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02/09/2012 - Sunrise, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scott Clemmensen made 22 saves as the Florida Panthers earned their first win over the Los Angeles Kings in nearly 10 years with a 3-1 victory on Thursday.
Sean Bergenheim, Mike Santorelli and Matt Bradley tallied goals for the Panthers, who snapped an eight-game losing streak against the Kings. Florida had not beaten Los Angeles since November 27, 2002.
Drew Doughty scored the lone goal for the Kings, losers in three of their last four.
Jonathan Quick started the game for Los Angeles but was replaced at the start of the third period by Jonathan Bernier after allowing two goals on 11 shots. Bernier stopped all 11 shots he faced in relief.
<< Blues down Devils in shootout
Newark, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - T.J. Oshie scored the only goal in the shootout
to give the Blues a 4-3 victory over the Devils at Prudential Center.
Brian Elliot relieved an ineffective Jaroslav Halak in the second period and
stopped all
<< Badgers escape Minnesota with OT win
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jordan Taylor shot 5-of-9 from three-
point range and dropped a game-high 27 points as No. 21 Wisconsin held off
Minnesota, 68-61, in overtime at Williams Arena on Thursday.
Ryan Evans contribute
<< Pacioretty's hat trick lifts Canadiens over Islanders
Uniondale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Max Pacioretty netted his first career hat
trick, leading the Montreal Canadiens to a 4-2 win over the New York Islanders
at Nassau Coliseum.
Scott Gomez also scored -- his first goal since February 5, 20
<< Hartnell helps Flyers edge Leafs
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scott Hartnell had a goal and an assist as
the Philadelphia Flyers edged the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-3, at Wells Fargo
Center.
Maxime Talbot, Claude Giroux and Brayden Schenn also lit the lamp for
Tennessee State shocks Murray State, topples nation's last unbeaten >>
Murray, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - And then there were none.
Murray State, the last undefeated NCAA Division I team, fell to Tennessee
State, 72-68, on Thursday. The ninth-ranked Racers (23-1, 11-1 OVC) had
already clinched the best s
Richards lifts Rangers over Lightning in OT >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brad Richards scored 2:37 into overtime,
lifting the New York Rangers to a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on
Thursday night.
Ryan Callahan, Derek Stepan and Brian Boyle also scored for the R
Spezza lifts Ottawa over Nashville >>
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Spezza netted two goals and added an
assist, leading the Ottawa Senators to a 4-3 win over the Nashville Predators
at Scotiabank Place.
Chris Phillips -- playing in his 1,000th NHL game -- contribu
Indiana pulls away from Illinois >>
Bloomington, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cody Zeller dropped a game-high 22 points
to lead four Hoosiers in double figures as Indiana rolled past Illinois,
84-71, at Assembly Hall on Thursday.
Christian Watford, Victor Oladipo, and Jorda
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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