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06/19/2010 - Elkhart Lake, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carl Edwards won the pole for Saturday's inaugural Bucyrus 200 Nationwide Series race at Road America.
Edwards, currently second in points, recorded a lap of 108.076 m.p.h. around the 4.048-mile, 14-turn road course for his third pole of the season and the 21st of his Nationwide career.
Jacques Villeneuve will start alongside Edwards on the front row after turning a lap of 107.735 m.p.h. Villeneuve, a road-racing expert, is driving the No.32 Toyota for Braun Racing.
Colin Braun qualified third, followed by Brad Coleman and Michael McDowell.
Brendan Gaughan, Patrick Long, Paul Menard, Owen Kelly and Tony Ave completed the top-10.
Points leader Brad Keselowski will start 13th.
All 43 drivers who attempted qualifying made the field.
The Nationwide race at Road America is scheduled to start around 3:30 p.m. (et).
<< Henin rallies to win Wimbledon tuneup
's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Justine Henin finished
her prep for Wimbledon with a three-set triumph over Germany's Andrea Petkovic
in the final at the Unicef Open.
The top-seeded Henin rallied for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
<< Cubs sign first-round pick Simpson
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Cubs have signed their top pick of
the 2010 First-Year Player Draft, pitcher Hayden Simpson, to an undisclosed
contract.
Simpson, 21, was taken 16th overall in the first round.
The right-han
<< Jeter scratched with bruised heel
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter was
scratched from the starting lineup for Saturday's game against the New York
Mets because of a bruised heel.
Jeter has battled through a recent slump. He was
<< Elson takes over first at Saint-Omer Open
Lumbres, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - England's Jamie Elson shot a three-under 68
on Saturday to move atop the leaderboard after the third round of the Saint-
Omer Open.
Elson finished 54 holes at seven-under 206 and is one stroke clear at Aa S
Brazil, Ivory Coast clash in Group G >>
Johannesburg, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The schedule gets no easier for
the Ivory Coast as it gets ready to face Brazil in its second Group G match at
Soccer City on Sunday in the FIFA World Cup.
A 0-0 draw against Portugal in the ope
Flyers acquire rights to coveted Hamhuis from Predators >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Flyers have acquired the
rights to pending unrestricted free agent Dan Hamhuis from the Nashville
Predators in exchange for defenseman Ryan Parent.
The Flyers have exclusive negoti
Phillies designate Mathieson, recall Sardinha >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday
designated pitcher Scott Mathieson for assignment and selected the contract of
catcher Dane Sardinha from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Mathieson appeared in his only
Safina withdraws from Wimbledon >>
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dinara Safina of Russia has withdrawn
from Wimbledon because of a back injury.
Safina was a semifinalist last year for her best result in seven appearances
on the famed lawns at the All England Club
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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