Betting Sports Odds: Will video poker machines help or hurt? Depends on whom you ask
By Matt Arado
Daily Herald Staff
The plan to legalize gambling on video poker machines in Illinois has elicited both cheers and jeers in the suburbs.
Some believe the machines will provide a boost to local businesses and generate much-needed revenue for the state diminishing the need to enact or hike another tax. Opponents say the plan will entice more people, including young adults, to become addicted to gambling.
The gambling expansion is part of a capital construction plan designed to help fund $26 billion in construction projects by hiking fees, raising taxes and creating new revenue, like the receipts derived from video poker machines.
The plan will allow gambling to occur on machines in bars, restaurants, VFW halls and other venues. The plan won approval from the state Senate earlier this week. The House approved it Thursday.
The Daily Herald checked in with a number of people in the suburbs to get their thoughts about the video poker issue. Here are their responses:
• Ted Arvanitis, manager of The Sports Page Restaurant and Bar in Arlington Heights:
Arvanitis said the bar crowd at the Sports Page shrank when the statewide smoking ban went into effect last year. Video poker machines might bring at least some of those people back, he said.
"We notice it in the colder months, especially," said Arvanitis, who has managed the Rand Road establishment for eight years. "People decided they didn't want to come if it meant having to stand outside in the cold to smoke. I wouldn't be surprised if poker machines enticed a few of those folks to come back."
Arvanitis said the addition of a few machines probably wouldn't change the atmosphere of his establishment.
"We cater to a lot of families here, and I don't think poker machines would change that," he said.
• Mike Barbour, a member of the Judd Kendal VFW Post 3873 in Naperville:
The presence of poker machines inside the VFW hall wouldn't necessarily bring more people to the organization or provide a windfall of cash, Barbour said. Still, they could help.
"It would allow us to do more for veterans," Barbour said. "We don't have space for more than two or three of the machines, but with them we could spend more on veterans in need, or those at (V.A. hospitals) who need assistance.
"I think that's the feeling among most of the veterans' groups around here. We're not begging for these things, but we'll take advantage if they're available."
Barbour said the VFW used to have poker machines in the past, but got rid of them.
"That actually forced us to work harder at maintaining our finances," he said. "Now we're in good shape, but a little more would always be welcome."
• Jim Kasputis, owner of Rockford Charitable Games Association, a group that helps organize poker/gambling events for charity groups throughout the suburbs:
Rockford Charitable Games helps plan roughly four events a week throughout the Chicago area. Would legalized gambling on poker machines hurt the business? Kasputis doesn't think so.
"If anything, it might inspire the kinds of groups we work with to hold more events at VFWs and American Legions, because they can get a cut of the action," Kasputis said.
"Frankly, a lot of places already have these machines. The state might as well get some tax money from them."
• The Rev. Nathaniel Edmond, pastor of Second Baptist Church, Elgin:
Edmond said the state's willingness to expand gambling to fill budget holes makes him wonder whether legislators value the communities they serve.
"It seems like once you start looking at budgetary deficits, 'community' becomes less important," he said. "This plan would present more opportunities for people to engage in negative behavior. That's very distressing to me.
"I understand the difficulties the state faces. You need creativity to come up with solutions that truly help everybody. I see no creativity here."
• Kurt Becker, owner of Twin Oaks Music and Vending in Aurora:
Becker is a strong supporter of the video poker provision, and not, he says, just because he could make some money off it.
Approval could certainly help Twin Oaks, which supplies coin-operated amusement machines to bars and restaurants, but it also will help save jobs in the struggling bar/restaurant industry in the suburbs and across the state, Becker said.
"Local, privately owned bars and restaurants are hurting," Becker said. "They're being taxed to death, and they've been hurt by the smoking ban. Something like this (will) be an economic boost for them."
• Wayne Burdick, director of the Outreach Foundation in Downers Grove, which counsels gambling addicts:
Burdick said he would expect the number of addicts to skyrocket given the pervasiveness of gambling in bars and at truck stops.
"Let's face it, we know that bars are a place that people have gambled, but you are now making it absolutely OK," Burdick said. "You are saying it is just fine and you are increasing the people who are going to be exposed."
Betting Sports Odds: Will video poker machines help or hurt? Depends on whom you ask
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
NFL Fights Delaware Betting Sports, Yet Promotes Lottery Betting
NFL Fights Delaware Betting Sports, Yet Promotes Lottery Betting
Another round of hypocrisy from the NFL has begun when owners last month abandoned their anti-gambling crusade for the sake of making more money. The owners approved licensing deals with state sponsored lotteries.
Lottery gambling in the U.S. is even more widespread that sports gambling. The NFL has made itself out to be choir boys when it comes to gambling. Simply put, it would not be allowed or accepted. That stance proved to go only as far as NFL owners could stand not making money from gambling.
The Washington Redskins have now become the second team that has signed a licensing deal with a state run lottery. The New England Patriots became the first team earlier last month.
"We envision a game that will link lottery fans with the Redskins in new and exciting ways," said Redskins Chief Operating Officer Mitch Gersham.
One can only assume that when Gersham said "new and exciting", that he was referring to the revenue possibilities for owners. A league that has just weeks ago blasted Delaware for offering a new form of gambling, has now given in to the lure of revenue.
It is expected out of politicians to flip flop on the gambling issue, much like many have over the past few years. There is more casino gambling being legalized in states around the country than ever before.
So where will this new found partnership with gambling end for the NFL? Will they really be able to walk into a court room during their case against Delaware and tell a judge that they are vehemently opposed to gambling? The answer is no.
Once the initial boundaries are broken, they keep becoming looser and looser. The next time a story comes out about the NFL and how they are appalled at the actions of others who are endorsing gambling, simply think back to last month, when league owners took a similar leap of faith.
NFL Fights Delaware Betting Sports, Yet Promotes Lottery Betting
Another round of hypocrisy from the NFL has begun when owners last month abandoned their anti-gambling crusade for the sake of making more money. The owners approved licensing deals with state sponsored lotteries.
Lottery gambling in the U.S. is even more widespread that sports gambling. The NFL has made itself out to be choir boys when it comes to gambling. Simply put, it would not be allowed or accepted. That stance proved to go only as far as NFL owners could stand not making money from gambling.
The Washington Redskins have now become the second team that has signed a licensing deal with a state run lottery. The New England Patriots became the first team earlier last month.
"We envision a game that will link lottery fans with the Redskins in new and exciting ways," said Redskins Chief Operating Officer Mitch Gersham.
One can only assume that when Gersham said "new and exciting", that he was referring to the revenue possibilities for owners. A league that has just weeks ago blasted Delaware for offering a new form of gambling, has now given in to the lure of revenue.
It is expected out of politicians to flip flop on the gambling issue, much like many have over the past few years. There is more casino gambling being legalized in states around the country than ever before.
So where will this new found partnership with gambling end for the NFL? Will they really be able to walk into a court room during their case against Delaware and tell a judge that they are vehemently opposed to gambling? The answer is no.
