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08/19/2010 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros have placed closer Matt Lindstrom on the 15-day disabled list with lingering back issues.
The 30-year-old right-hander is 2-4 with a 4.15 earned run average in 44 games as the closer this season. Lindstrom has cashed in 22 of 28 save chances.
To take his place on the roster, Houston has recalled left-hander Fernando Abad from Triple-A Round Rock.
Abad has split this season between the Express and Double-A Corpus Christi and is a combined 4-3 with a 2.35 ERA in 19 games, including four starts.
He threw a scoreless inning in his big league debut July 28 against the Cubs.
<< Rockies OF Gonzalez leaves after crashing into wall
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Colorado Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez
exited Wednesday's game against the Dodgers after making a sensational catch
at the right-field wall before crashing into it.
With two outs and a runner on f
<< Wozniacki, Dementieva and Clijsters win in Montreal
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - U.S. Open runner-up Caroline Wozniacki and
reigning champion Elena Dementieva were among Wednesday's second-round winners
at the $2 million Rogers Cup, a U.S. Open tune-up.
The second-seeded Wozniacki snu
<< Royals rough up Carmona, Indians
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Yuniesky Betancourt finished 2-for-4 with a
solo homer and three RBI as Kansas City fended off a late charge by Cleveland
to post a 9-7 decision in the second of three between the clubs at Kauffman
Stadium
<< Twins beat ChiSox again, open up five-game lead in AL Central
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jim Thome scored the go-ahead run on Danny
Valencia's infield hit during a three-run sixth inning, boosting the Twins
over the White Sox, 7-6, as Minnesota increased its lead to a season-high five
games o
Reds rally late, escape Arizona with win >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pinch-hitter Chris Heisey's squeeze bunt single
in the ninth inning put the Reds in front and the Reds scored eight times over
the final two frames to steal an 11-7 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Laynce Ni
Rockies win 10-inning thriller at Dodger Stadium >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Melvin Mora scored the go-ahead run on
Octavio Dotel's wild pitch in the 10th inning, and the Dodgers had the tying
run thrown out at the plate to end the game, as the Rockies took a wild 3-2
decisio
Can Brett Favre do it again? >>
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) -Even Brett Favre was amazed by what he did last season as a 40-year-old quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings.In his 19th season, Favre threw for 4,202 yards and 33 touchdowns while setting career bests for completion rate
Next-best thing to Rachel and Zenyatta >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Since it doesn't appear that Rachel
Alexandra and Zenyatta will race against each other before the Breeders' Cup
in November, Saturday's meeting between leading three-year-old fillies Devil
May Care and Blind
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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