Haas extends lead in Des Moines

Golf Betting Lines

06/09/2007 - West Des Moines, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jay Haas, the reigning Champions Tour Player of the Year, overcame a double-bogey on Saturday with six birdies in a seven-hole span to increase his lead at The Principal Charity Classic.

Haas shot a four-under 67 in the second round and is three ahead at 10-under- par 132.

David Edwards shot a three-under 68 on Saturday and is alone in second place at minus-seven. Denis Watson, who won the Senior PGA Championship last month, posted a four-under 67 and has third place at six-under-par 136.

Haas, who held a one-shot lead over Dave Eichelberger at the start of the second round, bogeyed the par-three second hole. He got that stroke back with a 10-foot birdie putt at the par-three fifth, but trouble loomed.

At the par-four eighth, Haas drove his ball well to the right. His second shot remained in the tall grass and he finally reached the putting surface with his fourth shot. Haas missed the 35-footer for bogey and found himself trailing the lead.

That was short-lived for Haas, an eight-time winner on the Champions Tour, including two this year. He reached the par-five ninth green in two and two- putted for a birdie from 25 feet. Haas made it two in a row with a sensational seven-iron tee ball that rolled back to a foot.

"The next hole was big, the ninth hole," said Haas. "It's a relatively easy par five, if you drive it well and I did. I hit one of my best drives of the day and managed to get a two-putt birdie. That kind of settled me down a bit."

Haas stayed hot, although he parred the par-five 11th when his second left him with a difficult bunker shot. After the par at 11, Haas rattled off four consecutive birdies.

At the 12th, Haas drained a 17-footer for birdie to reach seven-under par and get within one of the lead. He holed a 45-foot birdie putt at the 13th to tie for the lead, then kicked in a three-footer at 14 to move in front for good.

He gave himself a good look at eagle at the par-five 15th, but his 20-footer stayed above ground. Haas tapped in for birdie, then moved three clear when Edwards could not make par from the right rough at 17.

Haas parred 16 and 17 in relative ease, but hit a strong approach to the closing hole at Glen Oaks Country Club. He had 14 feet to extend the lead, but missed the putt.

Now, Haas will take a three-shot lead into Sunday, although one week ago, he was in a similar position and lost. He held a one-shot advantage last week at the Boeing Championship at Sandestin, but lost to Loren Roberts after a final- round 73 and tied for fifth place.

"I try not to get ahead," said Haas, who is competing in this event for the first time. "We'll see. I'm hitting some good shots, but there's a long way to go."

Brad Bryant (65) and Mark James (70) are tied for fourth place at five-under- par 137.

Eichelberger struggled to a one-over 72 on Saturday and is knotted in sixth place with Jay Sigel (66) and Morris Hatalsky (68). The trio came in at four- under-par 138.

Tom Jenkins (67), Mike McCullough (67), Hale Irwin (66), Chip Beck (68), Wayne Levi (68), Dave Stockton (69), John Jacobs (70) and Tom Purtzer (71) share ninth at minus-three.

Casono Golf Betting News

<< Clemens K's seven in six innings
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens made his 2007 debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday and lasted six full innings. The righty struck out seven and walked two while giving up three runs on

<< Knowles and Nestor capture French Open title
Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Long-time doubles stalwarts Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor rallied past Lukas Dlouhy and Pavel Vizner, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, to win the 2007 French Open. The sixth-seeded tandem of the Bahamian Knowles and Can

<< Green stretches lead to three at Fontana
Vienna, Austria (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Australian Richard Green extended his lead to three strokes through three rounds of the BA-CA Golf Open. Green posted a four-under 67 Saturday at Fontana Golf Club to complete 54 holes at 15-under-par

<< Boston demotes Romero
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox on Saturday designated left- handed reliever J.C. Romero for assignment. In 23 appearances this season with Boston, Romero had a 1-0 record with a 3.15 earned run average in 20 innings of wor

<< Pierzynski suspended one game
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski has been suspended for one game and fined an undisclosed amount by Major League Baseball for his inappropriate actions during the bottom of the eighth inning of Thur

Clemens earns win in return to the Yankees >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rogers Clemens made his much anticipated 2007 debut and pitched six innings as the New York Yankees downed the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-3, in the second of a three-game set at Yankee Stadium. Clemens (1-0) s

Giants' Lewis, Alfonzo placed on DL >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Francisco Giants catcher Eliezer Alfonzo and right fielder Fred Lewis have been placed on the 15-day disabled list. Both were hurt in Friday's 5-3, 10-inning loss to the Oakland Athletics. Alfo

Wallace on pole in Nashville >>
Lebanon, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Wallace, son of Rusty Wallace, won the pole for Saturday night's Federated Auto Parts 300 Busch race at the Nashville Superspeedway. The No.66 Dodge circled the 1.333-mile cement oval in 29.753 seconds

Thompson four in front in Raleigh >>
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kyle Thompson only shot a two-under 69 on Saturday, but extended his lead to four after three rounds of The Rex Hospital Open. He missed Jimmy Green's 54-hole tournament record by one shot after he came i

Van Nistelrooy rescues Real Madrid's title hopes >>
Zaragoza, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ruud van Nistelrooy scored in the 89th minute to give Real Madrid a 2-2 draw against Real Zaragoza at Estadio La Romareda on Saturday. The result would have been a disaster for Madrid but Raul Tam

What Is the Point Spread?

What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?

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.

How to Read Point Spreads

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:

To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.

Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.