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10/23/2007 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National Football League announced it's moving back the start time of the draft for next year and will give teams less time to select a player in the first round.
The draft will start at 3 p.m. (et), three hours later than originally scheduled. Also, there will be 10 minutes between picks instead of the normal 15, this after the opening round lasted more than six hours in 2007.
In Round 2, the selection time has been shortened to seven minutes from 10 minutes.
The first two rounds will take place on the first day of the draft, scheduled for Saturday, April, 26, 2008. Previously, the first three rounds of the draft were conducted on Saturday.
"We believe these changes will make for a more streamlined and efficient draft," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said at a league meeting in Philadelphia.
Rounds 3-7 will be conducted on Sunday, with each selection allocated five minutes. The draft on Sunday will begin at 10 a.m. (et), an hour earlier than in years past.
<< Bush powers Saints to second straight victory
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After starting the season 0-4, the New Orleans Saints are
treating every game like a must-win.
That's just fine for Reggie Bush, who ran for 54 yards and added five
receptions for 19 yards and the game's biggest score as N
<< T-Jack's Dallas disaster sets Vikings back
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adrian Peterson was the National Football League's leading
rusher entering last Sunday's game in Dallas. And, it was a homecoming of
sorts for the star rookie, who grew up about 90 minutes east of Texas Stadium
in Palestine a
<< Rockford's Byfuglien wins AHL Player of the Week honors
Springfield, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The American Hockey League announced today
that Rockford IceHogs defenseman Dustin Byfuglien has been named the Rbk/AHL
Player of the Week for the period ending October 21, 2007. Byfuglien recorded
one goal, f
<< Isles' Berard out with groin injury
Uniondale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Islanders defenseman Bryan Berard
will miss 2-to-4 weeks due to a groin injury.
The injury happened on Saturday, in the second period of a 4-3 overtime win
versus the New Jersey Devils.
The
Post positions drawn for 24th Breeders' Cup >>
Oceanport, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Post positions and the morning-line odds have
been set for the 24th running of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, which
will be held this Friday and Saturday at Monmouth Park for the first time.
The fea
CFB - When a push is not a push >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Check this out. Florida was a seven-
point favorite over Kentucky last Saturday in a crucial SEC East battle. The
Gators, who were up 21-10 at the half, looked like a team on their way to
victory when they
Alouettes' Calvillo to take leave of absence >>
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Montreal Alouettes All-Star quarterback
Anthony Calvillo will take a family-related leave of absence for an
undetermined period of time.
Calvillo's wife, Alexia, needs to be hospitalized to investigate a pu
Keys to winning the 2007 World Series >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 103rd World Series is about to get underway, as the
Boston Red Sox and Colorado Rockies get ready to kick off the Fall Classic at
Fenway Park on Wednesday.
Colorado, of course, is in the midst of one of the greatest ru
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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