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Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup. Date: Saturday, July 2. Race: Coke Zero 400. Site: Daytona International Speedway. Track: 2.5-mile tri-oval. Start time: 7:30 p.m. (et). Laps: 160. Miles: 400. 2010 Winner: Kevin Harvick. Television: TNT. Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN) /SIRIUS NASCAR Radio. It's definitely hot and humid in Central Florida when the Sprint Cup Series returns to Daytona International Speedway for its annual "mid-summer classic."
"That's been big on my list over the years," Busch said. "I really want to get one of those plate wins. We had a good Speedweeks at Daytona [in February]. Now I want to go there and get the big July 4th win."
Almost everyone (excluding the start and park guys) in the starting field at Daytona has a shot at winning. Trevor Bayne, a part-timer in Sprint Cup this season, proved that earlier in the year.
Bayne is entered in Saturday night's 400-mile race at Daytona, but he is not guaranteed a starting position. His No.21 Wood Brothers Racing team is currently 36th in owner points. Bayne will have to qualify on time to make the show.
Expect it to be another wild affair at Daytona.
"I think as a team we have a set strategy that we're going to go into that race this week and see how it works," two-time Daytona race winner Kevin Harvick said. "Whether that's right or wrong, I don't know. We've talked about it for a couple weeks now and have a good plan."
Harvick won the 400-mile race at Daytona one year ago. He is also the 2007 Daytona 500 champion.
"I don't enjoy the two-car draft, because when I push somebody, I can't see around him," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I would like to be in control of my own destiny all the time."
Johnson crossed the finish line by only 0.002 seconds ahead of Clint Bowyer, tying the closest margin of victory in NASCAR's top series since the sanctioning body began using electronic timing and scoring in 1993. Ricky Craven nipped Kurt Busch by that same margin in the 2003 spring race at Darlington.
Forty-five teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Coke Zero 400.
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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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