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09/26/2009 - Dover, DE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kyle Busch will start on the pole for Saturday's Dover 200 Nationwide Series race after topping the speed charts in qualifying at Dover International Speedway.
Busch, the current points leader, turned a blazing lap around the one-mile track at 154.110 m.p.h. (23.360 seconds) in his No.18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for his third pole of the season and the 18th of his Nationwide career. He started on the pole and won the fall race here one year ago.
"The [car] has been good this weekend, and we just have to make sure we keep it that way throughout this race," Busch said. "We've got 200 laps, and anything can happen. We've seen it here before, especially with us this year. It seems like our late restarts are our Achilles' heal."
In May, Busch appeared to be on his way to another victory at Dover, but a late-race tangle with his JGR teammate Joey Logano cost him the win. Brad Keselowski went to Victory Lane, while Busch ended up with a 17th-place finish after cutting a tire during the incident.
Busch qualified more than two miles per hour faster than his closest competitor, Carl Edwards, who will start on the outside pole. Busch holds a 201-point lead over Edwards.
Mike Bliss qualified third, followed by Sprint Cup Series regulars Denny Hamlin and Scott Speed.
Ryan Newman, Steve Wallace, John Wes Townley, Dennis Setzer and Reed Sorenson completed the top-10.
J.C. Stout was the only driver who failed to qualify.
Today's 200-mile is scheduled to begin around 3:30 p.m. (et).
<< AL West-leading Angels continue series with A's
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Angels try to move closer to securing their
third straight American League West title this evening when they continue
their three-game set with the Oakland Athletics at Angel Stadium.
The Halos did not help
<< Rangers continue to chase playoff hopes in clash with Rays
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers still have their sights set on the
postseason. Unfortunately, though, time is starting to run out on them.
Tonight, the Rangers try to keep their fleeting hopes alive when they continue
their three-game s
<< D-Backs send Haren to the hill against Padres
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dan Haren hoped to be pitching Arizona into the playoffs.
Instead, he is just trying to get the club out of the National League West
basement.
Haren will try to win at least 15 games for a third straight year this evening
<< Wainwright goes for 19th win for playoff-hopeful Cards vs. Rockies
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Rockies would probably have no issues with facing the
Cardinals in the playoffs. National League Wild Card-leading Colorado aims for
an eighth straight win over NL Central-leading St. Louis tonight in the
continuation of
Great Britain & Ireland takes commanding lead >>
Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell ran their
record to 3-1 as Great Britain & Ireland took a commanding seven-point lead
Saturday at The Vivendi Trophy with Seve Ballesteros.
The talented duo won two
Nuggets add F Graham >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets signed forward Joey Graham to
their training camp roster, the team announced on Saturday.
Graham has spent four seasons in the NBA -- all with Toronto -- since being
drafted 16th overall
Panthers to be without Diggs on Monday >>
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Carolina Panthers will play Monday
against the Dallas Cowboys without linebacker Na'il Diggs because of a rib
injury.
Diggs was hurt in the first half of last week's 28-20 loss at Atlanta and
Bucs release McCoy; promote Urrutia >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have released linebacker
Matt McCoy and have promoted wide receiver Mario Urrutia from the practice
squad to the active roster.
McCoy played the first two games of the season, prim
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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