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02/08/2012 - Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleveland Cavaliers rookie point guard Kyrie Irving has been ruled out of Wednesday's game against the Los Angeles Clippers due to a concussion. He is listed as day-to-day.
Irving suffered the concussion after being kneed in the head during the fourth quarter of Tuesday's loss to the Miami Heat. He experienced headaches after the game that worsened over the course of the night and during pregame activities prior to Wednesday's contest.
In 23 games played this season, Irving has averages of 18.0 points, 5.1 assists and 3.5 rebounds.
<< Coastal Carolina to host five in Moglia's first season
Conway, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coastal Carolina will open the Joe Moglia era by
hosting North Carolina A&T and has four other home games as part of a 2012
football schedule announced on Wednesday.
Moglia was hired in December as the secon
<< St. John's G Stith leaves team
Queens, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Junior guard Malik Stith is leaving St. John's
because of personal reasons, head coach Steve Lavin announced Wednesday.
The university said Stith would remain a part of the St. John's program as a
student-wo
<< Alouettes release Stewart, Desriveaux
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Alouettes released two long-
time players Wednesday, cutting ties to defensive end Anwar Stewart and wide
receiver Danny Desriveaux.
"On behalf of the Montreal Alouettes, I would like to
<< Heat G Chalmers inactive vs. Magic
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miami Heat guard Mario Chalmers was inactive
for Wednesday night's game at Orlando because of a left hand sprain.
The Heat said Chalmers, who has played all 25 games this season, was day-to-
day with the i
Virginia rolls over Wake Forest >>
Charlottesville, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Scott led a balanced attack with
19 points and five rebounds as the 19th-ranked Virginia Cavaliers dominated
the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, 68-44.
Joe Harris added 11 points for the Cavaliers
Boeheim passes Dean as Syracuse edges Georgetown >>
Syracuse, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kris Joseph scored a career-high 29 points and
hit the game-winning shot in overtime, as No. 2 Syracuse downed No. 12
Georgetown, 64-61, on Wednesday.
The Orange (24-1, 11-1 Big East) have won four st
Parker, Spurs get past 76ers >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tony Parker exploded for 37 points to go
with eight assists as the Spurs held off the 76ers, 100-90, at Wells Fargo
Center on Wednesday.
Gary Neal added 18 points and Tim Duncan recorded a doubl
Bucks pull away to beat Raptors >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Six Bucks scored in double figures, including
Carlos Delfino's season-high 25 points, as Milwaukee knocked off the Toronto
Raptors, 105-99, at Air Canada Centre on Wednesday.
Linas Kleiza's free throws wit
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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