Griffin, Luck among 65 early-entry draft candidates
Football Betting Lines
01/19/2012 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III and runner-up Andrew Luck are among a record 65 players who have been given special eligibility for April's NFL Draft.
The old mark of 56 early-entry candidates was set last year.
Three other quarterbacks will join Griffin, the first Heisman winner from Baylor, and Stanford standout Luck as draft-eligible. Arizona State's Brock Osweiler, Oregon's Darron Thomas and Auburn's Barrett Trotter also left school early.
Linebacker Dont'a Hightower, defensive back Dre Kirkpatrick and running back Trent Richardson left Alabama as national champions to enter the draft.
Other names of note include Oklahoma State wide receiver Justin Blackmon, South Carolina receiver Alshon Jeffery, Boston College linebacker Luke Kuechly and Illinois defensive end Whitney Mercilus.
The NFL Draft is set for April 26-28 in New York.
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians signed outfielder Fred Lewis and pitcher Jeremy Accardo to minor league contracts with invitations to the team's spring training camp. Lewis, a second-round draft pick by the San Fran
<< No sharing expected in Lecomte Stakes
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The annual drive to the Kentucky Derby is
well underway and Saturday at Fair Grounds Race Course the Louisiana section
of the highway commences with the $175,000 Lecomte Stakes.
The mile and 70 yard e
<< Kaiserslautern acquires Wagner from Bremen
Kaiserslautern, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kaiserslautern signed former Bayern
Munich striker Sandro Wagner on loan from Werder Bremen on Thursday, although
he will not face his former club Saturday.
Wagner, 24, joins on a 1 1/2-year loan,
<< Freiburg adds defender Guede
Freiburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Freiburg signed defender Karim Guede from
Slovan Bratislava on Thursday, as the struggling Bundesliga side continued its
winter makeover.
The German-born Guede was a regular for Slovan from 2010-11, and i
<< Georgia State set for CAA debut in 2012
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Georgia State announced on Thursday a 2012
football schedule highlighted by the Panthers' first season in CAA Football
and a non-conference game at the University of Tennessee.
When Georgia State kicks off its
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Nashville Predators claimed forward Brandon Yip off waivers from the Colorado Avalanche and activated forward Jerred Smithson from injured reserve. The 26-year-old Yip has played in just 10 gam
Vikings name Alan Williams defensive coordinator >>
Eden Prairie, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vikings have hired Alan Williams to be
their new defensive coordinator, the team announced Thursday.
Williams spent the last 10 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts as a defensive
backs coach. Viking
McNeese State CB Jackson, former prep standout, enters draft >>
Lake Charles, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - McNeese State cornerback Janzen Jackson
has declared for the 2012 NFL Draft as a junior-eligible prospect.
He was one of a record-setting 65 underclassmen who have been ruled
eligible for the draft, which
Westbrook signs extension with Thunder >>
Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oklahoma City guard Russell Westbrook has
signed a multi-year contract extension.
Financial details were not immediately available.
Westbrook is in his fourth season with the Thunder, who made him th
Howard, Bryant still lead All-Star balloting >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard and Los
Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant are still leading their respective
conferences in votes for the 2012 NBA All-Star Game.
Howard leads all players wit
SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting
NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.
That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.
A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."
It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.
The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.
So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."
Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.
Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.
Seriously.
The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.
The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.
Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."
The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts MasterCard needs.
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:
- Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
OR
- Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.
-
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.
For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
- Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
OR
- Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score
Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?
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.
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