07/04/2008 - Endicott, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Ozaki fired a nine-under 63 Friday to grab a two-stroke lead after the opening round of the Dick's Sporting Goods Open.
Ozaki, who is winless on the Champions Tour, missed the course record at En- Joie Golf Course by one stroke.
Eduardo Romero is alone in second place at seven-under 65.
Joey Sindelar, who lives in New York, carded a six-under 66 on Friday. He was joined in a share of third place by Fulton Allem and Ronnie Black.
Ozaki was steady on the front nine, before catching fire around the turn. He parred his first two holes, then picked up his first birdie on the par-five third.
At the par-five fifth, Ozaki collected his second birdie and he turned in three-under thanks to a 25-foot birdie putt at the ninth.
Ozaki dropped in back-to-back birdie putts from the par-five 12th. He chipped in for birdie at 15 and came right back with an eight-foot birdie putt on the 16th.
At the par-three 17th, Ozaki sank his third birdie in a row. He closed with a four-foot birdie putt at the last to post 63. his personal best on the Champions Tour.
"I played very, very well," Ozaki said. "The greens were perfect. We started early and the conditions were good."
Romero ran off three straight birdies from the first and again from the sixth to shoot six-under 31 on the front nine. He faltered to a double-bogey on the par-four 10th to slip back to minus-four.
The Argentine recovered those two lost strokes with back-to-back birdies from the par-five 12th. He got within two of the lead thanks to an up-and-down birdie on the 16th.
"I'm playing pretty well and made a lot of putts today," Romero stated. "I lost my concentration on No. 10. I'm very happy how I played."
Bruce Vaughan, who finished second here last year, opened with a five-under 67. He shares sixth place with Bobby Wadkins, Morris Hatalsky, John Harris and Des Smyth.
Defending champion R.W. Eaks struggled to a three-over 75. He carded three double-bogeys, a bogey and four birdies in his round that left him tied for 69th.
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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 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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