Bundesliga gets tight at the top

Soccer Betting Lines

11/10/2007 - Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top of the Bundesliga standings got much tighter on Saturday as league-leaders Bayern Munich were knocked off 3-1 by Stuttgart, while Hamburg's 1-1 draw with Schalke allowed Werder Bremen to move into second place with a 4-0 win over Karlsruher.

Bayern suffered its first loss of the season at Gottlieb Daimler Stadion on Saturday against the defending champs, who have now won their last three games in league play to move into the top half of the table after a terrible start to the season.

Mario Gomez scored two goals for the home side, including the opener just 10 minutes in as he knocked home the ball from close range after a cross from Ludovic Magnin.

Yildiray Basturk then doubled Stuttgart's lead on the half-hour mark with a right-footed blast from outside the box that beat Bayern keeper Oliver Kahn into the lower right corner.

The hosts extended their lead to three goals before halftime courtesy of another close-range goal from Gomez, who finished off his seventh goal of the campaign with some help from a Roberto Hilbert cross.

Things got worse for Bayern in the 70th minute when Lucio was hit with a red card for a hard challenge on Magnin, although the visitors did get on the scoreboard in the 86th courtesy of Luca Toni's league-leading ninth goal.

The loss gave second-place Hamburg a chance to claim the top spot with a win at Schalke, but they could only leave the Veltins Arena with a 1-1 draw.

Hamburg fell behind after only 11 minutes when Mladen Krstajic headed home a free kick from the top of the six-yard box, but the visitors pulled level before the break when Ivica Olic found the net.

Jose Paolo Guerrero lofted a high cross from inside the area to the back post, and Olic ran onto it and got to the ball with a diving header that beat keeper Manuel Neuer.

Hamburg is now only one point behind Bayern, as is Werder Bremen, who easily downed fourth-place Karlsruher 4-0 behind two goals from Diego.

The win allows Bremen to move level with Hamburg and take over second place on goal differential, leaving the top three teams in Germany separated by just one point.

In Saturday's other Bundesliga action, Florian Kringe scored in the 80th minute to help Borussia Dortmund earn a 1-1 draw with Eintracht, Enrico Kern scored three times to lead Rostock to a 3-2 victory over Energie and Hertha Berlin squeaked out a 1-0 win against Hannover on Andre Lima's goal in the 87th minute.

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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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