Denvervroncos Basketball Betting News

<< Four football players arrested in TCU drug bust
Fort Worth, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Police made a drug bust at Texas Christian University on Wednesday morning, a sting which included the arrest of four football players. The six-month investigation by Fort Worth and TCU Campus Police r

<< Bucs release DT Haynesworth
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers released defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth on Wednesday. "I appreciate Albert playing for us after some key injuries this past season," said Buccaneers general manager Mark Domin

<< Erakovic wins Bogota opener
Bogota, Colombia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Marina Erakovic of New Zealand was an easy opening-round winner at the $220,000 Copa BBVA Colsanitas tennis tournament. After having her first-round match suspended because of rain here on

<< Berdych, del Potro advance in Rotterdam
Rotterdam, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych and former U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro were a pair of first-round winners Wednesday at the $1.6 million ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament.

Blue Bombers re-sign OL January >>
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have re-signed offensive lineman Glenn January. January started every game at right tackle for the Blue Bombers last season and was named an East Division All-Star. He mis

Azarenka rolls; Wozniacki falls in Doha opener >>
Doha, Qatar (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - World No. 1 Belarusian stalwart Victoria Azarenka was an easy second-round winner, while former top-ranked star Caroline Wozniacki was among Wednesday's second-round losers at the $2.168 million Qatar Open.

Twins sign Casilla to one-year deal >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins signed infielder Alexi Casilla to a one-year contract on Wednesday, thereby avoiding arbitration. Casilla will earn $1,382,500 million in 2012. In 97 games with the Twins last seaso

U.S. men head to Florida for key matches >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The United States Men's National Team will be heading to Florida for two crucial matches in the coming months, it was announced Wednesday. The U.S. Soccer Federation revealed that Jurgen Klinsmann'

What Is the Point Spread?

What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?

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.

How to Read Point Spreads

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:

• Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
  OR
  
• Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.

• 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.

  For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically

  Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:

• Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
  OR
  
• Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score

  Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?

  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.