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02/02/2012 - Doha, Qatar (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano shot a six-under 66 on a windy Thursday to take the first-round lead at the Qatar Masters.
The Spaniard birdied four of his final five holes at Doha Golf Club to take a one-shot lead over American John Daly, who is search of his first win since 2004. Daly is a two-time major champion, but has slipped to 543rd in the world rankings.
K.J. Choi and Jason Day both shot four-under 68s Thursday and are tied for third.
Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer, the No. 3 and 4 players in the world, respectively, are in a large group tied in 15th at one-under 71.
MORE TO FOLLOW.
<< Clippers earn rare win in Utah
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It wasn't easy, but the Clippers picked
up their first win in Salt Lake City since 2003.
Los Angeles had lost 15 straight against the Jazz in Utah, but got a season-
high 34 points and 11 assists fr
<< Doughty scores in final second as Kings down Jackets
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Drew Doughty rammed home the game-winning
goal with two-tenths of a second remaining to send the Los Angeles Kings to a
3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Staples Center.
After Blue Jackets'
<< Stars start second half with win over Ducks
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michael Ryder and Jamie Benn each had a goal
and two assists as the Dallas Stars took a 6-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks at
Honda Center.
Stephane Robidas, Eric Nystrom, Vernon Fiddler and Sheldon Souray ea
<< No. 17 San Diego State edges Boise State
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jamaal Franklin scored 16 points and pulled
down eight rebounds as No. 17 San Diego State survived to take a 58-56 win
over Boise State.
The game came down to the final shot after Chase Tapley hit 1-
Avs host Wild in Northwest Division battle >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A key battle in the Western Conference playoff race is on
tap tonight in Denver, as the sliding Colorado Avalanche host the Minnesota
Wild at the Pepsi Center.
Despite posting just four wins in their last 20 games (4-12-4)
Blackhawks try to stop slide in Edmonton >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The return of two of Chicago's top forwards wasn't enough
to halt the club's losing streak last time out and the Blackhawks will try to
avoid matching their longest skid of the season tonight when they visit the
Edmonton Oile
Sharks, Stars renew hostilities in San Jose >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Sharks turned in an impressive performance in
their first game following the All-Star break and the Pacific Division leaders
will aim for a third straight win tonight when they host the rival Dallas
Stars at HP P
Blazers visit reeling Kings >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The reeling Sacramento Kings will attempt to halt a five-
game losing streak when they entertain a Portland Trail Blazers club trying to
figure out how to get it done away from Rip City.
The Kings were competitive in their
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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