Once the initial boundaries are broken, they keep becoming looser and looser. The next time a story comes out about the NFL and how they are appalled at the actions of others who are endorsing gambling, simply think back to last month, when league owners took a similar leap of faith.
NFL Fights Delaware Betting Sports, Yet Promotes Lottery Betting
The Importance Of Discipline To Betting Sports Success
The Importance Of Discipline To Betting Sports Success
By Ross Everett
I get some of my best sports gambling concepts from non-sports gambling books. That’s not really surprising, since there are so few serious works addressing sports handicapping and gambling. Of all the various gambling related disciplines, sports gambling is perhaps the most complex. The paucity of written work on the subject is downright shameful in light of that fact. Since there’s so little specific literature available some of the best theoretical resources available to the serious sports gambler can be found in books written for the serious poker player.
Poker–like sports betting–can be a profitable endeavor, and one in which knowledge and skill can counteract the theoretical odds against him. Legendary poker theorist Bob Caro once noted that while there are some professional poker players, sports bettors or blackjack players there’s not a single professional roulette player.
The reason for that is that the house advantage in roulette is too high to overcome by any combination of skill, money management, strategy or discipline. To throw in another Caro concept, it’s a case where the decisions made by the roulette player simply don’t have a role in overcoming the house advantage. Over the long haul whether you choose red or black, even or odd the house edge remains the same.
Caro stresses the paramount importance of discipline to a poker player’s long term success and profitability. It’s important to keep in mind that to succeed as a professional gambler that you need to approach a trip to the casino with a diametrically opposite mindset to that of the recreational gambler. A recreational gambler heads to the casino to *avoid* discipline and ‘unwind’. The professional uses discipline to his advantage.
And the lesson that Caro gives to the would-be expert poker player is the same lesson that Im going to give to you here. The first step toward becoming a successful sports gambler is to approach it with the same discipline that you approach any other job. You must start to think about sports and sports wagering like a professional and not like a recreational gambler. The greater degree to which you can apply a regimented framework to the sports betting process, the greater degree to which you will be successful at it.
Now, I have no problem with recreational sports gamblers or any other recreational gamblers for that matter. Recreational sports gamblers are, in fact, crucial to the survival of those of us who do this for a living. They’re not our prey “like they are for the poker professional” but a thriving recreational sports gambling industry keeps the sports books in business, and what I do is utterly useless if my book doesn’t pay me.
The life of a professional sports bettor isn’t for everyone, and if you just want to bet recreationally and have fun with it that’s great. While a few theoretical tips here and there won’t hurt, the only discipline that really matters for a recreational player is the same thing for any other hobby–don’t spend more on it than you can afford to. After that, you’re on your own to have fun with it.
The Importance Of Discipline To Betting Sports Success
By Ross Everett
I get some of my best sports gambling concepts from non-sports gambling books. That’s not really surprising, since there are so few serious works addressing sports handicapping and gambling. Of all the various gambling related disciplines, sports gambling is perhaps the most complex. The paucity of written work on the subject is downright shameful in light of that fact. Since there’s so little specific literature available some of the best theoretical resources available to the serious sports gambler can be found in books written for the serious poker player.
Poker–like sports betting–can be a profitable endeavor, and one in which knowledge and skill can counteract the theoretical odds against him. Legendary poker theorist Bob Caro once noted that while there are some professional poker players, sports bettors or blackjack players there’s not a single professional roulette player.
The reason for that is that the house advantage in roulette is too high to overcome by any combination of skill, money management, strategy or discipline. To throw in another Caro concept, it’s a case where the decisions made by the roulette player simply don’t have a role in overcoming the house advantage. Over the long haul whether you choose red or black, even or odd the house edge remains the same.
Caro stresses the paramount importance of discipline to a poker player’s long term success and profitability. It’s important to keep in mind that to succeed as a professional gambler that you need to approach a trip to the casino with a diametrically opposite mindset to that of the recreational gambler. A recreational gambler heads to the casino to *avoid* discipline and ‘unwind’. The professional uses discipline to his advantage.
And the lesson that Caro gives to the would-be expert poker player is the same lesson that Im going to give to you here. The first step toward becoming a successful sports gambler is to approach it with the same discipline that you approach any other job. You must start to think about sports and sports wagering like a professional and not like a recreational gambler. The greater degree to which you can apply a regimented framework to the sports betting process, the greater degree to which you will be successful at it.
Now, I have no problem with recreational sports gamblers or any other recreational gamblers for that matter. Recreational sports gamblers are, in fact, crucial to the survival of those of us who do this for a living. They’re not our prey “like they are for the poker professional” but a thriving recreational sports gambling industry keeps the sports books in business, and what I do is utterly useless if my book doesn’t pay me.
The life of a professional sports bettor isn’t for everyone, and if you just want to bet recreationally and have fun with it that’s great. While a few theoretical tips here and there won’t hurt, the only discipline that really matters for a recreational player is the same thing for any other hobby–don’t spend more on it than you can afford to. After that, you’re on your own to have fun with it.
The Importance Of Discipline To Betting Sports Success
Seminar Sheds Light on College Sports Betting
Seminar Sheds Light on College Sports Betting
By Nick West
of The News-Sentinel
Dozens of IPFW and statewide university officials from athletic departments, student affairs offices, counseling centers and other departments gathered at the Holiday Inn across from Memorial Coliseum last month to learn about the issues surrounding gambling and college students.
The morning session specifically focused on gambling and college athletics - student-athletes who break NCAA rules by wagering and the people who wager on those student-athletes.
University of Alabama Associate Athletic Director Chris King and NCAA Director of Agent, Gambling and Amateurism Activities Rachel Newman-Baker were the keynote speakers for the session, which was titled, “Point Spreads and Point Guards: Gambling and College Athletics.”
Their discussion was prefaced with the fact that NCAA created prohibitive rules for student-athletes to not engage in sports wagering of any institutional practice or competition - intercollegiate, amateur or professional - in an NCAA-sanctioned sport.
“Student-athletes often don't realize there's an issue with (gambling),” said King, who spent six years as a compliance officer in Alabama's athletic department and currently heads a campus advisory committee called Gambling Action Team.
King discussed the various forms of gambling available to student-athletes such as Internet Web sites, fraternities, house bookies, lotteries, racetracks and casinos. Even small pools with friends on the NCAA men's basketball tournament or Super Bowl, or fantasy sports league are illegal if money is involved.
King cited a study that said of the $400 million online bets for the 2004 Super Bowl, only $81 million were legal.
A 2003 NCAA study found that 69 percent of male and 47 percent of female NCAA student-athletes reported participating in any gambling behavior. Thirty-five percent of males and 10 percent of females wagered on sporting events, which is in direct violation of NCAA bylaws. Reasons for gambling range from student-athletes' general competitive nature to paying off debt.
Penalties can be removal from team, loss of scholarship, expulsion from college, banishment from professional sports, turned down for jobs or even prison.
