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08/04/2010 - Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Diamondbacks have recalled pitcher Rafael Rodriguez from Triple-A Reno and optioned infielder Tony Abreu to the same club.
Rodriguez was acquired from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the July 25 deal that sent Dan Haren back to the American League.
The 25-year-old right-hander has a combined record of 5-3 with a 3.07 earned run average in 40 relief appearances between Triple-A Salt Lake City and Reno.
He appeared in 18 games for the Halos last season, compiling a record of 0-1 and a 5.58 ERA and made one outing earlier this season for them.
Abreu was batting .237 with seven runs driven in over 60 games for Arizona this season.
<< Shaq signs with Celtics
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Celtics have added center Shaquille
O'Neal, announcing Wednesday the signing of the veteran big man.
O'Neal joins a Boston team that returns its core from last season, when the
Celtics went to
<< Rays' Davis named top AL rookie for July
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Wade Davis has
been selected as the American League's top rookie for the month of July.
Davis led all rookies with four wins during July as he went 4-0 with a 3.03
earned run
<< Bruins name former rival Jarvis assistant coach
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Bruins hired Doug Jarvis as an
assistant coach on Wednesday.
Jarvis spent four seasons, from 2005-09, as an assistant with the Montreal
Canadiens, Boston's perennial rival, including par
<< Union host Crew in desperate need of points
Chester, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Crew travel to take on the
expansion Philadelphia Union in a mid-week Major League Soccer fixture at PPL
Park on Thursday night.
Both teams are coming off disappointing league results thi
Pirates claim Resop, Park off waivers >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Pirates claimed relievers
Chris Resop and Chan Ho Park off waivers on Wednesday.
Resop, pitching for Atlanta, allowed five runs on five hits and three walks
with two strikeouts in two
NHL confirms 2011 Heritage Classic >>
Calgary, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National Hockey League confirmed on
Wednesday that a second outdoor game will be played next season, an all-
Canadian matchup between the Montreal Canadiens and Calgary Flames.
The game is sc
Cubs come alive in series finale against Brewers >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aramis Ramirez, Geovany Soto and Blake DeWitt
each hit a three-run homer, as the Chicago Cubs crushed the Milwaukee Brewers,
15-3, to avoid getting swept.
It was a big offensive day for the Cubs, who recor
Gonzalez's two homers help Rockies, Jimenez win >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Gonzalez hit a pair of homers and drove
in three as Colorado topped San Francisco, 6-1, in the finale of a two-game
set from Coors Field.
Ryan Spilborghs added two RBI and Troy Tulowitzki posted
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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