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06/02/2010 -
LOS ANGELES (AP) -Four years into his NBA career, Andrew Bynum is still trying to make it through his first full postseason.
The oft-injured Los Angeles Lakers center went through a limited practice Wednesday for the first time since having his balky right knee drained on Monday. Bynum was hoping the procedure would reduce the swelling, but he says that didn't happen and his knee has filled with fluid again.
Bynum was helpless to stop the Boston Celtics' pummeling of the Lakers in the NBA finals two years ago because he was injured. He'll get a chance starting Thursday night when the Lakers host the Celtics in Game 1 of the finals.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
<< Altintop extends Bayern deal
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich midfielder Hamit Altintop
signed a one-year extension to his contract on Wednesday that will keep him
with the Champions League finalists until 2011.
Altintop made 15 appearances in le
<< Mine That Bird puts in work for Lukas
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas had 2009
Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird workout Wednesday morning at Churchill
Downs. The four-year-old gelding worked a half-mile in 48 seconds with his
regular
<< Ducks sign Brookbank to extension
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks signed defenseman Sheldon
Brookbank to a two-year contract extension on Wednesday. Financial terms of
the deal were not released.
The 29-year-old appeared in 66 games last season for A
<< Richard Migliore announces retirement
Elmont, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Veteran jockey Richard Migliore announced his
retirement from racing Wednesday morning. The 46-year-old was forced to retire
due to continued physical problems.
"It's no big surprise why we're here," Migl
Boston's Lester named AL Pitcher of the Month >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester was
named the American League Pitcher of the Month for May.
Lester was a perfect 5-0 in six outings during May. He allowed just 24 hits
over 44 innings and led
Braves' Glaus named NL Player of the Month >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta Braves first baseman Troy Glaus has
been named the National League Player of the Month for May.
Over 28 games during the month, Glaus drove in an NL-best 28 runs with six
homers and scored 17 ti
Rockies' Jimenez voted NL Pitcher of the Month again >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rockies' Ubaldo Jimenez has been
named the National League Pitcher of the Month for May, the second straight
month the right-hander has been awarded with the honor.
In six May starts, Jimenez
Padres activate Scott Hairston from DL >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres activated outfielder
Scott Hairston from the 15-day disabled list Wednesday.
He had been on the DL since May 16 with a strained left hamstring.
Hairston suffered the injury in a
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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