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02/02/2012 - Alkmaar, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - AZ Alkmaar gave coach Gertjan Verbeek a two-year contract extension on Thursday, locking him up through the 2014-15 season.
Verbeek, 49, joined the Dutch side before the 2010-11 season and led the club to a fourth-place finish. AZ is currently two points behind current Eredivisie leader PSV Eindhoven this season.
In addition to domestic success, AZ Alkmaar has advanced to the round of 32 in the Europa League this season.
Verbeek enjoyed a long playing career with Heerenveen, with the exception of a loan to Heracles, and has also coached Heracles, Heerenveen and Feyenoord.
<< Chievo hands struggling Novara another loss
Novara, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sergio Pellissier and Cyril Thereau scored on
each side of halftime as Chievo downed struggling Novara, 2-1, on Thursday in
Serie A.
Pellissier opened the scoring on 33 minutes and Thereau added a second goa
<< Colts name Manusky defensive coordinator
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Indianapolis Colts have hired Greg
Manusky as defensive coordinator.
The Colts named Bruce Arians offensive coordinator earlier this week.
Manusky was the defensive coordinator of the San Diego
<< Youzhny rolls; Bogomolov ousted in Zagreb
Zagreb, Croatia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mikhail Youzhny cruised into the
quarterfinals of the Zagreb Indoors tournament Thursday, while fellow Russian
Alex Bogomolov was eliminated by Slovakia's Lukas Lacko.
A pair of past Zagreb w
<< Pletcher goes for another Davis win
Oldsmar, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trainer Todd Pletcher has been dominating the
Sam F. Davis Stakes in recent years and has another opportunity to win the
event with its 32nd renewal on Saturday. The $250,000 stakes, with a field of
11 thre
Sundhage names U.S. women's training camp roster >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - U.S. women's national team coach Pia Sundhage
named 28 players Thursday for an upcoming training camp, including 19 of the
20 players who were on the recent Olympic team roster.
Ali Krieger, who tore the AC
Gronkowski limited in Thursday's practice >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New England Patriots tight end Rob
Gronkowski was a limited participant in Thursday's practice.
Gronkowski was on the practice field for the first time since suffering a left
ankle injury in the AF
Bobcats' Henderson out 2-4 weeks >>
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Charlotte Bobcats guard Gerald Henderson is
expected to miss 2-4 weeks after an MRI on Thursday confirmed a right
hamstring strain.
Henderson suffered the injury during the third quarter of Wedn
Indians have deal in place with 1B Kotchman >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians reportedly have a one-
year deal in place with free-agent first baseman Casey Kotchman.
The deal is worth $3 million plus incentives, according to MLB.com.
The Indians have not confir
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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