The Redeem Team comprehensively beat the Australian Boomers in Beijing last night, but it was close in the first half. Down by just a single point after the first quarter, and unlucky to trail by twelve at half-time, the Aussies really took it to the gold medal favorites in the first half of the match.
With six seconds left in the half, the Australians had managed to stay within striking distance of the Americans and Aussie Mark Worthington lined up from the 3-point line and let a shot fly. Had it gone in, it would have been a six-point game at the half. But it was short and Utah Jazz guard Deron Williams managed to get the ball upcourt for a swished 3 point shot to extend the lead to 12.
The Americans late first half run continued into a confident third quarter, and they opened up a lead that was never again threatened.
But our prediction of the Aussies covering the spread in a high scoring game turned out to be correct, with the over/under of 178 being blown out of the water and the +32 point spread just scraping in with a 31 point winning margin.
Although we would have liked it to be closer, with an injured Bogut on the sidelines and their shooters going cold, we were proud of the Australians putting in enough of an effort to win us some money!
Next up the Americans will face the Athens gold medalists Argentina and NBA sixth man of the year Manu Ginobili. The Argentinians just scraped past the Greeks, 80-78 to setup the Semi Final matchup. In the other Semi Final it will be Lithuania against Spain.
At BetUS, the USA is -18 point favorites in the Semi Final, with the over/under set at 183.5. The Argentinians will try to slow down the play so we’re not comfy betting on the over/under in this one. But with a score to settle you can bet that Kobe Bryant will make sure that 18 point spread is blown away. You can bet on the Redeem Team to cover the spread in this one and advance to the gold medal game.
Various news sources have reported that the Full Tilt Poker pro has bet $2 million on the Lakers to win the NBA championship.
We don’t know when he made this bet, but it was sometime before game 3, because he tipped staff at the WSOP to get the TV near his table to show the game instead of the level information for the tournament everybody else was busy playing. He was playing too, but the Lakers captured his attention more than any cards in front of him.
Other losses this week include $80,000 worth of re-buys and add-ons in the 2-7 Lowball tournament where he didn’t cash. And $100,000 to PokerStars pro Daniel Negreanu on a golf bet.
If he has in fact bet $2 mil on the Lakers, he’s in some trouble after their game 4 capitulation. Here at OG, we’re still stunned at how a Phil Jackson coached team could squander a 24 point lead at home. They were -7 favorites with the oddsmakers, paying just 1.30 (-330) for the win versus Boston’s 3.65! (+265)
The Lakers are now a longshot to win the title, after starting the series as favorites. No team has ever come from 1-3 down to win an NBA Championship.
How did your bets go over the weekend? We went 2/3. Kimbo didn’t knock out Johnson in under 1:30 to win us our MMA bet. He only just won the fight at all, in controversial circumstances. But the Stanley Cup finals game did see less than 5 goals scored and Ray Allen outscored Tayshaun Prince to win those two bets for us and make it a good weekend.
This week is another big one in sports. The Stanley Cup is still being contested for at least one more game, the French Open tennis is in full swing and the NBA finals start on Thursday night in Boston.
Even though the Celtics have the home court advantage, the Lakers are favorites with the oddsmakers at Bodog’s Sportbook. They’re giving Boston just a 38% chance of claiming the Larry O’brien trophy for the first time since 1986, with odds of 2.65 (+165 or 33/20). The Lakers are paying 1.53 (-189 or 53/100).
In other betting markets this week, Bodog is also taking bets on when Charles Barkley will be spotted on a casino gaming floor.
They’re paying 8.50 (+750 or 15/2) to anyone who bets that Sir Charles will hit the blackjack tables again before the end of the NBA Finals. You can also bet whether he will relapse before the start of the 2008-09 NBA season.
We think Charles is probably crazy enough to go straight back to the tables regardless of all the furore his recent gambling losses and non-payment caused. It’s probably not a bad bet…
What can be a bad bet is betting on the spread in a Lakers game when Sasha ‘The Machine’ Vujacic is on the floor. Check out the video below for Sasha’s three pointer as the clock winds down, the Lakers already winners. He annoyed some punters with that shot and even the commentary team gets stuck into him!
Phil Ivey hasn’t had a good week.
How did your bets go over the weekend? We went 2/3. Kimbo didn’t knock out Johnson in under 1:30 to win us our MMA bet. He only just won the fight at all, in controversial circumstances. But the Stanley Cup finals game did see less than 5 goals scored and Ray Allen outscored Tayshaun Prince to win those two bets for us and make it a good weekend.
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