Berkman leads Astros over Pirates in Houston
Baseball Betting Lines
07/06/2010 -
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lance Berkman homered and drove in three runs
to back seven sturdy innings from Wandy Rodriguez in Houston's 6-2 win over
Pittsburgh in the opener of a three-game set.
Michael Bourn had two hits and scored twice and Jeff Keppinger added three
hits and drove in a run as the Astros snapped a three-game slide.
Rodriguez (6-10) struck out a season-high 10 and yielded just a single run on
four hits and a pair of walks for Houston, which has won all four meetings
between the teams this season.
Houston area-native Brad Lincoln (1-3) suffered the loss in his homecoming
after being charged with five runs on seven hits and a walk over five frames
for the Pirates, who lost for just the second time in their last six games.
Bourn used his speed to create the first of two runs in the first for the
Astros. He led off with an infield single off the glove of Lincoln, stole
second, moved to third on a fly out and scored on a Berkman ground out.
Carlos Lee then clubbed a solo home run to left-center to make it 2-0.
Bourn started a three-run rally in the third with a one-out single and came in
to score on a Keppinger double that was followed by Berkman's two-run blast to
left for a 5-0 game.
The Pirates dented the scoreboard in the next half inning when Ryan Doumit
singled home Andrew McCutchen, who started the frame with a base hit and went
to third on a one-out single by Pedro Alvarez. A base hit by Lastings Milledge
then loaded the bases but the Pirates could not produce any more runs after
Bobby Crosby fouled out and Lincoln struck out.
Hunter Pence doubled home Lee in the seventh off Javy Lopez to extend the lead
to 6-1.
Wilton Lopez took over for Rodriguez in the eighth and was lifted with one out
and a runner on second and followed by Tim Byrdak, who gave up a base hit to
Garrett Jones that cut the Astros' lead to 6-2. The veteran southpaw then
retired Alvarez and Doumit to end the threat.
Game Notes
Lincoln grew up in Clute, TX and lives in Pearland, TX...He was expecting
somewhere between 150-200 family and friends to be at the game...His first
career start for the University of Houston came in the College Classic at
Minute Maid Park on February 15, 2004 against nationally-ranked Texas...He
played in the same tournament a year later against then 10th-ranked Baylor
and had three hits and drove in a run...The Astros improved to 20-6 against
the Pirates since September 8, 2008...Keppinger extended his hitting streak to
eight games and has 26 multi-hit games on the season...Rodriguez is 6-4 in 13
career starts against the Buccos...Alvarez extended his hitting streak to
eight games...The Pirates fell to 12-42 when scoring fewer than four runs.
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Why Sports Betting is so much fun?
Betting Sports
The most popular sports to bet on are NFL and college football along with NBA and NCAA basketball. There are multiple betting opportunities within those sports, beginning with the basic wager on a game’s outcome (also called betting the side). College Football Point spreads are used in both football and basketball in an attempt to even the attractiveness of each team in a match-up. ( See our article detailing how and why point spreads are made)
But you could also simply bet on the money line, or straight-up winner of the game. Oddsmakers use the money line so that more money must be risked on the favorite or expected winner and less money on the underdog to balance the action on both sides. While money line gambling is an attractive option for football and basketball bettors who only care about picking a winner, it is the primary option for those bettors who enjoy wagering on MLB baseball and individual sports like boxing, tennis, golf and racing events such as NASCAR. ( More details on playing the Money Line)
Points (or Runs) Scored
Another bet across all major team sports including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey involves wagering on the amount of scoring in a game, called an Over/Under total. For example, the Over/Under total on Super Bowl XXXIX was 48, which means a bettor could wager whether there would be more or less than 48 points scored by both teams combined in the game.
The final score of Super Bowl XXXIX was 24-21; the scoring of both teams added up to 45, which means the game went Under . So Under bettors won, and Over bettors lost.
Future Bets
Sports gambling doesn’t end there. Betting sides and totals are the most common wagers available everywhere, but many sportsbooks also offer future bets on big upcoming events like who will win next year’s Super Bowl and what movie will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
The main advantage of futures is that you can get appealing odds by betting far in advance. For example, with NFL futures you often can get much higher odds on a team by betting before the season even starts. A NFL future bet on a team to win the Super Bowl odds might be 20/1 in the preseason; but by midseason, their odds might decrease to 10/1 if they turn out to be legitimate championship contenders.
Proposition Bets (or Prop Bets)
Proposition bets , also known as prop bets, focus upon the more exotic aspects of a game and are generally reserved for events that are widely televised. Prop bets are extremely popular when it comes to wagering on the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. The Imperial Palace Casino’s sportsbook is well-known for the enormous number of prop bets offered. For example, you can bet on:
- What team will win the coin toss
- What player will score the game’s first touchdown
- What will be the exact margin of victory
Types of Bets
Straight Bet
Involves one individual wager, whether it be on your team to cover the point spread, to win the game straight-up on the money line, or to go over/under the total.
A parlay is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers and is dependent on all of those wagers winning together. The benefit of the parlay bet is much better odds than placing each individual bet separately since the difficulty of hitting it is much higher.
Standard payoffs on a two-team parlay are 13/5; while a three-teamer pays 6/1; and a four-teamer 10/1.
Parlay cards are also fairly common in sportsbooks and popular with bettors, as they are released early in the week with set odds that do not change in return for a slightly lower payoff.
Round Robin Betting
Adventurous bettors who enjoy betting parlays sometimes put together a series of parlays called a Round Robin . A three-team Round Robin consists of one three-team parlay and three two-team parlays. For example, Joe likes teams A,B,C – with a Round Robin he has a three-teamer with ABC, and two-teamers with AB, AC, and BC.
Similar to a parlay, a teaser bet is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers, but is different in that the point spread is adjusted to your advantage on each individual wager. In exchange for the points, you get less of a return on your bet compared to a parlay. For example, a 6-point teaser would move the line on a 7-point favorite from -7 to -1, meaning the team would have to cover 6 less points. Each of the individual wagers must win or the bet is a loss.
These are the main types of sports bets available today. But as sports betting continues to grow, sportsbooks will continue to develop new and creative ways to bet. We’ll continue to track these changes to the sports gambling landscape, so check back often and we’ll tell you all about it!
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
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