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01/29/2012 - Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Novak Djokovic became only the fifth man in the Open Era to win three straight major titles when he outlasted Rafael Nadal in Sunday's marathon final at the 2012 Australian Open. Djokovic and Nadal battled for 5 hours, 53 minutes in what turned out to be the longest final in Grand Slam history.
The world No. 1 Djokovic came from behind to defeat the second-seeded formerly top-ranked Nadal 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5 at Melbourne Park.
Djokovic is a repeat Aussie Open champ, having beaten Britain's Andy Murray in last year's finale at Rod Laver Arena. It also marks the super Serb's third Aussie crown in five years, as he also titled here in 2008.
More details to follow.
<< Kieffer wins maiden Challenge Tour title
Ahmedabad, India (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - German Max Kieffer parred the first
playoff hole Sunday to defeat India's own Rahil Gangjee and win The Gujarat
Kensville Challenge 2012.
Kieffer earned his first European Challenge Tour title
<< FCS players perform at Senior Bowl
Mobile, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - None of the FCS players distinguished himself at
the 63rd Senior Bowl on Saturday, although each hopes to have made his mark
during a week's worth of practices and preparations amid NFL scouts.
The North posted
<< Mattek-Sands, Tecau win mixed doubles title
Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - American Bethanie Mattek-Sands and
Romanian partner Horia Tecau won the Australian Open mixed doubles title on
Sunday.
Mattek-Sands and Tecau, seeded No. 8, easily won the match tiebreaker to e
<< No. 3 Syracuse tops WVU amid controversy
Syracuse, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - No. 3 Syracuse snuck past West Virginia,
63-61, but Saturday's finish at the Carrier Dome was marred by controversy.
With West Virginia down by two, Darryl Bryant missed a three-pointer for the
Mountai
NHL's best clash at All-Star Game in Ottawa >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 59th edition of the NHL All-Star Game is on tap for
today, as Team Alfredsson's hometown favorites take on Team Chara at Ottawa's
Scotiabank Place.
This marks the second straight year that the NHL has forgone the Easte
Pierce, Celtics open home-and-home set with Cavs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Pierce and the banged-up Boston Celtics aim to climb
above the .500 mark when they welcome Cleveland to TD Garden for the front end
of a home-and-home set.
With starters Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen and Jermaine O'Neal out
Reeling Magic welcome Pacers to Central Florida >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of Eastern Conference playoff contenders meet in
Central Florida on Sunday when a struggling Orlando team plays host to the
Indiana Pacers in the Magic Kingdom.
Orlando has dropped three of four and is coming off a
Nets and Raptors clash at The Rock >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlantic Division rivals meet in North Jersey Sunday when
the Nets welcome Toronto to The Rock.
New Jersey has been on an uptick recently, winning three of their past four
games. Deron Williams recorded a double-double wit
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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