12/04/2008 - San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Sharks recalled winger Tom Cavanagh from their American Hockey League affiliate, the Worcester Sharks, and reassigned winger Riley Armstrong to the AHL club, it was announced on Thursday.
Cavanagh, 26, has played in 21 games for Worcester this season, scoring nine goals and nine assists.
The 24-year-old Armstrong registered two penalty minutes in two games with San Jose, making his NHL debut at Phoenix on Nov. 29. He returns to Worcester where he has nine goals and five assists.
<< Rampage add Perrault, Zimmerman to roster
San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Coyotes have loaned center Joel
Perrault to their American Hockey League affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage,
it was announced on Thursday. The Coyotes also reassigned defenseman Sean
Zimmerm
<< Keane resigns as Sunderland coach
Sunderland, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roy Keane sensationally resigned as
Sunderland manager on Thursday after a little over two years in charge of the
Black Cats.
The 37-year-old Irishman had cast doubts over his future on Wearside
<< NFLPA to file grievance on Burress' behalf
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National Football League Players
Association is expected to file a grievance on behalf of suspended New York
Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress.
The Giants suspended the oft-troubled recei
<< White Sox deal P Vazquez to Braves
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves have acquired right-handed
starter Javier Vazquez and left-handed reliever Boone Logan from the Chicago
White Sox in exchange for four prospects.
Chicago will receive catcher Tyler F
Renteria signs with Giants >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco Giants have signed
shortstop Edgar Renteria to a two-year contract. Although financial terms were
not released, the deal is believed to be worth $18.5 million.
"We're extremely ex
2008 Big Sky All-Conference teams announced >>
Ogden, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Weber State quarterback Cameron Higgins was named
the Big Sky Conference's offensive MVP, and was one of a record 12 Wildcats
selected to the All-Conference first team. The squads and award winners were
selected by
Bears lose Aucoin, gain Mink >>
Arlington, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Capitals recalled forward
Keith Aucoin from their American Hockey League affiliate, the Hershey Bears,
and reassigned Graham Mink to Hershey, it was announced on Thursday.
The 30-year-ol
Chelios expected to play for Griffins this weekend >>
Grand Rapids, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios
is expected to be assigned to the Grand Rapids Griffins for conditioning on
Friday and play in the Griffins' home games against Toronto and Hamilton this
weekend
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 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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