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08/08/2008 - Eugene, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Amanda Blumenherst was four-under par through nine holes and that helped her cruise to a 4 & 3 win over Carlota Ciganda in Friday's quarterfinals at the 108th U.S. Women's Amateur at Eugene Country Club.
Blumenherst will face high school sophomore Erynne Lee, who handled Chelsea Stelzmiller, 4 & 3.
The other semifinal match will pair two Spaniards, Azahara Munoz and Belen Mozo. Munoz routed Stephanie Na, who was the co-stroke play medalist with Blumenherst.
Munoz won that match 7 & 6, while Mozo rolled to a 6 & 5 win over Whitney Neuhauser.
Blumenherst won the first with a birdie after Ciganda, the 2007 Ladies' British Open Amateur winner, missed a birdie putt of her own. Blumenherst ran off three straight birdies from the seventh to make the turn with 4-up lead.
"I always expect my competitor to make the putt and I'm going to have to make it to halve. So when she missed it, I thought the door opened and I was able to keep it going from there," said Blumenherst of her win at the first.
Blumenherst, the NCAA Player of the Year, birdied the 13th to push her lead to 5-up, but she bogeyed the next. Ciganda and Blumenherst parred the 15th giving the Duke standout the win.
"I rolled the ball really well," Blumenherst stated. "I was hitting my drives in the middle of the fairway and sticking them close. So it was just solid golf."
Lee made the turn with a 1-up lead as Stelzmiller bogeyed the ninth. Lee won the next three holes to push her lead to 4-up and closed with match with an up-and-down par on the 15th.
Munoz won the first two holes, then took the fifth with a par. She ran off three straight wins from No. 7 to head to the back nine 6-up. Na bogeyed the 11th to fall 7-down and the match was over when both players parred the 12th.
Mozo, the 2006 Ladies British Open Amateur champ, took a 1-up lead with a par on the third. A par on the eighth gave her a 2-up lead and set up a run of five wins in the next six holes as she closed the match with a birdie on the par-five 13th.
<< Truex extends contract with DEI
Watkins Glen, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Truex, Jr. confirmed Friday that he
has extended his contract with Dale Earnhardt Inc. Truex will drive the No.1
Chevrolet for DEI at least one more year.
"I'm exited to put an end to all of th
<< Blanco lifts Cubs over Cards in extras
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Henry Blanco singled home the game-winning run
in the bottom of the 11th inning off Ryan Franklin to give the Cubs a 3-2
victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in the opener of a three-game series at
Wrigley
<< Davenport pulls out of Olympic singles
Beijing, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former gold medalist Lindsay Davenport
pulled out of the women's singles draw at the Summer Games in Beijing, citing
a nagging knee injury.
Davenport, who became a mother for the first time last year
<< Bavasi joins Reds front office
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Reds hired former Anaheim
Angels and Seattle Mariners general manager Bill Bavasi as a special assistant
Friday.
Bavasi, 50, will advise and assist president of baseball operations
Pair of Mets minor leaguers suspended by MLB >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major League Baseball suspended New York Mets
minor league pitchers Leandro Geremy and Jose Valentin 50 games after each
tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance.
Geremy tested positive for
Kanaan, AGR agree to 5-year extension >>
Sparta, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tony Kanaan and Andretti Green Racing have
reached a long-term agreement that will keep the 2004 IndyCar Series champion
with the team through 2013.
"I'm very happy and relieved to have a deal in place
Mickelson struggles late on Friday at PGA >>
Bloomfield Hills Township, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Phil Mickelson bogeyed three
of his last five holes Friday en route to a three-over 73 in the second round
of the PGA Championship.
Mickelson, the 2005 PGA Champion, is still very much
Braves P Hudson to have Tommy John surgery on Saturday >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta Braves pitcher Tim Hudson will undergo
Tommy John surgery on Saturday.
The team announced the scheduled procedure on Friday and it will be performed
in Pensacola, Florida by Dr. James Andrews.
Team
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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