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03/22/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks will shoot for their first three-game winning streak in nearly four months when they welcome the Phoenix Coyotes for today's clash at the Honda Center.
The Ducks last won three in a row during a four-game winning streak from November 22-30 and have posted back-to-back victories on six occasions since that stretch.
Anaheim is coming off close wins over Nashville and these same Coyotes. The Ducks recorded an overtime win over the visiting Predators on Wednesday and won a shootout decision the following night at Phoenix. This is not a home- and-home series, however, as the Coyotes hosted Vancouver on Saturday.
Bobby Ryan scored the winner in the shootout as the Ducks got a big two points in the 3-2 win over the Coyotes. Anaheim has 74 points and is tied with Minnesota and Dallas for the 10th seed in the West. The trio is just three points behind Nashville for the conference's eighth and final postseason berth.
Petteri Nokelainen and Drew Miller each lit the lamp in regulation for the Ducks. Jonas Hiller finished the game with 26 saves for Anaheim.
The Ducks are just 17-16-3 as the host this year, but have won two of their last three on home ice.
The Coyotes have won two of their last three games, but are 14th in the West with 67 points on the year. Phoenix was in action on Saturday and recorded a 5-1 victory over the visiting Canucks.
Ilya Bryzgalov made 35 saves to lead the way in the decisive victory over Vancouver at Jobing.com Arena.
The Coyotes used an odd goal to help them post the win. Victor Tikhonov was credited with a second period tally, but it was actually Vancouver's Shane O'Brien that scored the goal. O'Brien scored on his own net while a delayed penalty was called on Tikhonov, who was given his eighth goal of the season.
Also scoring for Phoenix were Matthew Lombardi, Shane Doan, Daniel Winnik and Ed Jovanovski.
The Coyotes have lost four straight and six of their last seven road tests and are just 11-21-4 as the guest this season.
Anaheim has taken three of four from the Coyotes this season and has won five of the last six matchups overall in the series. Phoenix has dropped two of three at the Honda Center, but has also won four of its last six road tests against the Ducks.
<< Sliding Blackhawks welcome Kings to town
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The stumbling Chicago Blackhawks will try to end a five-
game losing streak when they host the Los Angeles Kings in an afternoon clash
today at the United Center.
With the regular season winding down, the Blackhawks have p
<< Flyers visit sizzling Pens for key battle
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A key Eastern Conference playoff battle is on tap today in
the Steel City, as the scorching Pittsburgh Penguins welcome the rival
Philadelphia Flyers for an Atlantic Division battle at Mellon Arena.
The Penguins and Flyers
<< Heat pay a visit to Pistons at The Palace
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The recently-struggling Miami Heat will try to salvage the
finale of a four-game road trip Sunday against the Detroit Pistons at The
Palace of Auburn Hills.
Miami has dropped the first three tests of the road swing a
<< Southwest Showdown: Rockets try to pass Spurs in division
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top spot in the Southwest Division is up for grabs this
afternoon, as the Houston Rockets try to inch closer to the San Antonio Spurs
in a showdown at the AT&T Center.
Houston has won three straight games and
Surging clubs meet as Rangers host Sens at MSG >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of hot teams will meet tonight in the Big Apple, as
the New York Rangers welcome the Ottawa Senators for an Eastern Conference
battle at Madison Square Garden.
The Senators have won four straight and eight of their
No. 1 Louisville to try and avoid upset at hands of Siena >>
Dayton, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Midwest Regional was full of upsets on the
first day and the top-seeded Louisville Cardinals will try to avoid one
themselves against the ninth-seeded Siena Saints in second-round play at UD
Arena this evening.
Bruins host Devils in clash between East's top teams >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top two teams in the Eastern Conference will clash
today in Beantown, as the Boston Bruins welcome the New Jersey Devils for a
showdown at TD Banknorth Garden.
The Bruins leads the Northeast Division as well as the con
BU earns top seed for NCAA hockey tourney >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston University has been rewarded with
the top overall seed for the 2009 NCAA hockey tournament.
The Terriers (31-6-4) will be the top seed in the Northeast Regional, while
the other No. 1 seeds f
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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