11/07/2008 - Shima Mie, Japan (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miki Saiki and Mayu Hattori both fired rounds of five-under 67 to share the first-round lead Friday at the Mizuno Classic.
Eun-A Lim and Ji-Yai Shin stood a shot off the lead at four-under 68, while nine players were tied at three-under 69 heading into the second round.
This is the third consecutive event in Asia for the LPGA Tour and its final tournament on the continent this season. It features just three of the top 10 players in the world: No. 2 Yani Tseng (73), No. 8 Shin and No. 9 Karrie Webb (72).
But it was a pair of unheralded Japanese players -- Saiki and Hattori -- who shared the lead after a strong day from both players that saw them make just one combined bogey.
Hattori played flawless golf for her 67, making it around the 6,506-yard Kintetsu Kashikojima Country Club without a bogey.
She started on the back nine with three consecutive pars, then made three birdies in a four-hole stretch from the 13th on the way to making the turn with a 33.
Hattori finished with a steady front nine, picking up seven pars to go along with birdies at Nos. 1 and 7. Her longest birdie putt was from 18 feet at the first hole.
"I started off from the 10th hole with a good tee shot, which helped me to start off in a good mood," said Hattori. "I only missed the fairways twice, and I only missed the green twice."
Saiki played one group behind Hattori off the 10th tee and made two birdies on a bogey-free back nine to turn in 34 shots. Another birdie at No. 1 was followed by a bogey at No. 2 -- where she missed the green on her approach -- but Saiki collected three birdies in a row beginning at the fourth hole to move into a share of the lead.
"As a whole, my shots weren't perfect," said Saiki, "but the short game and putting helped me a lot."
There were 52 players within five shots of the co-leaders, including defending champion Momoko Ueda, who opened with a two-under 70. Ueda won this title last year in just her fifth start on the LPGA Tour.
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San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Clowe scored twice in the third period
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Joe Thornton and Rob Blake also sco
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New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Giants defensive end Justin Tuck was
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Winless Wizards welcome Knicks to Verizon Center >>
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win of the 2008-09 season and will take on the New York Knicks tonight at the
Verizon Center.
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first loss of the season tonight, when they visit the Charlotte Bobcats at
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Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch
Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.
Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.
"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs.
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.
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