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
09/04/2010 - Owings Mills, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Ravens released quarterback Troy Smith and kicker Shayne Graham on Saturday, also placing safety Ed Reed on the Physically Unable to Perform List to highlight a slew of "cut-down day" maneuvers.
It was thought that the 2006 Heisman Trophy winner Smith could stick with the team as a third quarterback behind starter Joe Flacco and backup Marc Bulger, but the Ravens ultimately decided to keep just two players at the position. Smith started two games with Baltimore during his rookie year of 2007, but had exclusively backed up Flacco the past two years.
The former Pro Bowler Graham was signed in the offseason with the thought that he would solidify the team's kicking role. But the longtime Cincinnati Bengal lost a competition with holdover Billy Cundiff, who was judged by head coach John Harbaugh to be the more consistent player during the training camp and preseason.
Reed's move to the PUP was also made official. The six-time Pro Bowler, who comes off of hip surgery, will be eligible to return to the active roster after the first six weeks of the season.
Also released were tight end Davon Drew, cornerback Travis Fisher, defensive back K.J. Gerard, wide receiver Justin Harper, cornerback Chris Hawkins, defensive back Brad Jones, guard Bryan Mattison, linebacker Albert McClellan, tackle Joe Reitz, wide receiver Eron Riley, running back Curtis Steele, tackle Devin Tyler and wide receiver Demetrius Williams.
Baltimore placed four players on Injured Reserve: offensive linemen David Hale (back), Ramon Harewood (knees), Stefan Rodgers (ankle) and nose tackle Kelly Talavou (knee).
Previously on Saturday, Baltimore dealt outside linebacker Antwan Barnes to the Philadelphia Eagles for an undisclosed 2011 draft choice.
The Ravens will begin their regular season next Monday night, when they visit the New York Jets at New Meadowlands Stadium.
<< Federer, Soderling reach fourth round in Flushing
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Five-time champion Roger Federer
and two-time French Open runner-up Robin Soderling were easy third-round
winners Saturday at the U.S. Open.
The second-seeded former No. 1 Federer cruised past capab
<< Nesbitt leads Georgia Tech in season-opening rout
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Nesbitt ran for 130 yards and three
touchdowns, as the 16th-ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets opened the 2010
season by trouncing South Carolina State, 41-10, at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
Roddy Jones
<< Murray, Georgia get season started with rout of Louisiana
Athens, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aaron Murray threw for three touchdowns and ran
for another, as the 23rd-ranked Georgia Bulldogs trounced the Louisiana Ragin
Cajuns', 55-7, at Sanford Stadium.
Murray, a redshirt freshman making his first c
<< Cubs' Silva to return Tuesday
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago Cubs right-hander Carlos Silva will
make his return to the rotation on Tuesday against the Houston Astros.
The club made the announcement Saturday, shuffling their rotation so that
rookie Case
Broncos place Stokley on IR, cut 10, trade for TE Gronkowski >>
Englewood, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wide receiver Brandon Stokley was placed on
season-ending injured reserve Saturday, with the Broncos also cutting 10
players and dealing for Detroit Lions tight end Dan Gronkowski to reduce the
roster to 53 play
Sisk still two clear Mylan Classic >>
Canonsburg, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Geoffrey Sisk carded a two-under 69
Saturday to maintain his two-stroke lead after three rounds of the Mylan
Classic.
Sisk, who played the final three holes of his second round earlier Saturday,
completed 5
Steelers trim 11 to finish cuts, including center Hartwig >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Center Justin Hartwig, a 16-game starter for
the Pittsburgh Steelers over the past two seasons, was among the prominent
players cut as part of the team's final "cut-down day" maneuvers on Saturday.
Hartwig e
Arnaud leads Kansas City to draw at Philadelphia >>
Chester, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Davy Arnaud scored in the 70th minute and the
Kansas City Wizards tied the Philadelphia Union, 1-1, on Saturday afternoon in
Major League Soccer at PPL Park.
Arnaud had a goal and an assist last week to lead
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