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04/26/2010 - Newark, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jacques Lemaire's second tenure in New Jersey was a short one, as the Devils head coach has decided to retire after just one season.
Lemaire spent five seasons as Devils head coach from 1993-94 through the 1997-98 season, guiding the club to its first Stanley Cup title in the spring of 1995. He then returned to the franchise last July after eight seasons as the coach of the Minnesota Wild.
The Devils won the Atlantic Division title this past season with a record of 48-27-7, but were dumped in the first round of the playoffs by the Philadelphia Flyers in five games. It marked the third straight first-round exit for the underachieving Devils.
Lemaire is the franchise's all-time leader in games coached with 460 and victories with 247. His 35 postseason wins are also the most in club annals.
The 64-year-old Hall of Famer also coached the Montreal Canadiens for one full season and part of another in the mid-1980s. He has an overall coaching record of 588-441-184 and is a two-time winner of the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's top coach.
Lemaire was an eight-time Stanley Cup winner during his playing days with the Canadiens from 1967-79. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1984, having recorded 366 goals and 469 assists for 835 points in 853 regular- season games.
<< Benzema voices Real concerns
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema has
admitted to being frustrated at a lack of regular starts during his first
season with the Spanish giants.
The 22-year-old former Lyon frontman has scored ei
<< Emery made to wait on Valencia future
Valencia, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Valencia president Manuel Llorente has
hinted that head coach Unai Emery's future with the club depends on Los Che
qualifying for next season's Champions League.
Emery has guided Valencia to third
<< Raul's season ended by ankle injury
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Madrid legend Raul may have played his
last game for the club after suffering an ankle injury which has ended his
season prematurely.
The 32-year-old Spain forward suffered a sprained ankle in the
<< Rooney named PFA Player of the Year
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wayne Rooney has been named the
Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year following his
stunning season for Manchester United.
The 24-year-old, who has scored 34 goals
Labbadia axed as Hamburg boss >>
Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hamburg have sacked head coach Bruno
Labbadia just three days before their Europa League semifinal second leg
against Fulham in London.
Labbadia was axed following Sunday's 5-1 Bundesliga defea
City hopes to land emergency goalkeeper >>
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester City are hoping to sign a
goalkeeper on an emergency loan basis until the end of the season following a
request to the Premier League.
City boss Roberto Mancini has been left with a majo
Sneijder set to miss return leg for Inter >>
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Inter Milan are set to be without Wesley
Sneijder for Wednesday's Champions League semifinal second leg encounter with
Barcelona.
The Netherlands international suffered a leg muscle injury during Inter
Fulham waits on Zamora injury >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fulham manager Roy Hodgson has admitted
that Bobby Zamora is a major doubt for Thursday's Europa League semifinal
second leg tie against Hamburg.
Zamora limped out of last week's goalless fir
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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