10/09/2008 - Concord, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Persistent rain forced NASCAR to cancel Thursday night's qualifying for the Bank of America 500 at the Lowe's Motor Speedway.
By rule, the starting lineup for Saturday's Sprint Cup Series race will be set by owner points, giving Jimmie Johnson the pole position. Johnson leads all active drivers with five victories at Lowe's, including four straight from 2004-05.
"To have the first pit stall is going to be helpful since things happen on pit road," Johnson said. "It is an advantage being in that first pit stall at Lowe's Motor Speedway."
Johnson currently holds a 72-point lead over Carl Edwards, who will start on the outside pole.
Greg Biffle and Jeff Burton will make up row two, while Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick will start in the third row.
The remaining "Chase for the Sprint Cup" contenders - Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin - will start seventh through 12th, respectively.
Bryan Clauson, Brad Keselowski, Scott Speed and Derrike Cope did not make the field. Clauson, Keselowski and Speed were attempting to make their first career Sprint Cup starts this weekend at Lowe's.
Rain also scrubbed Sprint Cup practice in the afternoon, while Nationwide Series practice was cut short.
Johnson, competing in both races this weekend at Lowe's, expected a busy day at the track, but that wasn't the case.
"I made seven laps in the Nationwide car, looked at my Cup car, ate a bunch of junk food in the trailer and now I'm ready to go home, I guess," Johnson said.
Sprint Cup final practice is scheduled for Friday evening. The green flag is scheduled to drop Saturday around 7:30 p.m. (et).
<< Green takes Texas Open lead with 62
San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nathan Green was flawless until he hit into
a bunker at the par-three 17th and walked off with a bogey.
His slim chances of shooting a 59 in the past, the 33-year-old Australian
settled for an eight-
<< 'Quakes announce partnership with Premiership club
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Earthquakes have established a
partnership with the English Premier League's Tottenham Hotspur Football Club,
the Major League Soccer club announced at a press conference at the Fairmont
Hotel i
<< Jags' Walker, Nelson, Meier did not practice
Jacksonville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver
Mike Walker, safety Reggie Nelson and defensive tackle Rob Meier did not
participate in Thursday's practice.
Walker has knee troubles and has not taken th
<< Garcia likely to start Sunday with Griese nursing a bum elbow
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Brian Griese
missed practice for the second straight day Thursday due to a right elbow
injury, which made Jeff Garcia the favorite to start under center against the
Panther
Miami C Magloire injures left hand >>
Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miami Heat center Jamaal Magloire suffered
a fracture of the third metacarpal in his left hand during the team's
preseason loss to the New Jersey Nets on Thursday.
Magloire was taken to a local P
Three share lead in Texas >>
Midland, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Spencer Levin, Tom Gillis and Reid Edstrom each
opened with rounds of six-under-par 66 Thursday to share the lead after the
first round of the WNB Golf Classic.
Aron Price, the Livermore Valley Wine Champio
Toronto spoils Detroit's title celebration >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nikolai Kulemin's first NHL goal was the game-
winner, as Toronto held on for a 3-2 triumph over Detroit in the regular-
season opener for both clubs at Joe Louis Arena.
Pavel Kubina and Dominic Moore al
Redman, Hjorth share Longs Drugs lead >>
Danville, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michele Redman and Maria Hjorth both opened
with rounds of six-under-par 66 on Thursday to share the lead after one round
of the Longs Drugs Challenge at Blackhawk Country Club.
In-Kyung Kim and Mikaela Pa
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 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.
Barry Bonds Watch: Giants Slugger Says He'll Be Back
With only 21 home runs standing between him and Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds is indeed planning on coming back for more in 2007. At least, that's what his agent told the Los Angeles Times.
"Barry's going to play in 2007," Jeff Borris of Beverly Hills Sports Council told the Times on Tuesday. "I've had many discussions with Barry and he's going to play. My intentions are to see to it he's in a big-league uniform next season. Those are my marching orders."
Contract negotiations could get started as early as next week. Let's see which team has the deeper pockets. Will MLB baseball betting lines despite allegations of steroid use? Bet On It at www.MySportsbook.com .
Get all your baseball betting lines, MLB lines and MLB team props at the My Sportbook.
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