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03/11/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vancouver Canucks will try to get right back in the win column tonight when they visit the Anaheim Ducks and the Honda Center.
The Canucks had matched their longest winning streak of the season with four straight victories prior to Monday's 3-2 setback to Los Angeles. Still, the loss was just Vancouver's third in its last 15 games.
With 76 points on the season, the Canucks are fifth overall in the Western Conference and are now within eight points of first-place Calgary in the Northwest Division. Vancouver is also just five points behind Chicago for the fourth seed in the conference.
Alex Burrows and Taylor Pyatt scored in Monday's defeat for the Canucks, who also lost for the third time in their last eight road games. Vancouver is 16-12-4 as the guest this year and begins a four-game homestand versus the Kings on Friday.
Roberto Luongo allowed three goals on 22 shots in defeat, only his second in his last 14 starts. Luongo hasn't allowed more than three goals in any of his last 11 outings and is 7-6-0 with a 2.50 goals against average in his career versus the Ducks.
Meanwhile, Anaheim will try to avoid dropping four games in a row since doing so to begin the season from October 9-15. The Ducks' current slide reached three games after Sunday's 3-2 loss to Minnesota.
Todd Marchant netted a short-handed goal and Scott Niedermayer lit the lamp in the game's final minute for the Ducks, who have also dropped four of their last five games. Jonas Hiller stopped 22-of-25 shots in defeat, his third straight losing start.
The Ducks now sit in a tie with St. Louis for 11th overall in the West, three points back of a postseason spot. The club will try to halt a four-game home losing streak tonight, with the last two setbacks of that skid coming on its current five-game homestand. Anaheim, which will also host San Jose and Nashville, is 15-15-3 at Honda Center this year.
Jean-Sebastien Giguere should return to net tonight and is just 1-2-1 over his last four starts. He has yielded three goals in each game.
The Ducks have lost both of their meetings with the Canucks so far this year, including a 7-6 shootout setback at home on October 31. Vancouver has won five of the last six in the series and three of its last five trips to Anaheim.
Giguere is 9-9-1 with a pair of ties and 2.80 GAA in his career versus Vancouver. He did not make it out of the second period in his lone start against them this year, allowing four goals on 13 shots faced.
<< Streaking Sens welcome Tampa to town
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ottawa Senators will shoot for their fourth straight
victory when they welcome the Tampa Bay Lightning for tonight's battle at
Scotiabank Place.
The Senators are trying to work their way into the playoff picture, but t
<< Ailing Wolves hope to snap skid vs. Grizzlies
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Having failed to record a victory in three weeks, the
Minnesota Timberwolves are probably glad to see the Memphis Grizzlies on the
schedule.
The badly-struggling Timberwolves will attempt to earn their fourth straight
win
<< Streaking Pistons welcome Knicks to The Palace
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Pistons continue their playoff push when the
resurgent club hosts the New York Knicks tonight at the Palace of Auburn
Hills.
Detroit enters this evening's matchup having won five of its last six games
and is c
<< Celtics visit South Beach to take on Wade, Heat
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dwyane Wade is in the midst of one of the most remarkable
stretches of his six-year NBA career. The Miami Heat will be counting on
another sensational performance from their All-Star guard in hopes of earning
their first win
Scorching Jazz seek 13th straight win in Atlanta >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wins are piling up at a rapid pace for the suddenly-
streaking Utah Jazz, who will shoot for their 13th consecutive victory
Wednesday against the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena.
The Jazz have won a season-high 12 straight
Hornets aim for a rebound against Wizards >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Hornets will resume a four-game road trip
Wednesday against the lowly Washington Wizards at the Verizon Center.
The Hornets had their seven-game winning streak stopped Monday in Atlanta in
the opener of thi
Slumping Sixers open homestand with Raptors >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia 76ers haven't been able to find their
rhythm since the All-Star break, but will try to regroup tonight versus the
Toronto Raptors at the Wachovia Center in the opener of a three-game
homestand.
The 76ers
Steelers keep Colon with one-year deal >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Steelers retained the
services of Willie Colon, inking the restricted free agent offensive tackle to
a one-year contract.
Colon, who will turn 26 on April 9, was originally selected by
Kansas City, MO - Kansas City has not officially named Matt Cassel its starting quarterback, but there can be no doubt now.
NFL Betting
After praising his leadership and work ethic through spring workouts, the Chiefs announced Tuesday they had signed the 27-year-old Cassel to a multiyear contract. Terms were not disclosed, but he will almost certainly be one of the highest-paid members of the team.
"We are excited to be able to reach a long-term agreement for Matt Cassel to be a Kansas City Chief for many years to come," owner and board chairman Clark Hunt said in a statement. "His proven leadership on and off the field will be a tremendous asset to the organization."
Patriots made him their franchise player, meaning his salary for this season will be about $15 million.
New head coach Todd Haley, taking over for Herm Edwards after a 2-14 season, refused to name a starter at any position during offseason workouts. But it was obvious to everyone the team belonged to Cassel.
"I go out there each and every day with that focus that I'm the starter," Cassel said during a June minicamp. "Competition brings out the best in everybody."
The signing will come as welcome news to Cassel's new coaches and teammates. Amiable and hardworking, online football betting he appeared to win over everyone at minicamp.
"I think he's got some unique leadership qualities. I think his teammates like him and have respect for him. I think he's doing a pretty good job on the field, too," Haley said last month. "He's doing everything that I'm asking him, that our coaches are asking him to do. I don't have one single complaint how he's carrying himself."
After one workout, wide receiver Devard Darling declared Cassel "a breath of fresh air."
"He has a lot of swagger, a lot of confidence. It's good for us," said Darling. "We trust in him that he's going to go out there and lead us all the way."
nse to accommodate his specific abilities.
Trapped on the bench behind Heisman winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at USC and then unable to unseat Super Bowl MVP Brady at New England, Cassel seemed destined to be a backup all his life. As Brady was helped off the field last September, Cassel seized the opportunity he'd been waiting for since high school.
In his only sustained action since his teens, he hit 349 of 555 passes for 3,949 yards at New England. He had 23 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions as the Patriots, who had gone unbeaten through the regular season the year before, finished 11-5 and out of the playoffs.
Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli, who had been Bill Belichick's assistant in New England, engineered the trade after the Patriots became convinced that Brady would recover fully from his knee operation.
"Since Matt arrived in Kansas City, he has embraced the team and the community," Pioli said. "His work ethic, his ability and competitive presence is what we expect from our players."
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.
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.
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