12/04/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The struggling Washington Capitals will try to avoid a third straight loss when they invite the New York Islanders for tonight's battle at the Verizon Center.
The Capitals, who lead the Southeast Division with 29 points, have lost consecutive games to Columbus and Florida and are just 2-5-0 in their last seven outings. Before dropping five of seven, Washington had picked up wins in six of its previous seven contests.
Washington was blanked, 3-0, in Columbus on Saturday and then was dealt a home defeat Tuesday against the Panthers. Ville Peltonen, Radek Dvorak and Gregory Campbell each had a goal and an assist to lead Florida to a 5-3 decision as it handed the Capitals their first regulation loss at home this season.
Nicklas Backstrom, Tomas Fleischmann and Viktor Kozlov each posted a goal and assist for the Capitals. Alex Ovechkin added an assist in the losing effort.
The uneven Jose Theodore, who earned his 27th career shutout when the Caps defeated Montreal, 3-0, on Friday, allowed four goals on 21 shots for Washington, which is 9-1-1 at the Verizon Center.
The Islanders, meanwhile, ended a two-game losing streak and won for the third time in five games their last time on the ice. New York last played on Saturday when it notched a 4-2 decision over the visiting Ottawa Senators.
Freddy Meyer finished with a pair of goals and an assist to lift the Isles to the recent win at Nassau Coliseum.
Andy Hilbert and Trent Hunter each added a goal and an assist for the Islanders, while Joey MacDonald stopped 19 shots in the win.
New York has picked up 30 percent of its win total this year against the Senators, taking all three meetings between the clubs so far.
Beginning with tonight's test the Isles are playing five of six and seven of their next nine games on the road. New York is 5-5-1 as the visitor this year and has won three of its last four tests away from Long Island.
The Isles have had Washington's number in recent years, winning three straight, five of six and seven of the last nine encounters between the clubs.
New York has also had success in the nation's capital, as its earned wins in three straight and five of its previous seven trips to D.C.
<< Habs aim to extend win streak in test against Rangers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens will shoot for their third straight
victory when they welcome the New York Rangers for tonight's battle between
Original Six teams at the Bell Centre.
The Canadiens are coming off victories over Buff
<< Mighty Sharks welcome Blue Jackets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Sharks' incredible start to the season has
been matched just once in league history. The club looks to extend that start
tonight versus the Columbus Blue Jackets, a team it has dominated at HP
Pavilion.
The S
<< Tellqvist, Coyotes welcome Leafs to the desert
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Riding a hot hand, Coyotes' netminder Mikael Tellqvist will
get a chance to do some damage against an old club. Tellqvist will make his
second straight start tonight in Phoenix's home test against the Toronto Maple
Leafs at J
<< Avs take trip to Nashville without Sakic
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Avalanche will continue a three-game road trip
tonight without their captain, as they travel to Nashville to take on the
Predators at the Sommet Center.
Colorado begin its swing with a 6-5 win in Minnesota on
Caps recall Aucoin >>
Arlington, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Capitals have recalled center
Keith Aucoin from their AHL affiliate in Hershey.
Aucoin, an eighth-year pro with 53 games of NHL experience, leads the AHL in
scoring this season with 36 poi
White Sox deal P Vazquez to Braves >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves have acquired right-handed
starter Javier Vazquez and left-handed reliever Boone Logan from the Chicago
White Sox in exchange for four prospects.
Chicago will receive catcher Tyler F
NFLPA to file grievance on Burress' behalf >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National Football League Players
Association is expected to file a grievance on behalf of suspended New York
Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress.
The Giants suspended the oft-troubled recei
Keane resigns as Sunderland coach >>
Sunderland, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roy Keane sensationally resigned as
Sunderland manager on Thursday after a little over two years in charge of the
Black Cats.
The 37-year-old Irishman had cast doubts over his future on Wearside
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.
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