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12/30/2011 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brent Seabrook scored the game-winner early in the third period as the Chicago Blackhawks took a 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings.
Marian Hossa and Jonathan Toews each scored for the Blackhawks, who have won three of four to close out 2011. Corey Crawford stopped 26 shots in the win.
Justin Abdelkader and Todd Bertuzzi each had a goal for the Red Wings, who have lost three of five. Jimmy Howard gave up all three goals on 28 shots.
<< Bucks finish strong to beat Wizards
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandon Jennings scored 22 points, and the
Milwaukee Bucks used a strong fourth quarter to record a 102-81 rout of the
Wizards on Friday.
Andrew Bogut ended with 13 points and 15 rebounds for the Bucks,
<< Suns break into win column, down Hornets
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hakim Warrick netted a game-high 18 points,
while Steve Nash had seven with 12 assists to lead the Phoenix Suns past the
New Orleans Hornets, 93-78.
Jared Dudley added 16 points, Marcin Gortat had 12 and
<< Suns broke into win column, down Hornets
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hakim Warrick netted a game-high 18 points,
while Steve Nash had seven with 12 assists to lead the Phoenix Suns past the
New Orleans Hornets, 93-78.
Jared Dudley added 16 points, Marcin Gortat had 12 and
<< Wade lifts Heat again, remain unbeaten
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LeBron James celebrated his 27th birthday
in style with another tight Miami victory. Dwyane Wade finished the job for a
second straight game.
James scored 34 points and his inbounds pass to Wade resulte
Randolph leads Grizzlies to first win >>
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Zach Randolph finished with 23 points and nine
rebounds, and the Memphis Grizzlies picked up their first win of the season
with a 113-93 defeat of the Houston Rockets.
Marc Gasol added 20 points and eig
Mavs beat Raptors for 1st win of season >>
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ian Mahinmi scored a career-high 19 points off
the bench to lead the Dallas Mavericks to their first win of the season, a
99-86 victory over Toronto on Friday.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 18 points and Jason Te
Jazz get first win, hold off 76ers >>
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Derrick Favors paced the Jazz with 20
points while also pulling down 11 rebounds as the Jazz edged the Philadelphia
76ers, 102-99.
Paul Millsap also recorded a double-double with 14 points and 14
Aztecs rout Redlands >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jamaal Franklin had 26 points, 10 rebounds
and six steals as No. 25 San Diego State dominated Redlands, 94-43.
Chase Tapley added 16 points, LaBradford Franklin had 11 while Alec Williams
and James Raho
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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