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07/26/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carl Pettersson climbed 98 places in the world rankings following his victory Sunday at the Canadian Open.
Pettersson, who was one putt from shooting a 59 on Saturday, rallied to beat 54-hole leader Dean Wilson for his first win in two years, moving all the way to 109th in the rankings.
Ahead of him, the top of the rankings showed little change.
Tiger Woods remained No. 1 for the 268th consecutive week and was followed again by Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood, Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk and Ernie Els.
Luke Donald took third place in Canada and moved up two places to No. 7, dropping Rory McIlroy and Paul Casey down one spot apiece.
Ian Poulter rounded out the top 10 again and was trailed by U.S. Open winner Graeme McDowell, Martin Kaymer, Anthony Kim, Robert Allenby, British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen and Retief Goosen, who also held onto their positions from last week.
Edoardo Molinari used another good finish on the European Tour to move up six places to 17th. Justin Rose remained 18th, Padraig Harrington dropped two places to 19th and Zach Johnson rounded out the top 20 again. Sean O'Hair was knocked out of the top 20, dipping two spots to 21st.
<< De Rosario setting bar high for young MLS talent
Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With a penchant for highlight-reel goals and
one of the most unique goal celebrations in the game, it's quite easy to see
why Dwayne De Rosario has become such a household name in Major League Soccer.
The Cana
<< Revs waive Videira
Foxborough, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New England Revolution announced on
Monday that they have waived midfielder Michael Videira.
Videira signed with the Revolution in December 2008 after playing for six
months with Hamilton in
<< Re-loaded Angels to begin series with Red Sox
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In danger of falling out of the race for the American
League West crown, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim made a big and bold move
in acquiring ace pitcher Dan Haren on Sunday.
While it is unknown when Haren can contribut
<< Giants, Marlins ready for clash between scorching teams
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two of the hottest teams in baseball square off this
evening when the San Francisco Giants welcome the Florida Marlins to town for
the start of a four-game series at AT&T Park.
San Francisco has won four straight and 1
Report: Vick cleared by NFL >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NFL has reportedly cleared Michael
Vick to play after completing its investigation into the shooting that
occurred last month outside a restaurant celebrating his 30th birthday.
According t
Raul confirms exit from Real Madrid >>
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Raul confirmed on Monday that he is leaving
Real Madrid after spending the last 16 years at the Bernabeu.
The 33-year-old striker is the all-time leading scorer in the club's history
with 323 goals in 740
Browns sign second-round pick Hardesty >>
Berea, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Browns have signed rookie running
back Montario Hardesty to a multi-year contract.
The Browns selected the Tennessee product in the second round (59th overall)
of the 2010 draft and expect him t
Blackpool striker Clarke might miss entire season >>
Blackpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Blackpool striker Billy Clarke looks set
to miss the entire season following knee ligament surgery.
Clarke, 22, injured his knee during the Seasiders' opening preseason friendly
against Tiverton Town ea
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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