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07/25/2010 - Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scott Dixon won the Honda Indy Edmonton IZOD IndyCar Series race in a bizarre and controversial finish.
Helio Castroneves crossed the finish line first, but was penalized for blocking his Penske Racing teammate Will Power just after the final restart with four laps remaining.
After Castroneves was called for blocking Power, Dixon darted past Power to take second just before they crossed the finish line. Indy Racing League official Brian Barnhart quickly charged Castroneves for blocking and issued a drive-through penalty for the Brazilian driver.
Castroneves, who wound up finishing 10th, had an altercation with IRL officials at the conclusion of the race.
Power, the current points leader, finished second, while Dixon's Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Dario Franchitti, took the third spot. Ryan Briscoe from Penske and Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay rounded out the top- five.
Power now holds a 50-point lead over Franchitti.
Just hours before Dixon's victory at Edmonton, his team owner, Chip Ganassi, picked up the win with driver Jamie McMurray in the Brickyard 400 NASCAR race. Ganassi became the first owner to win the Daytona 500, Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400 in the same season.
<< Shin holds off Joh for first Duramed Futures win
Concord, NH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jenny Shin birdied the final hole Sunday to
beat Tiffany Joh by a single stroke at The International at Concord.
Shin, who won for the first time on the Duramed Futures Tour, closed with a
three-under 6
<< Mariners rally past Red Sox
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michael Saunders' two-run single, part of six
straight hits by the Mariners to start the eighth inning, lifted Seattle
to a 4-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox to conclude a four-game series.
Casey Kot
<< Chakvetadze titles in Slovenia
Portoroz, Slovenia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Russian Anna Chakvetadze needed just
over an hour to beat Sweden's Johanna Larsson, 6-1, 6-2, to capture the title
at the Slovenia Open.
Chakvetadze, who won her first championship of the year
<< Pirates option Lincoln, designate Donnelly for assignment
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Pirates optioned starter
Brad Lincoln to Triple-A Indianapolis and designated reliever Brendan Donnelly
for assignment following their 6-3 loss to the Padres on Sunday.
Lincoln started S
Raburn gets key hit to cap Tigers' comeback over Jays >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Raburn hit a go-ahead three-run double in
the eighth inning to give the Tigers a 6-5 comeback victory over the Blue Jays
to wrap up a day-night doubleheader and a four-game series.
As a result of Friday
Marta, Milbrett help FC Gold Pride topple Freedom >>
Boyds, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two goals apiece from Marta and Tiffeny Milbrett
allowed FC Gold Pride to claim a comfortable 4-1 win over the Washington
Freedom at Maryland Soccerplex.
Milbrett opened the scoring 18 minutes into the
Guti announces Real Madrid departure >>
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Guti officially announced his departure from
Real Madrid on Sunday after 15 years at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The 33-year-old midfielder debuted with Real in 1995 after joining the club as
a nine-year-old, a
Ferdinand still six weeks away from return >>
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United defender Rio
Ferdinand is still six weeks away from returning to action.
Ferdinand looks set to miss the start of the new season despite previous
suggestions of a full
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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