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07/24/2010 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals activated outfielder Ryan Ludwick from the 15-day disabled list in time for Saturday's game at Wrigley Field.
He went 1-for-3 with two runs scored and walk in his return to the lineup during a 6-5 loss to the Cubs.
Ludwick had been sidelined with a strained calf since June 26 and missed 23 games. He played three games at Triple-A Memphis on a rehab assignment and went 3-for-9 with a pair of homers and five runs batted in.
In 72 games for the Cardinals this season, Ludwick is batting .273 with 11 home runs and 42 runs batted in.
The Cardinals opened a roster spot by optioning pitcher P.J. Walters to Memphis. Walters was recalled Friday and pitched two hitless innings of relief in a 5-0 loss to the Cubs.
In five games for St. Louis this season, including a pair of starts, Walters is 1-0 with a 7.11 ERA.
<< Dallas draws Toronto to extend road unbeaten run
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Milton Rodriguez scored his first Major League
Soccer goal in the 77th minute and FC Dallas tied Toronto FC, 1-1, on Saturday
at BMO Field to extend its road unbeaten streak to seven games.
Maicon Santos score
<< Wilson four ahead after 54 holes in Canada
Etobicoke, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dean Wilson carded his third straight five-
under 65 Saturday to take a four-stroke lead after three rounds of the
Canadian Open.
Wilson, whose lone win was at the 2006 International, finished 54 holes at 15-
<< Chakvetadze reaches finals in Slovenia
Portoroz, Slovenia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anna Chakvetadze overcame a rough start
Saturday to defeat Polona Hercog and move into the finals of the Slovenia
Open.
Hercog, a Slovenian, won the first set, 6-0, in 24 minutes and took th
<< Mets' Maine to miss rest of season
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Mets pitcher John Maine has
undergone surgery on his right shoulder that will sideline him for the rest of
the 2010 season.
The procedure was performed Friday by Dr. Michael Ciccotti in Phil
New York's Barajas leaves game >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mets catcher Rod Barajas left Saturday's
game against Los Angeles in the sixth inning with a strained right oblique.
The veteran receiver had singled in a run to cut the Dodgers' lead to 2-1 and
was re
Giants place Affeldt on disabled list >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco Giants have placed pitcher
Jeremy Affeldt on the 15-day disabled list with a left oblique strain.
The veteran left-hander has appeared in 37 games in relief this season and has
posted a rec
Bayne claims Nationwide pole at ORP >>
Clermont, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trevor Bayne won his second consecutive pole
in the Nationwide Series by posting the fastest lap in Saturday's qualifying
for the Kroger 200 at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.
Bayne turned a lap of
Suzuki, Cust power A's past White Sox >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kurt Suzuki had three hits, including a home
run, to lead the Oakland Athletics in a 10-2 rout of the Chicago White Sox in
the second of three games at Oakland Coliseum.
Suzuki, who signed a contract extens
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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