12/01/2008 - Tempe, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Cardinals signed punter Ben Graham to replace Dirk Johnson, who was released earlier Monday.
Graham is a former Australian rules football player who began the 2008 season with the New York Jets, participating in the first four games before being released on September 29. He was signed by the New Orleans Saints on October 20 but was released only one week later.
Graham entered the NFL with the Jets as a 31-year old rookie in 2005 after playing 11 years in Australia with the Geelong Football Club.
Over three seasons with the Jets (2005-07), Graham punted in 47 games to a 43.7 yard average with 67 boots inside the 20-yard-line.
<< Monmouth pair highlight Northeast Conference Teams
Somerset, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Monmouth running back David Sinisi and
defensive lineman Kevin Walsh highlight the 2008 Northeast All-Conference
teams.
Sinisi, a Walter Payton Award candidate, rushed for 1,674 yards and 22 scores,
averaging
<< UNC a unanimous No. 1; Syracuse, Baylor enter poll
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - North Carolina was again a unanimous pick as
the top-ranked college basketball team in the country, according to the latest
Associated Press poll released Monday.
The Tar Heels (7-0), coming off a title
<< Brewers offer arbitration to Sabathia, Sheets
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Brewers have offered salary
arbitration to free agent pitchers C.C. Sabathia and Ben Sheets.
The decision to offer arbitration is mostly procedural, as both will likely
command multi-yea
<< Lions place WR Furrey on IR
Allen Park, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Lions placed wide receiver Mike
Furrey on injured reserve because of a concussion on Monday.
Furrey managed just 18 receptions for 181 yards in nine games this season, two
years after he had 9
Donaldson, Edwards, Landers Named as Payton Finalists >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Running back Herb Donaldson of Western
Illinois, Appalachian State signal caller Armanti Edwards and quarterback
Rodney Landers of James Madison were announced on Monday as the three
finalis
Liverpool takes over top spot despite West Ham draw >>
Liverpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Liverpool moved to the top of the
Premiership table on Monday despite being held to a 0-0 draw by West Ham at
Anfield.
Liverpool entered the weekend level on points with Chelsea, but after
This Week in Golf - December 3rd through December 8th >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - PGA TOUR - PGA TOUR NATIONAL QUALIFYING
TOURNAMENT, PGA West (Nicklaus Tournament and TPC Stadium Courses), La Quinta,
California - The final stage of the PGA Tour's Q-School will be contested over
90 hole
Villanova's Drummond to transfer >>
Villanova, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Villanova junior center Casiem Drummond has
informed the coaching staff of his desire to transfer.
This season, the 6-foot-10 Drummond appeared in only two games, averaging 2.0
points and 2.5 rebounds in
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 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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