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07/15/2010 - Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Celtics and forward Paul Pierce have reached an agreement on a new contract.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the Boston Herald reported last week the two sides agreed to a deal for four years, with options for the club and Pierce after the third year.
"I am very excited to be back in Boston," said Pierce. "I have always said that I would love to retire as a Celtic and re-signing here will allow me to do that. I would like to thank Danny [Ainge], Doc [Rivers], the ownership group and the rest of the organization. I'm thrilled that they kept the core intact and look forward to getting back on the parquet with my teammates so we can bring Banner 18 home to Boston."
Pierce opted out of his contract for next season and became an unrestricted free agent when the NBA free agency period started on July 1. Pierce was due to make $21.5 million in the final year of his previous contract, and the Herald reports that he will make less than that in 2010-11 to give the Celtics a better financial position.
"Paul has been a cornerstone of our franchise for the last decade and we could not be more pleased that he is returning to the team," said president of basketball operations Danny Ainge.
Pierce, who will be 33 before next season begins, averaged 18.3 points and 4.4 rebounds over 71 games during the 2009-10 campaign. He upped that to 18.8 ppg and 6.0 rpg during the playoffs, helping Boston reach the NBA Finals for the second time in three years.
Boston selected the Kansas product with the 10th overall pick in the 1998 NBA Draft. He owns career averages of 22.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.
<< Top hurlers to clash in Dodgers-Cardinals opener
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw pitched well
enough to be an All-Star, but ultimately did not join four of his teammates in
Anaheim for the Mid-Summer Classic.
Despite the snub, Kershaw will look to get his sec
<< Phillies head to Chicago riding win streak
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies had an up-and-down first half,
and it was no different for the club over the season's final week before the
All-Star break.
They do come out of the hiatus with some momentum, and the Phillies will
<< First-place Braves open second half against Brewers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves have done everything possible in this
season's first half to potentially make Bobby Cox's last year as manager a
special one.
Seeking to give their manager one more championship before he retires at
sea
<< Rangers open second half at Fenway
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers enter the season's second half in good
position to end an 11-year playoff drought. The Boston Red Sox, on the other
hand, still have some work to do in order to secure a fourth consecutive trip
to the postse
In the FCS Huddle: Stony Brook intriguing on, off the field >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - When the NIT came to Stony Brook in March,
the Seawolves' football players were in attendance. Similarly, when Stony
Brook hosted NCAA men's lacrosse in May, the football players were there.
The Seawolves,
Rondo, Chandler and Robin Lopez named to USA Basketball team >>
Colorado Springs, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo was
among three players added to the 2010-12 USA Basketball team, chairman Jerry
Colangelo announced on Thursday.
Also selected were centers Tyson Chandler of th
Spurs, Clippers to play preseason game in Mexico >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Clippers
will square off against one another in a preseason game in Mexico City on
October 12, 2010, the NBA announced Thursday.
The event will mark the 19th time
Canadiens sign Desharnais >>
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens have signed forward
David Desharnais to a one-year contract.
Desharnais led Hamilton, Montreal's American Hockey League affiliate, in
scoring last season with a franchise-reco
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.
(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.
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