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03/14/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Lightning are coming off a big win over the Eastern Conference's top team. They wouldn't mind posting another one versus arguably the East's second-best team.
Tampa Bay will try to record just its third win in its last 10 games this evening when they host a Pittsburgh Penguins team at St. Pete Times Forum that is trying to avoid a third straight loss.
The Lightning visited the Capitals on Friday and managed to post a 3-2 win over the NHL's leader in points. Though Steven Stamkos had his franchise- record 18-game point streak end, Vincent Lecavalier scored for the fourth time in his last five games and defenseman Matt Walker lit the lamp for a second time in three contests after posting just two goals in his first 291 NHL games.
Brandon Bochenski also scored and Antero Niittymaki made 28 saves for Tampa Bay, which begins a four-game homestand tonight and is four points back of Boston for the eighth spot in the East.
"There's a lesson here and it's that we have to play with passion," said Tampa Bay head coach Rick Tocchet. "The bench was alive and we got a balanced effort from the whole team."
The Lightning have won seven of their last 10 at home but could be without two players tonight in Ryan Malone (upper body) and Mattias Ohlund (leg). Tampa Bay would like to have the two available as they take on the Atlantic Division-leading Penguins.
Pittsburgh, though, holds just a two-point edge over second-place New Jersey after it lost a 3-1 test to the Devils on Friday. Sidney Crosby scored the Pens' only goal against Devils netminder Martin Brodeur, his NHL-leading 45th of the season that ran his point streak to eight straight games (6 goals, 6 assists). Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 saves.
The loss was the Penguins second straight after a four-game winning streak, as well as their fifth in a row this season to the Devils. Pittsburgh plays the third test of a five-game road trip and has dropped four of its last five as the guest.
"He's played really well against us this year, but I don't think we have allowed that to frustrate us," Crosby told NHL.com of Brodeur. "I think we have done some really good things and kept coming at him, but he's kept responding. We're hoping eventually we're going to get some more behind him."
The Pens and Lightning have split two meetings so far this year, with each team winning once on home ice. Pittsburgh has won six of the last eight in the series but has lost seven of its last 11 in Tampa.
Fleury is 6-6-3 with a 2.57 goals-against average in his career versus the Lightning, while Niittymaki is 4-6-3 with a 4.18 GAA against the Pens.
<< Flyers visit Rangers in Atlantic Division battle
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Flyers hope that they made a statement with their last-
second victory on Saturday against one of the best teams in the NHL. They've
already made their impression on the Rangers this season.
Philadelphia visits Madison
<< Avalanche attempt to win season series versus Stars
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Avalanche will try to win their first season
series with the Dallas Stars in five campaigns as the two clubs meet for the
fourth and final time in the regular season this afternoon at American
Airlines Center.
<< Predators aim to extend series win streak over Kings
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There is a chance that the Predators could visit the Kings
in the postseason's opening round depending on how the Western Conference
shakes down. Los Angeles would prefer that didn't happen.
Currently seeded seventh in the
<< Capitals visit Blackhawks in clash of NHL powerhouses
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Capitals and Blackhawks could very well meet this year
in the Stanley Cup Finals, but neither probably feels like a championship-
caliber club right now.
Both Washington and Chicago will try to bounce back from disappo
A-10 title up for grabs as Owls take on Spiders >>
Atlantic City, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gunning for their ninth Atlantic 10
Conference Tournament title, the third in as many seasons, the 17th-ranked and
top-seeded Temple Owls take the floor at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City this
afternoon agai
Buckeyes battle streaking Golden Gophers for Big Ten title >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - An unlikely matchup will take place at
Conseco Fieldhouse, as the sixth-seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers will battle
the top-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes in the championship game of the Big Ten
Conference Tourna
Wildcats and Bulldogs square off for SEC crown >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The championship game of the SEC Tournament
pits the second-ranked Kentucky Wildcats against the Mississippi State
Bulldogs, the top-seeded teams from the league's East and West Divisions,
respectively.
Miss
ACC title game pits Blue Devils against Yellow Jackets >>
Greensboro, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top-seeded and fourth-ranked Duke Blue
Devils go for their record 18th ACC Tournament title today, as they take on
the seventh-seeded Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the finals at Greensboro
Coliseum.
Th
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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