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01/27/2012 - Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rodrigue Beaubois scored a season-high 22 points to power the short-handed Mavericks to a 116-101 win over Utah.
Lamar Odom added a season-best 19 points and Jason Terry scored 18 off the bench for Dallas, which played without Dirk Nowitzki (sore right knee) and Delonte West (strained right hamstring). Starting point guard Jason Kidd left the game in the first quarter with a strained right calf and didn't return.
Despite the injuries, the Mavericks shot 55 percent and went 11-of-19 from three-point range on the way to their fourth win in five games.
Brendan Haywood contributed 12 points and 12 rebounds, while Shawn Marion notched 16 points for Dallas, which has won six in a row against the Jazz. The Mavs have beaten Utah in 15 of their last 17 home games.
Paul Millsap scored 20 for the Jazz, who have suffered back-to-back defeats.
<< Wade returns as Heat down Knicks
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dwyane Wade sparkled in his return to the lineup,
scoring 28 points, and the Heat withstood a bevy of three-pointers from New
York to earn a 99-89 victory over the short-handed Knicks.
LeBron James totaled 31
<< Rose boosts Bulls over Bucks
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Derrick Rose was in MVP form on Friday, as he
poured in a season-high 34 points to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 107-100 win
over the Milwaukee Bucks at United Center.
Carlos Boozer contributed 20 points and
<< Hornets beat Magic to snap 9-game skid
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carl Landry netted a team-high 17 points
and the New Orleans Hornets rolled over the Orlando Magic, 93-67, on Friday to
snap a nine-game losing streak.
Marco Belinelli had 15 points, Jason Smith scored 1
<< USA tops Costa Rica to seal Olympic berth
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The U.S. women's national team punched its
ticket for the 2012 Summer Olympics on Friday with a 3-0 win over Costa Rica
in the semifinals of CONCACAF Olympic qualifying.
After outscoring its three oppone
Rockets soar past Wizards >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With leading scorer Kevin Martin out due to
plantar fasciitis in his right foot, the Rockets still didn't have a problem
handling the lowly Wizards on Friday night.
Chase Budinger returned from a three
Love, T'Wolves top Spurs >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Suddenly, Kevin Love and the Minnesota
Timberwolves have the San Antonio Spurs' number.
Love had 18 points and 16 rebounds Friday night and the Timberwolves scored
the final 10 points of the game
Pierce powers Celtics to 4th straight win >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Temporarily, the Celtics may not have Rajon
Rondo or Ray Allen in the lineup, but they still have Paul Pierce.
As the Pacers cut Boston's lead to two in the third quarter, Pierce put the
team on his ba
No. 5 Duke routs Clemson >>
Clemson, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tricia Liston had 16 points. leading No. 5 Duke
to a dominant 81-37 win over Clemson at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Elizabeth Williams added 14 points, five rebounds, and five blocks and Richa
Jackson scored 13 poin
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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