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12/19/2008 - Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Blue Jackets called up center Mike York from Syracuse of the American Hockey League on Friday and assigned defenseman Clay Wilson to Syracuse.
The 29-year-old York has seven goals and 16 assists in 28 games this season with the Crunch. Signed by Columbus as a free agent in the offseason, he is a veteran of 578 NHL games spanning eight seasons and has 127 goals and 195 assists. He has played for the Rangers, Oilers, Islanders, Flyers, and Coyotes.
The 25-year-old Wilson had an assist in five games with the Blue Jackets after being recalled by the club on December 5.
<< Liverpool takes strong away form into Arsenal
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Liverpool will be trying to extend its lead
atop the Premiership table on Sunday when the Reds travel to the Emirates
Stadium to meet an inconsistent Arsenal side.
Liverpool has been very good away
<< Eskimos sign RB McCarty
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Edmonton Eskimos inked running back Calvin
McCarty to a multi-year contract on Friday.
McCarty racked up 490 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 88 carries, adding
70 catches for 583 yards and a score.
<< Penguins re-sign Talbot
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Penguins signed forward
Maxime Talbot to a two-year contract through the 2010-11 season, the
team announced on Friday.
The 5-foot-11, 185-pound forward has registered four go
<< Struggling Cardinals Head to New England
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Cardinals are running out of opportunities to
show that they can win in a difficult road environment. The New England
Patriots, who will welcome Ken Whisenhunt's team to Gillette Stadium on
Sunday, hope that their
Real Madrid president cools Ronaldo spat >>
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon has
attempted to calm the latest spat between his club and Manchester United over
the future of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Real came close to prising the Portugal ace away
Stuttgart sticks with Babbel >>
Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stuttgart has confirmed Markus Babbel and
Rainer Widmayer will remain in charge of first-team affairs at the Bundesliga
club until the end of the season.
The duo stepped in following the recent sacki
Syracuse's Devendorf suspended >>
Syracuse, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Syracuse University made it official on
Friday, suspending junior guard Eric Devendorf indefinitely for violating the
university's code of conduct.
The Syracuse Post-Standard reported last week tha
Eagles WR Curtis doubtful, WR Baskett out >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Hank
Baskett is out for Sunday's contest against the Washington Redskins with a
knee injury.
Wide receiver Kevin Curtis, who is battling a calf injury, has sat
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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