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01/24/2012 - Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova defeated Italian Sara Errani in the quarterfinals on Wednesday at the Australian Open.
Kvitova took down Errani 6-4, 6-4 in just under two hours to secure a spot in the semifinals.
The 21-year-old Kvitova, the No. 2 seed, rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the second set to become the first Czech woman to reach the semifinals at the Australian Open since Jana Novotna in 1991.
Kvitova beat Maria Sharapova in last year's Wimbledon finale and is also the reigning WTA Championships titlist.
The 24-year-old Errani was playing in her first-ever major quarterfinal.
Ekaterina Makarova, fresh off her huge upset of Serena Williams, is taking on fourth-seeded fellow Russian Maria Sharapova on Wednesday. The winner of that match will play Kvitova in the semis.
<< Report: Love, T-Wolves agree on 4-year deal
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - All-Star forward Kevin Love will beat a Wednesday night
deadline by signing a four-year, $62 million contract with the Minnesota
Timberwolves, according to a report.
He is expected to sign the deal Wednesday
<< Grizzlies exercise contract option for Pondexter
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Memphis Grizzlies exercised the third-year
contract option on swingman Quincy Pondexter Tuesday, keeping him on the team
through the 2012-13 season.
Pondexter has appeared in 16 games for Memphis thi
<< Nets' Damion James has season-ending surgery
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New Jersey Nets forward Damion James
underwent successful right foot surgery on Tuesday. He will miss the remainder
of the season.
The procedure, which was performed by Dr. David Porter at Indiana
<< Yankees bring back Martin
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hours after officially saying goodbye to Jorge
Posada, the New York Yankees announced on Tuesday that they agreed to
terms with catcher Russell Martin on a one-year contract, thereby avoiding
arbitra
Leafs sweep home-and-home with Islanders >>
Uniondale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Clarke MacArthur scored two goals, including
the game-winner 2:06 into overtime, as the Toronto Maple Leafs skated past the
New York Islanders, 4-3, to sweep a home-and-home series.
Mikhail Grabovski gained
Knicks top Bobcats >>
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carmelo Anthony's recent offensive struggles
hit an all-time low Tuesday, but Tyson Chandler had 20 points and 17 rebounds
to help New York snap its six-game losing streak with a 111-78 rout of the
Charlot
Gerbe lifts Sabres over Devils in SO >>
Newark, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nathan Gerbe's goal in the fourth round of the
shootout gave the Buffalo Sabres a rare road win in a 2-1 decision over the
New Jersey Devils.
After Jason Pominville's goal in the third round forced the game
Anderson lifts Magic over Indiana >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A night after being held scoreless in a
historic loss, Orlando's Ryan Anderson poured in a game-high 24 points in
Tuesday's 102-83 win over the Pacers.
Anderson went 0-for-8 in Monday's setback a
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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