First-place Dodgers begin road swing in Houston

Baseball Betting Lines

07/23/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Dodgers, who have been struggling as of late, will try to stay atop the NL West standings when they open a three-game series against the Houston Astros this evening at Minute Maid Park.

The Dodgers are only a game ahead of the San Diego Padres in the division standings, but just lost three of four games to the New York Mets. In Sunday's 5-4, 10-inning loss at Dodger Stadium, Chip Ambres hit a two-out RBI single in the extra frame to lift the Mets to victory.

Nomar Garciaparra hit a two-run homer while Rafael Furcal and James Loney each had an RBI for Los Angeles. Eric Stults started for the Dodgers and allowed two runs and five hits over 5 1/3 innings in a no decision.

Reliever D.J. Houlton was saddled with the loss after giving up the go-ahead run in the 10th.

Chad Billingsley gets the call tonight for the Dodgers and is 6-0 with a 3.56 ERA in 29 games (six starts) this season. In his last outing on Wednesday against Philadelphia, Billingsley did not factor in the outcome of a 5-4 victory after yielding four runs in five innings.

The right-hander, who is 4-0 in 16 games (three starts) on the road this season, has never faced Houston in his career.

Houston has alternated wins and losses over its last six games and posted a 1-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates in Sunday's finale of a three-game series at PNC Park.

Luke Scott singled home the only run of the game in the sixth inning and Astros starter Woody Williams pitched eight innings of five-hit ball for the win. Williams surrendered five hits, struck out three batters and did not issue a walk.

Brad Lidge preserved the shutout with a scoreless ninth for his third save.

Brad Ausmus had two hits for the Astros, who won a road series for the first time since June 8-10 against the Chicago White Sox and concluded a nine-game road trip with a 3-6 record.

Houston, which is 13 games off the lead in the NL Central standings, will hand the ball to Chris Sampson in Monday's series opener. Sampson is 7-6 with a 4.15 ERA in 18 games (17 starts) this season and won his last outing on Tuesday against Washington.

Sampson was reached for two runs and six hits over six innings during a 4-2 triumph at RFK Stadium in his last start. The right-hander will pitch against Los Angeles for the first time in his career tonight.

Los Angeles and Houston are meeting for the first time since splitting six encounters during the 2006 campaign. The Astros went 4-2 against LA in 2005.

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SPORTS BETTING

NFL Football Betting Online

In terms of sports wagering, the NFL is "the most popular game in town." The explanation behind that is easy.

It is called the "pointspread."

Many years ago, NFL games, as well as the more popular college games, used straight odds as a vehicle for betting. For example, if the Bears were playing the Giants, and it shaped up as a competitive contest, the Bears might be, say, a 7/5 favorite. If they were playing an also-ran, it might be 10/1. Well, there is a point where a line becomes prohibitive, as far as betting the favorite. And who would waste money betting an underdog that has virtually no chance? Such a setup did not contribute to promoting betting action.

But in modern sports betting, a "pointspread" is used.

A NFL pointspreads are exactly that, a pre-established point difference between the two sides that will, for all intents and purposes, create a handicap that evens things out, and in doing so, produces comparable wagering activity on both sides of that proposition. So in lieu of a odds figure in which to bet the team to win outright, the Bears might be a three-point favorite over the New York Giants, and a 17-point favorite over the also-ran. Now that the team that is the underdog can "get" points, there can be equal action on both sides.

In sportsbooks, this is usually done with efficiency by charging the losing bettors 10% extra - in effect, bettors are laying 11/10 on those games. So they are actually betting $110 to win $100. If they lose, they pay the "vig." If they win, they simply collect.

The establishment of the pointspread as the corner stone around which team sports like football can be wagered upon was truly what brought gridiron betting into the stratosphere for online football betting .

Don't believe it? Just take a look at what happens around the Super Bowl.

Stay with us here as we take you through the best in NFL action on a consistent basis, with advice columns as well as handicapping selections. If you're looking for college football betting, that's in our NCAA section, which you can reach by clicking here. And if you're looking for a different kind of football, such as the Canadian Football League, which we'll deal with occasionally, or the Arena Football League, which we really like, you can find it in our Miscellaneous section by clicking

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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