Holiday Cheer for Brewers: Suppan signed
Baseball Betting Lines
12/24/2006 - Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Brewers bolstered their rotation by coming to terms with free agent Jeff Suppan on a four-year deal with a club option for a fifth season. The contract is pending completion of a physical.
Suppan, the MVP of this year's National League Championship Series, went 12-7 with a 4.12 ERA for the Cardinals in 32 regular season starts. The right- hander was 1-0 with a 0.60 ERA in two games against the New York Mets in the NLCS, as the Cardinals eventually won the World Series.
"With 44 wins in the last three seasons, Jeff is not only a proven winner, he is also one of the most durable pitchers in baseball," Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said. "This agreement makes us feel very good about the depth of our rotation. Jeff's experience and durability should have a positive influence on our entire pitching staff."
The 31-year-old Suppan has made at least 31 regular-season starts in each of his last eight seasons and averaged 193 innings pitched in that time. He owns a career record of 106-101 with a 4.60 ERA in 317 games (301 starts), having also pitched for Boston (1995-97, 2003), Arizona (1998), Kansas City (1998-2002) and Pittsburgh (2003).
Suppan will join a Brewers starting rotation that includes lefty Chris Capuano, and right-handers Ben Sheets, Dave Bush and Claudio Vargas.
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ron Dayne rushed for a career-high 153 yards and scored two touchdowns, and Kris Brown booted a 48-yard field goal as time expired, as Houston stunned Indianapolis with a 27-24 victory, the first win in 10 a
<< Strahan back on the field for New York
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Giants defensive end Michael
Strahan returned to the lineup on Sunday against the Saints after missing the
last six games with a sprained foot ligament.
Strahan hasn't played since injurin
<< Springs breaks shoulder blade
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington Redskins defensive back Shawn
Springs broke a shoulder blade in the first quarter of Sunday's game against
St. Louis.
Springs had surgery to repair a minor tear in his abdominal muscle earli
<< Vick becomes first QB to top 1,000 yards rushing
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick
needed only 10 yards rushing in Sunday's game against Carolina to become the
first quarterback in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards in a single season.
He got all of it
<< NFL Inactives (Sunday, December 24, 2006)
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The following is a list of the players
placed on the inactive squad for this week's NFL games.
TENNESSEE TITANS AT BUFFALO BILLS, 1:00 P.M. (ET)
Titans - CB Andre Woolfolk, RB Chris Brown, C/G Justin Gei
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ron Dayne rushed for a career-high 153 yards and scored two touchdowns, and Kris Brown booted a 48-yard field goal as time expired, as Houston stunned Indianapolis with a 27-24 victory, the first win in 10 a
Bucs beat Cleveland for only road win of season >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michael Pittman ran for 86 yards and a
touchdown, as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers battered Cleveland, 22-7.
Derrick Brooks returned an interception for a touchdown for the Buccaneers
(4-11), who snap
Vick sets running record, but Falcons fall to Panthers >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michael Vick became the first quarterback in
NFL history to top 1,000 yards rushing, but did little else as the Atlanta
Falcons continued to fade out of the uninspiring NFC wild-card picture, losing
10-3 to
New England clinches AFC East with win over Jacksonville >>
Jacksonville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tom Brady threw for 249 yards and a
touchdown as New England edged Jacksonville, 24-21, to win its fourth
consecutive AFC East title at Alltel Stadium.
Brady completed 28-of-39 passes for t
Young leads streaking Titans past Bills >>
Orchard Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie Vince Young threw for 183 yards and
two touchdowns, and also ran for 61 yards and a score, as Tennessee edged
Buffalo, 30-29, to keep its slim playoff hopes alive.
Young, who completed 13-of-20
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.