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07/23/2010 - Sandy, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Salt Lake will aim to start a new streak when it hosts Chivas USA in a Major League Soccer tilt on Saturday night at Rio Tinto Stadium.
RSL (9-4-3) is coming off a 2-0 loss at Dallas that snapped a 10-game unbeaten run in league play.
"We move forward," RSL coach Jason Kreis said after the game. "We need to forget that game as quickly as possible. The biggest concern is how the players will view it and whether or not they can move on quickly. We haven't lost a game in a long time, so it feels brand new."
The goals scored against RSL were the first scored against it in the last eight matches, and first multiple goals allowed since mid-April.
"I think we got the streak from our hard work," RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando said. "But that doesn't mean we weren't working hard, because we worked hard and I think that kind of grounds us a little bit, to know that these next couple of games we've got to make some points up to catch the leaders [The Los Angeles Galaxy]."
Chivas USA (4-9-2), on the other hand, is just trying to build on its last league fixture, a 2-0 win over Kansas City two weeks ago.
Striker Justin Braun scored both of his team's goals to end a seven-game winless streak for the last-placed Goats.
"Today, the level of concentration was there for 93 minutes, which is why we take the win," Chivas USA coach Martin Vasquez told mlssoccer.com after the match. "We knew it was going to be difficult. Winning [at CommunityAmerica Ballpark] 2-0, I think it's going to help us to keep building."
The key to the win was obviously the strong finishes by Braun, who is starting to really find his game.
"The goals are coming for me now, and it's nice," he told mlssoccer.com. "It shows that all my hard work has paid off for me. I put a lot into it this year at training and working on my touch and finishing. I think it is finally showing for me."
<< Melzer and Golubev advance to semis in Hamburg
Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jurgen Melzer and Andrey Golubev were
two of four quarterfinal winners at the German Open Tennis Championships
on Friday.
Melzer dispatched Potito Starace of Italy, 6-4, 6-1, in only 69 minu
<< Kings sign free agents Wright and Jeter
Sacramento, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Sacramento Kings have signed
forward/guard Antoine Wright and guard Pooh Jeter, the team announced Friday.
Wright averaged 6.5 points and 2.8 rebounds per game in 67 contests for
Toron
<< Timberwolves' Kahn fined for inappropriate remarks
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball
operations David Kahn has been fined $50,000 for his recent remarks about
forward Michael Beasley, for whom the team recently traded.
Kahn spoke about Beasl
<< Riera leaves Liverpool to join Olympiakos
Athens, Greece (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Albert Riera has left Liverpool to sign with
Olympiakos, the Greek club announced on Friday.
Riera signed with Liverpool from Spanish side Espanyol in 2008 for a fee of
$12 million, but he has now moved t
Chakvetadze reaches semifinals in Slovenia >>
Portoroz, Slovenia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anna Chakvetadze overcame a dropped set
and saved two match points to beat fellow Russian Vera Dushevina on Friday in
the quarterfinals at the Slovenia Open.
The sixth-seeded Dushevina had a 5-3 le
Chen and Dambaugh in U.S. Girls' Junior final >>
Village of Pinehurst, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Doris Chen and Katelyn Dambaugh
won both of their matches on Friday to advance to the final of the U.S. Girls'
Junior Championship.
Chen first knocked off stroke-play medalist Danielle Ka
Orioles' Wigginton suspended, will appeal >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Baltimore Orioles infielder Ty Wigginton has
been suspended by Major League Baseball for three games for his on-field
argument and subsequent volatile reaction with an umpire in Thursday's game
against
Coaches: Players also responsible for agent probe >>
HOOVER, Ala. (AP) -Tennessee coach Derek Dooley and Auburn's Gene Chizik both say the onus isn't just on agents to follow the rules, college athletes know the difference between right and wrong.``A lot of this has got to go back to the young guy,''
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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