11/01/2008 - Incheon, South Korea (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - South Korean In-Kyung Kim posted a three-under 69 Saturday and took a one-stroke lead after two rounds of the Hana Bank - KOLON Championship.
Hee-Won Han also carded a 69 Saturday to move into a share second place at minus-four. She was joined there by Karen Stupples, who shot two-under 70.
Four more players -- Candie Kung (71), Jeong Jang (71), Christina Kim (71) and Amy Yang (73) -- share fourth place at three-under-par 141.
In-Kyung Kim had a steady round Saturday. She opened with six consecutive pars. At the par-four seventh, Kim converted her first birdie effort from five feet out.
Kim reeled off six pars in a row from the eighth. She moved to minus-four with a three-foot birdie putt on the par-five 14th on the Ocean Course at Sky 72 Golf Club.
The Longs Drugs Challenge winner closed with a 45-footer for birdie at the last to secure the second-round lead and cap a bogey-free round. This is the second 36-hole lead for Kim. She led the 2007 Wegmans LPGA after 36 holes, but lost to Lorena Ochoa in a playoff.
"I had a pretty good day," Kim admitted. "With this wind, I didn't make any bogeys out there and I had some really good up and downs on the end of it. I'm very happy and the last birdie was something else."
Han also carded a bogey-free round. She parred the first four holes before sinking a birdie effort at the fifth.
The six-time winner on the LPGA Tour reeled off seven straight pars from the sixth. Han birdied the 13th and came back two holes later with her third and final birdie. She closed with three pars to share second.
Stupples tripped to a bogey on the first, but recovered that stroke with a birdie on the par-five fourth. She moved to three-under with a birdie at the sixth.
The Englishwoman stumbled to another bogey at the par-three eighth. Stupples bounced right back with birdies on nine and 10 to climb to minus-four. She parred the final eight holes to remain there.
"It's good and it would be good to do it a second week in a row and it would show that last week wasn't a fluke and that I still have it in me," said Stupples, who finished in fourth in China last week. "I'm not on the top, I've still got a lot of chasing to do, but it's fun and I'll be looking forward to it and it's a challenge."
First-round leader Katherine Hull struggled to a four-over 76 Saturday to slide into a tie for ninth at two-under-par 142. She was joined there by Sophie Gustafson (70).
Se Ri Pak and Morgan Pressel are among seven players at minus-one.
Defending champion Suzann Pettersen carded a three-under 69 of her own to move into a share of 27th at plus-two.
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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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