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04/29/2010 - South Orange, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seton Hall basketball player Herb Pope was rushed to the hospital Wednesday after collapsing during an afternoon workout session.
The Newark Star-Ledger reported he was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital and underwent testing. No further details have been released.
Pope led the Big East in rebounding with 10.7 per-game last season, along with 11.5 points and 2.0 assists. He then declared for the NBA draft but did not hire an agent.
The 6-8 transfer forward from New Mexico State has experienced multiple issues in his life. While at New Mexico State, Pope was shot in March 2007 after leaving a party. Also, in the final game of the 2009 season against Texas Tech -- a first round matchup of the National Invitational Tournament -- Pope was ejected after punching a player twice below the belt.
<< Pachuca wins CONCACAF Champions League
Pachuca, Mexico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pachuca topped fellow Mexican club Cruz
Azul in the CONCACAF Champions League final on Wednesday night with a
stoppage-time goal, 1-0.
Edgar Benitez scored in the third minute of stoppage time
<< Cardinals send Braves to eighth straight loss
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jaime Garcia pitched seven shutout innings,
and the St. Louis Cardinals extended Atlanta's losing streak with a 6-0 win
over the Braves at Busch Stadium.
Garcia (2-1) allowed only four hits and a wal
<< Fear the Deer: Bucks steal Game 5 in Atlanta to take series lead
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John Salmons scored eight of his 19 points
during a huge fourth-quarter run as the Bucks rallied for a 91-87 win over
Atlanta to grab the lead after five games of their Eastern Conference
quarter
<< Leake pitches Reds past Astros
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scott Rolen drove in two runs and Mike Leake
tossed seven solid innings as the Cincinnati Reds took the second game of a
three-game set from the Houston Astros, 6-4, at Minute Maid Park.
Drew Stubbs adde
Orioles minor leaguer Tillman tosses no-hitter >>
Lawrenceville, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Orioles minor leaguer Chris Tillman
tossed a no-hitter for Norfolk Wednesday night in a 6-0 Triple-A win over the
Gwinnett Braves.
Tillman walked one batter and had six strikeouts, throwing 63
Sharp-shooting Nuggets topple Jazz to stave off elimination >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carmelo Anthony scored 26 points and pulled
down 11 rebounds, as the hot-shooting Denver Nuggets beat Utah, 116-102, to
force a sixth game in their Western Conference quarterfinal series.
Chauncey Billu
Sabres retain coach Ruff for 1 more season >>
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -The Buffalo Sabres have picked up the one-year option on head coach Lindy Ruff's contract, which means he will be back for a 13th season.Sabres minority owner Larry Quinn announced the move during a news conference Thursday, thre
Yanks to face highly-touted Matusz in finale with O's >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie left-hander Brian Matusz can pitch the Baltimore
Orioles to their first series win of the season this evening, when they play
the rubber match of their three-game series with the New York Yankees at
Camden Yards.
A
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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