Safina to play Dementieva for gold; Djokovic wins bronze
Tennis Betting Lines
08/16/2008 -
Beijing, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It'll be an all-Russian affair in the
women's singles title match at the Olympics after Dinara Safina and Elena
Dementieva won their semifinal contests on Saturday.
The sixth-seeded Safina overcame a doubles match loss that lasted until 3:35
a.m. the previous night to score a 7-6 (7-3), 7-5 win over Li Na of China. The
singles match took 2 hours, 10 minutes to complete.
Dementieva, the fifth seed, dispatched ninth seed Vera Zvonareva, 6-3, 7-6
(7-3) in another all-Russian semifinal. Dementieva will have a chance to win
gold after capturing a silver eight years ago in Sydney.
In men's play, James Blake took out top seed Roger Federer on Thursday, but
now the American will go home without any Olympic hardware after falling to
Serbian Novak Djokovic in the bronze medal match, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).
Friday night, Yan Zi teamed with Zheng Jie to beat Safina and Svetlana
Kuznetsova in a doubles match that went deep into the night, but Safina pulled
through a day later to get a chance at Olympic gold.
"It was not easy," said Safina. "I didn't sleep enough. I'm just really happy
that I could put all my energy into the match and pull the match out."
Safina took advantage of 69 unforced errors by Li to advance to play for the
gold medal on Sunday. Safina also overcame 12 double faults, including four in
the sixth game of the first set and the same in the fifth game of the second.
"It's unbelievable," said Dementieva of Russia being guaranteed a gold in
women's singles. "It's a huge moment for our country and I'm sure all the fans
in Russia will be happy about it."
Safina is 5-2 all-time against Dementieva.
Kuznetsova will play Li on Sunday for the bronze.
As for the eighth-seeded Blake, he blew up with a verbal attack on Fernando
Gonzalez following their semifinal match on Friday, and a day later lost to
the third-seeded Djokovic.
Twin brothers and No. 1 seeds Bob and Mike Bryan won the bronze medal in men's
doubles, defeating France's Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
In women's doubles, the American sisters of Venus and Serena Williams are
through to the final after beating Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko, 4-6, 6-4,
6-1.
<< U.S. women announce three post-Olympic matches
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The United States women's national team, which
is currently in the semifinals of the Olympics, added to its busy season Friday
by adding three games against Ireland in September.
The United States, which has
<< Safina to battle Dementieva in Olympic final
Beijing, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It'll be an all-Russian affair in the
women's singles title match at the Olympics after Dinara Safina and Elena
Dementieva won their semifinal contests on Saturday.
The sixth-seeded Safina overcame a doubles
<< Stoke City adds Faye before EPL opener
Stoke-in-Trent, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stoke City made a major signing on
the eve of the new Premier League season, signing central defender Abdoulaye
Faye for $4.5 million from Newcastle.
The 30-year-old Senegal international has s
<< Tottenham's Berbatov hands in transfer request
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov is
reported to have handed in a transfer request in a bid to force through a move
to Manchester United.
The 27-year-old Bulgaria international is rumored to be
<< Hamburg rallies to draw Bayern in Bundesliga opener
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Bayern Munich players Paolo Guerrero
and Piotr Trochowski each scored to help Hamburg rally from a two-goal deficit
against their old club in a 2-2 tie at Allianz Arena on Friday, spoiling Jurgen
Klin
Sputtering Yanks seeking turnaround against Royals >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees try to get their fading playoff hopes
back on track this afternoon, when they play the second of three weekend games
against the Kansas City Royals at Yankee Stadium.
New York fell further behind i
Braves pin hopes on Hampton against San Fran >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Hampton has won just one game in the major leagues
over the last three years, but that victory came at the expense of the San
Francisco Giants. The injury-riddled pitcher will try to repeat recent history
when he takes
Pedro faces Pittsburgh for second time in a week >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Mets hope Pedro Martinez can build off an
encouraging last start when the injury-plagued pitcher faces the Pittsburgh
Pirates for the second time in less than a week tonight at PNC Park.
Martinez had one of t
Pineiro tries to stay perfect versus Cincinnati >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis' Joel Pineiro can stay perfect for his
career against Cincinnati tonight when the Cardinals visit the Reds for the
second test of a three-game series at Great American Ball Park.
A 29-year-old righty, Pineiro is
Diamondbacks attempt to slow down red-hot Astros >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Diamondbacks will attempt to cool down the
scorching Houston Astros for a second straight night when the two teams
continue a three-game set tonight at Minute Maid Park.
The Astros entered Friday's series opene
What Is the Point Spread?
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.
How to Read Point Spreads
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:
- Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
OR
- Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.
-
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.
For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
- Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
OR
- Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score
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.
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Bonds nearly hits HR 751, SF wins
4 and drove in
a pair of runs, and Barry Bonds nearly hit homer No. 751 as San Francisco beat
1, in the middle contest of three at AT&T Park.
6) allowed five hits and one run over 6 2/3 innings, fanning
eight and walking three.
game slide.
Bonds, who came within five homers of Hank Aaron's record on Friday, went
1 with three walks, an RBI double and scored twice. The double ...
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