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02/03/2012 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick told the media on Friday that tight end Rob Gronkowski had no setbacks after practicing on a limited basis Thursday.
Gronkowski's left ankle has been the main injury focus heading into Sunday's Super Bowl against the New York Giants and on Thursday the record-setting tight end was able to take the practice field for the first time since suffering his injury in the AFC Championship Game against Baltimore.
"I think he was OK this morning. I don't think we had any setbacks, and we'll see how it goes out there today," Belichick said Friday morning. "He's gotten treatment morning, noon and night, and he's gotten better on a daily basis. Hopefully we'll be able to continue that same progress today, tomorrow and all day Sunday, and we'll see where that takes us. But I think he's coming along... he's moving in the right direction."
Gronkowski had a record-breaking season for the Patriots, setting an NFL mark for tight ends with 17 touchdown receptions. He also scored once on the ground and finished with 90 catches -- second on the team behind only Wes Welker's 122 -- for 1,327 yards.
<< Knicks and Celtics renew rivalry at TD Garden
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carmelo Anthony has battled with injuries and losing
streaks since helping the New York Knicks defeat the Boston Celtics in a much-
anticipated matchup on Christmas Day at Madison Square Garden.
Anthony scored 17 of his 37
<< Mavericks' Cuban, Carlisle fined by NBA
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and head
coach Rick Carlisle were each fined by the NBA on Friday.
Cuban was slapped with a $75,000 penalty and Carlisle was penalized $35,000.
Carlisle's fine resulted
<< Rockets welcome Suns to Space City
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Rockets will try to halt a two-game slide when
they welcome the Phoenix Suns to South Texas on Friday.
After a poor start to the season, Houston crept near the top of the Southwest
Division by winning nine o
<< Nets entertain improved Wolves
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Improved play on the road has kept the Minnesota
Timberwolves respectable this season and they'll try for a third straight
victory as the guest tonight against the New Jersey Nets.
Minnesota is 5-4 away from the Twin Citie
Pacers roll into Big D >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The much-improved Pacers will shoot for a season-high
fourth straight win Friday when they visit Big D to take on their former
coach, Rick Carlisle, and the reigning NBA champion Mavericks.
Indiana opened a br
Sliding Blackhawks make a stop in Calgary >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago has not gotten its club record-tying road trip off
to the best of starts and a trip to Calgary may not be the remedy it is
looking for.
The Blackhawks try to avoid a season-high fifth straight loss overall and
sev
Panthers hope to string together win streak vs. Jets >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Panthers will try to win consecutive games for
the first time since mid-December when they host the Winnipeg Jets for
tonight's clash at BankAtlantic Center.
The Panthers lost their last game before the All-Sta
Thunder, Grizzlies collide in OKC >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Thunder make a quick stop back in Oklahoma City
searching for their sixth straight win tonight in the Sooner State when they
play host to the Memphis Grizzlies.
OKC, which has an NBA-best 17-4 record, is in t
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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