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06/09/2007 - Elmont, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rags to Riches became the first filly to win the Belmont Stakes in 102 years, edging Preakness winner Curlin by a head.
Riden by John Velazquez, Rags to Riches finished in an unofficial time of two minutes, 28.74 seconds for the 1 1/2 miles. The win also gives trainer Todd Pletcher his first Triple Crown winner.
Tiago finished in third and Hard Spun fourth.
Tanya was the last filly to win the Belmont Stakes in 1905.
More details to follow.
<< Wilson on pole at PIR
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Robert Doornbos won Saturday's second Champ
Car qualifying session, but Justin Wilson's time on Friday was faster and he
will start on the pole for Sunday's Grand Prix of Portland.
Qualifying in the middl
<< Mesa signs with Phillies; Garcia lands on DL
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies placed right-
hander Freddy Garcia on the 15-day disabled list Saturday with a right
shoulder strain, and signed veteran reliever and former closer Jose Mesa to a
major l
<< Van Nistelrooy rescues Real Madrid's title hopes
Zaragoza, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ruud van Nistelrooy scored in the 89th
minute to give Real Madrid a 2-2 draw against Real Zaragoza at Estadio La
Romareda on Saturday.
The result would have been a disaster for Madrid but Raul Tam
<< Thompson four in front in Raleigh
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kyle Thompson only shot a two-under 69 on
Saturday, but extended his lead to four after three rounds of The Rex Hospital
Open.
He missed Jimmy Green's 54-hole tournament record by one shot after he came i
Smoltz to miss Sunday's start >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta Braves veteran righty John Smoltz will
miss his scheduled start Sunday against the Chicago Cubs. He will miss the
game due to inflammation in his right shoulder.
Smoltz is 7-3 with a 2.83 earned ru
Berkman's timely hit lifts Astros over White Sox >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lance Berkman had three-hits, including an RBI
single in the top of the ninth to lift the Houston Astros over the Chicago
White Sox, 3-2, in the second of a three-game interleague series at U.S.
Cellula
Harren sizzles, Zito fizzles against former club >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bobby Crosby and Mark Ellis homered and
Dan Haren threw seven scoreless innings as the Oakland Athletics shut out
the San Francisco Giants 6-0 in the second of a three-game set at AT&T Park.
Haren (
Donovan makes history as U.S. men win >>
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Landon Donovan moved into sole possession of
first place on United States' all-time points list in a 2-0 win over Trinidad
& Tobago in the CONCACAF Gold Cup on Saturday.
Donovan assisted on the second goal
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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