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01/27/2012 - Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Novak Djokovic will play for a second straight Australian Open title after rallying for a thrilling five-set semifinal win over Andy Murray in a rematch of last year's final.
Djokovic blitzed Murray in straight sets last year to win his second Aussie Open crown on the way to a dominant season that included two more Grand Slam titles and his ascension to the No. 1 ranking in the world.
It was a much different story on Friday in Melbourne, as Djokovic regrouped after dropping a third-set tiebreaker. He then dominated the fourth set before gutting out the last and claimed a 6-3, 3-6, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1, 7-5 triumph in a match that lasted nearly five hours.
Djokovic, who first won this title in 2008, will take on 2009 winner Rafael Nadal for the championship on Sunday. The super Spaniard topped Roger Federer in four sets on Thursday to earn his spot in the final.
<< Kuznetsova-Zvonareva win Aussie doubles title
Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva
bested Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci to win the Australian Open women's
doubles title on Friday.
The unseeded Russian duo of Kuznetsova and Zvonareva ea
<< Clippers slip past Grizzlies
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Blake Griffin finished with 20 points, nine
rebounds and eight assists, leading the Clippers to a 98-91 victory over the
Grizzlies at Staples Center.
Chris Paul and Mo Williams each scored 18 points, whil
<< Holt leads No. 21 Saint Mary's past Loyola Marymount
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stephen Holt had 19 points and six rebounds
to lift No. 21 Saint Mary's to a 71-64 win over Loyola Marymount.
Matthew Dellavedova totaled 13 points and seven assists while Rob Jones added
11 points and 1
<< No. 7 Tennessee cruises past Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shekinna Stricklen led a balanced attack
with 14 points, as No. 7 Tennessee cruised to an 86-56 win over Alabama on
Thursday.
Glory Johnson added 13 points and eight rebounds for the Lady Vols (15-5, 6-
Villanova promotes Crocker to defensive coordinator >>
Villanova, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Villanova head football coach Andy Talley
announced Friday the promotion of Billy Crocker from linebackers coach to
defensive coordinator.
Talley also announced the hiring of Roc Bellantoni as defensive line
Hawks resume road trip in Detroit >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Hawks hope to bounce back from a miserable
showing their last time out tonight when they continue a five-game road trip
against the Detroit Pistons at the Palace in Auburn Hills.
Atlanta seemed lost at times on
Wizards try to pick up road victory in Houston >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Wizards have had trouble the past two
seasons playing well on the road and look to avoid an 0-8 start as the guest
tonight against the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center.
The Wizards will play two straight
Magic try to rebound against Hornets >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For three quarters last night it appeared the Orlando Magic
had erased all the memories of their worst shooting performance in franchise
history in a rematch with the Boston Celtics.
But a lousy final period sent the Magic
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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