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02/16/2012 - Rotterdam, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych and former U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro reached the quarterfinals at the $1.6 million ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament.
The second-seeded Berdych, fresh off his title in Montpellier, France two weeks ago, was leading former Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis 3-0 in the first set on Thursday when the Cypriot retired due to a calf injury.
Berdych will encounter Italian Andreas Seppi in the quarters. Seppi handled German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4, 6-2 on Day 4.
The third-seeded del Potro popped nine aces in handling Slovakian qualifier Karol Beck 6-4, 7-5.
Fifth-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet secured a berth in the quarters with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Russian Alex Bogomolov Jr. on the indoor hardcourts at Ahoy Stadium. Gasquet's opponent on Friday will be fellow former top-10 star Nikolay Davydenko of Russia.
Another quarterfinal on Friday will pit Swiss icon Roger Federer against Finnish veteran Jarkko Nieminen.
The top-seeded former world No. 1 Federer received a walkover into the round of eight here on Wednesday night when Russian Mikhail Youzhny pulled out of their scheduled Thursday second-round match, citing a left foot injury. Youzhny was the Rotterdam champion in 2007 and runner-up in 2010.
The 16-time major champion Federer was the Rotterdam titlist the last time he played here back in 2005.
The 2012 Rotterdam winner will collect $385,000.
<< Saint Francis names Benzel co-defensive coordinator
Loretto, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Robert Morris assistant football coach
Scott Benzel was named co-defensive coordinator and assistant head coach at
Saint Francis on Thursday.
Benzel has spent the last nine seasons at Robert Morris, incl
<< Erakovic, Dulko exit Bogota
Bogota, Colombia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Marina Erakovic of New
Zealand and 2009 runner-up Gisela Dulko were a pair of second-round upset
victims Thursday at the $220,000 Copa BBVA Colsanitas tennis tournament.
Romanian Edi
<< United tops Ajax in Europa League
Amsterdam, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ashley Young and Javier Hernandez
scored in the second half as Manchester United opened its Europa League round
of 32 series against Ajax with a 2-0 win Thursday.
With a combined seven European t
<< Stepanek ousted in San Jose
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former champion Radek Stepanek was a
second-round upset victim Thursday at the $531,000 SAP Open.
Belgian Steve Darcis bounced the fourth-seeded Czech 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-2)
on the hardcourts at HP Pavilion.
Creative Cause heads San Vicente Stakes >>
Arcadia, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Creative Cause, third in last year's Breeders'
Cup Juvenile, heads a field of six in Sunday's $150,000 San Vicente Stakes for
three-year-olds at Santa Anita Park. The seven-furlong sprint marks the 2012
debut f
Broncos sign WR Hill >>
Englewood, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Broncos on Thursday signed free-
agent wide receiver Jason Hill.
Hill recorded a career-best 367 receiving yards and three touchdowns on 25
catches last season with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Aguero rescues City in Europa League >>
Porto, Portugal (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sergio Aguero scored in the 83rd minute and
Manchester City edged FC Porto, 2-1, in the first match of their Europa League
round of 32 series Thursday.
Silvestre Varela gave defending Europa League champion
Gary Carter passes away >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hall of Fame catcher Gary "Kid" Carter died
Thursday. He was 57 years old.
More to follow...
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.
The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.
They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.
"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."
Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.
New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.
Not so sound on the ground
If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.
Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com
“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.
Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
Brees says bring it on
Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.
Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.
Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.
"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."
SportsBooks ready for a shootout
Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.
“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”
New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.
The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.
“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts US credit cards
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