10/25/2008 - Lyon, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Robin Soderling carried the momentum from Friday's victory over Andy Roddick into Saturday's semifinal action, surviving fourth-seeded Gilles Simon in three sets to advance to the final at the Lyon Tennis Grand Prix.
Soderling won a very even statistical match from Simon, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3. He won six more points and converted on 4-of-7 break chances to just 2-of-5 breaks won by Simon.
The seventh-seeded Soderling beat the 2005 Lyon champion Roddick on Friday by taking a pair of tiebreaks and maintaining the good form that took him to the Stockholm Open final just two weeks ago.
Soderling also won the title here in 2004, and will look for another crown against Julien Benneteau, who knocked off third-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5. Benneteau saved 3-of-4 break chances and converted two key breaks to take the closely-fought match.
The 2008 Lyon titlist will collect a first prize of $148,000.
<< Buescher picks up first Nationwide pole at Memphis
Millington, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Buescher scored his first pole in the
Nationwide Series by grabbing the top starting spot for Saturday's Kroger on
Track for the Cure 250 at the Memphis Motorsports Park. The No.32 Toyota
driver
<< Federer, Nalbandian to meet in Basel final
Basel, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roger Federer cruised past Spain's
Feliciano Lopez in straight sets on Saturday to advance to the final of the
Swiss Indoors tournament, where he will meet second-seeded Argentine David
Nalband
<< Garcia moves four clear on home course
Castellon, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Taking advantage of playing on his home
course, Sergio Garcia fired his second five-under 66 of the week to move four
strokes clear of the field after Saturday's third round of the inaugural
Castell
<< Bayern rallies to down Wolfsburg
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich rallied from two goals down
to secure a 4-2 win over Wolfsburg on Saturday at the Allianz Arena.
Grafite and Edin Dzeko put Wolfsburg ahead with goals inside of 35 minutes,
but Franck Rib
Fellaini's header helps Everton hold United >>
Liverpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marouane Fellaini's header in the 63rd
minute allowed Everton to earn a 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Goodison
Park on Saturday.
United dominated the opening 45 minutes and took a 1-0 lead t
Albertus Maximus conquers Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile >>
Arcadia, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jockey Garrett Gomez guided Albertus Maximus
through traffic to capture Saturday's $1 million Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile on
Santa Anita's synthetic track. The one lap race was timed in 1:33.41.
Two Step Sal
Newman wins at Atlanta in first Truck Series start >>
Hampton, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Newman won Saturday's E-Z Go 200
Craftsman Truck Series race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. The No.2 Chevrolet
driver for Kevin Harvick Inc. grabbed the lead from Ron Hornaday, Jr. on the
final l
Goldikova captures Breeders' Cup Mile >>
Arcadia, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Goldikova, the 9-5 favorite, surged along the
rail to win Saturday's $2 million Breeders' Cup Mile on Santa Anita's turf
course. Goldikova became the fourth female to win the Mile and defeated
defendi
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.
MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.
Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.
According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).
Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.
''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.
Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.
''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''
Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.
”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.
For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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