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11/08/2011 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Six important races leading to the 2012 Kentucky Derby will be broadcast by NBC Sports. Next year's Run for the Roses will shown by NBC on Saturday, May 6.
NBC Sports, which includes NBC, CNBC and the NBC Sports Group, will begin the series on March 24 with the Spiral Stakes, won this year by Animal Kingdom prior to taking the Kentucky Derby, from Turfway Park and continue the next week with the Florida Derby from Gulfstream Park. These two races will be shown on the NBC Sports Group, formerly VERSUS.
"Turfway Park has served as the final tuneup for a number of Kentucky Derby hopefuls," noted Bob Elliston, President and CEO, Turfway Park, "and as we all know, last year's winner of the Vinery Racing Spiral Stakes, Animal Kingdom, went on to win the Run for the Roses a few weeks later. Televising these races benefits not only the host tracks but the entire racing industry."
On April 7 the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct and the Santa Anita Derby at Santa Anita Park will both be televised on NBC.
"The Wood Memorial has a long, rich history as a key prep race for the Kentucky Derby and we are elated that a national television audience will be able to enjoy the 2012 edition on NBC," said Charles Hayward, President and CEO, NYRA.
The last two prep races to be shown on CNBC on April 14 will be the Blue Grass Stakes from Keeneland Race Course and the Arkansas Derby from Oaklawn Park.
"These races are important steppingstones to the Kentucky Derby," said Jon Miller, President, Programming, NBC Sports and NBC Sportsbook Betting Lines. "And this programming further demonstrates the NBC Sports Group's commitment to the sport of thoroughbred racing, which already includes long-term deals for the Triple Crown races as well as with Saratoga and Keeneland."
<< Report: Paterno's exit being discussed
State College, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Penn State canceled head football coach
Joe Paterno's usual Tuesday press conference amid the scandal involving the
sexual child abuse charges against former Nittany Lions assistant Jerry
Sandusk
<< Bears give C Garza two-year extension
Lake Forest, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bears signed center Roberto
Garza to a two-year contract extension on Tuesday.
Garza, who will be with the Bears through the 2013 season, has started all
eight games this season at cent
<< Paterno's Tuesday press conference canceled
State College, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Penn State head football coach Joe
Paterno's usual Tuesday press conference was canceled by the university as the
school continues to deal with the shocking scandal involving the sexual child
abuse c
<< Racing tops Arg. Juniors to take over second
Buenos Aires, Argentina (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Racing used a 1-0 win over
Argentinos Juniors on Saturday to remain within eight points of Apertura
leaders Boca Juniors.
The lone goal of the contest arrived in the 55th minute
A sad state of affairs in Happy Valley >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The year was 1947 and Bob Higgins
led an undefeated Penn State team to the Cotton Bowl to take on SMU. The
powers that be for the Mustangs wanted a meeting to "discuss" Penn State's two
African-American pla
Real Madrid's Di Maria suffers hamstring injury >>
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Madrid midfielder Angel Di Maria injured
his left hamstring Sunday in La Liga, and the Argentina international will be
sidelined for an unknown spell.
Di Maria, 23, left the 7-1 win over Osasuna after 5
Eagles/Giants to remain in prime time for Week 11 >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants
will remain the prime time game for November 20.
The league finalized its schedule for Week 11 of the season and moved the game
between the Titans and Falcons to
Kansas City's Sapong wins MLS Rookie of the Year >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sporting Kansas City forward C.J. Sapong was
named the 2011 Major League Soccer Rookie of the Year on Tuesday.
Sapong totaled five goals and five assists and was the only Sporting player to
feature in all 34
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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