Duke routs North Carolina in ACC clash
NCAA Basketball Betting Lines
02/06/2012 - Durham, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tricia Liston led No. 5 Duke with 23 points as it trounced in-state rival and 22nd-ranked North Carolina, 96-56, at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Monday.
The Blue Devils (19-3, 10-0 ACC) had five scorers in double figures including 17 points from Richa Jackson and 15 points from Chelsea Gray. Duke has now won two straight since a loss to No. 3 UConn snapped Duke's 34-game home winning streak last Monday.
Chay Shegog scored 19 points and Krista Gross added eight points and seven rebounds for North Carolina (17-6, 7-3), which had its five-game winning streak halted.
Duke used a 14-2 run in the first half to gain a 23-12 advantage with 7:51 left until intermission.
The Blue Devils ended the first half a scorching 8-of-10 from long range, while the Tar Heels managed to make just 1-of-8 from behind the arc as Duke took a convincing 50-24 lead into the locker room.
Duke continued to dominate in the second half, despite a 2-for-10 performance from long range, as it pulled away for the 40-point victory.
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Phil Kessel tallied twice and added one assist, as Toronto doubled up Edmonton, 6-3, at Air Canada Centre. Clarke MacArthur, Joffrey Lupul and Tyler Bozak also lit the lamp for the Maple Leafs, who have ta
<< Denmon helps Missouri edge Oklahoma
Norman, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marcus Denmon made four three-pointers en route
to 25 points, as the fourth-ranked Missouri Tigers snuck past the Oklahoma
Sooners, 71-68.
Ricardo Ratliffe added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Tigers (22
<< No. 24 Louisville routs Connecticut
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Smith scored 16 points and Gorgui
Dieng added 15 to lead No. 24 Louisville to a thorough 80-59 throttling of
Connecticut.
Kyle Kuric chipped in 10 points and nine rebounds, while Chane Behanan
<< Carmelo Anthony leaves game with strained groin
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Knicks star forward Carmelo Anthony suffered a
strained right groin in Monday's game against the Utah Jazz and will not
return.
He suffered the injury near the midpoint of the first quarter as he
<< BU downs Harvard, gains Beanpot final
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kieran Millan stopped 29 shots and Wade Megan
tallied twice as Boston University took a 3-1 decision over Harvard in the
first semifinal matchup of the 60th annual Beanpot from TD Garden.
Matt Nieto als
Newark, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bulls shot 55.6 percent from the floor, made nine three-pointers and went 19-of-23 from the foul line en route to an easy 108-87 win over the New Jersey Nets on Monday night. But it was not al
Sixers escape with win over Lakers >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lou Williams scored 14 of his 24 points in
the fourth quarter as the Philadelphia 76ers rallied late to down the Los
Angeles Lakers, 95-90, at Wells Fargo Center.
Jrue Holiday added 13 points and si
Nash, Suns strike down Hawks >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Nash scored 24 points and handed out 11
assists, as the Phoenix Suns downed the Atlanta Hawks, 99-90 at Philips Arena.
Channing Frye contributed 19 points and nine rebounds, while Michael Redd and
Jare
No Stoudemire, no Anthony, no problem: Knicks roll past Jazz >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Knicks were playing without Amare
Stoudemire and lost Carmelo Anthony to an injury early in the game, but Jeremy
Lin had 28 points and eight assists in his first career start to lift New York
over th
Paul helps Clippers beat Magic in OT >>
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Paul filled the stat sheet with 29
points, including 13 in the fourth quarter and overtime, to go with eight
assists and seven rebounds as the Los Angeles Clippers took down
the Orl
What Is the Point Spread?
What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?
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.
How to Read Point Spreads
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:
- Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
OR
- Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.
-
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.
For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
- Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
OR
- Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score
Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?
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.