Betting Odds - Graffiti - Podcast

Chicago, IL - Shaun Marcum sparkled through eight innings, and the Toronto Blue Jays topped the Chicago White Sox, 4-1, to salvage one game out of a three-game set.

Marcum and his counterpart, Javier Vazquez, allowed a combined three hits through seven innings, but the Blue Jays plated four in the eighth to go on top, and Jermaine Dye’s solo homer in the home half of the inning was not enough for the White Sox.

Marcum (7-4) allowed only two hits and one run in eight innings, fanning eight with no walks. John McDonald went 2-for-3 and scored for the Blue Jays, who have won six of eight. Jeremy Accardo pitched a perfect ninth for his 17th save.

Vazquez (8-6) let up five hits and four runs — two earned — with five strikeouts and three walks in 7 2/3 innings for the White Sox, who saw their three-game win streak come to an end.

Vazquez took a two-hit shutout into the eighth, but things fell apart soon after. Curtis Thigpen worked a one-out walk, and McDonald and Reed Johnson hit consecutive singles to load the bases. Lyle Overbay’s sacrifice fly broke up the scoreless tie, and Alex Rios sliced a two-out single into right, plating another run. Scott Podsednik then misplayed Troy Glaus’s line drive, allowing two more runs to score.

Marcum, meanwhile, mowed through the White Sox lineup. An infield single by Jerry Owens in the fourth was the first Chicago hit, but Marcum rebounded to get Alex Cintron to pop out, and Jim Thome grounded into an inning-ending double play. The Blue Jays hurler continued to roll from there, retiring 11 consecutive batters after the Owens hit, and took a one-hitter into the eighth.

Dye ended Marcum’s shutout bid with one swing, a home run to left to lead off the eighth. Marcum rebounded, though, getting Rob Mackowiak to foul out, Juan Uribe to ground out, and Podsednik to ground out, ending the inning.

Game Notes

Vernon Wells’ single off of Ryan Bukvich in the eighth ended a streak by the White Sox bullpen of retiring 15 consecutive batters…Chicago’s pitching staff had a 21-inning scoreless streak end in the eighth.

Flushing, NY - John Maine tossed five innings of one-hit ball in a game shortened by rain, as the New York Mets shutout the Washington Nationals, 5-0, in the finale of a four-game set at Shea Stadium.

Maine retired 14 batters in a row before play was stopped with one out in the bottom of the fifth. After a delay of about 90 minutes, officials called the game.

Maine (12-5) struck out five without issuing a walk and Ramon Castro hit a two-run home run for the Mets, who had lost three of four but earned a split with the Nationals.

Ronnie Belliard’s one-out single in the first inning accounted for Washington’s lone hit. Nationals starter Billy Traber (2-2) was tagged for five runs on eight hits in just 3 2/3 innings.

Washington had won three of its last four,

New York jumped on the Nats in the first inning as Jose Reyes led off with a double off the glove of Washington left fielder Ryan Church before scoring on Lastings Milledge’s single.

Reyes hit another leadoff double in the third, stole third with one out and scored on David Wright’s single to make it 2-0 New York.

New York then went up 5-0 in the fourth on Castro’s two-run shot and Wright’s two-out RBI single off Nats reliever Chris Schroder.

Cleveland, OH - Justin Morneau’s run-scoring double highlighted a three-run eighth inning as Minnesota overcame a great pitching performance by C.C. Sabathia to down Cleveland, 4-1, in the rubber match of a three-game set at Jacobs Field.

Lew Ford homered for the Twins, who won the final two games of the series. Mike Redmond added a big run-scoring double.

Matt Garza allowed just one run on five hits in six innings of work en route to a no-decision. Garza also had a career-high 11 strikeouts.

Dennys Reyes (2-1) earned the win with 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.

Trot Nixon finished 1-for-2 with an RBI double for the Indians, who have dropped three of four. Jhonny Peralta was 2-for-4 with a run scored.

Sabathia (13-6) was the hard-luck loser for the Indians. The big lefty, who was vying for a major league best 14th win, was brilliant for seven plus innings before his defense let him down. Sabathia surrendered three runs — one earned — on six hits while equaling a career-high with 11 strikeouts and not walking a batter.

