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06/22/2010 - Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Walter Payton Award winner Ricky Santos signed a contract Tuesday with the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL.
Santos, the former University of New Hampshire quarterback who was named the FCS' outstanding player in 2006 with the Payton Award, originally signed with the Alouettes in 2008 and completed the second half of the 2009 season with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The Bombers released Santos prior to the start of their 2010 training camp.
Santos finished his UNH career third on the NCAA's all-time career passing yardage list with 13,212 yards, and third on the all-time list for career touchdown passes with 123.
<< Serena, Wozniacki, Sharapova roll; Stosur exits Wimbledon
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Serena Williams began her quest for a
fourth Wimbledon title with an easy straight-set win over Portugal's Michelle
Larcher De Brito, while third-seeded Caroline Wozniacki and former champion
Maria
<< Ravens, Hamlin agree to deal
Owings Mills, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Ravens signed safety Ken
Hamlin to a one-year deal on Tuesday.
Hamlin was released by the Dallas Cowboys in April.
The 29-year-old veteran will provide Baltimore with depth at the pos
<< Let the race to the Sprint Cup Chase begin
Loudon, NH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup. Date: Sunday, June
27. Race: Lenox Industrial Tools 301. Site: New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Track: 1.058-mile oval. Start time: 1:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 301. Miles: 318.458.
2009 winner: Jo
<< Argentina tops Greece to cap perfect group stage
Polokwane, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Demichelis and Martin
Palermo scored late in the second half, helping Argentina complete a perfect
run through Group B of the FIFA World Cup with a 2-0 win over Greece on
Tuesday
Rangers welcome back Cruz from DL >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers activated outfielder Nelson
Cruz from the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday.
Cruz went on the disabled list for the second time this season on May 30 when
he strained his left hamstring. He
NASCAR suspends two-time Nationwide champ LaJoie for drug use >>
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR on Tuesday indefinitely suspended
Randy LaJoie, a crew member for Joe Gibbs Racing's No.18 team in the
Nationwide Series, for violating the sanctioning body's substance abuse
policy.
College Football HOFer Cloud passes away at 85 >>
Williamsburg, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jack Cloud, who was elected to the
College Football Hall of Fame in 1990, has passed away at the age of 85.
Cloud was a three-time All-American fullback for William and Mary between
1947-49 an
Jets sign McKnight, waive three others >>
Florham Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Jets signed running back Joe
McKnight, their fourth-round pick in the 2010 draft, to an undisclosed
contract on Tuesday.
McKnight was a highly-touted recruit out of high school and
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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