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08/23/2010 - Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros announced a four-year extension of the player development contract with the Corpus Christi Hooks, the team's Double-A affiliate.
The new agreement runs through the 2016 season.
"Corpus Christi has been an integral part of our player development system since 2005, and the fan base that has grown in that area since then is just as important as the growth our players have had while at the Double-A level," said Astros assistant general manager Ricky Bennett."
The franchise has been affiliated with the Astros since 1991, although it has moved twice while with Houston. After being affiliated with the Mets from 1968-90, the Jackson Generals began in 1991 before moving to Round Rock in 2000. In 2005, the Express moved to Corpus Christi and became the Hooks.
The Hooks won the Eastern League title in 2006.
<< Longoria, Cano share AL weekly honors
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria and
New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano were named the Co-Players of the
Week for the American League for the period ending August 22.
Longoria hit 11-for-
<< Collins signs with Bears at QB
LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) -The Chicago Bears have added a lot of experience at quarterback with one moveThe Bears have signed 38-year-old Todd Collins, who's played for Washington, Kansas City and Buffalo. He is expected to battle the injured Caleb Han
<< Cubs activate C Soto from DL among several moves
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs activated catcher Geovany
Soto from the 15-day disabled list among several roster moves on Monday.
The 27-year-old backstop was put on the DL on August 10 with a sprained right
shoulder
<< Wozniacki tops Zvonareva in Montreal finale
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - U.S. Open runner-up Caroline Wozniacki
defeated Wimbledon runner-up Vera Zvonareva to capture the title at the rain-
plagued $2 million Rogers Cup event.
The second-seeded Wozniacki whipped the eight
Rangers activate Harden for Monday start >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers activated pitcher Rich
Harden off the 15-day disabled list to start Monday's game against the Twins.
Harden has been sidelined since a 2 1/3-inning start against the Athletics on
Augus
City dispatches Liverpool >>
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Tevez scored two second-half
goals as Manchester City recorded a comfortable 3-0 win over Liverpool at
Eastlands on Monday.
Gareth Barry put City in front in the 13th minute, and Teve
Power conquered the courses, but can he survive the ovals? >>
Sonoma, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Will Power has undoubtedly established himself as
the king of the road/street courses in the IZOD IndyCar Series this year, but
can the Team Penske driver hang on to win the series championship with the last
four r
This Week in Golf - August 23rd through August 29th >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - THE BARCLAYS, Ridgewood Country Club,
Paramus, New Jersey - It's playoff golf.
The PGA Tour playoffs begin on Thursday with the first round of The Barclays.
The top 125 on the FedEx Cup regular-s
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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