Solid dozen for Preakness
Horseracing Betting Lines
05/13/2010 - Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 2010 Triple Crown traveling carnival takes up residence in Baltimore this Saturday for the 135th running of the $1 million Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course. The 1 3/16-mile race has attracted an evenly matched field of 12 three-year-olds for the second leg of racing's three-bagger.
Five of the starters are coming in from the Kentucky Derby headed by Run for the Roses winner Super Saver. Also coming back from the two-week break are Derby third-place finisher Paddy O'Prado, defeated favorite and sixth-place finisher Lookin At Lucky, the seventh-place finisher Dublin and Jackson Bend who was 12th.
Super Saver, with Calvin Borel riding, is the 5-2 morning-line favorite after winning the Derby at 8-1. Lookin At Lucky, the 6-1 Derby favorite, is the 3-1 second choice and will start from post seven on the immediate inside of Super Saver.
"There's not a really bad post in the Preakness," Lookin At Lucky's trainer Bob Baffert said. "I've won the race. I remember that Real Quiet got the 11. He was training so great and he got the 11, and I was just sick for a couple of days. Then all of a sudden I realized that at the end of the day it's the horse. If you have the horse, it doesn't matter what post you come out of."
Paddy O'Prado has been made the 9-2 third program pick after a major move up in the Derby. He again will start from post 10 with Kent Desormeaux out to redeem himself after his much talked about ride two weeks ago.
"Really, in a 12-horse field, there's not a terrible position to have," noted Paddy's trainer Dale Romans, "I didn't want to be in the one or 12 if we could help it, and anything else we were going to be happy with. Paddy didn't have a problem with the 10-hole in the Derby and I'd like to have him on the inside of First Dude. It gives us a few more options maybe."
Romans has First Dude in the Preakness with the colt breaking from post 11 and 20-1 in the program.
My Derby pick Dublin will break from the outside post with Garrett Gomez picking up the ride after losing the mount on Lookin At Lucky. His seventh- place finish at Churchill Downs has him at 10-1 in the morning-line.
Jackson Bend finished 19-lengths behind Super Saver two weeks ago, but is back for another try. He will be ridden by Mike Smith from post six and is 12-1 in the program.
The two 30-1 longshots are Northern Giant and Yawanna Twist, posts four and five respectively. Northern Giant was ninth in the Arkansas Derby and will be ridden by Terry Thompson who was on Dublin in the Derby. Yawanna Twist was second in the Illinois Derby and again will be handled by Edgar Prado.
At 20-1, in addition to First Dude, are Aikenite and Pleasant Prince. Aikenite is trained by Pletcher and is coming off a second-place finish in the Derby Trial. His inside post position should not be a factor,
"I suppose one wouldn't have been my first choice for Aikenite," Pletcher said, "but I really don't think the post positions are hugely important in this race. Eight was very good. I'm very happy with that."
Former jockey Wesley Ward sends out Pleasant Prince who was third in the Derby Trial. Eclipse Award winner Julien Leparoux has the mount from post three.
"I'm happy. I guess if I'd have been choosing one, Id have chosen four, five or seven," said owner Ken Ramsey. "But I'm happy with three. There's not much you can do about it, just take what you get. It's a lot different from the Derby. You've got almost half the number of horses, 12 compared to 20."
Trainer Derek Ryan sends out Schoolyard Dreams for a try at a second straight in-the-money Preakness finish. Last year Musket Man was third in both the Preakness and Kentucky Derby. Schoolyard Dreams is 15-1 in the program and will start from post two with Eibar Coa riding.
"I'd rather be down there than stuck way out on the outside," Ryan noted, "so we've got no complaints. He likes to be pretty close to the pace."
The only gelding in the field is Caracortado trained by Mike Machowsky. Paul Atkinson comes in from California to ride from the nine hole. Undefeated as a two-year-old, Caracortado is 10-1 in the morning-line.
"I'm thinking I might put my horse on the lead or in the race early," said Machowsky, "and I think the only other horse that has any sort of speed inside of me is Jackson Bend. We drew well. It's a solid field. I was talking to somebody this morning thinking that it's one of the best Preakness fields in a while as far as anybody can win it. I think all 12 horses have a shot."
Machowsky is absolutely correct. Any of the 12 has a chance to win the Preakness this year. That is why I will not be singling any of the entrants.
I liked Dublin in the Derby and will use him in a four horse exacta box. Along with Dublin I'm including Super Saver, Aikenite and Paddy O'Prado.
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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.
