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07/18/2010 - Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Will Power from Team Penske claimed his fourth victory of the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season with an impressive performance in Sunday's Honda Indy Toronto.
Power passed pole sitter Justin Wilson for the lead just after a restart with 14 laps remaining. He then held off Dario Franchitti, who won last year's race on the streets of Toronto, by 1.28 seconds. All four of Power's wins this year have come on road/street courses. He won two weeks ago in Watkins Glen, NY.
The 29-year-old Australian driver also widened his lead in the championship standings to 42 points over Franchitti, the defending series title-holder.
Ryan Hunter-Reay finished third, while Tony Kanaan and Graham Rahal rounded out the top-five.
Danica Patrick took the sixth spot, and Wilson wound up seventh after a late- race spin.
The 85-lap race at Toronto featured several cautions for accidents, including ones for Helio Castroneves and Scott Dixon. Castroneves crashed on lap 22 and ended up finishing 24th. Dixon's wreck in the late-stages resulted in a 20th- place finish for the two-time series champion.
<< Yankees' Pettitte leaves Sunday's game
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte was
removed his Sunday start against the Tampa Bay Rays with a strained left
groin.
The veteran left-hander missed with a pitch to run the count to 3-1 on Kelly
Sh
<< Heat agree to bring back James Jones
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Heat have reportedly agreed to bring
back forward James Jones at the veteran's minimum.
Miami requested waivers on the seven-year veteran in June, buying out the
final three years of his previou
<< Yankees' Pettitte leaves game with strained groin
NEW YORK (AP) -Andy Pettitte has left the New York Yankees' game against Tampa Bay in the third inning because of a strained left groin.Making his first start since pitching in the All-Star game Tuesday night, the 38-year-old left-hander never appea
<< Toronto activates Marcum to make Sunday start
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays activated pitcher
Shaun Marcum from the 15-day disabled list.
Marcum went on the DL July 2 with inflammation in his throwing elbow. The
right-hander started Sunday's game agai
Kanepi upends Pennetta to claim Palermo title >>
Palermo, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Estonia's Kaia Kanepi knocked off top-seeded
Flavia Pennetta to capture the Palermo International title.
Kanepi, seeded fifth this week, notched a 6-4, 6-3 victory for her first
career title. Her best
Pirates' McCutchen exits Sunday's game >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen
left Sunday's game after making a diving catch on a Pedro Feliz line drive in
the eighth inning.
McCutchen landed on and braced his fall with his right shoulder
Indians break out brooms against Tigers >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeanmar Gomez had quite the major league
debut, allowing just two unearned runs in seven strong innings, as the Indians
used an inside-the-park homer from Jhonny Peralta to beat the Tigers, 7-2, and
sweep D
Sanabia picks up first MLB win as Marlins edge Nats >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gaby Sanchez hit a run-scoring double and Alex
Sanabia picked up his first major league victory, as the Florida Marlins edged
the Washington Nationals, 1-0, in the rubber match of a three-game set at Sun
Life St
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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