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08/28/2010 - Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adam Dunn hit a three-run homer and doubled in two more as Washington thumped the Cardinals, 14-5, in the continuation of a four-game series.
Roger Bernadina had a two-run home run and scored twice, while Ivan Rodriguez and Willie Harris knocked in two runs each. Mike Morse was 4-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and an RBI as the Nationals responded from a 4-2 loss to win their second game in the series.
Livan Hernandez (9-9) went 6 1/3 innings and yielded five runs on eight hits but was bailed out by a 16-hit attack.
Kyle Lohse (2-6) took the brunt of the damage, surrendering 11 hits and eight runs in five innings. Reliever Mike MacDougal wasn't much better, tagged for six runs in 1 2/3 frames.
Jon Jay swatted a two-run homer and Albert Pujols had an RBI double for St. Louis, which failed to pick up ground in the National League Central race with Cincinnati's loss to the Cubs. The margin between the two clubs remains at four games.
<< Mapp's stoppage-time goal helps Union sink 10-man Revs
Foxborough, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Union scored two goals in
the final eight minutes of their Major League Soccer match at the New England
Revolution on Saturday night to earn a 2-1 win.
Second-half substitute Justin Map
<< Spiller runs Bills past Bengals
Orchard Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - C.J. Spiller debuted in front of the
Bills' faithful and rushed for two touchdowns while Trent Edwards firmed his
grip on the starting quarterback role, as Buffalo defeated the Cincinnati
Bengals
<< Langer leads Price by one at Boeing Classic
Snoqualmie, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bernhard Langer fired a nine-under 63 in
Saturday's second round to take a one-stroke lead at the Boeing Classic.
Langer, who has already won four times on the Champions Tour this season,
completed 36 holes
<< Fukudome hits deciding blast as Cubs clip Reds
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kosuke Fukudome hit the game-winning two-
run home run and Randy Wells spun six solid frames as Chicago edged
Cincinnati, 3-2, in the middle meeting of a three-game set.
Fukudome finished 2-f
Eskimos score 17 unanswered points to stun Roughriders >>
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Noel Prefontaine's 37-yard field goal in the
final minute of play proved to be the difference, as the Edmonton Eskimos
stunned the Saskatchewan Roughriders, 17-14, at Commonwealth Stadium.
Prefontaine
Pit gamble pays off for Franchitti in Chicagoland win >>
Joliet, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dario Franchitti gave his IZOD IndyCar Series
title defense a huge boost by winning Saturday's Peak Antifreeze and Motor Oil
Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway.
Franchitti opted not to take on new tires and too
Cabrera's home run carries Cleveland past Royals >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Asdrubal Cabrera's home run leading off the
10th inning was the difference, as the Indians beat the Royals, 4-3, in the
second of three games at Progressive Field.
Cabrera finished with two hits for th
Flacco leads Ravens over Giants >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Flacco played into the third quarter and
passed for 229 yards and two touchdowns on 21-of-34 efficiency, pacing the
Ravens over the Giants, 24-10, in preseason action.
Flacco was also picked off on
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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