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03/06/2010 - Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rafael Van der Vaart's stoppage-time goal gave Real Madrid a 3-2 comeback win over Sevilla at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday, while Barcelona could only manage a 2-2 draw with Almeria, leaving the two heavyweight sides level on 62 points.
Lionel Messi scored in the 42nd minute to cancel out Domingo's opening goal for Almeria, but after an own goal from Barca's Carles Puyol in the 57th minute, Messi needed another goal just to give Barca a point.
That left Real three points back of the defending champions ahead of their match with Sevilla.
However, things didn't start so well for the home side as Sevilla was in front after 10 minutes when Diego Capel's deflected cross went in off Real's Xabi Alonso.
Sevilla goalkeeper Andres Palop made the lead stand up over the rest of the first half despite Real heaping pressure on the visiting side.
He made a number of quality stops, and then saw his team take a two-goal lead shortly after halftime when a free kick from Ivica Dragutinovic skipped innocently inside the box but somehow eluded goalkeeper Iker Casillas and found its way into the back of the net.
The hosts were letting a big opportunity slip away, but they started their comeback effort on the hour mark when Cristiano Ronaldo swooped in to fire home a loose ball inside the box.
Guti then had his shot deflected off the crossbar, but the ensuing corner kick was headed home by Sergio Ramos to level the score in the 64th minute.
It seemed like just a matter of time before Real would score again, but Gonzalo Higuain was twice denied by the woodwork before the game entered stoppage time.
However, with just seconds to play, Higuain had a header parried by Palop into the path of Van der Vaart, who bundled it over the goal line for a dramatic winner.
The other match on Saturday saw Deportivo move into fifth place with a 3-1 win over Tenerife, who scored the game's first goal in the 17th minute but conceded three unanswered tallies in a 35-minute span.
<< Villegas alone in first at PGA National
Palm Beach Gardens, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Camilo Villegas posted a three-under
67 on Saturday to take sole possession of the lead after the third round of
the Honda Classic.
Villegas finished 54 holes at 11-under 199 and is three stroke
<< Former PGA Tour winner Pate leads Bogota Open
Bogota, Colombia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former PGA Tour winner Steve Pate had a
five-under 66 Saturday to take a two-shot lead after three rounds of the
Nationwide Tour's Bogota Open.
The 48-year-old Pate birdied five of his last 11 hol
<< No. 25 Xavier downs St. Bonaventure
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jordan Crawford scored 22 points to lead
25th-ranked Xavier to a 93-72 win over St. Bonaventure in the regular-season
finale for both teams at Cintas Center.
Jamel McLean poured in 15 points for the M
<< Juve returns to top four
Florence, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juventus moved back into the top four in
the Serie A table on Saturday as Fabio Grosso scored in the 68th minute of a
2-1 Juve win over Fiorentina at the Artemio Franchi.
Diego put the visitors in f
Sun Belt Conference Tournament Recaps >>
Hot Springs, AR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brian Sherrer hit a jumper with four
seconds left to lead the ninth-seeded South Alabama Jaguars to a 52-51 victory
over the eighth-seeded Florida Atlantic Owls in the first round of the Sun
Belt Co
Pitt routs Rutgers to close out regular season >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gilbert Brown poured in a game-high 19
points while pulling down six rebounds, as the 17th-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers
destroyed the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 83-54, in the regular-season finale for
both cl
No. 4 Tennessee downs Vandy to move to SEC final >>
Duluth, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alyssia Brewer scored a game-high 15 points with
seven rebounds to help fourth-ranked Tennessee defeat the Vanderbilt
Commodores, 68-49, to move to the final of the Southeastern Conference
Tournam
Dunn leads Baylor over Texas; Bears clinch No. 3 seed >>
Waco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LaceDarius Dunn scored 30 points and grabbed six
rebounds, as 21st-ranked Baylor defeated the Texas Longhorns, 92-77, at the
Ferrell Center.
Quincy Acy finished with 24 points on 12-of-15 shooting for the B
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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