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03/18/2010 - Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - California starting forward Omondi Amoke has reportedly been suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules and is not expected to suit up for the Bears' NCAA Tournament opener against Louisville Friday.
The Oakland Tribune's report did not specify what rules were broken or whether Amoke even made the trip to Jacksonville, host to a slew of games in the South and East regions over the first two rounds of the tournament.
The 6-foot-7 sophomore averaged 4.8 points and 4.6 rebounds in 33 games this season. He made 14 starts for Cal, including the last six games.
<< Mavs get back on track with win over hurting Bulls
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Caron Butler scored 27 points and Dirk Nowitzki
added 26 as the Mavericks ran past Chicago, 113-106, sending the short-handed
Bulls to their ninth consecutive defeat.
J.J. Barea registered 15 points for Dalla
<< Bourque scores twice to push Flames past Avs
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rene Bourque tallied twice and Vesa Toskala made
32 saves as Calgary clipped Colorado, 3-2, at Pepsi Center.
Eric Nystrom picked up the other score for the Flames, who snapped a two-game
slide and won for the
<< Millsap, Korver pace Utah rout of Minnesota
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Millsap and Kyle Korver were at the
head of a balanced scoring attack with 21 and 20 points, respectively, as the
Utah Jazz logged a runaway win over Minnesota, 122-100.
Carlos Boozer had 19 poin
<< Brooks perfect from long distance, Rockets end Memphis' road run
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aaron Brooks led all scorers with 31 points and
made all seven of his three-point attempts as the Rockets topped the
Grizzlies, 107-94, ending Memphis' franchise-record seven-game road winning
streak.
Rockies closer Street likely to start season on DL >>
Tucson, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Colorado Rockies closer Huston Street is
likely to start the upcoming season on the disabled list due to a right
shoulder injury.
Street underwent an MRI Wednesday and has been experiencing sor
Wozniacki reaches Indian Wells semis >>
Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Caroline Wozniacki gutted out a three-set
victory late Wednesday to reach the semifinals at the $4.5 million BNP Paribas
Open.
The native of Denmark, who was last year's U.S. Open runner-up and entere
Warriors rally from 21 down to top Hornets >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anthony Tolliver registered a career-high 30
points, as the Warriors rallied from down 21 late in the third quarter for a
131-121 triumph over the New Orleans Hornets.
Monta Ellis scored 28 points and t
Clippers rally past Bucks to snap eight-game skid >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Kaman scored 20 points and the Los
Angeles Clippers surged in the fourth quarter to snap an eight-game skid with
a 101-93 win over the Bucks.
Drew Gooden totaled 16 points and 11 rebounds for t
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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