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09/05/2010 - Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles recalled pitcher Chris Tillman from Triple-A Norfolk to start Sunday's game against the Tampa Bay Rays.
The right-hander went 5 1/3 innings and was charged with three runs on six hits while walking three and fanning four in the Birds' 8-7 comeback victory.
Tillman, who had last pitched in the majors on July 19 before Sunday, is 1-4 with a 7.42 earned run average in seven starts this season.
In 19 career games over two seasons, Tillman is 3-9 with a 6.43 ERA.
<< Davis, Tejada and Pagan help Mets crush Cubs
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ike Davis finished a triple shy of the cycle,
drove in three runs, and scored three runs, as the New York Mets dominated the
Chicago Cubs, 18-5, at Wrigley Field.
Ruben Tejada drove in five runs for the Met
<< White Sox rally in the ninth to complete Fenway sweep
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gordon Beckham and Juan Pierre drew the go-ahead
and insurance bases-loaded RBI walks as the Chicago White Sox staged a four-
run ninth-inning rally to take a 7-5 decision over the Boston Red Sox in the
finale
<< Bills sign TE Martin
Orchard Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Bills signed tight end David
Martin on Sunday.
Martin, an eight-year veteran, has appeared in 101 games with Miami and Green
Bay. He has totaled 152 catches for 1,519 yards and 14 touchdowns
<< Blue Jays bomb their way past Yankees
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vernon Wells and Aaron Hill both knocked in three
runs to help the Toronto Blue Jays beat New York, 7-3, and salvage the
finale of a three-game series at Yankee Stadium.
Wells hit a two-run homer in th
Texans release veteran LB Clark >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Texans released veteran linebacker
Danny Clark on Sunday.
He had signed with the team as a free agent in May.
Clark spent the 2007 season with the Texans and recorded 51 tackles and one
inter
Nadal advances to fourth round at U.S. Open >>
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top seed Rafael Nadal was an easy
third-round winner Sunday at the U.S. Open.
The Spaniard took the next step in his pursuit of a career Grand Slam,
handling Gilles Simon of France 6-4, 6-
Cuddyer, Span help Twins edge Rangers >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michael Cuddyer and Denard Span each drove
in a pair of runs and Minnesota survived a ninth-inning scare to take a 6-5
decision over Texas in the finale of a three-game series from Target Field.
Orlando
Hernandez dominant again as Mariners shut out Indians >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Russell Branyan homered and drove in two runs
to back eight scoreless innings by Felix Hernandez, as Seattle topped
Cleveland, 3-0, in the last of four between the clubs from Safeco Field.
Hernandez
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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