11/20/2008 - West Palm Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Katherine Hull posted a four-under 68 Thursday to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the season-ending ADT Championship.
Hull collected her first win earlier this season at the Canadian Women's Open.
In-Kyung Kim, the Longs Drugs Challenge winner, and Ji-Yai Shin, who won twice this season including her first major title at the Women's British Open, share second place at minus-three at Trump International Golf Club.
Na Yeon Choi, Eun Hee Ji and Ji Young Oh are tied for fourth at two-under 70.
This unique event has cuts after the second and third rounds. After two rounds, 16 players will advance, while just eight players will move on to Sunday's final round.
Among those who are outside the top 16 right now are last week's winner Angela Stanford, Karrie Webb, Annika Sorenstam, women's world No. 1 Lorena Ochoa and Cristie Kerr.
Sorenstam, who will step away from the game after this event, won this title four times before the format change. Since the two-cut format was introduced in 2006, Sorenstam has missed the weekend both times.
The Swede struggled with four bogeys between Nos. 5 and 10, but back-to-back birdies from the 14th got her back to plus-two, which left her tied for 23rd.
"I actually thought I played really well today," Sorenstam said. "I just could not put it together. A little bummed I must say, but those birdies in the end always help."
Ochoa, the defending champion, also finished second here in 2006. She birdied the fourth, but played the next three holes in four-over with three bogeys and a double-bogey. Ochoa carded another double-bogey and three birdies on the back nine to finish at three-over 75. She is tied for 26th, three strokes out of the top 16.
"It was a tough day, not the way I wanted to start. Two double-bogeys today, one unplayable, one in the water. Hopefully tomorrow it gets better," explained Ochoa. "I tried my best and finished strong. "Friday will be a better day."
Hull was steady on the front nine with birdies at two and five. She stumbled to a bogey at the 10th, but atoned for that mistake with a birdie on 11.
The Australian birdied 13, but gave that shot right back with a bogey on 14.
At the 15th, Hull drained a six-foot birdie putt and came right back with a seven-footer for birdie at 16 to take the lead at four-under. She two-putted for par at the last two holes to maintain the lead.
"Definitely better than expected," Hull admitted. "I'm trying to treat it like a regular four-round tournament, where I go out and do my best every day. It is a little different, but you've got to block out everything that's going on and play golf."
Kim dropped a shot on the first, but rebounded with birdies at three, four and nine. Birdies at 14 and 16 briefly gave Kim the lead at minus-four. After a par on 17, she missed the green at 18 and that led to a closing bogey.
"This is my first time playing with these different rules so I am still going to take it one shot at a time," Kim stated. "I'm not really familiar with the course, so I'll be learning something every day."
Shin birdied the first, then sank consecutive birdie efforts at six and seven to turn in minus-three. She traded a bogey for a birdie from the 13th and again from the 16th to share second at minus-three.
Paula Creamer, Christina Kim and Karen Stupples are tied for seventh place at one-under-par 71. Maria Hjorth, Candie Kung, Jee Young Lee, Seon-Hwa Lee, Suzann Pettersen, Morgan Pressel and McDonald's LPGA Championship winner Yani Tseng are one shot back at even-par.
U.S. Women's Open champ Inbee Park withdrew on the back nine due to illness.
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Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Edmonton Oilers activated defenseman
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Liverpool's Skrtel denies Zenit rumors >>
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Reports in Russia suggested Skrtel had s
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Rams' Jackson won't play Sunday, again >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson
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Colorado Golf Club awarded 2010 Senior PGA >>
Palm Beach Gardens, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The PGA of America announced
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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).
Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.
A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.
Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.
"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.
De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.
The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.
The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.
De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.
Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.
But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.
The most popular sports to bet on are NFL and college football along with NBA and NCAA basketball. There are multiple betting opportunities within those sports, beginning with the basic wager on a game’s outcome (also called betting the side). College Football Point spreads are used in both football and basketball in an attempt to even the attractiveness of each team in a match-up. ( See our article detailing how and why point spreads are made)
But you could also simply bet on the money line, or straight-up winner of the game. Oddsmakers use the money line so that more money must be risked on the favorite or expected winner and less money on the underdog to balance the action on both sides. While money line gambling is an attractive option for football and basketball bettors who only care about picking a winner, it is the primary option for those bettors who enjoy wagering on MLB baseball and individual sports like boxing, tennis, golf and racing events such as NASCAR. ( More details on playing the Money Line)
Another bet across all major team sports including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey involves wagering on the amount of scoring in a game, called an Over/Under total. For example, the Over/Under total on Super Bowl XXXIX was 48, which means a bettor could wager whether there would be more or less than 48 points scored by both teams combined in the game.
The final score of Super Bowl XXXIX was 24-21; the scoring of both teams added up to 45, which means the game went Under . So Under bettors won, and Over bettors lost.
Sports gambling doesn’t end there. Betting sides and totals are the most common wagers available everywhere, but many sportsbooks also offer future bets on big upcoming events like who will win next year’s Super Bowl and what movie will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
The main advantage of futures is that you can get appealing odds by betting far in advance. For example, with NFL futures you often can get much higher odds on a team by betting before the season even starts. A NFL future bet on a team to win the Super Bowl odds might be 20/1 in the preseason; but by midseason, their odds might decrease to 10/1 if they turn out to be legitimate championship contenders.
Involves one individual wager, whether it be on your team to cover the point spread, to win the game straight-up on the money line, or to go over/under the total.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
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