Sports gambling is legal in only three states - Nevada, Delaware and small forms in Montana.
King's raised the issue that while many colleges make drug and alcohol education and assistance available, they tend to ignore gambling. Also, wagering on sports can sometimes involve organized crime.
“They don't even realize who they're betting with,” he said.
Newman-Baker's job is to educate student-athletes and university officials who have responsibilities within or over the athletics department, because it is also illegal for them to wager on sports.
“Our study tells us education really does work,” she said.
NCAA initiatives include communication with state high school athletic associations, education through Web sites like dontbetonit.org, public speaking and presentations, and encouraging coaches and team captains to take the lead.
IPFW hosted the presentation as part of a three-year grant from the state to inform administrators about gambling on college campuses and its effects.
Seminar Sheds Light on College Sports Betting
By Nick West
of The News-Sentinel
Dozens of IPFW and statewide university officials from athletic departments, student affairs offices, counseling centers and other departments gathered at the Holiday Inn across from Memorial Coliseum last month to learn about the issues surrounding gambling and college students.
The morning session specifically focused on gambling and college athletics - student-athletes who break NCAA rules by wagering and the people who wager on those student-athletes.
University of Alabama Associate Athletic Director Chris King and NCAA Director of Agent, Gambling and Amateurism Activities Rachel Newman-Baker were the keynote speakers for the session, which was titled, “Point Spreads and Point Guards: Gambling and College Athletics.”
Their discussion was prefaced with the fact that NCAA created prohibitive rules for student-athletes to not engage in sports wagering of any institutional practice or competition - intercollegiate, amateur or professional - in an NCAA-sanctioned sport.
“Student-athletes often don't realize there's an issue with (gambling),” said King, who spent six years as a compliance officer in Alabama's athletic department and currently heads a campus advisory committee called Gambling Action Team.
King discussed the various forms of gambling available to student-athletes such as Internet Web sites, fraternities, house bookies, lotteries, racetracks and casinos. Even small pools with friends on the NCAA men's basketball tournament or Super Bowl, or fantasy sports league are illegal if money is involved.
King cited a study that said of the $400 million online bets for the 2004 Super Bowl, only $81 million were legal.
A 2003 NCAA study found that 69 percent of male and 47 percent of female NCAA student-athletes reported participating in any gambling behavior. Thirty-five percent of males and 10 percent of females wagered on sporting events, which is in direct violation of NCAA bylaws. Reasons for gambling range from student-athletes' general competitive nature to paying off debt.
Penalties can be removal from team, loss of scholarship, expulsion from college, banishment from professional sports, turned down for jobs or even prison.
Sports gambling is legal in only three states - Nevada, Delaware and small forms in Montana.
King's raised the issue that while many colleges make drug and alcohol education and assistance available, they tend to ignore gambling. Also, wagering on sports can sometimes involve organized crime.
“They don't even realize who they're betting with,” he said.
Newman-Baker's job is to educate student-athletes and university officials who have responsibilities within or over the athletics department, because it is also illegal for them to wager on sports.
“Our study tells us education really does work,” she said.
NCAA initiatives include communication with state high school athletic associations, education through Web sites like dontbetonit.org, public speaking and presentations, and encouraging coaches and team captains to take the lead.
IPFW hosted the presentation as part of a three-year grant from the state to inform administrators about gambling on college campuses and its effects.
Seminar Sheds Light on College Sports Betting
Betting Sports Forum: NFL loses right to moral ground on betting issue
Betting Sports Forum: NFL loses right to moral ground on betting issue
By TIM DAHLBERG
Coming soon to a state lottery near you: NFL team logos you can save after blowing 20bucks on yet another worthless batch of scratch-off tickets.
Coming soon to the Delaware state lottery: A legitimate chance to win some money with what you know about your favorite NFL team.
One game steals your money in the name of pro football. The other at least gives you a fighting chance to test your skills.
Guess which one the NFL likes.
Yes, the league that is so terrified of gambling that it refused to allow a Las Vegas commercial during the Super Bowl a few years back is now in the gambling business itself. Aware that it can sell only so many $300 tickets to its games, the NFL has figured out a way to get a cut of some of the biggest gambling operations around.
Owners this week gave their approval for teams to put their logos on lottery tickets, in exchange for a piece of the action. The Patriots and Redskins immediately announced plans to do just that, and you can bet there will be plenty of team promotions urging folks to spend what little money they might have left on the new tickets.
No word yet on whether there will be kiosks next to the beer stands at the stadiums, but that won't likely be far behind. The one thing the NFL does know how to do is promote its product.
At the same time the league is entering the lottery business, though, it is threatening legal action if Delaware goes ahead with plans for a new lottery of its own. The NFL has serious problems with Delaware's new lottery, and not just because its greedy owners won't make money off of it.
Delaware's crime? It wants to allow sports betting in its lottery.
That apparently crosses the line for the NFL, whose stance against betting on its games has always been a bit ironic considering gamblers helped found the league and the evolution of point spreads helped make it so wildly popular. So attorneys for the league were in the courtroom the other day arguing before the Delaware Supreme Court that betting on NFL games should not be allowed.
Their reasoning? Bettors might have too good a chance to win.
Indeed, it may be true that picking winners in the NFL is easier than picking a scratch-off card at your local convenience store that might pay off. Then again, what isn't easier than going up against the astronomical odds that lotteries disclose only on the fine print that few people who buy tickets actually read.
Take the Massachusetts State Lottery, where the Patriots tickets will be sold, as an example. The lottery already runs a Boston Red Sox game, which this year offers prizes of up to $1 million for 10 lucky buyers whose only skill was being in the right line at the right time to buy a ticket and having $5 to buy it with.
The official odds show that one out of every 4 1/2 tickets is a winner. But odds of actually winning something over your original investment are more like one in eight because 10 percent of the payoffs merely give you your five bucks back.
Pick a football game against the spread, meanwhile, and you theoretically have a 50-50 chance of winning. Heck, play a three-team parlay and you're still ahead of the scratch-card odds.
Interesting that the NFL has no moral qualms about making money off people who have no clue about how high the odds are stacked against them. But it does have issues with people betting $20 on the outcome of one of its games when they have a decent likelihood of winning that bet.
It's not as simple as that, of course. The NFL will tell you it's terrified of sports betting because of the possibility someone may try to fix one of its games. But that's an old and tired argument, and the thought that an NFL game could be tampered with is laughable to a betting industry that analyzes everything from the wind patterns at Lambeau Field to the main course at the team breakfast and would quickly spot any wrongdoing.
In the end, gambling is gambling. And now that the NFL is in the gambling business, it has lost its right to the moral high ground on the issue.
Lotteries are the worst form of gambling imaginable. They prey on the weakest people and exploit their dreams.
The next time the NFL screams about sports betting, remember who is sharing its bed.
Betting Sports Forum: NFL loses right to moral ground on betting issue
By TIM DAHLBERG
Coming soon to a state lottery near you: NFL team logos you can save after blowing 20bucks on yet another worthless batch of scratch-off tickets.
