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08/28/2010 -
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -The Boston Red Sox have activated reliever Hideki Okajima from the 15-day disabled list and optioned right-hander Michael Bowden to Triple-A Pawtucket.
The moves were announced before Boston's game Saturday night at Tampa Bay.
Okajima had been out since Aug. 6 due to a strained right hamstring.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
<< Defending champ ousted at U.S. Amateur
University Place, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending champion Byeong-Hun An was
ousted from the U.S. Amateur on Saturday, losing on the last hole of his
semifinal match.
Trying to become the first back-to-back champion since Tiger Woods, An squ
<< Blue Jays stave off late rally, nip Tigers
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandon Morrow had another solid outing,
allowing just one run in six innings, and the Toronto Blue Jays held on to
beat the Detroit Tigers, 5-4, in the third of four games at Rogers Centre.
Morrow
<< Bonus introduced for winning Preakness Stakes
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's been a few years since there has been
a bonus for sweeping the Triple Crown races. During the time that VISA
sponsored the bonus, no three-year-old thoroughbred won the three classics,
Kentuck
<< Wozniacki captures third straight Pilot Pen title
New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Caroline Wozniacki won her third consecutive
Pilot Pen Tennis title Saturday by pulling out a three-set victory over Nadia
Petrova.
The world No. 2 Wozniacki took the 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over Petrova in a li
Eagles' DE Cole has ankle sprain >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Trent
Cole has a mild ankle sprain.
Cole suffered the injury in the second quarter of Friday's 20-17 preseason win
at Kansas City. An MRI taken early on Saturday revea
White Sox P Threets to have Tommy John surgery >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox have placed reliever
Erick Threets on the 15-day disabled list with a torn ulnar collateral
ligament in his left elbow.
The left-hander allowed just one unearned run in 11
Blue Jays' Encarnacion lands on DL >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Blue Jays placed Edwin Encarnacion on the
15-day disabled list after the third baseman sprained his left wrist during a
sixth-inning at-bat on Saturday.
Encarnacion grounded out in that frame and exit
Wie, Shin share lead at Canadian Women's Open >>
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michelle Wie shot an even-par 72 on Saturday
and was joined in the lead by Jiyai Shin after three rounds of the Canadian
Women's Open.
Shin carded a three-under 69, bouncing back from a pair of bogeys with thr
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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