Whoustonrockets Basketball Betting News

<< Nash, Suns strike down Hawks
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Nash scored 24 points and handed out 11 assists, as the Phoenix Suns downed the Atlanta Hawks, 99-90 at Philips Arena. Channing Frye contributed 19 points and nine rebounds, while Michael Redd and Jare

<< Sixers escape with win over Lakers
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lou Williams scored 14 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter as the Philadelphia 76ers rallied late to down the Los Angeles Lakers, 95-90, at Wells Fargo Center. Jrue Holiday added 13 points and si

<< Bulls roll past Nets
Newark, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bulls shot 55.6 percent from the floor, made nine three-pointers and went 19-of-23 from the foul line en route to an easy 108-87 win over the New Jersey Nets on Monday night. But it was not al

<< Duke routs North Carolina in ACC clash
Durham, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tricia Liston led No. 5 Duke with 23 points as it trounced in-state rival and 22nd-ranked North Carolina, 96-56, at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Monday. The Blue Devils (19-3, 10-0 ACC) had five scorers in dou

Hawkins, Thomas lead Maryland over Georgia Tech >>
Duluth, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tianna Hawkins and Alyssa Thomas scored 23 points apiece as No. 8 Maryland downed No. 22 Georgia Tech, 64-56. Hawkins added nine rebounds while Lynetta Kizer netted 10 points for Maryland (20-3, 7-3 ACC),

Mariners sign Camp, Kuo >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Mariners have signed relief pitchers Shawn Camp and Hong-Chih Kuo to one-year contracts. Camp appeared in a team-high 67 games for the Toronto Blue Jays last season, posting a 6-3 record w

Duncan's double-double lifts Spurs over Grizzlies >>
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Duncan had 19 points, 17 rebounds and five blocks as the San Antonio Spurs held on for an 89-84 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. Tony Parker added 21 points, seven assists and three steals for the Spur

Wizards take down Raptors in OT >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John Wall scored a game-high 31 points as the Washington Wizards held on for a 111-108 overtime win over the Toronto Raptors at Verizon Center on Monday. Washington got season-high point totals fr

Chiefs' Treen Green out for Sunday's game

How long Trent Green will remain sidelined is unknown. Coach Herm Edwards said Monday he will miss a second straight start Sunday when the Chiefs host the San Francisco 49ers.

A two-time Pro Bowler, Green was going into a feet-first hook slide when he was knocked unconscious by a thunderous, head-snapping hit from Cincinnati's Robert Geathers.

Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers.

The 49ers got beat by Philadelphia 38-24 as a 6.5-point underdog last week. The combined score went OVER the posted over/under total (42.5).

Alex Smith completed 27-of-46 passes for 293 yards with a touchdown. Michael Robinson rushed for 29 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five carries.

The Chiefs lost 9-6 to Denver last week as an 11-point underdog. The combined score was well UNDER the posted over/under total (38).

Larry Johnson rushed for 126 yards on 27 carries. Damon Huard completed 17-of-23 passes for 133 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.

To visit this online sports book got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.

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.