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04/27/2009 - Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti still believes the Serie A title is Inter Milan's to lose despite his side's 3-0 victory over Palermo on Sunday.
Milan took advantage of a rare Inter loss against Napoli to move up to second place in the table and within seven points of the leaders.
But despite suggestions that the race for the Scudetto is back on, Ancelotti still believes that Inter will claim a third straight league title.
"We are not thinking about Inter," he said.
"We are just trying to keep the fourth-placed side, which is Fiorentina at the moment, as far away as possible.
"We are nine points clear now and this means we have done a good job over the past few weeks. This is our only thought."
(Courtesy of sportbox.tv)
<< Schalke eyes European berth
Gelsenkirchen, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Caretaker coach Mike Buskens has set
his sights on European qualification following Schalke's 1-0 victory over
Bayern Munich.
Halil Altintop's first-half header moved the Gelsenkirchen club u
<< O'Neill eyes summer transfer targets
Birmingham, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin O'Neill has admitted he needs to
add depth to his Aston Villa squad if they are to improve on this season's
exploits next term.
Villa appears to be on course to miss out on Champions Leagu
<< United rewards Rafael with new contract
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United have rewarded Rafael
Da Silva with a new long-term contract following his emergence on the first-
team scene this season.
The 18-year-old Brazilian has put pen to paper on a contr
<< Blue Jackets rookie Mason leads list of Vezina Trophy nominees
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Columbus Blue Jackets rookie netminder Steve
Mason, Boston Bruins stopper Tim Thomas and Niklas Backstrom of the Minnesota
Wild were announced as the finalists for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top
goalten
Messi commits future to Barca >>
Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lionel Messi has reiterated his desire to
play his entire career with Barcelona.
The 21-year-old Argentina star has been with the Catalan club since the age of
13 and claims he has no desire to leave t
Ramos talks up Madrid's title chances >>
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Madrid coach Juande Ramos believes
victory in next weekend's Clasico showdown with Barcelona will result in the
title heading back to the Santiago Bernabeu.
Real took advantage of Barcelona's 2
Brown, Esche lead Americans in rout of Austria at Worlds >>
Bern, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dustin Brown posted a goal and two
assists, while Robert Esche stopped 25-of-26 shots as Team USA throttled
Austria, 6-1, in Group C play at the 2009 World Championships.
Patrick O'Sullivan,
Flames D Phaneuf out for Game 6 >>
Calgary, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Calgary Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf will
miss Game 6 of his club's Western Conference quarterfinal series with the
Chicago Blackhawks Monday with an upper-body injury.
Phaneuf left in the third peri
Underdog bettors love the Super Bowl and, history suggests, the underdogs love them back. And the big dogs bite harder.
Even so, there is a warning in store for Super Bowl gamblers who must love dogs: The Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl betting lines might not be enough of a Cinderella to make it worth your while.
Although the Cardinals were widely panned as one of the worst division winners and least playoff-worthy teams in recent memory, their trip to Super Bowl XLIII Jan. 31 in Tampa against the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl betting lines comes with a little more respect from the oddsmakers than you might imagine. They are a 7-point underdog at most sports books.
If you count yourself among those who covet the big dog in the big game, this isn’t exactly great news. You should have been hoping for more points. This is because the facts show that the bigger the dog, the better the bet in the Super Bowl.
Case in point: Over the past 13 seasons, double-figure underdogs in the Super Bowl are 4-0-1 ATS and have won the past three outright. In fact, the last double-digit chalk to do the deed for bettors was the 1995 San Francisco 49ers, who managed to beat the astounding 19-point spot afforded backers of the San Diego Chargers in the 49-26 romp in Super Bowl XXIX.
By contrast, 7-point favorites are 2-1-1 ATS in the same span, the last such contest resulting a cover grinded out by the Colts in their 29-17 win over the Bears two seasons ago in Super Bowl XLI.
In 2004, the Patriots failed to cover the number in their 32-29 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl props while the Rams and Titans gave everyone a refund in 2000 after the Rams posted a 23-16 win as a seven-point favorite.
So while Arizona’s run has included impressive upsets as a 10-point road underdog to the Carolina Panthers and Sunday’s 32-25 win in the NFC championship game to the 4-point favored Philadelphia Eagles, their long-shot story lacks a bit of the David vs. Goliath storyline of past Super Bowl underdogs.
While the seven-point spread represents a significant gap in the perception of strength between the two teams, it is far from monumental. For example, last season the Giants were the wild-card afterthought turned road-warrior buzzsaw, with stunning wins over the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers to earn their place in the Super Bowl.
There, they played spoiler to New England’s bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history and cemented their place in sports betting lore with a 17-14 win as a 12.5-point underdog.
In other words, the Cardinals appear to have their work cut out for them as a mid-range underdog. But in homage to the spread beaters who have come before them, here is a brief look back at recent colossal upsets in the Super Bowl:
SB XLII -- 2008 -- New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14 (Giants +12.5) – Eli Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute clinched the historic upset for the Giants, who used a masterful defensive plan to slow down Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots.
XXXVI -- 2002 -- Patriots 20, Rams 17 (Patriots +14) – This was the coming out party for the aforementioned Brady, who went from obscure sixth-round draft pick to Super Bowl hero in one fell swoop. He led the game-winning drive in the final minute – eschewing analyst John Madden’s advice to take a knee and play for overtime – leading to Adam Vinatieri’s memorable 48-yard field goal that split the uprights as time expired.
XXXII 1998 Broncos 31, Packers 24 (Denver +12) – The first of John Elway’s two consecutive Super Bowl titles to put an end to his Hall of Fame career was an upset for the ages. The Broncos used the determination of Elway and a 157-yard, three-touchdown performance from Terrell Davis to turn back Brett Favre and the heavily favored Packers.
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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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