11/25/2008 - San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major League Baseball home run king Barry Bonds is still due to go to trial on March 2 and is facing several counts of making false statements that he denied knowingly taking illegal performance- enhancing drugs, but three of the perjury charges were dismissed Monday.
Bonds was originally charged with 14 counts of perjury and one for obstruction of lying to a grand jury, but on Monday U.S. District Judge Susan Illston dismissed three charges, yet refused to drop other counts as sought by Bonds' lawyers.
Bonds' lawyers have sought to dismiss 10 of the charges, saying the questions he was asked were "ambiguous" but Illston decided to lump or change two other charges. The player's attorneys have contended that under law the indictment was deficient because the government can accuse a person of only one crime per count of an indictment. Apparently, too many allegations were compiled into too few counts of the original indictment.
Bonds has been accused of lying under oath to a federal grand jury during his testimony, given under oath in December 2003. That is at the center of his November 15, 2007 indictment for perjury and obstruction of justice.
If Bonds is found guilty, he'd likely spend around two years in prison.
A seven-time MVP, eight-time Gold Glove winner, 14-time All-Star and two-time batting champion, Bonds owns seven single-season major league records, most notably a 73-home run season in 2001 with the Giants.
<< Paul's triple-double sparks Hornets to win over Clips
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Paul posted his second consecutive
triple-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 17 assists, leading the New
Orleans Hornets to a 99-87 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
David West scored 27
<< It's a Brees: Saints score 51 to crush Packers
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Drew Brees threw for 323 yards and four
touchdowns, and the New Orleans Saints tied a franchise record for points in a
game while throttling the Green Bay Packers, 51-29, at the Superdome.
Deuce McAlli
<< Selanne, Ducks bury Avalanche
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Teemu Selanne scored two power play goals to
guide Anaheim to a 4-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche.
Chris Kunitz and Chris Pronger also scored, while Jean-Sebastien Giguere made
29 saves for the Ducks, win
<< Roy, Blazers survive home tilt with Kings
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandon Roy scored a season-high and game-best
28 points on 10-of-19 shooting, and Portland held its breath as John Salmons'
left leaning scoop shot in the final seconds hit the back rim, as the Trail
Blazers
Thrashers, Maple Leafs try to get on track in Toronto >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of clubs trying to end three-game losing streaks
will meet tonight in Toronto as the Maple Leafs welcome the Atlanta Thrashers
for a battle at Air Canada Centre.
The Thrashers have dropped all three of their games i
Flames, Kiprusoff play host to Kings >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It has been an up-and-down season for Flames goaltender
Miikka Kiprusoff. The Finnish netminder will try to back his club to a victory
tonight in a home test against the Los Angeles Kings at Pengrowth Saddledome.
Kiprusoff
Tapscott makes coaching debut as Wizards host Warriors >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The start of the 2008-09 season hasn't bee so friendly for
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the Golden State Warriors with a new head coach at the Verizon Center.
On Monday the Wi
Nets aim to cool off streaking Lakers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Nets embark on a tough four-game west coast
road trip Tuesday when they arrive in Hollywood to take on the Los Angeles
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The Nets reached the .500 mark on Saturday when Yi Jianlian ne
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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