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05/04/2009 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - PGA TOUR - THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP, TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida - Last year, Sergio Garcia broke a three- year winless drought with a playoff victory over Paul Goydos at The Players Championship.
Garcia, who won for the seventh time on the PGA Tour, hopes to rekindle that magic this week. After a solid start to his season on the European Tour, Garcia has struggled mightily since coming to the United States.
The Spaniard has collected just one finish inside the top 30 in six starts on the PGA Tour. He tied for 13th at the Honda Classic for his best finish.
Goydos, who earned the biggest paycheck of his career ($1.026 million) despite last year's loss, has also had a tough year. His ex-wife passed away in mid- January and he took time off after that.
With that weighing on him, Goydos missed the cut in five of his first six starts. His best finish was a tie for 17th in his first event -- the Buick Invitational -- after the death of his former wife.
Two years ago, Phil Mickelson walked away with the win, but the late story was Sean O'Hair. Trailing by two shots with two holes to go, O'Hair dumped two balls into the water surrounding the island green at the par-three 17th.
O'Hair enters this week as one of the players to beat as he is coming off his third PGA Tour win at the Quail Hollow Championship and has three top 10 finishes in his last three starts. Other than a single missed cut, O'Hair has finished no worse than tied for 25th in his other nine events in '09.
This will be one of the stronger fields of the year with 45 of the top 50 players in the world rankings playing. The field also features 21 major champions who have combined for 44 major titles; 10 former winners of this event; and every PGA Tour winner -- 53 in all -- dating back to the '07 AT&T National.
The Golf Channel has six hours of coverage on Thursday and Friday, while NBC will carry five hours of action on both of the final two days.
The PGA Tour starts a three-event swing in Texas next week with the Valero Texas Open. Last year, when the event was part of the Fall Series, Zach Johnson closed with rounds of 62-64 to win by two strokes over Mark Wilson, Charlie Wi and Tim Wilkinson.
EUROPEAN TOUR
BMW ITALIAN OPEN, Royal Park I Roveri, Turin, Italy - The Italian Open was a birdie-fest last year and Hennie Otto collected enough of them to post a one- shot win over Oliver Wilson.
Otto closed with his worst round of the week, a three-under 69, but still walked off with his first European Tour title. Wilson nearly stole the title from Otto as he fired an eight-under 64 in the final round to finish one stroke back.
There isn't a lack of big names in Turin this week. Eight-time Order of Merit winner and European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie will be joined by former major champions John Daly and Paul Lawrie.
There are seven other players in the field who have won BMW-sponsored events -- Soren Hansen, David Howell, Thomas Bjorn, Niclas Fasth, Jarmo Sandelin, Raphael Jacquelin and Marcus Fraser.
The Golf Channel has coverage starting at 9:30 a.m. (et) all four days. The European Tour heads to the Emerald Isle next week for The Irish Open, where Richard Finch was a two-stroke winner last year.
LPGA TOUR
MICHELOB ULTRA OPEN AT KINGSMILL, Kingsmill Resort & Spa (River Course) Williamsburg, Virginia - Last year's Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill was an historic event in that it was Annika Sorenstam's last LPGA Tour win.
Sorenstam announced three days after this event ended last year that she would be stepping away from the game at the end of the 2008 season. She had been off to a great start with three wins in eight starts, but went winless after her announcement.
The Swede cruised to a seven-stroke win over four players as she opened with a seven-under 64, then closed with rounds of 66-69-66 to collect her 72nd LPGA Tour title.
This week, 17 of the top 20 players in the world rankings will tee it up at Kingsmill. Four of the six former winners are slated to play this week. The other former winner not playing -- in addition to Sorenstam -- is Grace Park, who had hip surgery last week and is out of action for four months.
ESPN2 will have two hours of coverage Friday through Sunday. The LPGA Tour heads to New Jersey next week for the Sybase Classic, where Lorena Ochoa is the three-time defending champion.
