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08/18/2010 - Richmond, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shaka Smart, the head men's basketball coach at Virginia Commonwealth University, received a two-year contract extension on Wednesday.
In his first season on the job, Smart led the Rams to a 27-9 record, one win short of a school record. VCU won the College Basketball Invitational Championship.
"The job Coach Smart and his staff has done in a short period of time is remarkable," VCU athletics director Norwood Teague said. "In just over a year, they've had 27 wins in their first season and done just an unbelievable job on the recruiting trail. We're fortunate to be able to have this group of men leading our program and look forward to many more years together."
<< NASCAR releases 2011 schedules for top three series
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR on Wednesday officially released
its 2011 schedule for all three of its national touring series. As expected,
there are several major changes to next year's schedule, particularly in the
Sprint
<< Patriots reach injury settlement with Holt
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New England Patriots have reached an
injury settlement with veteran wide receiver Torry Holt.
The Boston Herald reported Wednesday evening that Holt and the team worked out
a deal where the Patriots
<< Cowboys G Kosier out with MCL injury
Oxnard, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas Cowboys left guard Kyle Kosier will miss
anywhere from 4-to-6 weeks after suffering what is believed to be a strained
medial collateral ligament in his right knee.
Kosier sustained the injury during
<< U.S. to host Poland at Soldier Field
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The United States men's national soccer team
will face Poland on Oct. 9 at Soldier Field in Chicago, U.S. Soccer announced
on Wednesday.
"These fixture dates are a fantastic opportunity to have the group
Cardinals release S Rouse >>
Tempe, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Cardinals have released safety
Aaron Rouse.
The 26-year-old played in 14 games, eight as a starter, last season for the
New York Giants and compiled 52 tackles and one sack.
He was orig
Pelini says he might relent on media lockdown >>
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -Nebraska coach Bo Pelini's hard line with the media on Wednesday morning seemed to be softening by nightfall.Irritated by some media members' reporting methods, Pelini announced he was cutting off access to players and coaches fo
Nadal, Djokovic, Federer, Murray reach third round in Cincy >>
Mason, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top seeds Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic and
last week's Canadian Masters titlist Andy Murray were a trio of second-round
winners Wednesday at the $3 million Western & Southern Financial Group
Mas
UConn backup QB Endres suspended indefinitely >>
Storrs, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Connecticut head football coach Randy Edsall
announced he has indefinitely suspended junior quarterback Cody Endres and
sophomore offensive guard Erik Kuraczea for violating school policy.
Edsall did no
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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