Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
06/11/2007 - San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lenny DiNardo tossed six scoreless innings and the bullpen did the rest, as the Oakland Athletics completed the sweep of the San Francisco Giants with a 2-0 win at AT&T Park.
Santiago Casilla (2-0) got the win after twirling two perfect frames in relief and Alan Embree worked the ninth for his seventh save of the year.
Marco Scutaro homered and Shannon Stewart knocked in a run for the A's, who have won eight of their last nine.
DiNardo has not allowed a run over his last two starts. The last time the southpaw was on the hill he was brilliant against the Red Sox, posting a 2-0 win. In the victory over Boston, the 27-year-old tossed six scoreless innings, scattering two hits, while walking six batters.
The reliever-turned-starter scattered four hits over this outing while striking out five and walking a pair.
Matt Cain (2-6) was the tough-luck loser. The young right-hander surrendered just one run on five hits over eight innings while striking out eight for San Francisco, which has dropped five of six.
Barry Bonds remains stuck at 746 career home runs, nine behind Hank Aaron for first on the all-time list. He ended 0-for-3 with a walk.
Scutaro broke up the scoreless stalemate in the eighth, leading off the frame with a blast to left for his third home run of the season.
The A's added an insurance run in the ninth. Mark Kotsay got things going with a double to center. Brad Hennessey rebounded to get Jason Kendall to fly out, but then yielded a base hit to Stewart that brought Kotsay in.
Game Notes
Oakland took two of three games from the Giants last month and has claimed 14 of the last 20 encounters between the Bay Area rivals. The A's also won two of three from San Francisco in last year's visit to AT&T Park...Oakland outfielder Travis Buck left the game with a right thumb contusion in the fourth inning...DiNardo has only allowed one run in 17 1/3 innings as a starter...The Giants have dropped six straight at home.
<< Bloomquist, Mariners edge Padres
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Willie Bloomquist scored the go-ahead run on
a Jose Lopez ground out in the ninth inning, as the Seattle Mariners won 4-3
and completed a three-game sweep of the San Diego Padres at PETCO Park.
Ichiro Suz
<< Thompson claims first Nationwide win
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kyle Thompson shot a one-under 70 on Sunday to
win the Rex Hospital Open, holding off a charging Bob Burns to claim his first
Nationwide Tour victory in wire-to-wire fashion.
Thompson finished at 16-under 268
<< Woody Austin wins St. Jude
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Woody Austin was so good, it didn't matter what
anyone else did.
The way he played the final round of the Stanford St. Jude Championship, no
one was beating him.
"That was a true round of golf. It was one of
<< Twins top Nats
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Bartlett was 3-for-5 and drove in a
pair of runs as Minnesota doubled up Washington, 6-3, to salvage the finale of
a three-game set at the Metrodome.
Torii Hunter finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and th
Mets' activate Green >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Mets activated outfielder Shawn
Green from the 15-day disabled list following Sunday's 15-7 setback to the
Detroit Tigers.
Green has been out since suffering a chip fracture on the base o
Gordon reigns supreme at Pocono >>
Long Pond, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Letarte made the right calls and got
Jeff Gordon out front when the rains came to capture Sunday's rain-delayed
Pocono 500 at the Pocono Raceway. The No.24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
crossed
Glaus leads Blue Jays over Dodgers >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Troy Glaus had three hits, including a pair
of solo homers, and scored three runs as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the
Los Angeles Dodgers, 11-5.
John McDonald went 3-for-4 with two RBI and scored a pai
Fouch wins again on Duramed Futures Tour >>
Hammond, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Allison Fouch fired a six-under 66 Sunday to
win the United States Steel Golf Classic, her second victory on the Duramed
Futures Tour this season.
Fouch finished three rounds at Lost Marsh Golf Course at
Underdog bettors love the Super Bowl and, history suggests, the underdogs love them back. And the big dogs bite harder.
Even so, there is a warning in store for Super Bowl gamblers who must love dogs: The Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl betting lines might not be enough of a Cinderella to make it worth your while.
Although the Cardinals were widely panned as one of the worst division winners and least playoff-worthy teams in recent memory, their trip to Super Bowl XLIII Jan. 31 in Tampa against the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl betting lines comes with a little more respect from the oddsmakers than you might imagine. They are a 7-point underdog at most sports books.
If you count yourself among those who covet the big dog in the big game, this isn’t exactly great news. You should have been hoping for more points. This is because the facts show that the bigger the dog, the better the bet in the Super Bowl.
Case in point: Over the past 13 seasons, double-figure underdogs in the Super Bowl are 4-0-1 ATS and have won the past three outright. In fact, the last double-digit chalk to do the deed for bettors was the 1995 San Francisco 49ers, who managed to beat the astounding 19-point spot afforded backers of the San Diego Chargers in the 49-26 romp in Super Bowl XXIX.
By contrast, 7-point favorites are 2-1-1 ATS in the same span, the last such contest resulting a cover grinded out by the Colts in their 29-17 win over the Bears two seasons ago in Super Bowl XLI.
In 2004, the Patriots failed to cover the number in their 32-29 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl props while the Rams and Titans gave everyone a refund in 2000 after the Rams posted a 23-16 win as a seven-point favorite.
So while Arizona’s run has included impressive upsets as a 10-point road underdog to the Carolina Panthers and Sunday’s 32-25 win in the NFC championship game to the 4-point favored Philadelphia Eagles, their long-shot story lacks a bit of the David vs. Goliath storyline of past Super Bowl underdogs.
While the seven-point spread represents a significant gap in the perception of strength between the two teams, it is far from monumental. For example, last season the Giants were the wild-card afterthought turned road-warrior buzzsaw, with stunning wins over the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers to earn their place in the Super Bowl.
There, they played spoiler to New England’s bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history and cemented their place in sports betting lore with a 17-14 win as a 12.5-point underdog.
In other words, the Cardinals appear to have their work cut out for them as a mid-range underdog. But in homage to the spread beaters who have come before them, here is a brief look back at recent colossal upsets in the Super Bowl:
SB XLII -- 2008 -- New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14 (Giants +12.5) – Eli Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute clinched the historic upset for the Giants, who used a masterful defensive plan to slow down Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots.
XXXVI -- 2002 -- Patriots 20, Rams 17 (Patriots +14) – This was the coming out party for the aforementioned Brady, who went from obscure sixth-round draft pick to Super Bowl hero in one fell swoop. He led the game-winning drive in the final minute – eschewing analyst John Madden’s advice to take a knee and play for overtime – leading to Adam Vinatieri’s memorable 48-yard field goal that split the uprights as time expired.
XXXII 1998 Broncos 31, Packers 24 (Denver +12) – The first of John Elway’s two consecutive Super Bowl titles to put an end to his Hall of Fame career was an upset for the ages. The Broncos used the determination of Elway and a 157-yard, three-touchdown performance from Terrell Davis to turn back Brett Favre and the heavily favored Packers.
Get free 2009 Super Bowl Betting from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online Super Bowl betting VISA Mastercard
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.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting