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12/18/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The red-hot Philadelphia Flyers will shoot for their sixth consecutive victory when they visit the sliding Montreal Canadiens for tonight's battle at the Bell Centre.
The Flyers can match their longest winning streak of the season after also taking six games in a row from November 15-26. Philadelphia has also earned at least a point in 16 of its last 17 contests, going 13-1-3 over that stretch.
The most recent triumph for the Flyers came in Tuesday's home decision over Colorado. Simon Gagne and Mike Richards recorded a goal and two assists each as Philadelphia topped the Avalanche, 5-2, at the Wachovia Center.
Mike Knuble, Jeff Carter and Joffrey Lupul also tallied for the Flyers, who are second in the Atlantic Division with 40 points on the season.
Antero Niittymaki, in place of the flu-ridden Martin Biron, made 29 saves for the win and improved to 6-1-2 on the season. Biron did not make the trip for this evening's contest and Scott Munroe will back up Niittymaki once again.
Richards has the second-longest current point streak in the NHL, having reached the scoresheet in eight straight contests. He has seven goals and eight helpers during the run and is tied with Gagne for the team lead in points this year with 37.
Carter also extended his point streak to five games and has four goals and four assists over that stretch.
Philadelphia has won four of its last five road tests and is 7-3-3 as the visiting club this year.
The Canadiens, meanwhile, were handed a 3-2 setback in Carolina on Tuesday as Eric Staal scored twice and Joe Corvo netted the game-winner in the second period.
Alex Kovalev ended a 19-game goal drought with a short-handed tally and Guillaume Latendresse scored on a penalty shot for the Canadiens, who have dropped three straight and four of five overall.
Kovalev has been a huge disappointment for Montreal so far this year as he has just six goals and 23 points in 30 games. Last season, the Russian veteran led the Habs in both goals (35) and points (84).
Jaroslav Halak made 24 saves in the loss as he started his fourth straight game in place of Carey Price, Montreal's No. 1 goaltender. Price was at first sidelined due to the flu, but is now out with a lower-body injury and is questionable for tonight's game.
Montreal is 9-4-3 as the host this year, but has lost two straight and three of its last four in Quebec. Tonight marks the start of a three-game homestand for the Habs.
Philly and Montreal have split a pair of meetings this year with each team winning a test on the opposition's ice. Montreal has still taken eight of 10 overall in the series and five of seven at the Bell Centre.
The Flyers and Canadiens also met in last year's Eastern Conference semifinals and Philly won that series in five games.
<< Struggling Pens hope to welcome Fleury back against Thrashers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Penguins will try to emerge from a lengthy
break with a win, as they visit the Atlanta Thrashers for tonight's encounter
at Philips Arena.
The Penguins last played on Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia and w
<< Hurricanes clash with Panthers in Southeast Division battle
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Carolina Hurricanes will try to win consecutive games
for the first time in nearly a month when they welcome the Florida Panthers
for a Southeast Division matchup at RBC Center.
The Hurricanes ended a two-game skid wit
<< Caps shoot for fifth straight win in test with Blues
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Capitals will try to match their longest
winning streak of the season when they welcome the struggling St. Louis Blues
for tonight's matchup at Verizon Center.
The Capitals have won four in a row and will tr
<< Preds make a stop in Phoenix
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dan Ellis appeared to be in jeopardy of losing his starting
job earlier this year. Needless to say, he is tightening his grip on the role.
Coming off his second shutout in five games, Ellis will lead his club into
Phoenix
Packers place Bigby on IR >>
Green Bay, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Green Bay Packers have placed safety
Atari Bigby on injured reserve because of a shoulder injury.
Bigby played in seven games this season for the Packers, starting six, and
finished with 31 tackl
Tigers ink Treanor >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers agreed to terms on a one-
year contract with catcher Matt Treanor on Thursday.
Treanor batted .238 with two homers and 23 RBI in 65 games for the Florida
Marlins a year ago.
"Matt
Blue Jackets place Chimera on IR >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Blue Jackets placed forward Jason
Chimera on injured reserve Thursday.
Chimera suffered an undisclosed injury and is expected to be sidelined for a
week. The 29-year-old Edmonton native has net
Zanotti grabs early lead at South African Open >>
Paarl, Western Cape, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fabrizio Zanotti fired an
eight-under-par 64 Thursday to take a one-stroke lead after the opening round
of the South African Open Championship.
Oskar Henningsson, who tied for eighth las
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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