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08/21/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Marlins can continue a recent run of home dominance against the Houston Astros tonight when the two teams meet in game two of their three-game weekend series at Sun Life Stadium.
The host Marlins won the opener, 9-0, on Friday night when Anibal Sanchez allowed three hits over seven shutout innings.
Dan Uggla delivered a two-run single and Emilio Bonifacio ended with two RBI for the Marlins, who won their fourth straight contest. Cody Ross and Hector Luna hit back-to-back homers off Fernando Abad in the eighth inning.
Sanchez (10-8) walked a batter, fanned five and even singled in a run during Florida's four-run seventh inning. He's 3-0 with a 0.70 ERA lifetime against Houston.
J.A. Happ (3-2) yielded five hits and three runs over six innings for Houston. Jeff Fulchino was touched for four hits and as many runs in two-thirds of an inning.
The win was Florida's ninth in its last 10 home games against the Astros.
Houston will try to even the series behind lefty starter Wandy Rodriguez, who's seeking his fourth straight decision win and seventh in his last eight.
The 31-year-old Dominican was 3-10 on the season after a 9-3 interleague loss to Texas on June 18, but is 6-1 in 10 starts since, including consecutive defeats of the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati and Milwaukee.
The Astros are 10-14 in Rodriguez's 24 starts.
He won a career-best 14 games last season and is 3-1 in seven career appearances against the Marlins with a 2.76 earned run average.
Florida replies with towering right-hander Chris Volstad, who faces the Astros for the second time in 2010.
The 6-foot-8, 232-pounder allowed five hits and three runs in six innings against Houston on April 20, getting a no-decision in a 7-5 Marlins loss.
He's 1-0 in three career starts against the Astros with a 4.82 ERA.
Volstad dropped a 7-1 decision at Pittsburgh in his last start on Aug. 16, allowing five hits and five runs in five innings.
He's 2-4 in 11 home starts this season while allowing just 65 hits and striking out 49 batters in 67 1/3 innings.
Houston took two of three from the Marlins back in April.
<< Reds hope returning Cueto can extend 7-game win streak vs. Dodgers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Johnny Cueto has been firing on all cylinders on the mound
for most of this season. He showed the wrong kind of fire last time he
pitched.
Set to return from a seven-game suspension stemming from a benches-clearing
brawl,
<< Jimenez sets sights on 18th victory in clash with D-Backs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A blown save last weekend cost Ubaldo Jimenez a MLB-leading
and single-season franchise record 18th victory, but given Colorado's current
position in the National League Wild Card standings the club can't be too
picky about h
<< Athletics go for fifth straight win in test with Rays
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletic take aim at their fifth win in a row,
as they resume a four-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays tonight at the
Coliseum.
Last night, Kevin Kouzmanoff scored the go-ahead run on an error in the eighth
<< Red Sox try to rebound against homer-happy Blue Jays
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox will try rebound from their worst defeat
of the campaign, as they continue a three-game set with the Toronto Blue Jays
tonight at Fenway Park.
On Friday, Lyle Overbay hit two three-run home runs as the B
White Sox, Royals set to play two in Kansas City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After falling into second place in the American League
Central standings with a rough stretch over the past few weeks, the Chicago
White Sox hope a series of games against the non-contending Kansas City Royals
will enable the
Alabama tops preseason AP football poll >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The defending national champion Alabama
Crimson Tide are still at the top of the college football world as the top-
ranked team in the preseason Associated Press poll, which was released
Saturda
Hanson moves four clear at Czech Open >>
Celadna, Czech Republic (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Peter Hanson caught fire on the
back nine Saturday en route to a five-under 67, which gave him a four-stroke
lead after three rounds of the Czech Open.
Hanson completed 54 holes at 12-under-par 204.
A-Rod held out of Saturday's lineup, likely to miss extended time >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Rodriguez is not in the Yankees' starting
lineup for Saturday's game versus Seattle and will likely be out at least
through the weekend while battling a lingering calf strain.
Rodriguez returned to N
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.
In part two of MySportsbook.com’s draft preview, we’ll take a look at a division that was extremely disappointing last season: the NFC South. Many “experts” predicted the Panthers to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, of course they could not even make the playoffs in an extremely weak NFC. The Saints definitely made up for the disappointing seasons of their NFC South brethren by exploding out of no where en route to the NFC Championship game. For the avid NFL gambler, it is imperative to pay attention to the NFL draft. Although free agency gets a ton of publicity, the successful franchises build their teams around the draft.
