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05/11/2010 -
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -Canucks defenseman Sami Salo is back in the Vancouver lineup just two days after being struck in the groin area by a puck.
Salo was on the ice Tuesday night for Game 6 against the Chicago Blackhawks, as the Canucks tried to avoid elimination again. Vancouver won Game 5 in Chicago on Sunday, despite the absence of Salo, who was hit by Duncan Keith's deflected slap shot late in the first period.
He was in obvious pain as he was helped off the ice and was then taken to a hospital. Salo returned to action on Tuesday for the morning skate before Game 6.
Salo, who has averaged almost 21 minutes of ice time in the postseason, plays against Chicago's top forwards and. He also is part of the Canucks' power-play and penalty-killing units.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
<< Red Sox's Cameron goes 1 for 3 in rehab stint
PAWTUCKET, R.I. (AP) -Mike Cameron, recovering from an a lower abdominal strain, was 1 for 3 in his second rehabilitation game for the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox against Gwinnett on Tuesday.Cameron batted leadoff and played center field, easily hand
<< Dallas Braden ready to put perfect game behind him
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -A few hours after throwing his perfect game, Dallas Braden was back to being the kid from Stockton, Calif., hanging out with his dog and fish.``I went home and chipped around on my putting green, watched my dog chase the balls
<< Trucks kick off triple-header weekend in Dover
Dover, DE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Camping World Truck. Date: Friday,
May 14. Race: Dover 200. Site: Dover International Speedway. Track: one-mile
oval. Start time: 4:45 p.m. (et). Laps: 200. Miles: 200. 2009 winner: Brian
Scott. Telev
<< 49ers ink CB James
Santa Clara, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco 49ers on Tuesday signed
veteran cornerback William James to a one-year contract.
James played in 16 games (14 starts) for the Lions last season, recording 73
tackles and two intercepti
Lee gets first win in M's uniform with victory over O's >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cliff Lee had a solid outing, picking up his
first win in a Seattle uniform, as the Mariners defeated Baltimore, 5-1, in
the opener of a three-game series at Camden Yards.
Lee (1-1) gave up one run on ei
Walsh named new Centenary coach >>
Shreveport, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Centenary has named Adam Walsh its next
men's head basketball coach.
Walsh takes over for Greg Gary who resigned last week after two seasons at the
helm. Walsh had been an assistant for the Gents the l
Cueto dominates Pirates in Reds' fourth straight win >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Johnny Cueto was utterly dominant during a
one-hit, complete game in Cincinnati's 9-0 blanking of Pittsburgh in the
second of three games from PNC Park.
Cueto (2-1) struck out eight with no walks
Dice-K strong as Red Sox stay hot in Beantown >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daisuke Matsuzaka threw seven strong innings as
the Boston Red Sox downed the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-1, in the second of a
three-game set at Fenway Park.
Matsuzaka (2-1) gave up just one run on three hits w
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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