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03/07/2010 - Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steven Gray scored a game-high 18 points to go along with seven assists and six rebounds, as No. 18 Gonzaga posted a 77-62 victory over Loyola Marymount in the semifinals of the West Coast Conference tournament at Orleans Arena.
Elias Harris and Matt Bouldin chipped in 16 and 12 points, respectively, for the top-seeded Bulldogs (26-5), who will battle either second-seeded Saint Mary's or third-seeded Portland on Monday for the title and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Gonzaga has won five of the last six WCC Tournament titles and defeated Saint Mary's by 25 points in the championship game a year ago.
Drew Viney led the fifth-seeded Lions (18-15) with 15 points and eight rebounds. Vernon Teel had 14 points, and Kevin Young 12 in the loss.
<< Deslauriers, Oilers blank Devils
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers made 22 saves for his
third shutout of the season to help the Edmonton Oilers take a 2-0 win over
the New Jersey Devils at Rexall Place.
Gilbert Brule and Marc Pouliot each had a
<< Chappell out as coach at Central Arkansas
Conway, AR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Central Arkansas fired head
men's basketball coach Rand Chappell and his staff on Sunday.
The move came a day after the Bears completed their season with a mark of 9-21
overall, including 3
<< Lady Vols down Kentucky for SEC title
Duluth, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shekinna Stricklen poured in 20 points and
grabbed nine rebounds, as fourth-ranked Tennessee defeated Kentucky in the SEC
title game.
Kelly Cain added 11 points for the Lady Vols (30-2), who completed thei
<< Wizards-Celtics, Box
WASHINGTON (83)Thornton 10-17 3-5 24, Blatche 10-20 3-3 23, McGee 2-3 9-10 13, Foye 3-14 3-3 9, Miller 3-7 2-3 8, Singleton 2-3 0-0 4, Ross 0-1 0-0 0, Boykins 1-2 0-0 2, Young 0-1 0-0 0, Oberto 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-68 20-24 83.BOSTON (86)Pierce 6-
BC Lions extend QB Printers >>
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The BC Lions announced Sunday that the team
has signed quarterback Casey Printers to a contract extension.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"Casey has demonstrated that he's not only a gifted and ex
Twins closer Nathan to undergo tests on elbow >>
Fort Myers, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Minnesota Twins closer Joe Nathan traveled
back to Minnesota on Sunday to undergo an MRI and CT scan on his surgically
repaired right elbow.
Nathan felt tightness in the elbow on Saturday against Boston
Patriot League Tournament Recaps >>
Easton, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jared Mintz hit the go-ahead jumper with 35
seconds left and finished with 14 points, as Lafayette held on for a 66-63 win
over Holy Cross in the Patriot League semifinal.
Jim Mower had a team-high 17 poi
Durant, Thunder drop Kings >>
Sacramento, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Durant scored 27 points, grabbed eight
rebounds and dished out five assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder stayed hot
with a 108-102 win over the Sacramento Kings.
Russell Westbrook added 21 points a
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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