Kaymer off to record-tying start in France
Golf Betting Lines
07/02/2009 - Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Kaymer got off to a flying start Thursday as he fired a nine-under 62 to take a three-stroke lead after the first round of the Open de France.
Kaymer matched the course record at Le Golf National that Eduardo Romero set in 2005.
Peter Hanson carded a six-under 65 to share second place with 2006 winner John Bickerton, Thongchai Jaidee, Rafa Echenique and Scott Strange.
Nick Dougherty, who won the BMW International Open last week, is tied for seventh place with Paul Waring at minus-five.
Kaymer's round did not get off to a good start as he tripped to a bogey on the 10th. He reclaimed that stroke with a birdie on the 12th and followed with birdies on 13 and 14.
The German moved to three-under with a birdie on the 17th. Around the turn, Kaymer rolled in a seven-footer for birdie on the first.
Kaymer chipped in for eagle on the par-five third to jump to minus-six. He sank a 13-foot birdie effort on seven and came right back with a long birdie putt on the eighth.
At the ninth, Kaymer's last, he converted a 14-footer for birdie and a share of the course record.
Kaymer, who has been battling a blister problem on his feet, got his week off to a great start as his team posted a 16-under 55 to win the Pro-Am on Wednesday.
"I've been missing a lot of short putts, but everything came together and I hope it continues," said Kaymer. "The foot's still hurting, but I will survive. Yesterday when I was practicing it was unbelievable pain, but now I don't worry about it."
Bickerton posted three birdies on the front nine, then birdied four of the first six holes on the back nine. In that mix was a bogey on the 11th.
"I've changed a few things in my set-up. I was getting very crouched and very lazy and hadn't even noticed myself, so it was important to address those issues," Bickerton admitted. "The fairways are tight here, but if you do get the ball in the right places then you can get the ball close to the hole and the greens are quite receptive."
Miguel Angel Jimenez and defending champion Pablo Larrazabal are tied for ninth place at four-under-par 67. They are joined there by Robert-Jan Derksen, David Drysdale, Ricardo Gonzalez, Paul Lawrie, Jean Van de Velde, Thomas Levet, Sam Little, Francesco Molinari and Alejandro Canizares.
Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Coyotes brought in veteran defenseman Adrian Aucoin on a one-year contract Thursday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed per team policy. Aucoin, whose departure from Calgary was ea
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"Win a ring
<< Materazzi signs three-year extension with Inter
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defender Marco Materazzi has signed a three-
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Forward Conor Casey, midfielders
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Farmville, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Longwood University has extended the contract of men's basketball head coach Mike Gillian. Financial terms were not released but the extension covers multiple years. The Lancers were 17-14 la
Gudjohnsen expects to leave Barca >>
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Twins demote Henn, to recall Duensing >>
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Thrashers sign Antropov >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Thrashers signed unrestricted free
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The 29-year-old compiled career-highs
What Is the Point Spread?
What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?
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.
How to Read Point Spreads
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:
- Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
OR
- Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.
-
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.
For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
- Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
OR
- Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score
Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?
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.