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05/21/2010 - Minneapolis, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Brewers have activated outfielder Carlos Gomez from the 15-day disabled list.
Gomez is slated to bat second in the Brewers lineup Friday night for the first of a three-game interleague series against the Minnesota Twins.
He has been sidelined since May 6 with a strained left rotator cuff.
The 24-year-old appeared in two games on a rehabilitation assignment with Single-A Wisconsin Wednesday and Thursday and had a pair of hits in seven at-bats.
Prior to his injury, Gomez was batting .276 with two home runs and six runs batted in over 20 games.
Gomez was acquired by the Brewers in a November trade with the Twins that sent shortstop J.J. Hardy to Minnesota.
<< Astros' Oswalt asks to be traded
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt has
reportedly asked to be traded.
According to the Houston Chronicle, Astros general manager Ed Wade said
Oswalt's agent, Bob Garber, contacted team owner
<< Giants TE Boss to have surgery
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Giants tight end Kevin Boss
will undergo surgery next week, the team announced Friday.
Boss will have an arthroscopic procedure to debride his right ankle on
Monday, and will be si
<< Third straight truck pole for Busch
Concord, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kyle Busch will start on the pole for Friday's
North Carolina Education Lottery 200 Camping World Truck Series after posting
the fastest lap in qualifying at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Busch turned a lap of
<< Teenager Spieth makes cut at Byron Nelson
Irving, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jordan Spieth, a 16-year-old amateur, became the
sixth-youngest player ever to make a cut on the PGA Tour Friday at the Byron
Nelson Championship.
Spieth, a high-school junior, completed a first-round, two
Mets place Maine on DL >>
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Mets have placed pitcher John
Maine on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder weakness.
Maine was removed from his start Thursday against Washington after just one
batter. He issued
Riegger moves in front in Raleigh >>
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John Riegger fired a seven-under 64 on Friday
to move atop the leaderboard after two rounds of the Rex Hospital Open.
Riegger finished 36 holes at 12-under 130 and is two strokes ahead at the TPC
Wakefield P
LSU guard Spencer academically ineligible >>
Baton Rouge, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Louisiana State guard Bo Spencer was ruled
academically ineligible for the fall semester, the school announced on Friday.
"We are disappointed for Bo, but our academic staff will continue to work to
help
All-Star qualifying rained out, Kurt Busch on pole >>
Concord, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Heavy rain forced NASCAR to cancel qualifying
for Saturday's Sprint All-Star race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Kurt Busch will start on the pole, since the starting lineup for the race was
determined by 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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