Schiavone wins Istanbul opener

Tennis Betting Lines

07/27/2010 - Istanbul, Turkey (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It took two days, but French Open champion Francesca Schiavone finally posted a first-round victory at the $220,000 Istanbul Cup hardcourt tennis event.

The top-seeded Schiavone was leading Britain's Anne Keothavong 4-0 in the first set here on Monday when their match was suspended because of rain and darkness. Schiavone wound up with an easy 6-2, 6-2 decision and will meet another Brit, Elena Baltacha, in the round of 16.

Schiavone became the first-ever Italian woman to both reach and win a Grand Slam final at last month's French Open.

This week's second seed was not as fortunate as Schiavone on Tuesday, as Czech Petra Kvitova succumbed to Latvian Anastasija Sevastova 6-2, 0-6, 6-4.

Meanwhile, third-seeded Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova drubbed Polish qualifier Marta Domachowska 6-1, 6-0 and fifth-seeded Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova handled German Tatjana Malek 7-6 (7-4), 6-2. Pironkova was a surprise Wimbledon semifinalist earlier this month.

Other upsets came when Russian Anna Lapushchenkova overcame seventh-seeded Czech Klara Zakopalova 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 and Swede Johanna Larsson leveled eighth- seeded Swiss veteran Patty Schnyder 6-4, 6-2. The 21-year-old Larsson is fresh off her first-ever appearance in a WTA Tour final, last week in Portoroz.

Additional Day-2 wins came for Baltacha, Romanian Sorana Cirstea, Slovakian Magdalena Rybarikova, Russians Ekaterina Makarova, a qualifier this week, and Elena Vesnina, and Aussies Jarmila Groth and Anastasia Rodionova.

On Wednesday, reigning Istanbul champ Vera Dushevina will face the aforementioned Sevastova in the second round. The Russian Dushevina doused Czech Lucie Hradecka in last year's finale here.

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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined

Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.

"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."

Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)

According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.

As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).

Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.

Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at

17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.

*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007

New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers

By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.

"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."

While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."

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