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05/27/2010 - Davie, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Dolphins terminated the contract of linebacker Reggie Torbor on Thursday.
Torbor, 29, appeared in all 16 games for the Dolphins last season -- his second with the club -- and compiled 37 tackles, one sack and one interception.
The Auburn product spent his first four seasons with the New York Giants, who selected him with their fourth-round pick in the 2004 draft.
In 94 career games, Torbor has logged 199 tackles, 6 1/2 sacks, two interceptions and four forced fumbles.
<< Dave in Dixie headed to Belmont Stakes
Elmont, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - California based colt Dave in Dixie will start
in this year's 142nd edition of the $1 million Belmont Stakes on June 5. The
addition of Ike and Dawn Thrash's three-year-old means that 11 will likely
start i
<< Cubs win pitchers' duel to take series with Dodgers
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tyler Colvin's run-scoring double in the bottom
of the eighth inning proved to be the only offense, as the Chicago Cubs edged
the Los Angeles Dodgers, 1-0, in the rubber match of a three-game series at
Wrigley
<< Weeks' walk gives Milwaukee win in 10th
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rickie Weeks drew a game-winning walk with
the bases loaded and two outs in the 10th, helping the Milwaukee Brewers rally
for a 4-3 win over the Houston Astros in the rubber match of a three-game
series
<< Tillman, Howard headline 2010 College Football Hall of Fame class
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pat Tillman and Heisman Trophy winner Desmond
Howard highlight the 2010 class for induction into the College Football Hall
of Fame.
A total of 12 players and two coaches from the Football Bowl Subdivi
Patriots bring back LB Burgess >>
Foxboro, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New England Patriots re-signed linebacker
Derrick Burgess to an undisclosed contract on Thursday.
The upcoming 2010 season will be Burgess' 10th in the NFL after stints with
the Philadelphia Eagles (20
South Africa tops Colombia in World Cup warm-up >>
Johannesburg, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Teko Modise and Katlego Mphela
converted penalties and South Africa edged Colombia 2-1 on Thursday in a World
Cup warm-up at Soccer City Stadium.
Modise opened the scoring in the 18th minute an
Saint Louis Athletica franchise folds >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Women's Professional Soccer's Saint Louis
Athletica shut down their franchise due to financial reasons Thursday, forcing
the WPS to change its schedule for the rest of the 2010 season.
Athletica players,
Marlins recall Tankersley among several roster moves >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Marlins recalled left-handed relief
pitcher Taylor Tankersley from Triple-A New Orleans on Thursday.
The 27-year-old last appeared in the majors in July 2008. He missed the entire
2009 campaign af
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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