Coming soon to the Delaware state lottery: A legitimate chance to win some money with what you know about your favorite NFL team.
One game steals your money in the name of pro football. The other at least gives you a fighting chance to test your skills.
Guess which one the NFL likes.
Yes, the league that is so terrified of gambling that it refused to allow a Las Vegas commercial during the Super Bowl a few years back is now in the gambling business itself. Aware that it can sell only so many $300 tickets to its games, the NFL has figured out a way to get a cut of some of the biggest gambling operations around.
Owners this week gave their approval for teams to put their logos on lottery tickets, in exchange for a piece of the action. The Patriots and Redskins immediately announced plans to do just that, and you can bet there will be plenty of team promotions urging folks to spend what little money they might have left on the new tickets.
No word yet on whether there will be kiosks next to the beer stands at the stadiums, but that won't likely be far behind. The one thing the NFL does know how to do is promote its product.
At the same time the league is entering the lottery business, though, it is threatening legal action if Delaware goes ahead with plans for a new lottery of its own. The NFL has serious problems with Delaware's new lottery, and not just because its greedy owners won't make money off of it.
Delaware's crime? It wants to allow sports betting in its lottery.
That apparently crosses the line for the NFL, whose stance against betting on its games has always been a bit ironic considering gamblers helped found the league and the evolution of point spreads helped make it so wildly popular. So attorneys for the league were in the courtroom the other day arguing before the Delaware Supreme Court that betting on NFL games should not be allowed.
Their reasoning? Bettors might have too good a chance to win.
Indeed, it may be true that picking winners in the NFL is easier than picking a scratch-off card at your local convenience store that might pay off. Then again, what isn't easier than going up against the astronomical odds that lotteries disclose only on the fine print that few people who buy tickets actually read.
Take the Massachusetts State Lottery, where the Patriots tickets will be sold, as an example. The lottery already runs a Boston Red Sox game, which this year offers prizes of up to $1 million for 10 lucky buyers whose only skill was being in the right line at the right time to buy a ticket and having $5 to buy it with.
The official odds show that one out of every 4 1/2 tickets is a winner. But odds of actually winning something over your original investment are more like one in eight because 10 percent of the payoffs merely give you your five bucks back.
Pick a football game against the spread, meanwhile, and you theoretically have a 50-50 chance of winning. Heck, play a three-team parlay and you're still ahead of the scratch-card odds.
Interesting that the NFL has no moral qualms about making money off people who have no clue about how high the odds are stacked against them. But it does have issues with people betting $20 on the outcome of one of its games when they have a decent likelihood of winning that bet.
It's not as simple as that, of course. The NFL will tell you it's terrified of sports betting because of the possibility someone may try to fix one of its games. But that's an old and tired argument, and the thought that an NFL game could be tampered with is laughable to a betting industry that analyzes everything from the wind patterns at Lambeau Field to the main course at the team breakfast and would quickly spot any wrongdoing.
In the end, gambling is gambling. And now that the NFL is in the gambling business, it has lost its right to the moral high ground on the issue.
Lotteries are the worst form of gambling imaginable. They prey on the weakest people and exploit their dreams.
The next time the NFL screams about sports betting, remember who is sharing its bed.
Betting Sports Forum: NFL loses right to moral ground on betting issue
Betting Sports Tip: Gambling News-Quality or Quantity?
Betting Sports Tip: Gambling News-Quality or Quantity?
The industry of internet casino gaming is highly competitive, but the companies operating at the market choose different ways for attracting the players and strengthen their positions. Some of them are going to realize new diversification strategy. The largest part of the companies prefers to offer to the gamers all the kinds of services and goods which are represented at the online gambling market. The smaller part supposes that the best way to the development and instant growth is to focus on one particular brunch of the industry or some specific product and become the top specialist at this sphere. These two strategies are completely different, but which of them works better?
This question is quite difficult and interesting at the same time, because we can find good and bad examples for both strategies. Some companies have recently declared they chose some direction for the future progress. It doesn’t mean they focus on some key products, but distinguish the most attractive line of the development, which has the great potential. So sales and acquisitions can be called the base of the gambling business, internet gaming market doesn’t change much, though according to some researches people visit gambling sites, but play less. That’s why many companies consider that offering the widest range of products starting from slot games to sports betting is the key to the popularity and high profits.
But other companies think that it is much more profitable to concentrate their attention on specific products and services. It is the easier way to attract new gamblers, if you become the leader of the chosen sector. Though if the company focuses on the quantity it doesn’t mean it has the gap in quality.
Betting Sports Tip: Gambling News-Quality or Quantity?
The industry of internet casino gaming is highly competitive, but the companies operating at the market choose different ways for attracting the players and strengthen their positions. Some of them are going to realize new diversification strategy. The largest part of the companies prefers to offer to the gamers all the kinds of services and goods which are represented at the online gambling market. The smaller part supposes that the best way to the development and instant growth is to focus on one particular brunch of the industry or some specific product and become the top specialist at this sphere. These two strategies are completely different, but which of them works better?
This question is quite difficult and interesting at the same time, because we can find good and bad examples for both strategies. Some companies have recently declared they chose some direction for the future progress. It doesn’t mean they focus on some key products, but distinguish the most attractive line of the development, which has the great potential. So sales and acquisitions can be called the base of the gambling business, internet gaming market doesn’t change much, though according to some researches people visit gambling sites, but play less. That’s why many companies consider that offering the widest range of products starting from slot games to sports betting is the key to the popularity and high profits.
But other companies think that it is much more profitable to concentrate their attention on specific products and services. It is the easier way to attract new gamblers, if you become the leader of the chosen sector. Though if the company focuses on the quantity it doesn’t mean it has the gap in quality.
Betting Sports Tip: Gambling News-Quality or Quantity?
Betting Sports Forum: Hard to imagine
Betting Sports Forum: Hard to imagine
By Paul Moran
Special to ESPN.com
Though news organizations in Maryland and Washington, D.C. have focused a great deal of attention last month on the ominous issues that face the racing industry in the state in which the second jewel of the Triple Crown has been run for the last 134 years, it is difficult to envision a time when the Preakness is run at another venue.
Old Hilltop is the place where Seabiscuit beat War Admiral. The legends have all walked this ground; the immortals have made it a blur beneath their hooves.
The state's political class for far too long resisted pleas for legislation that would legalize alternative forms of gambling until Pimlico and Laurel Park were methodically surrounded by states that facilitated slot machines or other similar devices. Delaware was first, then West Virginia and Pennsylvania. This political class has crippled racing and endangers a once-robust breeding community that is as much part of the state fabric as the blue crab and the Preakness.
Maryland officials are now collectively aghast at the prospect of losing the Preakness in the process of Magna Entertainment's larger interstate bankruptcy. But even if successful in keeping the race at time-worn, frayed and faded Pimlico, it may be too late. In a horse race, the last move will at times prove best. This is never true in business.
