Betting enthusiast's new to straight bets and point spreads, do not be alarmed as these are two of the most common wagers in all of sports. A straight bet as it sounds, is when you the bettor, pick which team will win and which team will lose. Point spreads, assist in determining a straight bet, as each betting line can be the key factor to determining a winner. Over the years, the two forms of wagering have become synonymous with one another as a point spread wager is frequently utilized in the big four sports of football and basketball and occasionally hockey.

Straight bets have are normally placed by casual bettors, just getting their feet wet in the gambling world. As a result, the bets are usually low $2 wagers as new gamblers will play it safe just to get a feel on the action. The point spread factors in on this decision, as fans choosing a team to bet to win, will almost always go with the favorite. How the point spread works, is that it essentially, is a number predetermined by the bookmaker in which they believe that the team expected to win, also known as the favorite will win by "x" amount of points. However this can be foiled by the team predetermined to lose either making the game closer or even pulling off an upset.

An example of a straight bet point spread would look like this

Cougars - 7
Bearcats- +7

Essentially, the bookie has determined that the Cougars are the favorite by seven points, which is symbolized by a minus sign in front of the seven. When placing a straight bet, you have the option of wagering upon the favorite or the underdog. If you bet the underdog, you will need the Bearcats to either lose by less than seven or win the game.

For the last few days the sports betting world has been wondering if Michigan State Spartan basketball coach Tom Izzo would make the jump to the NBA and coach the Cleveland Cavaliers. After considering the move for a few days, Izzo has decided to stay in the college ranks and remain at MichiganState. Making the jump from college to the pros can be difficult and few coaches have made that leap successfully. Izzo had reportedly tried to speak to LeBron James about where James plans on playing next season, but according to Izzo the two were never able to have a conversation.

The new NFL betting action will eventually be on which quarterback will end up in jail next. Tennessee Titans' quarterback Vince Young was arrested after an incident in a Dallas, Texas strip club that saw him attack a person in a back room. Young said he was provoked and has apologized for the incident. Disciplinary action by the Titans or the NFL has not been released.

Washington Redskins defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth has indicated that he wants a trade and will not report to training activities with the team. Haynesworth is reportedly not happy with his new role as a nose tackle in the defensive scheme of new head coach Mike Shanahan. Linebacker London Fletcher called Haynesworth selfish in a public statement.

NFL executives and NFLPA executives meet recently to try and work out a new collective bargaining agreement. One of the issues being discussed is a change in the pre-season and regular season structure that would see two pre-season games and 18 regular season games.

With the blown call that spoiled a potential perfect game for Tigers' pitcher Armando Galarraga by umpire Jim Joyce in Detroit's win Wednesday night, the online sports betting world and talk show phone lines were lighting up all morning discussing what the outcome of the decision means for both Galarraga and the game. Perhaps Joyce made a call to the Pittsburgh Steelers to ask for some relief, as the only story which was big enough to take the attention away from the potential perfect game was Steelers' quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's decision to speak with the media on Thursday. It marked the first time since his football betting six-game suspension for violating the NFL's conduct policy that Roethlisberger has spoken with the media.

The 28-year old did not apologize for what happened on the night when he was accused of sexually assaulting a college student at a nightclub in Georgia, but admitted that he had spent the last two months thinking about the decisions that he has made over the years, and the person that he wants to be. Roethlisberger talked about how we was working very closely with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to make the best of what he called, "his second chance" at playing football. The embattled quarterback wouldn't comment on specific betting details concerning what Goodell and he had talked about, as well as the psychic evaluation he was ordered to undergo before he was cleared to work with the Steelers at training camp. Roethlisberger will be ineligible to participate once practice begins, but is putting in extra time with the team during training camp now in an effort to get ahead.