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07/06/2010 - St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Blues have reportedly re-signed unrestricted free agent defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo.
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Colaiacovo has agreed to a two-year deal worth $4.25 million.
The 27-year-old Colaiacovo compiled a career-best 32 points -- seven goals, 25 assists -- in 67 games last season.
Over parts of seven seasons in the NHL, Colaiacovo has 22 goals and 72 assists for 94 points in 241 games. He spent his first five-plus seasons in the NHL with Toronto before being traded to St. Louis in 2008.
<< Brewers aim to rebound vs. Giants
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For Brewers shortstop Alcides Escobar, the All-Star break
can't come soon enough.
The 23-year-old will try to shake off his third crucial error in two games
this evening when Milwaukee hosts the San Francisco Giants
<< Votto, Reds resume set with Mets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While the Reds' Joey Votto said he has moved past not being
selected for the National League All-Star team, there is little doubt he had
some extra motivation when he homered twice in Monday's series opening win
over Ne
<< Cubs' Silva tries to put woes behind him in Arizona
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cubs' offensive struggles have caught up to starter
Carlos Silva, but the right-hander has reason to be encouraged given his
team's performance on Monday.
Chicago will try to win back-to-back games and hel
<< Phils go for another win over NL East-leading Braves
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top of the National League East got a little tighter
after the Phillies took yesterday's opener of a three-game series with the
first-place Braves.
Philadelphia will try to inch a little closer to the top spot
Rivens returns to N.C. Central >>
Durham, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One-time North Carolina Central assistant coach
Antoine Rivens has returned to the university to become the tight ends and
offensive tackles coach for the Eagles.
Rivens spent the last seven seasons at Coastal C
Magic reach deal with former Knicks PG Chris Duhon >>
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -The agent for Chris Duhon says the point guard has reached an agreement with the Orlando Magic for a $15 million, four-year deal.Agent Kevin Bradbury told The Associated Press on Tuesday the chance to play for a championship cont
Free agent LeBron James finally joins Twitter >>
AKRON, Ohio (AP) -LeBron James has made one decision - he joined Twitter.The NBA's most ballyhooed free agent opened an account on the social networking site Tuesday. Publicist Keith Estabrook confirms the monicker kingjames is indeed LeBron.James h
Saskatchewan's Durant heads CFL Players of the Week >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Saskatchewan quarterback Darian Durant and wide
receiver Andy Fantuz, Winnipeg linebacker Joe Lobendahn and Hamilton kick
returner Marcus Thigpen have been selected as the CFL's top performers for the
first w
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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