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05/13/2010 - London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Didier Drogba has given his blessing for Chelsea to launch a potential summer swoop on Liverpool for Fernando Torres.
Torres has been linked with a $59 million move to Stamford Bridge following the end of a disappointing season for the cash-strapped Anfield club.
The Spain striker would join Drogba and Nicolas Anelka in a star-studded Blues squad next season and the Ivory Coast striker has backed any potential move for Torres.
"I have heard the talk about Torres maybe coming in and I would welcome it, of course," he said. "Every time there is a new player coming here it's making the club bigger and giving us a lot of strength.
"If there is a chance for him to come he will be welcome, because any help is welcome."
Meanwhile, Drogba, who has scored 36 goals in all competitions this season, believes it has been the best campaign of his career.
"In 2007 I scored 33 goals and 20 in the league and really it's amazing," he continued. "I feel that, season after season, I'm getting better.
"I want to finish the job this year with the FA Cup final. To win the double would mean a lot to the club and to us as players."
(Courtesy of sportbox.tv)
<< Neuer starts in Germany's win over Malta
Aachen, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manuel Neuer started at goalie for Germany
in Thursday's friendly against Malta, but the other goalies on the provisional
World Cup roster were not available.
Loew lost No. 1 goalie Rene Adler to a broken
<< Van Nistelrooy ends Dutch career
Amsterdam, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Netherlands striker Ruud van
Nistelrooy has admitted his international career is over following his World
Cup snub.
The 33-year-old Hamburg striker was hoping his move to the Bundesliga
<< Line of Scrimmage: Cushing saga leaves too much unsaid
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brian Cushing finally met the media on
Thursday, one day after the Houston Texans linebacker was permitted to keep his
AP Defensive Rookie of the Year honor following a much-publicized re-vote.
Cushing, wh
<< Vickers hospitalized, Mears to replace him at Dover
Dover, DE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR driver Brian Vickers will miss this
weekend's Sprint Cup Series race at Dover International Speedway after being
hospitalized for an undisclosed medical condition, Red Bull Racing officials
announc
Valencia agrees to deal for Topal >>
Valencia, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Valencia has agreed to a deal for Turkey
international Mehmet Topal with Galatasaray.
The 24-year-old midfielder will join the La Liga club for a fee in the region
of $6 million, should he pass a summ
Thursday morning jogs for Preakness favorites >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Thursday morning was a time for several of
the Preakness starters, including the three favorites, to get acquainted
with Pimlico Race Course. The only one of the 12 not at Pimlico is Schoolyard
Dreams,
Three NASCAR teams penalized for Darlington infractions >>
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR issued penalties to two Sprint
Cup Series teams and one Nationwide team on Thursday for rules violations that
occurred this past weekend at Darlington Raceway.
Samuel Stanley, the crew chief
Birmingham missed out on Cacau >>
Birmingham, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish
has confirmed his club missed out on the signing of Stuttgart's Brazilian-born
German striker Cacau.
The 29-year-old seemed certain to leave the Bundesliga c
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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