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06/22/2010 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros have recalled top prospect Jason Castro, one of six transactions the club made on Tuesday.
Castro, a catcher the Astros selected with the 10th overall pick in the 2008 draft, had his contract purchased from Triple-A Round Rock along with outfielder Jason Bourgeois. Third baseman Chris Johnson was also recalled by the club.
The 23-year-old lefty-hitting Castro is known as a solid defensive backstop and hit .265 with four home runs and 26 RBI in 57 games at Round Rock this season.
To make room on the roster, the Astros designated catcher Kevin Cash, pitcher Casey Daigle and outfielder Cory Sullivan for assignment.
<< NHL raises salary cap for 2010-11 season, extends CBA
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National Hockey League on Tuesday
announced a salary cap increase of five percent for the 2010-11 season, while
also announcing the extension of the current collective bargaining agreement.
The
<< Serena, Wozniacki, Sharapova roll; Stosur exits Wimbledon
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Serena Williams began her quest for a
fourth Wimbledon title with an easy straight-set win over Portugal's Michelle
Larcher De Brito, while third-seeded Caroline Wozniacki and former champion
Maria
<< Ravens, Hamlin agree to deal
Owings Mills, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Ravens signed safety Ken
Hamlin to a one-year deal on Tuesday.
Hamlin was released by the Dallas Cowboys in April.
The 29-year-old veteran will provide Baltimore with depth at the pos
<< Let the race to the Sprint Cup Chase begin
Loudon, NH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup. Date: Sunday, June
27. Race: Lenox Industrial Tools 301. Site: New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Track: 1.058-mile oval. Start time: 1:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 301. Miles: 318.458.
2009 winner: Jo
NASCAR suspends two-time Nationwide champ LaJoie for drug use >>
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR on Tuesday indefinitely suspended
Randy LaJoie, a crew member for Joe Gibbs Racing's No.18 team in the
Nationwide Series, for violating the sanctioning body's substance abuse
policy.
College Football HOFer Cloud passes away at 85 >>
Williamsburg, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jack Cloud, who was elected to the
College Football Hall of Fame in 1990, has passed away at the age of 85.
Cloud was a three-time All-American fullback for William and Mary between
1947-49 an
Jets sign McKnight, waive three others >>
Florham Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Jets signed running back Joe
McKnight, their fourth-round pick in the 2010 draft, to an undisclosed
contract on Tuesday.
McKnight was a highly-touted recruit out of high school and
Bucks acquire Maggette from Golden State >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Bucks have acquired forward
Corey Maggette from the Golden State Warriors for guard Charlie Bell and
center Dan Gadzuric.
The Bucks also picked up the 44th selection in the 2010 draf
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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