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03/16/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Thrashers could be in much worse shape than they are when it comes to the Eastern Conference playoff race. Still, the club will not be able to improve their postseason chances until they end a lengthy losing streak.
The Thrashers will try to put the brakes on a six-game slide tonight when they welcome the Buffalo Sabres to Philips Arena.
Atlanta seemed to emerge from the Olympic break with confidence, winning its first two games in March, but since then the Thrashers have lost six in a row. Now with 14 games left, Atlanta is 11th in the Eastern Conference and five points behind Boston for the East's final playoff spot.
Meanwhile, the Sabres are currently first in the Northeast Division and three points ahead of Ottawa.
The Thrashers dropped five straight in regulation before losing a shootout decision Sunday against visiting Phoenix. Adrian Aucoin scored the game-winning goal in the fourth round of the shootout, lifting the Coyotes to a 3-2 victory.
Nik Antropov and Maxim Afinogenov each had a goal and an assist for the Thrashers, who have dropped six straight for the first time since a nine-game slide from December 19-January 5.
Ondrej Pavelec turned aside 32-of-34 shots in defeat.
"The whole 65 minutes it was a team effort. I thought we played really good. Hopefully we can build off that," Antropov said.
Thrashers defenseman Zach Bogosian missed Sunday's test with a hand injury and is questionable for tonight.
Atlanta is playing the third tilt of a five-game homestand tonight. The Thrashers have lost four straight at Philips Arena and are 15-13-5 as the host this year.
Buffalo has lost its last two games on the heels of a three-game winning streak.
Like Atlanta, the Sabres were also able to gain a point with a loss their last time out, dropping an overtime decision in Detroit on Saturday. Brian Rafalski's power-play goal 31 seconds into OT gave the Red Wings a 3-2 victory at Joe Louis Arena.
Buffalo's Tyler Myers was called for delay of game late in regulation and the penalty carried over to the extra session. Nicklas Lidstrom had the puck in the high slot and slid a backhand pass to the left circle where Rafalski cranked a one-timer through a screen and past Ryan Miller for the win.
Jochen Hecht scored both goals while Tim Connolly and Jason Pominville each posted two assists for the Sabres. Miller finished with 34 saves.
Buffalo kicked off a five-game road trip on Saturday and fell to 15-12-4 as the visitor with the loss in Motown.
Tonight marks the end of the season series between the Sabres and Thrashers. The Sabres have taken two of three meetings so far and both of Buffalo's wins came in overtime. The Thrashers still have seven wins in the last 10 matchups overall and Buffalo has dropped five of its last six in Atlanta.
<< Sliding Bulls make a stop in Memphis
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The fading Chicago Bulls hope to put the brakes on season-
long seven-game skid and improve their standing in the Eastern Conference
playoff picture when they visit the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday.
Chicago's losing
<< Struggling Bruins visit Hurricanes
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Bruins will fight to hold onto their playoff
spot when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes tonight at RBC Center.
The Bruins are currently eighth in the East with 72 points and are just one
point ahead of the New
<< Heat resume homestand vs. Spurs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two teams battling for playoff positioning get together
tonight in south Florida, as the Miami Heat continue a six-game homestand
versus the San Antonio Spurs at AmericanAirlines Arena.
The Heat have won the first three te
<< Cavs closing in on Central title; visit Pistons
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NBA's best road team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, will pay
a visit to the Detroit Pistons Tuesday night at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
The playoff-bound Cavs have won 14 of their last 19 road games and are 23-11
away from
Sens try to regain swagger against Leafs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ottawa Senators have found it hard to recapture their
earlier success upon returning from the Olympic break. The playoff hopefuls
hope a visit from the Eastern Conference's last-place team will help end those
struggles.
Playoff-hopeful Suns welcome Wolves to the desert >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The playoffs are likely a foregone conclusion for the
Phoenix Suns, who resume a season-long seven-game homestand tonight against
the Western Conference's worst team, the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Suns improved
Lakers eye 50th win in Sacramento >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The reigning NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers shoot for a
third straight 50-win season tonight in California's capital against Pacific
Division foe Sacramento.
The Lakers won their third straight game last night i
Panthers shoot for win against Ovechkin-less Caps >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While the Washington Capitals have already secured a
playoff spot, the Florida Panthers have been making a late push for the
postseason with their play as of late.
The resurgent Panthers aim for their first victory this se
In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.
And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.
Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.
So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.
Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)
The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.
As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.
The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.
In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.
Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.
And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.
So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.
There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.
So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.
And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.
There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)
Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.
Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.
Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.
So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.
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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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