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02/14/2012 - Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aaron Afflalo scored 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting, and the Denver Nuggets led wire-to-wire as they knocked off the Phoenix Suns, 109-92, at Pepsi Center on Tuesday.
Six Nuggets scored in double figures, including Ty Lawson's 17 points, Chris Andersen's 16, Kenneth Faried's 13, Al Harrington's 12 and Rudy Fernandez's 11. Denver won its second consecutive game after dropping its previous five.
Markieff Morris had 21 points, Michael Redd added 20 and Marcin Gortat contributed 10 points and 14 rebounds for the Suns, who dropped their second straight and third of their last four.
Denver shot 52 percent from the floor, while holding Phoenix to just 33 percent field goal shooting.
<< Harden lifts Thunder over Jazz
Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Harden scored 22 points and dished
out five assists off the bench, and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the
Utah Jazz, 111-85, at Chesapeake Energy Arena on Tuesday.
Kevin Durant had 21 poi
<< Nabokov, Islanders down Jets
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Evgeni Nabokov stopped 37 shots to lift the
New York Islanders to a 3-1 win over the Jets at MTS Centre.
P.A. Parenteau had a goal and an assist while Matt Martin and Matt Moulson
also scored for the Is
<< Spurs hang on to beat Pistons
Auburn Hills, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Duncan had 18 points and 13 rebounds,
as the Spurs hung on for a 99-95 win over the Pistons on Tuesday.
Tony Parker scored eight of his 14 points in the fourth quarter for the Spurs,
who won their ei
<< Conley helps Grizzlies top Rockets
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Conley scored 21 points on 3-of-4
shooting from three-point range as the Grizzlies defeated the Rockets, 93-83,
at FedEx Forum on Tuesday.
Memphis had five scorers in double figures, including
Flames stay hot against Toronto >>
Calgary, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miikka Kiprusoff made 41 saves, backstopping
the Calgary Flames to a convincing 5-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at
Scotiabank Saddledome.
Calgary's top-line trio of Olli Jokinen, Alex Tanguay and J
Gasol leads Lakers over Hawks >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pau Gasol had 20 points, doubling up Kobe
Bryant, and the Los Angeles Lakers returned home with an 86-78 win over the
Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night.
Bryant had 10 points on 5-of-18 shooting without
Young, Wizards top Blazers >>
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nick Young dropped in a game-high 35 points as
the Washington Wizards posted back-to-back wins for the first time this season
with a 124-109 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday.
John Wall added
Russell upsets Young at SAP Open >>
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michael Russell upset seventh-seeded Donald
Young in straight sets Tuesday in the first round of the $531,000 SAP Open.
Russell, 33, knocked off Young in just under 92 minutes with a 6-1, 7-6 (8-6)
victory
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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