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03/02/2010 - Hampton, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup. Date: Sunday, March 7. Race: Kobalt Tools 500. Site: Atlanta Motor Speedway. Track: 1.54-mile oval. Start time: 1:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 325. Miles: 500.5. 2009 winner: Kurt Busch. Television: FOX. Radio: Performance Racing Network (PRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio.
Since his disappointing 35th-place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500, Jimmie Johnson has soared to fifth in the points standings with consecutive victories at California and Las Vegas.
Johnson's win at California came with a little bit of luck. The four-time defending Sprint Cup Series champion benefited from a late-race caution when he pitted just before the yellow flag was displayed. He then held off a hard- charging Kevin Harvick in the closing laps.
Last Sunday, Johnson spoiled Jeff Gordon's dominate day at Las Vegas. Gordon led a track-record 219 laps, but he took two new tires only during his final pit stop. After putting on four tires, Johnson chased down his Hendrick Motorsports teammate and then made the winning pass with 17 laps to go.
It's early in the season, but Johnson's "drive for five" straight titles appears to be in full gear.
"We're excited," Johnson said. "It's early in the year, and it's a relief to know that we worked in the right areas over the off-season. Richmond [fall race] is a long way away from right now. We need to keep collecting points, winning races, make the Chase and then get to work for what we're really here for."
If Johnson wins this weekend at Atlanta, it will be his 50th career victory, which will place him in a tie with Ned Jarrett and 2010 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Junior Johnson for 10th on the series' all-time race winners list.
Johnson has three victories at Atlanta, including a season sweep at the fast 1.54-mile track in 2007.
Heading into Atlanta, Harvick holds a 47-point lead over his Richard Childress Racing teammate Clint Bowyer. The resurgence of RCR continued at Las Vegas, with Harvick, Bowyer and Jeff Gordon turning in impressive performances once again. All three drivers have finished no worse than 11th in the first three races.
Atlanta has been one Harvick's best tracks. Despite a 19th-place result in points last season, Harvick finished fourth at Atlanta one year ago and then followed up with a second-place run there last September.
"We are really looking forward to Atlanta based upon how we ran there last time," Harvick said. "It has become one of those tracks that has been really good for us in anything that we have been racing there over the past three or four years."
Harvick's first Cup victory came at Atlanta on March 11, 2001, just weeks after RCR named him as replacement driver for Dale Earnhardt following Earnhardt's fatal crash in the Daytona 500. Harvick edged Gordon by 0.006 seconds at Atlanta for his maiden win in just his third start.
"I don't remember really anything from that day," Harvick said. "There were just so many different emotions and things that ran through my head that it was just kind of more of a strange moment than it was anything."
Ryan Newman will celebrate a career milestone at Atlanta, as the Stewart-Haas Racing driver is expected to make his 300th career start in NASCAR's top division. Newman is tied with Buddy Baker for most poles at Atlanta with seven. He won six consecutive poles there from March 2003 to October 2005.
"Atlanta has always been a place where I like to qualify, and it would be an honor to get the all-time pole record there," Newman said.
Newman has struggled in the early season, finishing 34th (Daytona), 36th (California) and 18th (Las Vegas). He currently is 32nd in points.
Forty-six teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Kobalt Tools 500.
<< Zidane refuses to apologize to Materazzi
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former France, Juventus and Real Madrid star
Zinedine Zidane has refused an offer to apologize to Inter Milan defender
Marco Materazzi over the head-butt incident that marred the 2006 World Cup
Final.
<< Oklahoma's Warren set for season-ending surgery
Norman, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oklahoma has announced sophomore guard
Willie Warren will undergo season-ending arthroscopic surgery on his right
ankle Wednesday.
Warren originally injured the ankle January 21 in practice, then r
<< Flyers G Emery to have season-ending hip surgery
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Flyers announced on
Tuesday that goaltender Ray Emery will have season-ending surgery to repair
damage to his right hip.
The club had placed Emery, who has not skated since Febr
<< This Week in Auto Racing March 5 - 7
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR returns to the East Coast, as the
Sprint Cup and Camping World Truck Series tackle one of the fastest tracks on
the circuit.
NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series
Kobalt Tools 500 - Atlanta Motor Speedw
Terry won't lead England again under Capello >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - England manager Fabio Capello has confirmed
that Steven Gerrard will captain his side against Egypt at Wembley on
Wednesday in the absence of the injured Rio Ferdinand.
The Italian has also confi
U.S. searching for right mix against Dutch >>
Amsterdam, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - U.S. coach Bob Bradley assembled the
majority of his best players for Wednesday's match at the Netherlands, and the
last few spots on the World Cup roster could be decided at Amsterdam ArenA.
The Ame
Sharks D Vlasic hits IR; three recalled >>
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Jose has placed defenseman Marc-Edouard
Vlasic on injured reserve with a lower-body injury and recalled three players
from Worcester, the Sharks' American Hockey League affiliate.
Vlasic has been out
Ducks send D Boynton to Blackhawks >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks shipped defenseman Nick
Boynton to the Chicago Blackhawks for future considerations on Tuesday.
The 31-year-old had one goal and six assists in 42 games for the Ducks this
season. H
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 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.
It's less than a month until the NHL hockey betting season opens at MySportsbook.com and preparations are underway for another battle in the race to hoist Lord Stanley's mug in 2007.
As cup crazy fans prepare to place their bets, one online sportsbook ,MySportsbook.com, is offering hockey betting lines on the 2007/2007 Stanley Cup , who will bring it home this upcoming season.
Despite a poor showing in last season's playoffs and the loss of Steve Yzerman to retirement, the Detroit Red Wings are early favourites at this online sportsbook with wagering odds of 6-1. The Wings will look to offensive powerhouse Pavel Datsyuk and newly appointed captain Nicklas Lidstrom to lead one of the league's most prominent franchises.
Always a threat are the Ottawa Senators, with newly acquired goaltender Martin Gerber from the Stanley Cup champion ,Carolina Hurricanes. The Sens are second best in the rankings at a 7-1 bet, and odds makers at this sportsbook are optimistic that the Ottawa squad will fare better than last season's Eastern Conference semi-final upset to the Buffalo Sabres.
Also worth noting are the defending Stanley Cup champs Carolina Hurricanes, a 10-1 bet to repeat. Behind the Canes are the New Jersey Devils, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers, and Anaheim Mighty Ducks all sit at 12-1. In the basement are the Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, and St. Louis Blues who all have 100-1 odds to win.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your hockey betting needs.
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