Down 1-0, the Twins finally got to Sabathia in the eighth. With one down, the left-hander plunked Jason Tyner. A batter later Redmond, a pinch hitter, sliced a double the opposite way just over the head of Nixon in right to even things.

The Indians should have gotten out of the inning from there as Sabathia induced Joe Mauer to ground the ball to second. But, Josh Barfield bobbled the ball and then threw it by Ryan Garko at first, enabling Redmond to score. Morneau finally capped the inning by slicing his RBI double down the left field line to make it a 3-1 game.

The Twins added an insurance run in the ninth when Ford drilled a two-out solo homer, his third of the year.

The Indians threatened off Joe Nathan in the ninth and had runners at the corners with just one down. But, the closer got pinch hitter Franklin Gutierrez to ground into a double-play to end the game and earn his 22nd save.

The Tribe took an early 1-0 lead in the second. Peralta led off the frame with a single and quickly came around to score on Nixon’s double to center.

Game Notes

Sabathia is now 9-4 at home this season…In his career against the Twins, Sabathia is now 8-8…Cleveland has won six of eight encounters with the Twins this season…Cleveland has now lost three of its last four series…The teams will next face one another four times at the Metrodome from August 3-6.

Cooperstown, NY - Two-time Most Valuable Player Cal Ripken Jr. and eight-time batting champion Tony Gwynn were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday.

Ripken received 98.5 percent of the vote, third-highest in the history of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, when he was elected earlier this year, while Gwynn’s percentage of 97.6 ranks as seventh-best.

“Today, my friend Tony Gwynn and I officially become members of the Hall of Fame,” Ripken said, “and I congratulate Tony for all that he has achieved.

“But this day, and all it represents, shouldn’t be just about us…Today is about celebrating the best that baseball has been, and the best it can be.”

Ripken won MVP awards in 1983 and 1991 during a 21-year career as a shortstop and third baseman with the Baltimore Orioles. He will, of course, best be remembered for breaking one of the most cherished records in baseball when he played in 2,632 consecutive games to top Lou Gehrig’s streak of 2,130 straight games.

“I realize what I’m about to say is ironic, because I’m often known for the consecutive game streak that helped define my career and my approach to the game,” said Ripken. “The streak is marked by a number — a start and an end. But I can assure you it wasn’t accomplished with a view toward a given number or end points. And I certainly wasn’t aware when I started in this game where it would lead me.

“You see, I truly believe there are no endings, just points at which we begin again, as players do 162 times a season, and if they’re lucky, a few more times each fall.”

In addition to his streak and MVP awards, Ripken was a 19-time All-Star and played in a record 16 straight All-Star Games. He was twice the MVP of the Mid-Summer Classic, won the AL Rookie of the Year in 1982 and helped the Orioles to their last World Series title the following year during his first MVP season.

Ripken, a two-time Gold Glove winner, played in 3,001 career games and is 14th on the all-time hits list with 3,184. He batted .276 with 431 home runs, 603 doubles and 1,695 runs batted in.

Gwynn played 20 seasons with the San Diego Padres and his .338 career batting average ranks 20th in baseball history. He hit over .300 in every season except his rookie year of 1982 when he batted .289.

“I’m proud as heck to be a San Diego Padre,” Gwynn said. “I played for one team, I played in one town. I told the people in San Diego when I left to come to Cooperstown, they were going to be standing up here with me.

“This is a tremendous honor to be here today.”

A 15-time All-Star, Gwynn nearly became the first man to bat .400 since Ted Williams in 1941 when he finished the strike-shortened 1994 campaign at .394. He led the league in hits seven times and had five 200-hit seasons.

Gwynn, a five-time Gold Glove winner for his play in right field, ranks 18th all-time with 3,141 hits and ninth with 2,378 singles. He helped the Padres to the World Series in 1984 and 1998.

Spink Award winner Rick Hummel, who has covered baseball and the Cardinals for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for over two decades, and Frick Award winner Denny Matthews, in his 39th season behind the microphone in the Royals radio booth, were also honored.

