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06/15/2007 - Oakmont, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - "These players are not good enough for this golf course."
That's what one caddie, who will remain in anonymity said at the beginning of the week. Even the "King" himself, Arnold Palmer, addressing the media on Wednesday echoed those same sentiments.
The United States Golf Association is always trying to identify the best player in the world by setting up a rigorous test of golf. They certainly did, as Oakmont Country Club has certainly showed its teeth after day one.
Here's a tip for all of you crazed autograph hounds. PRACTICE ROUNDS. That's right. No, you're not going to get Tiger Woods, but how about Luke Donald, Mike Weir and Ernie Els. Even the young guns of professional golf, Justin Rose, Charles Howell III and Sean O'Hair. Or better yet, the characters of golf, Boo Weekley, Brandt Snedeker, Woody Austin and who knows, maybe Chi Chi Rodriguez will appear.
Players will sign just about anything while walking from the practice range to the first tee during their practice rounds. Forget about Thursday through Sunday, that's their time to work.
What makes practice rounds so special, how about O'Hair inviting a 5-year-old boy under the ropes, shaking his hand, signing his hat and pulling a ball out of his pocket and placing his moniker on the sphere for another souvenir. Do you think that child will remember that the rest of his life? You can bet his parents will as they fumbled to take pictures.
The media center is a hoot. Longtime journalists Furman Bisher, Dave Anderson, Peter Kessler, Tim Rosaforte and Jaime Diaz all sharing stories from yesteryear.
Being a part of the press corps certainly has its privileges. Even before you reach the golf course, you're shuttled from a preferred parking lot, or even better, the media hotel, right to the front door of the course. Next is the media tent, where you're rewarded with press badges, allowing access to the players lockers, interview rooms, practice range and best of all, walking inside the ropes.
But that's not all. The USGA hands out food vouchers to the dining area. This is not your run of the mill fare. Top notch cuisine to satisfy even the most finicky of palates.
As NBC analyst Johnny Miller strolled into the dining facility, a young local radio show host told a story of how his grandfather gave Miller, who needed a ball marker on the first tee during his famed final round 63, a dime to mark his ball. After urging the young lad to remind Miller of this occasion, he finally walked over to the 1973 U.S. Open champion and the duo reminisced of the special day.
Oh, there's more. The courteous USGA staff and volunteers, such as the "Minnesota Ten," who travel from the land of 10,000 lakes to help serve the media, bending over backwards to accommodate the press.
Let's not forget your own personalized spot in the 50,000 square foot press center and finally, a little piece of merchandise to remember your visit.
I must say however, that the most enjoyable time was having Mr. Palmer affix his signature on a U.S. Open flag and telling my friend back home about the gift that awaits him.
Getting back to the golf and the course. Oakmont is an amazing place. Players are second-guessing themselves, wondering which way the green breaks, club selection as the wind gusts and deciding where to lay up after hitting into the thick, gnarly rough.
How tough is Oakmont? Well, when round one was complete, only two of the 156 players broke par and that's mainly due to heavy downpours late Wednesday afternoon. It will certainly get harder as the championship moves on.
And the winner is...Oakmont for now.
<< Tampa Bay uses Shields to block Rockies
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Shields tries to tie a club record by winning his
seventh straight decision this evening when the Tampa Bay Devil Rays start a
three-game interleague set with the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.
Shields has be
<< Dodgers hope for better success in second edition of Freeway Series
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim try to beat the Dodgers
for the fifth straight time this evening, when the latest edition of the
Freeway Series gets underway from Dodgers Stadium.
After winning the final two co
<< Defending AL champ Tigers make stop in Philadelphia
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeremy Bonderman shoots for his seventh straight winning
start for Detroit when the Tigers head to Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park
tonight for the opener of a three-game series with the Phillies.
Bonderman began t
<< Diamondbacks resume AL East tour in Baltimore
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Diamondbacks will go from playing the best of
the American League East to the worst tonight, when they begin a three-game
series with the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards.
Beginning with a loss to the
St. Louis still fighting for .500 >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Despite a 28-35 record, the St. Louis Cardinals are still
very much alive in the National League Central standings. The Cardinals are
going through a very disappointing season after winning the 2006 World Series,
but have bee
Oakland stays within striking distance >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland A's have caught fire and have won four
straight series to start the month of June (five straight overall).
The turnaround began two weeks ago when the A's took two out of three against
Minnesota befo
White Sox recall MacDougal >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox recalled pitcher Mike
MacDougal from Triple-A Charlotte on Friday.
MacDougal was 1-3 with a 7.13 ERA in 27 relief appearances for the White Sox
earlier this season before being sen
CFB - Lock of the Year! >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - My 2007 college football conference
previews wont begin for another month but with the NBA Finals over and the
Triple Crown races completed, its time to jump all over a week one contest
that looks too good
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.
MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined
Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.
"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."
Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)
According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.
As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).
Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.
Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at
17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.
*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007
New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers
By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.
"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."
While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."
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