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06/10/2010 - Coral Gables, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Katie Meier signed a new five-year contract Thursday to remain the head women's basketball coach at the University of Miami.
Meier, hired in April 2005, led the Hurricanes to one their best seasons in 2009-10, as the team reached the WNIT Championship game -- a 73-61 loss to California.
"I am energized everyday by the possibilities and challenges of coaching Miami in the ACC," Meier said. "I have been blessed with such an incredible group of current and past players, and those people, along with my staff and the entire University of Miami community make this a great environment in which to be successful."
<< Zenyatta versus five in Vanity
Inglewood, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Leading Horse of the Year candidate Zenyatta
will go after a third straight win in Sunday's $250,000 Vanity Handicap at
Hollywood Park. The undefeated mare has five challengers in the 1 1/8-mile
race on
<< Danks impressive in White Sox's win over Tigers
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Omar Vizquel and A.J. Pierzynski each homered
to back seven shutout innings by John Danks, as the Chicago White Sox topped
the Detroit Tigers, 3-0, in the rubber match of a three-game series.
Danks (5-5) w
<< Sharapova lands in Birmingham quarters
Birmingham, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two-time titlist Maria Sharapova won
a pair of matches on Thursday in order to reach the quarterfinals at the
rainy $220,000 Aegon Classic.
The second-seeded former world No. 1 Sharapova fin
<< United's Wallace out 2-3 months after surgery
Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - D.C. United announced Thursday defender
Rodney Wallace underwent successful surgery on his fractured left fibula and
will miss 2-3 months.
Wallace suffered the injury on June 5 against Real Salt Lake
Quintero helps Astros edge Rockies >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Humberto Quintero went 3-for-4 with a solo homer
and knocked in two, as the Houston Astros held on for a 5-4 win over the
Colorado Rockies in the finale of a four-game series at Coors Field.
Tommy Manzella
Cahill shines as A's top Angels >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trevor Cahill pitched a career-high eight
innings and held the Angels to one run, as the Athletics earned a split of a
four-game series against their American League West rivals with a 6-1 win.
Cahill (
Brewers edge Cubs in 10th on error >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Gomez scored the game-winning run on a
throwing error in the bottom of the 10th inning, as the Milwaukee Brewers
edged the Chicago Cubs, 5-4, in the rubber match of a three-game series at
Miller
Blue Jays put McDonald on bereavement list >>
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday placed
infielder John McDonald on the bereavement list and selected the contract of
outfielder Dewayne Wise.
McDonald was batting .250 with three RBI in 16 games fo
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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