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06/13/2007 - Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics have extended the contracts of general manager Billy Beane and team president Michael Crowley through the 2014 season.
"Mike and Billy were my first free agent signings and both continue to demonstrate their talents as two of the finest executives in the sports industry today," said team owner Lew Wolff. "I am very pleased their relationship with the A's will continue during one of the most exciting and important times in our team's history."
Beane is considered one of the more innovative general managers in the game, able to build contenders with a moderate payroll. Since he took over the GM duties in October of 1997, the A's have compiled an 859-661 record, which is the third best record in the American League and fourth best in all of baseball during that time frame. The A's have reached the postseason five times in the last seven seasons with four American League West titles.
Crowley has been with the organization 10 years, nine as team president. His tenure is the second longest among those who have served in the same capacity since 1968.
<< Pinehurst to host 2014 US Open
Far Hills, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The United States Golf Association announced
that Pinehurst will host the 2014 U.S. Open championship
The revered North Carolina course has hosted eight USGA championships,
including two Opens in 199
<< Atlanta activates Chipper
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves activated third baseman
Chipper Jones from the 15-day disabled list Wednesday.
Jones has been sidelined since May 24 with bruised hands that required
cortisone shots. When his ri
<< LB Armstead officially retires as a Giant
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Linebacker Jessie Armstead signed a
one-day contract with the New York Giants and officially retired with the team
he spent nine years with.
Armstead, originally the 207th player chosen in the 1993
<< Marlins place Owens on DL
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Marlins placed pitcher Henry
Owens on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder inflammation on
Wednesday.
The move is retroactive to June 9.
Owens is 2-0 with four saves
Stairs, Hill help Jays avoid sweep, down Giants >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Stairs and Aaron Hill each knocked
in a pair of runs and Dustin McGowan pitched six solid innings as Toronto
defeated San Francisco, 7-4, to avoid a three-game sweep.
McGowan (3-2) gave up
Wofford's Gibson withdraws from NBA draft >>
Spartanburg, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wofford point guard Drew Gibson announced
Wednesday he will return to school for his senior season, choosing to withdraw
his name from this month's NBA draft.
Gibson averaged 12.8 points per game as a jun
Tampa Bay welcomes back Gratton for the third time >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Lightning reacquired forward Chris
Gratton from the Florida Panthers on Wednesday in exchange for a second-round
pick in either the 2007 or 2008 draft.
Gratton was the Lightning's first-round c
Orioles' Loewen to have season-ending surgery >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Baltimore Orioles pitcher Adam Loewen
has opted to have season-ending surgery on his left elbow after visiting with
Dr. James Andrews on Wednesday
The left-hander spent a month trying to rehab from
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.
The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
The 2008 NFL betting lines season is almost upon us! If you like to bet on the NFL, you are in the best possible place for online betting. The sportsbook has NFL odds up on a ton of futures, and you will also find NFL lines up for early games as well. Join sportbook today and we'll help guide you right through to Super Bowl XLIII and beyond!
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