She’s popular but not favorite
Leave it to Las Vegas oddsmakers to put Danica Patrick’s recent victory into perspective heading into today’s 92nd Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Patrick, who will start fifth, is listed at 8-1 for today’s race, according to Bodoglife.com. Solid odds but not good enough to put Patrick into the role as favorite.
That title goes to Scott Dixon, who heads into the race as the driver to beat with 11-4 odds. He’s followed by Dan Wheldon at 4-1, Tony Kanaan and Helio Castroneves at 5-1 and Marco Andretti at 8-1.
Odds for Patrick, whose best finish at the 500 was fourth in 2005, are better when it comes to finishing in the top three at 3-1. Dixon tops this list at 10-11, followed by Wheldon at 11-10, Kanaan and Castroneves at 5-4, Andretti at 5-2 and Ryan Briscoe at 11-4.
In head-to-head matchup odds, Patrick is listed at +110 against Andretti (-140), while Dixon is listed at -130 against Wheldon (even).
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Kyle Busch has been made the favorite to win NASCAR’s longest race of the season when the circuit’s top drivers meet in today’s Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.
Busch is listed as a 7-2 favorite, followed by Carl Edwards at 11-2, according to Bodoglife.com. Edwards opened the week as this week’s race favorite but heavy support for Busch, the Sprint Cup points leader, forced the odds change.
Jimmie Johnson has the third-best odds for today’s race at 13-2, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. at 7-1 and Greg Biffle at 8-1.
Pro basketball
The San Antonio Spurs are in desperate need of a victory over the Lakers tonight because they can’t afford to fall behind 3-0 in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals.
And guess what? With San Antonio playing at home, Las Vegas oddsmakers have made the Spurs five-point favorites to win Game 3 with the money line at -220 for San Antonio and +180 for the Lakers.
According to theSpread.com’s betting chart, as of Saturday night, the Lakers had received a whopping 72% of the bets against the spread for tonight’s game.
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Under the “In the case you missed it” category, here’s more gambling information on former NBA referee Tim Donaghy, who was caught in a sports betting scandal that includes several games that he officiated.
According to Pregame.com, 14 games officiated by Donaghy over his final two seasons working in the NBA were decided by three points or fewer.
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This story is not intended as a tip sheet, but is an account of betting taking place in the sports world.
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