08/21/2008 - New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco was an easy third-round winner, while second-seeded Croat Ivo Karlovic went by way of the upset Wednesday at the $708,000 Pilot Pen Tennis event, a final U.S. Open tune-up.
Verdasco leveled Czech Ivo Minar 6-3, 6-1, while the 6-foot-10 Karlovic was upended by Slovenian qualifier Luka Gregorc 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-2 on the hardcourts at the Connecticut Tennis Center.
Up next for Verdasco will be German Mischa Zverev in the quarterfinals.
In the late contest, eighth-seeded American Mardy Fish had an easy time dispatching ninth-seeded Marc Gicquel 6-4, 6-3. Fish was last year's New Haven runner-up to fellow American James Blake.
Fourth-seeded Russian Igor Andreev moved on by besting 16th-seeded Romanian Victor Hanescu 6-4, 7-5, while sixth-seeded Croat Marin Cilic overcame 11th- seeded Austrian Jurgen Melzer 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 and seventh-seeded Andreas Seppi subdued fellow Italian Fabio Fognini 6-4, 6-2 on the grounds at Yale University.
Also, American lucky-loser Jesse Levine was leading Steve Darcis 2-0 in the first set when the Belgian retired with a back injury, while the aforementioned Zverev erased American wild card Robby Ginepri 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 on Day 4.
The 2008 U.S. Open will commence Monday in New York.
<< Marlins SS Ramirez leaves game vs. Giants with hand injury
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Marlins lost shortstop
Hanley Ramirez to a hand injury in Wednesday's game against the San Francisco
Giants.
Ramirez singled in the top of the third inning and stole second base. As he
slid
<< Metcalf homers twice, Millwood goes nine as Rangers rout Tigers
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Travis Metcalf homered twice, knocking in
three runs, and Kevin Millwood hurled nine strong innings, as Texas rolled
past Detroit, 9-1, in the final contest of a three-game series.
Brandon Boggs, Mich
<< LaRue, Cardinals rough up Pirates
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason LaRue hit a two-run homer, doubled
and finished with three runs batted in, as St. Louis blasted Pittsburgh, 11-2,
in the finale of a two-game set with the Pirates.
Rick Ankiel also had a two-run bl
<< Anderson, Angels hold off streaking Rays
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Garret Anderson extended his hitting
streak to 23 games with the game-winning RBI single in the ninth inning and
the LA Angels of Anaheim escaped with a 5-4 win, avoiding a three-game sweep
by the
Dunn, D-Backs overcome early deficit to clip Padres >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adam Dunn hit a three-run homer and walked
twice, as the Arizona Diamondbacks held on for an 8-6 win over San Diego, in
the second of three games with the Padres.
The game was expected to be a pitcher
Cardinals P Wainwright to return >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam
Wainwright is expected to return from the disabled list and start Friday
against the Atlanta Braves.
Wainwright has been on the DL since June 8 with a
Marlins SS Ramirez leaves game vs. Giants with thumb injury >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Marlins lost shortstop
Hanley Ramirez to a thumb injury in Wednesday's 6-5 loss to the San Francisco
Giants.
Ramirez singled in the top of the third inning and stole second base. As
Hawpe's late hit helps Rockies edge error-prone Dodgers >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brad Hawpe knocked in the go-ahead run in
top of the ninth inning, as the Colorado Rockies rallied past the Los Angeles
Dodgers, 4-3, in the middle test of a three-game series from Chavez Ravine.
Hawpe f
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 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.
Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl Odds
Will he or won't he? Now that the Dallas Cowboys have a new head coach in Wade Phillips, the big question will be: Does Terrell Owens stay with the team.
Jerry Jones continues to suggest that Terrell Owens will remain with the team.
"I've said that he's back, he's here, he's under contract," Jones said. "In the interviews I've just been through (to hire a new coach), it was very clear to me how highly he's thought of and how much of an impact he had on our offensive success."
Just to be sure though, Terrell Owens cleared out his locker and removed his name plate.
Terrell Owens was among the Cowboys most productive players this past season, catching 85 passes for 1,180 yards and a league-best 13 touchdowns.
But T.O. is due a $3 million roster bonus in June, then a $5 million salary this season. Cutting him before then would save a lot of money and headaches.
Aside from the questions surrounding Terrell Owens, the oddsmakers at MySportsbook.com have concerns over starting quarterback Tony Romo's state of mind and whether he will remain a starting quarterback. It is also not known how players will adjust to new head coach, Wade Phillips.
Here are the football odds as seen at MySportsbook.com and subject to change after February 10, 2007 if not locked in prior to that date.
Arizona Cardinals 60-1
Atlanta Falcons 50-1
Baltimore Ravens 15-1
Buffalo Bills 50-1
Carolina Panthers 18-1
Chicago Bears 10-1
Cincinnati Bengals 15-1
Cleveland Browns 100-1
Dallas Cowboys 15-1
Denver Broncos 15-1
Detroit Lions 100-1
Green Bay Packers 50-1
Houston Texans 100-1
Indianapolis Colts 6-1
Jacksonville Jaguars 30-1
Kansas City Chiefs 30-1
Miami Dolphins 40-1
Minnesota Vikings 75-1
New England Patriots 10-1
New Orleans Saints 18-1
New York Giants 20-1
New York Jets 30-1
Oakland Raiders 100-1
Philadelphia Eagles 18-1
Pittsburgh Steelers 10-1
Saint Louis Rams 60-1
San Diego Chargers 6-1
San Francisco 49ers 75-1
Seattle Seahawks 20-1
Tampa Bay Buccanneers 75-1
Tennessee Titans 40-1
Washington Redskins 50-1
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook credit cards needs.
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