Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
05/09/2009 - Williamsburg, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lorena Ochoa's game, so sharp through 36 holes, faded to a dull mishmash of aimless shots on Saturday as Lindsey Wright and Cristie Kerr grabbed the lead at the Michelob Ultra Open.
"It wasn't a good day for me," said Ochoa after shooting a three-over 74 that turned a three-shot overnight lead into a five-stroke deficit.
Ochoa's struggles -- especially during a five-hole stretch on the back nine when she dropped four shots -- allowed Wright and Kerr to move in front at the $2.2 million event.
Wright, a 29-year-old grinder who has never won on the LPGA Tour, set up a Sunday challenge for her maiden title with a sparkling seven-under 64 that was almost good enough for sole possession of the lead.
But Kerr birdied three of her final four holes to shoot a five-under 66 and tie Wright atop the leaderboard at 15-under-par 198. The 11-time LPGA Tour winner and 2005 Michelob champion said she found "the zone" on her back nine, patiently waiting to strike at the right time.
"I played within myself, didn't try to hit it that close when my swing wasn't on," said Kerr. "I waited for it."
The duo share a one-shot lead over In-Kyung Kim (67) and a two-stroke advantage over another Korean, Song-Hee Kim (68).
Ochoa is three shots further back in a tie for fifth place with Natalie Gulbis (68) and Wendy Ward (67) at 10-under 203.
The Mexican star was left hoping her third round was simply an aberration -- "A couple yards left or right and it would have been different," she said -- and it may have been.
After all, Ochoa's top-ranked game looked to be on cruise control while she posted scores of 64-65 in the first two rounds.
On Saturday, her lead dwindled to a single shot as she collected three straight pars to begin the round. She rolled in a birdie putt at No. 4 that doubled her advantage to two.
But Ochoa's lead was halved again to a stroke before she made the turn. And that's when she really began to fall apart.
Ochoa missed a simple six-foot par putt on No. 10, taking a bogey that dropped her into a four-way tie for the lead with Wright and the two Kims. She then bogeyed the 13th, chipping past the hole from beside the green, to fall one shot off the lead.
At the par-four 14th, Ochoa knocked her approach shot over the green and down a steep hill. It took her three more strokes to get on the green -- the first rolled halfway back down the hill, and the second reached only the fringe.
She walked off with a double-bogey and was suddenly four back.
"I misjudged the distance and was right away over the green," said Ochoa. "It just happens. Sometimes there's nothing you can do. It was just a mistake."
The 74 marked Ochoa's highest score this year and the 12th time in 26 rounds that she's failed to break 70. She has already won twice this season, bringing her career total to 26 titles.
Wright's bogey-free 64 -- a career-best -- included long birdie putts at the 15th and 17th holes that gave her a brief two-shot lead. The English-born Australian, who owns her first 54-hole lead on the LPGA Tour, credited her success this week to recent changes to her putting stroke.
"Today was good. Under pressure, it's working," she said.
Not realizing until late in the round that Ochoa had fallen so far back, Wright said she was more interested in her own game.
"She's a great player and everyone has one round a week that's not the best," said Wright. "Tomorrow's going to be a good one."
Kerr followed up her course-record-tying 63 on Friday with a steady performance on Saturday that should at least guarantee the 31-year-old American her fifth straight top-10 finish.
She also credited her putting after rolling in birdie tries on 15, 17 and 18 that totaled more than 30 feet in length.
"It's always been my favorite part of the game," said Kerr. "I practice that more than anything."
<< Mariners activate Morrow, place Silva on DL
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Mariners activated hard-
throwing closer Brandon Morrow from the 15-day disabled list Saturday and
placed righty Carlos Silva on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder
inflamm
<< Sampdoria routs 10-man Reggina
Genoa, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reggina's survival hopes took a major hit on
Saturday as the club suffered a heavy 5-0 defeat to Sampdoria at Comunale
Luigi Ferraris.
Daniele Dessena scored his first goal of the campaign in the open
<< Suns agree to three-year deal with Gentry
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Suns removed Alvin Gentry's
"interim" tag on Saturday, agreeing to a three-year contract with the former
assistant to be the club's head coach.
Gentry became Phoenix's interim head coach a
<< Davydenko-Blake match suspended, Montanes rolls in Estoril
Estoril, Portugal (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Three-time finalist Nikolay
Davydenko and fourth-seeded American James Blake had their match suspended due
to darkness, but seventh-seeded Spaniard Albert Montanes made short work of
Chilean Paul
Yao uncertain for Game 4 after CT scan >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston center Yao Ming underwent a CT scan
on Saturday, revealing a sprained left ankle.
The 7-foot-6 center scored 19 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in Game 3 on
Friday. The Rockets lost 108-94 thoug
Cubs' Ramirez lands on DL with shoulder injury >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez
was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Saturday due to a dislocated left
shoulder, which he sustained during Chicago's 3-2 loss to the Milwaukee
Brewers
Valencia blasts Real Madrid >>
Valencia, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mata, David Silva and Ruben Baraja scored as
Valencia rolled to a 3-0 win over Real Madrid on Saturday, taking a big step to
lock up a Champions League berth and all but end the La Liga title race.
Valencia
Castroneves on pole, Briscoe second in Penske sweep at Indy >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Three weeks after his acquittal of federal
tax evasion charges, Helio Castroneves won the pole position for the
Indianapolis 500 on May 24.
Castroneves, a two-time Indy 500 winner, made his sec
NFL betting action is back! At MySportsbook, all of the pro football odds are posted for the NFC North. Check out how we see the four teams in this cloudy division stacking up this year in the chase for the playoffs! Green Bay Packers (+125) - With QB Aaron Rodgers leading the offense and DC Dom Capers working his magic on defense, the Packers are a real force to be reckoned with.
Virtually nothing changed on this offense for Green Bay from last year to this year, save for the addition of rookie OT Brian Bulaga to the bunch. Expect more huge numbers from the Pack, and a relatively favorable schedule should get them over the hump and into the playoffs once again this season. My NFL Betting Predictions: 11-5, 1st place in NFC North Minnesota Vikings (+130) - There are still too many unknowns about the Vikes this year. There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not.
There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not. Play this weekly NFL Football Contestto see if you can win.
Chicago Bears (+350) - The Bears are probably a bit of an overhyped team once again this year.No, we don't think it is plausible for QB Jay Cutler to have as bad of a season as he did last year, and we do think the additions of RB Chester Taylor and DE Julius Peppers are going to help immensely, but there's still something in the water in the Windy City that we aren't so sure about. Maybe Chicago finds its way to .500... but then again, maybe it doesn't. If Favre comes back, Cutler might be the worst quarterback in this division this year.
Detroit Lions (+1500) - The Lions are probably once again going to be the whipping boys for the rest of the teams in the NFC North, but they aren't just going to roll over and die once again. There is some real talent amassing on this team offensively, as the combination of QB Matt Stafford, RB Jahvid Best, WR Calvin Johnson, and TE Brandon Pettigrew should put a bunch of points on the board if the offensive line can even remotely hold up. The questions really lie on defense, where it feels like DT Ndamukong Suh is going to be trying to stop opposing teams all by himself. This year should show some marked improvement in the Motor City.
The Patriots will make NFL betting fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.
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.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting