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04/21/2009 - St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rick Ankiel finished with three hits and doubled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, as the St. Louis Cardinals bested the New York Mets, 6-4, in the opener of a three-game series at Busch Stadium.
Yadier Molina also had three hits while Albert Pujols doubled in a pair for St. Louis, which had lost two of three to the Cubs in a rain-shortened series over the weekend.
Jason Motte (1-1) recorded the final two outs in the eighth to pick up the win, and Ryan Franklin set down New York in order in the ninth for his third save of the season.
Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and David Wright each had two hits and an RBI in the loss, which was credited to J.J. Putz (1-1) for his one-inning, two-run relief effort. The Mets were coming off a 3-3 homestand, their first at Citi Field.
Neither starter factored into the decision, with St. Louis' Todd Wellemeyer lasting five innings, allowing four runs on 10 hits, and New York's Oliver Perez surrendering four runs on six hits and five walks in 4 2/3 frames.
<< Pettitte solid in Yankees' win over Athletics
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andy Pettitte threw seven strong innings to lead
the New York Yankees in a 5-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics in the first
night game at the new Yankee Stadium.
Pettitte (2-0) gave up two runs on nine hit
<< Indians hold off Royals
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Grady Sizemore hit a three-run home run to
help the Cleveland Indians take an 8-7 win over the Kansas City Royals in the
opener of a three-game set at Jacobs Field.
Victor Martinez was 4-for-5 with a tw
<< Jokinen's buzzer beater helps Carolina even series with Devils
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jussi Jokinen tipped in Dennis Seidenberg's
point shot at the third-period buzzer to lift Carolina over New Jersey, 4-3,
and tie the teams' Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.
With the game tied at
<< Umpire Danley leaves game on stretcher
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Home-plate umpire Kerwin Danley was taken
off the field on a stretcher during the Texas Rangers' 5-4 win over the
Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.
With one out in the top of the sixth innin
Huff leads O's in pounding of ChiSox >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aubrey Huff blasted a pair of two-run homers
to support a solid effort by Brad Bergesen in his major league debut, as the
Baltimore Orioles defeated the Chicago White Sox, 10-3, in the opener of a
three-g
Ramirez powers Cubs past Reds >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aramis Ramirez had three hits and three runs
batted in, as the Chicago Cubs dealt the Cincinnati Reds a 7-2 final
in the opener of a three-game series from Wrigley Field.
Micah Hoffpauir hit a so
Nationals win two in a row, edge Braves >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shairon Martis now has two of Washington's
three wins on the season, throwing six solid innings as the Nationals managed
to slip by Atlanta, 4-3.
The 22-year-old Martis (2-0), who was credited with Washi
Phillies rout Brewers despite Braun's big night >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pedro Feliz went 3-for-4 with a homer,
three RBI, and two runs scored, while veteran Jamie Moyer pitched a solid six-
plus innings as the Philadelphia Phillies routed the Milwaukee Brewers, 11-4,
in the
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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