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03/01/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James and Utah Jazz forward Carlos Boozer were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month, respectively, for the games played in February.
James led the league in scoring (32.6 ppg) and added 10.5 apg, 6.8 rpg, and 2.1 spg while guiding the Cavaliers to an Eastern Conference-best 8-3 record. The 6-foot-8 star forward scored at least 20 points in all 11 games. He also set a franchise record with 35 points in the first half of Cleveland's 113-106 win at New York on February 6.
James has won the award in each month this season.
Boozer averaged 21.2 points and 13 rebounds while pacing the Jazz to a 10-3 mark. He recorded nine double-doubles in the 11 February games he played.
Other nominees for the awards were Atlanta's Joe Johnson and Josh Smith, Boston's Rajon Rondo, Milwaukee's Andrew Bogut, Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, Orlando's Dwight Howard, Philadelphia's Andre Iguodala, and Phoenix's Amare Stoudemire.
<< Wizards buy out G James
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Wizards waived guard Mike
James on Monday after coming to a mutual agreement on a contract buyout.
James has played just four games for Washington this year, averaging 4.5
points and
<< Spurs part ways with Finley
San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs announced on Monday
they have released veteran guard Michael Finley.
Finley requested to be waived since his playing time waned upon his return
from a sprained ankle in late Ja
<< Wozniak reaches second round in Mexico
Monterrey, Mexico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seventh-seeded Aleksandra Wozniak was a
first-round winner Monday at the $220,000 Monterrey Open tennis event.
The Canadian Wozniak was tied with Laura Granville at 3-3 in the first set on
Day 1 when the
<< Timberwolves waive C Blount
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Timberwolves waived center
Mark Blount on Monday.
The T'wolves received Blount in a trade with the Miami Heat for Quentin
Richardson last August, but he has not appeared in a game
Earnhardt Jr. contributes $1M to Victory Junction camp >>
Randleman, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR's most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt
Jr., announced on Monday he is donating $1 million to build and maintain The
Dale Jr. Corral and Amphitheater at Victory Junction -- a camp for children
with se
Bears waive OL Pace >>
Lake Forest, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bears waived offensive tackle
Orlando Pace, tight end Fontel Mines, and guard Tyler Reed on Monday.
Pace, a veteran of 13 NFL seasons, started in 11 games at left tackle for
Chicago last
UConn closes in on record; Charles reaches milestone >>
South Bend, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tina Charles posted 18 points and eight
rebounds while becoming the Huskies' all-time leading scorer and rebounder, as
top-ranked Connecticut finished off its second straight undefeated regular
season
Butler leads WVU over Hoyas >>
Morgantown, WV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Da'Sean Butler filled the stat sheet in
his final game at WVU Coliseum, totaling 22 points, six rebounds and six
assists to lead No. 10 West Virginia to an 81-68 victory over the struggling
19th-ra
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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