals longest home undefeated streak with win over N.Y. >>
Sandy, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Salt Lake earned a 1-0 victory over Red Bull
New York on Saturday night at Rio Tinto Stadium to equal the longest home
undefeated streak in Major League Soccer history at 22 games.
Fabian Espindola scor
No. 21 LSU escapes late charge from Yates, No. 18 UNC >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - T.J. Yates led 18th-ranked North Carolina to a
pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns and nearly a third on the final play of the
game, but it wasn't enough for the short-handed Tar Heels, as No. 21 LSU
barely
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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