Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
03/13/2010 - Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tre'Von Willis finished with 18 points and made critical free throws down the stretch, as UNLV upended No. 14 BYU, 70-66, to reach the championship game of the Mountain West Conference Tournament.
Willis finished 6-of-6 at the line, while Chace Stanback added 17 points and six rebounds for the third-seeded Rebels (25-7), who will face San Diego State in Saturday's final. The Aztecs knocked off top-seeded and eighth-ranked New Mexico earlier Friday.
Brice Massamba had 13 points and six boards for UNLV, which has won six in a row overall, as well as eight in a row against BYU on its home court.
Jimmer Fredette made all 12 of his free throws and finished with 30 points for the Cougars (29-5), who had won their last three. Michael Loyd, Jr. added 11 points in the loss.
BYU played without guard Tyler Haws, the team's third-leading scorer this season. Haws suffered a left eye injury in the Cougars' quarterfinal win over TCU, and he did not dress Friday, as the eye appeared swollen shut.
<< Vandy downs Georgia in SEC QFs
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John Jenkins poured in a career-high 25
points to lead the 20th-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores to a 78-66 victory over
the Georgia Bulldogs in the quarterfinal round of the Southeastern Conference
Tournam
<< Roy leads Blazers to rout of Kings
Sacramento, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandon Roy poured in 28 points and finished
10-of-13 from the field, leading Portland to a 110-94 rout of the Sacramento
Kings.
LaMarcus Aldridge tacked on 18 points as the Trail Blazers remained in t
<< Blake, Nalbandian advance at BNP Paribas Open
Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of former top-five players in
American James Blake and Argentine David Nalbandian were a pair of easy first-
round winners Friday at the $4.5 million BNP Paribas Open, an ATP World Tour
Masters
<< Wildcats set up rematch with Kansas in Big 12 title game
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jacob Pullen scored 26 points, and ninth-
ranked Kansas State gained a spot in the Big 12 championship game with an
82-75 victory over No. 21 Baylor.
Denis Clemente added 24 points and dished out s
West Virginia vs. Georgetown for Big East title >>
NEW YORK (AP) -Now that West Virginia is in the Big East tournament final, coach Bob Huggins and his Mountaineers have a large problem on their hands.His name is Greg Monroe.The 6-foot-11 center with the uncommon all-around game has dominated at Mad
Underdogs ruling at upset-filled ACC tournament >>
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) -The underdogs are trying to top each other at the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament - and they're succeeding.``I've been seeing all the highlights of all the games, and what it seemed like is all the lower seeds were coming
Oregon QB Masoli suspended for 2010 after burglary >>
Just 10 weeks ago the future couldn't have looked brighter for Oregon football.Sure, the Ducks had just lost to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl, but the team was back in Pasadena for the first time since 1995. And Oregon was going into the 2010 season a
McDonald plays role of sage for young Blue Jays >>
DUNEDIN, Fla. (AP) -Becoming a coach isn't on John McDonald's radar just yet, but while he's playing he enjoys being a mentor to his fellow Toronto Blue Jays infielders.``I would hope the younger players would use a player like me as a source of kno
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.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting