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05/27/2010 - Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kentucky Derby winning jockey Calvin Borel will return to the races on Friday at Churchill Downs after being off his mounts with an eye infection. The condition has kept the Louisiana native away from riding since May 16.
Jockey agent Jerry Hissam told the Churchill Downs media relations department that Borel will ride during Friday's 11 race program. The 43-year-old Borel is named on eight mounts for Friday and nine on Saturday.
Borel, who won this year's Run for the Roses on Super Saver, has 22 wins and more than $2.3 million during the current Churchill Downs spring meet to lead all jockeys.
With 995 career victories at Churchill Downs, Borel is second only to Pat Days 2,482.
In 2005 Borel won the Kentucky Derby with Street Sense and is the regular jockey for defending Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra. The veteran rider also won last year's Kentucky Derby with Mine That Bird.
<< Suns try to deal Lakers another blow in LA
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Suns climbed off the canvas to punch the Los
Angeles Lakers right in the mouth but if Alvin Gentry's club hopes to make it
to the NBA Finals, they will have to find a way to win in Los Angeles.
The Suns take an
<< Report: T'Wolves' Jefferson pleads guilty to DWI charge
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Minnesota Timberwolves power forward Al
Jefferson pleaded guilty Thursday to fourth-degree driving while impaired,
according to the Star Tribune.
Jefferson was arrested February 28 near downtown Mi
<< Bayern signs Contento to two-year extension
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich rising star Diego Contento
has signed a new two-year contract extension to tie him to the club until the
summer of 2013.
The 20-year-old defender became a regular member of coach Louis
<< Richmond sets home start times
Richmond, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Richmond is set to usher in
football at its $25 million Robins Stadium with a 1 p.m. kickoff against Elon
on Sept. 18.
The Spiders eliminated Elon from the FCS playoffs last season.
Richmo
Broncos' Stokley sidelined by shoulder injury >>
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) -Wide receiver Brandon Stokley was held out of Thursday's passing camp practice by the Denver Broncos, the latest workout he's missed because of a shoulder injury.Coach Josh McDaniels says Stokley has missed several of the team
Howard, Tillman elected to college Hall of Fame >>
NEW YORK (AP) -Desmond Howard scored two of the most memorable touchdowns in the storied history of Michigan football and struck the pose that Heisman contenders have been mimicking since.Barry Alvarez resurrected a Wisconsin program that looked hop
Di Carlo takes over at Sampdoria >>
Genoa, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Domenico Di Carlo has been confirmed as the
new coach of Sampdoria.
Luigi Del Neri's departure to take the Juventus job last week left the Genoa
club on the lookout for a new coach.
Di Carlo left Chi
Jankovic, Dementieva advance at soggy French Open >>
Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - On a Thursday dominated by rain, former
top-ranked star Jelena Jankovic and former runner-up Elena Dementieva managed
to sneak in second-round victories at the French Open.
The fourth-seeded Jankovic was te
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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