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08/20/2010 - Mason, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roger Federer was a straight-set quarterfinal winner, while top seed Rafael Nadal was an upset victim Friday at the $3 million Western & Southern Financial Group Masters, a U.S. Open Series event.
The third-seeded Federer got past sixth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko, 6-4, 7-5 on the hardcourts at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. The Swiss native improved to 7-2 in quarterfinal matches this season and 14-2 against Davydenko.
The 16-time major titlist and former world No. 1 Federer has won three of the last five titles in Cincy (2005, 2007, 2009), including a victory over Serb Novak Djokovic in last year's finale.
Federer's semifinal opponent will be unseeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, who beat the reigning Wimbledon and French Open champion Nadal, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in a match that took over two hours and 30 minutes to complete.
Baghdatis picked up his first win against Nadal in seven career meetings. The Spaniard has yet to reach the final at this Cincy Masters event.
Former world No. 1 Andy Roddick and a hot Mardy Fish will meet in an all- American semifinal on Saturday.
The ninth-seeded Roddick handled Djokovic, this week's second seed, 6-4, 7-5 on Day 6 here. The big-serving American popped eight aces and cruised in 1 hour, 23 minutes.
Djokovic broke Roddick when the American was serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set, but Roddick broke right back and then held to close out the bout.
The former Aussie Open champion Djokovic appeared in the last two Cincy finals, losing to Federer here last year and British star Andy Murray in '08.
The former U.S. Open champion Roddick, who titled in Cincinnati in 2003 and 2006 and was the runner-up here in 2005, will next face his good friend Fish for a place in the final. Fish won their most-recent head-to-head battle in Atlanta last month.
The wild card Fish, meanwhile, went the distance to outlast the fourth-seeded Murray, 6-7 (7-9), 6-1, 7-6 (7-5).
Fish overcame the Australian Open runner-up Murray in just under three hours with the help of 13 aces, and the hard-serving American held his serve throughout the hard-fought affair.
The 28-year-old Fish converted on his first match point when Murray netted one final return. Fish is now 3-0 against Murray this season.
Murray required some medical attention on his leg during the lopsided second set for Fish.
The 2003 Cincinnati runner-up Fish has won 15 of his last 16 matches overall, which includes titles in Newport and Atlanta.
Murray, who upset Federer in last week's blockbuster finale at the Canadian Masters event in Toronto and was this year's Aussie Open runner-up to the Swiss icon, was the Cincinnati champ in 2008.
The 2010 Cincinnati titlist will claim $443,500.
<< Halladay and Phils shut down Nationals
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Raul Ibanez drove in the only run of the
game, as Roy Halladay and the Phillies blanked the Nationals, 1-0, in the
start of a three-game series at Citizens Bank Park.
Halladay (16-8) had runners on
<< Wilson stymies O's to halt Rangers' skid at four
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - C.J. Wilson and Neftali Feliz combined on a
three-hitter and Mitch Moreland homered as Texas shut down Baltimore, 2-0, in
the second meeting of a four-game set.
Wilson (12-5) allowed three hits over 8 2
<< White Sox/Royals postponed
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Friday's game between the Chicago White Sox
and Kansas City Royals was postponed after a lengthy rain delay stopped the
game in the bottom of the first inning.
Sean O'Sullivan started for the Royals an
<< Branyan, Hernandez shine in Mariners' win over Yankees
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Russell Branyan supplied the power, belting two
home runs, and Felix Hernandez resumed his dominance of the Yankees, as
Seattle blanked New York, 6-0, in the opener of a three-game series.
Branyan hit a
Pelfrey gets big offensive support as Mets top Pirates >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Pelfrey tossed eight effective innings
and was backed by a 15-hit attack, as the Mets beat the Pirates, 7-2, to open
a three-game series.
Pelfrey (12-7) gave up two runs -- one earned -- on six hit
Hamilton comes alive in fourth to upend Toronto >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - DeAndra Cobb scored a touchdown late in the
fourth quarter, as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats scored 13 unanswered points in the
final frame to slip past the Toronto Argonauts, 16-12, in a divisional
showdow
Miyazato leads Safeway Classic by one >>
North Plains, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ai Miyazato fired a six-under 66 Friday to
take a one-stroke lead after the opening round of the Safeway Classic.
Miyazato, who has won four times this season, currently stands No. 2 in the
world. She had
Zvonareva ousts Clijsters in Montreal, Wozniacki advances >>
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wimbledon runner-up Vera Zvonareva upset
U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters in Friday's quarterfinal action at the $2
million Rogers Cup, a hardcourt U.S. Open tune-up.
The eighth-seeded Zvonareva ca
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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