March Madness odds and printable March Madness brackets
With the field of 64/65 set, MySportsbook.com has the Florida Gators as the 4-1 favorite to successfully defend their National Championship. Men’s Division-1 College Basketball has not seen a team repeat as National Champions since Duke won back to back championships in ’91 & ‘92. After losing three out of four late in the season, the Gators are full of momentum as they won their last four games by an average of 18 points. Not surprisingly, right behind the Gators are the other three top seeds: Kansas 5-1, UNC 6-1, and Ohio State 7-1. Many consider Kansas to be the hottest team in the country, having won 11 straight. With Kansas, it is hard to ignore all of the early exits from the “dance” in recent years. With an impressive ACC Tournament, UNC ensured themselves the other top seed. UNC has about as much talent as any other team in the tournament but with a team that’s best players are primarily freshman and sophomores, could youth be a concern. Behind freshman sensation, Greg Oden, OSU will look to do what their football team failed to do just a few months earlier. OSU seems to have peeked at the right time, as they currently have a 17 game winning streak. Since the tournament field was expanded in 1985, there has never been an instance where all four #1 seeds advanced to the Final Four. It is obvious that each of the top seeds have the talent to make it through to Atlanta. But as everyone knows, when makes the NCAA Tournament so special are all of the spoilers and “Cinderella” stories that knock off the favorites on a daily basis.
Be sure to logon to MySportsbook.com to see check out all of the early lines and “March Madness” props. Also be sure to enter the “$10,000,000 Perfect Bracket Contest”. If someone has the skills to predict every winner, they will be set for life and walk away with $10,000,000. Even if no one can cash in on the Grand Prize, with a $35,000 guaranteed prize pool and a Mazda RX-8 to the first prize winner, Sportsbook.com’s bracket is a must for all “March Madness” fans.
MySportsbook.com’s odds to win the Championship and Regions:
| EAST | National Championship | Region |
| Arkansas | 300-1 | 50-1 |
| Belmont | 1000-1 | |
| Boston College | 100-1 | 40-1 |
| Eastern KY | 1000-1 | |
| George Washington | 75-1 | |
| Georgetown | 10-1 | 3-2 |
| Marquette | 100-1 | 40-1 |
| Michigan State | 100-1 | 25-1 |
| New Mexico St. | 500-1 | 200-1 |
| UNC | 6-1 | 6-5 |
| Oral Roberts | 500-1 | |
| Texas | 15-1 | 5-1 |
| Texas Tech | 200-1 | 5-1 |
| USC | 75-1 | 20-1 |
| Vanderbilt | 100-1 | 30-1 |
| Washington State | 40-1 | 15-1 |
| WEST | ||
| Duke | 50-1 | 10-1 |
| Florida A&M | 1000-1 | |
| Gonzaga | 200-1 | 40-1 |
| Holy Cross | 300-1 | |
| Illinois | 300-1 | 60-1 |
| Indiana | 75-1 | 40-1 |
| Kansas | 5-1 | 13-10 |
| Kentucky | 100-1 | 40-1 |
| Niagara | 1000-1 | |
| Pittsburgh | 40-1 | 8-1 |
| Southern Ill. | 50-1 | 12-1 |
| UCLA | 10-1 | 3-2 |
| VCU | 500-1 | 100-1 |
| Villanova | 100-1 | 40-1 |
| VA Tech | 50-1 | 15-1 |
| Weber St | 1000-1 | |
| Wright St | 1000-1 | 300-1 |
| MIDWEST | ||
| Arizona | 50-1 | 30-1 |
| Butler | 40-1 | 30-1 |
| Davidson | 300-1 | |
| Florida | 4-1 | 4-5 |
| Georgia Tech | 75-1 | 25-1 |
| Jackson State | 1000-1 | |
| Maryland | 30-1 | 6-1 |
| Miami-OH | 300-1 | |
| Notre Dame | 100-1 | 20-1 |
| ODU | 500-1 | 100-1 |
| Oregon | 40-1 | 6-1 |
| Purdue | 300-1 | 60-1 |
| Texas A&M CC | 1000-1 | |
| UNLV | 100-1 | 30-1 |
| Winthrop | 500-1 | 100-1 |
| Wisconsin | 15-1 | 7-2 |
| SOUTH | ||
| Albany | 200-1 | |
| BYU | 200-1 | 40-1 |
| Central CT St. | 1000-1 | |
| Creighton | 100-1 | 35-1 |
| Long Beach St. | 500-1 | 200-1 |
| Louisville | 40-1 | 10-1 |
| Memphis | 30-1 | 4-1 |
| Nevada | 75-1 | 35-1 |
| North Texas | 500-1 | |
| Ohio State | 7-1 | 6-5 |
| Penn | 500-1 | |
| Stanford | 200-1 | 50-1 |
| Tennessee | 100-1 | 20-1 |
| Texas A&M | 12-1 | 11-5 |
| Virginia | 75-1 | 18-1 |
| Xavier | 100-1 | 40-1 |
Field 100-1
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