Cardinals option P Salas, promote P MacDougal
Baseball Betting Lines
07/28/2010 -
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals have optioned pitcher
Fernando Salas to Triple-A Memphis and recalled pitcher Mike MacDougal from
the same club.
Salas has bounced back and forth between the major and minor leagues in 2010.
The right-hander has posted a 2.31 earned run average in 10 relief outings
over five different stints with the Cardinals so far this season.
MacDougal started the year with Washington and pitched at the Double-A and
Triple-A levels before joining St. Louis. In a combined three stops in the
minors, he was 6-1 with a 4.45 ERA in 26 appearances.
During the course of a nine-year big league career, the 33-year-old right-
hander is 14-21 with a 4.09 ERA and 70 saves in 314 appearances with the
Royals, White Sox and Nationals.
<< USA Basketball names 15 finalists for 2010 World Championship squad
Colorado Springs, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - USA Basketball announced Wednesday the
15 finalists for its 2010 USA World Championship Team.
USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo selected the finalists from a group
that assembled in Las Vega
<< Ferrero lands in Umag QFs
Umag, Croatia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Last year's runner-up Juan Carlos Ferrero
was a hard-fought second-round winner Wednesday at the clay-court Croatia
Open.
The fourth-seeded former world No. 1 Ferrero clawed his way past Uruguay's
Pablo
<< Title game helps Southland seize national spotlight
Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For the first time in 14 years, the FCS national
championship game will not run through Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Understandably, people aren't pleased in Chattanooga. "It's hard to believe
that the NCAA would walk a
<< Angels scratch Pineiro, Shields starts against Boston
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joel Pineiro was a late scratch for Wednesday's
series finale against the Red Sox.
Pineiro, who was set to make his 21st appearance of the season, was scratched
because of a left oblique strain.
On the seaso
<< Montanes, Gasquet reach Gstaad quarters
Gstaad, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Recent Stuttgart champion Albert
Montanes of Spain and former top-10 star Richard Gasquet were among
Wednesday's second-round winners at the Swiss Open Gstaad.
The fourth-seeded Monta
Bengals sign Dunlap >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Bengals have reportedly
signed rookie defensive end Carlos Dunlap.
The Cincinnati Enquirer is reporting that Cincinnati's second round pick has
signed for four years.
Last season w
Ducks sign first-round choice Fowler >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks have signed defenseman Cam
Fowler, their first-round draft choice, to a three-year entry-level contract.
Per team policy, no financial details of the deal were released.
The 18-year-old
Young powers offense as Twins complete sweep of Royals >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Delmon Young hit a three-run homer and
Jason Repko added a solo shot, as the Twins completed a three-game sweep of
the Royals with a 6-4 win.
It wasn't the same result as the past two days, when M
McCourty signs with Patriots >>
Foxborough, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New England Patriots have signed
first-round draft pick Devin McCourty.
Terms of the deal for the former Rutgers cornerback were not disclosed, but
the Boston Globe reported it to be a five-ye
Lee, Norris help Astros take series against Cubs >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Lee slugged a pair of two-run home runs
to back the solid pitching of Bud Norris in Houston's 8-1 win over Chicago to
close a three-game set.
Lee had his 19th career multi-homer game for the Astros,
Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.
The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.
MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.
A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.
A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.
Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
What Is the Point Spread?
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
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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