Already surrounded by states far ahead in the move to provide racetrack operators and government with new streams of revenue, Maryland, which has yet to plug in a slot machine, finds that the stakes have been raised. If slot machines are popular with many gamblers, sports betting -- prohibited in most states by federal law -- has an even wider appeal that has made wealthy generations of bookmakers.
Delaware Gov. Jack Markell pushed aggressively to legalize Las Vegas-style sports betting at the state's three racetracks, two of which are harness tracks. Delaware was one of four states grandfathered when the federal government outlawed sports betting in the other 46 states. Both houses of the legislature passed the bill in May despite objections from both NFL and NCAA. Markell signed it immediately.
The structure of sports betting in Delaware -- straight betting against a point spread or parlays -- has yet to be determined but officials at Delaware Park, one of the three racetrack/slots casinos in the state support the Las Vegas approach, which adds yet another layer of competition for gamblers in the Mid-Atlantic just north of the stretch turn at Pimlico, a short drive from Maryland's horse farms, many for sale.
The depth of nearby gambling alternatives, including Atlantic City, has isolated Maryland. Slot machines may be insufficient to make a meaningful difference at the bottom line of the racetracks operated by the Maryland Jockey Club which faces an uncertain future. Surely, the business of racing in Maryland is about to change radically but can certainly be preserved in some form. A boutique meeting ending with the Preakness at a state-owned, not-for-profit Pimlico has been suggested and not dismissed.
It is not possible to move the Preakness out of Maryland without changing dramatically the Triple Crown series itself. There is a certain order to the incremental eastward flow -- Louisville to Baltimore to New York -- and though Pimlico has never been what might be considered a showplace, its ragamuffin image has over the years become part of the charm.
A Triple Crown race at the local track is a part of a city's identity, culture and tradition, none of which are movable. Baltimore is joined at the hip to the Preakness no less so than Louisville is conjoined with the Derby. Bourbon in one town, crab cakes in the other.
There is no acceptable alternative. Philadelphia? Slot machines have revived the racing in Pennsylvania but the facility is almost completely focused on slot machines nowadays. Arlington Park? The synthetic surface would make that a controversial destination. Monmouth Park? That's a thought. Hopefully one it will not be necessary to consider seriously.
Betting Sports Forum: Hard to imagine
By Paul Moran
Special to ESPN.com
Though news organizations in Maryland and Washington, D.C. have focused a great deal of attention last month on the ominous issues that face the racing industry in the state in which the second jewel of the Triple Crown has been run for the last 134 years, it is difficult to envision a time when the Preakness is run at another venue.
Old Hilltop is the place where Seabiscuit beat War Admiral. The legends have all walked this ground; the immortals have made it a blur beneath their hooves.
The state's political class for far too long resisted pleas for legislation that would legalize alternative forms of gambling until Pimlico and Laurel Park were methodically surrounded by states that facilitated slot machines or other similar devices. Delaware was first, then West Virginia and Pennsylvania. This political class has crippled racing and endangers a once-robust breeding community that is as much part of the state fabric as the blue crab and the Preakness.
Maryland officials are now collectively aghast at the prospect of losing the Preakness in the process of Magna Entertainment's larger interstate bankruptcy. But even if successful in keeping the race at time-worn, frayed and faded Pimlico, it may be too late. In a horse race, the last move will at times prove best. This is never true in business.
Already surrounded by states far ahead in the move to provide racetrack operators and government with new streams of revenue, Maryland, which has yet to plug in a slot machine, finds that the stakes have been raised. If slot machines are popular with many gamblers, sports betting -- prohibited in most states by federal law -- has an even wider appeal that has made wealthy generations of bookmakers.
Delaware Gov. Jack Markell pushed aggressively to legalize Las Vegas-style sports betting at the state's three racetracks, two of which are harness tracks. Delaware was one of four states grandfathered when the federal government outlawed sports betting in the other 46 states. Both houses of the legislature passed the bill in May despite objections from both NFL and NCAA. Markell signed it immediately.
The structure of sports betting in Delaware -- straight betting against a point spread or parlays -- has yet to be determined but officials at Delaware Park, one of the three racetrack/slots casinos in the state support the Las Vegas approach, which adds yet another layer of competition for gamblers in the Mid-Atlantic just north of the stretch turn at Pimlico, a short drive from Maryland's horse farms, many for sale.
The depth of nearby gambling alternatives, including Atlantic City, has isolated Maryland. Slot machines may be insufficient to make a meaningful difference at the bottom line of the racetracks operated by the Maryland Jockey Club which faces an uncertain future. Surely, the business of racing in Maryland is about to change radically but can certainly be preserved in some form. A boutique meeting ending with the Preakness at a state-owned, not-for-profit Pimlico has been suggested and not dismissed.
It is not possible to move the Preakness out of Maryland without changing dramatically the Triple Crown series itself. There is a certain order to the incremental eastward flow -- Louisville to Baltimore to New York -- and though Pimlico has never been what might be considered a showplace, its ragamuffin image has over the years become part of the charm.
A Triple Crown race at the local track is a part of a city's identity, culture and tradition, none of which are movable. Baltimore is joined at the hip to the Preakness no less so than Louisville is conjoined with the Derby. Bourbon in one town, crab cakes in the other.
There is no acceptable alternative. Philadelphia? Slot machines have revived the racing in Pennsylvania but the facility is almost completely focused on slot machines nowadays. Arlington Park? The synthetic surface would make that a controversial destination. Monmouth Park? That's a thought. Hopefully one it will not be necessary to consider seriously.
Betting Sports Forum: Hard to imagine
Gambling Insiders Blast NFL Phoniness on Betting Sports
Gambling Insiders Blast NFL Phoniness on Betting Sports
The insistence by NFL leaders that sports betting remain illegal fools no one, say gaming experts who assert gambling is the cause of NFL success.
Discussion of the NFL'S aggressive stance against Delaware's legalization of sports betting has caused many gaming industry insiders to speak the truth that all know but pretend doesn't exist. They say the National Football League should be thanking its lucky stars for sports gambling, not opposing it.
NFL spokesmen have insisted the league feels any sports gambling affects the integrity of game results, and leads to corruption of players and games. But observers wonder how legal sports betting would be worse than the huge black market which now exists in the underground sports wagering world.
"How can they say that it will hurt the integrity of the games?" asked Las Vegas handicapper Brandon Lang in an interview with Newsday. "You and I both know that the NFL knows where their bread is buttered. Why is the Super Bowl so big? Because it provides so much action: The coin toss, the National Anthem, all that extra stuff. I laugh every time I hear that from the NFL."
Ex-mob bookie Michael Franzese makes speeches to athletes on the pernicious dangers of gambling and gaming influences. He tells them what the NFL refuses to admit, "Your sport is popular because people are gambling on it."
"Without betting on sports, they (the NFL) wouldn't be building stadiums; they'd be building bleachers," says Lang.
