08/25/2008 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Blackhawks signed right wing Akim Aliu to a three-year contract on Monday.
A native of Okene, Nigeria, Aliu tallied a career-high 61 points (28 goals) in 60 regular-season games last season for London of the Ontario Hockey League. The 19-year-old also made his professional debut last year, playing two games with the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League after signing an amateur tryout contract on April 4.
Aliu was Chicago's third choice (56th overall) in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.
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Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rafael Nadal's first match as a top
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did advance in straight sets on the first day of play at the 2008 U.S. Open.
Nadal post
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Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston Texans wide receiver Harry Williams
is expected to walk again after having surgery to fuse together his cervical
spine, but his football career is likely over.
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<< Lakers sign Chinese guard Sun Yue
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Lakers signed point guard
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released.
The 23-year-old was the Lakers' second-round choice in the 2007 draft o
<< Washington Redskins 2008 Season Preview
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Once again, Daniel Snyder just couldn't resist making the
big splash.
After an unusually quiet offseason, it took just one day of training camp for
the circus-like atmosphere normally associated with the Washington Redskin
Flyers invite D Berard to training camp >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defenseman Bryan Berard will attend the
Flyers' training camp in September on a try-out basis, Philadelphia general
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Mariners send P Lowe to minors >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Mariners optioned right-handed
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Lowe, 25, is 1-4 with one save and a 5.73 earned run average in 50 relief
appearances this season.
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Report: Vols' Vinson, Langley suspended for one game >>
Knoxville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - University of Tennessee defensive back
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Vikings release veteran LB Pope >>
Eden Prairie, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Vikings released veteran
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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 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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