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02/16/2012 - Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Alouettes signed linebacker Rod Davis to a two-year contract on Thursday.
Davis, who became a free agent on Wednesday, led the Edmonton Eskimos with 79 tackles last season. He also recorded five sacks.
In three seasons with the Eskimos, Davis posted 149 tackles, five sacks and five interceptions.
<< Gary Carter passes away
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hall of Fame catcher Gary "Kid" Carter died
Thursday. He was 57 years old.
More to follow...
<< Aguero rescues City in Europa League
Porto, Portugal (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sergio Aguero scored in the 83rd minute and
Manchester City edged FC Porto, 2-1, in the first match of their Europa League
round of 32 series Thursday.
Silvestre Varela gave defending Europa League champion
<< Broncos sign WR Hill
Englewood, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Broncos on Thursday signed free-
agent wide receiver Jason Hill.
Hill recorded a career-best 367 receiving yards and three touchdowns on 25
catches last season with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
<< Creative Cause heads San Vicente Stakes
Arcadia, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Creative Cause, third in last year's Breeders'
Cup Juvenile, heads a field of six in Sunday's $150,000 San Vicente Stakes for
three-year-olds at Santa Anita Park. The seven-furlong sprint marks the 2012
debut f
United's Valencia out four weeks with hamstring injury >>
Amsterdam, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United winger Antonio
Valencia injured his hamstring Thursday in a 2-0 Europa League win at Ajax,
and will be sidelined four weeks.
The 26-year-old Ecuadorian was injured as he set
Lions agree to terms with Byron Parker, Stu Foord >>
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The BC Lions agreed to terms with defensive
back Byron Parker and running back Stu Foord on Thursday.
Parker earned his third All-Star selection last season, tallying a career-high
50 tackles to go with
Eskimos ink WR Carr >>
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Edmonton Eskimos signed wide receiver Greg
Carr on Thursday.
Carr caught 46 passes for 648 yards and four touchdowns last season with the
Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
"We're very pleased to sign Greg," Es
Flyers acquire Grossman >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Flyers have acquired
defenseman Nicklas Grossman from the Dallas Stars in exchange for two draft
picks, the team announced Thursday.
Grossman has five assists in 52 games this seas
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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