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08/16/2008 - Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Red-hot Argentine Juan Martin del Potro was a quarterfinal winner Friday at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, a U.S. Open tune-up, while top-seeded Andy Roddick, the defending champion, was bounced from the tournament.
The second-seeded del Potro, currently ranked 19th in the world, handled American John Isner in 6-4, 6-4 fashion on Day 6 on the hardcourts at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center. Isner was last year's D.C. runner-up to fellow American Roddick, who also titled here in 2001 and 2005.
Del Potro is now riding a scorching 17-match winning streak, having dropped only one set over that stretch, and is seeking his fourth title in his last four events. He upset Roddick in last week's hardcourt finale in Los Angeles.
The 6-foot-6 Del Potro waited out a brief rain delay on Friday before erasing the 6-foot-9 Isner. The surging Argentine committed a mere eight unforced errors on his way to victory and did not allow even one break-point chance for his American counterpart.
Up next for del Potro will be former Top-5 German Tommy Haas, an easy 7-5, 6-1 winner against Colombian Alejandro Falla. Haas, who's seeded fourth here, swatted eight aces in his 1-hour, 22-minute victory.
Roddick, meanwhile, was upset by Serbia's Viktor Troicki, who came back from losing the first seven games to defeat the top seed and three-time champ Roddick 0-6, 6-2, 6-4.
It was Troicki's second career Top 10 victory, having defeated then-World No. 4 Novak Djokovic last year in Umag. That was also the only time he advanced to an ATP semifinal before now.
Troicki will battle Russian Igor Kunitsyn for a spot in the final. Kunitsyn was a 6-4, 6-1 winner over Indian qualifier Somdev Devvarman.
This week's titlist will collect $80,650.
<< Vaughn's last-second field goal lifts Titans over Raiders
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John Vaughn kicked a 33-yard field goal as
time expired, giving the Tennessee Titans a 17-16 victory over the Oakland
Raiders in preseason action.
Vince Young struggled to get the Titans (2-0) down th
<< Calvillo tosses three TDs in Montreal's win at Toronto
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anthony Calvillo threw for a season-high 379
yards with three touchdowns on 27-of-41 passing to lead the Montreal Alouettes
to a convincing 32-14 road victory over the Toronto Argonauts.
Avon Cobourne was t
<< What a tangled Webb we weave, D'Backs crush Astros
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandon Webb threw eight solid innings, Chris
Snyder hit one of Arizona's three home runs and drove in four, as the
Diamondbacks brought an end to Houston's eight-game win streak with a 12-2
throttl
<< Liriano, seven-run fourth help Twins trump Mariners
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Francisco Liriano was virtually unhittable
on the mound and Jason Kubel hit a two-run homer, as the Minnesota Twins
crushed the Seattle Mariners, 9-3, in the opener of a three-game set from the
Metrodo
Giants sign top pick C Posey >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco Giants have signed catcher
Buster Posey, the fifth overall selection in the 2008 First-Year Player Draft.
Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Posey was one of the best
Reds sign top pick Alonso >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Reds signed their
first-round draft pick from 2008, first baseman Yonder Alonso, on Friday.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Cincinnati had until midnight (et) Friday to
Rivera's wild pitch hands KC victory, continues Yanks' slide >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Esteban German had two doubles and scored twice,
including the go-ahead run in the ninth, to lead the Kansas City Royals in a
4-3 victory over the New York Yankees in the opener of a three-game set.
The Royal
Old-timer's day: Moyer, Phillies top Maddux, Padres >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jamie Moyer was masterful through seven
frames of shutout ball and Pat Burrell hit the game-winning home run, as
Philadelphia edged San Diego 1-0 in the opener of a three-game set from PETCO
Park.
Super Bowl XLIII is now set, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will meet each other on February 1st in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium to battle it out for the coveted Lombardi Trophy. The game kicks off at 6:00pm ET on NBC with announcers Al Michaels and John Madden covering the on-field action. Super Bowl XLIII betting odds at online bookmaker MySportsbook.com have the Steelers listed as an early -6.5 against the spread favorite.Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds
Pittsburgh earned their passage to the big game by beating their division rival, the Baltimore Ravens, 23-14 in yesterday's AFC Championship Game. The Steelers jumped on Baltimore early, building a 13-0 first half lead, and never let up on their way to a fairly easy win. Although the Ravens did close to within two points in the fourth quarter, it never appeared as if they had enough offense to pull off the upset.
The Steelers dominating defense held Baltimore to a total of 198 yards while allowing them to convert just three third downs in 13 attempts. Pittsburgh also forced quarterback Joe Flacco into three interceptions, one of which safety Troy Polamalu returned fourty yards for a touchdown.
The Cardinals, by far the playoff team with the longest odds to reach Super Bowl XLIII, did so yesterday with a 32-25 upset of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. Arizona charged out of the gates and built a 24-6 halftime lead that had the Eagles venerable defense reeling. Quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald did most of the damage, connecting on three first half touchdowns.
Arizona, however, could not sustain their momentum and the Eagles took a 25-24 with 10:45 left to play in the fourth. The Cardinals, with the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance hanging in the balance, mounted a fourteen play, 72 yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:52 off the clock. Warner hit running back Tim Hightower on a short screen for the go-ahead, game clinching score that will forever live in Cardinal infamy.
MySportsbook.com's Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds:
Pittsburgh Steelers -6.5 (-110), Over 46.5 (-110), -260 (Money line)
Arizona Cardinals +6.5 (-110), Under 46.5 (-110), +220 (Money line)
Matt Foust won both of his conference championship plays yesterday and he is ready to serve up plenty of Super Bowl action. Each individual play costs $15.00, however, MySportsbook.com recommends purchasing Matt's NFL Playoff Package which includes all of Matt's Super Bowl props and picks from just $45.00.
Get free Super Bowl XLIII Betting from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online Super Bowl betting with credit cards
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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