Wdenvernuggets Basketball Betting News

<< Willis, Tigers' bullpen blank Twins
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Austin Jackson went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, and Dontrelle Willis pitched six-plus innings of four-hit ball, as the Detroit Tigers earned a 3-0 win over the Minnesota Twins in the finale of a three

<< NCAA Tournament expansion to 68 approved
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Division I Board of Directors on Thursday approved the plan to expand the men's basketball tournament field to 68 teams. "Expanding to 68 teams gave us an opportunity to involve more teams i

<< Rocky Mountain Sigh: Nene's knee only sprained
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets got good news on the injury front Thursday with an MRI exam revealing only a sprained left knee for center Nene. Reports swirled that the Nuggets feared their big man had torn the AC

<< Wolverhampton's Ward to miss final two matches
Wolverhampton, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wolverhampton midfielder Stephen Ward will miss the two remaining games of the season following an exploratory knee operation. Ward, 25, has made 25 appearances in all competitions this season

Eagles give QB Kolb one-year extension >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Eagles agreed to terms with quarterback Kevin Kolb on a one-year contract extension on Thursday. Financial terms were not announced. "We're happy to have Kevin under contract f

Djokovic, Nadal roll into quarters; Murray exits Rome >>
Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Four-time winner Rafael Nadal and 2008 champion Novak Djokovic highlighted Thursday's third-round winners at the $2.97 million Italian Masters, the fourth of nine Masters events on the ATP World

Freese powers Cards to sweep of Braves >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Freese supplied the offense with a three-run homer and a career-high six RBI, as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the spiraling Braves, 10-4, to complete a four-game sweep at Busch Stadium. Freese

Portsmouth hopes to be at full strength for Cup >>
Portsmouth, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Portsmouth is keeping its fingers crossed that four key players will recover from injury in time for next month's FA Cup Final. Pompey face Chelsea at Wembley on May 15 with their already

Barry Bonds Watch: Giants Slugger Says He'll Be Back

With only 21 home runs standing between him and Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds is indeed planning on coming back for more in 2007. At least, that's what his agent told the Los Angeles Times.

"Barry's going to play in 2007," Jeff Borris of Beverly Hills Sports Council told the Times on Tuesday. "I've had many discussions with Barry and he's going to play. My intentions are to see to it he's in a big-league uniform next season. Those are my marching orders."

Contract negotiations could get started as early as next week. Let's see which team has the deeper pockets. Will MLB baseball betting lines despite allegations of steroid use? Bet On It at www.MySportsbook.com .

Get all your baseball betting lines, MLB lines and MLB team props at the My Sportbook.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your baseball sportsbook needs.

What Is the Point Spread?

What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?

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.

How to Read Point Spreads

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:

• Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
  OR
  
• Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.

• 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.

  For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically

  Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:

• Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
  OR
  
• Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score

  Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?

  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.