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07/11/2010 - Clermont-Ferrand, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gilles Simon and Julien Benneteau each won reverse singles matches for France on Sunday to complete a 5-0 rout of Spain in the Davis Cup quarterfinals.
The Spaniards were the two-time defending Davis Cup champs, but played this tie without world No. 1 Rafael Nadal.
Benneteau and Michael Llodra clinched the tie for France on Saturday with a doubles win over Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez, leaving Sunday's matches as dead rubbers.
Simon won the first over Nicolas Almagro, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (9-7), before Benneteau finished off the sweep with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 triumph over Lopez.
France will host September's semifinals against Argentina, which pulled off a 3-2 upset of Russia in Moscow.
The French had taken control of the tie on Friday with singles victories from Gael Monfils and Llodra. Monfils needed five sets to topple David Ferrer before Llodra took out Verdasco in four.
France won for only the second time in seven all-time meetings against Spain and last beat their European rivals in the first matchup back in 1923.
<< Brewers ready brooms for skidding Bucs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Veteran lefty Randy Wolf pitches for the sweep when the
Milwaukee Brewers host the Pittsburgh Pirates today in the finale of their
three-game series at Miller Park.
Milwaukee has taken one-run verdicts in each of the first
<< Cardinals try to end first half with needed win over Astros
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The skidding St. Louis Cardinals can climb within a game of
first place to end the season's unofficial first half today, when they visit
Minute Maid Park for the finale of a three-game series with the Houston
Astros.
The
<< Nalbandian sends Argentina past Russia in Davis Cup quarters
Moscow, Russia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Nalbandian gave Argentina a Davis Cup
quarterfinal victory over Russia with a straight-set triumph over Mikhail
Youzhny in Sunday's fifth and decisive singles rubber.
After Nikolay Davydenko ke
<< Creamer still three in front after third round
Oakmont, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paula Creamer rolled in a four-foot birdie putt
on the 18th hole Sunday to move three shots clear after the third round of the
U.S. Women's Open.
Creamer finished the third round Sunday morning and posted an im
Sabathia gets call for Yanks' first-half finale with Mariners >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The final of four weekend games between the New York
Yankees and Seattle Mariners will take place at Safeco Field today.
Yankees' ace CC Sabathia will be on the mound for the finale, and that is
typically good news for his
Rookie arms on display in Diamondbacks-Marlins clash >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie right-hander Barry Enright aims for a series
clincher in just his third start as a big-leaguer today, when the Arizona
Diamondbacks host the Florida Marlins in the finale of their four-game series
at Chase Field.
T
Ryall wins Van Lanschot Senior Open >>
The Hague, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - George Ryall birdied the final hole
Sunday to come from behind and win the Van Lanschot Senior Open on the
European Senior Tour.
Ryall finished with a six-under 66 and won the title by a st
Silva tries to send Cubs to split with Dodgers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) -- In a first half filled with disappointment, Carlos Silva
has been an unexpected source of joy for the Chicago Cubs. Tonight the
rejuvenated pitcher takes aim at a 10th victory of 2010 when he takes the
mound for the North Si
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.
American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout
An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.
Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off. Randy was not impressed though. Paula thought he started off fantastic. "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either.
Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed. Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact. He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition.
Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula. Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.
Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next. Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential. Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell. He sang "Careless Whisper".
22 year old Chris Richardson was up next. He was listed with +1100 odds coming in. He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great.
Nick was boring and pitchy. Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week. Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition.
Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds . These of course were the early odds. He was considered original for picking an "odd song". He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night.
Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good.
Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds. Great voice and a great sense of humor. He's a real standout. Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit. Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig".
Jared Cotter followed. He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition. The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good.
22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next. "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon. Though the judges felt he performed okay. Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.
Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition. He was the last to perform. He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start.
Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys. Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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