Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
07/18/2010 - Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Landon Donovan helped the Los Angeles Galaxy secure a 2-1 win at RFK Stadium on Sunday over D.C. United as he converted a penalty kick in the 58th minute.
Edson Buddle had the Galaxy ahead at halftime with his league-leading 11th goal, but United answered through Andy Najar in the 54th minute. However, D.C. defender Julius James was called for a handball inside his own penalty area as he blocked the shot of L.A.'s Sean Franklin, allowing Donovan to fire home the winning goal.
The win helps the Galaxy move nine points clear at the top of the Western Conference table, while D.C. sits on the bottom of the standings in the Eastern Conference and is now winless in its last five games.
Buddle had a close-range effort kept out by United goalkeeper Troy Perkins midway through the opening half, but he made the most of his next opportunity in the 38th minute to give the Galaxy the lead.
After working his way into the penalty area, Buddle's initial effort was blocked by D.C.'s Dejan Jakovic. However, he picked up the loose ball and fired a left-footed shot past the keeper to make it 1-0.
Pablo Hernandez had a good chance for D.C. two minutes later, but his free kick from the right wing was saved at the near post by L.A. goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts.
The Galaxy should have added a second goal shortly after halftime as Donovan's low ball to the back post was just out of the reach of Alan Gordon, while United equalized six minutes later.
Hernandez swung a free kick into the middle of the area for Najar, and he rose up in traffic to get his head on the ball, redirecting it past Ricketts.
However, the Galaxy regained the lead four minutes later when James handled Franklin's shot inside his own area, allowing Donovan to smack the ball just out of the reach of Perkins and inside the right post from the spot.
Jordan Graye went close with a 30-yard effort that skipped past the post for United, while the final opportunity for the hosts arrived in the 89th minute as Hernandez headed the ball over Ricketts from six yards but watched it narrowly sail over the crossbar as well.
<< Goldberg wins Players Cup by 1 shot
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - American Aaron Goldberg fired a five-under 66
on Sunday to win the Canadian Tour's Players Cup by one shot.
Goldberg finished four rounds on the Pine Ridge course at 11-under 273 for his
first tour win.
Th
<< QB Pierce to miss Bombers' next game
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Buck Pierce
will miss the team's next game because of a right knee injury.
Pierce suffered the injury in the third quarter of Friday's loss to Hamilton,
and sat out the rest
<< Cavani makes move to Napoli
Naples, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Edinson Cavani has completed his protracted
move from Palermo to Serie A rivals Napoli.
The $23 million deal to sign the Uruguay striker was reported to have hit a
snag following late interest from Inter
<< Yankees' Pettitte suffers groin strain
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte was
removed from his start Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays with a strained left
groin.
He was taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital and underwent an MRI. Resul
Johnson adds Mitchell, Krystkowiak to Nets' staff >>
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -Avery Johnson has named his new coaching staff with the New Jersey Nets.The staff announced by the Nets on Monday includes two former NBA head coaches - Toronto's Sam Mitchell and Milwaukee Larry Krystkowiak.Also named to
Pitt's Sheard charged with assault, suspended >>
PITTSBURGH (AP) -Pitt defensive end Jabaal Sheard has been suspended indefinitely after being accused of throwing another man through the glass door of an art gallery.Police say Sheard was in a fight early Sunday and had to be pepper sprayed after h
Tough week for Yanks ends with a win and major loss >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Yankees organization suffered some big
losses off the field last week with the passing of principal owner George
Steinbrenner and long-time public address announcer Bob Sheppard, but it was
the loss of a pitc
Tigers welcome return home to take on Rangers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers are certainly happy to be heading home.
They may be even happier to see the Texas Rangers as they kick off a three-
game series with the American League West leaders this evening at Comerica
Park.
Texas
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.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting