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02/21/2012 - Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees made it official on Tuesday and signed outfielder Raul Ibanez to a one-year contract.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but the New York Daily News had reported the deal to be worth $1.1 million.
The 39-year-old Ibanez will fill a need for a lefty-swinging designated hitter and will add depth to the team's outfield that will be manned by Brett Gardner, Curtis Granderson and Nick Swisher.
Other candidates that were reportedly in the mix were former Yankees Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui.
The Yankees were able to free up some money to add a bat this past weekend when they finalized a trade that sent pitcher A.J. Burnett to Pittsburgh.
Ibanez appeared in 144 games last season, including 134 in left field, for the Phillies and batted .245 with 20 homers and 84 runs batted in. He spent three seasons in Philadelphia, driving in at least 80 runs each year.
In 1,817 games over 16 seasons with Seattle, Kansas City and Philadelphia, Ibanez has 252 homers, 1,054 runs batted in and a .280 batting average. He was an All-Star for the first and only time with the Phillies in 2009, and appeared in the playoffs with Philadelphia each of the last three years.
Ibanez, born in New York City, has reached the 30-double plateau in each of the last 10 seasons, the longest such active streak in the majors.
<< Stoppage Time: Plenty at stake for Chelsea's Villas-Boas
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It has been a recurring story throughout the English
Premier League season, but Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has not been
under as much pressure as he is now.
The club's FA Cup aspirations took a hit this past weekend
<< Red Sox get Chris Carpenter from Cubs; place Jenks on 60-day DL
Fort Myers, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox have acquired pitcher
Chris Carpenter and a player to be named later from the Chicago Cubs in
exchange for a player to be named later.
The Red Sox also placed right-handed p
<< Braves' Hanson has mild concussion after accident
Lake Buena Vista, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta Braves pitcher Tommy Hanson
suffered a mild concussion after being involved in a one-car accident on
Monday.
Hanson was on his way to the club's spring training camp in Florida on Mon
<< United loans GK Kuszczak to Watford
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United loaned goalie Tomasz
Kuszczak to Championship side Watford on Tuesday for the rest of the season.
The 29-year-old Kuszczak was a surplus for United coach Sir Alex Ferguson and
had fa
Drake reportedly will name McCaslin as DC >>
Des Moines, Iowa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Drake University will name former
Nebraska-Omaha assistant football coach Brad McCaslin as its new defensive
coordinator, according to a report Tuesday.
Footballscoop.com first reported the hiring.
McCa
Broken foot sidelines Blues F Langenbrunner >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Blues placed forward Jamie
Langenbrunner on injured reserve Tuesday because of a broken foot suffered
over the weekend.
Langenbrunner sustained the injury to his left foot in Sunday's 3
Sixers' Brand to miss game against Grizzlies >>
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia 76ers forward Elton Brand will
miss Tuesday's game against the Memphis Grizzlies due to a right thumb sprain.
Brand has averaged 10.1 points and 6.7 rebounds in 30 games for the Sixers
this
Red Sox, Cubs work out compensation for Epstein >>
Fort Myers, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox have acquired pitcher
Chris Carpenter and a player to be named later from the Chicago Cubs in
exchange for a player to be named later.
The trade finalizes the compensation the
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 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.
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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