Nets, Hawks swap first-round picks
Basketball Betting Lines
06/24/2010 -
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Hawks and New Jersey Nets traded
first-round picks during the NBA Draft Thursday night.
The Nets obtained forward Damion James, who was the 24th overall pick out of
the University of Texas. Atlanta got shooting guard Jordan Crawford, who was
taken 27th out of Xavier.
Additionally, the Hawks received German center Tibor Pleiss, who was taken
31st overall in the draft by the Nets. Pleiss was then dealt to Oklahoma City
for cash considerations.
James finished his career at Texas with school records in rebounds,
consecutive games played and games started. He also set the Big 12 record with
1,318 rebounds and 54 double-doubles.
Crawford gained headlines after dunking on LeBron James at the Skills Academy
in the summer of 2009. He led the Atlantic 10 Conference in scoring at 20.5
ppg.
<< Blazers fire GM as draft starts
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -The Portland Trail Blazers have fired general manager Kevin Pritchard after six seasons with the team, ending months of speculation that he had fallen out of favor with billionaire owner Paul Allen.The Oregonian newspaper report
<< Tejada helps O's avoid sweep by Marlins
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miguel Tejada hit a three-run homer and
finished with four RBI and three runs scored, as the Baltimore Orioles avoided
a sweep and defeated the Florida Marlins, 11-5, in the finale of a three-game
interle
<< Wolves acquire Webster from Blazers
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Timberwolves acquired swingman
Martell Webster from Portland in a draft-night deal.
Going to the Trail Blazers were veteran forward Ryan Gomes and Luke Babbitt, a
power forward from Nevada who wa
<< Hornets trade Aldrich, Peterson to Thunder
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Hornets traded their first-
round pick center Cole Aldrich along with guard Morris Peterson to the
Oklahoma City Thunder for a pair of lower first-round picks.
The swap was reported by multipl
<< Tigers edge Mets to avoid sweep
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Magglio Ordonez clubbed a two-run homer and
Ryan Raburn added a solo blast, as the Detroit Tigers fended off the New York
Mets, 6-5, in the finale of a three-game interleague series at Citi Field.
Raburn
NHL Board approves penalty for hits to head >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National Hockey League Board of
Governors on Thursday approved a rule change for hits to the head.
According to the new rule, which will be called "illegal check to the head," a
major penalty and a game
Rangers win 11th straight, sweep Pirates >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vladimir Guerrero's game-winning RBI single
with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted the blazing-hot Texas
Rangers to their 11th straight victory and a 6-5 decision over Pittsburgh in
the fin
South Carolina beats Oklahoma in dramatic 12th-inning finish >>
Omaha, NE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jackie Bradley, Jr. singled in the tying run with
two outs in the 12th inning and scored on Brady Thomas' base hit for the game-
winner later in the frame, giving South Carolina a dramatic 3-2 win over
Oklahom
Raptors get Alabi from Mavs >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Raptors acquired center Solomon
Alabi, the 50th overall pick, from the Dallas Mavericks in a draft-night deal.
Alabi, who played at Florida State, will head to the Raptors, while the Mavs
obtain a
Surreal draft night in Portland >>
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -There were rumors the Portland Trail Blazers were going to make a big move on draft night. What happened was downright surreal.A report surfaced less than an hour before the draft started that general manager Kevin Pritchard had
What Is the Point Spread?
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
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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