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02/04/2012 - Worcester, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Americans Christina McHale and Serena Williams were both winners on Saturday to give the U.S. a 2-0 advantage over Belarus in a Fed Cup World Group II matchup.
This is the first-ever Fed Cup meeting between the two countries in the best- of-five matchup.
McHale was scheduled to play against newly-crowned world No. 1 star Victoria Azarenka, who is coming off her first-ever Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, but the 22-year-old Belarusian withdrew from the match earlier in the day with a lower back injury.
The American teenager instead faced off against Anastasia Yakimova and easily dispatched her 6-0, 6-4.
McHale was up 4-0 in the second set before Yakimova won the next four games, but McHale rallied to take the next two and the first rubber for the U.S.
Yakimova committed eight double faults in the match and hit 27 unforced errors, while McHale converted on 6-of-8 break opportunities in the nearly 1 1/2 hour match.
The former No. 1 American Williams came on next and battled through the first set against Olga Govortsova before rolling in the second to earn a 7-5, 6-0 victory.
Govortsova converted on her lone break chance in the first set, but also committed seven double faults and 19 unforced errors. Williams then dominated the second set despite hitting 14 unforced errors.
Sunday's reverse singles in Massachusetts will pit the U.S. Open runner-up Williams against Azarenka, who is still eligible to compete if healthy, and the New Jersey native McHale versus Govortsova, while the doubles currently call for an American duo of Venus Williams and Liezel Huber to battle a Belarusian pairing of Azarenka and Govortsova on Day 2.
The winner here will advance to the World Group playoffs and have a chance to compete for the Fed Cup title next year.
<< Youzhny to face Lacko for Zagreb crown
Zagreb, Croatia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mikhail Youzhny and Lukas Lacko were
semifinal winners Saturday and will meet for the title at the Zagreb Indoors
tennis tournament.
The third-seeded Youzhny eased into the title match with a 6-3
<< Devils hold off Flyers for 6-4 win
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kurtis Foster scored two power-play goals
and collected an assist, as the New Jersey Devils fended off a valiant
comeback effort by the Philadelphia Flyers to escape the Wells Fargo Center
with a
<< Pens edge Bruins for ninth win in 10 games
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves as the
Pittsburgh Penguins edged the Boston Bruins, 2-1, at TD Garden.
Evgeni Malkin and Matt Cooke tallied goals for the Penguins, winners in nine
of their last 10 ga
<< No. 6 Baylor holds off Oklahoma State
Stillwater, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Perry Jones III had 16 points and 11
rebounds as No. 6 Baylor survived to take a 64-60 win over Oklahoma State.
Pierre Jackson scored 16 points while Quincy Acy added 11 points and 12
rebounds
PSG tops Evian to maintain lead in Ligue 1 >>
Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - PSG maintained its three-point lead atop
Ligue 1 on Saturday with a vital 3-1 win over Evian at the Parc des Princes.
It was a resilient performance from the home side, as Evian took the lead just
before
Capitals shut out Canadiens on road >>
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tomas Vokoun made 30 saves to record his third
shutout of the season, as the Washington Capitals snapped a four-game road
skid with a 3-0 victory over Montreal.
Dennis Wideman, Matt Hendricks and Alexan
Raymond lifts Canucks over Avs in SO >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mason Raymond scored the lone goal in the
shootout, as the Vancouver Canucks rallied to beat the Colorado Avalanche,
3-2, at Pepsi Center.
The Avalanche were staring at an empty net with a lead in ha
Parcells, 3 WRs not among HOF inductees >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bill Parcells, who won two Super Bowls as
a head coach, and all three wide receivers up for consideration failed to make
the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday.
Curtis Martin, Dermontti Dawson, Chris Do
The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.
While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.
For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.
1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.
2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.
How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.
Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.
Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.
How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).
Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.
Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on college football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard 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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