Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
07/26/2010 - Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Raiders have signed defensive lineman Lamarr Houston, their second-round draft choice.
The 6-foot-3, 305-pound Houston was the 44th overall selection in the 2010 NFL Draft out of Texas.
Houston recorded 68 tackles, eight sacks and 22 tackles for loss last season in helping the Longhorns reach the BCS National Championship game.
<< Cubs' catcher Soto leaves game in Houston
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago Cubs catcher Geovany Soto left
Monday's game against the Astros with a bruised left foot.
Soto grounded out to lead off the top of the sixth but did not come out to
take his position defe
<< Garza gets Rays' first no-hitter by blanking Tigers
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Garza tossed the first no-hitter in
Tampa Bay history in a 5-0 win over Detroit in the opener of a four-game set
at Tropicana Field.
Garza (11-5) walked one, struck out six and faced the minimum
<< Blue Jays continue domination of O's
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jose Bautista hit a three-run homer and Aaron
Hill added a two-run shot and knocked in three, as the Toronto Blue Jays
earned a 9-5 win over the Baltimore Orioles in the first of a three-game set
at Roge
<< Yankees rally past Tribe; A-Rod stuck on 599
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Curtis Granderson hit a go-ahead two-run
homer in the eighth inning and the Yankees took the first of four consecutive
meetings with the Cleveland Indians, 3-2, at Progressive Field.
Nick Swisher added
Theriot's homer helps Cubs get by Astros >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Theriot hit his first home run of the
season and Carlos Silva worked five innings to push Chicago past Houston, 5-2,
in the opener of a three-game set.
Theriot finished with a pair of hits and Alfonso
Mauer, Valencia highlight Twins' demolition of Royals >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Mauer went 5-for-5 with a career-high
seven RBI and Danny Valencia hit a grand slam for his first career home run,
as the Twins pounded Kansas City, 19-1, in the opener of a three-game series.
Valen
Haren exits early in Angels debut >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dan Haren left his Angels debut in the fifth
inning after taking a line drive off his pitching arm by Boston's Kevin
Youkilis.
Haren, acquired by Los Angeles on Sunday in a trade with the Diamondbacks, got
two
EverBank buying naming rights to Jaguars' stadium >>
Jacksonville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jacksonville Municipal Stadium is expected
to get a new designation as EverBank is reportedly entering into a five-year
agreement for exclusive naming rights.
The Florida Times-Union reports the Jaguars
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.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting