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Bayern turns focus to Bochum, Bundesliga

Soccer Betting Lines

04/30/2010 - Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich coach Louis van Gaal watched his club celebrate in the locker room after Tuesday's 3-0 win over Lyon, which sealed a spot in the Champions League final, and interrupted with an important message: "Remember Bochum," he said, according to the club's website.

Ivica Olic scored a hat trick at the Stade de Gerland as Bayern finished off a 4-0 aggregate win in the semifinals, but Van Gaal knew his club needed to turn its attention back to the Bundesliga with two weeks left in the season.

Bayern sits atop the standings, level on points with Schalke but ahead on goal differential, ahead of Saturday's game against relegation-threatened Bochum at the Allianz Arena in Munich.

With three titles on the line in the final month of the season, the Bundesliga is the focus over the next two weeks. After Bochum, Bayern plays Hertha Berlin - another team struggling for survival.

The DFB Pokal Cup final against Werder Bremen is May 15, with the final of the Champions League May 22 in Madrid against Italian side Inter Milan. Inter beat Barcelona 3-2 on aggregate in the other semifinal.

"It's looking good but we've won nothing yet," Bayern's Bastian Schweinsteiger told the club's website after the Lyon match.

Defender Philipp Lahm agreed Bayern needs to focus fully on Bochum, which sits level on points with Nurnberg but in the bottom three.

"On Saturday we have to focus on the Bundesliga. We are very motivated and the Allianz Arena will be electric when we face Bochum, which makes it a lot more enjoyable to run out as a player," Lahm told the Bundesliga website.

Bayern let Schalke pull level last weekend, tying Hannover 1-1. Schalke earned a late-winner against Hertha Berlin in a 1-0 win to pull level on points.

Bayern remains in control, and, as Lahm told the club's website after the tie, "sometimes you have to be satisfied with a point, especially as it's kept us top of the league."

So, it's still rather simple, according to Bayern winger Arjen Robben.

"If we win both our games, we're champions," he said on the club's website.

Bochum is winless in its last 10 matches, and fired coach Heiko Herrlich this week. Herrlich just joined Bochum in October, but the winless skid included a total of seven losses, and even last place is still a possibility.

"Because of their sporting slide, Bochum have split with coach Heiko Herrlich with immediate effect," Bochum said in a statement on its website.

Assistant coach Dariusz Wosz will lead Bochum this weekend, but he has a tough job traveling to Munich for his debut.

Schalke boss Felix Magath, who used to coach Bayern, believes his side can win the league. Schalke clinched a Champions League berth with last week's win and thinks since Bayern advanced to the final of this season's event "another draw awaits them," according to Schalke's website.

The Royal Blues have to take care of business, or it won't matter what Bayern does. Schalke hosts third-place Werder Bremen on Saturday and the visitors are trying to secure the final Champions League spot from the Bundesliga.

Bayer Leverkusen is level on points with Werder and Borussia Dortmund is just one point back, meaning Bremen also can't afford to drop points. Schalke heads to Mainz on the final matchday.

Also Saturday, Leverkusen hosts Hertha, Dortmund hosts Wolfsburg and Stuttgart hosts Mainz in matches with European implications. Hertha, four points off the bottom, is also hoping for a miracle to avoid relegation.

Hamburg hosts Nurnberg, Koln hosts Freiburg and Hannover hosts Monchengladbach in matches involving teams in danger of relegation. Eintracht hosts Hoffenheim in the league's other match, which features all of its games on Saturday.

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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:

  • Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
    OR
  • Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.

  • 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.

    For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically

    Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:

  • Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
    OR
  • Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score

    Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?

    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.

Super Bowl XLIV Odds

Super Bowl XLIII isn't even a week old yet and oddsmakers have already released Super Bowl XLIV odds.

Despite the Pittsburgh Steelers winning Super Bowl 43, the New England Patriots are 8/1 favorites to win Super Bowl 44.

Bet Super Bowl XLIV Future Odds

With their 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII, the Steelers became the latest NFL champion. But believe it or not, oddsmakers from online sports book MySportsbook.com don't have the Steelers the favorites to win Super Bowl XLIV next season.

That honor belongs to the New England Patriots, who are 8/1 favorites to win despite not even qualify for the postseason in 2008. The Pats also have a major decision to make regarding what to do with Matt Cassel, who played well in Tom Brady's (knee surgery) absence last year but is also a free agent this offseason.

Ironically, the Steelers aren't even oddsmakers second choice to win Super Bowl 44, as the Dallas Cowboys are listed right behind the Patriots at 9/1 despite not making the playoffs themselves. Clearly oddsmakers think the public will hop back on the Cowboys' bandwagon considering the immense talent they have and the opening of a brand new stadium.

After Dallas, then comes Pittsburgh at 10/1, but they share those odds with the New York Giants, who won Super Bowl XLII. The Indianapolis Colts and San Diego Chargers round out the top six teams at 12/1, while the Baltimore Ravens (14/1), Tennessee Titans (16/1), Carolina Panthers (18/1) and Philadelphia Eagles (18/1) complete the top 10.

The NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals got no love from oddsmakers as they were established as a 30/1 long shot to win next year's Super Bowl. They share those same odds with the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers – two teams that didn't even qualify for the postseason. Other long shots are the Kansas City Chiefs (100/1), Detroit Lions (100/1), St. Louis Rams (75/1) and Oakland Raiders (75/1).

To see a complete list of all the team's odds to win Super Bowl XLIV, check below.

NFL TEAM FUTURE ODDS TO WIN SUPER BOWL XLIV

New England Patriots 8/1

Dallas Cowboys 9/1

New York Giants 10/1

Pittsburgh Steelers 10/1

Indianapolis Colts 12/1

San Diego Chargers 12/1

Baltimore Ravens 14/1

Tennessee Titans 16/1

Carolina Panthers 18/1

Philadelphia Eagles 18/1

New Orleans Saints 20/1

Atlanta Falcons 25/1

Denver Broncos 25/1

Green Bay Packers 25/1

Jacksonville Jaguars 25/1

Minnesota Vikings 25/1

New York Jets 25/1

Arizona Cardinals 30/1

Chicago BearS 30/1

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30/1

Buffalo Bills 35/1

Houston TexaNS 35/1

Miami Dolphins 35/1

Washington Redskins 35/1

Seattle SeahawkS 50/1

Cleveland Browns 55/1

Cincinnati Bengals 60/1

San Francisco 49ers 60/1

Oakland Raiders 75/1

St. Louis Rams 75/1

Detroit Lions 100/1

Kansas City Chiefs 100/1

Odds as of: 2/2/09

Bet Super Bowl XLIV Future Odds

To visit this online sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.