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07/09/2010 - San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Sharks have signed restricted free agent defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson to an offer sheet.
Hjalmarsson skated in 77 games last season for the Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks, who have seven days to decide if they want to match the offer. Should they decline, Chicago would receive compensatory draft picks in the form of a first and third-round pick in the 2011 draft.
"We feel Niklas is a top-three defenseman in the National Hockey League," said Sharks general manager Doug Wilson. "We saw his abilities first-hand in the playoffs last season and he was an important piece of a Stanley Cup-winning team. He is a solid player that would be a good fit on our team now and in the future."
The 23-year-old Swede finished up his first full season in the NHL with two goals and 15 assists while posting a plus-nine rating. He added a goal and seven assists with a plus-nine rating during Chicago's 22-game run to the Cup.
Hjalmarsson previously played parts of two seasons with Chicago and has compiled three goals and 18 helpers over 111 career regular-season games.
<< Revs hope to make statement vs. Galaxy
Foxborough, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New England Revolution have won just one
of their last 11 Major League Soccer fixtures.
The Los Angeles Galaxy have lost just one in 15 to start the 2010 season.
Obviously Saturday's game between the
<< Dulgheru, Szavay into Budapest semis
Budapest, Hungary (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second seed Alexandra Dulgheru was
a hard-fought quarterfinal winner, while reigning champion Agnes Szavay of
Hungary was an easy victor Friday at the $220,000 Budapest Grand Prix.
The 21-year-old Dul
<< Chivas wants to spark revival against Wizards
Kansas City, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chivas USA is winless in seven straight MLS
games, but first-year coach Martin Vasquez believes Tuesday's victory over the
Houston Dynamo in U.S. Open Cup play could ignite the struggling team.
Vasquez has
<< Russia, Argentina tied at 1-1 in Davis Cup QF
Moscow, Russia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Friday's opening singles winners in the
best-of-five Davis Cup quarterfinal between visiting Argentina and host Russia
were David Nalbandian and Mikhail Youzhny, respectively.
The oft-injured former W
Djokovic, Cilic post wins in Serbia-Croatia tussle >>
Split, Croatia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Novak Djokovic and Marin Cilic notched
opening singles wins Friday in the best-of-five Davis Cup quarterfinal between
rival nations Serbia and host Croatia.
The world No. 2 Djokovic got Serbia going
AL Central: Tigers halfway home >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - We are just past the halfway point of the Major League
Baseball season and the Detroit Tigers are right where they want to be; atop
the American League Central standings.
The Tigers have gotten off to a hot start in July,
Spain must make the most of rare opportunity >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For countries like Brazil, Italy and
Germany, success in the World Cup is passed down from generation to
generation, almost like a hereditary trait.
The ability to perform at the highes
Stoudemire deal becomes sign-and-trade >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Knicks announced Friday that the
deal for Amare Stoudemire is a sign-and-trade agreement with the Phoenix Suns.
Stoudemire agreed to join the Knicks earlier this week and a deal was
anno
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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