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04/27/2009 - Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rising Belarusian Victoria Azarenka was Monday's lone main-draw winner at the $700,000 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
The fourth-seeded Azarenka handled Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1, 6-4 on the indoor red clay at Porsche Arena. The world No. 8 Azarenka was the surprise titlist at the so-called "Fifth Slam" in Miami earlier this month.
This week's top seeds are world No. 1 Dinara Safina, Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva and reigning Stuttgart champion Jelena Jankovic, who topped Russian Nadia Petrova in last year's finale here.
The 2009 Porsche titlist will pocket $107,000.
<< Bengals get rid of Perry, four others
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Bengals terminated the
contract of running back Chris Perry, one of several roster moves by the club
on Monday.
The former 2004 first-round pick of the Bengals, Perry gained 269 yard
<< Missouri QB Daniel highlights 13 signed by Redskins
Ashburn, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Redskins agreed to terms with 13
rookie free agents on Monday, including standout Missouri quarterback Chase
Daniel.
Daniel threw for 4,335 yards and posted a 72.9 completion percentage with
<< Wawrinka rolls; Blake falls in rainy Rome
Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tenth-seeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka was a
first-round winner, while 14th-seeded American James Blake came up a loser
Monday at the $3.645 million Italian Masters tennis event.
The 2008 Rome runner-up
<< Boise State RB Johnson among 14 signed by Vikings
Eden Prairie, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Vikings agreed to
terms with 14 rookie free agents on Monday with former Boise State running
back Ian Johnson among them.
Johnson rushed for 766 yards and 13 touchdowns as
Red Sox activate Lugo from DL >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox activated shortstop
Julio Lugo from the 15-day disabled on Monday.
Lugo has yet to play this season, as he was placed on the disabled list April
4, retroactive to March 27, followin
Around FCS: NFL draft full of FCS surprises >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - I am going to show my age with this one,
but the 2009 NFL draft was something that Gomer Pyle would have loved.
For those of you born after the decade of the 60s, or those who don't regularly
watch TV
Jets waive Hodges, Mason >>
Hempstead, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Jets waived punter Reggie
Hodges and running back Marcus Mason on Monday.
Hodges appeared in 12 games last season for the Jets after replacing Ben
Graham. He had 44 punts for an ave
Esks ink QB Zabransky >>
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Edmonton Eskimos signed free agent
quarterback Jared Zabransky on Monday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
A former standout at Boise State, Zabransky spent time on the Houston Texans'
practi
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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