11/21/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The scorching Boston Bruins will aim for their eighth victory in nine games when they welcome the Florida Panthers for tonight's meeting at TD Banknorth Garden.
The Bruins are known mainly for their defensive discipline, but were able to put on an offensive display in Wednesday's win over visiting Buffalo. Chuck Kobasew and Zdeno Chara both scored twice, as Boston scored the last five goals and defeated the Sabres, 7-4.
Marc Savard registered a goal and three assists, while David Krejci had a goal and two helpers for the Bruins, who have won 10 of their last 12 games and lead the Northeast Division with 28 points.
Phil Kessel scored a goal and assisted on another for Boston. Manny Fernandez stopped 25-of-29 shots to pick up the win as he gave No. 1 goaltender Tim Thomas a night off.
The Bruins have won two straight overall and six in a row on home ice. Boston is 6-1-1 as the host this year and will play its next two games on the road, beginning with Saturday's test in Montreal.
Florida, meanwhile, lost for the second time in three games Thursday night as it was handed a road setback by the New Jersey Devils. Patrik Elias and Brian Gionta each had a goal and an assist to lead the Devils to the 3-1 decision at the Prudential Center.
Michael Frolik scored his first goal in the NHL and Tomas Vokoun was tagged for three goals on 19 shots for the Panthers, who came into the game with wins in three of their previous four outings.
Florida is last in the Eastern Conference with just 15 points this season and became the first team in the East with 10 regulation losses on Thursday.
Tonight marks the end of a three-game road trip for the Panthers, who have a 3-7-1 record as the visiting team this year. Next up for Florida is a three- game homestand, which will begin Monday night against Carolina.
Florida has won two of three and eight of the last 10 meetings with the Bruins and has also taken five straight and seven of eight in Beantown.
<< Hurricanes blow into St. Thomas to take on Golden Eagles
St. Thomas, VI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 2008 Paradise Jam kicks off today, with
the 17th-ranked Miami-Florida Hurricanes taking on the Southern Mississippi
Golden Eagles at the Sports and Fitness Center in the Virgin Islands. The
winner of this f
<< Short-handed Tar Heels take on Gauchos
Santa Barbara, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The UC-Santa Barbara Gauchos play host to
a top-ranked team for the first time since 1991, as they welcome the number
one ranked North Carolina Tar Heels to the Thunderdome for non-conference
action this eve
<< No. 21 Davidson hosts Winthrop
Davidson, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 21st-ranked Davidson Wildcats try to get
right back into the win column tonight as they face off against the Winthrop
Eagles in non-conference action in North Carolina.
Davidson, which became the darling o
<< Vols and Blue Raiders mix it up in Murfreesboro
Murfreesboro, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 14th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers have
won a school-record 34 consecutive games at home, but they hit the road for
the first time this season to take on the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders this
evening.
Lakers welcome Nuggets to Staples Center >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top dog in the NBA's Western Conference, the Los
Angeles Lakers, welcome the red-hot Denver Nuggets to Staples Center on
Friday.
The Lakers improved to a gaudy 9-1 on Thursday when Kobe Bryant scored
Jazz pay a visit to San Antonio >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Utah Jazz head south to the Alamo City in search of
their third consecutive win Friday when they meet the San Antonio Spurs at the
AT&T Center.
C.J. Miles scored 25 points to lead Utah to a 105-94 comeback
Islanders shoot for fourth straight win in test with Devils >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Islanders will try to extend their season-high
winning streak to four games when they visit the New Jersey Devils for an
Atlantic Division matchup at Prudential Center.
After sweeping a home-and-home series wi
Storm front: 'Canes try to extend win streak vs. Coyotes >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Carolina Hurricanes will try to earn their first three-
game winning streak of the season when they welcome the sliding Phoenix
Coyotes for tonight's meeting at RBC Center.
The Hurricanes are in the midst of a four-gam
MySportsbook.com: NBA Championship Odds
With the playoffs about two months away, the top two teams in the Western Conference are the clear cut leaders to win the NBA Championship. The Dallas Mavericks have the best record in the NBA (44-9) and have been absolutely scorching since the second week of the season. What makes the Mavs’ record more impressive is the fact that they dropped their first four games of the season. Currently they have won 17 out of their last 18 and are MySportsbook.com’s favorite (2-1) to win it all. Right behind the Mavs are the Pacific leading Phoenix Suns (39-13). Last season, the Suns lost in the Conference Finals to non-other then the Mavericks four games to two. Of course the Suns were without center Amare Stoudemire who has is averaging 19.9 PPG and 9.5 RPG since coming back from his knee injury. Unlike the Mavs, the Suns have struggled a bit lately having lost their last three and four out of their last seven. Of course the main reason for their three straight loses is due to the absence of two time MVP Steve Nash, who is out with a shoulder injury. Heads-up, the Mavs have beaten the Suns in both of their meetings this season.
In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons (32-19) are the favorites to win it all at 6-1. The addition of Chris Webber seems to have been a good move for the Pistons. Since coming over from the 76ers, Webber has averaged 13.1 PPG and 7.3 RPG and the Pistons are 11-4. Even though the defending champion Heat are currently on the playoff making cusp, they are the Eastern Conference team that is getting the most action to win it all (9-1). The fact that Shaquille O’Neal is back in the starting lineup after missing 39 games probably has something to do with this. No doubt, Shaq makes a difference when in the lineup as their winning six out of their last seven would indicate.
Just because it is the All-Star break doesn’t mean that you can’t bet on NBA hoops this weekend. Be sure to log onto MySportsbook.com to bet on who you think will cut down the nets this July. Also, be sure to check out all of the lines and props for All-Star weekend. With the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry, there are plenty of ways to cash in on the NBA this weekend.
MySportsbook.com’s NBA Championship odds:
Atlanta Hawks 1000-1
Boston Celtics 5000-1
Charlotte Bobcats 5000-1
Chicago Bulls 20-1
Cleveland Cavaliers 20-1
Dallas Mavericks 2-1
Denver Nuggets 25-1
Detroit Pistons 6-1
Golden State Warriors 250-1
Houston Rockets 12-1
Indiana Pacers 60-1
Los Angeles Clippers 45-1
Memphis Grizzlies 5000-1
Miami Heat 9-1
Milwaukee Bucks 1000-1
Minnesota T-Wolves 200-1
New Jersey Nets 50-1
New Orleans Hornets 150-1
New York Knicks 150-1
Orlando Magic 75-1
Philadelphia 76ers 1000-1
Phoenix Suns 5-2
Portland TrailBlazers 1000-1
Sacramento Kings 250-1
San Antonio Spurs 9-1
Seattle Sonics 5000-1
Toronto Raptors 35-1
Utah Jazz 20-1
Washington Wizards 25-1
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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 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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