With sports betting as prevalent as it is, experts say the NFL's burgeoning popularity, and ability to sell billions in beer commercials, is based on the interest generated by having action on games. The NFL fools no one when it says gambling must remain illegal; its fanbase is made up of the people doing the gambling.
Gambling Insiders Blast NFL Phoniness on Betting Sports
The insistence by NFL leaders that sports betting remain illegal fools no one, say gaming experts who assert gambling is the cause of NFL success.
Discussion of the NFL'S aggressive stance against Delaware's legalization of sports betting has caused many gaming industry insiders to speak the truth that all know but pretend doesn't exist. They say the National Football League should be thanking its lucky stars for sports gambling, not opposing it.
NFL spokesmen have insisted the league feels any sports gambling affects the integrity of game results, and leads to corruption of players and games. But observers wonder how legal sports betting would be worse than the huge black market which now exists in the underground sports wagering world.
"How can they say that it will hurt the integrity of the games?" asked Las Vegas handicapper Brandon Lang in an interview with Newsday. "You and I both know that the NFL knows where their bread is buttered. Why is the Super Bowl so big? Because it provides so much action: The coin toss, the National Anthem, all that extra stuff. I laugh every time I hear that from the NFL."
Ex-mob bookie Michael Franzese makes speeches to athletes on the pernicious dangers of gambling and gaming influences. He tells them what the NFL refuses to admit, "Your sport is popular because people are gambling on it."
"Without betting on sports, they (the NFL) wouldn't be building stadiums; they'd be building bleachers," says Lang.
With sports betting as prevalent as it is, experts say the NFL's burgeoning popularity, and ability to sell billions in beer commercials, is based on the interest generated by having action on games. The NFL fools no one when it says gambling must remain illegal; its fanbase is made up of the people doing the gambling.
Gambling Insiders Blast NFL Phoniness on Betting Sports
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Betting Sports Tip: Paddy Power Buys Stake in Australia’s Sportsbet (Update2)
Betting Sports Tip: Paddy Power Buys Stake in Australia’s Sportsbet (Update2)
By Louisa Nesbitt
(Bloomberg) -- Paddy Power Plc, Ireland’s largest bookmaker, recently bought 51 percent of Sportsbet Pty Ltd. to expand into Australia’s gambling market.
Paddy Power will pay an initial 48.5 million Australian dollars ($36.8 million) for the stake, payable in cash and the issue of 100,000 shares, the Dublin-based company said today in a statement ahead of its annual shareholder meeting.
Paddy Power is expanding abroad as weakening economies in Ireland and the U.K. affect wagers placed in betting shops. Growth in the amounts staked at Paddy Power’s sports-betting unit accelerated “significantly” this fiscal year, partly due to the expansion of the online business outside Ireland, according to a separate statement.
“The board is satisfied with progress and momentum in the year to date and remains comfortable with the consensus market forecast for 2009 for its existing businesses, subject as ever to the volatility that could arise from sporting results,” Chairman Nigel Northridge said in the statement.
Paddy Power rose 73 cents, or 4.8 percent, to 15.99 euros in Dublin. The stock has advanced 19 percent this year, giving it a market value of 760.6 million euros ($1.04 billion).
The amount staked at Paddy Power’s sports betting business rose 1 percent at betting shops and 31 percent at its internet and telephone division, excluding currency swings, in the 19 weeks to May 12, the statement shows.
The Sportsbet acquisition will see Paddy Power enter a market similar to the U.K. and Ireland, with the same language and similar regulatory environment, Finance Director Jack Massey said in a telephone interview.
“We certainly have other things in the development pipeline we are working on,” Massey said.
Betting Sports Tip: Paddy Power Buys Stake in Australia’s Sportsbet (Update2)
By Louisa Nesbitt
(Bloomberg) -- Paddy Power Plc, Ireland’s largest bookmaker, recently bought 51 percent of Sportsbet Pty Ltd. to expand into Australia’s gambling market.
Paddy Power will pay an initial 48.5 million Australian dollars ($36.8 million) for the stake, payable in cash and the issue of 100,000 shares, the Dublin-based company said today in a statement ahead of its annual shareholder meeting.
Paddy Power is expanding abroad as weakening economies in Ireland and the U.K. affect wagers placed in betting shops. Growth in the amounts staked at Paddy Power’s sports-betting unit accelerated “significantly” this fiscal year, partly due to the expansion of the online business outside Ireland, according to a separate statement.
“The board is satisfied with progress and momentum in the year to date and remains comfortable with the consensus market forecast for 2009 for its existing businesses, subject as ever to the volatility that could arise from sporting results,” Chairman Nigel Northridge said in the statement.
Paddy Power rose 73 cents, or 4.8 percent, to 15.99 euros in Dublin. The stock has advanced 19 percent this year, giving it a market value of 760.6 million euros ($1.04 billion).
The amount staked at Paddy Power’s sports betting business rose 1 percent at betting shops and 31 percent at its internet and telephone division, excluding currency swings, in the 19 weeks to May 12, the statement shows.
The Sportsbet acquisition will see Paddy Power enter a market similar to the U.K. and Ireland, with the same language and similar regulatory environment, Finance Director Jack Massey said in a telephone interview.
“We certainly have other things in the development pipeline we are working on,” Massey said.
Betting Sports Tip: Paddy Power Buys Stake in Australia’s Sportsbet (Update2)
Betting Sports Forum: Legalize Online Gambling
Betting Sports Forum: Legalize Online Gambling
By Bob Barr
Former Georgia Congressman
In 2006, the Congress, which was then still controlled by the Republican Party, passed legislation (then signed by President George W. Bush) that explicitly restricted internet gambling. The “Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act” (UNIGEA) did this by prohibiting banks, credit card companies, and other financial institutions from processing or transferring gambling-related funds. While the 2006 law has made it virtually impossible for people wishing to place bets online for any activity other than horse racing to do so lawfully in the US, online gambling remains a multi-billion dollar industry offshore and in other countries.
Recently, Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, introduced legislation that would largely nullify the effects of UNIGEA and legalize non-sports, online gambling. The GOP and many right-wing lobby groups such as Focus on the Family and the Christian Coalition oppose online gambling and support empowering the federal government to prohibit it and other forms of gambling. They can be expected to strongly oppose Rep. Frank’s effort.
Even though Frank’s bill (HR 2267) is imperfect — it would still prohibit betting on “sporting events,” for example, and it would create a significant new federal bureaucracy within the Treasury Department to regulate, monitor and collect revenues from internet gambling licensees — it at least will open debate on the question of why the federal government should be able to put someone in prison for wagering a bet over the internet.
What is needed is legislation that simply and clearly repeals UNIGEA and that repeals or at least curtails the 1961 “Wire Act,” which continues to be broadly interpreted by the Justice Department to prohibit internet gambling. In recent years almost every state has moved to legalize some form of betting, whether by lottery, casinos or racetracks, and it makes no sense — if it ever did — to empower the federal government to continue prohibiting people from using the internet to place bets. If the only way to restore freedom in this respect is to put up with some form of regulation, let’s at least keep the regulatory aspect to a minimum and maximize the ability of adults to place bets online.