Cincinnati, OH - Carlos Zambrano combined with two relievers on a three-hit shutout as Chicago blanked Cincinnati, 6-0, in the rubber match of a three-game set at Great American Ball Park.

Zambrano (14-7), who became the major league’s first 14-game winner this season, allowed just two hits in 7 1/3 innings for the Cubs, who won the final two games of the series. Zambrano walked only three while fanning six and also helped himself at the plate with a career-high three hits.

Will Ohman finished the eighth for Chicago and Bob Howry nailed things down with a perfect ninth.

Derrek Lee hit a two-run home run for Chicago while Angel Pagan chipped in with a two-run single. Aramis Ramirez and Mark DeRosa each drove in a run.

Brandon Phillips, Ryan Freel and Javier Valentin had a hit apiece for the Reds, who have dropped two straight after winning the previous three.

Matt Belisle (5-8) allowed four runs on nine hits in 6 1/3 innings en route to the loss.

The Cubs grabbed the early lead with two runs in the first. Ryan Theriot started things with a one-out hit, moved up a base when Lee was hit by a pitch and came around to score on Ramirez’s double. DeRosa then plated Lee with a sacrifice fly.

Chicago put the game out of reach in the seventh when Lee drilled a two-run homer. Alfonso Soriano led off with a single and, after Theriot flied out, swiped second. Lee followed by taking a Belisle pitch the opposite way for his 11th homer of the year.

The Cubs tacked on two insurance runs in the ninth against Jared Burton. With runners on at first and second and one down, Burton uncorked a wild pitch. He then walked DeRosa to load the bases before flirting with getting out of the trouble by getting Mike Fontenot to pop out. Pagan came through with a two-run single up the middle, however, to account for the final margin.

Game Notes

The Reds announced that pitcher Aaron Harang will miss his next scheduled start with a sore lower back…Zambrano is 9-2 on the road this season. He also beat the Reds for the first time this year and is now 1-2 versus Cincinnati in 2007…Belisle is 0-3 in his career against the Cubs.

Why understanding pot odds wins you more in online Texas Hold Em

Graffiti Wall Poker Tips: If you’re not playing with an awareness of pot odds, then you will certainly become a very popular player in your poker room of choice!

A knowledge of pot odds in online Texas Hold Em alone won’t make you a World Series caliber payer, but if you’re not using this simple calculation that tells you when to call and when to fold on a questionable hand, you’ll never make as much money as you should.

Simply put, pot odds are the percentage chance you have of getting a winning card, compared to the percentage of the needed bet against the size of the pot. If you have a 20% chance of getting the card you need and your needed bet is only 10% of the size of the pot as a total, then over time, you’re going to win money making this kind of play!

The three kinds of hands, and when you need to calculate pot odds

There are three basic hand situations in Texas Hold Em.

Firstly you may get dealt a whole lot of nothing, and be very unlikely to turn that into anything of value even if you did call in. This is a clear fold situation.

The second situation occurs when you have a very strong hand, or a very likely possibility of getting “the nuts”. In this situation, calling or even raising the pot is clearly the best choice.

The third, and most common situation, occurs when you have a drawable hand, which has some potential, but needs one more finishing card. In this situation, you need to calculate the pot odds. That is to calculate what your odds are of getting the card you need for a winning hand, compared to the ratio of your bet to the total size of the pot. For example, if you determine that you have a 1:4 chance of getting a needed card, and you are calling a 10$ bet into a 90$ pot–which is a 1:10 ratio–then the decision is easy, and you should bet. If your odds ratio of winning the hand are greater than your percentage addition to the pot, then you should bet.

In this situation, you will win the hand 25% of the time, so if for example you played this situation 4 times, you would win once. Your bets would total $40 and your pot winnings would be $100, and so you are well ahead.

If the situation were reversed, and you had a 1:10 chance of getting the winning card you need, and your $10 bet compared to the size of the pot is 1:4, then if you played this out over 10 hands, you would win once, winning $40, and bet $100 in the process, a major loss.

