San Antonio Spurs Analysis - Odds To Win NBA le Shortening

[duncan228]

San Antonio Spurs Analysis - Odds to Win NBA le Shortening
June acquisition of Richard Jefferson is a big reason.

In late June of this year the San Antonio Spurs acquired Richard Jefferson and their odds to win the 2010 NBA le have been shortening ever since. Immediately following the Lakers winning the NBA le a couple months ago, the San Antonio Spurs were a bit of an afterthought in the NBA futures market, at least 3rd behind the Lakers and Nuggets to win the Western Conference le next season. However, in recent weeks they have found favor with odds setters and sports bettors alike and depending on which sportsbook you visit, the Spurs are now either 3rd, 4th, or 5th to win next year's NBA le.

Part of the reason why the odds have been shortening (there are others) on the Spurs is because they acquired veteran Richard Jefferson in late June.

Jefferson looked like a shaky gamble a few seasons ago as he only played in 33 games in 2004-05 and then only played in 55 games in 2006-07. But since those seasons Jefferson has certainly proven that he is reliable to stay healthy as in the past two seasons he has not missed a start.

Last year with Milwaukee, Jefferson averaged 19.6 points per game and 4.6 rebounds per game, while almost playing 36 minutes per.

Our recommendation remains with the Los Angeles Lakers to win next year's championship. Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson have a bottomless appe e for NBA rings and the way the Lakers have reloaded by signing Ron Artest and by re-signing Lamar Odom shows that 'one in row' isn't enough. However with the Spurs not backing down, the question is: what odds are worth calling them to win the NBA le?

At the lower end of the range you'll find the Spurs at +900 (9/1) with a few sites, like bet365 for example. At that price picking the Spurs is basically a 'push' or maybe it has a little bit of value. To get a real price on San Antonio, go to Coral and pick the Spurs to win the 2010 NBA le at a price of +1200 (12/1).

This is a team whose odds could shorten significantly after the regular season gets underway making now the time to bet on them.

[phyzik]

Question for all you gamblers out there. If I place a bet and win, are the winnings considered taxable income or is it tax-free?

[fyatuk]

Question for all you gamblers out there. If I place a bet and win, are the winnings considered taxable income or is it tax-free?

Not that I'm a gambler, but it's taxable income.

Provided of course, you bet legally (aka you were in a place that allows sports betting when you placed the bet. Doesn't matter where the people you placed the bet with are, but where you are).

[CubanMustGo]

Taxable. Can be offset by gambling losses (but you better have do entation).

[Bender]

Provided of course, you bet legally...

legal or illegal does not matter, it's all taxable.

Illegal activities. Income from illegal activities, such as money from dealing illegal drugs, must be included in your income on Form 1040, line 21, or on Schedule C or Schedule C-EZ (Form 1040) if from your self-employment activity.

Gambling and Other Gains. Gain arising from gambling, betting and lotteries is includible in gross income. A gain from an illegal transaction, such as bootlegging, extortion, embezzlement or fraud, is also includible.

[fyatuk]

legal or illegal does not matter, it's all taxable.

The point was it's often not wise to report it as taxable income if it was illegally gained.

You usually don't want to go giving government agencies information about your illegal activities. Then again, Al Capone got busted for not reporting his illegal income, so take that with a grain of salt.

[mountainballer]

talking about odds.....
just looked at the current odds of bwin.com, an European online gaming company:

Los Angeles Lakers 3.50
Cleveland Cavaliers 4.50
Boston Celtics 5.75
Orlando Magic 11.00
San Antonio Spurs 11.00
Denver Nuggets 15.00
Utah Jazz 21.00
Dallas Mavericks 29.00
Portland Trail Blazers 29.00
Houston Rockets 34.00
New Orleans Hornets 41.00
Miami Heat 41.00
Detroit Pistons 41.00
Phoenix Suns 51.00
Atlanta Hawks 51.00
Chicago Bulls 51.00
Philadelphia 76ers 67.00
Washington Wizards 81.00
Toronto Raptors 81.00
New York Knicks 81.00
Indiana Pacers 101.00
Charlotte Bobcats 101.00
New Jersey Nets 151.00
Golden State Warriors 151.00
Oklahoma City Thunder 151.00
Los Angeles Clippers 151.00
Milwaukee Bucks 201.00
Minnesota Timberwolves 201.00
Sacramento Kings 201.00
Memphis Grizzlies 201.00

[Baseline]

Man, 11-1 or 12-1 is nice. Easy pickins.

I'm hittin' it in Vegas at the end of the month.

[objective]

3 weeks ago or so they were 14-1 at Harrah's in Vegas, even after the free agency and draft moves.

[BOHOLANO#21]

yup. i placed my bet on the SPURS when the odd was still 14-1. hopefully my $200 will win this time. GO SPURS GO!

[DMX7]

The point was it's often not wise to report it as taxable income if it was illegally gained.

You usually don't want to go giving government agencies information about your illegal activities. Then again, Al Capone got busted for not reporting his illegal income, so take that with a grain of salt.

