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10/06/2009 - Fontana, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup. Date: Sunday, October 11. Race: Pepsi 500. Site: Auto Club Speedway. Track: two-mile oval. Start Time: 3:15 p.m. (et). Laps: 250. Miles: 500. Defending Winner: Jimmie Johnson. Television: ABC. Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN)/SIRIUS XM Satellite.
Last Sunday at Kansas, ten of the top-11 finishers were Chase drivers, as the points battle for the Sprint Cup Series championship tightened. Only 114 points separate leader Mark Martin from eighth-place Greg Biffle heading into the Pepsi 500 at California -- the fourth race in the playoffs.
"It shows how competitive the Chase is," said Kansas race winner Tony Stewart, who moved up to fourth in points (-67).
Stewart, in his first year as driver and owner, captured his fourth victory of the season. The two-time Cup Series champion finished 14th at New Hampshire and seventh at ninth at Dover before winning at Kansas.
In February, Stewart finished eighth at California in just his second race with his new Stewart-Haas Racing team.
"We were still just learning each other going into California in the spring," Stewart said. "So going around this time, we obviously know each other better. We've had time to make mistakes and make decisions that worked for me, and we've learned the feel that I like together, and that's something that will help us. I'm anticipating California a lot more this time than in the spring."
After finishing seventh at Kansas, Martin padded his lead to 18 points over Hendrick Motorsports teammate and three-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson, who finished ninth.
Johnson excels at the upcoming tracks on the schedule. The El Cajon, CA native returns to his hometrack this weekend as the winner of the last two fall races there. After California, the series runs at Charlotte and then Martinsville. Johnson has five victories at Charlotte and has won five of the last six races at Martinsville.
"They really are great tracks for us," Johnson said. "I think the season comes to us in a way. I know that we perform well in the Chase, but I think the schedule is helpful for the No.48 car. We have great results, and it gives us a lot of hope going into these tracks, but we still have to show up and get the job done."
Johnson has recorded five straight top-10 finishes at California. He dominated last year's fall race there, leading 228 of 250 laps.
Martin will compete in California's second date of the season for the first time since 2006. He has missed the event in the past two years due to his limited Cup schedule. Martin suffered engine failure and ended up with a 40th- place finish at California earlier this year.
Juan Pablo Montoya has been superb in the Chase so far. Montoya, in his first year in the playoffs, is the only driver who has scored top-five finishes in the first three Chase races. He's hoping his momentum will continue, but California has been one of his tougher tracks.
"I would rather have Atlanta to be honest," Montoya said. "I always run really well at Atlanta. At the same time we ran pretty good [at California] the last time we were there. It was very early in the season, and even then I think we had decent cars. Right now, we've got much more competitive cars."
Montoya is now third in points (-51). He has finished no better than 11th in his first five races at California. Montoya had a third-place run last month at Atlanta.
With California's second date of the season now moved to October , drivers and teams are expecting different track conditions, which should make for an interesting race.
"Conditions will be cooler," said Kurt Busch, who is currently fifth in points (-91). "The track most likely will be faster."
Forty-five teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Pepsi 500.
<< Three drivers to decide the title in Homestead
Homestead, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: IndyCar. Date: Saturday, October 10.
Race: Firestone Indy 300. Site: Homestead-Miami Speedway. Track: 1.5-mile
oval. Start Time: 5:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 200. Miles: 300. Last year's winner:
Scott Dixon. Te
<< 49ers meet with Crabtree
Santa Clara, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco 49ers and holdout wide
receiver Michael Crabtree met on Tuesday, trying to end a long impasse.
The 10th overall draft pick from this year was reportedly offered a $20
million co
<< AFC West: Raiders' Russell should be benched
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It doesn't necessarily mean a team is giving up on the
season when the backup quarterback gets promoted because of an ineffective
starter. If Oakland Raiders head coach Tom Cable elects to bench JaMarcus
Russell in favor of B
<< Bobcats pick up option on Augustin
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Charlotte Bobcats have picked up the
third-year contract option on point guard D.J. Augustin.
The team had until the end of the month to exercise the option. Because of
this, the team will pay Au
NFC South: QB switch doesn't change Bucs' fortunes >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Johnson's first career NFL start couldn't have gotten
off to a more perfect beginning for the young quarterback. The end result,
however, turned out to be more of the same for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Johnson's initi
Yankees choose to open playoffs Wednesday; will face Twins >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees chose to select the
eight-day American League Division Series and will open the playoffs at home
Wednesday against the Central Division champion Twins.
Minnesota beat Detroit, 6-
Alfredsson leads Senators past Leafs >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daniel Alfredsson's goal in the second period
proved to be the difference, as the Ottawa Senators held on to edge the
Toronto Maple Leafs, 2-1, at Air Canada Centre.
Shean Donovan scored the other g
Twins use Metrodome magic to win AL Central >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alexi Casilla's RBI base hit with one out
in the bottom of the 12th inning lifted Minnesota over Detroit, 6-5, in the
one-game playoff for the AL Central title.
Orlando Cabrera hit a two-run homer and
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.
Brandon Roy Favorite to Win 2007 NBA Rookie of the Year
Portland TrailBlazer’s guard, Brandon Roy, is MySportsbook.com’s overwhelming favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year odds.
Despite missing 20 games due to an injury earlier this season, Roy has definitely put up the best numbers of his 1st year peers. In 32 games, Roy is averaging 15.3 PPG, 4.2 boards and 3.5 assists in over 33 minutes of play per game. While most rookies breakdown as the season progresses (see Morrison), Roy is only getting stronger as his playing time and scoring average has increased each month.
With 30 or so games left in the regular season, Roy isn’t a lock for the award by any means. Other rookies are putting together some pretty impressive campaigns and a few could give Roy a run for the award with increased playing time. Heading the list is first pick, Andrea Bargnani of the Toronto Raptors. Even though he has started only two games all season, Bargnani is averaging 10.3 PPPG while shooting 35% from deep.
Randy Foye of the Minnesota Timberwolves could be set to give Roy the best competition NBA Rookie of the Year betting lines. With the benching of Mike James, Foye looks like he could be the starter in the T-Wolves backcourt for the rest of the season. So far, Foye has averaged 9 PPG and 2.4 assists in just under 21 minutes per game. With his new role of starter, Foye’s numbers will definitely increase. In his first game as the new starting guard this past Sunday, Foye had 10 points; five rebounds and 8 assists. More importantly, he logged 34 minutes of playing time; his third highest run of the season.
Adam Morrison, of the Charlotte Bobcats, was the favorite early on in the season after averaging 15+ PPG through the first month of the season. Ever since his torrid start, Morrison’s point production has declined each month. This really isn’t surprising, considering at 6’8” he only weighs 205 lbs. Obviously he will need to hit the weights big time during the off-season in order to keep from breaking down in the future.
Be sure to log on to MySportsbook.com to bet on the NBA. With the regular season about to hit the homestretch, it is important to point out that MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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