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12/23/2006 - Santa Clara, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Antonio Bryant has been suspended four games for violating the NFL Substance Abuse Policy.
Bryant was arrested last month for suspicion of drunk driving, among other charges. He will be sidelined for the final two regular season games and the first two games of next season. Should the Niners defy the odds and make the playoffs, the suspension would count toward those games.
The 6-2, 188-pound wideout will be eligible to participate in both training camp and preseason contests next year despite the suspension.
Bryant played in 14 games this season, finishing with 40 catches for 733 yards and three touchdowns. In five seasons with Dallas, Cleveland and San Francisco, he has amassed 250 receptions for 3,837 yards and 19 TDs.
<< Feyenoord looking to continue push up Dutch ladder
Rotterdam, Holland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Feyenoord are traditionally looked
at as one of the big three in Holland, along with PSV and Ajax. This season,
Erwin Koeman's club have endured plenty of ups and downs on their way to a
fifth-p
<< Nuggets' Camby sidelined with broken finger
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets will be without center
Marcus Camby, who suffered a broken right finger during a game against the
Washington Wizards.
Camby will miss Denver's game with the Sacramento Kings on
<< Celtic doesn't rest on laurels, signs Copil
Glasgow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Only one day after Celtic announced
the signing of Dutch international Jan Vennegoor, the Scottish Premier League
club inked Romanian teenager Dumitru Copil on Friday, who is set to join the
squad i
<< Sonics' Lewis sidelined two months with hand injury
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seattle SuperSonics forward Rashard Lewis is
expected to miss eight weeks after undergoing surgery on his right hand,
general manager Rick Sund announced Friday.
Lewis injured the tendon sheath on th
Jaguars' Taylor out for Week 16 >>
Jacksonville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jacksonville Jaguars running back Fred
Taylor is expected to miss Week 16's game against the New England Patriots
because of a hamstring injury.
Taylor started the week listed as questionable and
Jets Need Win in Miami to Aid Playoff Hopes >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Prior to the start of the 2006 NFL season, it was easy to
look at a Christmas night matchup between the Jets and Dolphins in Miami and
expect one team to be looking to advance its playoff position, while the other
played the
Panthers' Delhomme doubtful >>
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carolina Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme
was downgraded to doubtful on Friday's injury report due to the same injured
thumb that has forced him to miss the past two games.
Chris Weinke is likely to ag
Cadillac downgraded to doubtful >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tampa Bay running back Carnell "Cadillac"
Williams was downgraded to doubtful on Friday because of a foot injury, making
it unlikely the Buccaneers starting back will play Sunday at Cleveland.
Williams h
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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