11/19/2008 - Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees right-hander Mike Mussina is reportedly retiring after 18 seasons in the major leagues.
According to a report on foxsports.com, Mussina has decided to call it a career and will officially announce his retirement later this week.
Mussina, coming off the first 20-win campaign of his illustrious career, was awarded his seventh Gold Glove this past season.
His 2,813 career strikeouts rank sixth among active pitchers and 19th on the all-time list. The first-round pick of the Orioles in 1990 would finish his career with a 270-153 record and a 3.68 ERA. Mussina has pitched his whole career in the American League East -- the last eight seasons with the Yanks and the first 10 of his career with the Baltimore Orioles.
Mussina, who turns 40 on December 8, has cited a desire to spend more time with his family in Montoursville, PA, as the main reason for leaving the game behind him, according to the published report.
This past season, Mussina went 20-9 with a 3.37 ERA in 34 starts.
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Hartford, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Blues recalled forward Steve
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Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Blue Jackets recalled right
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Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Bruins recalled defenseman Matt
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Oakland signs RHP Schroder >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Veteran right-handed reliever Chris Schroder,
who spent the previous three seasons with Washington, signed a major league
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goaltender Patrick Roy left the Montreal Canadiens over the years.
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Morgan, Michigan State defeat IPFW >>
Fort Wayne, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Raymar Morgan scored 22 points and hauled in
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No. 23 'Nova holds off Niagara >>
Villanova, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scottie Reynolds scored 19 points, including
a 9-of-10 foul shooting performance, as 23rd-ranked Villanova held off
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Corey Fisher added 15 poi
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.
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:
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.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
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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