Magic stay hot, cool Spurs

Basketball Betting Lines

03/18/2010 - Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vince Carter recorded 24 points and eight assists, leading the Orlando Magic in a 110-84 rout of the San Antonio Spurs in a matchup between the NBA's two hottest teams.

Both teams came in having won eight of nine, but it was the Magic who never trailed in a game they dominated from start to finish. Rashard Lewis added 20 points, while Jameer Nelson and J.J. Redick each poured in 10.

Dwight Howard contributed with nine points and seven rebounds for Orlando, which has won three straight over San Antonio for the first time in franchise history.

The Magic also came into the game having clinched their fourth playoff berth in as many years after the Charlotte Bobcats lost on Tuesday.

"We can't be satisfied just getting to the playoffs at this point, with what we went through last year," Nelson said. "To have a taste of the championship, you want to win it. It's what we're playing for. We're not one of those teams that are happy all year and let's celebrate just because we made the playoffs. We're one of the teams that wants to win it, to have a legit chance."

Richard Jefferson scored 20 points to lead the Spurs, who could not record their third five-game win streak of the season Manu Ginobili added 18 points in the defeat.

Tim Duncan went a miserable 1-for-10 from the field for only a season-low five points.

"It was a tough game," Ginobili said. "We were coming from Miami on a back-to- back against a great team. They started making a lot of shots. We kind of gave up in the third quarter after a good run at the end of the second, but we just couldn't hold it."

Orlando jumped out to a 29-24 lead after the first quarter, then grabbed a 43-26 advantage behind a 14-0 burst early in the second.

Brandon Bass and Redick each had four points during the stretch, and Redick drilled a pair of free throws to cap the stretch with five minutes left.

A Matt Barnes layup quickly increased the lead to 20 at 48-28, but the Spurs finished the half on a 14-4 run to close to within 10, 52-42, at halftime.

The Magic did not relinquish their lead in the third, pushing the margin back to 15, 65-50, on a Barnes shot midway through the period.

A 9-0 burst later had the hosts ahead by a score of 74-52 after a pair of Nelson free throws with 3 1/2 minutes left, and it was 80-58 heading to the fourth.

Orlando maintained their enormous advantage down the stretch.

Game Notes

The Spurs had held seven of their last eight opponents to fewer than 93 points...San Antonio fell to 4-2 since guard Tony Parker broke his finger...The Spurs are a half-game ahead of idle Portland for the seventh spot in the West...Orlando is 28-7 at home, and San Antonio is 16-16 on the road...Barnes returned from a one-game absence (toe) to score eight points.

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Online Sportsbook Football Betting

Why Sports Betting is so much fun?

Betting Sports

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)

Points (or Runs) Scored

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.

Future Bets

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.

Proposition Bets (or Prop Bets)

Proposition bets , also known as prop bets, focus upon the more exotic aspects of a game and are generally reserved for events that are widely televised. Prop bets are extremely popular when it comes to wagering on the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. The Imperial Palace Casino’s sportsbook is well-known for the enormous number of prop bets offered. For example, you can bet on:

Types of Bets

Straight Bet

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.

Sports Betting Parlays

A parlay is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers and is dependent on all of those wagers winning together. The benefit of the parlay bet is much better odds than placing each individual bet separately since the difficulty of hitting it is much higher.

Standard payoffs on a two-team parlay are 13/5; while a three-teamer pays 6/1; and a four-teamer 10/1.

Parlay cards are also fairly common in sportsbooks and popular with bettors, as they are released early in the week with set odds that do not change in return for a slightly lower payoff.

Round Robin Betting

Adventurous bettors who enjoy betting parlays sometimes put together a series of parlays called a Round Robin . A three-team Round Robin consists of one three-team parlay and three two-team parlays. For example, Joe likes teams A,B,C – with a Round Robin he has a three-teamer with ABC, and two-teamers with AB, AC, and BC.

Betting Teasers

Similar to a parlay, a teaser bet is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers, but is different in that the point spread is adjusted to your advantage on each individual wager. In exchange for the points, you get less of a return on your bet compared to a parlay. For example, a 6-point teaser would move the line on a 7-point favorite from -7 to -1, meaning the team would have to cover 6 less points. Each of the individual wagers must win or the bet is a loss.

These are the main types of sports bets available today. But as sports betting continues to grow, sportsbooks will continue to develop new and creative ways to bet. We’ll continue to track these changes to the sports gambling landscape, so check back often and we’ll tell you all about it!

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

Academy Award Betting Odds for Best Picture Offer Great Value

If there is any category that is not an obvious win for any one nominee in this year's Academy Awards, it would be for Best Picture.  Sure the Departed is a 5/7 favorite, but that's hardly anything when we look at Helen Mirren and her "out-of-reach" 1 to 40 odds (which means you would win a whopping $1 for every $40 bet).

For value, take a look at MySportsbook.com Oscars betting odds on my personal favorite, The Queen - a remarkable 12 to 1 long shot.  The film hasn't won any pre-awards for Best Picture (compared to The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine), but there is a tremendous following and it is a strong enough film to warrant a surprise win.

TV Guide advises Oscar watchers should be cautioned not to discount the  drama "Babel" with its strong social themes about overcoming communication gaps among people of different cultures.

"While 'Babel' lost several guild awards to 'Sunshine' and 'Departed,'  it still enjoys loyal support, and historically Oscar voters favor dramas with social messages over comedies like 'Sunshine' and violent crime movies like 'Departed'."

"It hasn't done well in the guilds, which means there isn't much industry support," said Tom O'Neil of awards site TheEnvelope.com, "But several critics are expecting it to win, and that gets my attention." Babel had 7 to 2 odds at press time.

Who is to say independently produced Little Miss Sunshine won't be this year's Crash.  Last year, Crash won for Best Motion Picture, shocking those who bet on gay cowboy flick, Brokeback Mountain, as the favorite to win. 

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Visa needs.