Russians prevail in Istanbul
Tennis Betting Lines
07/31/2010 - Istanbul, Turkey (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Russians Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Elena Vesnina were semifinal winners Saturday and will meet for the title at the Istanbul Cup.
The third-seeded Pavlyuchenkova earned a 7-6 (7-1), 2-6, 7-5 victory over Australia's Jarmila Groth, while Vesnina rallied for a 1-6, 6-0, 7-6 (7-2) triumph over sixth-seeded Andrea Petkovic of Germany.
Pavlyuchenkova will play in her second final of the year and her career. She claimed the Monterrey Open title back in March with a three-set win over Daniela Hantuchova.
Vesnina has never won a WTA crown and is 0-2 all-time in finals. She lost both of her title match appearances last year in Auckland and New Haven.
Prior to this week's run, Vesnina, who will turn 24 on Sunday, had lost seven straight matches. Included in that streak was a first-round loss to Petkovic at the French Open.
Petkovic won the first set on Saturday with ease, but Vesnina regrouped and won 25 of the 32 points played in the second set. Each player broke three times in a sloppy third set, but Vesnina dominated the tiebreak and finally finished off the match.
Pavlyuchenkova and Groth played an evenly-matched semifinal, as the two split the 200 total points contested.
Vesnina and Pavlyuchenkova will meet for just the second time. Pavlyuchenkova won the first with a three-set triumph two years ago in Bratislava.
This week's champion will collect $37,000.
South Port, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Yani Tseng eagled the final hole Saturday en route to her third straight four-under 68 and a four-shot lead after the third round of the Women's British Open. Tseng finished 54 holes at 12-un
<< Indians scratch Westbrook
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians have scratched pitcher
Jake Westbrook from Saturday's scheduled start against Toronto.
The MLB Network said Westbrook is on the verge of being traded and reports it
could be a three-way de
<< Fisher stumbles but still leads Irish Open
Killarney, Ireland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ross Fisher played his last 11 holes in
four-over par Saturday, but still managed an even-par 71 and held on to first
place after the third round of the Irish Open.
Fisher, who fired a tournament-record-
<< Almagro to face Gasquet for Gstaad crown
Gstaad, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nicolas Almagro of Spain and France's
Richard Gasquet were semifinal winners Saturday and will meet for the title at
the Swiss Open Gstaad.
The second-seeded Almagro earned a 7-6 (9-7), 3-6, 6-3 v
<< Arizona, Pittsburgh in 5-player trade
NEW YORK (AP) -The Arizona Diamondbacks have traded catcher Chris Snyder, minor league shortstop Pedro Ciriaco and cash to the Pittsburgh Pirates for infielder Bobby Crosby, outfielder Ryan Church and right-hander D.J. Carrasco.Copyright © 2005
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Diamondbacks have acquired outfielder Ryan Church, infielder Bobby Crosby and pitcher D.J. Carrasco from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for catcher Chris Snyder, infielder Pedro Ciriaco
Yankees and Astros finalize deal for Berkman >>
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees and Houston Astros
have finalized a trade for first baseman Lance Berkman.
Berkman and cash considerations will head to the Yankees in exchange for
pitcher Mark Melancon and minor le
Cardinals get Westbrook from Tribe, send Ludwick to San Diego >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals have acquired pitcher
Jake Westbrook from the Cleveland Indians in a three-team trade that also
involves the San Diego Padres.
Along with Westbrook, St. Louis acquired cash fr
Sharks re-sign Setoguchi >>
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Sharks have re-signed restricted
free agent forward Devin Setoguchi to a one-year contract. Financial terms of
the contract were not disclosed.
Setoguchi, 23, posted 20 goals and 16 assists i
Redskins' Haynesworth has swollen knee, sits out again >>
Ashburn, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington Redskins defensive tackle Albert
Haynesworth did not practice for a third straight day, though this time
because of a swollen knee.
Haynesworth was held out of practice Thursday and Friday
Pro Football Odds : NFC SOUTH BETTING ODDS
NFL betting action is back! At MySportsbook, all of the pro football odds are posted for the NFC North. Check out how we see the four teams in this cloudy division stacking up this year in the chase for the playoffs! Green Bay Packers (+125) - With QB Aaron Rodgers leading the offense and DC Dom Capers working his magic on defense, the Packers are a real force to be reckoned with.
Virtually nothing changed on this offense for Green Bay from last year to this year, save for the addition of rookie OT Brian Bulaga to the bunch. Expect more huge numbers from the Pack, and a relatively favorable schedule should get them over the hump and into the playoffs once again this season. My NFL Betting Predictions: 11-5, 1st place in NFC North Minnesota Vikings (+130) - There are still too many unknowns about the Vikes this year. There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not.
There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not. Play this weekly NFL Football Contestto see if you can win.
Chicago Bears (+350) - The Bears are probably a bit of an overhyped team once again this year.No, we don't think it is plausible for QB Jay Cutler to have as bad of a season as he did last year, and we do think the additions of RB Chester Taylor and DE Julius Peppers are going to help immensely, but there's still something in the water in the Windy City that we aren't so sure about. Maybe Chicago finds its way to .500... but then again, maybe it doesn't. If Favre comes back, Cutler might be the worst quarterback in this division this year.
Detroit Lions (+1500) - The Lions are probably once again going to be the whipping boys for the rest of the teams in the NFC North, but they aren't just going to roll over and die once again. There is some real talent amassing on this team offensively, as the combination of QB Matt Stafford, RB Jahvid Best, WR Calvin Johnson, and TE Brandon Pettigrew should put a bunch of points on the board if the offensive line can even remotely hold up. The questions really lie on defense, where it feels like DT Ndamukong Suh is going to be trying to stop opposing teams all by himself. This year should show some marked improvement in the Motor City.
The Patriots will make NFL betting fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.
What Is the Point Spread?
What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?
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.
How to Read Point Spreads
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:
- Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
OR
- Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.
-
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.
For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
- Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
OR
- Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score
Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?
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.