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08/22/2010 - Dortmund, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayer Leverkusen used first-half goals from Tranquillo Barnetta and Renato Augusto to earn a 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park on Sunday.
The visitors came within inches of taking the lead in the 14th minute when Eren Derdiyok's shot took a deflection off of Dortmund defender Neven Subotic and struck the post.
But the opener arrived just five minutes later when Arturo Vidal got into the penalty area on the right and pulled the ball back to Barnetta, who rolled his shot inside the far post past goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller.
Dortmund had a quick response as Sebastian Kehl scored from close range a few minutes later, but the goal was called back because of a close offside decision.
And Leverkusen made the most of it as they scored less than one minute later with Derdiyok playing a ball to Augusto that he carried past a pair of defenders before slotting his shot past the keeper.
Dortmund tried desperately to find the net in the second half, but the best they could manage was close efforts from Kevin Grosskreutz and Nuri Sahin.
Stuttgart's season got off to a tough start as Cacau missed a penalty kick and Mainz got goals from Sami Allagui and Morten Rasmussen in a 2-0 win.
<< Berg's brace leads PSV past AZ Alkmaar
Eindhoven, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marcus Berg scored a pair of goals
to lead PSV Eindhoven to a 3-1 win over AZ Alkmaar at Philips Stadium on
Sunday.
Berg scored the opener in the 43rd minute, and after AZ's Erik Falkenb
<< Bengals sign White as insurance for injured safety Wilson
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Bengals signed safety Marvin
White Sunday with the belief that veteran newcomer Gibril Wilson may be lost
for the season with a knee injury.
Wilson's agent, Alvin Keels, had previously po
<< A's activate Bailey from DL
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics reinstated pitcher Andrew
Bailey from the 15-day disabled list on Sunday.
Bailey was placed on the DL on July 30, retroactive to July 21, with a right
intercostal strain. In his final
<< Lane wins Scottish Senior Open
St. Andrews, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barry Lane only managed an even-par
72 on Sunday, but it was enough to get the victory at the Scottish Senior
Open.
Lane finished the tournament at four-under 212 and won by four strokes a
Federer holds off feisty Fish for Cincy title >>
Mason, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Swiss superstar Roger Federer fended off a dogged
attack from American wild card Mardy Fish Sunday to win the $3 million Western
& Southern Financial Group Masters tournament, a key U.S. Open Series event.
Fe
Verlander helps Tigers sweep Indians >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Justin Verlander worked eight sturdy innings
and Will Rhymes collected a career-high four hits and scored three times in
Detroit's 8-1 romp over Cleveland to complete a three-game sweep.
Verlander (14-8)
Homers lift Pirates over Mets >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jose Tabata hit a solo homer in the bottom
of the sixth inning and the Pittsburgh Pirates held on for a 2-1 win over the
New York Mets in the finale of a three-game series at PNC Park.
Lastings Milledge
Nationals keeping Triple-A team in Syracuse >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Nationals signed a two-year
agreement on Sunday to maintain their Triple-A affiliation with the Syracuse
Chiefs.
The International League Chiefs have been Washington's high-level minor lea
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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