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09/14/2007 - Wuhan, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - China opened its World Cup with a dramatic win over Denmark and would all but lock up a spot in the quarterfinals with a win or a tie against Brazil on Saturday.
China built a two-goal lead against Denmark in the second half Wednesday, but the Danes rallied to tie the game before Xiaoli Song scored in the 88th minute of a 3-2 win.
Brazil also opened with a win Wednesday, defeating New Zealand 5-0.
"It will be a tough match... (China is) also a powerful team," Brazil coach Jorge Barcellos told FIFA's website.
Playing in front of a large crowd in Wuhan on Wednesday, Jie Li and Yan Bi had goals as China jumped out to the two-goal lead. After Denmark equalized in the 87th minute, Song struck less than a minute later.
It was a surprising start from the Chinese, who were expected to struggle in the World Cup, even though they are the hosts.
"I couldn't be happier with the result because it was a must-win match. It was a real slog, but winning has really lifted us," China forward Han Duan said on FIFA's website.
China proved again it is capable of being a force on the world stage, even if repeating its run to the 1999 final is unlikely. A win over Brazil would all but assure the Chinese the top spot in Group D, and put them just three wins from a title.
In addition to being runners-up in 1999, when it lost to the United States on penalty kicks, China finished fourth in 1995 and fifth in 1991. The Chinese were knocked out in the quarterfinals in 2003.
Brazil only led its opener against New Zealand 1-0 at halftime, but there was no doubt which side was better and it was obvious in the second half.
Reigning FIFA Player of the Year Marta scored twice after the break, picking up where she left off in the 2003 Cup when she scored three goals in four games as a 17-year-old.
"The win belongs to the whole team, it wasn't just down to my contribution," Marta told FIFA's website. "Now we're looking to push on for the next game."
Brazil needs a result against China because it plays Denmark, ranked sixth in the world, in its last game on Wednesday.
Even if the Chinese can't solve the Brazilians, they play New Zealand in their last game on Wednesday, and that gives the hosts a great shot to advance.
<< Denmark's Group D climb must start with New Zealand
Wuhan, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After dropping its opener to China on a late
goal, Denmark faces an uphill battle to advance out of Group D.
Denmark is ranked sixth in the world - the highest in the group - but already
trails China and
<< Canada aims to rebound against Ghana
Hangzhou, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Canada and Ghana are both coming off
losses in their opening match, and a win is a must for either team if they are
to hold out hope of advancing into the quarterfinals.
Canada took a 1-0 lead int
<< Red Bulls look to cool Fire, improve playoff position
Bridgeview, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Red Bull New York and the Chicago Fire
square off for the third and final time this season in a Major League Soccer
fixture Saturday at Toyota Park.
The teams just played each other on Sept. 1 -
<< Rams CB Hill to miss Sunday's game against 49ers
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Rams head coach Scott Linehan
announced that starting cornerback Tye Hill will miss Sunday's game against
San Francisco after hurting his lower back in practice on Thursday.
Hill, the 15t
Farfan could make season debut vs. Vitesse >>
Eindhoven, Holland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Three-time defending Eredivisie
champions PSV Eindhoven could get a extra boost of energy on Saturday when it
plays Vitesse at Philips Stadium.
Jefferson Farfan, who has missed all season due
Manning, Umenyiora practice >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Giants got a boost
on Friday, as both quarterback Eli Manning and defensive end Osi Umenyiora
practiced in preparation for Sunday's game against Green Bay.
Head coach Tom Coug
Unbeatens Bayern Munich, Schalke clash >>
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich will put its unbeaten mark on
the line on Saturday against Schalke 04, the only other club in the Bundesliga
that hasn't lost this season.
Although the league contenders haven't lost yet, the
Phils' Alfonseca suspended four games >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher
Antonio Alfonseca was suspended for four games and fined an undisclosed amount
for intentionally throwing at Colorado's Todd Helton on Thursday.
