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07/26/2010 - Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Hawks bolstered their forward position on Monday by signing free agent forward/center Josh Powell.
Per club policy, terms of the contract were not announced.
"I look forward to joining a franchise I'm very familiar with," said Powell. "The Hawks have done some great things over the past few years, and I think it's great to come back home and play here. They've enjoyed success in the East, and while they have room to improve and grow, the nucleus is here to make that next step."
The 6-foot-9, 240-pound Powell spent the last two seasons with the Lakers and served as a backup for both championship teams. He contributed 2.7 points and 1.8 rebounds per game in 63 regular season contests last season in Los Angeles. Powell also saw action in 13 playoff games in 2010, but averaged a mere 0.7 points and 0.5 boards.
Powell, 27, played his high school ball at Riverdale in Georgia before playing collegiately at North Carolina State, but left after his sophomore year. After going undrafted in the 2003 NBA Draft, Powell decided to go play in Europe, then was signed by the Dallas Mavericks in 2005.
Over 261 career games -- 28 starts -- Powell has compiled per game averages of 3.8 points and 3.0 rebounds with the Mavericks, Indiana, Golden State, Los Angeles Clippers and Lakers.
<< Ravens sign second-rounder DT Cody
Owings Mills, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Ravens have agreed to terms
with second-round draft choice Terrence Cody on a three-year contract.
The 6-foot-4, 349-pounder was the 57th overall selection in April's draft.
He was a con
<< Dolgopolov, Chela win Umag openers
Umag, Croatia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sixth-seeded Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov
and eighth-seeded Argentine veteran Juan Ignacio Chela were a pair of first-
round winners Monday at the Croatia Open.
Chela charged past Spain's Ruben Ramir
<< Nashville signs D Parent
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Nashville Predators have signed
defenseman Ryan Parent to a two-year, $1.85 million contract.
He will be paid $850,000 in the upcoming 2010-11 season and $1 million in
2011-12.
The 23-ye
<< Celtics bring back Marquis Daniels
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Celtics re-signed veteran
guard/forward Marquis Daniels on Monday.
Terms of the deal were not announced, per club policy.
The seven-year veteran posted averages of 5.6 points and 1.
Report: Titans file lawsuit against Kiffin, USC >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tennessee Titans have reportedly filed a
lawsuit against the University of Southern California and head coach Lane
Kiffin in the wake of the hiring flap surrounding Kennedy Pola.
On Saturday, USC
Dolphins sign DT Stanley >>
Davie, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Dolphins added some depth to the
defensive line position on Monday by agreeing to terms with veteran tackle
Montavious Stanley.
Details of the contract were not disclosed.
Stanley, a five
Dodgers P Kershaw drops appeal, will serve suspension >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton
Kershaw has dropped the appeal of his five-game suspension and will begin
serving it Tuesday when the team opens a three-game series in San Diego.
The southp
Golf Course Review - The Quarry Golf Club >>
San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FACTS AND STATS: Course Architect: Keith
Foster (1992-94). Year Opened: 1994. Location: San Antonio, Texas.
Slope: 128. Rating: 72.4. Par: 71. Yardage: 6,740.
Hole-by-Hole:
1 - Par 4 388 Yds 10 - Par
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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