Argos start season on right foot, blow out Tiger-Cats
Football Betting Lines
07/01/2009 - Hamilton, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kerry Joseph threw for 227 yards and three touchdowns, as the Toronto Argonauts got the CFL season started with a 30-17 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in a battle of 2008 also-rans.
Joseph completed 14-of-29 passes for Toronto (1-0), which snapped a nine-game losing streak, dating back to last season, and won in new head coach Bart Andrus' debut with the club. Jamal Robertson added 124 yards on the ground with a touchdown, while Arland Bruce caught five passes for 73 yards and a score.
Toronto and Hamilton were the only two teams that didn't qualify for the Grey Cup playoffs last season, as the Argonauts finished with a 4-14 record while the Tiger-Cats were 3-15.
Quincy Porter went 26-of-40 through the air for 229 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions for Hamilton (0-1), which has lost five straight, dating back to 2008, and 11 of 12 overall. Prechae Rodriguez hauled in seven balls for 55 yards and a score, while Terry Caulley scored Hamilton's other touchdown through the air.
Toronto jumped out to a big lead with 20 points in the first quarter.
Four minutes into the game, Joseph found Bruce from 21 yards out for a touchdown for an early 6-0 lead after a missed PAT attempt.
With 4:43 left in the quarter, Joseph hit Reggie McNeal on a seven-yard touchdown pass to cap a 10-play drive, and the extra point made it 13-0.
Then, on the final play of the opening frame, Robertson ran from five yards out to finish a three-play, 39-yard drive in just 44 seconds to give Toronto a commanding 20-0 lead.
Hamilton finally got on the board, as Caulley hauled in a three-yard touchdown reception from Porter a little over two minutes into the second period, cutting the team's deficit to 20-7.
The Tiger-Cats added three more points on Nick Setta's 18-yard field goal with three minutes left until halftime, but Eddie Johnson answered for the Argonauts with a 25-yard field goal 43 seconds later, accounting for the 23-10 halftime score.
Toronto restored its 20-point cushion early in the second half, as Joseph tossed a 22-yard touchdown pass to Matt Lambros two minutes into the quarter.
Hamilton added a touchdown late, as Rodriguez caught a 21-yard scoring pass from Porter with just over a minute to go in the fourth. The Tiger-Cats, though, were stopped from that point, and Toronto went home victorious.
Game Notes
Robertson also caught three passes for 53 yards...Porter was Hamilton's leading rusher with 61 yards on nine attempts...Hamilton went 2-1 last season against Toronto, accounting for 67 percent of the Tiger-Cats' wins.
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What Is the Point Spread?
What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?
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.
How to Read Point Spreads
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:
- Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
OR
- Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.
-
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.
For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
- Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
OR
- Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score
Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?
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.