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07/17/2010 - Prague, Czech Republic (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Agnes Szavay and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova were both easy semifinal winners Saturday at the $220,000 Prague Open tennis event.
Szavay, last week's Budapest titlist, downed unseeded Czech Lucie Hradecka, 6-2, 6-4, in a little over 80 minutes on the red clay at Stvanice.
The Hungarian, the winner here in 2009, will next meet Zahlavova Strycova, who advanced to her first WTA final with a thorough 6-2, 6-0 pasting of Patty Schnyder of Switzerland.
Sunday will be the first meeting between Szavay and Zahlavova Strycova.
<< Former Penn St. RB Warner set to rush into Hall
Curt Warner stopped when he came across his shiny new plaque during a tour of the College Football Hall of Fame.Opposing linebackers rarely had such luck halting the tailback during his record-setting career at Penn State.Those achievements in Happy
<< Headley, Padres crush Diamondbacks
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chase Headley went 3-for-4 with a double and
home run, helping the San Diego Padres to a 12-1 victory over the Arizona
Diamondbacks in the teams' second-half opener.
Jon Garland (9-6) gave up just one
<< Calvillo leads Als to win at BC
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anthony Calvillo completed 30-of-46 passes
for 297 yards to lead the Montreal Alouettes to a 16-12 victory over the
British Columbia Lions at Empire Field in Vancouver.
Avon Cobourne finished with 1
<< Weaver helps Angels edge Hernandez, Mariners
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jered Weaver pitched seven innings of two-run
ball, as the Angels held off the Mariners, 3-2, in the second test of a four-
game series.
Weaver (9-5), who gave up six hits, snapped a two-start skid. The righ
Richard, Padres resume series vs. D'Backs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Clayton Richard was bailed out by his offense the last time
he took the mound. The San Diego Padres hope that Richard won't need the help
when he gets the nod tonight in the second installment of a three-game series
versus
Cards send Wainwright to hill vs. Dodgers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adam Wainwright will try to become just the second 14-game
winner in the major leagues and remain perfect at home when he leads the St.
Louis Cardinals into the third test of a four-game series tonight versus the
Los Ang
Braves aim to bounce back against Brewers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves can't afford to lose any ground in the
competitive National League East Division. Tonight they have a good shot at
bouncing back with Tim Hudson on the mound in the third test of a four-game
series
Cubs seek another win over visiting Phils >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's been all smiles for the Chicago Cubs on their current
homestand and they'll go for a series victory this afternoon in the third test
of a four-game series versus the Philadelphia Phillies at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs o
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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