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06/09/2010 - Providence, RI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kentucky and Notre Dame were among the eight teams chosen to play in this year's SEC/Big East Invitational, a two-night event held December 8 and 11 in Louisville and Pittsburgh.
Joining Kentucky from the SEC will be Tennessee, Auburn and Arkansas, while Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Seton Hall round out the remaining Big East competitors.
Arkansas will play Seton Hall on December 8 at Freedom Hall in Louisville, followed by Kentucky versus Notre Dame.
On December 11 at the brand new CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Rutgers will battle Auburn and the Panthers will take on Tennessee.
<< Hewitt lands in Halle QFs
Halle, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt was an
easy second-round winner Wednesday at the Gerry Weber Open, a grass-court
Wimbledon tune-up.
The two-time major champion Hewitt humbled Dutchman Thiemo De B
<< 'Turfbreaking' set for EWU's red field
Cheyney, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tennessee Titans All-Pro tackle Michael Roos
will be in attendance for a "turfbreaking" ceremony at Eastern Washington on
Saturday, as the Big Sky Conference university moves toward installing a red
turf field.
<< ESPN hoops analyst Phelps recovering from cancer surgery
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former college basketball coach and ESPN
analyst Digger Phelps is recovering from successful prostate cancer surgery he
underwent on Tuesday.
The legendary coach was diagnosed on April 28 and had the
<< Rachel Alexandra versus four in Fleur de Lis
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rachel Alexandra, 2009 Horse of the Year,
goes after her first win of 2010 on Saturday in the $200,000 Fleur de Lis
Handicap at Churchill Downs. The 1 1/8-mile race for fillies and mares will be
the fir
NFLPA issues challenge to structure of NFL television deals >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National Football League Player's
Association has initiated a legal challenge to the NFL's agreement with
television networks, which allows the league to reap payments even if no games
are pla
Nadal, Djokovic win second-rounders in London >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - French Open champion Rafael Nadal and
second-seeded Novak Djokovic highlighted Wednesday's second-round winners at
the Aegon Championships, a grass-court Wimbledon tune-up.
Making a smooth transit
Report: Nets eyeing Johnson for coaching job >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Post is reporting that the New
Jersey Nets have entered into discussions with Avery Johnson about the team's
head coaching vacancy.
Johnson was fired after the Dallas Mavericks' ouster from
2 BCS schools could lose basketball scholarships >>
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The NCAA's big boys have figured out how to beat up the little guys in the classroom, too.Spend more money.The newest Academic Progress Rate, released Wednesday, showed seven of the 137 teams facing penalties come from BCS confer
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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