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02/22/2012 - Surprise, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kansas City Royals catcher Manny Pina injured his right knee during Wednesday's workout.
Pina was catching when he caught his spikes and "tweaked" the knee, according to manager Ned Yost. The extent of the injury in not known.
Pina and Brayan Pena are battling for the backup job behind regular catcher Salvador Perez.
<< Celtics' Rondo added to All-Star roster
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo has been
added to the 2012 East All-Star team for this weekend's game in Orlando.
Rondo will take the spot of Atlanta Hawks guard Joe Johnson, who will miss
All-Star w
<< UConn coach Calhoun to have surgery
Storrs, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Connecticut men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun
will miss at least two more games after having surgery to help alleviate the
spinal stenosis that forced him to take a medical leave of absence.
Calhoun will u
<< Bills restructure McGee's contract
Orchard Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Bills on Wednesday
restructured the contract of cornerback Terrence McGee.
McGee, who was due $3.6 million next season, is coming off patella tendon
surgery. He suffered the
<< Pats release two players
Foxboro, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New England Patriots released
offensive lineman Rich Ohrnberger and defensive lineman Mike Wright on
Wednesday.
Wright, who originally joined New England as rookie free agent o
Alabama A&M to retire Mathis' jersey >>
Normal, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alabama A&M will retire the college jersey of
Indianapolis Colts defensive end Robert Mathis in a ceremony on March 3.
Mathis' No. 55 will be retired at halftime of Alabama A&M's annual spring
game.
M
Rosenbach named Montana's offensive coordinator >>
Missoula, MT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former NFL quarterback Timm Rosenbach has been
named offensive coordinator at the University of Montana, Grizzlies head coach
Robin Pflugrad announced Wednesday.
Rosenbach, 45, also will serve as Montana's qua
Angels sign Isringhausen to minor league deal >>
Tempe, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have agreed to
terms on a minor league contract with veteran right-handed reliever Jason
Isringhausen.
The 39-year-old Isringhausen appeared in 53 games last season for the
Notre Dame downs WVU, sets school record >>
South Bend, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jerian Grant scored 20 points and the 20th-
ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish set a school record for most consecutive Big
East wins with a 71-44 victory over the West Virginia Mountaineers.
Scott Martin a
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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