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08/06/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - I must admit that I chuckled more than a little bit when I saw some Boston-area writers proclaim that The Big Three in Beantown is now an oversized Big Four after Shaquille O'Neal agreed to terms with the Celtics on Wednesday.
Maybe if this was 2006, the last year Shaq scored over 20 points a game and showed at least the slightest of movement skills to show on the pick-and-roll.
What the Celtics signed earlier this week was an overweight journeyman that can't play defense, slows down your offense and is still obsessed with his former teammate Kobe Bryant.
O'Neal was on top of the world back in '06 when he teamed with Dwyane Wade in South Beach to win his first and only Kobe-free championship. Since Shaq had the championship pedigree and Wade was an emerging superstar at the time, most pundits gave O'Neal the starring role in the championship duo, even though Wade was clearly the go-to-guy and the straw that stirred the drink.
It was the same dynamic in Los Angeles. O'Neal and his larger-than-life personality also got more credit than the often brooding Bryant, even though Kobe had clearly surpassed him as a player.
It fostered jealously in Bryant, the kind of envy that wasn't repaired until Bryant exorcised his Shaq demon when the Lakers topped Orlando in the NBA Finals during the 2008-09 season.
A year later Kobe and his Lakers disposed of the their biggest rival, the Celtics, in the Finals and all of a sudden Bryant had more championships than O'Neal while still at the top of his game with the ability and complementary firepower to add even more.
Perhaps that's why O'Neal signed a two-year deal for a paltry $3 million to play for his fourth team in five years, those same Celtics.
Shaq is traveling from city to city, hoping to find a talented enough team to match up with his nemesis. Last year it was LeBron and Cleveland, and this year it's the team that took the Lakers to seven games without having O'Neal playing 20 minutes a night in the pivot.
"I am honored to be joining the Celtics," Shaq said in a statement released by the team. "I have played against Paul [Pierce], Ray [Allen], Kevin [Garnett], Rajon [Rondo], and Jermaine [O'Neal] for many years and it will be great to be able to call them my teammates. I cannot wait to get to Boston to get started in pursuit of another championship."
A 15-time All-Star, Shaq has made over $290 million dollars in his NBA career and that number doesn't include endorsements or those hefty royalty checks from Blue Chips and Scary Movie 4. Unless the big man has hired Scottie Pippen's accountant, he should have plenty of ducats left while Kazaam 2 remains in pre-production.
So why is the 7-foot-1, 325-pound center sullying a brilliant career by touring the country as a role player?
Simple -- you can't be envious and happy at the same time.
Clearly Shaq wants to finish things by playing on the parquet floor underneath 17 championship banners with the intent of garnering No. 18 before Bryant and the Lakers can do the same.
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United acquires defender Zayner from Columbus >>
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"Tim is someone we thin
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.
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:
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.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
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.
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