Mariners activate Lopez, place Betancourt on DL
Baseball Betting Lines
06/25/2009 - Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Mariners activated infielder Jose Lopez from the bereavement list and placed infielder Yuniesky Betancourt on the 15-day disabled list on Thursday.
Lopez has been out of the lineup since June 18th because of a family emergency in Venezuela. In 63 games this season, he is batting .248 with 10 homers and 42 runs batted in.
To open a roster spot, the club put Betancourt on the DL with a strained right hamstring. He suffered the injury in Wednesday's win over San Diego when he grounded into a fielder's choice in the 8th inning and was in noticeable pain after crossing the first base bag.
Betancourt has appeared in 63 contests and is hitting .250 with two homers and 22 RBI.
Villarreal, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Goalkeeper Diego Lopez's future at Villarreal has been brought into question following the club's capture of experienced shot-stopper Xavi Oliva. Oliva, 33, has joined the Yellow Submari
<< Murray, Roddick roll; Hewitt ousts del Potro at Wimbledon
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two-time Wimbledon runner-up Andy Roddick moved on, while former Wimbledon
champion Lleyton Hewitt posted a big second-round upset by leveling fifth-
seeded Argentine
<< Schalke may sell GK Neuer to Bayern
Gelsenkirchen, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Schalke has admitted it's prepared to
talk to Bayern Munich over a deal for goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
The 23-year-old is currently away on international duty at the European
Under-21 Champion
<< Goosen two clear in Germany
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Retief Goosen fired an eight-under 64 in
sloppy conditions Thursday to grab a two-stroke lead after the first round of
the BMW International Open.
Goosen, a two-time U.S. Open champion, is coming of
<< Arsenal's Fabregas blasts exit reports
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas has pledged
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tired of his club's failure to win silverware.
The 22-year-old, who has been w
Glasgow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defender Glenn Loovens has ruled out the possibility of leaving Celtic this summer. The Dutch centre-half started just 13 SPL games in his first season at Parkhead and has been linked with a return sout
City leading chase for Tevez >>
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USGA announces sites for two Women's Amateurs >>
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Amateur; a
Ordonez, Santiago power Tigers to sweep of Cubs >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Armando Galarraga got his first win in nearly
two months and the Detroit Tigers completed a three-game sweep of the Chicago
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Galarraga (4-7) threw six innings and gave u
Bayern dismisses Lucio reports >>
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich President Franz Beckenbauer
has categorically dismissed rumors linking Lucio with a departure from the
Allianz Arena.
The Brazil defender's future in Germany has been thrown into do
What Is the Point Spread?
What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?
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.
How to Read Point Spreads
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:
- Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
OR
- Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.
-
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.
For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
- Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
OR
- Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score
Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?
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.