NBA: All-Star Showdown Betting pays $5K
NBA All-Star Weekend is much more than just the Sunday game and Sportsbook.com is going to pay you $5,000.00 if you can predict some of the biggest events.
To win, just correctly pick the winner, and wager at least $10.00 on the Three Point Shootout, Skills Challenge and Slam Dunk Competition, along with the player to score the All-Star Game First Point.
Click here for full details of this promotion.
Here's a look at the four categories:
Orlando center Dwight Howard (2:3) won last year with his infamous superman routine. Howard was the biggest man ever to win the event, which usually leans towards smaller players.
Rudy Fernandez is at 5:1 odds and few people know about his dunking prowess. Nate Robinson (7:2) won this event in 2006 and then finished second in 2007, and he has some value at these odds. J.R. Smith is also an interesting candidate with his tremendous jumping ability and his third place finish in 2005 as a rookie.
Jason Kapono is the heavy favorite at 2:1 as he's won the last two years. He's also trying to join Larry Bird and Craig Hodges as the only players to win three times overall.
Of the rest of the participants, only Rashard Lewis (7:2) and Mike Bibby (7:2) have been in this contest before. Danny Granger (7:2), Roger Mason (11:2) and Daequan Cook (11:2) fill out the rest of the field.
Lewis is shooting three-pointers at his best clip (41.5%) since the 2000-2001 season. He also has great size at 6'10", which means he shouldn't get as tired as some of the smaller competitors. He has to be the favorite to unseat Kapono even though he last competed in this event in 2004.
Tony Parker (6:5) leads the three-person odds field, followed by Devin Harris (2:1) and Rookie of the Year favorite Derrick Rose (2:1).
It's actually a little surprising that the speedy Parker isn't more heavily favored.
Kobe Bryant and LeBron James are the leaders at 4:1 each. That not surprising as each team would like to get the ball to their biggest superstar right off the bat.
Dwight Howard is next of the list at 15:4, followed by Dwyane Wade (5:1), Chris Paul (5:1) and Amare Stoudemire (5:1).
You have to like the chances of both Wade and Paul because as the main ballhandlers, they might just nail an open jumper or put in an easy lay-up off a break with the famous ‘no defense' mantra of this game.
Allen Iverson at 9:1 is a great long-shot pick because you know he will jack it up from anywhere.
Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter