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09/04/2010 - St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Travis Wood turned in seven solid innings and hit his first career home run to lead Cincinnati in a 6-1 victory over rival St. Louis in the middle test of a crucial three-game set at Busch Stadium.
Jonny Gomes had a two-run double in the first inning and Brandon Phillips made it a three-run game in the second with an RBI single as the Reds won for the seventh time in nine games to extend their lead in the NL Central to eight games over St. Louis.
Wood (5-2) allowed a single unearned run and five hits while fanning three and walking two for his fifth win in seven starts. It was his first career matchup with the Cardinals, who had won five in a row in the series.
Adam Wainwright (17-10) again failed in his bid to become the National League's first 18-game winner. In fact, the right-hander extended a career- high losing streak to four consecutive starts while St. Louis dropped its ninth game in 11 tries.
Wainwright was charged with seven hits and five runs, only two of those earned, while fanning six and walking one. Matt Holliday had two hits and an RBI for the Cards, who opened the series Friday with a 3-2 win.
<< Vikings Release WR Walker, 19 others
Eden Prairie, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Veteran wide receiver Javon Walker was
among the players released by the Minnesota Vikings on Saturday, as the team
reduced its roster to the 53-player NFL maximum.
Walker, who was signed in August after a
<< Thome passes Big Mac on HR list as Twins rout Rangers
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jim Thome hit two homers to pass Mark
McGwire for ninth place on the all-time home run list, and the Minnesota Twins
pummeled the Texas Rangers, 12-4, at Target Field.
Thome now has 584 career home
<< Giants make cuts, QB Bomar among them
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Quarterback Rhett Bomar was among the
players released by the New York Giants on Saturday, as the team reduced its
roster to the 53-player maximum.
Bomar, a fifth-round 2009 draft choice out of Sam Hous
<< 25th-ranked West Virginia opens by blanking Coastal Carolina
Morgantown, WV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Geno Smith completed 20-of-27 passes for a
career-high 216 yards and two touchdowns in his first collegiate start and
Noel Devine ran for 111 yards and a score to lead West Virginia to a 31-0
drubbin
Siavii, Octavien among Cowboys' 20 cuts >>
Irving, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defensive lineman Junior Siavii and linebacker
Steve Octavien were among the most recognizable names released by the Dallas
Cowboys on Saturday, as the team pared its roster to the 53-player maximum.
Siavii, a f
Cahill shuts down Angels >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trevor Cahill tossed six scoreless innings to
help the Oakland Athletics defeat the Angels, 3-1, in the second test of this
three-game series.
Cahill (15-6) allowed four hits to go with a career-high six
Trade-happy Eagles also list Demps, Harris among cuts >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defensive backs Quintin Demps and Macho
Harris, both of whom were contributing members of the Philadelphia Eagles last
season, were among the players released as the team pared its roster to the 53-
player ma
England's Dawson ruled out of Swiss match >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - England defender Michael Dawson was injured
against Bulgaria on Friday in Euro 2012 qualifying and will be sidelined six
to eight weeks.
Dawson sprained the medial ligament in his left knee and one of his
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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