Actually, it's smarter to just report it but call it something else (i.e., not drug money). This is not from experience but as someone who has taken tax classes.

[Galileo]

The Spurs are a LOT better than 9 to 1 or 12 to 1. What a joke.

The Celts are going to dumpt this year, they will not be a contender.

Orlando is overrated.

[Chillen]

I can see why these odds are the way they are. The Spurs haven't totally convinced people yet, they think one of the big 3 could get injured. LA's lineup is the most impressive, followed up by Boston and than the Spurs.

When Duncan, Parker and Ginobili are healthy they are gonna be a tough matchup for the West and the Lakers are gonna have to be playing smart. The one thing about LA is after winning it all will health issues arise, will Artest stay sane, LA looks great on paper but without health they could be a man short going into the playoffs.

[spursfaninla]

Spurs should not get top 3 odds until the prove they could be healthy.

And, for the Gambling Tax questions, practically speaking and legally speaking are two different things. No one is going to find you if the amount is under a 5000-1000; casinos are supposed to report payouts for different games at different threshholds, but they are not policed very well.

As gamblers generally, you can NOT deduct your losses outside of each sitting (i.e., technically, you should take your net at each table, rather than for the whole gambling trip or even night.) But no one is watching over your shoulder, and the records are you own for it...

ONLY professional gamblers can take their net gains/losses for the year, like a business. This is because gambling is taken to be a hobby, and hobbies are generally not deductable, so the law really limits the deductions for it.

(taken from tax law class, this Spring, got a good grade at a top 20 school).

This is for entertainment purposes, and is not intended to be legal advice. Consult an attorney before taking action based on this advice.

[SonOfAGun]

The point was it's often not wise to report it as taxable income if it was illegally gained.

You usually don't want to go giving government agencies information about your illegal activities. Then again, Al Capone got busted for not reporting his illegal income, so take that with a grain of salt.

The accounting ledger they nailed him on was also illegally obtained.

At the time, neither Al Capone nor his lawyers knew this LOL

[buttsR4rebounding]

Taxable. Can be offset by gambling losses (but you better have do entation).

That includes lotto tickets that didn't pan out

The Spurs are a LOT better than 9 to 1 or 12 to 1. What a joke.

The Celts are going to dumpt this year, they will not be a contender.

Orlando is overrated.

Odds are simply a gambling device to attract action on a team. The Lakers will always have the lowest odds when they have a contending team because they have more people who WANT to bet on them. Vegas doesn't make it's money on you betting and losing, they make it on the house's cut. They simply want as much bet evenly across the board as possible at thus the odds. I guarantee if $20 million came in on the Spurs tomorrow the odds would drop substantially.

[spursfaninla]

That includes lotto tickets that didn't pan out



Odds are simply a gambling device to attract action on a team. The Lakers will always have the lowest odds when they have a contending team because they have more people who WANT to bet on them. Vegas doesn't make it's money on you betting and losing, they make it on the house's cut. They simply want as much bet evenly across the board as possible at thus the odds. I guarantee if $20 million came in on the Spurs tomorrow the odds would drop substantially.

You can TRY to deduct your lottery ticket losses, and they will probably never catch you, (hence the known incentive and tendency to aggressively take marginal deductions. But, if they actually bother to audit you, you would lose.

As I stated above, there are no professional lottery players, and only pros can take net wins against losses...each purchase is a separate transaction that cannot offset other gains, similar to a hobby (i.e. limited tax deductions), rather than a business (basically all loses/costs deductable.

[fyatuk]

Actually, it's smarter to just report it but call it something else (i.e., not drug money). This is not from experience but as someone who has taken tax classes.

As long as you list it as some type of gains, such as lottery winnings, etc, that there's not really a trail for, you'd be pretty safe. It's really not hard to get around that sort of things. I'm just saying don't report it as gambling winnings if you didn't gamble legally.

[Spurm]

The spurms aren't winning the championship anytime soon get that out of your moronic and pathetic heads...

[Agloco]

Question for all you gamblers out there. If I place a bet and win, are the winnings considered taxable income or is it tax-free?

Definitely taxable. As a matter of fact, for certain types of winnings the payer will automatically notify the IRS and present you with a W-2G.

On the other side, gambling losses are deductible as miscellaneous loses if you itemize.

[wildbill2u]

The accounting ledger they nailed him on was also illegally obtained.

At the time, neither Al Capone nor his lawyers knew this LOL

I heard yesterday on Houston radio that the government is holding $43,000,000 in seized money from one of the internet gambling sites they shut down. The owner of the site pleaded guilty to running an illegal gambling wire and will be sentenced soon.

Interestingly, the govt. put on a website a call for anyone who had money in an account with the gambling website to come forward and claim their money within 60 days.

Would you do this, knowing that the gambling was illegal (felony) and they might then get you on income tax evasion if you had taxable winnings included in the account that weren't declared?

Would the Feds set up a sting for their citizens or not?

[Dex]

I'm pretty much terrible at doing my taxes, but I was under the impression that the U.S. wants you to report like very cent you make. If you find a dime on the ground, they wanna hear about it on your 1040.