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11/04/2007 - Edinburgh, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hibernian took an early lead on an own goal and held on for a 1-1 draw against Hearts in a clash of Edinburgh squads Sunday to move into third in the Scottish Premier League.
Christian Nade scored in the 46th minute to save Hearts from a tough loss.
Hibernian (6-2-4) captain Rob Jones helped set up the own goal, taking a shot from deep in the box that took a deflection off Hearts' Christophe Berra.
The lead held until halftime, but Hearts (4-5-3) drew even less than a minute into the second half. Nade used his knee to direct the ball into the goal for the tying score.
Hibernian is even with Dundee United in points, but holds the third spot based on goal differential. Hearts is eighth, but within three points of three clubs ahead of it in the standings.
<< Rose wins playoff and Order of Merit title
Cadiz, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Justin Rose birdied the second playoff hole to
defeat Simon Dyson and Soren Kjeldsen on Sunday and win the season-ending
Volvo Masters.
Before the playoff at Valderrama, Rose already clinched the Orde
<< Preds head to the Windy City
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Nashville Predators will try to maintain their momentum
this evening in Chicago, as the Blackhawks host a Central Division battle at
the United Center.
The Predators have won two straight and four of their last five ga
<< Streaking Sens aim for seventh straight win
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The powerful Ottawa Senators will try to keep rolling this
evening, when they go for a home-and-home sweep of the Boston Bruins at TD
Banknorth Garden.
The Senators have won six straight contests and are 11-1-0 on the seas
<< Blue Jackets invite Blues to Columbus
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Blue Jackets will try to get back on the
winning track tonight, when they welcome the St. Louis Blues for a Central
Division battle at Nationwide Arena.
The Blue Jackets had won four straight games before drop
Rivers to miss game versus Raptors >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston Celtics head coach Glenn "Doc" Rivers
will not be on the sidelines when the team visits the Toronto Raptors Sunday
due to the death of his father.
The Celtics, who are coming off a 103-83 seaso
Niners' Gore out with ankle injury >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Francisco 49ers running back Frank Gore
was inactive for the team's game in Atlanta Sunday.
Gore is struggling with a sprained ankle suffered two weeks ago against the
New York Giants.
The former
Unbeaten Ajax tops Roda to take over first >>
Amsterdam, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Luis Suarez,
Albert Luque and Dennis Rommedahl scored as Ajax defeated Roda, 4-2, on Sunday
to move into first place in the Dutch Eredivisie.
Ajax (7-0-3) took advantage of
Arizona's Olson taking indefinite leave of absence >>
Tucson, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arizona men's basketball coach Lute Olson will
take an indefinite leave of absence due to a personal matter, his public
relations firm announced Sunday.
Olson added that it the issue was not health-
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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