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05/07/2010 - Chapel Hill, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - North Carolina's basketball program took a hit for next season with the announcement that sophomore forward brothers David and Travis Wear are transferring.
"Their father called me last night and asked for their release, which came as a complete surprise," UNC coach Roy Williams said. "I love both kids and they would have been very important parts of our team next season. It is a significant blow to our team, as we had four post players and now we are down to two.
"Our coaching staff will look at whatever options are available, but it's hard to replace two quality players at this time. We are extremely disappointed that David and Travis are leaving the program."
David Wear appeared in 27 games for the Tar Heels as a freshman, averaging 2.9 points and 1.7 rebounds while missing the final nine games of the season due to a torn labrum in his left hip. Travis Wear averaged 3.5 points and 2.2 rebounds in 32 games.
<< Mr. Clutch: Ethier's ninth-inning slam helps Dodgers avoid sweep
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andre Ethier belted a game-ending grand
slam with one out in the ninth inning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers topped
Milwaukee, 7-3, to avert a three-game sweep.
Jonathan Broxton (2-0) blew the save o
<< Rays move to 12-1 on road, sweep Mariners
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Niemann hurled seven scoreless innings and
Carl Crawford clubbed a two-run homer, as the Tampa Bay Rays defeated Seattle,
8-0, to complete a three-game sweep at Safeco Field.
Crawford finished 3-for-5 and
<< Franzen's dandy period helps Wings stave off elimination
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Johan Franzen notched a natural hat trick in a
fabulous first period, sparking the Detroit Red Wings to a resounding 7-1 win
over San Jose to stay alive after four games of their Western Conference
semifin
<< Report: Calhoun expected to receive extension on Friday
Hartford, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Connecticut is reportedly
set to give men's head basketball coach Jim Calhoun a contract extension
through the 2013-14 season.
According to the Hartford Courant, UConn will hold
Redskins sign LB Draft >>
Ashburn, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Redskins have signed veteran
linebacker Chris Draft.
The 34-year-old spent the 2009 season with Buffalo and saw time in 11 games,
starting three, while collecting 45 tackles, a sack and an
Seedless final in Estoril >>
Estoril, Portugal (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Saturday's women's final at the
$220,000 Estoril Open will feature a pair of non-seeds -- Spaniard Arantxa
Parra Santonja and Latvian Anastasija Sevastova.
The 81st-ranked Parra Santonja
Cavs, Celtics set shifts to Boston for pivotal Game 3 >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The scene shifts to Beantown tonight as the top-seeded
Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics get ready for the pivotal Game 3 of
their Eastern Conference semifinals series.
The Celtics wrestled away homecourt advantage i
Suns shoot for commanding 3-0 series lead in San Antonio >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Suns shoot for a commanding 3-0 series lead
tonight when they resume their Western Conference semifinals set with the
Spurs in San Antonio.
The Suns held serve on their home court, winning Games 1 and 2 of the
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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