Basketball Betting
 

Basketball Betting


NFL Football
NCAA Football
NCAA Basketball
MLB Baseball
NHL Hockey
Soccer
Auto
Horse Racing
Golf
Tennis
 

NBA Basketball Betting

Big Unit is big letdown in return to Arizona mound

Baseball Betting Lines

04/25/2007 - Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Randy Johnson was pounded in his return for Arizona, as San Diego jumped on the Big Unit and handed the Diamondbacks their fifth straight setback, 10-5, to open a three-game series at Chase Field.

Johnson was brought back to the home of Cy Young Awards and World Series glory, acquired in a January trade with the New York Yankees. After two dissatisfying seasons in the Big Apple, Johnson was given a change of scenery back to familiar territory.

The flame-throwing southpaw won four of his five Cy Young Awards in a Diamondback uniform while playing an integral part in Arizona's 2001 championship team.

He had back surgery in October and wasn't ready for the beginning of the season, instead throwing three rehab starts before Tuesday's season debut.

And it wasn't vintage Johnson (0-1), who gave up six runs on six hits with four walks and seven strikeouts over five frames.

The other 43-year-old on the mound pitched just well enough for the win. David Wells (1-1) gave up five runs on eight hits with two walks and three strikeouts in five innings.

Trevor Hoffman pitched the last out for his fourth save.

Khalil Greene was the major hitting star for the Padres, finishing 4-for-5 with four runs batted in. Adrian Gonzalez hit his sixth homer as part of a 3- for-3 night with three RBI and three runs scored for San Diego, which has won four of five.

Carlos Quentin homered and Stephen Drew tripled and drove in a pair in defeat.

The Diamondbacks took an early 2-0 advantage with a pair of two-out runs in the second. Chad Tracy tripled past Mike Cameron in center and Quentin drilled his first homer of the year over the wall in left.

San Diego first got to Johnson in the top of the third. Jose Cruz, Jr. walked with one out then walked the rest of the way around the bases on Gonzalez' homer.

Chris Young's one-out double set the table for the Diamondbacks in the bottom of the third, and Drew drove him home with a single to right for a 3-2 lead.

The score remained that way until San Diego blitzed Johnson in the fifth. Cruz, Jr. clubbed a belt-high slider high in the air and over the fence in left to tie the game then Brian Giles singled, Gonzalez walked and Cameron was plunked by a pitch to load the bases.

Greene cleared them, turning on an inside fastball into the gap in right- center field for a 6-3 advantage.

Arizona cut the deficit to 6-5 during the home half of the fifth as Robby Hammock walked and scored on the first of consecutive triples. Drew tripled to right and Orlando Hudson followed with a three-bagger to nearly the same location, scoring Drew for the margin.

Dana Eveland replaced Johnson and suffered the same fate in the top of the sixth. Marcus Giles doubled and was driven home by his brother Brian's base hit to center. A passed ball moved Brian Giles to second, and he scored on Gonzalez' ground-rule double.

Brandon Medders then entered and things got worse for Arizona.

After Cameron popped up, Greene singled just in front of Eric Byrnes in left. Byrnes made a strong throw that was oddly cut off by Medders just a few feet in front of what would have been a play at the plate. The pitcher spun and fired errantly to second, and Greene came all of the way around to score the Padres' 10th run.

Game Notes

Yusmeiro Petit, who made the start in Sunday's loss to San Francisco, was sent to Triple-A Tucson to make room for Johnson on the roster...Young and Tracy each had two hits in the loss...Attendance 19,508.

<< Telfair's days in Boston reportedly numbered
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sebastian Telfair may be on his way out in Boston, according to a story in Tuesday's Boston Globe. The Globe reports Telfair was stopped for speeding on the Bronx River Parkway around 4 a.m. on Friday,

<< BC women's ice hockey coach resigns amid probe
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston College women's ice hockey head coach Tom Mutch resigned Tuesday afternoon, reportedly due to investigation of sexual misconduct. The Boston Herald reports the 39-year-old Mutch, who was named the Hock

<< Blue Jays place Zaun on DL
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Toronto placed catcher Gregg Zaun on the 15-day disabled list with a right thumb injury following Tuesday night's 10-3 win over the Red Sox. Zaun took a foul tip off the hand in the first inning was replaced

<< Angels activate Escobar from DL
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim activated pitcher Kelvim Escobar from the 15-day disabled list Tuesday and optioned outfielder Tommy Murphy to Triple-A Salt Lake. The 30-year-old right-hander, who

<< Suppan shines as Brewers down Cubs at Wrigley
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Suppan shut out the Cubs for eight innings, and Prince Fielder ripped his third homer in two days to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a 4-1 win over the Chicago Cubs. Suppan (3-2) scattered eight

Suns crush Lakers to take 2-0 series lead >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Leandro Barbosa poured in 26 point as the Phoenix Suns embarrassed the Los Angeles Lakers, 126-98, in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series. The Suns needed a second-half rally in Game 1 to

Morris pitches Giants past Dodgers >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Morris allowed just three runs on six hits as the San Francisco Giants downed the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-3, in the opener of a three-game set at Dodger Stadium. Morris (3-0) pitched 7 1/3 innings a

Texas A&M's Jones declares for NBA Draft >>
College Station, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas A&M junior forward Joseph Jones said Tuesday he has entered his name in the NBA Draft, but would not hire an agent, keeping the door open for him to return for his senior season. "I just wan

White Sox edge Royals in delayed game >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie pitcher Joakim Soria allowed the White Sox two runs in the ninth inning, one on a throwing error and another on a wild pitch, as Chicago earned a 9-7 victory over the Kansas City Royals, sweepin

Ducks host Canucks in Game 1 >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of division winners begin their best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series this evening, when the Anaheim Ducks host the Vancouver Canucks in Game 1 at the Honda Center. The Ducks earned their first-ever divi

What Is the Point Spread?

What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?

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.

How to Read Point Spreads

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:

  • Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
    OR
  • Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.

  • 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.

    For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically

    Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:

  • Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
    OR
  • Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score

    Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?

    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.