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09/17/2009 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Now that the summer of 2009 is concluding, I feel a quick look back at the year is in order. What has transpired in the first nine months of 2009 is enough for an entire 12 months of racing.
Three names dominated the year entering autumn. Rachel Alexandra, Mine That Bird and Zenyatta. Rachel Alexandra is the three-year-old filly who dominated her own division, vanquished three-year-old boys and defeated handicap horses in the Woodward Stakes.
Mine That Bird won the Kentucky Derby as a 50-1 longshot after finishing fourth in the ungraded Sunland Derby in New Mexico. He nearly caught Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness Stakes and had his primary jockey, Calvin Borel, not always ride him.
Zenyatta won the 2008 Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic and was named champion older filly and mare. She then took her time starting her 2009 season, letting the three-year-olds unfettered access to the headlines. She hasn't left California this year and isn't expected to.
Zenyatta opened 2009 with wins in the Milady and Vanity Handicaps, then won the Clement L. Hirsch for the second straight year. All of this year's starts have been on synthetic surfaces which is keeping Rachel Alexandra from coming west for the Breeders' Cup.
Jess Jackson, majority owner of the filly, despises the artificial tracks and has strongly expressed his derision. Everybody and his brother is working to get the top two females into the same race.
Mine That Bird, meanwhile, followed his second-place finish in the Preakness with a third to half-brother Summer Bird in the Belmont Stakes. He's the first horse to finish one, two, three in the Triple Crown races since Ferdinand in 1986. The gelding went to Mountaineer Park in West Virginia for the West Virginia Derby and was third to longshot Soul Warrior.
Summer Bird followed his Belmont Stakes win with a second to 'Rachel' in the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park and then won the Travers Stakes at Saratoga. Mine That Bird underwent throat surgery in August and was held out of the Travers.
Zenyatta will win her second straight Eclipse Award as champion older female and Rachel Alexandra will be champion three-year-old filly. The late surge by Summer Bird and Mine That Bird's inability to win since the Run for the Roses, has put the three-year-old male crown up for grabs.
Calvin Borel has been reengaged to ride Mine That Bird in the Goodwood Stakes and Breeders' Cup Classic, Summer Bird will make his next start in the Jockey Club Gold Cup and Zenyatta is being pointed toward the Ladies Classic again.
Rachel Alexandra may be done for the year, or not, but she is expected to race in 2010 and start in the Breeders' Cup at Churchill Downs.
Things are beginning to heat up as the thoroughbred racing season enters its final three months. The Breeders' Cup World Championships will once again be staged at Santa Anita Park on Friday, November 6 and Saturday, November 7.
<< Colts WR Gonzalez out up to eight weeks
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Anthony
Gonzalez will miss up to eight weeks with sprained ligaments in his right
knee.
In response to the news, the Colts and wide receiver Hank Baskett, who wa
<< MLS to break during 2010 World Cup
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For the first time in its 13-plus year
history, Major League Soccer will not play league fixtures during the group
phase of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, commissioner Don Garber announced.
"The decision
<< Blazers sign Juwan Howard
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday signed
veteran forward Juwan Howard to a one-year contract.
Last season, the 36-year-old Howard appeared in three games for Denver and
played 39 contests for Charlot
<< Wild sign Sykora to one-year deal
St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Three days after extending Petr Sykora an
invitation to training camp, the Minnesota Wild on Thursday signed the veteran
forward to a contract for the upcoming season.
Sykora spent the past two seasons w
Orioles place Mickolio on DL >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles placed pitcher Kam
Mickolio on the 15-day disabled list on Thursday.
On the season, he is 0-2 with a 2.63 earned run average in 11 games. Opponents
are batting just .220 against him
Gerut's grand slam powers Brewers over Cubs >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jody Gerut belted a grand slam to help the
Milwaukee Brewers defeat Chicago, 7-4, and salvage a split in a four-game
set at Wrigley Field.
Mike Rivera had a two-run double, and Mike Cameron added a
Around FCS: What's going on at Georgia Southern? >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Georgia Southern fans can be excused for
sounding off about the state of their vaunted football program, which has won
a subdivision-best six national championships through the years.
After watching a tale
Hannover's Enke sidelined by illness >>
Hannover, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hannover and Germany goalkeeper Robert
Enke is set for a spell on the sidelines due to a mystery illness.
The 32-year-old was forced out of Germany's clash with Azerbaijan last week
and is undergoi
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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