Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
06/13/2007 - Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Milwaukee Brewers left-hander Chris Capuano was scratched from Wednesday's start against the Detroit Tigers due to a strained left groin.
Capuano, who is 5-5 with a 4.35 ERA this season and is on a career-high five- game personal losing streak, was replaced by Carlos Villanueva. Capuano last started on Friday versus Texas, when he was tagged for six runs on eight hits and four walks over four innings.
Capuano, who is 0-5 with a 6.89 ERA over his last six starts, was forced out of a game on May 2 against St. Louis after getting hit on the right knee by a comebacker.
<< BYU's Cameron transferring to USC
Provo, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brigham Young men's basketball coach Dave Rose
announced that redshirt freshman Jordan Cameron has decided to transfer to USC
to play football.
Cameron, a 6-foot-5 swingman, sat out his only season with the Couga
<< Pinehurst to host 2014 US Open
Far Hills, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The United States Golf Association announced
that Pinehurst will host the 2014 U.S. Open championship
The revered North Carolina course has hosted eight USGA championships,
including two Opens in 199
<< Atlanta activates Chipper
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves activated third baseman
Chipper Jones from the 15-day disabled list Wednesday.
Jones has been sidelined since May 24 with bruised hands that required
cortisone shots. When his ri
<< LB Armstead officially retires as a Giant
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Linebacker Jessie Armstead signed a
one-day contract with the New York Giants and officially retired with the team
he spent nine years with.
Armstead, originally the 207th player chosen in the 1993
Wofford's Gibson withdraws from NBA draft >>
Spartanburg, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wofford point guard Drew Gibson announced
Wednesday he will return to school for his senior season, choosing to withdraw
his name from this month's NBA draft.
Gibson averaged 12.8 points per game as a jun
Tampa Bay welcomes back Gratton for the third time >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Lightning reacquired forward Chris
Gratton from the Florida Panthers on Wednesday in exchange for a second-round
pick in either the 2007 or 2008 draft.
Gratton was the Lightning's first-round c
Orioles' Loewen to have season-ending surgery >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Baltimore Orioles pitcher Adam Loewen
has opted to have season-ending surgery on his left elbow after visiting with
Dr. James Andrews on Wednesday
The left-hander spent a month trying to rehab from
Lackey first to 10 wins as Angels top Reds >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John Lackey became the first pitcher this
season to reach 10 wins after tossing six quality innings, as the LA Angels of
Anaheim downed the Cincinnati Reds, 6-3, in the middle installment of a three-
game se
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.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting