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03/07/2010 - Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Russell Martin will miss four to six weeks of action due to a pulled groin muscle.
The injury will sideline Martin for the remainder of Spring Training and Opening Day. Dodgers manager Joe Torre said that rookie A.J. Ellis will get the majority of work with Martin out. Brad Ausmus, 40, is the backup catcher.
Martin apparently suffered the injury during a base-running drill earlier in the week. He then aggravated the groin when he stole a base in Friday's game.
The two-time All-Star had an MRI on Saturday, which confirmed the injury. Martin will be sent to Los Angeles for further medical exams.
In 143 games last year, Martin batted .250 with 53 RBI and seven homers.
<< Royals' Gordon to miss 3-4 weeks
Surprise, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Royals announced Sunday that
third baseman Alex Gordon is expected to be sidelined for three to four weeks
with a broken right thumb, leaving his status for Opening Day unclear.
Gordon was
<< Pavlyuchenkova sets up Monterrey final showdown with Hantuchova
Monterrey, Mexico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Third-seeded Russian Anastasia
Pavlyuchenkova got past Latvian Anastasija Sevastova in Sunday's semifinal at
the $220,000 Monterrey Open. Pavlyuchenkova will face second-seeded Slovakian
Daniela Hantu
<< Djokovic propels Serbia past U.S. in Davis Cup
Belgrade, Serbia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Novak Djokovic outlasted big John Isner in
five sets on Sunday to lift Serbia past the United States and into the 2010
Davis Cup quarterfinals.
The Serbs have an insurmountable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five
<< Keane's double leads Celtic over Falkirk
Falkirk, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Robbie Keane scored a goal in each half
and Celtic defeated Falkirk 2-0 on Sunday at Falkirk Stadium for its first win
over the struggling club in three matches this season.
Celtic settled for draws in
Xavier edges Charlotte to reach A-10 tourney final >>
Upper Marlboro, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tyeasha Moss finished with 15 points,
as fifth-ranked Xavier held off Charlotte, 51-49, in a semifinal matchup in
the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
Ta'Shia Phillips added 11 points, 14 rebounds and f
Second period blitz helps Wings down Chicago >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pavel Datsyuk's breakaway tally capped a five-
goal eruption in the second period and proved to be the game-winner, as
Detroit overcame an Andrew Ladd hat trick and held on to beat the Chicago
Blackha
Israel stays alive against Chile in Davis Cup >>
Coquimbo, Chile (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Israeli doubles specialists Jonathan
Erlich and Andy Ram posted a big victory on Sunday, as the Israelis pulled
within 1-2 of the host Chileans in their best-of-five first-round Davis Cup
matchup
Irish reach Big East semis with win over St. John's >>
Hartford, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Skylar Diggins scored 21 points to help
sixth-ranked Notre Dame defeat No. 16 St. John's, 75-67, in the quarterfinals
of the Big East Tournament.
Devereaux Peters had 13 points and Lindsay Schrader
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.
Teams that should be in: Stanford
Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.
Should be in:
Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.
| Southeastern Conference odds | |
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.
Work left to do: Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney. Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson. Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable. Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile. |
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