IndyCar cancels championship celebration event
Autoracing Betting Lines
10/17/2011 - Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Following the death of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon, officials from the IZOD IndyCar Series have called off Monday's Championship Celebration at Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas.
Wheldon was killed in a 15-car crash that occurred in the early going of Sunday's season-ending race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Race officials canceled the scheduled 300-mile race after the lap 11 incident. Drivers later paid tribute to Wheldon with a five-lap parade around the 1.5-mile track.
"No words can describe my feelings as I reflect on my memories of Dan," IndyCar Chief Executive Officer Randy Bernard said in a statement. "His infectious smile, bubbly personality and big heart made Dan one of the most caring people I had ever met. You could never ask for a better ambassador to a sport.
"Dan represented IndyCar with the utmost respect and integrity. Dan will not only be immortalized as being a great racer but also a wonderful person. My prayers are with Susie and his two children in this very difficult time."
IndyCar said in a news release that information regarding a public memorial for Wheldon will be released at a later date.
Dario Franchitti claimed his record third straight and fourth overall IndyCar championship.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals weren't even sure there was a spot for them in these playoffs heading into the final day of the regular season. But, here they are back in the World Series for the third time in the last eight seas
<< Richmond announces non-conference schedules through 2016
Richmond, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Richmond announced its non-conference
opponents for the next five seasons, and the list has a bit of home state
feeling.
Of the 16 games scheduled, 11 will be against teams from Virginia.
The Spiders' serie
<< Penguins aim to keep Jets winless
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Penguins were hoping that Evgeni Malkin would help fill
the void left by injured captain Sidney Crosby, but so far the Russian's
surgically repaired knee has had trouble holding up.
Enter James Neal.
The Pitt
<< Estudiantes led by Fernandez brace
La Plata, Argentina (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gaston Fernandez recorded a brace in
Argentina Primera Division action on Sunday to help Estudiantes climb out of
the cellar with a 3-0 victory over Atletico Rafaela.
Fernandez opened the scoring f
<< Oilers welcome Predators to Rexall Place
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is certainly showing the Oilers that
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With one milestone out of the way, the rookie will try to lead Edmonton back
into th
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Inter Milan confirmed on Monday that defender Walter Samuel will miss the next two weeks because of a thigh strain. The 33-year-old sustained the injury in Inter's 2-1 defeat to Catania on Saturday, wit
Olympiacos to miss Fuster for a month >>
Athens, Greece (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Olympiacos midfielder David Fuster is
expected to miss the next month after he fractured a rib in his team's 1-1
draw with AEK Athens in league play over the weekend.
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Saints' Payton undergoes surgery >>
Metairie, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton
underwent successful surgery on Monday to repair a left tibial plateau
fracture and lateral meniscal tear, the team announced.
"The surgery went very wel
Pique sidelined two weeks by hamstring injury >>
Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barcelona defender Gerard Pique is likely
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Racing on Saturday,
McFadden returns to Everton >>
Liverpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Free agent forward James McFadden has
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The 28-year-old spent five seasons at Goodison Park,
What Is the Point Spread?
What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?
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.
How to Read Point Spreads
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:
- Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
OR
- Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.
-
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.
For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
- Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
OR
- Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score
Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?
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.
2007 NFL Football Betting Preview
“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football wagering needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.