Nationals give 1B/OF Morse extension
Baseball Betting Lines
01/20/2012 -
Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Nationals agreed to a
multi-year contract extension with first baseman/outfielder Michael Morse on
Friday, avoiding salary arbitration.
Morse, 29, batted .303 with 31 home runs and 95 RBI in 146 games last season
with the Nationals and became just the fourth qualified National to hit .300
since the franchise moved to D.C. prior to the 2005 season.
He was acquired by Washington from the Seattle Mariners on June 28, 2009 in
exchange for outfielder Ryan Langerhans.
In three seasons with Washington, Morse has belted 49 home runs and has
driven in 146 runs to go with a consistent .295 batting average in 276 games.
The deal assures that the powerful righty will be a mainstay in the middle of
a potent Nats' lineup which includes former All-Stars Jayson Werth and Ryan
Zimmerman, and could see the emergence of super-prospect Bryce Harper in 2012
to go with an up-and-coming middle infield tandem of Ian Desmond and Danny
Espinosa.
Over seven major league season with Washington and Seattle. Morse is a career
.296 hitter with 69 doubles, 52 home runs and 183 RBI in 383 games.
<< Ravens S Reed probable for Sunday
Owings Mills, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed is listed
as probable for Sunday's AFC Championship at New England due to a left ankle
injury.
He was a full participant in Friday's practice after being limited the l
<< Gladbach downs Bayern to open second half
Monchengladbach, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Monchengladbach pulled within one
point of Bundesliga leader Bayern Munich on Friday, as Marco Reus notched his
11th goal and Patrick Herrmann added a brace in a 3-1 win at Borussia-Park.
Reus sc
<< Brady's name removed from injury report
Foxboro, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady
was removed from Friday's injury report and was a full participant in practice
for a second straight day.
He sat out Wednesday's practice to rest a lingering
<< Yankees, Gardner avoid arbitration
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees and outfielder Brett Gardner
have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year contract.
Gardner appeared in 159 games for the Yankees last season, batting .259 with
career highs in both
<< Real Madrid focused on Athletic Bilbao
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Madrid lost another "El Clasico" earlier
this week against Barcelona, but Jose Mourinho's club still has an edge on its
rival in La Liga.
So after the 2-1 loss at the Bernabeu, Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos
Dallas swoops for Rodriguez >>
Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FC Dallas announced on Friday that the club has
come to terms with defender Carlos Rodriguez, who will be added to the team
pending receipt of his P-1 Visa and International Transfer Certificate.
The 21-yea
Indians obtain Slowey from Rockies >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians acquired right-hander
Kevin Slowey and cash considerations from the Colorado Rockies in exchange for
pitcher Zach Putnam.
Slowey was dealt by Minnesota to Colorado last month and qui
Anaheim Ducks sign D Beauchemin to extension >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks signed defenseman Francois
Beauchemin to a three-year contract extension Friday.
Through 45 games for the Ducks this season, Beauchemin has six goals and 12
assists with a plus-1 rating
United acquires midfielder Cruz from Dynamo >>
Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - D.C. United acquired midfielder Danny Cruz
from the Houston Dynamo on Friday in exchange for a partial allocation.
Cruz, 22, was selected in the third round of the 2009 MLS SuperDraft, and made
51 appearan
Celtic goes for 12th straight win vs. St. Mirren >>
Paisley, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There seems to be no stopping Celtic at
the moment.
The Hoops have won 11-straight league games to improve to 56 points on the
season and overtake Rangers for first place in the Scottish Premier
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.
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