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09/03/2010 - Foxborough, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seattle Sounders FC travel to New England to take on the Revolution, hoping to extend their current unbeaten run in Major League Soccer play to nine games.
Seattle (9-8-5) have rebounded nicely from an early season funk thanks in large part to the play of striker Fredy Montero, who has 10 goals and nine assists this season.
Both clubs are coming off mid-week fixtures outside of league play, with Seattle topping Chivas USA 3-1 in the U.S. Open Cup semifinals, and New England losing to Morelia in the SuperLiga finals, both on Wednesday night.
Seattle's triumph sets up a showdown with the Columbus Crew on Oct. 11 for the U.S. Open Cup title.
"Obviously we're happy about playing for the title," Sounders and former Crew coach Sigi Schmid told The Seattle Times. "It's sort of ironic - it's the team I'm coaching now against the team I used to coach. Obviously I know their whole coaching staff, I know a lot of the players there, so it's going to be emotional that way. But we're very happy that we're hosting the game, and we're very excited. We want to sell out Qwest and we want to be able to hoist the trophy in front of all of those people."
The Revs (6-12-3) have lost three straight in league play and are third-from- the-bottom in the Eastern table, meaning their chances of advancing to the playoffs are getting very slim. The loss to Morelia on Wednesday just added to the misery of the down season.
"I think we started really slow when we came out and we didn't put enough pressure on the ball and they move really well," New England midfielder Shalrie Joseph said after the Morelia loss. "We were giving them way too much space at times. They were cutting us off and in the second half, we tried to limit their space, limit their chances. And that would help us if we do that a little bit more in the first half. I think we just need to create more chances and just put them more on the backs of their heels."
The Revs will be without defender Corey Gibbs on Saturday because of a red card he earned in his team's last league fixture vs. Philadelphia, while forward Taylor Twellman continues to be out with a concussion. Midfielder Jason Griffiths and forward Edgaras Jankauskas are doubtful, forward Zak Boggs and Nico Colaluca are questionable, and defender Kevin Alston and goalkeeper Matt Reis are probable, all with injuries.
Seattle will be without midfielders David Estrada, Brad Evans, and Peter Vagenas, defender Jhon Kennedy Hurtado and forward Pat Noonan, all with injuries.
<< Penguins sign Mike Comrie
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed forward
Mike Comrie to a one-year contract worth $500,000.
Comrie spent last season with Edmonton and registered 13 goals with eight
assists for 21 points in 43
<< Newton set to debut as No. 22 Auburn's QB
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) -Quarterback Cameron Newton has been the talk of Auburn since his arrival on campus. He's big, he's mobile and he's a skilled leader who can direct Gus Malzahn's offense to even bigger numbers.That's the buzz, at least.Really, the
<< No. 7 Sooners seek entry into 800-win club
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -The pictures on the walls and the old videos Bob Stoops shows to his players serve as a reminder that Oklahoma's program has been thriving for decades, since long before any of them were around.On Saturday night, Oklahoma can add
<< Penguins sign F Mike Comrie to $500,000 contract
PITTSBURGH (AP) - The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed forward Mike Comrie to a $500,000, one-year contract, giving them a proven scorer who might be capable of playing on one of their top three lines.The Penguins, looking for affordable scoring help
Stosur, Dementieva first into U.S. Open fourth round >>
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Samantha Stosur of Australia and
Russia's Elena Dementieva were third-round winners Friday at the U.S. Open.
The fifth-seeded Stosur thumped Italy's Sara Errani, 6-2, 6-3, while the 12th-
seeded Dement
Maple Leafs' stock slowly rising >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There is guarded optimism surrounding the
Toronto Maple Leafs heading into the 2010-11 NHL season, much of that due to
the astute moves made this offseason by general manager Brian Burke.
Through trade
Morgan gets eight games, Volstad six after Nats/Marlins brawl >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington Nationals outfielder Nyjer Morgan
was suspended for eight games and Florida Marlins pitcher Chris Volstad was
given a six-game penalty for their roles in Wednesday's benches-clearing
inciden
Jimenez shoots 61 for European Masters lead >>
Crans Montana, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Five days after locking down his
Ryder Cup spot, Miguel Angel Jimenez came close to locking down a piece of
golf history.
Jimenez flirted with a 59 Friday during the second round of the European
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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