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07/24/2010 - Portoroz, Slovenia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anna Chakvetadze overcame a rough start Saturday to defeat Polona Hercog and move into the finals of the Slovenia Open.
Hercog, a Slovenian, won the first set, 6-0, in 24 minutes and took the opening game in the second set before Chakvetadze regained her composure to win the last two sets, 6-2, 6-2.
The Russian Chakvetadze, ranked 103rd, will be playing in her first final since losing to Caroline Wozniacki in New Haven in August of 2008.
Johanna Larsson will be Chakvetadze's opponent in the final after advancing when Russian Ksenia Pervak retired in the second set trailing, 6-2, 1-0.
The two finalists will be facing each other for the first time.
<< Flanagan moves in front in Ohio
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Australian Nick Flanagan carded a two-under 69
Saturday to grab a one-stroke lead after three rounds of the Nationwide
Children's Hospital Invitational.
Flanagan, who won three times in the 2007, completed 54
<< Rangers disable catcher Treanor
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers placed catcher Matt Treanor
on the 15-day disabled list after suffering a knee sprain in Friday's game
against the Angels.
In the bottom of the seventh, Treanor hit a bouncer off pitche
<< Report: Mets' Maine to miss rest of season
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Mets pitcher John Maine has
undergone surgery on his right shoulder that will sideline him for the rest of
the 2010 season.
According to the Newark Star-Ledger, the procedure was performed F
<< Atletico Madrid adds Brazilian fullback Filipe
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atletico Madrid acquired Brazilian fullback
Filipe from fellow Spanish club Deportivo on Saturday in a deal reported to be
worth nearly $15 million.
Filipe debuted for Brazil during 2010 FIFA World Cup qua
Dallas draws Toronto to extend road unbeaten run >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Milton Rodriguez scored his first Major League
Soccer goal in the 77th minute and FC Dallas tied Toronto FC, 1-1, on Saturday
at BMO Field to extend its road unbeaten streak to seven games.
Maicon Santos score
Report: Giants sign LB Bulluck >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Giants have reportedly
signed veteran linebacker Keith Bulluck.
The Star-Ledger, which cites Bulluck's agent, Gary Wichard, reports that the
two sides have agreed terms on a one-year
Ludwick returns to Cardinals lineup >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals activated
outfielder Ryan Ludwick from the 15-day disabled list in time for Saturday's
game at Wrigley Field.
He went 1-for-3 with two runs scored and walk in his return to the l
Rachel Alexandra garners Lady's Secret victory >>
Oceanport, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rachel Alexandra, 2009 Horse of the Year,
used a stalking ride Saturday to win the $400,000 Lady's Secret Stakes at
Monmouth Park. The champion filly won the 1 1/8-mile race by three-lengths
over Qu
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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