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09/10/2010 - London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tottenham was dealt a big blow on Friday as it was revealed that striker Jermain Defoe is set to miss the next three months after undergoing ankle surgery.
Defoe was already set for a groin operation that he had been putting off when he suffered an ankle injury against Switzerland while playing for England in a Euro 2012 qualifier.
The striker had the operation on his ankle on Thursday, and a statement on Tottenham's website confirmed the extent of the injury.
"Following a review by an ankle specialist, Jermain Defoe underwent surgery to repair torn ligaments in his right ankle yesterday evening.
"The striker was forced off with the injury during England's European Championship qualifier in Switzerland on Tuesday and has been ruled out of action for around three months."
The injury will prevent Defoe from playing for England in its next Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro in October, while also likely keeping him out of Tottenham's Champions League group stage, which includes games with Inter Milan, Twente and Werder Bremen in Group A.
<< Zamora signs new Fulham deal
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fulham announced on Friday that the club
has signed striker Bobby Zamora to a new four-year contract.
The 29-year-old Zamora was a big part of Fulham's run to the final of the
Europa League last se
<< Ronaldo set for Madrid return
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Madrid will be boosted by the earlier-
than-expected return of Cristiano Ronaldo on Saturday when the club gets set
to host Osasuna.
Ronaldo suffered an ankle injury in Real's 0-0 draw with Mallorca
<< Nadal, Federer will play U.S. Open SF matches Saturday
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - World No. 1 stalwart Rafael Nadal
and former top-ranked superstar Roger Federer are on a collision course to
meet in Sunday's men's final at the 2010 U.S. Open. The two tennis greats
have never met he
<< Huber, Petrova reach U.S. Open doubles final
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A second-seeded tandem of American
Liezel Huber and Russian Nadia Petrova posted a semifinal victory Friday at
the 2010 U.S. Open.
Huber-Petrova reached the women's doubles finale with a 6-3,
Colsaerts joined in first in Netherlands >>
Hilversum, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - First-round leader Nicolas Colsaerts
only managed an even-par 70 on Friday, but it was enough to share the lead
with Shiv Kapur after two rounds of the KLM Open.
Colsaerts and Kapur, who posted a
Italian players announce plans to strike >>
Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Italian Professional Players' Association
(AIC) has voted to go on strike during the weekend of September 25-26 to
protest plans by Serie A owners that would reduce the rights of players in
transfe
IndyCar Series releases 2011 schedule >>
West Allis, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The IZOD IndyCar Series unveiled its 2011
schedule on Friday at The Milwaukee Mile, which will return to the circuit
after a one-year absence.
While IRL officials announced the return of The Mil
Blatt is no traitor >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It might never be described as America's
pastime but basketball has always been America's game.
Sure, baseball and football are immensely popular in the United States, and
Abner Doubleday's game can also b
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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