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03/12/2010 - San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Chargers announced the signing of free agent cornerback Donald Strickland to a two-year contract on Friday.
Strickland, 29, saw his playing time diminish with the New York Jets last season, appearing in 11 games with only two starts. He finished the year with 25 tackles, two sacks and four passes defensed.
The seven-year veteran has also spent time in Indianapolis (2003-05), Philadelphia (2005) and San Francisco (2006-08).
In 58 career games -- 24 starts -- Strickland has compiled 185 tackles, two sacks, two interceptions and 20 passes defensed.
<< Prospal, Rangers down sliding Thrashers
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vinny Prospal had two goals and an assist as
the New York Rangers took a 5-2 decision over the Atlanta Thrashers in a
battle between playoff contenders.
Marian Gaborik had a goal and two assists while
<< Collins, Kansas blow past Texas A&M in second half
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sherron Collins scored 26 points and dished
out six assists, and top-ranked Kansas used a big run late in the second half
to post a 79-66 victory over No. 23 Texas A&M in the semifinals of the Big 12
Tou
<< Kovalchuk, Devils clip Pens to tighten Atlantic race
Newark, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ilya Kovalchuk posted a goal and two assists and
Martin Brodeur stopped 34 shots as New Jersey clipped Pittsburgh, 3-1, at
Prudential Center.
Patrik Elias and Andy Greene also scored for the Devils, who hav
<< Georgia Tech downs Maryland to reach ACC semis, boost resume
Greensboro, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Iman Shumpert scored 14 points and handed
out four assists to help Georgia Tech fend off 19th-ranked Maryland, 69-64, in
the quarterfinals of the 2010 ACC Tournament at Greensboro Coliseum.
The Yellow Ja
Harding solid as Wild escape Sabres >>
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Harding stopped a season-high 43 shots, as
Minnesota escaped from Buffalo with a 3-2 win at HSBC Arena.
Andrew Ebbett, Andrew Brunette and Guillaume Latendresse lit the lamp for the
Wild, who halted a fou
Durant sets franchise mark, Thunder slide by Nets >>
Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Durant poured in 32 points and
pulled down 12 rebounds, as the Oklahoma City Thunder held off the lowly New
Jersey Nets, 104-102.
Durant's 30-point game was his 36th this season, breaking
Anthony leads Nuggets over Hornets >>
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carmelo Anthony put up 32 points to go with
12 rebounds, and Denver pulled away late for a 102-95 win over New Orleans.
Chauncey Billups recorded 21 points and seven assists for the Northwest
Divisio
Memphis downs struggling Knicks >>
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Zach Randolph had 24 points and 11 rebounds, as
the Memphis Grizzlies held on to take a 119-112 victory over the New York
Knicks.
O.J. Mayo had 22 points and Rudy Gay provided 20 for Memphis, which led by
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 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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