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07/29/2010 - West Palm Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Dolphins have reportedly signed veteran defensive end Charles Grant.
The Palm Beach Post reports that the contract is for two years and is worth $4.5 million.
Grant was released by the Saints following their Super Bowl run. The 31-year- old posted 5 1/2 sacks last season before suffering a triceps injury in Week 17.
In eight seasons (118 games) with New Orleans, the 6-foot-3, 285-pounder recorded 423 tackles, 47 sacks, and one interception.
Grant was originally drafted 25th overall by the Saints in the 2002 draft.
<< Querrey reaches quarters in LA
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending champion Sam Querrey needed
three sets to beat South African Kevin Anderson in the second round of the
$700,000 Farmers Classic tennis event.
Querrey, the second seed, outlasted Anderson, 7-6 (1
<< Pitino to face more questions in extortion case
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino is used to answering questions from reporters.On Thursday, Pitino faces questions unlike anything he's answered at a press conference.Pitino will retake the stand in the trial of woman ac
<< Stosur into quarterfinals in Stanford
Stanford, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Australian Samantha Stosur moved
into the quarterfinals at the $700,000 Bank of the West Classic tennis event
with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over American qualifier Christina McHale.
Stosur, who los
<< Richard shines as Padres down Dodgers
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jerry Hairston Jr. drove in three runs and
Clayton Richard was solid in six innings on the mound, as the San Diego Padres
took down the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-1, in the middle installment of a three-
game se
Chiefs ink third-rounder OL Asamoah >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Chiefs have signed
offensive lineman Jon Asamoah, one of their third-round picks in April's
draft.
Asamoah, a 6-foot-4, 305-pound guard, was selected 68th overall out
Lightning sign trio of defensemen >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Lightning have re-signed defenseman
Vladimir Mihalik and inked free agent defensemen Mathieu Roy and Mike Vernace
to one-year, two-way contracts.
Mihalik appeared in four games for the Bolts last
Top-seeded Youzhny reaches Gstaad quarters >>
Gstaad, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Russian top seed Mikhail Youzhny
was a second-round winner Thursday at the Swiss Open Gstaad.
The world No. 14 Youzhny handled Swiss wild card Alexander Sadecky 7-5, 6-4 on
the clay courts at Roy
Newcastle signs goalie Krul to four-year deal >>
Newcastle, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Newcastle signed goalkeeper Tim Krul to
a four-year contract on Thursday.
Krul, 22, joined Newcastle in 2005 and has made seven starts and played twice
as a substitute. His new deal runs through the 20
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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