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07/06/2010 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston Astros infielder Geoff Blum will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow Wednesday morning.
The operation is scheduled to take place at the Texas Orthopedic Hospital and will be performed by Dr. Tom Mehlhoff. Once the surgery is completed, the Astros will then be able to determine how long Blum will be out of action.
Blum was placed on the disabled list Sunday after experiencing swelling and discomfort in his elbow following Thursday's game in San Diego.
The 37-year-old Blum has struggled to a .241 average with 14 RBI and seven doubles in 59 games this season.
<< Blazers sign Babbitt
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Portland Trail Blazers have signed forward
Luke Babbitt, the 16th overall pick in this year's NBA Draft.
Babbitt was selected by Minnesota, but was then traded on draft night, along
with forward Ryan Gom
<< Brewers P Gallardo put on DL, will miss All-Star Game
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Yovani
Gallardo was put on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday due to a strained left
rib cage muscle.
Gallardo suffered the injury during the third inning of Sunday's
<< Nashville officially brings in Kostitsyn
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Nashville Predators officially locked
up restricted free-agent forward Sergei Kostitsyn on Tuesday.
The deal is worth $550,000 for the upcoming season.
Nashville acquired the embattled Kostitsyn
<< Phillies activate Happ, option him to minors
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies have
activated pitcher J.A. Happ from the 15-day disabled list and optioned him to
Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Happ has been recovering from a strained left forearm and
Patrick not exactly feeling at home >>
Joliet, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Nationwide. Date: Friday, July 9.
Race: Dollar General 300. Site: Chicagoland Speedway. Track: 1.5-mile oval.
Start time: 8:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 100. Miles: 250. 2009 winner: Denny Hamlin.
Television:
Truck begin nine-week stretch at Iowa >>
Newton, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Camping World Truck. Date:
Sunday, July 11. Race: Lucas Oil 200. Site: Iowa Speedway. Track: .875-mile
oval. Start time: 2:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 200. Miles: 175. 2009 winner: Mike
Skinner. Television:
Youkilis leaves game >>
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston Red Sox first baseman Kevin
Youkilis left Tuesday's game with an undisclosed foot or leg injury.
Youkilis was removed from play prior to his at-bat in the fourth inning after
he apparently hurt th
Cano among initial six chosen for HR Derby >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano
was among six players chosen initially for this year's All-Star Home Run
Derby, to be held next Monday in Anaheim.
Other players to commit from the Ameri
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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