With two outs i
Las Vegas Sports Consultants (LVSC) is the world’s premier oddsmaking company and the most respected authority on making the lines. Mike Seba is a Senior Oddsmaker at LVSC and has been making lines for the last six years. In our extended interview, Seba explained that there are 4-5 oddsmakers assigned to make lines for each of the major sports (pro & college football and basketball; MLB, NHL, boxing, golf). Each of these oddsmakers bring unique opinions, strengths and weaknesses to the process. Oddsmakers at LVSC are professional sports junkies who love what they do and would probably do it for nothing if you asked them, but they do get paid for it. By necessity their approach is very research-oriented and concise, since with millions of dollars at risk there is little margin for error.
“You either have a passion for it or you don’t,” Seba said.
“The #1 thing for us is to make a line for each game that creates good two-way action. We do this by drawing from past experiences and applying them to current situations. People think it’s much more complicated, but it’s not. “Divided action means the sportsbook is guaranteed a profit on the game because of the fee charged to the bettor (called juice or vig – typically $11 bet to win $10).
Power ratings are the oddsmaker’s value of each team and are used as a guide to calculate a "preliminary" pointspread on an upcoming game. The power ratings are adjusted after each game a team plays. Examples of non-game factors that would require an adjustment to a team's power rating are key player injuries and player trades.
Once a game’s power rating based pointspread is determined, the oddsmaker will make adjustments to that line after considering each team's most recent games played and previous games played against that opponent. Also, adjustments are made after reading each team’s local newspapers to get a sense of what the coaches & players are thinking going into the game.Since the oddsmaker’s ultimate goal is equally dividing the sports betting action, public perception and sportsbook betting patterns must be taken into account. For example, the public might have heavy betting interest week after week on a popular college football betting team such as USC. If an oddsmaker comes up with a preliminary line of USC -7, then an adjustment up to -7.5 or -8 would be made in response to the public’s expected USC bias.
The last step in the line-making process for each oddsmaker is taking one final look to determine whether or not the line "feels right." This is where common sense and past experience with how games are bet enters into the picture.A round-table discussion among the 4-5 oddsmakers involved in making the line for each sport is then conducted and a consensus line is decided upon by the Odds Director before it is released to the sportsbooks. Of the 4-5 oddsmakers, generally the 2 most respected opinions are weighed more heavily by the Odds Director before he decides on the final line.
Experts working for the individual books having a strong opinion on the game
Individual books having players who consistently bet with certain tendencies (such as an extreme bias toward favorites or toward a certain popular team like USC)The purpose of these adjustments, like all line adjustments, is to more equally divide the betting action.
Once betting begins, sportsbooks can adjust the line at any time. In doing so they attempt to make more attractive the team that is getting less action. By moving the line, sportsbooks can influence how the public bets on a particular game.For example, if the pointspread on a game is 7 and most of the money is coming in on the underdog (taking the +7), sportsbooks will then move the number down to 6 ½ to try and attract money on the favorite.
Moving the line is the oddsmaker's effort to balance betting action, and often times such moves can have a major impact on a bettor’s decision. Oddsmakers can also change the line depending on various event-related factors such as player injuries or weather. Obviously, if the line comes out a week ahead of the event (which is the case in football), there is much that could happen during the week leading up to the event that could affect the line. Oddsmakers have to determine if any changes are necessary and send out an "adjusted line."“The main objective is that our clients get equal action on both sides,” Seba said. “We’re not trying to pick the team that covers the spread, we’re trying to make it a coin flip, a tough decision (for the bettor). If we’ve done that, we’ve done our job.”
To visit this internet sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your sports betting needs and World Series odds.
The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
The 2008 NFL betting lines season is almost upon us! If you like to bet on the NFL, you are in the best possible place for online betting. The sportsbook has NFL odds up on a ton of futures, and you will also find NFL lines up for early games as well. Join sportbook today and we'll help guide you right through to Super Bowl XLIII and beyond!
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