Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
07/12/2010 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Despite noted salary cap problems, the Chicago Blackhawks announced Monday that the club will match San Jose's offer sheet for restricted free agent defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson.
The Sharks signed the 23-year-old Swede to a four-year, $14 million offer sheet on Friday, forcing the Stanley Cup champs to make another tough monetary decision. If Chicago had decided not to match the offer, the club would have received draft picks from the Sharks as compensation.
"Niklas was a big part of our success last year and he's a part of our core that's going to be together for a long time," said Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman. "I'm happy for him. He's a quiet leader amongst our defensive group. I think he gets overshadowed because we've got other superstars there, but he was really effective for us all year long."
In his first full NHL season, Hjalmarsson totaled two goals and 15 assists in 77 regular-season games. He added a goal and eight points in 22 playoff games, helping the Blackhawks win the franchise's first Cup since 1961.
Hjalmarsson previously played parts of two seasons with Chicago and has compiled three goals and 18 helpers over 111 career regular-season games.
The Blackhawks have traded players such as playoff hero Dustin Byfuglien and Kris Versteeg to get under the salary cap.
<< The 'wow' factor in horse racing
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - This past Saturday had three stakes races
that were the equal of any last-second result in the more popular sports in
the world. The word 'wow' had to be shouted by anyone who watched the races as
they hap
<< This Week in Golf - July 12th through July 18th
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - BRITISH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP, The Old Course
at St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Scotland - The season's third major championship
is on deck and it's being contested at the home of golf, The Old Course at St.
Andrews
<< Canucks sign D O'Brien, three others
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vancouver Canucks on Monday announced the
signing of defenseman Shane O'Brien.
O'Brien, 26, had two goals and six assists with a plus-15 rating in
65 games for the Canucks last season. He has
<< NL Notebook: Better late then never for Reds' Rhodes
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There may not be a more random All-Star on this year's
National League squad than left-handed specialist Arthur Rhodes. Then again,
there may not be a more deserving player either.
Forget the moonball he served up to Ryan
Cavs owner defends stance on LeBron >>
CLEVELAND (AP) -Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert says he ``strongly'' disagrees with Jesse Jackson's criticism of his recent comments about LeBron James.Following James' announcement last week, Gilbert fired off an incendiary letter to Cleveland's fans,
Knicks still have cap space, but future is now >>
GREENBURGH, N.Y. (AP) -Enough talk about the salary cap. The New York Knicks think they can win now.New York introduced new additions Raymond Felton, Anthony Randolph, Kelenna Azubuike and Ronny Turiaf on Monday. Not quite the same as showing off Le
Ducks sign LW Green >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks added some depth to the
forward position by signing left wing Josh Green to a one-year contract on
Monday.
The 32-year-old spent last season with Modo of the Swedish Elite League wh
Knicks officially sign PG Felton >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Knicks made it official on Monday
by signing free agent guard Raymond Felton.
Terms of the contract were not disclosed, but the New York Daily News
previously reported its a three-year d
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.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting