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02/04/2010 - Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - D.C. United signed 2009 MLS Rookie of the Year finalist Chris Pontius to a new contract on Thursday.
United originally selected Pontius with the seventh overall pick in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft. He played in 28 of the team's 30 MLS matches (23 starts), and had four goals and three assists. In all competitions, Pontius played in 40 of 44 possible matches, totaling eight goals and six assists.
"Chris had a terrific rookie season and we are pleased to have completed a new deal with him," said United General Manager Dave Kasper. "We believe that his best soccer is still ahead and we will challenge him in every way to ensure he reaches his full potential.
"We are excited about his future and we look forward to his contributions this season and beyond."
Pontius was one of three finalists for the 2009 MLS Rookie of the Year Award, alongside Los Angeles' Omar Gonzalez, who won the award, and Toronto's Stefan Frei.
"I'm very excited to have reached a new deal with United," said Pontius. "I had a great time last year and we have big plans for the future of this club. I'm looking forward to contributing even more to the team and I'm excited for the 2010 season."
Per team and League policy, terms of the new agreement were not released.
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Fort Lauderdale, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Indianapolis Colts defensive end Dwight
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Van Buyten, Badstuber, Muller commit to Bayern >>
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich agreed to new contracts with
defenders Daniel van Buyten and Holger Badstuber, and midfielder Thomas Muller
on Thursday.
Van Buyten, Badstuber and Muller were not first-team regulars last sea
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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