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09/03/2010 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Dodgers have activated shortstop Rafael Furcal from the 15-day disabled list.
The 32-year-old switch hitter is penciled into the leadoff spot for the Dodgers Friday night as they open a weekend series versus San Francisco.
He had been sidelined since August 2 with a strained lower back.
It was Furcal's second stint on the DL this season, as he also missed nearly a month with a strained left hamstring.
In 76 games this year, Furcal is batting .316 with 57 runs scored, eight homers, 39 runs batted in, 18 steals and a .380 on-base percentage.
The club also recalled catcher A.J. Ellis from Triple-A Albuquerque.
<< Strasburg has successful surgery
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen
Strasburg underwent successful season-ending ulnar collateral ligament
replacement surgery on Friday.
The procedure, more commonly known as Tommy Jo
<< Johnson, Day share Deutsche Bank lead
Norton, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Zach Johnson and Jason Day both fired eight-
under 63s to share the lead after the first round of the Deutsche Bank
Championship.
With Hurricane Earl bearing down on the Northeast coast, players wer
<< Reds' Cabrera comes off DL
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Reds have activated shortstop
Orlando Cabrera from the 15-day disabled list.
Cabrera hasn't played since August 2 because of a strained left oblique.
The 35-year-old was batting .260 with
<< Murray cruises into third round in New York
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fourth-seeded Andy Murray was an easy
straight-set winner on Friday in second round action at the 2010 U.S. Open.
Murray needed under 1 1/2 hours to dispatch Jamaican Dustin Brown 7-5, 6-3,
6-0, i
Kentucky gets second Truck Series date in 2011 >>
Sparta, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR announced on Friday that Kentucky
Speedway will host a second Camping World Truck Series race during the 2011
season.
The Thursday, July 7 event will mark the 10th race on next year's tr
Sisk leads delayed Mylan Classic >>
Canonsburg, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Geoffrey Sisk was atop the leaderboard
Friday when the second round of the inaugural Mylan Classic was suspended due
to darkness.
Sisk, one of two first-round leaders, was minus-four for his round
Clijsters, Venus roll into U.S. Open fourth round >>
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending champion Kim Clijsters and
Venus Williams took easy third-round wins Friday at the U.S. Open.
The second-seeded Clijsters dropped the first three games of her match
against 27th-se
A's sign Hermida, assign him to Triple-A Sacramento >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics signed outfielder Jeremy
Hermida on Friday after he was recently released by the Boston Red Sox.
He was sent to Triple-A Sacramento.
Hermida, who appeared in 52 games for the Red So
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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