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01/28/2012 - Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Victoria Azarenka became a first-time Grand Slam titlist Saturday with a convincing straight-set victory over Maria Sharapova in the Australian Open women's final.
The third-seeded Azarenka downed Sharapova 6-3, 6-0 at Rod Laver Arena to run her winning streak to a personal-best 12 matches after claiming the Sydney championship before the year's first major. She will achieve another first in her career, ascending to No. 1 in the world rankings on Monday -- dethroning Caroline Wozniacki.
Azarenka improved to 3-0 in hardcourt finals against the 24-year-old Sharapova, whose last major title came at the 2008 Aussie Open. The fourth- seeded Russian was also the Aussie runner-up in 2007.
The 22-year-old Belarusian, who was making her debut in a Grand Slam final, became the youngest champion at Melbourne Park since Sharapova. Azarenka dropped only two sets throughout the entire fortnight en route to her 10th career title.
<< Aldridge shines as Trail Blazers dominate Suns
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LaMarcus Aldridge scored 23 points, and
Portland dominated the middle two quarters in a 109-71 rout of the Phoenix
Suns.
Gerald Wallace tallied 17 points, Wesley Matthews 16 and Nicolas Batum 14 fo
<< Fernandez leads Nuggets over Raptors
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rudy Fernandez poured in 23 points to lead four
teammates in double-figures as the Denver Nuggets topped the Toronto Raptors,
96-81 at Pepsi Center.
Danilo Gallinari dropped in 21 points and pulled down sev
<< No. 5 Duke routs Clemson
Clemson, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tricia Liston had 16 points. leading No. 5 Duke
to a dominant 81-37 win over Clemson at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Elizabeth Williams added 14 points, five rebounds, and five blocks and Richa
Jackson scored 13 poin
<< Pierce powers Celtics to 4th straight win
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Temporarily, the Celtics may not have Rajon
Rondo or Ray Allen in the lineup, but they still have Paul Pierce.
As the Pacers cut Boston's lead to two in the third quarter, Pierce put the
team on his ba
UC Davis set for first Big Sky season >>
Davis, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - UC Davis football is set to enter a new era in
2012 with eight Big Sky Conference games as well as a visit to San Jose State
as part of an 11-game schedule.
The Aggies are joining the Big Sky from the Great West
Historical games part of Maine's 2012 schedule >>
Orono, ME (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Maine football's 2012 schedule includes the 100th
game against rival New Hampshire and a trip to Boston College for the 1,000th
official game in program history.
Coach Jack Cosgrove's Black Bears are coming off a
Bryans dethroned in Aussie doubles final >>
Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek ended
the three-year Australian Open reign of Bob and Mike Bryan on Saturday,
beating the top-ranked twin brothers in the men's doubles final.
Paes and Stepanek
Hornets trying to trade Kaman >>
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Hornets are trying to trade
away center Chris Kaman, and will not play him as they go through that
process.
Kaman is not injured, but hasn't played in New Orleans' last two games. He
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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