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08/25/2010 - New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two-time champion James Blake was a second-round loser Wednesday at the $750,000 Pilot Pen Tennis event, a final hardcourt U.S. Open tune-up.
Seventh-seeded rising Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov dismissed Blake in 6-4, 6-2 fashion at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale in a match that was suspended because of rain here on Tuesday night. The struggling former top- five star Blake captured titles here in 2005 and 2007.
A mild third-round upset came when Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili grounded fifth- seeded Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (9-7).
In other third-round play, 15th-seeded Uzbekistanian Denis Istomin held off Slovakian Lukas Lacko 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 and Russian Evgeny Korolev topped Ukrainian Illya Marchenko 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.
Another second-round result saw 10th-seeded Serb Viktor Troicki handle Finnish veteran Jarkko Nieminen 7-5, 6-3.
The 2010 Pilot Pen champion will collect $93,630.
<< Pittsburgh Steelers 2010 Season Preview
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Steelers enter the 2010 campaign intent on
re-establishing their identity in the wake of a season of unfulfilled
expectations, followed by an offseason embroiled in turmoil.
It's been a long and arduous 18 m
<< Twins claim Flores off waivers
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins have claimed pitcher
Randy Flores off waivers from the Colorado Rockies.
The left-hander was 2-0 with a 2.96 earned-run average in 47 appearances for
the Rockies this season.
To
<< Ohlendorf placed on DL
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Pirates placed Ross
Ohlendorf on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday.
Ohlendorf was diagnosed with a strained lat muscle behind his right
shoulder after an MRI was taken
<< Benitez faces unenviable task at Inter
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Rafael Benitez era at Inter Milan got
off to a good start this past Saturday, as the Spaniard claimed his first piece
of silverware in a 3-1 win over Roma in the Italian Super Cup.
Benitez will have
Red Sox edge Mariners to open doubleheader >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daniel Nava drove in a pair of runs during a
four-run sixth inning and Darnell McDonald hit an insurance RBI single in the
eighth as Boston slogged through a 5-3 decision over Seattle in the opener of
a day-n
San Jose GM Doyle handed contract extension >>
Santa Clara, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Earthquakes announced on
Wednesday that they have signed general manager of soccer operations John
Doyle to a contract extension for the 2011 season.
The extension also includes an o
Dementieva lands in New Haven quarters >>
New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former U.S. Open runner-up Elena
Dementieva was a hard-fought second-round winner Wednesday at the $600,000
Pilot Pen Tennis event, a final hardcourt U.S. Open tune-up.
The fourth-seeded 2008 Olympic
Dodgers place Manny Ramirez on waivers >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Dodgers have placed
outfielder Manny Ramirez on waivers, according to the Los Angeles Times, which
cited a baseball source.
Should a team claim Ramirez, the Dodgers can arrange
In terms of sports wagering, the NFL is "the most popular game in town." The explanation behind that is easy.
It is called the "pointspread."
Many years ago, NFL games, as well as the more popular college games, used straight odds as a vehicle for betting. For example, if the Bears were playing the Giants, and it shaped up as a competitive contest, the Bears might be, say, a 7/5 favorite. If they were playing an also-ran, it might be 10/1. Well, there is a point where a line becomes prohibitive, as far as betting the favorite. And who would waste money betting an underdog that has virtually no chance? Such a setup did not contribute to promoting betting action.
But in modern sports betting, a "pointspread" is used.
A NFL pointspreads are exactly that, a pre-established point difference between the two sides that will, for all intents and purposes, create a handicap that evens things out, and in doing so, produces comparable wagering activity on both sides of that proposition. So in lieu of a odds figure in which to bet the team to win outright, the Bears might be a three-point favorite over the New York Giants, and a 17-point favorite over the also-ran. Now that the team that is the underdog can "get" points, there can be equal action on both sides.
In sportsbooks, this is usually done with efficiency by charging the losing bettors 10% extra - in effect, bettors are laying 11/10 on those games. So they are actually betting $110 to win $100. If they lose, they pay the "vig." If they win, they simply collect.
The establishment of the pointspread as the corner stone around which team sports like football can be wagered upon was truly what brought gridiron betting into the stratosphere for online football betting .
Don't believe it? Just take a look at what happens around the Super Bowl.
Stay with us here as we take you through the best in NFL action on a consistent basis, with advice columns as well as handicapping selections. If you're looking for college football betting, that's in our NCAA section, which you can reach by clicking here. And if you're looking for a different kind of football, such as the Canadian Football League, which we'll deal with occasionally, or the Arena Football League, which we really like, you can find it in our Miscellaneous section by clicking
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting odds .
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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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