Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
12/17/2008 - Blackburn, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Blackburn named Sam Allardyce its new manager on Wednesday and signed him to a three-year contract. He replaces Paul Ince, who was fired on Tuesday.
Former Bolton and Newcastle boss Allardyce has been out of the game since being axed by the Magpies in January, but steps back in to try and help Rovers escape the drop zone.
The Ewood Park outfit is currently 19th in the Premier League table, having won just three times in 17 league games under Ince.
Rovers chairman John Williams had earlier commented: "Three wins in 17 games has seen a squad, which finished seventh last season, fall to 19th position.
"We are currently in real danger of becoming detached from the pack.
"The survival of the club in the Premier League is paramount and our focus now is on finding a replacement who will be able to maintain our top division status."
Graeme Souness was reported to have been Allardyce's main challenger for the Rovers job, but ruled himself out of the running on Wednesday morning, telling the Lancashire Evening Telegraph: "I'm afraid you're talking to the wrong man.
"I don't know anything and have had no contact at all with Blackburn Rovers. It doesn't surprise me to see my name in there, but I'm not your man."
(Courtesy of sportbox.tv)
<< Warriors open road trip in Indy vs. Pacers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Golden State Warriors will open a five-game road trip
tonight against the Indiana Pacers at Conseco Fieldhouse.
Golden State will also visit Atlanta, Charlotte, Orlando and Miami on the
swing, and is just 3-11 away fro
<< Rangers continue West Coast swing in LA
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Rangers continue their tour of California
tonight, as they visit the Los Angeles Kings and the Staples Center for the
first time in over two years.
The Rangers began a three-game swing last night in Anaheim an
<< Spurs roll into New Orleans
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The streaking San Antonio Spurs kick off a short two-game
road swing Wednesday when they arrive in the Big Easy to face the New Orleans
Hornets.
It's the first time the two Southwest Division rivals will be squaring
<< Canucks to honor Linden before battle with Oilers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vancouver Canucks will honor one of the greatest
players in franchise history tonight before they host the Edmonton Oilers in a
Northwest Division clash at GM Place.
Prior to tonight's game, the Canucks will honor form
Goalie Zaluska set to leave Dundee >>
Dundee, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dundee United goalkeeper Lukasz Zaluska is
set to quit Tannadice at the end of the season after rejecting a new contract
offer.
The 26-year-old Pole joined the Terrors in the summer of 2007 and has ma
Bucs place S Phillips on IR >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers placed safety Jermaine
Phillips on injured reserve Wednesday.
Phillips sustained a fractured right forearm in a 13-10 overtime loss to the
Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. He fractured hi
Pandev likely to stay at Lazio >>
Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lazio striker Goran Pandev is almost certain to
remain with the Biancocelesti by signing a new extended contract in the near
future.
The 25-year-old FYR Macedonia international has been linked with a num
Hurricanes D Kaberle activated off IR >>
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Carolina Hurricanes activated defenseman
Frantisek Kaberle from injured reserve on Wednesday.
Kaberle had been on IR since December 11 after suffering a leg injury on
December 4 against Pittsburg
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.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting