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02/26/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Calgary Flames will continue their push for the postseason tonight, when they welcome the Phoenix Coyotes to the Pengrowth Saddledome.
The Flames have 73 points and are currently clinging to the eighth and final postseason berth in the Western Conference. Edmonton is in ninth place and seven points behind Calgary.
Calgary ended a two-game slide on Saturday by defeating the visiting San Jose Sharks. Jarome Iginla scored two goals and added two assists to help the Flames earn the 7-4 victory.
Matthew Lombardi had a goal and an assist and Alex Tanguay and Roman Hamrlik each added three helpers for the Flames, who had lost three of four coming into the game.
Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 33 shots in the win for Calgary.
Tonight marks the middle portion of a three-game homestand for the Flames, who have a superb record of 25-6-1 as the host club this year.
The Coyotes haven't played since Thursday evening, when they notched a home win over the Flames. Shane Doan scored the game-winner in overtime, as Phoenix edged Calgary, 3-2.
Off a turnover at the blue line, Doan nabbed the puck and surged into the Calgary zone, where he ripped a wrist shot from the middle of the left circle that skipped through the five-hole of Kiprusoff just 54 seconds in.
Oleg Saprykin and Steven Reinprecht also tallied for the Coyotes, who snapped a six-game slide in which they were outscored 27-13. Mikael Tellqvist made 29 saves between the pipes for Phoenix.
Coyotes defenseman Ed Jovanovski missed Thursday's game with an abdominal injury and isn't expected to play tonight.
The Coyotes, who are just 12-19-1 as the visiting team this year, begin a three-game road trip tonight.
Calgary has taken two of the three encounters with the Coyotes this year and has been victorious in 10 of the last 13 meetings overall.
<< Habs, Leafs clash in Montreal
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One of the best rivalries in sports resumes this evening,
as the Montreal Canadiens open the doors of the Bell Centre for a battle with
the Toronto Maple Leafs.
This series between two of the Original Six franchises is alw
<< New-look Thrashers head to Boston
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Thrashers hope the recent additions to their
lineup will translate to improved play and they'll test that theory tonight,
when they visit the Boston Bruins at TD Banknorth Garden.
The Thrashers are just 2-7-2 i
<< Spurs aim to extend winning streak against Raptors
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs try to keep pace in the Southwest
standings tonight when they host the Toronto Raptors at AT&T Center.
San Antonio won its fifth straight game on Saturday, a 102-71 victory over
Seattle, but despite t
<< Nuggets try to get on same page against Grizzlies
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets try to put the brakes on a four-
game losing streak this evening when they visit the Memphis Grizzlies at the
FedExForum.
Denver became Dallas' 19th straight victim at home on Saturday when they fell
to
Sharks and Ducks tangle in San Jose >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - An important Pacific Division battle takes place tonight
in San Jose, as the Sharks welcome the first-place Anaheim Ducks to HP
Pavilion.
The Ducks are first in the Pacific and second in the Western Conference with
82 po
SuperSonics host Northwest Division-rival Portland >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Northwest Division rivals battle when the Portland Trail
Blazers visit the Seattle SuperSonics tonight at KeyArena.
This is the second of four meetings between the squads this campaign. On
November 1st, Zach Randolph scor
Kobe, Lakers visit Northwest Division-leading Utah >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two of the top teams in the Western Conference meet when
the Utah Jazz welcome the Los Angeles Lakers tonight to EnergySolutions Arena.
This is the third and final meeting of the regular season between the clubs.
The teams
Red-hot Mavericks try to extend winning streak against Hawks >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NBA-best Dallas Mavericks go for their 12th straight
victory when they welcome the Atlanta Hawks tonight to American Airlines
Center.
All-Star Dirk Nowitzki scored 31 points, pulled down 11 rebounds and dished
out eig
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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