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Simon Khan (71), Hennie Otto (71), Simon Dyson (75), Nick Dougherty (71), Anthony Wall (69) and another member of Ian Woosnam's victorious Ryder Cup team, Henrik Stenson (71), share ninth place at six-under-par 209.
Cary, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tom Jenkins used four back-nine birdies on Saturday to post a six-under 66 and move atop the leaderboard after two rounds of the SAS Championship. He stands at 10-under-par 134 and is one ahead at Prestonwood Country Club. Chip Beck, playing in his third Champions Tour event, fired a seven-under 65 and is tied for second place with overnight co-leader Loren Roberts, who shot a four-under 68. The pair is knotted at minus-nine.
Jenkins began the second round one shot behind the first-round co-leaders and did not make up much ground early. He parred his first four holes, but drew closer with back-to-back birdies at five and six.
Roberts, the tour's leading money winner, only trailed by a shot thanks to birdies at seven and 12. At the 14th, Jenkins got up and down for par from 88 feet, while Roberts, nicknamed "The Boss of the Moss," missed a 13-footer for birdie.
Both Roberts and Jenkins birdied the 15th and 17th holes. Jenkins' 17-footer at 17 boosted him to 10-under par. Jenkins had 31 feet for birdie at the last, but two-putted for par. Roberts again had a makable birdie try from 13 feet at the last, but missed.
While two of the members of the final group were duking it out, Beck steadily climbed up the board. He birdied three and four, but it was his play on the back nine that vaulted him into contention.
"It's a big horse race here," said Beck, looking for his first win since 1992. "I'm just so thankful to have the opportunity to play golf again. It's like heaven on earth."
Jay Haas, second to Roberts on the tour's money list, carded a six-under 66 and is alone in fifth place at seven-under-par 137. Last week's winner Andy Bean (69) and Jim Ahern (70) are tied for sixth place at minus-five.
Birdie Putt Into Par Canyons >>
Second Round Against Snedeker Green >>
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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