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06/17/2007 - Birmingham, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jelena Jankovic of Serbia rallied to beat Russia's Maria Sharapova in Sunday's final at the weather-plagued DFS Classic.
The rain finally held off Sunday and allowed play at this Wimbledon tuneup to finish, as one quarterfinal first needed to be completed before the semifinals and championship match were staged.
Jankovic, seeded second, notched a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 triumph for her fourth title of 2007 and the fifth of her career.
After Marion Bartoli finished off Daniela Hantuchova in the quarterfinals, Sharapova and Jankovic both won semifinal matches. The top-seeded Sharapova toppled a tiring Bartoli with a 7-5, 6-0 triumph and Jankovic knocked off eighth-seeded Mara Santangelo, 6-1, 7-5.
Sharapova and Jankovic then took the court again later in the afternoon and played a thriller that lasted just five minutes shy of two hours.
Two breaks of serve gave Sharapova the first set, and the second set featured five breaks. Jankovic broke three times, including once to take a 5-3 lead. She finally held again to send the match to a decisive set.
Sharapova then raced out to a 3-0 lead in the third, but Jankovic rallied to win the next three games. A break in the 11th game gave Jankovic the lead once more and she quickly won the first three points on her serve in the next game before finally finishing it off to beat Sharapova for the first time in four all-time meetings.
The two hadn't faced each other since Sharapova claimed a three-set triumph in the final at this event two years ago. Sharapova also won this tournament in 2004.
Jankovic is having a stellar season. She won earlier this year in Auckland, Charleston and Rome, and lost a title match in Sydney.
Sharapova, who won the Wimbledon crown in 2004 and was a semifinalist in each of the past two years, is still trying for her first title of 2007. Her only other appearance in a final came at the Australian Open in January.
<< Becker, Haase win Ordina openers
's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Germany's Benjamin Becker
and Robin Haase the Netherlands were first-round winners Sunday at the Ordina
Open.
Becker polished off Belgium's Olivier Rochus, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), while Haas
<< Donnelly placed on DL
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox placed relief pitcher
Brendan Donnelly on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to June 11, with a
right forearm muscle strain.
The right-hander has made 27 relief appearances th
<< Phillies place Rosario on 15-day DL
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies placed
right-handed reliever Francisco Rosario on the 15-day disabled list with an
undisclosed injury Sunday.
The 26-year-old Rosario is 0-3 with a 6.64 earned run a
<< Chakvetadze rallies to win Ordina opener
's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Russia's Anna Chakvetadze
rallied for a three-set triumph on the first day of play at the Ordina Open.
The third-seeded Chakvetadze posted a 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Victoria
Azaren
Zimmerman, Nationals down Blue Jays >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Zimmerman homered to help the Washington
Nationals avoid the sweep by edging the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-2, at Rogers
Centre.
Frank Thomas made some history in defeat, hitting his 244th home run a
Toronto hammers Hoops >>
Toronto, Ontario (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Toronto FC scored a franchise-high four
goals en route to a 4-0 win over FC Dallas at BMO Field on Sunday.
Maurice Edu, Danny Dichio, Carl Robinson and Jeff Cunningham each found the
back of the ne
Carmona, Indians top Braves to avoid sweep >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fausto Carmona pitched seven-plus strong
innings, as the Cleveland Indians avoided a three-game sweep with a 5-2
victory over the Atlanta Braves at Jacobs Field.
Carmona (8-2) gave up two runs
Nady lifts Pirates past ChiSox >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Xavier Nady snapped a seventh-inning tie
with a two-run single and Jason Bay made a game-saving catch in the ninth, as
the Pittsburgh Pirates held on for an 8-7 victory over the Chicago White Sox
in the
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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