Reeling Bulls visit powerhouse Mavs

Basketball Betting Lines

03/17/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bulls have picked a bad time to start playing poorly and their chances of ending an eight-game slide don't look so promising with tonight's road matchup against the Dallas Mavericks.

The Bulls have also dropped five in a row as the visitor, including the first three tests of a four-game road trip. In a 104-97 loss at Memphis last night, Ronald Murray led the way with 25 points and Hakim Warrick chipped in 22 points off the bench for Chicago, which is 12-22 away from the Windy City and 1 1/2 games behind Toronto for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.

"There's a lot of basketball left, but we can't keep saying that," Bulls head coach Vinny Del Negro said. "We're in a really tough stretch right now. We have to come back to the drawing board."

Acie Law had a season-high 18 points, as the Bulls played without forward Luol Deng (calf) and guards Derrick Rose (wrist) and Kirk Hinrich (suspension). All three are questionable for Wednesday's game. Over his last eight games Rose is averaging 23.6 ppg, 5.6 apg and 2.5 rpg.

The Bulls haven't lost nine in a row since opening the 2004-05 campaign with an 0-9 record.

Dallas had its season-high 13-game winning streak come to a halt in its last outing, a 128-94 drubbing at the hands of the lowly New York Knicks on Saturday in Big D.

Dirk Nowitzki had 20 points and 12 rebounds, Jason Kidd scored 15 points and Shawn Marion tallied 14 and eight boards for the Mavericks, who are four games ahead of San Antonio for the Southwest lead and third in the Western Conference playoff race, just a half-game behind No. 2 Denver.

"It was a poor performance all around," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said after the team's first loss since February 16 at Oklahoma City. "We really didn't come close to winning a quarter. When you get thoroughly thrashed like that, it's something that's difficult."

Over his last six games, Marion is averaging 17.3 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.3 blocks, while shooting 56.6 percent from the floor. Kidd is posting 13.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, 9.6 assists and 2.1 steals in 14 contests since the All-Star break.

The Mavericks had won their previous eight home games before the recent setback and are 1-1 on a four-game residency. They will also host Boston and have a 23-10 home mark this season. In injury news for Dallas, guard Jason Terry (facial surgery) is probable for tonight.

Dallas recently defeated Chicago, 122-116, on March 6 at the United Center behind Nowitzki's 27 points and a career-high 24 from Rodrigue Beaubois. The Mavs have won two straight, four of five and 20 of the last 23 meetings with the Bulls, who are winless in their last four visits to Big D.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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