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03/18/2010 - Rabat, Morocco (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - England's Nick Dougherty shot a seven-under 66 to take the first-round lead Thursday at the European Tour's Hassan II Golf Trophy.
Dougherty, who played the par-73 Red Course at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam, made five birdies and an eagle on the back nine to climb atop the leaderboard.
Five more players posted a 66, but four of them played the par-72 Blue course. Ireland's Peter Lawrie, Italy's Francesco Molinari, Argentina's Ricardo Gonzalez, and Paraguay's Fabrizio Zanotti all trailed Dougherty by a shot at six-under par.
S.S.P. Chowrasia had a six-under 67 on the Red course.
Dougherty, 27, captured his third tour win last season, but has struggled to find his game recently. He has two missed cuts in five starts this season and has finished inside the top 30 only once.
Some pointers from Denmark's Thomas Bjorn on the range Wednesday helped Dougherty, who said his game is still a "work in progress."
"I played some really good stuff today and my short game was great in general," said Dougherty. "So I'm very pleased with the score, but there's still a bit of work to do on my game."
Dougherty was nowhere on the front nine. Two birdies and two bogeys put him at just even-par around the turn. It was "a little bit of a battle" early on, as Dougherty put it.
An eagle at the par-five 10th got the Englishman going in the right direction, and he went on to collect five birdies the rest of the way. It was good enough for the lead, but Dougherty said he would have accepted anything under par Thursday.
Especially considering he was playing the tougher Red course.
"It's a challenging golf course and if you hit bad shots you tend to get punished, so I was delighted and seven-under is a really good score," he said.
Friday's second round will also be played on both the Red and Blue courses, while the final two rounds will be played on the Red course
NOTES: The event is a pro-am format with professionals and amateurs paired together...Although the tournament has been around for more than 40 years, this is the first time is has been part of the European Tour schedule...The helpful Bjorn had a 72 on the Red course.
<< Toyota sign could loom over Wrigley
CHICAGO (AP) -The Chicago Cubs owe much of their identity to two factors - their 101-year drought without a World Series title and Wrigley Field.The Cubs and automaker Toyota are working out a sponsorship deal that could put the company's logo on a
<< Seahawks trade for QB Whitehurst
Kirkland, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Seahawks acquired quarterback
Charlie Whitehurst from the San Diego Chargers for undisclosed draft
considerations on Thursday.
According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Char
<< Crew bounced from Champions League
Toluca, Mexico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Crew were bounced out of the
CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday night after a 3-2 loss in Mexico vs.
Toluca.
Toluca, which advances with a 5-4 aggregate score, faces fellow Mexican s
<< Reynolds, Fisher held out of Villanova starting lineup
Providence, RI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Villanova guards Scottie Reynolds and Corey
Fisher were not in the starting lineup for Thursday's NCAA Tournament opener
against Robert Morris.
CBS Sports reported that head coach Jay Wright called it a
Bracket Breakdown >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Being a member of the selection committee
for the NCAA Tournament is a thankless job that always comes with harsh
criticism. This year is no different. While there were no real egregious
omissions (perhaps M
Pavlyuchenko may stay at Tottenham >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko is now
pondering staying at White Hart Lane beyond the end of the season, even though
he seemed certain to move on in the January transfer window.
The 28-year-old Russi
Hamburg's Ze Roberto rules out move to MLS >>
Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hamburg veteran Brazilian midfielder Ze
Roberto has dismissed rumors linking him with a switch to Red Bull New York in
Major League Soccer at the end of this season.
It had been suggested that the MLS s
Michigan to host Notre Dame in first night game at Big House >>
Ann Arbor, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Michigan announced
Thursday it will host its first-ever primetime game on September 10, 2011
against rival Notre Dame.
"This will be an unprecedented game day atmosphere th
2007 Academy Award Betting : Oscars odds
The 79th Annual Academy Awards odds , which will air February 25th, is sparking an interest throughout the nation with the announcement of its nominees. As the public chooses their favorites, sportsbooks are creating odds for one of the biggest entertainment betting nights of the year.
Whether its at a “Oscar Party” or in an on line sportsbook, entertainment gambling on award shows represent a huge increase in betting. As the public speculation mounts, MySportsbook.com, the largest and most respected sportsbook on the web, posted odds on who is going home with a “Golden Best Friend.”
“ We see a majority of our entertainment wagers come from the Academy Awards,” said MySportsbook.com spokesperson, Tim Dalton. “This is a competition that applies to everyone. These are the people that entertain us on a daily basis and you want to see them win.”
MySportsbook.com posted the following odds for Academy Awards:
Odds to win the Achievement in Directing:
Alejandro González Iñárritu "Babel": 8/1
Martin Scorsese "The Departed": 2/17
Clint Eastwood "Letters From Iwo Jima: 4/1
Stephen Frears "The Queen": 12/1
Paul Greengrass "United 93": 15/1
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role:
Leonardo DiCaprio in "Blood Diamond": 11/1
Ryan Gosling in "Half Nelson": 20/1
Peter O’Toole in "Venus": 16/5
Will Smith in "The Pursuit of Happyness": 16/1
Forest Whitaker in "The Last King of Scotland": 1/11
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role:
Penélope Cruz in "Volver": 18/1
Judi Dench in "Notes on a Scandal": 15/1
Helen Mirren in "The Queen": 1/50
Meryl Streep in "The Devil Wears Prada": 10/1
Kate Winslet in "Little Children": 20/1
Best Animated Feature Film:
"Cars": 1/3
"Happy Feet": 2/1
"Monster House": 20/1
Best Foreign-Language Film of the Year:
"Water" – Canada: 22/1
"The Lives of Others" – Germany: 7/2
"After the Wedding" - Denmark: 24/1
"Days of Glory (Indigenes)" – Algeria: 23/1
"Pan's Labyrinth" - Mexico: 1/10
Odds to win the Best Live-Action Short Film:
"Binta and the Great Idea (Binta Y La Gran Idea)": 6/5
"Eramos Pocos (One Too Many)": 7/2
"Helmer & Son": 5/2
"The Saviour": 6/1
"West Bank Story": 7/2
Odds to win the Best Original Screenplay:
"Babel": 7/4
"Letters From Iwo Jima": 3/1
"Little Miss Sunshine": 21/20
"Pan's Labyrinth": 11/4
"The Queen": 5/4
Best Motion Picture of the Year:
"Babel": 11/4
"The Departed": 1/2
"Letters from Iwo Jima": 15/2
"Little Miss Sunshine": 17/10
"The Queen": 20/1
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role:
Alan Arkin in "Little Miss Sunshine": 11/10
Jackie Earle Haley in "Little Children": 10/1
Djimon Hounsou in "Blood Diamond": 9/1
Eddie Murphy in "Dreamgirls": 2/5
Mark Wahlberg in "The Departed": 5/1
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role:
Adriana Barraza in "Babel": 14/1
Cate Blanchett in "Notes on a Scandal": 11/1
Abigail Breslin in "Little Miss Sunshine": 2/1
Jennifer Hudson in "Dreamgirls": 1/8
Rinko Kikuchi in "Babel": 11/1
Film To Win Most Oscars:
Dreamgirls: 2/3
Pans Labyrinth: 6/5
The Departed: 6/1
The Queen: 11/1
Babel: 15/1
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: 11/1
Little Miss Sunshine: 15/1
Additional sports and entertainment odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts 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 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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