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07/16/2010 - Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena has plenty of fond memories from RFK Stadium, where he brings his team to face D.C. United on Sunday.
Arena guided United to three successive MLS Cup final appearances, winning two of them, and he will be hoping to leave the nation's capital with three points as the Galaxy tries to extend its lead atop the Western Conference table.
L.A. sits six points clear of Real Salt Lake in the West entering the weekend, but they will be trying to rebound from only their second loss of the season as they fell 2-0 to the New England Revolution last time out.
Both of the teams losses this season have come away from home, and Arena is expecting another tough contest on Sunday at RFK in front of a crowd that he says can act as "a 12th man for D.C. United."
"It's a great environment," he told mlssoccer.com. "When they have a good crowd in that stadium it rocks. Over the years it's gotten beat up a little bit and it is getting on in years, but when you step on the field it's still a special place for a game in MLS."
United will be hoping for a big boost from its home supporters, who have seen just two wins in eight home games this season.
The team is just one point clear of last-place Philadelphia prior to Saturday's action in the Eastern Conference, and they will be playing only a few days after losing 1-0 to Seattle Sounders FC on Thursday.
Roger Levesque scored in the 89th minute for Seattle to hand D.C. only its second loss in seven games, and head coach Curt Onalfo feels as though his side took a step back after making good progress in previous weeks.
"It's the grind of MLS; we took a whole bunch of steps forward, tonight we took a step back," Onalfo told mlssoccer.com following the defeat. "Is it the end of the world? It kind of is in my mind a little bit but we've got to lick our wounds and just keep progressing. We have a big game at home against the Galaxy, which is the best team in Major League Soccer at this point. And like I said earlier in the year, we have to learn from this stuff."
<< Bulls add another former Utah player in Brewer
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bulls have reportedly agreed to a
three-year deal with guard Ronnie Brewer.
According to a report on the team's website, the Bulls made the move for
Brewer after the Magic matched the team
<< Real shoots for more road success at Dallas
Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Salt Lake forward Robbie Findley said after
a recent win at the Chicago Fire one of our goals this year was to "improve on
our road record."
Findley converted a penalty in the 1-0 win on July 8, helping Rea
<< N.Y. visits Columbus with first place at stake
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Crew host Red Bull New York in a
top-of-the-table clash on Saturday night in Major League Soccer action.
The Crew are two points up on the Red Bulls in the Eastern Conference table.
Columbus (8
<< Union hopes to halt Toronto's unbeaten run
Chester, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Toronto FC will be trying to extend its
unbeaten streak to nine games on Saturday when they visit PPL Park to face the
Philadelphia Union.
Toronto recorded a 1-0 win over the Colorado Rapids last
Mandzukic joins Wolfsburg >>
Wolfsburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wolfsburg have wrapped up the signing of
Croatia striker Mario Mandzukic on a four-year contract from Dinamo Zagreb.
The 24-year-old joins the Bundesliga club as a potential replacement for Edin
Dzeko,
Ramirez's homer lifts Cubs over Phils >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aramis Ramirez continued his hot streak with a
game-winning solo home run in the eighth inning, and the Chicago Cubs edged
the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3, in the second of four games at Wrigley Field.
Ramir
Top seed Pennetta reaches Palermo semis >>
Palermo, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Flavia Pennetta defeated Spanish
qualifier Nuria Llagostera Vives 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals at the $220,000
Palermo International tennis tournament.
Pennetta of Italy will next battle eighth
Wind blows away Oosthuizen's challengers >>
St. Andrews, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Louis Oosthuizen got the luck of the
draw on Friday at the British Open Championship.
The South African fired a five-under 67 despite intermittent rain and gusty
winds to take a five-stroke lead with
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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