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02/22/2012 - Marana, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top overall seed and defending champion Luke Donald was eliminated Wednesday in the first round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.
Donald drew no ordinary No. 64 seed.
Ernie Els, who only made the field thanks to withdrawals by Phil Mickelson and Paul Casey, trounced Donald, 5 & 4, at the Ritz Carlton Golf Club.
"Obviously playing against Luke, I needed to be on," Els said in a televised interview. "I knew had to play really well and I did. I kept it in play and made some big putts in the end."
Donald never trailed en route to victory last year and he never reached the 18th green. He didn't get there on Wednesday, either, but that was due to the play of his Hall of Fame opponent.
Donald never led in the match and Els built a 2-up lead at the turn. Donald fought gamely, but never won another hole. Els took the 11th, 12th and 14th holes to knock off the No. 1 player in the Bobby Jones bracket.
Donald was the only No. 1 seed to lose. Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood and last year's runner-up, Martin Kaymer, were victorious.
Tiger Woods, a three-time champion, holed a gutsy 12-foot par putt to beat Gonzalo-Fernandez Castano. Woods, seeded No. 5 in the Sam Snead bracket, didn't have his best game, but hung tough and did better than last year when he was eliminated in the first round.
"We both made our share of mistakes; there's no doubt about that," said Woods. "But somehow I was able to move on."
Woods fell 2-down right out of the gate, but built a 1-up lead with wins at five, seven and eight. Woods stumbled badly with losses at 10 and 11, then made a tough par save just to halve the 12th and stay 1-down.
Woods squared the match with a birdie at 15 and Fernandez-Castano let one get away at 16. He had six feet to halve the hole, but missed to give Woods a 1-up lead.
After pars at 17, Woods' second flew into the back bunker at the last. He had a tough shot from the trap with little green to work with and did well to get it 12 feet past the flag.
Fernandez-Castano had a decent look at birdie, but missed and was conceded par. Woods needed to make his putt to avoid extra holes and did just that.
Woods will meet the fourth seed in the Snead bracket, Nick Watney, who advanced with a resounding 5 & 4 victory over reigning British Open champion Darren Clarke.
The top seeds moved on in Woods' part of the Snead bracket. Westwood defeated Nicolas Colsaerts, 3 & 1, while eighth-ranked Robert Karlsson trounced fellow Swede Fredrik Jacobson, 6 & 5.
The bottom portion of that bracket featured all upsets. Matteo Manassero, No. 15, eliminated the second seed, Webb Simpson, 3 & 2. Martin Laird knocked off Alvaro Quiros, 1-up, while Ryo Ishikawa won the 18th to upend last week's Northern Trust Open winner and third seed, Bill Haas, 1-up. Paul Lawrie, the 11th seed, beat Justin Rose, 1-up.
Kaymer, the highest seed in the Ben Hogan bracket, was steady in his win and drew David Toms in the second round after Toms, the 2005 winner and eighth seed this year, topped Rickie Fowler, 1-up.
The rest of that bracket almost totally went in form with higher seeds Steve Stricker, Louis Oosthuizen, Matt Kuchar, Bubba Watson and Hunter Mahan winning. The only major upset was 14th-seeded Y.E. Yang knocking off No. 3 Graeme McDowell, 2 & 1.
McIlroy, tops in the Gary Player bracket, earned a hard-fought victory over George Coetzee, 2-up. McIlroy will next meet Anders Hansen, who dusted Kyung-tae Kim, 5 & 3.
"I felt like I played pretty good," McIlroy said in his televised interview. "Thankfully I'm through to the second round."
Miguel Angel Jimenez upset fellow Spaniard Sergio Garcia, 2 & 1, and "The Mechanic" next has Keegan Bradley, a playoff loser last week but a 4 & 3 victor over two-time Accenture winner Geoff Ogilvy.
The No. 2 seed in the Player bracket, Jason Day, won the last three holes in regulation, then the first playoff hole to beat Rafael Cabrera-Bello. Day's opponent Thursday will be John Senden, the 10th seed, who beat Simon Dyson, 4 & 3.
Masters champion Charl Schwartzel advanced on Wednesday and has a tilt with Sang-Moon Bae on Thursday after Bae handled 2010 winner Ian Poulter, 4 & 3.
Els will meet Peter Hanson on Thursday after Hanson topped Jason Dufner, 2 & 1.
Brandt Snedeker needed three extra holes to fend off Retief Goosen, setting up a re-match of the Farmers Insurance Open playoff against Kyle Stanley, who outlasted K.J. Choi, 2 & 1.
The other winners in the Jones bracket were No. 3 Dustin Johnson, No. 11 Francesco Molinari, 10th seed Mark Wilson and Robert Rock, the 15th seed, who beat No. 2 Adam Scott.
NOTES: It was the third time the No. 1 overall seed lost in the first round...There were 15 upsets in the first round, the second-most in tournament history...The second round is on tap for Thursday, and the third round will be played Friday. The quarterfinals are Saturday, then the semifinals Sunday morning, followed by the final and consolation match in the afternoon.
