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03/22/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Edmonton Oilers will try for their first four-game winning streak since the early stages of the season when they visit the struggling Minnesota Wild for today's Northwest Division battle at Xcel Energy Center.
The Oilers have won three in a row on six separate occasions this year, but the club's longest winning streak came over five months ago with victories in the first four games of the season.
Edmonton is currently in possession of the seventh playoff seed in the Western Conference with 79 points on the year. The Wild have 74 points and are tied with Anaheim and Dallas for the 10th seed,. Minnesota is still just three points behind Nashville for the West's eighth and final postseason berth.
The Oilers, who had lost three in a row and five of six prior to their current streak, are coming off Friday's close victory in Chicago. Patrick O'Sullivan scored the game-winner in the shootout as Edmonton downed the Blackhawks, 5-4, at the United Center.
After Jonathan Toews was stopped by Dwayne Roloson, O'Sullivan lifted the puck over Nikolai Khabibulin. Patrick Kane was then denied his stuff attempt from the left side and Ales Kotalik sealed the win with a wrister into the right corner.
Dustin Penner had a goal and an assist while Roloson made 39 saves in the win for the Oilers.
Today's tilt marks the close of a three-game road trip for the Oilers, who are 19-15-3 as the guest this year.
The Wild have lost five of six and 10 of their last 13 games and were handed a decisive loss Friday evening in New Jersey. Martin Brodeur turned aside all 35 shots he faced to notch the 101st shutout of his legendary career, as the blanked Minnesota, 4-0, at Prudential Center.
Niklas Backstrom got the start between the pipes for Minnesota and was yanked in the second period after yielding three goals on 11 shots. Josh Harding finished with 17 saves for the Wild.
Minnesota is back in St. Paul for just one game as the club will kick off a four-game road trip Tuesday against the New York Rangers. The Wild are 19-11-6 as the host team this season.
The Wild and Oilers have split four meetings so far this season, but Minnesota has won six out of 10 against Edmonton. The home team has won eight straight and 13 of the last 14 matchups in this series.
<< Flyers visit sizzling Pens for key battle
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A key Eastern Conference playoff battle is on tap today in
the Steel City, as the scorching Pittsburgh Penguins welcome the rival
Philadelphia Flyers for an Atlantic Division battle at Mellon Arena.
The Penguins and Flyers
<< Heat pay a visit to Pistons at The Palace
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The recently-struggling Miami Heat will try to salvage the
finale of a four-game road trip Sunday against the Detroit Pistons at The
Palace of Auburn Hills.
Miami has dropped the first three tests of the road swing a
<< Southwest Showdown: Rockets try to pass Spurs in division
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top spot in the Southwest Division is up for grabs this
afternoon, as the Houston Rockets try to inch closer to the San Antonio Spurs
in a showdown at the AT&T Center.
Houston has won three straight games and
<< Raptors, Clippers square off up north
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two of the NBA's worst teams get together Sunday in
Toronto, as the struggling Raptors welcome the lowly Los Angeles Clippers to
the Air Canada Centre.
Toronto has lost two straight, nine of 10 and opened a f
Sharks eye West's top seed in home test against Avalanche >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Having already clinched the Pacific Division title, the San
Jose Sharks can regain the top seed in the Western Conference when they host
the lowly Colorado Avalanche tonight at HP Pavilion.
The Sharks have 104 points on th
Surging clubs meet as Rangers host Sens at MSG >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of hot teams will meet tonight in the Big Apple, as
the New York Rangers welcome the Ottawa Senators for an Eastern Conference
battle at Madison Square Garden.
The Senators have won four straight and eight of their
No. 1 Louisville to try and avoid upset at hands of Siena >>
Dayton, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Midwest Regional was full of upsets on the
first day and the top-seeded Louisville Cardinals will try to avoid one
themselves against the ninth-seeded Siena Saints in second-round play at UD
Arena this evening.
Bruins host Devils in clash between East's top teams >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top two teams in the Eastern Conference will clash
today in Beantown, as the Boston Bruins welcome the New Jersey Devils for a
showdown at TD Banknorth Garden.
The Bruins leads the Northeast Division as well as the con
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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