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08/24/2010 - Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Nashville Predators signed forward Patric Hornqvist to a three-year deal worth $9.25 million on Tuesday.
Last season, the 23-year-old led the Preds with 30 goals and tied Steve Sullivan for the club lead with 51 points, all in 80 games.
The native of Sweden was Nashville's seventh-round pick in the 2005 draft. He's totaled 32 goals and 58 points in 108 games since cracking the lineup in the 2008-09 season.
<< Wozniacki, Clijsters are top seeds for U.S. Open
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Last year's runner-up Caroline
Wozniacki has been installed at the top seed for the U.S. Open, which will
commence Monday in New York. Reigning champion Kim Clijsters is the second
seed at
<< Bombers' Whitaker highlights CFL weekly awards
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Montreal Alouettes running back Brandon
Whitaker, Montreal linebacker Chip Cox and Winnipeg Blue Bombers kick returner
Jovon Johnson were selected as the CFL's top performers for Week 8 of the
2010 se
<< Bolts' Lecavalier has knee surgery
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tampa Bay Lightning center Vincent Lecavalier
had successful surgery on his left knee on Tuesday.
The minor arthroscopic procedure was performed by Lightning orthopedic surgeon
Dr. Ira Guttentag at the Florid
<< Hoffenheim signs striker Rudy from Stuttgart
Sinsheim, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hoffenheim signed striker Sebastian Rudy
from Stuttgart on Tuesday and signed the 20-year-old to a contract through the
2013-14 season.
"We're delighted that Sebastian, a player we've had an eye on for
Marseille's Remy can play despite heart problem >>
Marseille, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marseille and French striker Loic Remy
was cleared to play Tuesday, just days after the Ligue 1 club discovered the
23-year-old had a heart problem.
Marseille acquired Remy from Nice last week and, a
Eastern Illinois RB Williams sidelined >>
Charleston, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eastern Illinois starting tailback Mon
Williams will miss the team's season opener at Iowa because of a knee injury
suffered in preseason camp.
Williams will miss 2-3 weeks because of a sprained cruciate lig
A's shuffle roster yet again >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics called up outfielder
Matt Carson for the fourth time this season on Tuesday and optioned outfielder
Travis Buck back to Triple-A Sacramento.
Carson hit .195 over 16 games during his p
Bengals' Ochocinco reportedly fined for tweeting >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad
Ochocinco has reportedly been fined $25,000 by the NFL for posting Twitter
messages during Friday's preseason contest versus Philadelphia.
Per the league's
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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