03/04/2007 - Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tennessee Titans released running back Travis Henry after failing to rework his contract.
Henry rushed for 1,211 yards and seven touchdowns in 2006, the best season by a Titans running back since 2000.
In 78 career games -- with Buffalo and Tennessee -- Henry has accumulated 5,395 rushing yards and 34 TDs. He has also caught 134 balls for another 886 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
<< Wizards welcome Warriors to Washington
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Wizards resume a four-game homestand this
afternoon when they host the Golden State Warriors at the Verizon Center.
Washington, which is 1-1 on the stand, put the brakes on a four-game losing
streak w
<< Bulls, Bucks set for battle at Bradley Center
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bulls will shoot for their third straight win
today when they open a four-game road trip against the Milwaukee Bucks at the
Bradley Center.
The Bulls notched a 104-93 victory over the New Orleans/Oklahoma C
<< Canucks, Wild to battle for Northwest supremacy
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - First place in the competitive Northwest Division will be
on the line when the Vancouver Canucks and Minnesota Wild renew their rivalry
tonight at General Motors Place.
Only one point separates the third-place Wild f
<< Suns welcome Kobe, Lakers to town
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Suns resume their five-game homestand this
afternoon when they host the Los Angeles Lakers at US Airways Center.
Phoenix opened the stand with Friday's 115-90 win over the Indiana Pacers, as
Amare Stoude
'Skins bring back CB Smoot >>
Ashburn, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Redskins signed defensive back
Fred Smoot on Sunday.
Terms of the contract were not disclosed.
Smoot rejoins the Redskins after spending the previous two seasons with
Minnesota. Wit
Bucs sign FB Askew >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed free agent
fullback B.J. Askew on Sunday.
In his first four seasons with the New York Jets, Askew carried the ball just
27 times for 102 yards and caught just 12 pass
It's all cotton for Korver >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kyle Korver has one of the smoothest strokes in the NBA,
and is starting to catch fire for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Korver has been Philly's most valuable weapon off the bench this season and is
averaging 14.6 points a
No. 5 Gators down Kentucky >>
Gainesville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joakim Noah led a balanced Florida attack
with 17 points and 10 rebounds as the fifth-ranked Gators dumped Kentucky,
85-72, in the regular season finale for both teams at the O'Connell Center.
Taurean
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 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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“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
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