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07/30/2010 - San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas Cowboys rookie wide receiver Dez Bryant suffered an apparent right ankle injury during Friday's practice.
Bryant was helped off the field after colliding with a defender toward the end of the session. He tried to get up, but sat back down and needed the help of trainers to move off the field.
The Cowboys selected Bryant with the 24th overall pick of the 2010 draft.
<< Senators re-sign D Campoli
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ottawa Senators have re-signed defenseman
Chris Campoli to a one-year contract, the team announced Friday.
Campoli, 25, appeared in 67 games for the Senators last season, collecting
four goals and 18
<< Redskins' Haynesworth held out of practice again
Ashburn, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington Redskins defensive tackle Albert
Haynesworth was held out of practice for a second straight day Friday after
again failing to pass his conditioning test.
Haynesworth was held out of the R
<< Zambrano rejoins Cubs
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs have reinstated pitcher Carlos
Zambrano from the restricted list prior to Friday's road game against the
Rockies.
The right-hander's placement on the restricted list stemmed from a du
<< Steelers agree to five-year deal with Pouncey
Latrobe, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Steelers have agreed to terms
on a five-year deal with first round draft choice Maurkice Pouncey. He is
expected to be with the team for its' first official practice on Saturday.
Financia
Stewart tops in qualifying at Pocono >>
Long Pond, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tony Stewart claimed the pole for Sunday's
Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 after posting the quickest lap in qualifying
at Pocono Raceway.
Stewart, a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, turned a lap of
Yankees appear set to acquire Berkman from Astros >>
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees are reportedly set
to acquire Lance Berkman from the Houston Astros.
A story from MLB.com cites a source in reporting the impending deal, adding
that Berkman gave general manag
A's sign first-round selection Choice >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics have signed their top
pick of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft, outfielder Michael Choice, to a
minor league contract.
Choice was taken 10th overall in the first round.
He was
Isles acquire D Wisniewski from Ducks >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks traded newly signed
defenseman James Wisniewski to the New York Islanders for a conditional third-
round pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.
Earlier Friday, the 26-year-old Wisniews
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.
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:
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.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
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.
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