11/20/2008 - Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Dolphins have reportedly come to terms on a three-year contract extension with wideout Greg Camarillo, the team's leading receiver.
The Miami Herald reported Thursday that the Dolphins and Camarillo have agreed to a three-year extension worth $6 million.
Camarillo has 49 catches for 538 yards -- both tops among Miami receivers -- and one touchdown this season. This has been a breakout campaign for the Stanford product, who had eight catches for 160 yards and two scores last year for the Dolphins, his first with the club after a season in San Diego.
The Dolphins picked Camarillo up off waivers from the Chargers last season, and he worked his way up from the practice squad into a starting role.
<< Atletico forced to play PSV behind closed doors
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atletico Madrid has been told it will have to
play next week's Champions League game against PSV Eindhoven behind closed
doors.
The Spanish side partially lost their appeal to the Court of Arbitratio
<< Arsenal's Walcott out at least three months
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger confirmed that
Theo Walcott was forced to have surgery on his dislocated shoulder on Thursday
morning.
The 19-year-old suffered the injury on Tuesday during training in the b
<< Browns QB Quinn to play despite broken finger
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleveland Browns quarterback Brady Quinn has
a broken right index finger, but it apparently won't sideline him for Sunday's
game against Houston.
Quinn, who has started the last two games for the Browns, has
<< Phils' Utley, Feliz need surgery
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies announced
Thursday that half of its starting infield -- All- Star second baseman Chase
Utley and third baseman Pedro Feliz -- will undergo surgery.
Utley will have surg
New Boss: Hal Steinbrenner officially takes control of Yankees >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major League Baseball owners approved a shift
of control of the New York Yankees from George Steinbrenner to his son Hal on
Thursday.
Steinbrenner's sons, Hank and Hal, had been named co-chairpersons of the
England's young stars impress captain Terry >>
Berlin, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - England captain John Terry was relieved to
head in the winning goal in the 2-1 friendly success against Germany after his
earlier blunder had allowed Joachim Low's side to grab an equalizer.
Dithering by
St. Mirren's Barron suffers setback in recovery >>
Paisley, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Mirren right back David Barron has
suffered a setback as he continues his recovery from a knee ligament problem.
The 21-year-old suffered medial ligament damage in his left knee during a
fri
Crew's Schelotto wins MVP >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Columbus Crew midfielder Guillermo Barros
Schelotto was named Major League Soccers Most Valuable Player on Thursday.
Schelotto, from Buenos Aires, Argentina, led MLS with 19 assists - tied for the
second
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.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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