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05/01/2010 - Fes, Morocco (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seventh-seeded Czech Iveta Benesova beat tour newcomer Simona Halep 6-4, 6-2 in Saturday's final at the $220,000 Moroccan Grand Prix tennis tournament.
The 27-year-old Benesova captured her second career title (2-6) and first since winning in Acapulco six years ago.
Benesova, who earned $37,000 with the win, avenged a straight-set loss, on clay, to the 18-year-old Romanian qualifier in Marbella, Spain, just three weeks ago.
Halep was appearing in her first-ever WTA Tour final.
Fes, which is the only WTA stop in Africa, serves as a tune-up for the French Open, which will commence May 23 in Paris.
<< Foster moves three clear in Spain
Seville, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - England's Mark Foster posted a three-under
69 on Saturday to move atop the leaderboard after the third round of the Open
de Espana.
Foster finished 54 holes at 12-under 204 and is three strokes clear a
<< NBA's second round features some familiar matchups
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - They say familiarity breeds contempt.
The theory being that it's less likely you are going to respect someone if you
know them well enough to have experienced his or her faults first hand.
In the world o
<< NL West-leading Padres go for fifth straight win against Brewers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres take aim at their fifth straight win
this evening when they play the third test of a four-game series against the
Milwaukee Brewers at Petco Park.
San Diego put the finishing touches on a terrific Apri
<< Rox hand the ball to Rogers in San Fran
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Esmil Rogers gets a spot start this evening when the
Colorado Rockies continue their three-game series against the San Francisco
Giants at AT&T Park.
Rogers, who will be filling in for injured left-hander Jorge De La R
Penguins' Staal out indefinitely following surgery >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Penguins may no longer have
the services of center Jordan Staal in their bid to repeat as Stanley Cup
champions.
Staal was injured in the second period of Game 1 against Montreal and d
City stays in the hunt for fourth >>
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester City's Champions League
hopes got a boost on Saturday as the club recorded a 3-1 win over Aston Villa
at Eastlands.
Villa entered the match one point clear of City with one more game pl
Reds' Dickerson to have surgery >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cincinnati Reds outfielder Chris Dickerson
will undergo surgery on Monday to remove the broken hook from the hamate bone
in his right hand and have an arthroscopic procedure performed on his right
wrist.
Hearts rallies to down Hibs >>
Edinburgh, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Obua's goal in the 89th minute
helped Hearts to a 2-1 win over Hibernian at Easter Road Stadium on Saturday,
keeping alive their faint Europa League hopes while damaging those of their
rivals.
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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