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02/09/2012 - Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich acquired Switzerland starlet Xherdan Shaqiri from Basel on Thursday and signed him to a four-year contract.
The 20-year-old Shaqiri will join Bayern this summer on a contract through the 2015-16 season. He debuted for Basel in 2009, and helped lead the squad to the last 16 of the Champions League this season, where it will face Bayern.
"Xherdan's intelligent play and dribbling skill will add to our team's strength next season," Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes said. "I've been observing him for a while now, and I'm convinced he can become a very important player for FC Bayern."
Shaqiri debuted for Switzerland and has played 17 times and scored four goals. Although the transfer fee was not officially announced, various reports have put the number at around $15 million.
After leading Basel through the group stage of the Champions League with a win over Manchester United, Shaqiri was coveted by most of Europe's top clubs.
<< Symetra Tour announces 2012 slate
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Symetra Tour announced its schedule
for the 2012 season on Thursday.
The schedule for the LPGA's developmental tour will have 16 events in 12
states and one in Mexico, and includes a purse of
<< Swansea signs coach Rodgers to long-term deal
Swansea, Wales (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Swansea City signed coach Brendan Rodgers to
a 3 1/2-year contract extension Thursday through the 2014-15 season.
Rodgers, 39, led the Wales club to the Premier League in his first full season
and has the cl
<< Ticats reach deals with pair of receivers
Hamilton, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tiger-Cats signed Bakari Grant to a
contract extension that will keep the receiver in Hamilton through the 2014
season.
Grant caught 42 passes for 507 yards and two touchdowns as a rookie l
<< U.S. will host friendly against Brazil in May
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The U.S. men's national team will host five-
time World Cup champion Brazil in a friendly on May 30 in Landover, Md. during
final preparations for 2014 World Cup qualifying.
The U.S. opened the year with win
Bayern's Schweinsteiger tears ankle ligament >>
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich and German midfielder Bastian
Schweinsteiger faces another layoff after tearing an ankle ligament in a Pokal
Cup win over Stuttgart, the club announced Thursday.
Schweinsteiger, who was sidel
Hawks sign Erick Dampier >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Hawks have added some depth to a
banged-up front line by signing veteran center Erick Dampier to a 10-day
contract.
Centers Al Horford and Jason Collins are both sidelined with injuries, le
England names Pearce interim coach >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - England named Stuart Pearce interim coach
Thursday, one day after Fabio Capello resigned.
Pearce will manage England against Netherlands in a friendly later this month,
while the English FA searches for a
Real Madrid's Altintop sustains calf injury >>
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Madrid's Hamit Altintop has sustained a
muscle tear in his left calf and will likely be sidelined for a few weeks, the
La Liga club announced Thursday.
Although Real Madrid gave no exact timetable for
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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