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07/22/2010 - Newcastle, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Newly-promoted Newcastle signed former Everton midfielder Dan Gosling to a four-year contract on Thursday.
Gosling, 20, is the second addition for Newcastle ahead of its return to the Premier League. Newcastle previously signed midfielder James Perch from Nottingham Forest.
"It's a brilliant move for me. Now that the deal is done I just can't wait to get started," Gosling said on Newcastle's website.
"I've played at St James' Park before and know all about the amazing atmosphere. Playing there in a black and white shirt is something I've thought about already and it will be a great day when I finally get to walk out in front of 50,000 people."
Gosling departed Everton this month after the Premier League ruled the English U-21 player was not offered a new contract in writing by the required date.
<< City coach Mancini interested in Donovan
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester City coach Roberto Mancini
admitted he is interested in United States and Los Angeles Galaxy star Landon
Donovan.
Donovan played 10 games on loan at Everton last season and had two goals i
<< McCoy in fold with Browns
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Browns have reportedly signed
quarterback Colt McCoy, a third-round draft pick.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports McCoy and the team's other third-round
selection, guard Shawn Lauvao, bo
<< Kaye leads in Ohio with course-record 63
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jonathan Kaye fired a course-record, eight-
under 63 Thursday to grab a two-stroke lead after the first round of the
Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational.
Kaye, a two-time winner on the PGA
<< Thrashers re-sign Pavelec
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Thrashers announced they have re-
signed goaltender Ondrej Pavelec to a multi-year contract.
Exact terms of the contract were not provided, per team policy.
The 22-year-old appeared in 42 game
Hanley commits future to Blackburn >>
Blackburn, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Blackburn has handed teenage defender
Grant Hanley a new five-year contract.
The Scotland Under-19 captain made his Premier League debut in the final game
of last season against Aston Villa and is
Mulumbu signs extension with West Brom >>
West Bromwich, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu has
committed his future to West Brom after penning a new three-year contract.
The 23-year-old DR Congo international made 46 appearances and scored three
goals i
Paul to meet with Hornets Monday, trade rumors swirl >>
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Three-time All-Star point guard Chris Paul
will reportedly sit down with management of the New Orleans Hornets on Monday,
when he's expected to express his wishes to be traded.
Several media outlets, inc
Shelton ousts Spieth, Lister at U.S. Junior >>
Ada, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Robby Shelton scored an upset victory over 2009
champion Jordan Spieth in Thursday's second round, then bettered Andrew Lister
in the third round to advance to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Junior Amateur
Champio
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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