11/23/2008 - Mar del Plata, Argentina (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fernando Verdasco was the hero on Sunday, as the lefthander outlasted fellow slugger Jose Acasuso to give visiting Spain an insurmountable 3-1 lead in its best-of-five Davis Cup final against Argentina. The Spaniards won their third Davis Cup title in nine years.
Sunday's schedule called for the reverse singles on Day 3 at Mar del Plata, and in the first, and only, rubber of the day, Spain got the huge victory from Verdasco, who was inserted into the lineup in place of David Ferrer. Acasuso also played as a replacement, as he got the call instead of rising 20-year-old star Juan Martin del Potro from Argentine captain Alberto Mancini, but things didn't quite work out for the stunned hosts.
The 25-year-old Verdasco needed 3 hours, 56 minutes to outlast a game Acasuso 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, as Acasuso finally ran out of gas in the fifth set. The Argentine required some medical attention early in the final stanza, one that was dominated by his talented Spanish counterpart.
Spain, captained by Emilio Sanchez, captured its third Davis Cup title this decade, with the other wins coming in 2000 and 2004.
The world No. 16 Verdasco won despite piling up nine double faults and being out-aced 14-5. He did, however, break the 48th-ranked Acasuso's serve a whopping nine times, compared to five breaks for the Argentine loser, who also tallied 16 more unforced errors (47-31) in the hard-fought setback.
Acasuso was removed from Argentina's doubles lineup in favor of David Nalbandian here on Saturday.
Sunday's scheduled fifth and final rubber between Nalbandian and Spaniard Feliciano Lopez was not played, as the tie concluded at 3-1 for Spain.
Spain headed into Sunday with a surprising 2-1 lead after winning the pivotal doubles rubber in four sets. A tandem of Verdasco and Lopez got the big point by handling an Argentine duo of Nalbandian and Agustin Calleri in four sets on Day 2 after the two nations split Friday's opening singles. On Day 1, Nalbandian whipped Ferrer in straight sets to get Argentina going, but Lopez then stunned del Potro in four to level the tie.
Including singles and doubles this week, both Verdasco and Lopez were a perfect 2-0 for the visitors on the indoor hardcourt at Estadio Islas Malvinas.
A disappointed Argentina is still seeking that elusive first-ever Davis Cup championship. The three-time finalists also had runner-up finishes in 1981 and 2006.
The Spaniards captured the title here despite playing without world No. 1 superstar Rafael Nadal, who pulled out last week due to a knee injury. Nadal was replaced on the team by Marcel Granollers, who did not play this week.
Spain is now 3-0 all-time versus Argentina, which was hosting for the first time ever in this series. The Spaniards prevailed at home way back in 1926 and also in 2003.
Team Spain, which is now 3-3 in its all-time Davis Cup finals and appeared in its fourth final this decade, reached this year's final by beating the 32-time and defending champion United States 4-1 in a semifinal in Madrid, while Argentina got past Russia 3-2 in Buenos Aires, with del Potro winning a fifth and deciding rubber.
The Argentines had won 13 straight Davis Cup ties as a host.
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A Sulley Muntari strike 18 minutes
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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