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07/27/2010 - Davie, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Dolphins signed veteran defensive end Marques Douglas to an undisclosed contract on Tuesday.
Douglas has spent each of the past three seasons with a different club, playing in all 16 regular season games for the Jets in 2009 while compiling 64 tackles and 1 1/2 sacks.
The 33-year-old has played in 120 games throughout his 10-year career and has logged 316 tackles -- 123 solo -- and 20 1/2 sacks during stints with the Jets, Ravens, 49ers and Saints.
<< Aaron Glenn, 15-year NFL veteran, finally announces retirement
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aaron Glenn will sign a one-day contract with
the Houston Texans on Wednesday and then announce his retirement after 15
years in the NFL.
Glenn, a first-round draft pick by the New York Jets in 1994 out
<< Pac-10 announces future name change
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pac-10 Conference will officially
undergo a name change once two new schools join the grouping.
The announcement was made on Tuesday, as conference commissioner Larry Scott
unveiled new branding
<< Wolves' Flynn has hip surgery
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Minnesota Timberwolves guard Jonny Flynn
underwent surgery on Tuesday to repair a labral tear and remove extra bone
from his left hip.
The Wolves have already planned for Flynn's absence, signing f
<< Eagles come to terms with second-round pick Allen
Bethlehem, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Eagles have signed safety
Nate Allen, their 2010 second-round draft pick, to a four-year contract.
Allen was taken with the 37th overall selection out of South Florida, where he
picked off
Caps sign Fleischmann for one year >>
Arlington, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Capitals inked forward Tomas
Fleischmann to a one-year contract on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old native of the Czech Republic notched career-highs with 23
goals, 28 assists and 51 points in
Broncos sign draft picks Beadles, Decker >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Broncos came to terms with their
second and third-round draft picks, offensive lineman Zane Beadles and wide
receiver Eric Decker, the team announced on Tuesday.
Terms of the deals were not di
No Strasburg, no problem: Nationals shut out Braves >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miguel Batista, thrust into emergency duty
after the late scratch to phenom Stephen Strasburg, hurled five scoreless
frames as Washington downed Atlanta, 3-0, in the first of three games at
Nationa
Tomlin shines in MLB debut; A-Rod held homerless on birthday >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Tomlin pitched into the eighth inning in
his major league debut and Matt LaPorta provided enough support with two RBI,
as Cleveland downed the Yankees, 4-1, in the continuation of a four-game
series
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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