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12/23/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After a slow start to the season, Flames netminder Miikka Kiprusoff is helping his team climb up the standings. Calgary will try to rebound tonight against the Anaheim Ducks at Pengrowth Saddledome.
The Flames lost four of their first five games to begin the season, and after righting the ship with a six-game winning streak went on to lose six of their next 10 as well. However, despite the slow start Calgary enters this game just a point back of Vancouver for first place in the Northwest Division.
Kiprusoff has been one of the reasons the Flames have stayed in the hunt. He posted a 2.89 goals against average in October and wasn't much better the following month, as he recorded a 3.18 GAA in November.
He has returned to his prior form in eight starts this month, going 4-2-2 with a 2.33 GAA in eight December starts.
Kiprusoff helped the Flames get a point last time out, as he made 28 saves but was beaten just 23 seconds into overtime by the Chicago Blackhawks' Duncan Keith in a 3-2 setback. Rene Bourque had a goal and assisted on David Moss' tally for Calgary, which had won two in a row.
The Flames loss came in the opener of a five-game homestand and dropped them to 9-4-3 as the host this season. Calgary is 0-1-2 in its last three at Pengrowth Saddledome.
Kiprusoff has faced the Ducks 15 times in his career, going 8-7-0 with a 2.27 GAA.
The Ducks played their first game last night since Teemu Selanne suffered a laceration to his left quadriceps muscle that is expected to sideline him for four-to-six weeks. They visited the Vancouver Canucks and were dealt a 4-3 setback.
Bobby Ryan had a goal and two assists while Scott Niedermayer notched a goal and assisted on another for Anaheim, which fell to 1-1 on a five-game road trip and lost for the fourth time in its last five as the visiting club. Sami Pahlsson had the Ducks' other goal and Corey Perry added two helpers.
Selanne leads the NHL with 13 power-play goals, but his absence wasn't missed for at least one night after the Ducks went 2-for-5 on the man advantage last night.
Jonas Hiller, starting in place of Jean-Sebastien Giguere for a third straight game, was victimized for four goals on 26 shots. Giguere had returned to Montreal following the death of his father and was with the team in a backup capacity on Monday.
Giguere beat the Flames earlier this year with a 34-save effort and is 13-8-0 with two ties and a 2.21 GAA against them lifetime. Hiller, meanwhile, has never faced Calgary.
The Ducks have won three straight and four of their last five versus the Flames, but have lost seven of their last eight in Calgary.
<< Panthers welcome Preds to Sunrise
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of teams coming off shutout wins get together
tonight, as the Florida Panthers play host to the Nashville Predators at
BankAtlantic Center.
The Panthers began a three-game homestand on Sunday with a 3-0 victory over
<< The Top 10 Bowl Best Bets (Part Two)
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Most of the "must-see" bowl games
arrive after New Year's Eve, beginning with five games on New Year's Day
followed by six more before the BCS Championship contest on January 8.
However, there is one ma
<< Caps visit Rangers in battle of first-place clubs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Capitals will try to rebound from a lopsided
loss when they visit the New York Rangers for tonight's battle between first-
place teams at Madison Square Garden.
The Capitals, who lead the Southeast Division
<< Streaking Maple Leafs tangle with Stars
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The suddenly-hot Toronto Maple Leafs will aim for a sixth
victory in seven games when they welcome the Dallas Stars for tonight's
interconference matchup at Air Canada Centre.
The Maple Leafs earned their second straight b
'Canes resume swing in Minnesota >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Carolina Hurricanes continue their four-game road trip
with a stop in Minnesota, where they will take on the Wild tonight at Xcel
Energy Center.
Carolina began the swing with a loss in Boston on Saturday and then allow
Lakers, Hornets square off in the Big Easy >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pacific Division-leading Los Angeles Lakers conclude a
tough four-game road trip Tuesday when they arrive in the Big Easy to face the
New Orleans Hornets.
The Lakers improved to 1-2 on the trek Monday in Memphis
Celtics aim for 19th straight win vs. Sixers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Celtics executive director of basketball operations and
general manager Danny Ainge probably hasn't stopped smiling since watching his
creation win the NBA title over the summer.
Ainge pulled all the strings to get Kevin G
Seattle's Schmid picks Schmetzer as top assistant >>
Renton, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seattle Sounders FC head coach Sigi Schmid picked
Brian Schmetzer as his top assistant coach Monday night.
Schmetzer, 46, joins Sounders FC following seven seasons as the head coach of
the Sounders' United Soc
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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