Watlantahawks Basketball Betting News

<< Magic aim for commanding 3-0 series lead in Charlotte
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Charlotte Bobcats return to the cozy confines of Time Warner Cable Arena for Game 3 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinals set with Orlando in search of the franchise's first ever postseason win. The Magic held serv

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TORONTO (AP) -Boston's Zdeno Chara will play in Game 6 against the Buffalo Sabres after the NHL rescinded an instigator penalty assessed to the Bruins' defenseman in a Game 5 loss.Chara was assessed a minor penalty for instigating, a major for fight

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Jeju Island, Korea (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marcus Fraser carded a two-under 70 Saturday to grab a one-stroke lead after two rounds of the Ballantine's Championship. Fraser, who will go for his second European Tour win on Sunday, com

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NEW YORK (AP) -Jimmy Clausen turned out to be a first pick, after all.A day after being passed over in the first round of the NFL draft, Clausen was one excited quarterback: The Carolina Panthers used their first pick in the draft to select him in t

Blue Jays, Rays continue set in Tampa >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two rookie standouts from 2009 meet early in their sophomore seasons tonight when the Toronto Blue Jays visit the Tampa Bay Rays for the middle contest of a three-game series at Tropicana Field. Lefty Ricky Romero was 13-9

Orioles turn to rookie Matusz versus Red Sox >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Both of the Baltimore Orioles' wins this season have come with rookie Brian Matusz on the hill. The woeful O's hope that trend continues tonight when they continue their three-game set against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Par

Tigers send Willis to the hill against Rangers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dontrelle Willis' last major league win came at the expense of the Texas Rangers almost a year ago. Tonight he takes aim at his first victory of this season when the Detroit Tigers continue their four-game set with the Ranger

White Sox and Mariners get together again in Chicago >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox try to make it two straight wins this afternoon when they continue their three-game series with the Seattle Mariners at U.S. Cellular Field. The White Sox drew first blood in this series in dramatic f

What Is the Point Spread?

What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?

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.

How to Read Point Spreads

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:

• Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
  OR
  
• Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.

• 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.

  For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically

  Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:

• Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
  OR
  
• Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score

  Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?

  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.