Japan catches Dominguez' fancy
Horseracing Betting Lines
12/09/2011 -
Ozone Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It wasn't his first time in the Land of the
Rising Sun and it probably won't be the last time jockey Ramon Dominguez makes
the trek across the Pacific. Dominguez and fellow rider John Velazquez are
both back in America after participating in the World Super Jockeys Series
last Saturday and Sunday at Hanshin Racecourse in Japan.
"I had a great time. Unfortunately, my horses didn't perform that well, but
I'm always impressed with the way races are run (in Japan)," said Dominguez.
"Everything is very meticulously done. I'm impressed with the whole culture.
It's very clean on the streets. It's different in so many ways. You leave very
impressed with how everything is so well laid out."
Dominguez, whose mounts in the World Super Jockeys Series races finished
ninth, seventh, ninth, and fourth, ended in eighth-place in the 15 jockey
competition. Velazquez finished fourth behind winning rider John Murtagh.
"For me, it was a totally different experience," noted Dominguez. "For one
thing, they run (clockwise at Hanshin Racecourse). The horses don't have
ponies or anybody to handle them in the starting gate. It's a very long post
parade. You go through a gazebo or a type of run-in shed. You walk for a good
five minutes or more before you go in the starting gate. (Velazquez) was very
pleased, too. He liked it. It wasn't his first trip either, but it just was a
very good experience."
Dominguez, last year's Eclipse Award winning jockey, had previously ridden
Better Talk Now to a 12th-place finish in the Japan Cup. He apparently
acquired a taste for Japanese food during that first trip.
"(The Japan Racing Association) had a big spread for us a couple of nights
before the races," said Dominguez. "You can try something authentic that
(natives) love, but it may not be appealing to you. It's just a different
taste, but I'm always game to try different things. I really liked that. They
had a ceviche-type dish. It's usually from Peru, but they had their own
version and it was very, very good."
This year the veteran reinsman has won 327 times in 1,348 mounts for a leading
$19,443,008. He rode Hansen to victory in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile last
month and is the regular jockey for leading female Havre de Grace.
<< Kaberle shipped to Canadiens for Spacek
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tomas Kaberle's stay in Carolina was a short
one.
The 33-year-old defenseman, who won a Stanley Cup with the Bruins last June
and signed a three-year deal worth $12.75 million with the Hurricanes, was
<< Yankees bring back Freddy Garcia
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Following a successful 2011 season, Freddy Garcia
has re-joined the Yankees on a one-year contract, the club announced Friday.
Last season was Garcia's best in years. The right-hander signed a minor league
contra
<< Tigres wins first leg of Mexican final at Santos
Torreon, Mexico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Damian Alvarez scored inside 10 minutes and
Tigres edged 10-man Santos, 1-0, on Thursday night in the opening match of the
Mexican Apertura championship at Estadio Corona.
Argentine winger Alvarez converted
<< Jaguars place Kampman on IR
Jacksonville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Jacksonville Jaguars have placed
defensive end Aaron Kampman on injured reserve.
Kampman played just three games this season. He was bothered by a knee issue
early this year after suffering a
<< Rays lock up Moore with five-year deal
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays have called an
afternoon press conference at which they are expected to announce that they
have signed top left-handed pitching prospect Matt Moore to a five-year deal.
Despi
Pronger, Schenn out indefinitely >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Chris
Pronger will be out indefinitely with concussion-like symptoms.
"While Chris' knee is improving, he has struggled with other issues that are
concussion-like sy
Bayern wants 'happy and peaceful Christmas' >>
Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich shrugged off its defeat to
Manchester City in the Champions League on Wednesday, but the last two matches
before the Bundesliga break are top priority for the record German champions.
Bayer
United captain Vidic to miss rest of season >>
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United captain Nemanja Vidic
will miss the remainder of the season with a ruptured ACL, the English Premier
League side announced Friday.
"We thought it was a bad one," United coach Sir Alex
Velez Sarsfield edges Tigre to move into fourth >>
Buenos Aires, Argentina (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With Boca Juniors having already
secured the Apertura title, Velez Sarsfield took the chance to move into
fourth place in the Argentine top flight with a 3-1 win over Tigre on
Thursda
Grubb named Hamlin's new crew chief >>
Huntersville, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Darian Grubb has joined Joe Gibbs Racing
to serve as crew chief for Denny Hamlin's No.11 Toyota team in the Sprint Cup
Series, the team announced Friday.
JGR's announcement of Grubb comes three days aft
Albert Pujols to be This Year's Home Run Champ Says Online Sportsbook
Barry Bonds is a 50-1 long shot to be this year's home run champ odds. The favorite to be this year's home run champ is none other than Albert Pujols, however.
Now that Barry Bonds is signed and in Giants camp, it is on to his pursuit of all of sports most prestigious records: the all-time home run mark. Bonds sits just 21 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron for the career mark at 755. Word out of Giants’ camp is that Bonds is the healthiest he has been in a few years. Bonds is just two seasons removed from his injury riddled 2005 campaign where he played in only 14 games and hit only 5 home runs. He did come back last year and had a solid season hitting .270 with 26 bombs. All eyes will be on Bonds this spring and summer not only because of his home run chase but his highly publicized steroid abuse allegations. If and when Bonds breaks the record, he surely will not get the positive attention one should for breaking a record that was once thought of as “unbreakable”. Despite Bonds decent season last year, he is just 50-1 at MySportsbook.com to lead the MLB in long balls this season.
Not surprisingly, the favorites to go deep the most times this season are Albert Pujols 5-1, Ryan Howard 6-1, David Ortiz 8-1 and Alex Rodriguez 12-1. With 49 homers, Pujols finished second in the National League behind Howard (58). Pujols is considered the favorite due to the consistent power numbers that he has posted since breaking into the league in 2001. Also one must consider the fact that he played in 16 fewer games then Howard did due to an injury. Howard smashed 58 homers in his first complete season of big league play en route to the National League MVP odds award. He silenced his critics by successfully hitting left-handed pitching. Howard also displayed the ability to use his power to the opposite field. Two attributes which should keep Howard amongst the league leaders in long balls for years to come. From the American League representatives, David Ortiz leads the field. Ortiz was second in the majors last year with 54 home runs. Except for 1999 when he only played in 10 games, Ortiz has improved on his home run numbers each year he has been in the majors (1997).
Be sure to log onto online sports betting site MySportsbook.com to check out the odds for who will lead the MLB in home runs this season. Below is just a sample of the players listed. With the highest credit card rates in the industry, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on baseball this summer.
World Series odds
Adam Dunn 15-1
Albert Pujols 5-1
Alex Rodriguez 12-1
Alfonso Soriano 15-1
Andruw Jones 25-1
Barry Bonds 50-1
Carlos Delgado 40-1
David Ortiz 8-1
Jermaine Dye 40-1
Ken Griffey Jr. 100-1
Lance Berkman 40-1
Manny Ramirez 20-1
Richie Sexson 40-1
Ryan Howard 6-1
Travis Hafner 20-1
Vladimir Guerrero 40-1
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
What Is the Point Spread?
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 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.
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
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.
|
