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04/30/2009 - Girona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Soren Hansen established a new course record Thursday with a nine-under 63 and grabbed the first-round lead of the Spanish Open.
Thomas Levet shot an eight-under 64 and is alone in second place at the Stadium Course at PGA Golf Catalunya.
Spain's Jose Manuel Lara and Callum Macaulay are knotted in third place at minus-seven.
Hansen's new course record looks even more remarkable if you consider the fact that he opened the championship with a double-bogey six at the very first hole.
It didn't take Hansen long to atone for the error at one. He birdied the par- four second and two-putted for a birdie at the 531-yard, par-five third.
"I think it was important that after I holed a good one on the second hole for birdie and then I followed it up with a nice shot into the par-five third," admitted Hansen.
The Ryder Cupper parred his next three, but went on another birdie run, starting at the par-five seventh. Hansen birdied eight and nine and made the turn at three-under 33.
On the second nine, Hansen parred his first two, but made eagle at the par- five 12th. At five-under par, Hansen was near the top of the leaderboard, but it was his play late in Thursday's opening round that secured him the top spot.
Hansen birdied three in a row from the 14th to match Levet at eight-under par. Hansen birdied the par-four finishing hole to grab sole possession of the first-round lead.
"I played well I must admit," said Hansen. "Had a lot of birdies after a rough start with the double-bogey, but then I played fantastic from there.
"It just seemed like I was rolling the ball nicely. If I put it on the green, there was always a chance. A few of them went in so that was nice. I played unbelievable."
Levet began on the 10th tee and rattled off four birdies on his opening nine. He tallied back-to-back birdies at two and three, then eagled the par-five seventh to get in at minus-eight.
Jarmo Sandelin and Chris Wood share fifth place at six-under 66, followed by Alejandro Canizares, Luis Claverie, Jan-Are Larsen, Charl Schwartzel and Marcel Sim, who are knotted in seventh at minus-five.
Defending champion Peter Lawrie shot a four-under 68 on Thursday and is part of a large group tied for 12th place. Paul Lawrie, the 1999 Open Champion, is also at minus-four.
Miguel Angel Jimenez carded a three-under 69, while European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie only managed an even-par 72.
<< Sevilla's Jimenez safe until summer
Seville, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sevilla president Jose Maria del Nido has
promised coach Manolo Jimenez his job until the end of the season.
Jimenez has come under fire after presiding over a four-match losing run in the
league which
<< Red Wings F Draper out for two more games
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit Red Wings forward Kris Draper, who has
yet to play in the postseason, will miss at least the first two games of the
club's upcoming conference semifinal series with an upper-body injury.
The Detroit
<< Hull's Duffen prepares for the worst
Hull, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hull City chairman Paul Duffen says his club
is fully prepared for the worst, if it suffers relegation from the Premier
League.
The Tigers have slipped to within three points of the drop zone on the b
<< Brown, Torretta among college football Hall of Fame inductees
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of Heisman Trophy winners, Tim Brown
and Gino Torretta, highlight the 2009 class for induction into the College
Football Hall of Fame.
A total of 16 players and two coaches from the Football
Stanley Cup Playoff Preview - Washington vs. Pittsburgh >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After needing all seven games to eliminate the New York
Rangers in the opening round, the Washington Capitals now switch their focus
to the Pittsburgh Penguins for one of the most anticipated conference
semifinals matchups in
Bayern's Heynckes sets out targets >>
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Interim coach Jupp Heynckes has admitted
that Champions League qualification is the minimum requirement for Bayern
Munich this season.
Heynckes replaced Jurgen Klinsmann in the hot-seat at the beg
Marseille's Mandanda keen on Milan move >>
Marseille, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marseille's France international goalie
Steve Mandanda has welcomed rumors linking him with Italian giants AC Milan.
The 24-year-old, who has recently become first-choice for his country, says he
know
Medina Garrigues reaches semis in Morocco >>
Fes, Morocco (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded 2008 runner-up Anabel Medina
Garrigues highlighted Thursday's quarterfinal winners at the $220,000
Moroccan Grand Prix.
The Spanish Medina Garrigues got past compatriot Lourdes Dom
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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