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06/06/2010 - Long Pond, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Denny Hamlin held off Tony Stewart and teammate Kyle Busch in a pair of late-race restarts to win Sunday's Gillett Fusion ProGlide 500 at Pocono Raceway.
Just before Hamlin crossed the line to take the white flag for the final lap, Kevin Harvick bumped Joey Logano and put Logano into a spin to setup a green- white-checkered finish.
After the final restart, Hamlin pulled away from the field, while Busch passed Stewart for second one lap away from the finish.
A multi-car crash involving at least 10 drivers on the final lap ended the race under caution, with Hamlin picking up his fourth win at Pocono. He won at this unique 2.5-mile triangular track last August.
Hamlin now leads the Sprint Cup Series with four victories so far this season.
Busch gave Joe Gibbs a 1-2 finish at Pocono. Stewart, the defending race winner, took the third spot, followed by points leader Harvick and four- time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson.
Harvick now holds a 19-point lead over Busch. Hamlin is now 136 points behind the leader.
<< A's edge Twins to avoid sweep
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Kouzmanoff had three hits, scored a run
and drove in a run to support a solid seven innings from Gio Gonzalez, as
Oakland beat Minnesota, 5-4, to salvage the last of a three-game set at the
Coliseu
<< Marlins to call up top prospect Stanton
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Marlins announced Sunday that they
will select the contract of top prospect Mike Stanton in time for the 20-year-
old to make his major league debut on Tuesday in Philadelphia.
Stanton, a second-ro
<< Price earns 2nd Champions Tour win of season
West Des Moines, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nick Price captured his second victory
of the season with a four-under 67 Sunday to win the Principal Charity
Classic.
Price finished with a 14-under 199 on the Glen Oaks course to beat Champions
Tour
<< Baltimore tops Boston in 11th; Samuel gets first win
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nick Markakis' run-scoring single in the 11th
inning lifted Baltimore to a 4-3 win over Boston, snapping the Orioles' 10-
game losing streak and giving Juan Samuel his first victory as the team's
manager
Ellis helps Dodgers earn split with Braves >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A.J. Ellis hit a game-winning RBI single in
the bottom of the 11th inning, as the Los Angeles Dodgers edged the Atlanta
Braves, 5-4, to split a four-game series.
James Loney went 2-for-5 with two runs
Napoli helps Angels complete sweep of Mariners >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Napoli's two-run homer in the seventh
broke a tie, and the Los Angeles Angels swept the Seattle Mariners in three
games with a 9-4 win at Safeco Field.
Napoli matched career-highs with four hits
Song earns 1st Duramed Futures title >>
Cedar Rapids, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Christine Song shot a flawless five-under
67 to capture her first professional win Sunday at the Ladies Titan Tire
Challenge on the Duramed Futures Tour.
Song finished three rounds on the Hunters
Mackenzie captures 1st Canadian Tour win >>
Victoria, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brock Mackenzie birdied the 18th hole Sunday
to shoot a four-under 66 and capture his first Canadian Tour win at the Times
Colonist Open.
Mackenzie finished with a 14-under 266 on the Uplands course to edge pa
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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