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02/09/2012 - Lisbon, Portugal (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Benfica and Argentina midfielder Pablo Aimar agreed to a one-year contract extension Thursday through the 2012-13 season.
Aimar, 32, joined Benfica from Spain's Real Zaragoza in 2008 and has played 85 league matches and scored 12 goals.
"I'm very proud that they want me for another year," said Aimar, according to the UEFA website. "It wasn't difficult to reach an agreement as both parties wanted this. It's another highlight of my career and my life."
Aimar played 52 matches for Argentina from 1999-2009, and has also played at River Plate and Valencia during his career.
Benfica is unbeaten after 17 games, and leads the Portuguese Liga standings by five points over FC Porto.
<< RSL re-signs four, including Espindola, Grabavoy
Sandy, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Salt Lake re-signed four players Thursday,
including forward Fabian Espindola and midfielder Ned Grabavoy.
Espindola and Grabavoy combined to make 52 appearances, including 46 starts,
last season for Rea
<< Royals, Gordon agree to one-year deal
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Royals have agreed to terms
on a one-year contract with outfielder Alex Gordon, the team announced
Thursday.
Gordon notched career-highs in batting average (.303), runs batted in
<< Ten-man Lazio rallies to defeat Cesena
Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lazio, which had a player sent off 34 minutes
into the match, rallied from two goals down Thursday for a 3-2 win over Cesena
in Serie A action at the Stadio Olimpico.
Abdoulay Konko was sent off after the hal
<< Bartoli lands in Paris quarters
Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - French crowd favorite Marion Bartoli was an
easy second-round winner Thursday in Paris.
The second-seeded former Wimbledon runner-up handled Croat Petra Martic 7-5,
6-1 on Day 3 at the Open GDF Suez.
B
Raiders cut CB Stanford Routt >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Raiders released cornerback
Stanford Routt on Thursday, just one season after he signed a three-year
contract extension.
The deal guaranteed Routt $20 million over the first two
Johnson among leaders at Pebble Beach; Tiger five back >>
Pebble Beach, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dustin Johnson, Danny Lee and Charlie Wi
shot rounds of nine-under par Thursday to take the lead after one round of the
Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
Meanwhile, Tiger Woods made his season debut on the PGA
Coastal Carolina's Duran granted sixth season >>
Conway, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NCAA has granted a sixth season of
eligibility to Coastal Carolina All-American tight end David Duran for the
2012 season.
Duran, from Marietta, Ga., played sparingly for the Chanticleers as a fifth-
year s
Nowitzki, Pierce highlight All-Star reserves >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Mavericks may not be matching
their championship-caliber performance from last season, but Dirk Nowitzki is
still playing well enough to make the Western Conference All-Star team.
Nowitzki, 3
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.
Many fans thought it was the best side in the nation by the end of last season. This year, the polls have built on Georgia's momentum and granted it the No. 1 preseason ranking, followed by Ohio State and USC. (The Associated Press has the Buckeyes at No. 2; USA Today took the Trojans.)
"To have people believing we have one of the best teams in the nation going into this thing, it's exciting for us," Bulldogs coach Mark Richt told the AP. "I don't think anything is guaranteed, but we certainly have put ourselves in position where at least the college football world thinks we're pretty good."
Georgia Bulldogs - 9.5 wins
There's no question they're good, but the Bulldogs have one of the toughest 12-game schedules in the nation, mostly because they play in the powerhouse Southeastern Conference. Away games at No. 15 Arizona State, No. 7 LSU and No. 10 Auburn loom large, with contests between the hedges versus No. 24 Alabama and No. 18 Tennessee as well as the World's Largest Cocktail Party in Jacksonville versus No.5 Florida.
Ohio State Buckeyes - 10 wins
Like the Bulldogs, the Buckeyes also have a number of tough road contests in 2008. After two scrimmages dressed up as real games versus Youngstown State and Ohio, it's off to face USC. Other tough away games include No.13 Wisconsin in October and No. 20 Illinois in November. Granted, it should be pretty easy sledding at the Horseshoe. In fact, the only ranked team that travels to Columbus is No. 22 Penn State, in October.
USC Trojans - 10.5 wins
A similarly light schedule awaits the Trojans of Southern California, which is why the oddsmakers' total is one win more and the over is currently commanding -150 odds. Pete Carroll's troops only play three ranked teams in 2008, and all of those games are at home. After what should be an easy trip to Virginia to start things off on Aug. 30, the Trojans get two weeks to prepare for Ohio State in Los Angeles. Their two other ranked opponents, No. 21 Oregon and No. 15 Arizona State, visit in consecutive weeks to start the month of October. After that, the competition eases up. Of course, this is the same highly-touted school that lost to Stanford in 2007 and Oregon State in 2006. And don't discount the fact that USC plays its biggest rivals, Notre Dame and UCLA, back-to-back to close out the regular season. On paper, the Trojans are far superior, but motivation will be high for the Irish and Bruins, especially if their historic foes are in national-title contention.
Odds to Win the Heisman Trophy
Tim Tebow, Florida - 7/2
He won it last year, so it's no surprise he's the favorite to do it again, making him just the second player to go back-to-back. Ohio State's Archie Griffin turned the trick in 1974 and 1975, and Tebow's coach, Urban Meyer, is pretty sure his star quarterback can match the Buckeyes legend.
"There has never been anyone quite like him," Meyer told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I am very lucky to be his coach."
Chris Wells, Ohio State - 5/1
The man they call "Beanie" was a star recruit out of high school, so it's not like nobody knew who the star tailback was before he rushed for 576 yards as a freshman in 2006 and 1,609 as a sophomore. But perhaps his finest moment came last year versus Michigan when he rumbled for 222 yards and two touchdowns in the Buckeyes' 14-3 victory over the hated Wolverines.
Knowshon Moreno, Georgia - 8/1
If the Bulldogs are to live up to expectations, they'll need a huge effort from their sophomore running back. This might be the last year of college ball for Moreno, who rushed for 1,334 yards and for 14 touchdowns as a freshman, while adding 253 receiving yards on 20 receptions, so expect big things for the man from Belford, N.J.
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Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines .
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