How to determine the pot odds

You will need to do some basic math to determine your pot odds, but if you’re not playing with pot odds on your side, you’re not likely winning much money.

To determine the odds of getting the card you need, you first need to divide the number of cards in the deck that will give you an out, compared to the total number of cards. If you are looking for a heart to complete your flush, and you can see that 4 hearts have already been shown, then you know that there are 9 more hearts in the deck that will give you the winning card. What you do is divide this number of winning cards in the deck by the total number of unshown cards, and you will get your odds of winning.

You have 2 cards and there are three cards down. Out of 52 cards in the deck, there are 47 remaining that you cannot see. You know that there are 9 cards out of that 47 that will give you the winning card you need, so you simply divide 9/47 to get your ratio of about 20%. When calculating the odds, disregard any cards in your opponents hands, these are not seen, and are simply calculated as a part of the total number of unseen cards.

If you have a 1:5 chance of winning, and you need to bet 10$, then as long as the pot is at $40 (with your addition the pot will become $50) the play is sensible. A pot over $40 makes the play a smart move, and less than $40 does not make sense.

If you need an ace for an out, and there is only one ace currently shown, then you know that there are three more aces unshown, and divide 3/47 to get a ratio of about 7% and as such your bet or call needs to be 7% or less the total size of the pot to make the bet or call a good idea. If your bet is $5 for a $100 pot then this is a good play (a 5% bet is less than the 7% odds of winning) but if you need to bet $10 for a $100 pot, then your percentage addition to the pot is greater than your percentage chance of winning, and as such it is a bad play.

Use pot odds to make more money

Smart players play the odds, and pot odds are of even greater importance when playing online poker. The internet game gives you less information about your opponents, and as such you need to play with the odds to increase your winnings. Pot odds are not the only factor to success, but they are about the biggest one.

Knowing when to call on a questionable hand is what separates the men from the boys, and the decision is almost always made after factoring in the pot odds.

Pot odds take a bit of practice, but within a few games, you’ll be calculating your pot odds quickly and easily…and winning more money!

Tacoma, WA - Vernon “The Viper” Forrest, fighting for the first time in almost a year, won a unanimous 12-round decision over Carlos Manuel Baldomir at the Emerald Queen Casino Saturday night to take the vacant WBC light middleweight title.

Graffiti Wall reports Boxing Results: The 36-year-old Forrest (39-2), from Atlanta, Ga., was fighting for only the fourth time in four years, and entered the ring for the first time since a 10- round decision over Ike Quartey in August of 2006. He showed no signs of rust, though, dominating thoroughly from the beginning, and won by an impressive margin on the scorecard of 118-109, 118-109, 116-111.

Baldomir (43-11-6) usually a welterweight fighter, had never fought at light middleweight before Saturday. The Argentinian put up a good fight, but couldn’t match Forrest shot for shot as the fight wore on.

Forrest landed two strong right hooks to the head midway through the fourth round, but Baldomir brushed them off and kept coming. The round ended with two violent shots by Forrest, though, both left hooks to the head. The second blow pushed Baldomir into the ropes.

Baldomir, also 36, coming off a 12-round loss by decision to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in November of last year, landed a combination of jabs to Forrest’s head as the bell sounded ending the seventh round, but Forrest still held a noticeable advantage.

The Argentinian hurt Forrest with two uppercuts midway through the ninth round, and Forrest responded with a hard shot to Baldomir’s right leg, a low blow that caused referee Jay Nady to stop the fight and deduct a point from Forrest.

“The Viper” came back and won going away, though, landing strong combinations into the 12th round, even after he clearly had the decision locked up.

San Jose, CA - The Soccer Knocker U.S. Women’s National Team coasted to a 4-1 win over Nipon Soul Japan Saturday night at Spartan Stadium in San Jose in the fourth game of its six-game sendoff series in preparation for the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Graffiti Wall reports that Midfielder Shannon Boxx drove home a header off a crisp corner kick from Stephanie Lopez in the 17th minute of the first half to put the Americans up 1-0 early.

