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05/17/2011 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Indiana Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird spoke to the media at Conseco Fieldhouse on Tuesday morning and indicated that interim coach Frank Vogel is under consideration for the job on a full-time basis.
"He is the front-runner," Bird said, adding that he has "been in contact with some [other] guys."
Vogel took over for Jim O'Brien after the team started 17-27. The Pacers went 20-18 under Vogel, finishing at 37-45 and making the playoffs as an eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. They were knocked out in the first round by the top-seeded Chicago Bulls in five games.
Bird also said he was happy with the current direction of the team, but does not consider 37 wins to be a success.
"We're in a position to take it to the next level," Bird added.
<< Melvin rejoins D-Backs as special baseball advisor
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bob Melvin, the all-time winningest manager in
Arizona Diamondbacks history, has rejoined the club as special baseball
advisor.
Melvin will assist the baseball operations department and other busi
<< Georgetown adds Othella Harrington to coaching staff
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Othella Harrington is returning to
Georgetown as a member of the men's basketball coaching staff.
Harrington, who was a four-year starter at Georgetown, is the school's all
time leader in off
<< Cologne presents Solbakken as new coach
Cologne, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cologne presented Stale Solbakken as its
new coach on Tuesday, as the former FC Copenhagen boss will try to repeat his
Danish league success in the Bundesliga.
The 43-year-old Norwegian earned five Dani
<< Eddie George, Deion Sanders among college HOF class
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George of Ohio
State and Florida State's Deion Sanders highlight the 2011 class for induction
into the College Football Hall of Fame.
A total of 14 players and two coaches f
Dundee signs midfielder Rankin >>
Dundee, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dundee United signed midfielder John
Rankin, a former Manchester United youth player, to a two-year contract on
Tuesday.
Rankin, 27, played for Hibernian last year and previously played for Inver
Mexico drops Corona from roster after head-butt >>
Mexico City, Mexico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mexico goalkeeper Jesus Corona was cut
from the CONCACAF Gold Cup roster, days after he head-butted Morelia assistant
coach Sergio Martin during a recent Mexican league match.
Corona, who plays for Cru
Bochy, Washington announce All-Star staffs >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy and
Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington announced on Tuesday their on-field
staffs for the 2011 All-Star Game, to be played at Chase Field on July 12.
Bochy n
Japan officially drops out of Copa America >>
Tokyo, Japan (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Japan officially withdrew from this summer's
Copa America tournament Tuesday for the second time, as the country continues
to recover from a devastating earthquake and tsunami.
The earthquake and resulting
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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