11/30/2008 - Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jan Simak and Mario Gomez scored in the last 12 minutes, Jans Lehmann saved a penalty kick and Stuttgart topped Schalke 2-0 at Mercedes-Benz Arena on Sunday in coach Markus Babbel's Bundesliga debut.
Armin Veh, who led Stuttgart to the Bundesliga title two seasons ago, was fired last week and the struggling side responded under Babbel. Babbel led Stuttgart in a 1-1 draw against Sampdoria in the UEFA Cup midweek.
Lehmann made a huge save in the first half on Jefferson Farfan's penalty kick, diving toward the left post to make the stop.
Simak eventually rewarded his goalkeeper for his save, running onto a long pass from Khalid Boulahrouz before lifting a shot over Schalke goalie Manuel Neuer and under the bar in the 79th minute.
Gomez doubled the lead four minutes later, accepting a through pass from Pavel Pardo before slotting past Neuer.
Also Sunday, Ivica Olic scored in the 70th minute to help Hamburg draw Bochum 1-1 and Borussia Dortmund tied Wolfsburg 0-0.
Stanislav Sestak put Bochum in front in the 39th minute, but Hamburg earned the key point to stay within seven points of first-place Hoffenheim. Bochum stayed in the drop zone, just one point out of last.
Borussia was blanked for the first time this season, while Wolfsburg was shut out for just the second time. Borussia sits sixth, nine points out of first and Wolfsburg is 11 points back in eighth.
<< Arsenal edges Chelsea; United holds off City
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Robin van Persie scored twice as Arsenal was
able to overcome an early own goal to shock Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, 2-1, in
the English Premier League on Sunday.
Arsenal, which has five losses already this
<< Anderson, Panthers blank Rangers
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Craig Anderson made 37 saves to record his
sixth career shutout, as the Florida Panthers blanked the New York Rangers,
4-0, at Madison Square, splitting a home-and-home set.
The Rangers notched a 4-3 sh
<< Tyus leads Gators past UMKC
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Tyus scored a game-high 25 points and had
eight rebounds as 17th-ranked Florida cruised past UMKC, 86-65, at Amway
Arena.
Tyus made 10-of-13 shots from the field, while Chandler Parsons chipped
<< Alabama-Florida 1-2 in AP poll heading into SEC title game
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alabama and Florida remained No. 1 and No. 2,
respectively, in the latest Associated Press college football poll.
The Crimson Tide (12-0), the lone unbeaten team from a BCS conference, knocked
off Auburn, 36
NEC hammers Volendam >>
Nijmegen, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lasse Schone and Jhonny van Beukering
each had two goals as NEC hammered last-place Volendam, 6-1, on Sunday in the
Dutch Eredivisie.
Schone started the onslaught in the ninth minute and finished
Report: Burress to surrender to authorities >>
Newark, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress
will reportedly surrender to authorities as soon as Monday to take care of his
recent legal issues.
According to the Newark Star-Ledger, Burress, who spent a nig
Avs recall MacKenzie from Lake Erie >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Avalanche recalled defenseman Aaron
MacKenzie from their American Hockey league affiliate, the Lake Erie Monsters.
This is the 6-foot-0, 193-pound MacKenzie's first NHL call-up after scoring
thre
Palermo rolls to 3-1 win over AC Milan >>
Palermo, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fabrizio Miccoli, Edison Cavani and Fabio
Simplicio each scored in the second half to help Palermo shock AC Milan, 3-1 on
Sunday at Renzo Barbera in the Italian Serie A.
Miccoli opened the scoring five m
Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch
Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.
Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.
"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs.
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.
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