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08/13/2010 - Foxborough, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two Major League Soccer clubs that normally are in the thick of the title race square off on Saturday at Gillette Stadium in desperate need of points.
The Houston Dynamo are winless since May 22 and sit second-from-the-bottom in the Western Conference table, while the New England Revolution sit third-from- the-bottom in the East.
The Dynamo are coming off an embarrassing effort in a 2-0 loss at Seattle Sounders FC this past weekend.
"After we conceded the goal, it didn't seem like we had that go to try and get it back, and that really frustrates us," Houston defender Andrew Hainault told mlssoccer.com. "You have to learn from it, get past it, and you have to look at the next game."
The Dynamo (5-9-5) have been struggling all season, and with the season almost two-thirds over, time is running short to get things turned around.
"Games are running out for us to pick up points," Hainault said. "We can't worry too much or be nervous about it. We have to stick together and put our heads down and work. If we do that, relax, and play our game, we can pick up points anywhere."
While New England (5-9-3) has a similar record to Houston, it has been showing signs of snapping out of its season-long slump recently.
The Revs are currently on a three-game unbeaten stretch, with a 1-0 win vs. D.C. United last weekend capping off the current run.
"Truth be told, we didn't play well, we didn't pass the ball well," New England coach Steve Nicol said after the win. "But at the same time, the game we had midweek [a 1-1 draw at Philadelphia], I think really took its toll on us. We really didn't have much in the legs, and obviously with Kevin [Alston] and Marko [Perovic] were missing. I think the biggest thing was we didn't have any legs. And consequently, we didn't pass it well and we didn't play well, but what we did do was we stuck at it and we got a goal."
New England will still be without a number of players due to injury, with forwards Kheli Dube, Edgaras Jankauskas and Taylor Twellman all out, defender Alston, forward Zak Boggs, and midfielders Nico Colaluca and Perovic questionable.
Houston will be without starting goalkeeper Pat Onstad, defender Adrian Serioux and midfielder Brad Davis. Defender Ryan Cochrane is also listed as doubtful for the game.
<< Jordan joins Wade, Anthony, Paul for Harlem clinic
NEW YORK (AP) -First, Dwyane Wade blocked shots from elementary school kids. Then Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul swatted away questions about their NBA futures.The three NBA stars were at Harlem's famed Rucker Park on Friday for a basketball clinic
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San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco Giants added depth for
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Royals for a player to be named later.
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<< Report: Bush apologizes to Haden
McLean, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Southern California star running back
Reggie Bush has reportedly apologized to new school athletic director Pat
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There's two things that can be counted on what it comes to
the Washington Redskins. Change is an endless constant, and controversy seems
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The Redskins had plenty of both following a dreadful 4-12 season th
City acquires Balotelli from Inter >>
Liverpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester City signed striker Mario
Balotelli from Inter Milan on Friday, one day before the start of the English
Premier League season.
City acquired Balotelli for an undisclosed transfer free rep
AL Central: White Sox well equipped in arms race >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - When the Chicago White Sox front office targeted former Cy
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Chelsea signs Brazilian Ramires >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chelsea completed the signing of Brazilian
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United hosts Dallas in clash at RFK Stadium >>
Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Saturday's Major League Soccer clash
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In part two of MySportsbook.com’s draft preview, we’ll take a look at a division that was extremely disappointing last season: the NFC South. Many “experts” predicted the Panthers to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, of course they could not even make the playoffs in an extremely weak NFC. The Saints definitely made up for the disappointing seasons of their NFC South brethren by exploding out of no where en route to the NFC Championship game. For the avid NFL gambler, it is imperative to pay attention to the NFL draft. Although free agency gets a ton of publicity, the successful franchises build their teams around the draft.
