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07/16/2010 - Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Salt Lake forward Robbie Findley said after a recent win at the Chicago Fire one of our goals this year was to "improve on our road record."
Findley converted a penalty in the 1-0 win on July 8, helping Real win for the third time on the road already this season - a total it failed to reach in its last two MLS campaigns.
Now, the defending league champions return to action and visit twice-beaten FC Dallas on Saturday with another win - and the Los Angeles Galaxy - in sight.
Real captured the MLS crown last season despite going just 2-11-2 on the road, and has amassed the second-best mark in the league behind L.A. with three wins and a tie in seven road matches.
RSL (9-3-3) is six points behind the Galaxy - and have played one fewer game - entering the weekend trip to Pizza Hurt Park against Dallas (5-2-7).
"It's been something we've been working on. We didn't do too well [on the road last year] and it is one of our goals this year," Findley said. "So far we are doing the right things."
Findley, back from the World Cup with the U.S. national team, is joined on the field by three MLS All-Star First XI members in midfielders Kyle Beckerman and Javier Morales, and defender Jamison Olave.
In addition, Real Salt Lake goalie Nick Rimando has not allowed a goal in his last 498 minutes and posted five straight shutouts, putting the Utah side in strong position for the start of the second half of the season.
Rimando admitted the team's attitude has changed on the road, and that has led to better results.
"I think last couple of years we were happy with a point and if we don't get that point it's not a big deal," Rimando said. "Now it's we aren't happy with a point, we want three points.
"I think the confidence of winning early in the season really helps us out in these kinds of games."
FC Dallas settled for a 1-1 draw against Seattle Sounders FC in its last game, as it tied its league-high seventh game of the season. However, coach Schellas Hyndman has guided his side to third place in the Western Conference.
FC Dallas' only losses were to Red Bull New York and Los Angeles, which is the lone team to shut out the Texas club this season.
David Ferreira scored in the draw against Seattle and has become Hyndman's top attacking threat with four goals. Jeff Cunningham won the Golden Boot one year ago, but three of his four goals are from the penalty spot this season.
Real has allowed just four goals while scoring 24 during its 10-match unbeaten streak, so Dallas could find another shutout tough to avoid this weekend.
"It's a big one for me - I'll be honest. I have feelings about that club - I had been there so long. And every time I go back there's a little bit extra on the line," said Real coach Jason Kreis, who played with Dallas from 1996-2004.
<< Union hopes to halt Toronto's unbeaten run
Chester, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Toronto FC will be trying to extend its
unbeaten streak to nine games on Saturday when they visit PPL Park to face the
Philadelphia Union.
Toronto recorded a 1-0 win over the Colorado Rapids last
<< Stars sign veteran D Lukowich, three others
Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Stars signed veteran defenseman Brad
Lukowich and two others to one-year, two-way contracts on Friday.
Lukowich, 33, has registered 23 goals and 90 assists in 653 regular season NHL
games with six
<< AL Central: Tribe's future will take shape in second half
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For Cleveland Indians fans, the hard part is over.
They've endured a first half of the season that saw their team finish 20 games
below .500 (34-54) and fall 15 1/2 games off the pace in the American League
Central. Grante
<< Roberts, Skelton under contract
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Cardinals will head into training
camp with their two FCS draft choices, quarterback John Skelton and wide
receiver Andre Roberts, signed to four-year contracts.
Skelton was the Cardinals' fifth-rou
NFL suspends Packers' Jolly indefinitely >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National Football League has suspended
Packers' defensive lineman Johnny Jolly indefinitely without pay for violating
the league's Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse.
Jolly's suspension takes e
Galaxy aims to overcome "12th man" at United >>
Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena
has plenty of fond memories from RFK Stadium, where he brings his team to face
D.C. United on Sunday.
Arena guided United to three successive MLS Cup final appear
Wizards want more magic against Rapids >>
Commerce City, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kansas City Wizards forward Teal Bunbury
called Wednesday's 1-0 victory at the Columbus Crew "huge," and hopes the team
can build on the result Saturday night at the Colorado Rapids.
K.C. (4-8-3) won for
Mandzukic joins Wolfsburg >>
Wolfsburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wolfsburg have wrapped up the signing of
Croatia striker Mario Mandzukic on a four-year contract from Dinamo Zagreb.
The 24-year-old joins the Bundesliga club as a potential replacement for Edin
Dzeko,
MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined
Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.
"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."
Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)
According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.
As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).
Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.
Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at
17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.
*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007
New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers
By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.
"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."
While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."
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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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