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10/25/2007 - Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Bucks revealed Thursday that center Andrew Bogut's wrist injury was a sprain, and not broken.
Bogut injured his left wrist in the third quarter of the Bucks' exhibition game at Denver on Tuesday. He had both X-rays and an MRI taken to determine the extent of the damage.
Both tests, however, came back negative. Bogut is now listed as day-to-day, and is expected to miss the Bucks' final two preseason games - Thursday at Chicago, and Friday at Minnesota.
<< PSV defender suspended for spitting at opponent
Eindhoven, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - PSV Eindhoven defender Eric Addo was
banned for four matches by UEFA on Thursday for committing an act of gross
unsporting conduct for spitting toward an opponent.
Addo spat at Fenerbahce's Se
<< Hackworth named U.S. men's assistant
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Longtime United States Soccer Youth National
Team coach John Hackworth was named an assistant coach of the United States
Men's National Team on Wednesday.
Hackworth, who will also serve as the Developm
<< Davydenko exits St. Petersburg draw
St. Petersburg, Russia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Russian star Nikolay
Davydenko was the lone second-round upset victim Thursday at the $1 million
St. Petersburg Open.
Croatian qualifier Marin Cilic stunned the world No. 4 Davyde
<< Pistons rookie Stuckey undergoes hand surgery, out six weeks
Auburn Hills, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit Pistons rookie guard Rodney
Stuckey had surgery on his left hand Thursday and will be sidelined six weeks.
Stuckey broke his hand late in the third quarter of Detroit's 104-85 preseason
vict
Titans DT Simon announces retirement >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tennessee Titans veteran defensive tackle
Corey Simon announced his retirement on Thursday.
The Florida State product, who was originally a sixth overall draft choice of
the Philadelphia Eagles in 2000,
Dolphins' Thomas to miss London game against Giants >>
Davie, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miami Dolphins linebacker Zach Thomas will not
play Sunday against the New York Giants in London after experiencing the
effects of whiplash from a car accident.
Last Sunday, Thomas and his wife were in
Devil Rays claim Snelling off waivers >>
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Devil Rays have claimed
outfielder Chris Snelling off waivers from the Oakland Athletics.
Snelling, the 25-year-old Australian native, split the 2007 season with
Washington and Se
Federer rolls; Blake bows out in Basel >>
Basel, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hometown hero Roger Federer was an
easy second-round winner, while fourth-seeded American James Blake went by way
of the upset Thursday at the $1.2 million Swiss Indoors tennis event.
The top-seede
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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