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01/22/2012 - George, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - South Africa's Branden Grace toppled two of his home country's golfing icons, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, in a playoff Sunday to win the Volvo Golf Champions, his second win in a row on the European Tour.
Grace birdied the first playoff hole to best Els and Goosen. He earned his first tour victory a week ago at the Joburg Open and that got him into this exclusive event, reserved for European Tour players who won European Tour events in the last year.
Sunday's win at The Links at Fancourt had to be extra special for Grace considering he came through the Ernie Els and Fancourt Foundation. Perhaps even more amazing than two wins in the three events on the 2012 European Tour schedule, is that Grace came through tour Q School just last month.
Grace, a third-round co-leader, overcame a rocky start on Sunday that included a double-bogey at three and a bogey at four. He tallied five birdies the rest of the way for a two-under 71.
Els played the last 11 holes in five-under par and signed for a six-under 67 on Sunday. Goosen was alone in the lead until an errant drive at nine led to a double-bogey and he dropped a shot at 12. He rebounded with an eagle, three birdies, all in the last four holes, to shoot a three-under 70.
The trio finished regulation at 12-under 280 and headed back to the par-five closing hole at Fancourt.
Grace and Goosen both found the short grass off the tee at 18, but Els pulled his drive into the left rough. The Big Easy had to lay up with his second and both Grace and Goosen landed in the front right portion of the green.
Els' third stopped 15 feet from the flagstick, giving him a decent chance at birdie. Goosen stubbed his chip, while Grace lagged his eagle try close. Goosen failed to make birdie, and with Grace in close, the pressure belonged to Els.
His birdie putt stayed above ground and Grace tapped in for birdie and his second win in as many weeks and a healthy, albeit early, lead in the Race to Dubai.
"I'm really ecstatic," said Grace. "It's a dream come true to win such a big event - pretty much the best tournament I've played in so far."
Third-round co-leader Nicolas Colsaerts bogeyed the last to fall out of a possible playoff. He managed a one-under 72 and finished fourth at 11-under par.
Masters champion Charl Schwartzel also had a 72 on Sunday and came in fifth at minus-10.
European Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal enjoyed a nice showing this week. The Hall of Famer shot an even-par 73 on Sunday and was sixth at eight- under 284.
"At certain moments in the round it looked a little bit like the old days," said Olazabal.
NOTES: This event was reserved not just for winners on last year's schedule, but also current tour members under the age of 50 with more than 10 victories are also invited...That is how Goosen and Olazabal got into the field...Next week is the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship in the United Arab Emirates, where Martin Kaymer has won the last two years...Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy, Kaymer and Tiger Woods are expected to make their season debuts.
<< Clippers entertain Raptors at Staples Center
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The suddenly-dangerous Los Angeles Clippers could be
without two of their top playmakers when they wrap up a three-game homestand
this afternoon versus the Toronto Raptors at Staples Center.
Newcomer Chris Paul is
<< Heat resume homestand vs. Bucks
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While it's unknown if Heat star guard Dwyane Wade will play
tonight versus the Milwaukee Bucks in the continuation of a five-game
homestand, Miami hasn't missed a beat without him.
Wade has missed the last three
<< Nets play host to Bobcats
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two of the worst teams the Eastern Conference has to offer
get together tonight at the Prudential Center, where the New Jersey Nets will
host the Charlotte Bobcats.
The Bobcats will close out a three-game road trip toni
<< Lakers aim to rebound with Pacers in town
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Lakers can't worry about their struggles on
the road because they have the Indiana Pacers coming to town tonight for a
showdown at Staples Center.
Los Angeles has dropped three in a row on the road
NFL Inactives (Sunday, January 22, 2012) >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The following is a list of inactive
players for today's AFC Championship Game.
BALTIMORE RAVENS AT NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS, 3:00 P.M. (ET)
Ravens - WR Tandon Doss, CB Chykie Brown, RB Anthony Allen, LB Josh
Dortmund thumps Hamburg to go level atop the Bundesliga >>
Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Borussia Dortmund moved into a tie with
Bayern Munich and Schalke for the Bundesliga lead on Sunday with a resounding
5-1 win over Hamburg at the Imtech Arena.
Kevin Grosskreutz put the visitors in f
PSV held to a draw by Utrecht >>
Utrecht, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - PSV missed a golden opportunity to
jump ahead of first-place AZ Alkmaar as it was held to a 1-1 draw by Utrecht
at the Stadion Galgenwaard on Sunday.
With AZ Alkmaar playing to a 1-1 draw with A
Indiana uses strong second half to top Penn State >>
Bloomington, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cody Zeller had 18 points on 7-of-8
shooting and tallied four blocks, leading 11th-ranked Indiana to a 73-54 win
over Penn State at Assembly Hall.
Jordan Hulls scored all 14 of his points in the
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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