<< Sloppy Track, Sloppy Results
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mine That Bird defied long odds and
romped by 6 3/4-lengths over a sloppy, sealed track at Churchill Downs. The
gelding overpowered his 18 rivals in one of the most convincing triumphs in
Kentucky Derby his
<< Rays' Longoria earns AL weekly honor
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria
has been named the American League Player of the Week for the period ending
May 3.
It is Longoria's second weekly honor this season, as he also won for the we
<< Cantu named NL Player of the Week
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Florida Marlins first baseman Jorge Cantu
has been named the National League Player of the Week for the
period ending May 3.
Cantu led the NL and tied for the major league lead with 14 RB
<< O'Hair moves to No. 12 in world rankings
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With his win Sunday at the Quail Hollow
championship, Sean O'Hair jumped 10 places to a career-best ranking of No. 12
in the latest world golf rankings.
With three top-10s in his last three starts, O'
Nets G Dooling has surgery >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New Jersey Nets guard Keyon Dooling
had successful surgery on Monday.
The ninth-year pro underwent an arthroscopic procedure to clean out loose
bodies in his right hip.
Following recovery,
Venus wins Rome opener >>
Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wimbledon champion Venus Williams was tested in
her second-round match Monday at the $2 million Internazionali BNL d'Italia
tennis event.
The fourth-seeded former world No. 1 Williams snuck past Czech Lucie
Rachel Alexandra gains top spot in NTRA Poll >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Following her 20 1/4-length victory in
Friday's Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs, the filly Rachel Alexandra has
vaulted to the top of the weekly NTRA poll of three-year-olds. Kentucky Derby
winner
King James crowned: LeBron named MVP >>
Akron, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LeBron James has been named the NBA's Most
Valuable Player, making him the first Cleveland Cavaliers player to win the
award.
James garnered 1,172 points, including 109 first-place votes out of a possib
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.
MySportsbook.com Posts Heisman Trophy Odds
With 3,919 passing yards, 32 touchdowns and a mere seven interceptions last season, combined with a powerful South Bend Heisman legacy, odds makers at MySportsbook.com have given Notre Dame senior quarterback Brady Quinn the best Heisman Trophy odds at 5-2.
Quinn isn’t the only big man on campus this season. Oklahoma junior running back and 2004 Heisman runner-up Adrian Peterson, listed at 7-2, rushed for a combined 3,033 yards in his first two years as a college player and will give Quinn a run for his money.
This online sportsbook has also listed Troy Smith, Ohio State senior quarterback, as another strong favorite to win the 72nd Heisman Trophy. A 7-1 bet, Smith threw for 2,282 yards last season and also led the Buckeyes to a convincing 34-20 victory over Quinn and the Fighting Irish in last season’s Fiesta Bowl.
Current betting odds Heisman trophy are:
| Brady Quinn (QB, Notre Dame) Adrian Peterson (RB, Oklahoma) Troy Smith (QB, Ohio State) Michael Bush (RB, Louisville) Steve Slaton (RB, West Virginia) Brian Brohm (QB, Louisville) Chris Leak (QB, Florida) Mike Hart (RB, Michigan) Ted Ginn (WR, Ohio State) Darius Walker (RB, Notre Dame) Drew Tate (QB, Iowa) Marshawn Lynch (RB, Cal) Kenny Irons (RB, Auburn) Chad Henne (QB, Michigan) Kyle Wright (QB, Miami) Drew Stanton (QB, Michigan State) Kenneth Darby (RB, Alabama) JaMarcus Russell (QB, LSU) Drew Weatherford (QB, Florida State) Blake Mitchell (QB, South Carolina) Reggie Ball (QB, Georgia Tech) |
5-2 7-2 7-1 10-1 10-1 12-1 12-1 18-1 18-1 20-1 30-1 35-1 35-1 40-1 50-1 50-1 60-1 60-1 60-1 60-1 60-1 |
For complete NCAA Football odds visit MySportsbook.com.
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