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09/09/2010 - Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coco Crisp belted a two-run homer and singled in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth inning, as the Oakland Athletics overcame an early deficit to beat Seattle, 4-3, in the rubber match of a three-game series.
Gio Gonzalez (14-8) gave up three runs on six hits and struck out nine over 6 2/3 innings to win his fourth straight start for Oakland, which remains seven games behind AL West-leading Texas.
Mariners starter Luke French (4-5) yielded four runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Seattle had taken a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Chone Figgins reached on a one-out single and Russell Branyan followed with his 24th home run of the season.
Matt Tuiasosopo added a solo shot in the second to give the Mariners a three- run cushion.
Oakland got two runs back in the third on the blast by Crisp, then moved ahead in the sixth.
With one out in the inning and runners on first and second, Jamey Wright replaced French and, following a double steal by Rajai Davis and Matt Carson, walked Steven Tolleson to load the bases. The tying run scored when Cliff Pennington grounded into a fielder's choice, and Crisp put Oakland on top with a base hit to right field.
There was a missed opportunity for the Mariners in the seventh, when Oakland reliever Craig Breslow fanned Branyan to strand the tying run at second.
Breslow tossed a perfect eighth and Andrew Bailey pitched the ninth for his 22nd save.
Game Notes
Seattle right fielder Ichiro Suzuki went 2-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. He has eight multi-hit performances during that span...Mark Ellis has hit safely in nine straight games...Davis collected three hits...Oakland is 9-6 against Seattle in 2010.
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Tulowitzki notched his s
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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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