<< Durant added to 3-point contest
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant has
been added to the 3-point contest for this weekend's All-Star Game festivities
in Orlando.
Durant will take the spot of Atlanta Hawks guard Joe Johnson, who wi
<< Celtics' Rondo added to All-Star roster
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo has been
added to the 2012 East All-Star team for this weekend's game in Orlando.
Rondo will take the spot of Atlanta Hawks guard Joe Johnson, who will miss
All-Star w
<< UConn coach Calhoun to have surgery
Storrs, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Connecticut men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun
will miss at least two more games after having surgery to help alleviate the
spinal stenosis that forced him to take a medical leave of absence.
Calhoun will u
<< Bills restructure McGee's contract
Orchard Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Bills on Wednesday
restructured the contract of cornerback Terrence McGee.
McGee, who was due $3.6 million next season, is coming off patella tendon
surgery. He suffered the
Rosenbach named Montana's offensive coordinator >>
Missoula, MT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former NFL quarterback Timm Rosenbach has been
named offensive coordinator at the University of Montana, Grizzlies head coach
Robin Pflugrad announced Wednesday.
Rosenbach, 45, also will serve as Montana's qua
Angels sign Isringhausen to minor league deal >>
Tempe, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have agreed to
terms on a minor league contract with veteran right-handed reliever Jason
Isringhausen.
The 39-year-old Isringhausen appeared in 53 games last season for the
Notre Dame downs WVU, sets school record >>
South Bend, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jerian Grant scored 20 points and the 20th-
ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish set a school record for most consecutive Big
East wins with a 71-44 victory over the West Virginia Mountaineers.
Scott Martin a
No. 23 Indiana rolls over NC Central >>
Bloomington, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cody Zeller scored 17 points and Victor
Oladipo netted 16 as No. 23 Indiana rolled over NC Central, 75-56, at Assembly
Hall.
Will Sheehey added 12 points and seven rebounds, while Derek Elsto
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.
Underdog bettors love the Super Bowl and, history suggests, the underdogs love them back. And the big dogs bite harder.
Even so, there is a warning in store for Super Bowl gamblers who must love dogs: The Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl betting lines might not be enough of a Cinderella to make it worth your while.
Although the Cardinals were widely panned as one of the worst division winners and least playoff-worthy teams in recent memory, their trip to Super Bowl XLIII Jan. 31 in Tampa against the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl betting lines comes with a little more respect from the oddsmakers than you might imagine. They are a 7-point underdog at most sports books.
If you count yourself among those who covet the big dog in the big game, this isn’t exactly great news. You should have been hoping for more points. This is because the facts show that the bigger the dog, the better the bet in the Super Bowl.
Case in point: Over the past 13 seasons, double-figure underdogs in the Super Bowl are 4-0-1 ATS and have won the past three outright. In fact, the last double-digit chalk to do the deed for bettors was the 1995 San Francisco 49ers, who managed to beat the astounding 19-point spot afforded backers of the San Diego Chargers in the 49-26 romp in Super Bowl XXIX.
By contrast, 7-point favorites are 2-1-1 ATS in the same span, the last such contest resulting a cover grinded out by the Colts in their 29-17 win over the Bears two seasons ago in Super Bowl XLI.
In 2004, the Patriots failed to cover the number in their 32-29 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl props while the Rams and Titans gave everyone a refund in 2000 after the Rams posted a 23-16 win as a seven-point favorite.
So while Arizona’s run has included impressive upsets as a 10-point road underdog to the Carolina Panthers and Sunday’s 32-25 win in the NFC championship game to the 4-point favored Philadelphia Eagles, their long-shot story lacks a bit of the David vs. Goliath storyline of past Super Bowl underdogs.
While the seven-point spread represents a significant gap in the perception of strength between the two teams, it is far from monumental. For example, last season the Giants were the wild-card afterthought turned road-warrior buzzsaw, with stunning wins over the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers to earn their place in the Super Bowl.
There, they played spoiler to New England’s bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history and cemented their place in sports betting lore with a 17-14 win as a 12.5-point underdog.
In other words, the Cardinals appear to have their work cut out for them as a mid-range underdog. But in homage to the spread beaters who have come before them, here is a brief look back at recent colossal upsets in the Super Bowl:
SB XLII -- 2008 -- New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14 (Giants +12.5) – Eli Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute clinched the historic upset for the Giants, who used a masterful defensive plan to slow down Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots.
XXXVI -- 2002 -- Patriots 20, Rams 17 (Patriots +14) – This was the coming out party for the aforementioned Brady, who went from obscure sixth-round draft pick to Super Bowl hero in one fell swoop. He led the game-winning drive in the final minute – eschewing analyst John Madden’s advice to take a knee and play for overtime – leading to Adam Vinatieri’s memorable 48-yard field goal that split the uprights as time expired.
XXXII 1998 Broncos 31, Packers 24 (Denver +12) – The first of John Elway’s two consecutive Super Bowl titles to put an end to his Hall of Fame career was an upset for the ages. The Broncos used the determination of Elway and a 157-yard, three-touchdown performance from Terrell Davis to turn back Brett Favre and the heavily favored Packers.
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