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07/18/2010 - Reno, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Bettencourt captured his first PGA Tour win Sunday at the Reno-Tahoe Open, closing with a four-under 68 in the final round to beat Bob Heintz by one shot.
Heintz missed a three-foot birdie putt at the 18th hole with a chance to force a playoff.
Bettencourt, playing in the same group with Heintz, hit two bunkers and made a closing bogey at No. 18 -- among the easiest holes on the Montreux course.
Moments later, television cameras showed Bettencourt barely reacting as he watched Heintz's putt dip into the left side of the cup and spin out, giving him the win.
Bettencourt finished with an 11-under 277 to earn his first victory since he won twice on the developmental Nationwide Tour in 2008.
The 35-year-old from California missed the cut in 13 of his 21 starts coming into the week, but reversed his fortunes Sunday by earning a two-year tour exemption.
Heintz, who is not a tour member, shot a three-under 69 and took second place alone at 10-under 278.
John Merrick and Sweden's Mathias Gronberg both carded 69s to share third place at nine-under 279.
Tournament host and 54-hole leader Scott McCarron had a nine-over 81 and dropped into a tie for 35th place -- 10 shots behind Bettencourt.
MORE TO FOLLOW.
<< McCutchen suffers shoulder sprain in Sunday's game
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen
left Sunday's game against Houston with a mild sprain of his right AC joint.
He sustained the injury to the top of his shoulder after making a diving catch
on a
<< Holliday caps Cards' comeback in ninth for sweep of Dodgers
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Holliday's two-out, game-winning RBI
single capped a five-run rally in the final two innings, lifting the St.
Louis Cardinals to a 5-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers and a four-game
sweep a
<< Astros designate Daigle, bring up Majewski
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros have designated
pitcher Casey Daigle for assignment and purchased the contract of pitcher Gary
Majewski from Triple-A Round Rock.
Daigle posted a 1-1 record with an 11.32 ea
<< Joh wins playoff for first Duramed Futures title
Bloomfield, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tiffany Joh birdied the fourth playoff hole
Sunday to defeat Gerina Mendoza and win the ING New England Golf Classic on
the Duramed Futures Tour.
Joh sank an eight-foot birdie putt on the fourth ext
Mets avoid sweep, top Giants in 10 on Davis double >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ike Davis hit an RBI double with two outs
in the top of the 10th inning, and the New York Mets beat San Francisco, 4-3,
to salvage the finale of a four-game series at AT&T Park.
The Giants erased a
Denorfia powers Padres past Diamondbacks >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Denorfia matched a career-high with
four hits, homering twice and scoring three times to power San Diego past
Arizona, 6-4, and help the Padres complete a three-game sweep at Petco Park.
Denorf
Angels place Kazmir on DL >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Angels placed pitcher Scott Kazmir on the
15-day disabled list following Sunday's 2-1, 10-inning loss to the Mariners.
Kazmir lands on the DL with left shoulder fatigue. The left-hander is 7-9 with
a 6.92 E
Yankees' Pettitte suffers groin strain >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte was
removed from his start Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays with a strained left
groin.
He was taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital and underwent an MRI. Resul
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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