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07/23/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roy Halladay turned in eight scoreless innings and Raul Ibanez drove in three runs as Philadelphia awoke from its batting funk and downed Colorado, 6-0, in the opener of a four-game set from Citizens Bank Park.
Halladay (11-8) picked up his first win since July 5, holding the visitors to five hits while striking out nine and walking just one.
Ross Gload hit a two-run homer while Jayson Werth drove in a run and Jimmy Rollins collected two hits and scored twice for the Phillies, who have won two in a row and scored more runs than in their previous three games combined in the debut of new hitting coach Greg Gross.
After losing three of four to St. Louis this week and tallying four runs in the final three tilts, Milt Thompson was fired and Gross brought back into the fold. The 57-year-old had been hitting coach under former manager Larry Bowa from 2002-04.
Aaron Cook (4-6) was charged with nine hits and five runs over 4 1/3 innings in the setback for the Rockies, who have lost three in a row and seven of nine.
<< N.C. State football legend Byrd dies
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - North Carolina State football legend Dennis
Byrd, who was recently selected to be inducted into the College Football Hall
of Fame in December, has died at the age of 63.
Byrd suffered a heart attack las
<< Clark, Wilson share Canadian Open lead
Etobicoke, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Clark fired a six-under 64 Friday to grab
a share of the lead after 36 holes of the Canadian Open.
Clark was joined in the lead by Dean Wilson, who carded a 65 in round two.
They are tied at 10-under-
<< Tyreke Evans pleads no contest to reckless driving
Sacramento, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sacramento Kings guard Tyreke Evans, the
reigning rookie of the Year, pled no contest to reckless driving.
Sacramento district attorney Jan Scully made the announcement Friday, saying
Evans was order
<< Nationals place Atilano on DL
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Nationals placed rookie
pitcher Luis Atilano on the 15-day disabled list Friday.
Atilano was recently touched for five runs in four innings in a July 20 start
against the Reds and was
Rangers catcher Treanor leaves game >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Rangers catcher Matt Treanor left
Friday's game 1-0 win against the Angels after seven innings due to a sprained
right knee. He'll have an MRI on Saturday.
In the bottom of the seventh, Treanor h
Roddick, Isner advance to semis in Atlanta >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Americans Andy Roddick and John Isner were a
pair of quarterfinal winners in Friday's action at the Atlanta Tennis
Championships.
Roddick, the top seed, recovered after dropping the first set to b
Wilson, Young lead Rangers past Angels >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - C.J. Wilson threw eight shutout innings and
Michael Young homered in the opening frame as Texas edged the Angels, 1-0, in
the second installment of a four-game series.
Young and Nelson Cruz each had two
Parker's INT return for TD lifts Argos over Lions >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Byron Parker's 41-yard interception return for
a touchdown late in the fourth quarter proved to be the difference as the
Toronto Argonauts came back to defeat the British Columbia Lions, 24-20, at
the Rog
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.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting