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
01/17/2012 - East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Harness racing's premier event, the Hambletonian, will continue at The Meadowlands through 2014.
An agreement has been reached between the Hambletonian Society and Meadowlands leaseholder Jeff Gural.
As part of a three-year agreement to keep the mile race for three-year-old trotters at the New Jersey track, beginning in 2013 the race will revert to same-day heats to determine the race finalists. The Hambletonian has been held at The Meadowlands since 1981 and elimination heats have been conducted a week before the final.
"We look forward to continuing the long relationship that the Meadowlands has had with the Hambletonian Society," emphasized Gural. "I am thrilled that they have agreed to revert to the previous format of two heats on the same day, which I think will increase the excitement of the event dramatically."
This year's Hambletonian will be held on Saturday, August 4 with a final purse of $1.5 million. The 2013 edition will have a guaranteed purse of $1 million.
"We look forward to a new era with Jeff Gural," said Tom Charters, president and CEO of the Hambletonian Society. "The Hambletonian has flourished under the management of the NJSEA over the years and we feel confident that growth will continue with the New Meadowlands LLC and the changes we are making to the race. We think returning to heats will be exciting for the fans, particularly those onsite at The New Meadowlands facility on a day that is always the sport's greatest showcase."
Beginning in 2014 older trotters will be able to compete in a new event, the $400,000 Hambletonian Maturity. The new race will be conducted at 1 1/8-miles with as many as 16 trotters allowed to start.
<< Servia lands ride for 2012
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oriol Servia will drive for Dreyer &
Reinbold during the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series season, the team announced on
Tuesday.
Servia finished fourth in IndyCar points last year, driving for New
<< Pirates, Karstens agree to one-year deal
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Pirates agreed to a one-year
deal with pitcher Jeff Karstens, thus avoiding arbitration.
Karstens finished 2011 with a 9-9 record and a 3.38 earned run average, the
best of his career, in
<< Illinois State adds six mid-year transfers
Normal, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Illinois State football coach Brock Spack
announced on Tuesday the addition of six mid-year transfers, including five
from Football Bowl Subdivision programs.
All six players are eligible immediately and can par
<< Counsell joins Brewers front office
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Brewers have named former
infielder Craig Counsell as a special assistant to the general manager.
Counsell wrapped up a 16-year big league career in 2011 with the Brewers, for
whom he pla
Baltimore avoids arbitration with Johnson >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles have agreed to terms
with pitchers Jim Johnson, Darren O'Day and Dana Eveland on one-year
contracts, avoiding arbitration.
Johnson, 28, appeared in a career-high 69 games
Yankees avoid arbitration with Chamberlain, Robertson >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees have agreed to terms with
pitchers Joba Chamberlain and David Robertson on one-year contracts, avoiding
arbitration.
Chamberlain's 2011 season was cut short due to Tommy John surgery. T
Red Sox ink Ellsbury to 1-year deal >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox and outfielder Jacoby
Ellsbury have avoided arbitration, agreeing to a contract for the 2012 season.
Ellsbury is coming off a bounce-back season after injuries limited him to 18
game
Fisher set to rebuild Rams >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Fisher was officially introduced as the
new head coach of the St. Louis Rams on Tuesday and said he is ready to get
the franchise "back on the map."
Fisher will take over a Rams team that was 2-14 u
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