Weekend winners ready for a break
Horseracing Betting Lines
11/28/2011 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wise Dan and To Honor and Serve each came out of their stakes victories over the Thanksgiving weekend in good shape. The two now are deserving of vacations to rest and get ready for 2012 campaigns.
Wise Dan, owned by Morton Fink, captured Friday's Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs and at Aqueduct it was To Honor and Serve putting away the competition down the stretch in the Cigar Mile.
"He came out of the race in perfect shape," Wise Dan's trainer Charles Lopresti said. "He's 100 percent.
"We'll let him wind down (at Keeneland) and then take him to our farm in Lexington. He'll have the whole month of December off and some of January and then we'll start getting him ready for a five-year-old campaign."
The Clark Handicap win on Friday gave Wise Dan the distinction of now winning stakes on three different surfaces: turf, dirt and synthetic.
"He can run on any surface at different distances, so we have a lot of options with him," Lopresti said. "Most likely we will bring him back in the Commonwealth at Keeneland like we did this year."
Lopresti also trains Woodbine Mile winner and Breeders' Cup Mile runner-up Turallure and Successful Dan, Wise Dan's older half-brother, who was disqualified from first to third in last year's Clark. Successful Dan was unable to race in 2011 due to a tendon injury.
"I was able to keep Turallure and Wise Dan apart this year, but I don't know if I can keep them all apart next year," Lopresti said. "It'll be tough and a couple of them may have to go in the same race. But this is a good problem to have. It's been a dream year and if next year is half as good as this one, then I'll be thrilled.
"Successful Dan is at our farm and gallops about five days a week. We'll keep doing that for awhile and then get more serious with him in January or February. Look for him in the spring."
To Honor and Serve looked capable of winning by more than the 1 3/4-lengths margin of victory on Saturday. He covered the mile in 1:33.89.
"He's good," said trainer Bill Mott's assistant, Leana Willaford about Cigar Mile champ To Honor and Serve. "He'll get a little freshening and then join us back at Payson (Park)."
To and Honor Serve, owned by Live Oak Plantation, is scheduled to have a four- year-old season at the racetrack after proving himself one of the top three- year-olds this year.
"He's obviously more mature, maybe a little taller and longer," Willaford noted. "He hasn't really gotten more muscular, but that will come hopefully next year; he's still growing. Even from the spring until the last three weeks training here (Belmont Park) since the Breeders' Cup, he's just really, really been doing well and settling in. His gallops have gotten more controlled. He's getting it."
Mott's charge proved himself against older company in the Cigar and was a respectable seventh in the Breeders' Cup Classic behind another Mott horse Drosselmeyer. The colt also won comfortably two months ago in the Pennsylvania Derby.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Sharks try to rebound from their first loss in five games this evening as they visit the Pacific Division-rival Los Angeles Kings and the Staples Center. The Sharks had outscored their opponents 14-4 over thei
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Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Carolina Hurricanes have fired head coach Paul Maurice and will name a replacement later on Monday. Maurice was in his second stint with the franchise and served 920 games behind the bench for the orga
Lightning re-sign Tyrell >>
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Marquette entertains Jacksonville >>
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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 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
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.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
2007 NFL Football Betting Preview
“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football wagering needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.