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05/04/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While fans of the Washington Nationals wait for their expected franchise player to arrive, they'll be able to get their first look at the Atlanta Braves' new phenom when the two National League East members start up a three-game series this evening.
The Braves enter Nationals Park off a much-needed three-game home sweep of Houston over the weekend, with rookie sensation Jason Heyward playing a big part in the team's success. The young outfielder knocked in six runs and scored four times over the three victories, capped by a 2-for-3, three-RBI performance in Sunday's finale.
Heyward also crossed the plate twice in Atlanta's 7-1 triumph and is batting .500 (7-for-14) with three homers and seven RBI over his last four games. The 20-year-old leads the Braves with seven home runs and 23 RBI this season.
Atlanta also received five effective innings out of starting pitcher Derek Lowe (4-2) in its first series sweep of 2010, with the veteran hurler yielding just one run on six hits on the afternoon. The Braves were clutch at the plate as well, going 6-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
"The pitching was good this series," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "The defense was spectacular, to say the least, and we did a lot of clutch hitting."
The Braves now set their sights on putting an end to a seven-game road losing streak. The club has not dropped eight in a row away from home since a 10-game skid between August 31-September 14, 1996.
Kenshin Kawakami will be out to halt an unwanted drought of his own when he takes the mound for Atlanta in tonight's opener. The Japanese import has lost all four of his starts thus far in 2010 and last earned a victory on August 31 of last season, when he fired six innings of one-run ball to down Florida.
The Braves haven't given Kawakami a whole lot of help as of late, scoring a mere five runs over his four outings this season. Atlanta was shut out in the 34-year-old's last appearance, a 6-0 setback at St. Louis on Wednesday in which he was reached for five runs (four earned) and walked four batters over 4 1/3 shaky innings.
Kawakami faced the Nationals five times -- three in a starting role -- last year in his first season in the majors and posted a 1-1 record with a 4.42 earned run average over a span of 18 1/3 innings pitched. He was 0-1 with a 5.79 ERA in a pair of starts at Nationals Park.
With 2009 No. 1 overall draft choice Stephen Strasburg still honing his craft in the minors, Washington has been relying on the battle-tested Livan Hernandez to serve as the ace of the team's young pitching staff. The well- traveled right-hander has been that and more so far this season, having amassed a 3-1 record through four starts and surrendering a scant three runs over a combined 31 innings of work. Opponents are hitting a meager .176 off Hernandez, who had a lackluster 5.44 ERA in 30 starts with the Mets and Nationals a year ago.
The 35-year-old was sharp once again last Tuesday at Chicago's Wrigley Field, where he held the Cubs to one run on six hits through seven innings in leading Washington to a 3-1 win. He's worked at least seven frames and allowed two runs or less in each of his first four assignments of the year.
Hernandez went 2-0 with a 3.32 ERA in three starts against Atlanta last year, but generally has not had a lot of success when facing the Braves over his 15- year major league career. In 28 all-time encounters (27 starts) with Atlanta, the native Cuban is just 5-15 with a 5.27 ERA.
Chipper Jones owns a .354 lifetime average (23-for-65) against Hernandez, but the longtime Braves third baseman enters tonight's tilt mired in a 1-for-24 slump that has dropped his average to .206.
The Nationals return home this evening after losing back-to-back contests to division-rival Florida this past weekend, including a 9-3 defeat on Sunday. The Marlins roughed off Washington starter John Lannan (1-2) for six runs on nine hits before the left-hander was removed after five innings.
"I felt good at the start, but then started missing on some pitches on the outside corner," Lannan said. "Then I made some mistakes on some balls that came back over the plate and they hit them."
Lannan did drive in a run at the plate in the loss, while Ian Desmond and Adam Dunn also collected an RBI for the Nationals.
The Braves won 10 of the 18 meetings between these teams in 2009, but the Nationals closed out the season with a four-game sweep at Turner Field. Atlanta did win all three tests from Washington in its last trip to Nationals Park, however, which took place from September 25-27.
<< Hawks, Magic kick off Eastern semis in Orlando
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The well-rested Orlando Magic finally will get back to work
on defending their Eastern Conference championship when they kick off the
second round of the postseason against their division rival, the Atlanta
Hawks.
The sec
<< Bulls fire Del Negro
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bulls have fired head coach Vinny
Del Negro and will discuss the move at a noon (et) news conference on Tuesday.
Bulls general manager Gar Forman will meet the media at the Berto Center to
address t
<< Three Suns combine for 83 points in Game 1 win over Spurs
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Nash, Jason Richardson and Amare
Stoudemire combined for 83 points as the Suns beat San Antonio, 111-102, in
the opener of their Western Conference semifinal series.
