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08/21/2010 - Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rain throughout the day and into the evening forced the postponement of the semifinals of the $2 million Rogers Cup to Sunday.
Second-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark was ahead 2-0 in her match against 11th-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova. The players returned to the court after 9 p.m. and warmed up, but then rain started again.
The two then played on either side of the net with a mini soccer ball to entertain the crowd before walking off the court together with smiles on their faces and signing autographs.
The match between Wozniacki and Kuznetsova will resume at 11 a.m. Sunday in Centre Court. The other semifinal between eighth-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva, this year's Wimbledon runner-up, and 10th seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus will commence at the same time on National Bank Court. The final is slated for 3 p.m.
This week's winner will earn $350,000.
<< Feldman leaves Saturday's game with sore knee
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Rangers pitcher Scott Feldman left
Saturday's game in Baltimore with soreness in his right knee.
Feldman took over for starter Cliff Lee and got the final out in the sixth
inning. He came out t
<< Twins place Slowey, Mahay on DL
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins have placed starting
pitcher Kevin Slowey and reliever Ron Mahay on the 15-day disabled list after
both were hurt during Saturday's game against the Los Angeles Angels.
Slowey depar
<< Nats P Strasburg leaves with arm injury
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington Nationals rookie phenom Stephen
Strasburg left Saturday's game against Philadelphia with an apparent injury to
his throwing arm/elbow.
In the fifth inning, Strasburg's third pitch to Philadelphi
<< Bucs QB Freeman exits Saturday's game
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tampa Bay quarterback Josh Freeman left
Saturday's pre-season game against Kansas City with an injured thumb.
Freeman led the Buccaneers on a seven-play, 28-yard drive on their opening
possession th
Carpenter and Cardinals knock off Lincecum and Giants >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis starter Chris Carpenter turned in
seven-plus innings and Pedro Feliz knocked in a pair of runs, as the Cardinals
beat the struggling Tim Lincecum and San Francisco, 5-1, to put the brakes on
a five-
Schelotto leads Crew to 3-1 win over Rapids >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Guillermo Barros Schelotto had a goal and an
assist Saturday, leading the Columbus Crew to a 3-1 victory over the Colorado
Rapids at Crew Stadium.
Schelotto converted a penalty kick in the eighth minute fo
Steelers beat Giants in Big Ben's return to game action >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Wallace recorded a 68-yard
touchdown reception as Pittsburgh topped the New York Giants, 24-17, in
preseason action from New Meadowlands Stadium.
After sitting out the Detroit game,
Nationals beat Phillies, but Strasburg injured >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roger Bernadina belted a three-run homer,
and the Washington Nationals, despite losing phenom pitcher Stephen Strasburg
to injury, defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-1, in the second of three
games a
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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