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07/23/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball operations David Kahn has been fined $50,000 for his recent remarks about forward Michael Beasley, for whom the team recently traded.
Kahn spoke about Beasley's marijuana use in Miami, reasoning that it hampered his play with the Heat. He added that he spoke to Beasley about discontinuing his marijuana use with the Timberwolves, which would help him become a better player.
The Timberwolves recently acquired Beasley, the second overall pick of the 2008 draft, from Miami, which was looking to clear cap space after signing Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh to long-term contracts.
The organization was also fined a separate $50,000 for the remarks.
<< Dynamo jump back into league action at Crew
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Dynamo get back into Major League
Soccer action on Saturday after a two week break when they travel to take on
the Columbus Crew at Crew Stadium.
The Dynamo (5-7-4) played three SuperLiga
<< Hamburg signs midfielder Kacar to five-year deal
Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hamburg signed Serbian midfielder Gojko
Kacar to a five-year contract Friday through the 2014-15 Bundesliga season.
Kacar, 23, previously played for Hertha Berlin, which was relegated after last
season.
<< Spurs sign first-round pick Anderson
San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs have signed guard
James Anderson.
The Spurs selected the 6-foot-6 Anderson with the 20th pick in last month's
draft.
Anderson was named the Big 12 Player of the Year last s
<< Vidic agrees to new deal with United
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nemanja Vidic has agreed to a contract
extension with Manchester United, chief executive David Gill confirmed Friday.
Vidic's current deal expires in two years, and he has verbally agreed to a new
deal
Melzer and Golubev advance to semis in Hamburg >>
Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jurgen Melzer and Andrey Golubev were
two of four quarterfinal winners at the German Open Tennis Championships
on Friday.
Melzer dispatched Potito Starace of Italy, 6-4, 6-1, in only 69 minu
Wells, Cubs blank Cards to begin weekend series at Wrigley >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Randy Wells turned in seven scoreless innings,
and three different players hit home runs, as Chicago downed St. Louis, 5-0 in
the opener of a three-game set between these perennial rivals at Wrigley
Field.
RSL aims to start new streak vs. Chivas USA >>
Sandy, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Salt Lake will aim to start a new streak
when it hosts Chivas USA in a Major League Soccer tilt on Saturday night at
Rio Tinto Stadium.
RSL (9-4-3) is coming off a 2-0 loss at Dallas that snapped a 10
Seattle tries to build momentum against Rapids >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Following a successful first season in Major
League Soccer, Seattle Sounders FC has fallen on hard times as they enter
Sunday's contest with the Colorado Rapids at Qwest Field in seventh place in
the Wes
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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