Betting Sports Forum: Legalize Online Gambling
By Bob Barr
Former Georgia Congressman
In 2006, the Congress, which was then still controlled by the Republican Party, passed legislation (then signed by President George W. Bush) that explicitly restricted internet gambling. The “Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act” (UNIGEA) did this by prohibiting banks, credit card companies, and other financial institutions from processing or transferring gambling-related funds. While the 2006 law has made it virtually impossible for people wishing to place bets online for any activity other than horse racing to do so lawfully in the US, online gambling remains a multi-billion dollar industry offshore and in other countries.
Recently, Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, introduced legislation that would largely nullify the effects of UNIGEA and legalize non-sports, online gambling. The GOP and many right-wing lobby groups such as Focus on the Family and the Christian Coalition oppose online gambling and support empowering the federal government to prohibit it and other forms of gambling. They can be expected to strongly oppose Rep. Frank’s effort.
Even though Frank’s bill (HR 2267) is imperfect — it would still prohibit betting on “sporting events,” for example, and it would create a significant new federal bureaucracy within the Treasury Department to regulate, monitor and collect revenues from internet gambling licensees — it at least will open debate on the question of why the federal government should be able to put someone in prison for wagering a bet over the internet.
What is needed is legislation that simply and clearly repeals UNIGEA and that repeals or at least curtails the 1961 “Wire Act,” which continues to be broadly interpreted by the Justice Department to prohibit internet gambling. In recent years almost every state has moved to legalize some form of betting, whether by lottery, casinos or racetracks, and it makes no sense — if it ever did — to empower the federal government to continue prohibiting people from using the internet to place bets. If the only way to restore freedom in this respect is to put up with some form of regulation, let’s at least keep the regulatory aspect to a minimum and maximize the ability of adults to place bets online.
Betting Sports Forum: Legalize Online Gambling
Offshore Betting Sports Keeps Gaming Fans in Their Homes
Offshore Betting Sports Keeps Gaming Fans in Their Homes
A new generation of gambling aficionados has encountered the expression “offshore sports betting,” but some may not be completely in the know what that stands for in detail. A foreign betting site basically performs extrinsically to the laws of a single state instead it can also mean a web based gaming internet site deploying its computer servers within the boundaries of a nation where machine-accessible sports gaming isn’t currently disallowed. Succinctly therefore, it can be delineated as a sports gambling business operative outside the country of the client. Live sports betting websites are in the main governed through 3 institutions. They are the OSGA (the Offshore Gaming Association), the IGC (Interactive Gaming Council) and the Fidelity Trust Gaming Association FTGA.
The Offshore Gaming Association is in fact a non-partisan institution which presently supervises the thriving offshore sports gambling trade with the duty to also supply the paying public the capability to easily locate fair internet sites to play betting games on, without stress. It labors to assure sports gambling devotee’s rights, and they don’t impose any membership expenses. The Offshore Gaming Association are a competent and unprejudiced third party agency who manifest impartial judgments, indicated by customer feedback, unprejudiced studies, calls, insider tips and also provides inside news.
The IGC are a non-commercially motivated organization. The council was founded to allow an arena for concerned people to talk through recent issues also to move forward collective worries in the world-wide interactive gaming business, in an effort to establish even-handed not to mention effective industry protocols and habits which raise end user certainty in internet sports gaming products and utilities, and to function as the trade’s universal strategy guardian and it also supplies an information clearinghouse.
The Interactive Gaming Council has established a reputation for developing dependability, right conduct and sincerity through the ethics it displays, and its appeal for ethical websites. The Interactive Gaming Council influences offshore sports gaming via endorsing a special ten-point code of conduct furthermore bills gaming web sites a license fee for publishing the council’s logo. Malcontent customers may, should they desire, recount their conflicts to the Interactive Gaming Council.
The FTGA was set up in a venture to produce a standard to improve the actions of internet sports betting websites. The IGC understand that by carrying on trade with honorable companies, they are able to found an affiliation of the fairest and most expert internet gaming businesses multi-nationally. There are councils which observe the conduct practiced by
world–wide web-based sports gambling and which should serve to allay some of the apprehensions experienced by doubters. Internet sports betting sites are entirely dependable; now that individual details should not be required also the recompense and the odds are generally equivalent to a regular Vegas-style sports wager. They lower travel time, but still maintain the original atmosphere, but these days you may game in the comfort of your beloved surroundings.
Offshore Betting Sports Keeps Gaming Fans in Their Homes
A new generation of gambling aficionados has encountered the expression “offshore sports betting,” but some may not be completely in the know what that stands for in detail. A foreign betting site basically performs extrinsically to the laws of a single state instead it can also mean a web based gaming internet site deploying its computer servers within the boundaries of a nation where machine-accessible sports gaming isn’t currently disallowed. Succinctly therefore, it can be delineated as a sports gambling business operative outside the country of the client. Live sports betting websites are in the main governed through 3 institutions. They are the OSGA (the Offshore Gaming Association), the IGC (Interactive Gaming Council) and the Fidelity Trust Gaming Association FTGA.
The Offshore Gaming Association is in fact a non-partisan institution which presently supervises the thriving offshore sports gambling trade with the duty to also supply the paying public the capability to easily locate fair internet sites to play betting games on, without stress. It labors to assure sports gambling devotee’s rights, and they don’t impose any membership expenses. The Offshore Gaming Association are a competent and unprejudiced third party agency who manifest impartial judgments, indicated by customer feedback, unprejudiced studies, calls, insider tips and also provides inside news.
The IGC are a non-commercially motivated organization. The council was founded to allow an arena for concerned people to talk through recent issues also to move forward collective worries in the world-wide interactive gaming business, in an effort to establish even-handed not to mention effective industry protocols and habits which raise end user certainty in internet sports gaming products and utilities, and to function as the trade’s universal strategy guardian and it also supplies an information clearinghouse.
The Interactive Gaming Council has established a reputation for developing dependability, right conduct and sincerity through the ethics it displays, and its appeal for ethical websites. The Interactive Gaming Council influences offshore sports gaming via endorsing a special ten-point code of conduct furthermore bills gaming web sites a license fee for publishing the council’s logo. Malcontent customers may, should they desire, recount their conflicts to the Interactive Gaming Council.
The FTGA was set up in a venture to produce a standard to improve the actions of internet sports betting websites. The IGC understand that by carrying on trade with honorable companies, they are able to found an affiliation of the fairest and most expert internet gaming businesses multi-nationally. There are councils which observe the conduct practiced by
world–wide web-based sports gambling and which should serve to allay some of the apprehensions experienced by doubters. Internet sports betting sites are entirely dependable; now that individual details should not be required also the recompense and the odds are generally equivalent to a regular Vegas-style sports wager. They lower travel time, but still maintain the original atmosphere, but these days you may game in the comfort of your beloved surroundings.