1. New Orleans Saints
Who would have thought this time last year that the Saints would be the favorites to win the NFC South for the 2007 campaign? New Orleans is loaded with firepower on the offensive side of the ball but with the exodus of Joe Horn they will most likely look to draft a WR on Day 1. Despite having the NFL’s 3rd ranked pass defense last season, the Saints will most likely upgrade their CB’s with one of their first two picks. Other possibilities for the Saints will be TE and DT. Because of where they will be selecting (27th), the Saints could go the “best available player” route which could net a LB.
Key additions: Eric Johnson TE, Troy Evans LB, David Patten WR
Key loses: Joe Horn WR,
Team needs: CB, WR, TE, LB, DT
Possible draftees: Aaron Ross CB Texas, Darrelle Revis CB Pitt, Ted Ginn Jr. WR OSU, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Chris Houston CB Arkansas, Greg Olsen TE Miami
2. Carolina Panthers
Carolina was one of the biggest disappointments in the NFL last season. With the signing of David Carr, expect the very first quarterback controversy to come out of Carolina if Jake Delhomme doesn’t rebound quickly from an average 2007 season. With veteran safety Mike Minter getting up there in age, they will look to draft a safety on Day 1 but probably not in the first round. LB is another need with the loss of Chris Draft to go along with Dan Morgan’s concussion problems. If TE Greg Olsen is still on the board, he might be too good to pass up despite their needs on the defensive side of the ball.
Key additions: David Carr QB
Key loses: Chris Draft LB
Team needs: LB, TE, S, OT
Possible draftees: Greg Olsen TE Miami, Patrick Willis LB Ole Miss, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Levi Brown OT PSU
3. Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons were another NFC South team to have a disappointing 2007 season. The Falcons have been plenty busy during the off season with plenty of players coming and going including a new head coach. The Falcons were able to improve their draft position with the trade of coveted backup QB Matt Schaub. High on the list of Day 1 needs will be a defensive end to replace Patrick Kerney and a hard hitting safety since Lawyer Milloy is nearing the end of his career. With an additional 2nd round pick, the Falcons could attempt to trade up to acquire local product WR Calvin Johnson.
Key additions: Joey Harrington QB, Toniu Fonoti OG, Joe Horn WR
Key loses: Justin Griffen RB, Patrick Kerney DE, Matt Lehr OG, Ashley Lelie WR, Matt Schaub QB
Team needs: DE, S, OT, WR, DT
Possible draftees: LaRon Landry S LSU, Amobi Okoye DT Louisville, Levi Brown OT PSU, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas, Alan Branch DT Michigan
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Age really caught up to the Bucs last season. The Bucs still have plenty of household names on defense in Ronde Barber, Simeon Rice and Derrick Brooks but the one thing those three have in common is unfortunately age. It is imperative for the Bucs to get much younger, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Despite having bigger needs on the defensive side of the ball, WR Calvin Johnson is the most likely pick if he is still available when the Bucs pick at the four spot. This would suit Bucs’ faithful just fine as Johnson is widely considered the top talent in the draft and it is a position of need for the Bucs.
Key additions: Jeff Garcia QB, Kevin Carter DE, Torrie Cox CB, Cato June LB
Key loses: Dewayne White DE, Sean Mahan OG
Team needs: WR, LB, DE, CB (Youth on defense!)
Possible draftees: Calvin Johnson WR Georgia Tech, Gains Adams DE Clemson, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas
It is never too early to start betting on the NFL. Log on to MySportsbook.com to checkout all of the NFL futures for the upcoming season. On the clock: the NFC North
Odds to win the NFC South:
New Orleans Saints 8-5
Carolina Panthers 2-1
Atlanta Falcons 12-5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9-2
Odds to win the NFC:
New Orleans Saints 13-2
Carolina Panthers 7-1
Atlanta Falcons 20-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 25-1
Odds to win the Super Bowl:
New Orleans Saints 18-1
Carolina Panthers 20-1
Atlanta Falcons 50-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 75-1
To visit this sportsbook get to MySportsbook.com for all your online sportsbook needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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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