Nash totaled 33 points a
<< Jimenez goes to 6-0 as Rockies top Padres
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ubaldo Jimenez struck out a career-high 13
batters in seven innings to lead the Colorado Rockies to a 5-2 win over the
San Diego Padres in the first of a three-game set at Petco Park.
Jimenez (6-0) bec
Cubs carry hot bats into Steel City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After getting their offense to break out in a home series
over the weekend, the Chicago Cubs hit the road for six straight games
beginning with tonight's first of three straight meetings with the Pittsburgh
Pirates from PNC P
BoSox aim to bust out once again versus slumping Angels >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jon Lester hopes for the same type of run support the
Boston Red Sox provided Clay Buchholz with on Monday as his team continues a
four-game series with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim tonight at Fenway
Park.
Boston's b
White Sox to resume home set with division-rival Royals >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox try to string back-to-back wins
together this evening, when they continue their three-game series with the
Kansas City Royals at U.S. Cellular Field.
The White Sox drew first blood in this series on M
Burnett, Yanks hope for case of deja vu against Orioles >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A.J. Burnett tries to stay unbeaten on the season when the
New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles play the second test of their three-
game series this evening at Yankee Stadium.
Getting another win may not be much to ask
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.
2007 Academy Award Betting : Oscars odds
The 79th Annual Academy Awards odds , which will air February 25th, is sparking an interest throughout the nation with the announcement of its nominees. As the public chooses their favorites, sportsbooks are creating odds for one of the biggest entertainment betting nights of the year.
Whether its at a “Oscar Party” or in an on line sportsbook, entertainment gambling on award shows represent a huge increase in betting. As the public speculation mounts, MySportsbook.com, the largest and most respected sportsbook on the web, posted odds on who is going home with a “Golden Best Friend.”
“ We see a majority of our entertainment wagers come from the Academy Awards,” said MySportsbook.com spokesperson, Tim Dalton. “This is a competition that applies to everyone. These are the people that entertain us on a daily basis and you want to see them win.”
MySportsbook.com posted the following odds for Academy Awards:
Odds to win the Achievement in Directing:
Alejandro González Iñárritu "Babel": 8/1
Martin Scorsese "The Departed": 2/17
Clint Eastwood "Letters From Iwo Jima: 4/1
Stephen Frears "The Queen": 12/1
Paul Greengrass "United 93": 15/1
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role:
Leonardo DiCaprio in "Blood Diamond": 11/1
Ryan Gosling in "Half Nelson": 20/1
Peter O’Toole in "Venus": 16/5
Will Smith in "The Pursuit of Happyness": 16/1
Forest Whitaker in "The Last King of Scotland": 1/11
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role:
Penélope Cruz in "Volver": 18/1
Judi Dench in "Notes on a Scandal": 15/1
Helen Mirren in "The Queen": 1/50
Meryl Streep in "The Devil Wears Prada": 10/1
Kate Winslet in "Little Children": 20/1
Best Animated Feature Film:
"Cars": 1/3
"Happy Feet": 2/1
"Monster House": 20/1
Best Foreign-Language Film of the Year:
"Water" – Canada: 22/1
"The Lives of Others" – Germany: 7/2
"After the Wedding" - Denmark: 24/1
"Days of Glory (Indigenes)" – Algeria: 23/1
"Pan's Labyrinth" - Mexico: 1/10
Odds to win the Best Live-Action Short Film:
"Binta and the Great Idea (Binta Y La Gran Idea)": 6/5
"Eramos Pocos (One Too Many)": 7/2
"Helmer & Son": 5/2
"The Saviour": 6/1
"West Bank Story": 7/2
Odds to win the Best Original Screenplay:
"Babel": 7/4
"Letters From Iwo Jima": 3/1
"Little Miss Sunshine": 21/20
"Pan's Labyrinth": 11/4
"The Queen": 5/4
Best Motion Picture of the Year:
"Babel": 11/4
"The Departed": 1/2
"Letters from Iwo Jima": 15/2
"Little Miss Sunshine": 17/10
"The Queen": 20/1
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role:
Alan Arkin in "Little Miss Sunshine": 11/10
Jackie Earle Haley in "Little Children": 10/1
Djimon Hounsou in "Blood Diamond": 9/1
Eddie Murphy in "Dreamgirls": 2/5
Mark Wahlberg in "The Departed": 5/1
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role:
Adriana Barraza in "Babel": 14/1
Cate Blanchett in "Notes on a Scandal": 11/1
Abigail Breslin in "Little Miss Sunshine": 2/1
Jennifer Hudson in "Dreamgirls": 1/8
Rinko Kikuchi in "Babel": 11/1
Film To Win Most Oscars:
Dreamgirls: 2/3
Pans Labyrinth: 6/5
The Departed: 6/1
The Queen: 11/1
Babel: 15/1
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: 11/1
Little Miss Sunshine: 15/1
Additional sports and entertainment odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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