Magic's Nelson leaves game

Basketball Betting Lines

01/27/2012 - New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Orlando Magic guard Jameer Nelson left Friday's game against the New Orleans Hornets with a sore jaw.

Nelson took a charge late in the second quarter and fell to the floor. He stayed down for a minute before walking off the court and getting looked at by a trainer.

It was the second time he had taken a hit to the head in the game. He had two points on 1-of-4 shooting before leaving with the injury.

Wwwstarluck Basketball Betting News

<< Blackhawks acquire Morrison from Flames
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Blackhawks gained a veteran center on Friday by acquiring Brendan Morrison from the Calgary Flames in exchange for defenseman Brian Connelly. The 36-year-old Morrison had spent the past 1 1/2 s

<< Rockets G Martin out against Washington
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston Rockets leading scorer Kevin Martin has been ruled out of Friday's game against the Washington Wizards with plantar fasciitis in his right foot. In 18 games so far this season, Martin is ave

<< Bobcats coach Silas ejected from game
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Charlotte Bobcats head coach Paul Silas was ejected from Friday night's game against Philadelphia. Silas received an automatic ejection after receiving two technical fouls with 4:48 remaining in the se

<< Stanley alone in front at Farmers Insurance Open
La Jolla, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kyle Stanley posted a four-under 68 Friday to take sole possession of the lead after the second round of the Farmers Insurance Open. Stanley, a first-round co-leader, finished 36 holes at 14-under 130

<< Cremins taking medical leave of absence
Charleston, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - College of Charleston men's basketball coach Bobby Cremins announced Friday that he is taking a medical leave of absence. Per Cremins' request, associate head coach Mark Byington has been named interi

Sixers hand Bobcats 7th straight loss >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bobcats coach Paul Silas wasn't on the court Friday night to see his team lose a season-high seventh straight game. Ejected during a timeout, he missed the last 2 1/2 quarters of another bleak loss.

Broncos tab former Jags coach Del Rio as DC >>
Englewood, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Broncos have agreed to terms with former Jacksonville Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio to become their new defensive coordinator. The Broncos made the announcement via Twitter on Friday night. They n

USA tops Costa Rica to seal Olympic berth >>
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The U.S. women's national team punched its ticket for the 2012 Summer Olympics on Friday with a 3-0 win over Costa Rica in the semifinals of CONCACAF Olympic qualifying. After outscoring its three oppone

Hornets beat Magic to snap 9-game skid >>
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carl Landry netted a team-high 17 points and the New Orleans Hornets rolled over the Orlando Magic, 93-67, on Friday to snap a nine-game losing streak. Marco Belinelli had 15 points, Jason Smith scored 1

Rose boosts Bulls over Bucks >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Derrick Rose was in MVP form on Friday, as he poured in a season-high 34 points to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 107-100 win over the Milwaukee Bucks at United Center. Carlos Boozer contributed 20 points and

What Is the Point Spread?

What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?

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.

How to Read Point Spreads

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:

To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.

How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.

While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.

For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.

1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.

2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.

How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.

Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.

Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.

How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).

Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.

Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on college football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.