1. New Orleans Saints
Who would have thought this time last year that the Saints would be the favorites to win the NFC South for the 2007 campaign? New Orleans is loaded with firepower on the offensive side of the ball but with the exodus of Joe Horn they will most likely look to draft a WR on Day 1. Despite having the NFL’s 3rd ranked pass defense last season, the Saints will most likely upgrade their CB’s with one of their first two picks. Other possibilities for the Saints will be TE and DT. Because of where they will be selecting (27th), the Saints could go the “best available player” route which could net a LB.
Key additions: Eric Johnson TE, Troy Evans LB, David Patten WR
Key loses: Joe Horn WR,
Team needs: CB, WR, TE, LB, DT
Possible draftees: Aaron Ross CB Texas, Darrelle Revis CB Pitt, Ted Ginn Jr. WR OSU, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Chris Houston CB Arkansas, Greg Olsen TE Miami
2. Carolina Panthers
Carolina was one of the biggest disappointments in the NFL last season. With the signing of David Carr, expect the very first quarterback controversy to come out of Carolina if Jake Delhomme doesn’t rebound quickly from an average 2007 season. With veteran safety Mike Minter getting up there in age, they will look to draft a safety on Day 1 but probably not in the first round. LB is another need with the loss of Chris Draft to go along with Dan Morgan’s concussion problems. If TE Greg Olsen is still on the board, he might be too good to pass up despite their needs on the defensive side of the ball.
Key additions: David Carr QB
Key loses: Chris Draft LB
Team needs: LB, TE, S, OT
Possible draftees: Greg Olsen TE Miami, Patrick Willis LB Ole Miss, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Levi Brown OT PSU
3. Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons were another NFC South team to have a disappointing 2007 season. The Falcons have been plenty busy during the off season with plenty of players coming and going including a new head coach. The Falcons were able to improve their draft position with the trade of coveted backup QB Matt Schaub. High on the list of Day 1 needs will be a defensive end to replace Patrick Kerney and a hard hitting safety since Lawyer Milloy is nearing the end of his career. With an additional 2nd round pick, the Falcons could attempt to trade up to acquire local product WR Calvin Johnson.
Key additions: Joey Harrington QB, Toniu Fonoti OG, Joe Horn WR
Key loses: Justin Griffen RB, Patrick Kerney DE, Matt Lehr OG, Ashley Lelie WR, Matt Schaub QB
Team needs: DE, S, OT, WR, DT
Possible draftees: LaRon Landry S LSU, Amobi Okoye DT Louisville, Levi Brown OT PSU, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas, Alan Branch DT Michigan
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Age really caught up to the Bucs last season. The Bucs still have plenty of household names on defense in Ronde Barber, Simeon Rice and Derrick Brooks but the one thing those three have in common is unfortunately age. It is imperative for the Bucs to get much younger, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Despite having bigger needs on the defensive side of the ball, WR Calvin Johnson is the most likely pick if he is still available when the Bucs pick at the four spot. This would suit Bucs’ faithful just fine as Johnson is widely considered the top talent in the draft and it is a position of need for the Bucs.
Key additions: Jeff Garcia QB, Kevin Carter DE, Torrie Cox CB, Cato June LB
Key loses: Dewayne White DE, Sean Mahan OG
Team needs: WR, LB, DE, CB (Youth on defense!)
Possible draftees: Calvin Johnson WR Georgia Tech, Gains Adams DE Clemson, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas
It is never too early to start betting on the NFL. Log on to MySportsbook.com to checkout all of the NFL futures for the upcoming season. On the clock: the NFC North
Odds to win the NFC South:
New Orleans Saints 8-5
Carolina Panthers 2-1
Atlanta Falcons 12-5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9-2
Odds to win the NFC:
New Orleans Saints 13-2
Carolina Panthers 7-1
Atlanta Falcons 20-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 25-1
Odds to win the Super Bowl:
New Orleans Saints 18-1
Carolina Panthers 20-1
Atlanta Falcons 50-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 75-1
To visit this sportsbook get to MySportsbook.com for all your online sportsbook needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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