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07/21/2010 - Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Timberwolves officially announced the signing of guard Luke Ridnour on Wednesday.
According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Ridnour agreed to a four-year deal worth close to $16 million last week.
"Luke's talent and experience will be helpful to our team this season and beyond," said David Kahn, the team's president of basketball operations. "He will compete for the starting point guard position this season, but no matter what role Luke is playing, we believe he'll have a positive influence with our young backcourt, much as he demonstrated last season in Milwaukee."
Ridnour, a seven-year NBA veteran, averaged 10.4 points and 4.0 assists over a full 82-game schedule for Milwaukee last season. He averaged 21.5 minutes per game off the bench after starting 50 games for the Bucks a year earlier.
Since being drafted 14th overall out of Oregon in 2003 by Seattle, the 29- year-old has appeared in 516 games for the Sonics and Bucks and averages 9.4 points and 4.8 assists.
<< Champions League to use more officials
Cardiff, Wales (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Champions League will follow the Europa
League's lead and have two extra assistant referees for the 2010-11 and
2011-12 campaigns.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) has sta
<< Marlins designate Robertson, put Hayes on DL
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Marlins designated Nate Robertson for
assignment Wednesday, a day after the starter struggled against the Colorado
Rockies.
He allowed eight runs (seven earned) in five innings and took the los
<< Arsenal hands new deal to teenager Coquelin
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - French teenager Francis Coquelin has signed
a new long-term contract with Arsenal, who have confirmed that the 19-year-old
will spend the 2010-11 campaign on loan with Lorient.
The midfielder made three f
<< Inter signs Ranocchia to new contract
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Inter Milan manager Rafa Benitez has completed
the signing of Genoa defender Andrea Ranocchia on a long-term deal.
The 22-year-old central defender teams up with the San Siro giants after
spending the pr
Sabres reach 2-year deal with RW Patrick Kaleta >>
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -Right wing Patrick Kaleta gave up an opportunity to go to arbitration by agreeing to a two-year contract with the Buffalo Sabres.Terms were not immediately available, but Kaleta was expected to earn a raise over the $522,000 he m
Sixers sign C Battie >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia 76ers added some depth to
the front court by signing veteran center Tony Battie on Wednesday.
Terms of the contract were not disclosed.
"We see Tony Battie as a player who can come in
Mets extend partnership with Triple-A Buffalo through 2012 >>
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Mets and the Triple-A Buffalo
Bisons announced a two-year extension of their player development partnership
through the 2012 season.
The Bisons began their affiliation with the Mets in 2009 a
Blues re-sign Perron >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Blues have re-signed
forward David Perron to a two-year contract.
The 22-year-old netted a career-high 20 goals last season and added 27 assists
while playing in all 82 games.
Duri
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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