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03/16/2010 - Tampa, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Towers was named a special assignment scout for the New York Yankees Tuesday after spending the last 15 years as the general manager of the San Diego Padres.
Towers spent 26 seasons total with the Padres, guiding the team to a National League title in 1998. The team went to the playoffs four times during his tenure with the club but had won just 75 and 63 games, respectively, in the past two seasons.
Before his firing during the offseason, Towers was the game's most tenured general manager.
<< Oregon ousts hoops coach Kent
Eugene, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oregon Ducks have terminated the contract
of men's head basketball coach Ernie Kent after 13 years guiding the program.
Kent had two years remaining on his contract but had been rumored to be out
follo
<< Bears sign CB Jennings, release FB McKie
Lake Forest, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bears made a pair of moves
Tuesday, signing cornerback Tim Jennings to a two-year contract while
releasing fullback Jason McKie.
Jennings spent the first four years of his NFL care
<< Special win: Inter eliminates Chelsea
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Samuel Eto'o scored late in the second half
and Inter Milan beat Chelsea 1-0 on Tuesday at Stamford Bridge to seal its 3-1
aggregate win and a spot in the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
Inter coach
<< Teams test bigger plate, new spoiler at Talladega
Talladega, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Twenty-five Sprint Cup Series teams
participated in a one-day test session at Talladega Superspeedway to determine
the potential size of carburetor restrictor-plate openings and familiarize
drivers
Jets re-sign FB Richardson >>
Florham Park, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Jets have agreed in
principle on a contract with fullback Tony Richardson for the 2010 season.
Richardson returns for a 16th NFL season and for a third year in New York.
Last ye
Argonauts sign QB Brannagan >>
Mississauga, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Argonauts signed quarterback
Danny Brannagan to a three-year contract on Tuesday.
Brannagan, a native of Burlington, Ontario, played at Queen's University in
Kingston, Ontario, where last
Flyers goaltender Leighton injured against Nashville >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Michael
Leighton left Tuesday's game against the Nashville Predators with a high ankle
sprain.
The 28-year-old Leighton is considered day-to-day.
During the first peri
Wizards F Howard out at least six months following surgery >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington Wizards forward Josh Howard
underwent successful surgery to repair a torn left ACL, the club announced on
Tuesday.
Howard, who sustained the injury in a game against the Bulls on February
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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