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06/12/2010 - Polokwane, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Algeria and Slovenia open their World Cup Group C schedules on Sunday under a ton of pressure for a result.
Both clubs are underdogs to advance past England and the United States in the group, meaning getting off to a good start in the opener is imperative.
"In football you never know," Algeria midfielder Hassan Yebda told fifa.com. "We will do our best and play the first game against Slovenia and try to win. The first game is very, very important, if we can win it will be better for us. Slovenia though have a good team."
While Algeria is gearing up for just its third-ever World Cup, a familiar face is leading the way.
Coach Rabah Saadane, who also coached the team 24 years ago in its last World Cup appearance in Mexico, is at the helm again - for the fifth time - and it will take all his wisdom to get the Desert Foxes to the knockout stage.
On the field, midfielder Karim Ziani will be the key, not only against Slovenia on Sunday, but for the entire tournament. The playmaker plies his trade with German Bundesliga side Wolfsburg, and he has the versatility to pull the strings in the middle of the field, or shift out wide in a more indirect attacking role.
Slovenia returns to the World Cup, eight years after its only other appearance, hoping it learned from that experience. Slovenia lost all three of its matches in the group stage in 2002 and was outscored 7-2.
But assistant coach Milan Miklavic is optimistic about this year's club.
"The team looks good, the team looks very good, as always," he told RTV Slovenia. "Can we expect a positive result? We are optimistic because the players in recent games have shown good results, so we need to be optimistic.
"For all the teams, the first game will be a very big opportunity. All teams are living in some uncertainty about what will happen, and that is the special charm of championships."
<< Federer continues Halle dominance, Hewitt up next
Halle, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roger Federer moved a step closer to his
sixth title at the Gerry Webber Open with a straight-set semifinal win over
Germany's Philipp Petzschner, and will next face Lleyton Hewitt in Sunday's
final.
<< Argentina holds off Nigeria
Johannesburg, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gabriel Heinz's goal in the
sixth minute was enough to lead Argentina to a 1-0 win over Nigeria at Ellis
Park Stadium on Saturday in Group B play.
Heinz headed home the lone goal from
<< Sharapova to play Li for Birmingham crown
Birmingham, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Maria Sharapova and Li Na were
semifinal winners Saturday and will meet for the title of the Aegon Classic on
Sunday.
The second-seeded Sharapova advanced first with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 victory o
<< Sunshine State foes resume set at the Trop
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Sunshine State warms up with the second of a three-game
interleague set between the Florida Marlins and the Tampa Bay Rays at
Tropicana Field tonight.
Despite being just three games over .500 at home so far this season
Injury-depleted Germany opens WC play against Australia >>
Durban, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Germany opens the World Cup on Sunday
against Australia, and despite a rash of injuries prior to the tournament,
coach Joachim Loew is confident the three-time winners are still a threat.
Germany
Bjorn takes 3-shot lead in Portugal >>
Estoril, Portugal (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Denmark's Thomas Bjorn fired his second
consecutive seven-under 65 to take sole possession of the lead Saturday after
the third round of the Portugal Open.
Chasing his first win in four years, Bjorn
Querrey, Fish set for All-American final in London >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Americans Sam Querrey and Mardy Fish will
play for the title Sunday at the Queen's Club after both won semifinal matches
in the Wimbledon tuneup on Saturday.
The seventh-seeded Querrey rallied for a 6-
Gonzo sidelined until August >>
Santiago, Chile (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fernando Gonzalez of Chile will be
sidelined until August because of a knee injury.
Gonzalez said he is taking the next 10 weeks off after being diagnosed with
bilateral patellar tendinitis. He
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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