Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
07/19/2010 -
PHOENIX (AP) -A person with knowledge of the situation says the Phoenix Suns have hired agent Lon Babby to head the team's basketball operations.
The person, who asked not to be identified because the official announcement has not been made, told The Associated Press that Babby will be introduced at a news conference at US Airways Center on Tuesday.
Until his move to the front office, Babby represented the Suns' newly acquired Hedo Turkoglu and is the former agent of Phoenix's other recent addition, Josh Childress.
Babby emerged in recent days as the leading contender in Suns owner Robert Sarver's search for a replacement for general manager Steve Kerr, who stepped down at the end of June and has returned to his previous role of NBA analyst for TNT.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
<< Fish eases into second round in Atlanta
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sixth-seeded Mardy Fish advanced into the
second round of the Atlanta Tennis Championships with a straight-set win over
Britain's James Ward on Monday.
The American, who brings some momentum into the t
<< Clippers agree on deal to bring back Craig Smith
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Clippers have agreed to a
contract with free agent forward Craig Smith.
Smith averaged 7.8 points and 3.8 rebounds in 16.4 minutes of action in 75
games last season for LA while hittin
<< Suns reportedly set to add Babby to front office
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Suns have called a news
conference for Tuesday morning, when it is expected Lon Babby will be named
president of basketball operations.
Phoenix indicated only that a "major announcem
<< Nowitzki re-signs with Mavs
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nine-time All-Star forward Dirk Nowitzki signed
his contract with the Dallas Mavericks on Monday.
The deal, which is reportedly worth $80 million over four years, allows
Nowitzki to remain with the team
Tigers lose 3B Inge for 4-6 weeks with hand fracture >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit's Brandon Inge was hit on the left hand
by a pitch in Monday's game versus Texas and suffered a non-displaced fracture
of the fifth metacarpal bone. He's expected to miss the next 4-to-6 weeks.
Rangers
Pujols, Cardinals charge past Phillies >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Albert Pujols crushed a two-run homer as part
of a five-run fifth inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals overcame an early
deficit to beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-4, in the opener of a four-game
series
Donnie Murphy homers in ninth to lift Marlins over Rockies >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pinch-hitter Donnie Murphy hit a two-run homer
off Huston Street in the bottom of the ninth, as the Florida Marlins edged the
Colorado Rockies, 9-8, in the opener of a four-game series at Sun Life
Stadium
Seven-run third inning propels Rays to win over O's >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wade Davis threw eight strong innings and was
backed by a seven-run third inning, as the Tampa Bay Rays crushed the
Baltimore Orioles, 8-1, in the opener of a three-game series at Camden Yards.
Davis
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.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting