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02/10/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two teams on opposite sides of the Central Division spectrum get together this evening, as the Cleveland Cavaliers pay a visit to the Indiana Pacers at Conseco Fieldhouse.
The Central-leading Cavs are coming off their first home loss of the season (23-1), a 101-91 setback to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday from Quicken Loans Arena. Lamar Odom stepped up for an ineffective and ill Kobe Bryant by posting season-highs in points with 28 and rebounds with 17 to lead LA.
LeBron James put together a 5-for-20 shooting performance en route to 16 points with 12 assists for Cleveland, which suffered its first home loss during the regular season since April 16, 2008 versus Detroit. Wally Szczerbiak also had 16 points, as the Cavs watched their four-game winning streak come to an end.
The Cavaliers are 16-9 as the visitor this season. Cleveland guard Sasha Pavlovic suffered a sprained right ankle in the loss and is expected to miss the next four to six weeks of action.
Indiana, meanwhile, has dropped four of its last five games and suffered a 119-117 setback at Washington on Sunday. Danny Granger scored a team-high 29 points and T.J. Ford recorded 23 points and seven assists in defeat.
Troy Murphy had 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Jarrett Jack contributed 16 points for the Pacers, who will try to work on their 14-11 record at Conseco Fieldhouse Tuesday night. Indiana is last in the Central standings.
Pacers forward Mike Dunleavy (knee) is questionable for Tuesday's game and center Jeff Foster (back) is doubtful against Cleveland.
Cleveland is 2-0 against Indiana this season and has won nine straight and 12 of the last 13 meetings. It has also won three straight and four of its last five trips to Indy.
<< State bragging rights on line, as Spartans visit Wolverines
Ann Arbor, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - State and Big Ten rivals will collide in Ann
Arbor tonight as the Michigan Wolverines attempt to upset the ninth-ranked
Michigan State Spartans.
Michigan State owns a stellar 19-4 record this season, includin
<< Top-25 foes meet in Big East clash
Villanova, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 13th-ranked Villanova Wildcats will try
to continue their run tonight, as they host the 10th-ranked Marquette Golden
Eagles in a Big East battle at the Pavilion.
The Wildcats have clawed their way back fr
<< Tigers take on Eagles in Chestnut Hill
Chestnut Hill, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two ACC squads trying to get back in the
win column hook up at the Conte Forum tonight, as the Boston College Eagles
entertain the 12th-ranked Clemson Tigers in Chestnut Hill.
The Eagles were in play just
<< Stepanek avoids upset; moves into second round in San Jose
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fourth-seeded Czech Radek Stepanek avoided a
huge upset Monday, but rallied to beat German qualifier Dominik Meffert, 5-7,
6-3, 6-1 in the first round at the $600,000 SAP Open, the first American stop
on the
Hawks, Wizards square off in Atlanta >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Hawks haven't been playing so hot lately and
will try to close out a quick two-game homestand on a winning note Tuesday
night versus the lowly Washington Wizards at Philips Arena.
Since winning three straight g
Bulls welcome Pistons to Windy City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bulls will play their first home game in nearly
three weeks when the rival Detroit Pistons enter the United Center tonight for
a Central Division showdown.
Chicago returns to the Windy City after a moderate
Raptors, Wolves square off at Target Center >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Raptors haven't won much at all as of late, but
they've posted plenty of victories over the Minnesota Timberwolves over the
past few years.
The Raptors will shoot for their ninth straight triumph over the T
Stars find Avery a home in Hartford; next stop Broadway? >>
Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Stars have assigned outspoken left
wing Sean Avery to Hartford of the American Hockey League.
Hartford is the AHL affiliate of the New York Rangers, who have expressed an
interest in bringing Av
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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