Hawjs Football Betting News

<< Als RB Cobourne to miss Thursday's game
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Montreal Alouettes running back Avon Cobourne will not play in Thursday's game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. TSN of Canada reported Wednesday that Cobourne is out due to a minor ankle injury. Brandon

<< BYU to leave MWC, which invites Nevada, Fresno State
Colorado Springs, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brigham Young University has reportedly decided to leave the Mountain West Conference, which subsequently invited Fresno State and Nevada to join. According to The Salt Lake Tribune, BYU

<< Pennington the hero as A's blow lead, recover to top Jays
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cliff Pennington singled home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth, as the Oakland Athletics overcame a late rally to beat Toronto, 5-4, in the rubber match of a three-game series at the Coliseum. The

<< 49ers release veteran WR Jones
Santa Clara, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco 49ers have released veteran wide receiver Brandon Jones. The 27-year-old Jones played in eight games for the Niners last season, catching one pass for 18 yards. He missed the

NASCAR releases 2011 schedules for top three series >>
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR on Wednesday officially released its 2011 schedule for all three of its national touring series. As expected, there are several major changes to next year's schedule, particularly in the Sprint

Bills safety Byrd out indefinitely with groin injury >>
Pittsford, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Buffalo Bills safety Jairus Byrd is out indefinitely after having surgery to repair a nagging groin injury. Byrd's rookie season in 2009 was cut short by the problem. He was felled after racking up 45

VCU extends Smart's contract >>
Richmond, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shaka Smart, the head men's basketball coach at Virginia Commonwealth University, received a two-year contract extension on Wednesday. In his first season on the job, Smart led the Rams to a 27-9 record, o

Richard, Padres continue to roll in win over Cubs >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Clayton Richard allowed just one run in 6 2/3 strong innings, leading the San Diego Padres to a 5-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs in the third of four games at Wrigley Field. Richard (11-5) yielded seven h

Chiefs' Treen Green out for Sunday's game

How long Trent Green will remain sidelined is unknown. Coach Herm Edwards said Monday he will miss a second straight start Sunday when the Chiefs host the San Francisco 49ers.

A two-time Pro Bowler, Green was going into a feet-first hook slide when he was knocked unconscious by a thunderous, head-snapping hit from Cincinnati's Robert Geathers.

Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers.

The 49ers got beat by Philadelphia 38-24 as a 6.5-point underdog last week. The combined score went OVER the posted over/under total (42.5).

Alex Smith completed 27-of-46 passes for 293 yards with a touchdown. Michael Robinson rushed for 29 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five carries.

The Chiefs lost 9-6 to Denver last week as an 11-point underdog. The combined score was well UNDER the posted over/under total (38).

Larry Johnson rushed for 126 yards on 27 carries. Damon Huard completed 17-of-23 passes for 133 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.

To visit this online sports book got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.

What Is the Point Spread?

What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?

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.

How to Read Point Spreads

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:

• Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
  OR
  
• Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.

• 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.

  For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically

  Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:

• Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
  OR
  
• Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score

  Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?

  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.