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07/31/2010 - Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bernhard Langer continued his hot play Friday as he carded a two-under 68 to grab a two-stroke lead after the second round of the U.S. Senior Open.
Langer, who is coming off a win last week at the Senior British Open, completed 36 holes at three-under-par 137.
The German is trying to become the first player to win back-to-back majors on the Champions Tour since Tom Watson won the Senior British Open and the JELD- WEN Tradition in 2003.
Jeff Roth, the club professional at San Juan Country Club in New Mexico, fired a four-under 66 to match the low round of the championship. That helped him move into a share of second place at minus-one.
He was joined there by John Cook and Tommy Armour III, who both shot two-under 68s on Friday. They were the only four players to complete 36 holes in red figures.
Local favorite Fred Couples and Watson both shot 70 for the second straight day. They share fifth place at even-par 140 with Loren Roberts (72) and Michael Allen (71).
The round was completed despite a two-hour, 12-minute fog delay early in the day at Sahalee Country Club.
Langer was in one of the first groups out off the first tee on Friday. He opened with a six-foot birdie putt on the first, but faltered to a bogey on the par-four third.
After five straight pars, Langer stumbled to another bogey at the ninth after hitting his approach into a greenside bunker. He atoned for that mistake with a 20-foot eagle putt on the par-five 11th.
Langer again reeled off five consecutive pars to remain at minus-two. He converted a nine-footer for birdie on the par-three 17th and parred the last to finish at three-under.
"I hit it straight and made some putts. It's always the same, isn't it," Langer joked. "Just different venues, different conditions, but it's always same idea, hit it where you're looking and try and play smart, attack the holes that can be attacked and play smart on the other ones."
First-round leader Bruce Vaughan had yet to tee off when Langer finished. Vaughan struggled badly on Friday as he faltered to a 12-over 82, which dropped him into a share of 40th.
Roth isn't just in unfamiliar territory on the leaderboard, he is also unfamiliar with USGA Championships in general. The last USGA championship he competed in was back in 1975.
His unfamiliarity with the situation didn't show on Friday. Roth birdied the first, but tripped to a bogey on the third. He climbed to even-par for the championship with birdies on five, seven and nine.
Around the turn, Roth got to minus-one with a birdie at the 11th. He bogeyed the 16th, but closed with a birdie at the last to finish at minus-one.
"It's really kind of funny, because I've always tried to qualify for USGA events, and this is only my second USGA event I played in," Roth explained. "I think the way USGA sets up the golf course, it really is good for me, because I'm just one of those guys that grinds it out. I can make as good a par as anybody, and that's usually a pretty good score."
Cook played the back nine first Friday and was even-par with a birdie on 16 and a bogey at the 18th. On the front nine, he poured in three straight birdies from the second. Cook wrapped bogeys at seven and nine around a birdie on the eighth.
Armour was even-par for his round through 12 with birdies on two and four and bogeys at the third and 12th. He moved into a share of second thanks to birdies at 15 and 17.
Tom Kite (69) and Scott Simpson (71) are tied for ninth place at one-over-par 141. Mark Calcavecchia (73) headlines a group of five players at plus-two.
NOTES: There were eight sub-par rounds for the second straight day...Defending champion Fred Funk posted an even-par 70 Friday and is tied for 29th place at plus-six after two days....The cut line fell at 10-over-par 150 with 69 players making it to the weekend...Former champions Brad Bryant, Hale Irwin, Dave Eichelberger and Dale Douglass were among those that missed the cut as were Mark O'Meara, Ben Crenshaw and Fuzzy Zoeller.
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The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.
While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.
For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.
1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.
2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.
How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.
Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.
Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.
How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).
Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.
Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on college football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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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