The U.S. team went up 2-0 in the 41st minute after of an own goal by Japan midfielder Yukari Kinga. A strong cross by the U.S. hit Kinga in front of the her own goal and deflected into the back of the net to double the Americans’ lead.

Ten minutes after the break Kristine Lilly took a pass from Lori Chalupny and one-timed the ball solidly into the back of the net from the right side for a 3-0 lead.

Abby Wambaugh closed out the scoring by converting on a penalty kick after Japan was called for a handball in front of its own goal.

The U.S. team is back in action Aug. 12 when it hosts New Zealand at Soldier Field in Chicago before finishing off the Send-off Series on Aug. 25 at the Home Depot center in Carson, Calif. against Finland.

The Americans open play at the Women’s World Cup on Sept. 11 against North Korea. Nigeria and Sweden are also in the American’s group.

Kitzbuhel, Austria - Fifth-seeded Argentine Juan Monaco came back to best 10th-seeded Italian Potito Starace in Sunday’s final of the $1.079 million Austrian Open.

Graffiti Wall reports that Monaco, who upset top-seed and world No. 7 Tommy Robredo in the quarterfinals, dropped the first set but rebounded to outlast Starace, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, in a match that lasted nearly 2 1/2 hours.

The pair had met just two times previously with both bouts taking place in Buenos Aires. Starace won the first meeting last year, but Monaco avenged that defeat at the same tournament in February 2007 en route to his maiden ATP title.

This was the third career title for Monaco, who also won in May at Portschach.

The Argentine star took home $150,000 for his efforts.

Sunday, July 29th (All times eastern)

Atlanta Braves (54-51) at Arizona Diamondbacks (58-48), 4:40 p.m.

Probable Starting Pitchers: Atlanta - Tim Hudson (10-5, 3.24) Arizona - Livan Hernandez (6-6, 4.59)

The Arizona Diamondbacks try and win their ninth straight game this afternoon when they attempt to complete their first-ever three-game sweep at home of the Atlanta Braves at Chase Field.

The D-Backs posted their third straight walk-off win on Saturday, as Conor Jackson’s RBI single in the 10th inning gave Arizona a 4-3 victory. A win today would give Arizona its first nine-game winning streak since a franchise- record 12-game run June 18-30, 2003.

Chris Young worked a leadoff walk in the 10th, and moved up on Orlando Hudson’s sacrifice bunt. Eric Byrnes was then intentionally walked before the Braves brought on reliever Chad Paronto to face Jackson. Paronto, on his 32nd birthday, gave up a single to center on his first pitch, and Young came around to win the game for the D-Backs.

The game-winning hit capped a three-hit, two-RBI game for Jackson, as the Diamondbacks moved into a virtual tie for first place in the NL West with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Starter Doug Davis held the Braves to five hits and three runs through seven innings, striking out six and walking three, and reliever Juan Cruz (5-1) tossed a scoreless inning of relief.

John Smoltz held Arizona to seven hits and three runs through seven innings. Tyler Yates (2-3) was responsible for the winning run, and Matt Diaz had a two-run double for the Braves, who have dropped four straight.

Hoping to keep Arizona rolling today will be veteran right-hander Livan Hernandez, who is 6-6 with a 4.59 ERA. Hernandez picked up his first win in 10 starts on Tuesday against Florida, as he allowed a run on seven hits in seven innings.

Hernandez has been atrocious in his career against the Braves, going just 3-14 with a 5.09 ERA in 23 games, 22 of which have been starts.

Atlanta will counter with righty Tim Hudson, who is unbeaten in his last six outings. Hudson, who is 10-5 with a 3.24 ERA, received a no-decision on Tuesday against San Francisco, allowing three runs and six hits in 8 2/3 innings of his team’s 7-5 win.

Hudson has faced the Diamondbacks five times and is a perfect 3-0 against them with a sparkling 1.91 ERA.

The Diamondbacks dominated the season series last year, winning six of seven over Atlanta. However, the Braves’ lone win came in Arizona.

Although the Diamondbacks have never swept the Braves in Arizona, they did pull off a four-game sweep in the teams’ last meeting in Atlanta, from June 1-4, 2006.