11/22/2008 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - UCLA forward/center Alfred Aboya injured his left wrist in Friday's 77-60 win over Southern Illinois at the 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer.
Aboya scored 22 points for the fourth-ranked Bruins, but underwent a battery of tests after suffering the injury. A first X-ray was inconclusive, but the second came back negative. A CT scan was also negative, and the team will have Aboya undergo a precautionary MRI exam upon the team's return to Los Angeles.
"I hurt it last night (against Michigan) after a charge and then again tonight when I drew that last charge (came in the second half at the 3:38 mark by Nick Evans)," said Aboya. "I just came back from the hospital and the CT scan and X-Rays were both negative. On Monday, I'll go get an MRI on my wrist, just to double check. But I think I'll be fine. We have tomorrow and Sunday off, so for me, I think that is enough time to heal. My body heals up pretty quickly."
Aboya is averaging 9.3 points and 6.0 rebounds through four games this season.
<< Stempniak leads Blues to OT win over Ducks
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lee Stempniak's goal 2:39 into overtime
lifted St. Louis over Anaheim, 3-2, at Scottrade Center.
Stempniak gained control of the puck near center ice, and once over the Ducks'
blue line, crossed to th
<< Villanueva, Bucks crush short-handed Knicks
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Charlie Villanueva scored 20 points and
grabbed six rebounds to lead the Milwaukee Bucks in a 104-87 victory over the
New York Knicks.
Andrew Bogut scored 14 points and hauled in 17 boards for the Bu
<< Garnett returns to Minnesota to lead Celtics over T'Wolves
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Garnett made 8-of-12 field goals en
route to scoring 17 points, as the Boston Celtics notched a 95-78 win over the
Minnesota Timberwolves.
It was Garnett's first game back in Minnesota, as the lon
<< Carter's jam caps wild OT finish as Nets edge Raptors
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vince Carter poured in a season-high 39 points,
including the desperation three-pointer at the end of regulation to send the
game into overtime and the game-winning alley-oop dunk as time expired in the
extra
Badgers escape Iona with OT win >>
St. Thomas, VI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trevon Hughes scored a game-high 21
points, including four in overtime, and 25th-ranked Wisconsin escaped past
Iona, 60-58, in the final opening-round tilt of the Paradise Jam.
Jason Bohannon a
Curry leads Davidson past Winthrop >>
Davidson, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stephen Curry dropped a game-high 30 points
and handed out 13 assists to lead the 21st-ranked Davidson Wildcats past the
Winthrop Eagles, 97-70.
Andrew Lovedale scored 20 and hauled in a game-high 15
Hansbrough returns for UNC in win over UCSB >>
Santa Barbara, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tyler Hansbrough made his season debut
and scored 13 points and added seven rebounds as the top-ranked North Carolina
Tar Heels downed UC Santa Barbara, 84-67, at the Thunderdome.
Hansbrough, the rei
Harangody and Irish fight off Lions >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luke Harangody posted 27 points and 17
rebounds as the eighth-ranked Fighting Irish pulled out a surprisingly tough
65-54 decision over the Loyola-Marymount Lions.
Tory Jackson logged 16 points an
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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