02/08/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Stricker's victory on Sunday at the Northern Trust Open moved the American to second in this week's world rankings.
Tiger Woods remained in first, followed by Stricker, who was third last week and Phil Mickelson, who dropped to No. 3. Lee Westwood, a playoff loser in Dubai, stayed in fourth, with Jim Furyk rounding out the top five.
Martin Kaymer held on to sixth, while Rory McIlroy jumped up two spots to seventh. Paul Casey dipped one to eighth, Henrik Stenson climbed one to ninth and Padraig Harrington sank two slots to 10.
Ian Poulter, Geoff Ogilvy and Kenny Perry stood pat from last week. Robert Allenby and Sergio Garcia switched spots from last week with Allenby to 14th and Garcia in 15th.
Sean O'Hair was 16th and Ernie Els climbed three to No. 17. Robert Karlsson was 18th, followed by Ross Fisher and Retief Goosen.
<< Connecticut continues to top women's poll
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Connecticut remained a unanimous choice as the
top-ranked team in women's college basketball, as the Associated Press
released its latest poll Monday.
The Huskies (23-0) enter the week with a 62-gam
<< Safina will skip Dubai
Moscow, Russia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1 Dinara Safina will miss
next week's WTA Tour event in Dubai because of a back injury.
The currently world No. 2 star was forced to retire from her fourth-round
match at last month
<< Kansas still No. 1, Syracuse slides up to No. 2
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kansas remained the top team in the latest
Associated Press men's college basketball poll, while Syracuse moved up one
spot to No. 2.
The Jayhawks (22-1) regained the top spot last week after spending
<< Ovechkin heads NHL's Three Stars
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington Capitals forwards Alex Ovechkin and
Nicklas Backstrom, along with newly minted Maple Leaf goaltender Jean
Sebastien Giguere, have been named the NHL's 'Three Stars' for the week ending
Februar
Clippers' Kaman to replace injured Roy in All-Star Game >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Clippers center Chris Kaman
was named the replacement for injured Portland Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy
Monday for the NBA All-Star Game to be held February 14 in Dallas.
Kaman, a sevent
Pacers' Foster to have season-ending back surgery >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Indiana Pacers forward/center Jeff Foster
will undergo season-ending surgery for lower back pain following the All-Star
break.
Foster is expected to make a full recovery and participate in training camp
This Week in Golf - February 11th through February 14th >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - PGA TOUR - AT&T PEBBLE BEACH NATIONAL PRO-
AM, Pebble Beach Golf Links, Monterey Peninsula Country Club Shore Course,
Spyglass Hill Golf Course, Pebble Beach, California - It's one of most popular
eve
Brewers to honor Selig with statue >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Brewers announced Monday that
they will honor former owner and current baseball commissioner Bud Selig with
a statue at Miller Park.
It will be the third statue built at Miller Park, joining
Kansas City, MO - Kansas City has not officially named Matt Cassel its starting quarterback, but there can be no doubt now.
NFL Betting
After praising his leadership and work ethic through spring workouts, the Chiefs announced Tuesday they had signed the 27-year-old Cassel to a multiyear contract. Terms were not disclosed, but he will almost certainly be one of the highest-paid members of the team.
"We are excited to be able to reach a long-term agreement for Matt Cassel to be a Kansas City Chief for many years to come," owner and board chairman Clark Hunt said in a statement. "His proven leadership on and off the field will be a tremendous asset to the organization."
Patriots made him their franchise player, meaning his salary for this season will be about $15 million.
New head coach Todd Haley, taking over for Herm Edwards after a 2-14 season, refused to name a starter at any position during offseason workouts. But it was obvious to everyone the team belonged to Cassel.
"I go out there each and every day with that focus that I'm the starter," Cassel said during a June minicamp. "Competition brings out the best in everybody."
The signing will come as welcome news to Cassel's new coaches and teammates. Amiable and hardworking, he appeared to win over everyone at minicamp.
"I think he's got some unique leadership qualities. I think his teammates like him and have respect for him. I think he's doing a pretty good job on the field, too," Haley said last month. "He's doing everything that I'm asking him, that our coaches are asking him to do. I don't have one single complaint how he's carrying himself."
After one workout, wide receiver Devard Darling declared Cassel "a breath of fresh air."
"He has a lot of swagger, a lot of confidence. It's good for us," said Darling. "We trust in him that he's going to go out there and lead us all the way."
nse to accommodate his specific abilities.
Trapped on the bench behind Heisman winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at USC and then unable to unseat Super Bowl MVP Brady at New England, Cassel seemed destined to be a backup all his life. As Brady was helped off the field last September, Cassel seized the opportunity he'd been waiting for since high school.
In his only sustained action since his teens, he hit 349 of 555 passes for 3,949 yards at New England. He had 23 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions as the Patriots, who had gone unbeaten through the regular season the year before, finished 11-5 and out of the playoffs.
Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli, who had been Bill Belichick's assistant in New England, engineered the trade after the Patriots became convinced that Brady would recover fully from his knee operation.
"Since Matt arrived in Kansas City, he has embraced the team and the community," Pioli said. "His work ethic, his ability and competitive presence is what we expect from our players."
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.
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.
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