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03/12/2010 -
DENVER (AP) -George Karl will skip the last three games on the Denver Nuggets' road trip as he adjusts to a feeding tube that was placed into his stomach as part of his cancer treatment.
The Nuggets coach has already missed two games since being diagnosed with neck and throat cancer last month. He is undergoing a rigorous six-week treatment program of radiation and chemotherapy.
His assistant, Adrian Dantley, will coach the team when the Nuggets play in New Orleans on Friday night, Memphis on Saturday and Houston on Monday.
In a statement, Karl said he hopes he'll be ready to rejoin the team when the Nuggets return home next week.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
<< Fire sign former Fulham striker John
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Fire Soccer signed 24-year-old
Dutch forward Collins John, the Major League Soccer club announced on Friday.
"We are very excited to have Collins join the Chicago Fire," Fire Technical
Direc
<< Blazers try to enhance playoff chances in clash with Kings
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Portland Trail Blazers hope to improve their playoff
chances tonight by earning a sixth straight win over the lottery-bound
Sacramento Kings.
The Blazers, who currently lead Memphis by four games for the eighth and fin
<< Bulls, Heat set to battle in Miami
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of teams battling for playoff spots in the Eastern
Conference square off tonight at Miami's AmericanAirlines Arena, where the
surging Heat continue an important homestand by taking on the slumping Chicago
Bulls.
<< Pistons resume homestand with visit from Wizards
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of Eastern Conference also-rans continue playing out
the string tonight in Auburn Hills, where the Detroit Pistons play host to the
Washington Wizards.
The Pistons fell to 1-1 on a three-game homestand Wednesday, wh
Karl to miss remainder of Denver road trip >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Denver Nuggets coach George Karl will miss the
remaining three games of the team's road trip as he continues his treatment
for neck and throat cancer.
Karl missed the opening game of the trip on Wednesd
Eagles bring back WR Baskett >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Eagles announced Friday
they have signed wide receiver Hank Baskett to a one-year contract.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Baskett spent his first four years in th
Cards bolster O-line with Hadnot, Claxton >>
Tempe, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Cardinals announced Friday they have
agreed to terms on contracts with offensive linemen Rex Hadnot and Ben
Claxton.
Hadnot's is a three-year pact and Claxton's a one-year deal. Financial t
West Ham tries to overcome Bolton disappointment >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Last weekend's 2-1 loss at home against
fellow relegation-strugglers Bolton did not sit well with West Ham manager
Gianfranco Zola.
But he is calling on his team to recover and pull off a stu
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.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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