Seahawka Hockey Betting News

<< Detroit edges Anaheim in SO, extends home win streak
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Todd Bertuzzi supplied the decisive goal in the third round of the shootout, as the Detroit Red Wings edged the Anaheim Ducks, 2-1, to push their franchise-record home winning streak to 19 games. Following an e

<< Lin scores 38, Knicks down Lakers
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeremy Lin's coming out party continued on Friday as he dropped in a career-high 38 points with seven assists and four rebounds, and the New York Knicks downed the Los Angeles Lakers, 92-85, at Madison

<< Gay and Grizzlies slip past Pacers
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rudy Gay scored 21 points for the Grizzlies as they defeated the Pacers, 98-92, at FedExForum on Friday. The Grizzlies had five players in double figures, including 19 points and nine rebounds from Marreese

<< Canada, France split opening singles in tie
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga made quick work of Vasek Pospisil while Canadian rising star Milos Raonic shut down Julien Benneteau in Friday's opening Davis Cup singles rubbers. Former Australian Open run

Westbrook, Thunder cruise past Jazz >>
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Russell Westbrook scored a game-high 28 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder cruised to a 101-87 victory over the Utah Jazz at EnergySolutions Arena on Friday. Kevin Durant added 19 points and Serge Ib

Croatia takes 2-1 advantage over Japan in Davis Cup >>
Hyogo, Japan (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ivan Dodig and Ivo Karlovic downed the Japanese tandem of Tatsuma Ito and Yuichi Sugita on Saturday to give Croatia a 2-1 lead in the Davis Cup. The two nations entered play tied at 1-1 after spli

Korda takes lead at Women's Australian Open >>
Victoria, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - On a Saturday when many players near the top of the leaderboard struggled, Jessica Korda shot an even-par 73 to claim the lead after three rounds of the Women's Australian Open. The American Ko

Thunder's Brooks to coach West All-Stars >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oklahoma City's Scott Brooks will coach the Western Conference at the All-Star Game later this month. The Thunder's 101-87 win over Utah on Friday enabled Oklahoma City to clinch the conference's best r

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.