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12/18/2011 - Chonburi, Thailand (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lee Westwood dominated the Thailand Golf Championship this week, coasting to a seven-shot win on Sunday at Amata Spring Country Club.
Westwood finished 72 holes at 22-under 266, well ahead of reigning Masters champ Charl Schwartzel, who shot a 15-under 273. Westwood finished the tournament with a three-under 69, while Schwartzel shot an even-par 72.
It's the 37th career win for Westwood, and he'll move into second in the Official World Golf Ranking on Monday ahead of Rory McIlroy.
"It means a lot," Westwood said. "Any win does. It's special this week because of the difficulty of the golf course and whom I was up against in the weekend."
Behind Westwood and Schwartzel was American Michael Thompson (70) at 14-under 274, while Simon Dyson (69) and Chawalit Plaphol (67) shared fourth at minus-12.
"If it wasn't for Lee, I would have probably won the tournament," Schwartzel said.
Guido Van Der Valk (73) and Daisuke Maruyama (70) tied for sixth at nine- under.
<< Curry helps Golden State take down Sacramento
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stephen Curry netted 22 points, six rebounds
and six assists, as Golden State, under new coach Mark Jackson, began its
preseason with a 107-96 win over the Sacramento Kings.
Jackson, who played 17 se
<< K-State topples Alabama
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jordan Henriquez paced Kansas State with 17
points and eight rebounds as the Wildcats took down No. 23 Alabama, 71-58, at
the Sprint Center.
Jamar Samuels added 14 points and Angel Rodriguez contributed
<< Ragin' Cajuns win New Orleans Bowl on final play
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brett Baer nailed a 50-yard field goal as
time expired to lift Louisiana over San Diego State, 32-30, in the New Orleans
Bowl.
Baer originally lined up for a 55-yard attempt, but an encroachment penalty o
<< Marleau leads Sharks past Oilers
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Patrick Marleau scored the game-winner in the
third period as the San Jose Sharks took a 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers.
Martin Havlat and Joe Thornton each added a goal for the Sharks, who have won
two st
Flames try to snap a pair of skids in Chicago >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Calgary Flames will try to avoid a season-high fourth
straight loss and eighth in a row at Chicago this evening as they battle the
Blackhawks at the United Center.
Following a perfect three-game homestand, the Flames h
Hitchcock, Blues play host to Blue Jackets >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While Ken Hitchcock has helped the Blues vault up the
Western Conference standings, his former Blue Jackets club continues to linger
in the basement of conference.
St. Louis looks to extend a five-game point streak this ev
No. 9 UConn hosts Holy Cross >>
Hartford, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The ninth-ranked Connecticut Huskies are the
obvious favorites in today's non-conference matchup with the Holy Cross
Crusaders, a game that will be played at the XL Center.
Holy Cross is just 4-6 overall this
Golden Eagles take shot at short-handed Musketeers >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The eighth-ranked Xavier Musketeers were one
of just nine undefeated teams nationally heading into this weekend's action,
and they will attempt to remain unblemished as they host the Oral Roberts
Golden Eagles
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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