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08/03/2010 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hamilton wide receiver Arland Bruce III, Edmonton defensive back Chris Thompson, Saskatchewan kicker Luca Congi and Roughriders slotback Andy Fantuz were selected as the CFL's top performers for Week 5 of the 2010 season.
Bruce earned the Offensive Player of the Week honor after his big performance in the Tiger-Cats' loss to Saskatchewan. He tied the CFL record with 16 receptions and recorded 272 receiving yards -- sixth-most all-time in a single game. Two of his receptions were for touchdowns.
Earning the defensive award was Thompson, who helped the Eskimos win their first game of the season by notching a career-high two interceptions. He added two tackles in the 28-25 victory.
Congi took home the special teams award for the week by scoring 23 points in the Riders' 37-24 win over Hamilton. He went 7-for-7 on field goals to set a career high and come within one of the CFL record.
Rounding out the weekly awards, Fantuz took Canadian Player of the Week honors. The University of Western Ontario alumnus had eight catches for 100 yards to help the Roughriders beat the Ticats.
<< San Jose loses Opara, Beitashour to injuries
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Jose Earthquakes rookie Ike Opara suffered
a broken foot on Saturday and could miss up to two months, while fellow rookie
Steven Beitashour broke his hand Monday and will also be sidelined.
Opara, the No.
<< Report: Seguin, Bruins agree to entry-level contract
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Bruins and center Tyler Seguin have
reportedly agreed to a three-year entry-level contract.
The Boston Globe on Tuesday reported Seguin, the No. 2 overall pick in the
2010 NHL Entry Draft behi
<< Johnson, Windsor and Simpson earn weekly AFL honors
Tulsa, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alabama wide receiver C.J. JOHNSON,
Arizona wide receiver ROD WINDSOR and Iowa defensive back JASON
SIMPSON have been named the JLS Ironman, Russell Athletic
Offensive Players and Riddell Defensive Player of the Wee
<< Decision on scholarships is Patriot League's big issue
Bethlehem, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fordham football coach Tom Masella motioned
toward three of his key seniors - wide receiver Jason Caldwell, linebacker Nick
Magiera and defensive lineman Jordan Bledsoe - and said something he knows is
not entir
Indians put Santana, Hafner on DL >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians made several roster moves
Tuesday, including placing catcher Carlos Santana on the 15-day disabled list
a day after he was injured in a play at the plate.
In the seventh inning of Monda
Atlanta's Solo named WPS Player of the Week >>
Kennesaw, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - U.S. national team goalie Hope Solo is Women's
Professional Soccer Player of the Week for Week 16 after leading the expansion
Atlanta Beat to a win and a draw.
Solo had five saves as the Beat rallied for a 3-2
Flyers' Pronger undergoes successful surgery >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Chris
Pronger underwent successful knee surgery last week and is expected to be
ready in time for training camp, according to CSNPhilly.com.
The arthroscopic proce
Reds place SS Cabrera on DL, recall INF Francisco >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Reds placed shortstop Orlando
Cabrera on the 15-day disabled list with a left oblique strain on Tuesday.
Cabrera was injured while trying to beat out an inning-ending double play in
the top
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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