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07/25/2010 - Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andrey Golubev has won his first title in his second career final, beating third-seeded Austrian Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 7-5 on Sunday at the German Open.
Golubev, who did not lose a set this week, became the first player from Kazakhstan to win an ATP World Tour title and the third first-time winner this season, joining American John Isner and Latvia's Ernests Gulbis.
The just-turned 23-year-old hadn't been past the second round in any of his 11 previous ATP tournaments this year before this week's run, which included a third-round upset of top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko.
Golubev lost in the final to Andy Murray two years ago in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Melzer, meanwhile, fell to 2-7 all-time in finals. He won four years ago in Bucharest and last October in his hometown of Vienna.
<< Padres rock Pirates in Latos' return
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Everth Cabrera and Oscar Salazar each drove
in two runs and Mat Latos was solid in his return from the disabled list, as
the San Diego Padres dominated the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-2, in the second test
of a th
<< Osanai wins 3-way playoff in Japan
Chitose, Japan (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mamo Osanai won a three-way playoff Sunday
to capture the Japan Golf Tour's Sega Sammy Cup.
Osanai shot a three-under 69 in the final round at The North Country Golf Club
to join Shunsuke Sonoda and Min-Gy
<< Conrad's late slam helps Braves cook Marlins
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brooks Conrad hit his second career grand slam
during an eight-run eighth inning, as the Atlanta Braves rallied past the
Florida Marlins, 10-5, in the second test of a three-game set between these
two NL
<< Tigers' Ordonez out 6-8 weeks with broken ankle
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit Tigers slugger Magglio Ordonez left
Saturday's 3-2 loss against Toronto with a fractured right ankle.
Ordonez was thrown out at home trying to score on a Miguel Cabrera double in
the bottom of the
Rays try to make it two straight in Cleveland >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After snapping their 18-game slide at Progressive Field,
the Tampa Bay Rays will try for a series win this afternoon in the finale of
their three-game series against the Cleveland Indians.
Ben Zobrist's replay-reviewed thr
A-Rod takes another crack at 600 in finale with Royals >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The finale of the series between the New York Yankees and
the Kansas City Royals could be a historic one, as Alex Rodriguez comes
into the matchup one home run shy of becoming the seventh member of the 600
home run club.
Twins go for series win in Baltimore >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins hope to continue their recent strong
play on the road this afternoon when they close out their four-game series
against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards.
The Twins have posted just a 22-26 mark awa
Tigers, Blue Jays play two at Comerica >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Due to the postponement of the contest on Friday, the fans
at Comerica Park will get a double dose of baseball this afternoon when the
Detroit Tigers and Toronto Blue Jays wrap up their four-game series with a
traditional dou
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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