Jeter still leads AL All-Star balloting
Baseball Betting Lines
06/30/2009 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter remained the overall leader among American League players in fan balloting for the 2009 All-Star Game.
Jeter, who surpassed Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria for the top spot last week, has received 3,046,813 votes. Longoria remains a close second with 2,988,363 votes and both are comfortably ahead at their respective positions.
A likely lock for his fourth straight All-Star start, Jeter has a lead of 1,627,314 votes over Tampa Bay's Jason Bartlett with just three days remaining in the balloting.
Longoria, a reserve All-Star as a rookie last year, is almost a certainty to make his first start in the Mid-Summer Classic. He has a lead of 1,634,044 votes over perennial All-Star Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees at the hot corner.
The tightest races remain on the right side of the infield at first base and second base.
Boston's Kevin Youkilis has again moved in front of New York's Mark Teixeira at first. Teixeira had vaulted Youkilis last week, but the Red Sox slugger, who is now playing third base in Mike Lowell's absence, has 1,915,303 votes and leads Teixeira by just 40,047.
Texas' Ian Kinsler has a narrow lead over reigning AL MVP Dustin Pedroia of Boston at second. Kinsler's margin has been trimmed to a slim 6,830 votes after it was fewer than 59,000 last week.
Minnesota's Joe Mauer is still well ahead of Boston's Jason Varitek at catcher. Mauer has 2,851,819 votes to Varitek's 1,399,946.
The three starting outfield slots are held by Boston's Jason Bay, Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki and Texas' Josh Hamilton. The Angels' Torii Hunter is fourth and trails Hamilton by 144,981 votes for the final starting spot.
All-Star squads for both leagues will be announced on Sunday, July 5.
The 80th All-Star Game will be played July 14 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-ranked Dinara Safina, two-time champion Serena Williams and five-time titlist Venus Williams were quarterfinal winners Tuesday at Wimbledon. Fourth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva also won on Tuesday, a
<< Barca's Xavi would not want Ronaldo
Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barcelona midfielder Xavi has blasted
incoming Real Madrid ace Cristiano Ronaldo, saying there would be no room for
him at the Camp Nou.
Ronaldo is set to complete a world record $132 million
<< Second opinion produces same diagnosis for Beltran
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A second opinion on the injured knee of New
York Mets center fielder Carlos Beltran reportedly remains a bone bruise.
Beltran visited noted surgeon Dr. Richard Steadman in Colorado on Monday and
the New
<< Bayern will not sell Ribery
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - General Manager Uli Hoeness has reiterated
Bayern Munich's stance on Franck Ribery, insisting the German giants won't sell
the French ace.
The 26-year-old winger is the subject of speculation across
<< CFL Previews - Week One - July 1-3
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) -
TORONTO ARGONAUTS (0-0) AT HAMILTON TIGER-CATS (0-0)
DATE & TIME: Wednesday, July 1, 7:00 p.m. (et)
GAME NOTES: The 2009 Canadian Football League season kicks off Wednesday
evening, as the H
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Blues have extended qualifying offers to six players, including forward B.J. Crombeen. Crombeen, claimed off waivers by St. Louis from Dallas last November, played in 81 games last season, h
Pistons fire Curry >>
Auburn Hills, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit Pistons president of basketball
operations Joe Dumars did an about face Tuesday and fired head coach Michael
Curry.
"This was a difficult decision to make," Dumars said in a statement releas
Finley to play next season for Spurs >>
San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs announced on Tuesday
that guard/forward Michael Finley stated he will return to the team for the
2009-10 season.
Last season with San Antonio, he appeared in 81 games and averaged
Revs acquire international spot from Wizards >>
Foxborough, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New England Revolution acquired an
international roster spot from the Kansas City Wizards on Tuesday in exchange
for a third-round selection in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft.
New England will retain
Torres: Villa out of Liverpool's range >>
Liverpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Liverpool striker Fernando Torres has
accepted that his club do not have the financial muscle needed to try and sign
Valencia star David Villa.
Spain international Villa has been tracked by seve
Barry Bonds Watch: Giants Slugger Says He'll Be Back
With only 21 home runs standing between him and Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds is indeed planning on coming back for more in 2007. At least, that's what his agent told the Los Angeles Times.
"Barry's going to play in 2007," Jeff Borris of Beverly Hills Sports Council told the Times on Tuesday. "I've had many discussions with Barry and he's going to play. My intentions are to see to it he's in a big-league uniform next season. Those are my marching orders."
Contract negotiations could get started as early as next week. Let's see which team has the deeper pockets. Will MLB baseball betting lines despite allegations of steroid use? Bet On It at www.MySportsbook.com .
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What Is the Point Spread?
What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?
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.
How to Read Point Spreads
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:
- Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
OR
- Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.
-
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 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.
For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
- Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
OR
- Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score
Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?
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.
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