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01/02/2012 - Elkton, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - 2011 Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom had his first workout of the new year Monday morning at Fair Hill Training Center. The four-year-old is owned by Team Valor and trained by Graham Motion.
Animal Kingdom worked three-furlongs under James Slater in tandem with Toby's Corner, last year's Wood Memorial champ. Both horses were caught in 49 seconds for a half-mile. On December 24 Animal Kingdom went three-furlongs in 38 seconds at Fair Hill.
Dr, Dean Richardson performed surgery on Animal Kingdom to repair a left leg fracture last summer at University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center. The colt had finished second to Shackleford in the Preakness Stakes and sixth to Ruler On Ice in the Belmont Stakes.
<< Fulham steals three points from Arsenal
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arsenal led for much of Monday's London
derby clash with Fulham but was left to rue some sloppy defending and a
sending off as the Gunners fell to the Cottagers, 2-1, following two late
goals a
<< Ohio State stays perfect with win over Iowa
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Samantha Prahalis had 30 points, seven
assists, five rebounds and four steals, as the eighth-ranked Ohio State
Buckeyes rallied from a 15-point first-half deficit to beat the Iowa Hawkeyes,
84-71.
<< Lady Bears continue stranglehold of top poll spot
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Baylor again remained a unanimous choice as
the No. 1 team in the Associated Press women's college basketball poll.
The Lady Bears received all 39 first-place votes for a total of 975 points
from a nat
<< Syracuse strengthens hold on No. 1 ranking
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Syracuse strengthened its hold on the top spot
in the latest Associated Press men's college basketball poll.
The Orange (15-0) earned 60 first-place votes -- six more than last week --
and a total of 1,61
Report: Colts to begin housecleaning >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay has
scheduled a press conference for Monday afternoon, amid reports that he has
begun a housecleaning with the firing of long-time executive Bill Polian.
The Indi
Hoffenheim strengthens back line with Thesker signing >>
Sinsheim, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hoffenheim announced Monday that it has
landed defender Stefan Thesker from FC Twente in a bid to strengthen its back
line.
"In Stefan Thesker we've acquired a further talented player with a lot o
SC's Jeffery, Nebraska's Dennard ejected from Capital One Bowl >>
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - South Carolina wide receiver Alshon
Jeffery and Nebraska cornerback Alfonzo Dennard were both ejected for
fighting in the third quarter of Monday's Capital One Bowl.
The two exchanged punch
Keenum leads Houston past Penn State in TicketCity Bowl >>
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Case Keenum ended his record-breaking collegiate
career with an exclamation point, completing 45-of-69 passes for 532 yards and
three touchdowns in the 20th-ranked Houston Cougars' 30-14 victory over the
24th-ra
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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