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03/03/2010 - Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Thrashers acquired forward Clarke MacArthur from the Buffalo Sabres for third and fourth-round picks in the 2010 draft on Wednesday.
MacArthur, a third-round selection by Buffalo in the 2003 draft, has played in 60 games this season and has totaled 13 goals, 26 points and 47 penalty minutes.
In parts of four NHL seasons, the 24-year-old winger has 41 goals and 38 helpers in 187 games, all with Buffalo.
<< Oilers, Ducks swap defensemen
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Edmonton Oilers acquired defenseman Ryan
Whitney from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky on
Wednesday.
In his first full season with the Ducks, Whitney posted four goals
<< Ducks receive G MacDonald from Leafs
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks acquired goaltender Joey
MacDonald from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a 2011 seventh-round
draft pick.
MacDonald has spent most of the 2009-10 campaign with the Toronto Mar
<< Gotham Stakes attracts 10 three-year-olds
Ozone Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A field of 10 Kentucky Derby hopefuls has
been entered for Saturday's $250,000 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct. The 1 1/16-
mile Gotham is the final local prep before the $750,000 Wood Memorial on
April 3
<< Portland signs G Diener
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Portland Trail Blazers signed guard Travis
Diener on Wednesday, two days after he was waived by the Indiana Pacers.
Over five seasons in the NBA, which has included stints with Orlando and
Indiana,
Bears tender contracts to eight players >>
Lake Forest, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bears tendered contract
offers to eight free agents on Wednesday.
One-year deals were tendered to restricted free agent linebackers Nick Roach
and Jamar Williams, defensive end Mark
Blue Jackets send Modin to Kings >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Blue Jackets traded veteran
forward Fredrik Modin to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for a 2010 seventh-
round draft pick.
It has been an injury-plagued campaign for the Swede, who has
St Trinians tries boys in Saturday's Big 'Cap >>
Arcadia, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 73rd running of the $750,000 Santa Anita
Handicap (Big 'Cap) at Santa Anita Park has attracted 13 males and one female.
The 14 thoroughbreds will be asked to run 1 1/4-miles Saturday on Santa
Anita's
Boyd lands in Nashville >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Nashville Predators acquired forward
Dustin Boyd from the Calgary Flames in exchange for a 2010 fourth-round draft
pick.
The 23-year-old Boyd has compiled eight goals and 11 assists in 60 games fo
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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