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02/05/2007 -
WASHINGTON (AP) -Seattle SuperSonics forward Rashard Lewis will participate in full-contact practice Tuesday after missing 1 1/2 months with a right hand injury and could be back in the lineup as soon as Saturday.
``I think he'll do fine. I really do. He's done a good job with rehab,'' coach Bob Hill said before Monday night's game against the Washington Wizards.
The game at Washington was the 21st in a row Lewis has missed since getting hurt.
Hill said Lewis, Seattle's second-leading scorer with 21.9 points per game, would move into the starting lineup when he can play, with Mickael Gelabale heading to the bench.
Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
<< Payton suspended for arguing with official after ejection
MIAMI (AP) -Heat guard Gary Payton was suspended one game without pay Monday for talking back to an official who ejected him during a win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday.Payton was to serve the suspension Monday night when Miami hosted the Char
<< Urlacher out of Pro Bowl with toe injury; Giants' Antonio Pierce replaces him
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -Chicago Bear Brian Urlacher suffered a toe injury in the Super Bowl and will not play in Saturday's Pro Bowl.Antonio Pierce of the New York Giants will replace the Bears middle linebacker on the NFC team, the Giants said
<< Michigan's Petway hopes to play at Ohio State
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) -Michigan forward Brent Petway hopes to be healthy enough to play at No. 3 Ohio State on Tuesday night.The forward injured his left knee in last week's loss at home against Iowa.``The big thing is how my knee responds on game d
<< Barber, first 20-game winner in modern Orioles history, dies
BALTIMORE (AP) -Steve Barber, the first 20-game winner in modern Baltimore Orioles history and the losing pitcher in one of baseball's wildest no-hitters, has died. He was 67.Barber became ill last week and died from complications of pneumonia Sunda
Jordan, Wilkins, Dr. J to judge slam dunk competition >>
NEW YORK (AP) -The guys judging the slam dunk competition might be better than the ones competing in it.Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins lead four former champions who will serve as judges for the last competition of All-Star Saturday night. The
Bearcats stuck in last place >>
CINCINNATI (AP) -Before their first meeting as a team, coach Mick Cronin decided he wouldn't talk about wins and losses with his Cincinnati Bearcats this season. He knew a team that was put together on the fly was going to have big trouble in the Bi
Raiders hire former Steelers assistant to coach DBs >>
ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) -Former Pittsburgh defensive backs coach Darren Perry was hired Monday to fill the same role with the Oakland Raiders.Perry, who coached the Steelers' secondary since 2003, resigned last month following a meeting with new Pittsb
Correction: Texas-Durant's Playground >>
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) -In a Feb. 1 story about Texas player Kevin Durant, The Associated Press reported erroneously his record-tying performance. He tied a Texas freshman season record for double-doubles, not a Big 12 record.Copyright © 2005 The Assoc
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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