Padres Leads Schierholtz Down Perkins

Baseball Betting Lines

Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Pirates have avoided arbitration with Evan Meek, signing the reliever to a one-year contract. Meek endured a forgettable 2011 campaign as injuries limited him to only 24 games.

 

For his career, Meek has compiled a 7-7 record with four saves and a 3.08 ERA in 144 games, all with the Pirates.

 

Pittsburgh also signed left-hander Doug Slaten to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. The soon-to-be 32-year-old has posted a 3.60 ERA in 206 career trips out of the bullpen with Arizona and Washington.

 

In six seasons with Minnesota, Liriano is 47-42 with 679 strikeouts, 269 walks and a 4.19 ERA.

 

Perkins, a St. Paul native, posted a 4-4 record with a 2.48 ERA, 65 strikeouts and 21 walks for his hometown team last season. Perkins has spent his entire five-year major league career with the Twins and has a 23-16 record in 145 games -- 44 starts -- with 224 strikeouts and 100 walks.

 

In 426 career games -- all with the Giants -- Schierholtz has a .273 average with 18 homers and 102 RBI.

 

San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres agreed to one-year contracts with nine arbitration eligible players on Tuesday, including offseason acquisitions Edinson Volquez and Carlos Quentin. Catcher Nick Hundley and infielder Chase Headley also agreed to contracts for the 2012 season, along with pitchers Luke Gregerson, Tim Stauffer and Joe Thatcher, outfielder Will Venable and catcher John Baker.

 

Quentin, a two-time All-Star and former Silver Slugger Award winner, was acquired from the White Sox in exchange for pitchers Simon Castro and Pedro Hernandez. The 29-year-old catcher has belted at least 21 home runs in each of the last four seasons. In 2011, he batted .254 with 24 home runs, a career- high 31 doubles and 77 RBI in 118 games.

 

Gregerson went 3-3 with a career-best 2.75 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 61 relief appearances for the Padres a season ago. The 27-year-old righty has 216 strikeouts against 68 walks in 213 career relief appearances -- all with the Padres.

 

Thatcher, a 30-year-old lefty reliever, appeared in just 18 games for the Padres last year after undergoing shoulder surgery in May. He has posted a 4-6 record with a 3.36 ERA in 182 career relief appearances over parts of five seasons with the Padres.

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Online Sportsbook Football Betting

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:

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.

Sports Betting Parlays

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.

Betting Teasers

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.

Academy Award Betting Odds for Best Picture Offer Great Value

If there is any category that is not an obvious win for any one nominee in this year's Academy Awards, it would be for Best Picture.  Sure the Departed is a 5/7 favorite, but that's hardly anything when we look at Helen Mirren and her "out-of-reach" 1 to 40 odds (which means you would win a whopping $1 for every $40 bet).

For value, take a look at MySportsbook.com Oscars betting odds on my personal favorite, The Queen - a remarkable 12 to 1 long shot.  The film hasn't won any pre-awards for Best Picture (compared to The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine), but there is a tremendous following and it is a strong enough film to warrant a surprise win.

TV Guide advises Oscar watchers should be cautioned not to discount the  drama "Babel" with its strong social themes about overcoming communication gaps among people of different cultures.

"While 'Babel' lost several guild awards to 'Sunshine' and 'Departed,'  it still enjoys loyal support, and historically Oscar voters favor dramas with social messages over comedies like 'Sunshine' and violent crime movies like 'Departed'."

"It hasn't done well in the guilds, which means there isn't much industry support," said Tom O'Neil of awards site TheEnvelope.com, "But several critics are expecting it to win, and that gets my attention." Babel had 7 to 2 odds at press time.

Who is to say independently produced Little Miss Sunshine won't be this year's Crash.  Last year, Crash won for Best Motion Picture, shocking those who bet on gay cowboy flick, Brokeback Mountain, as the favorite to win. 

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Visa needs.