08/20/2008 - St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jason Isringhausen has been shut down indefinitely after an MRI exam Tuesday revealed tendonitis in his right elbow and a partial tendon tear in his flexor group.
The team has prescribed only rest for the reliever and there is no timetable for his return to throwing.
This is possibly the final chapter in a frustrating and disappointing season for the 35-year-old veteran. Isringhausen was demoted from the closer's role in early May and was placed on the disabled list with a lacerated hand after throwing open-handed punches at a television in the clubhouse. The incident occurred on May 9 after he blew a 3-2 lead against Milwaukee. He was demoted the next day.
In 42 games this season, the right-hander has a record of 1-5 with an earned run average of 5.70 and 12 saves. He has also blown seven saves.
<< Arizona edges San Diego to take NL West lead
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adam Dunn hit a two-run homer in his home
debut and Conor Jackson chipped in two RBI, as Arizona held off San Diego for
a 7-6 victory, in the opener of a three-game set.
Chris Snyder, Chris Burke and M
<< Nolasco's near no-no allow Marlins to spear Giants
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ricky Nolasco was dominant, fanning 11 in
a two-hit shutout as the Marlins cruised to a 6-0 win over the San Francisco
Giants in the opener of a three-game set.
Nolasco (12-7) walked one in his first
<< This Week in Auto Racing August 20 - 24
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR roars into "Thunder Valley" as all
three of its national touring series race under the lights at Bristol Motor
Speedway in Tennessee this week. The IndyCar Series heads to Northern
Califor
<< Bartoli, Mauresmo, Szavay post wins in New Haven
New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Third-seeded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli,
fourth-seeded Hungarian Agnes Szavay and former world No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo of
France were all winners Tuesday at the $600,000 Pilot Pen Tennis event, a
final h
Royals, Indians resume three-game series in Cleveland >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lefty Zach Jackson makes his second appearance in a
Cleveland uniform tonight when the Indians take on the visiting Kansas City
Royals in the second of three midweek games at Progressive Field.
Jackson, a supplemental 2004
Lilly goes for Cubs against Reds >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lefty Ted Lilly can reverse the result of his lone loss in
10 starts when the Chicago Cubs host the Cincinnati Reds in the middle test of
a three-game series tonight at Wrigley Field.
A 32-year-old Californian, Lilly is 5-
Pirates wrap up short set in St. Louis >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Right-hander Todd Wellemeyer goes for an eighth start
without a loss tonight when the St. Louis Cardinals host the Pittsburgh
Pirates in the second and final game of an abbreviated two-game set at Busch
Stadium.
Wellemeye
Hewitt pulls out of U.S. Open >>
Sydney, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former champion Lleyton Hewitt will skip
the U.S. Open after undergoing hip surgery.
The former world No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam titlist was the 2001 U.S.
Open champ and runner-up in 2004.
"Sur
Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com
In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.
Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.
Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.
Memphis vs. Ohio State
Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.
UCLA vs. Kansas
In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.
With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action. Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”. By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.
To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards
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 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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