Lakers in NBA Playoffs? A 50/50 proposition January by Micah Roberts

Will the Lakers make the Playoffs?

That’s the big question everyone is asking as the Lakers find themselves as the 11th seed in the Western Conference as the halfway point nears in the regular season.

After hearing so many people talk whether or not the Lakers would make the playoffs, the LVH Super Book decided to post odds on it and let people do more than merely talk about it. They made it a 50-50 proposition, YES -110 and NO -110.

Las Vegas will be hoping to at least get the Lakers in the first round just because they garner so much attention on a nightly basis from bettors.

Even while regularly losing, bettors still wager on their games more than any other team. They are the highest profile team at the sports books and everyone wants to watch what will happen next, kind of like an on-going soap opera, or better yet, a car crash.

Once a 9-to-4 option to win the NBA Championship — second lowest odds behind Miami, the Lakers can now be had at 40-1. They are also listed at 20-1 to just make the Finals. In order for the Lakers to make strong run to make the playoffs, they need some serious bench help and an outside shooter. We’ll keep you updated as the season goes on how the LVH updates this prop.

NBA season-to-date

The sports books have started to fare a little better in the NBA, but favorites are still covering at 51.5 percent. Away favorites have been faring the best overall at 52.4 percent. If looking for any edge overall in the totals, good luck. Through Sunday’s games the UNDER has gone 272-271.

College basketball totals

You may have noticed far less college basketball totals on the board this season than in years past and it’s simply because the books don’t have an edge. It’s hard enough posting proper odds on the spread for hundreds of games, but it gets even tougher to win when attempting to make a total for the same games.

When totals run seven to eight points and the side the bettors ran with gets there, it’s time to regroup and go back to the drawing board. That’s what the books have done.

Instead of posting totals on every game, the books are now focusing on only the major TV matchups to minimize some of their losses.

NASCAR testing at Daytona

There were 35 drivers who tested the new sixth-generation car in a three day session at Daytona. The tests ended Saturday and the biggest thing gained for bettors is that we should see pack racing similar to 10 years ago.

The Joe Gibbs cars led by new JGR driver Matt Kenseth were all fast in both individual lap times and pack racing. The biggest gainers when racing in packs during the final two days were the Ford drivers. The top speed while pack racing was just over 199 mph.

It appears to be even more of crap shoot at Daytona than we have seen in recent years. You might be able to take a reach on a few drivers never really thought about trying. One of those is Danica Patrick who is currently 125-1 to win the Daytona 500. She has made huge strides in plate racing while running in the Nationwide series and her Cup car was one of the fastest during the sessions.