Offshore Betting Sports Keeps Gaming Fans in Their Homes
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Betting Line Sports: How a couple of "off" lines helped put an end to the first Delaware sports lottery...
Betting Line Sports: How a couple of "off" lines helped put an end to the first Delaware sports lottery...
Story Submitted by Pro Football Weekly (PFW)
In my story on Delaware legalizing sports wagering — and the NFL's challenge to the state's sports lottery — I briefly wrote on the curious case of how the state's first attempt at sports gambling in 1976 broke down. In short, one of the reasons the game ultimately failed is that bettors pounced on some NFL betting lines that were significantly off.
According to a New York Times story from Dec. 15, 1976, the intrigue centered on two games played in the final week of the regular season. The Delaware State Lottery Commission, in conjunction with a Princeton, N.J. systems analysis company, installed the 49ers as 6½-point road favorites over the Saints and the Packers as 6½-point road favorites over the Falcons for the state's "Touchdown 2" wager, which required bettors to pick between four and 12 NFL games against the spread.
However, sharp bettors saw the two NFL differently. According to the Times account, Joseph L. Zambanini, "a Wilmington tile contractor who [said] that he is an amateur oddsmaker and has access to 'the Las Vegas line,' the gambling underworld's' football point spread," gave multiple interviews indicating that the "smart money" had New Orleans as three-point favorites and Atlanta three-point favorites. *** In short, the Delaware line was 9½ points off from the sharp bettors on those two games. The Delaware spreads, Zambanini said, according to the Times, were a way to make "easy money."
And money did flow into the sports lottery, three times as much as the previous week, according to the Times account. Paul M. Simmons, the state's lottery director, decided to shut down the game on Saturday, Dec. 11.
Something like that would never happen today, what with the wide array of betting information available electronically and the ability to update lines with a keystroke, but it is certainly a story those administering the new edition of the Delaware sports lottery will keep in mind.
So how did the games turn out? Here's another twist: The Packers beat the Falcons, 24-20 — and interestingly enough, Green Bay closed as a 2½-point favorite, according to the Dec. 20, 1976 issue of Pro Football Weekly. So those who bet the Packers at 6½ on a parlay card in Delaware lost, but those who got them in either in Las Vegas (or betting through some other means) won. Note that the closing number represents a 5½-point swing from the "smart money" spread that caused such a stir in Delaware.
In the other game, the Niners rolled, 27-7, making their backers in Delaware and elsewhere winners. The Niners closed as three-point favorites, according to our records, another big point-spread swing. Interesting that in both games, the final line started to approach the spread set in the Delaware lottery — but it was still several points off its original projection.
What do I make of all of this? How interesting would it have been to write about all of that at the time...
*** — (Something longtime PFW readers might enjoy and something that, me, as the resident handicapping historian, found rather interesting: The "early Las Vegas line" in the Dec. 13, 1976 issue of PFW, which went to press the Monday before the final weekend of the season, had Atlanta as a two-point favorite and rated San Francisco-New Orleans as a pick 'em. At that time, PFW also set its own line, and it installed Atlanta as a four-point favorite and New Orleans as a two-point favorite.)
Betting Line Sports: How a couple of "off" lines helped put an end to the first Delaware sports lottery...
Story Submitted by Pro Football Weekly (PFW)
In my story on Delaware legalizing sports wagering — and the NFL's challenge to the state's sports lottery — I briefly wrote on the curious case of how the state's first attempt at sports gambling in 1976 broke down. In short, one of the reasons the game ultimately failed is that bettors pounced on some NFL betting lines that were significantly off.
According to a New York Times story from Dec. 15, 1976, the intrigue centered on two games played in the final week of the regular season. The Delaware State Lottery Commission, in conjunction with a Princeton, N.J. systems analysis company, installed the 49ers as 6½-point road favorites over the Saints and the Packers as 6½-point road favorites over the Falcons for the state's "Touchdown 2" wager, which required bettors to pick between four and 12 NFL games against the spread.
However, sharp bettors saw the two NFL differently. According to the Times account, Joseph L. Zambanini, "a Wilmington tile contractor who [said] that he is an amateur oddsmaker and has access to 'the Las Vegas line,' the gambling underworld's' football point spread," gave multiple interviews indicating that the "smart money" had New Orleans as three-point favorites and Atlanta three-point favorites. *** In short, the Delaware line was 9½ points off from the sharp bettors on those two games. The Delaware spreads, Zambanini said, according to the Times, were a way to make "easy money."
And money did flow into the sports lottery, three times as much as the previous week, according to the Times account. Paul M. Simmons, the state's lottery director, decided to shut down the game on Saturday, Dec. 11.
Something like that would never happen today, what with the wide array of betting information available electronically and the ability to update lines with a keystroke, but it is certainly a story those administering the new edition of the Delaware sports lottery will keep in mind.
So how did the games turn out? Here's another twist: The Packers beat the Falcons, 24-20 — and interestingly enough, Green Bay closed as a 2½-point favorite, according to the Dec. 20, 1976 issue of Pro Football Weekly. So those who bet the Packers at 6½ on a parlay card in Delaware lost, but those who got them in either in Las Vegas (or betting through some other means) won. Note that the closing number represents a 5½-point swing from the "smart money" spread that caused such a stir in Delaware.
In the other game, the Niners rolled, 27-7, making their backers in Delaware and elsewhere winners. The Niners closed as three-point favorites, according to our records, another big point-spread swing. Interesting that in both games, the final line started to approach the spread set in the Delaware lottery — but it was still several points off its original projection.
What do I make of all of this? How interesting would it have been to write about all of that at the time...
*** — (Something longtime PFW readers might enjoy and something that, me, as the resident handicapping historian, found rather interesting: The "early Las Vegas line" in the Dec. 13, 1976 issue of PFW, which went to press the Monday before the final weekend of the season, had Atlanta as a two-point favorite and rated San Francisco-New Orleans as a pick 'em. At that time, PFW also set its own line, and it installed Atlanta as a four-point favorite and New Orleans as a two-point favorite.)
Betting Line Sports: How a couple of "off" lines helped put an end to the first Delaware sports lottery...
Betting Sports Forum: New York Should Allow Sports Gambling
Betting Sports Forum: New York Should Allow Sports Gambling
The state of Delaware has now approved sports gambling. They have joined Nevada, Montana and Oregon. New York State should be on that list. Someone tell me why there are so many hypocrites who allow state lottery, but act like allowing people to bet on a game is the end of civilization as we know it?
If a person wants to legally bet on a game now, they can sign up for an off-shore account and gamble away. Of course if you just want to bet on something, and you live in Rochester, all you have to drive more than an hour and you can find a casino and play all the blackjack or slot machines that you would like. Or you can walk down to the 7-11 and buy a scratch off lottery ticket.
The biggest hypocrites in the country are the NFL owners who will publicly say they are against any additional legal forms of pro football gambling. But of course they know that their games popularity is tied to a great extent by a tremendous amount of illegal gambling on games.
Go ahead and allow sports gambling in New York. We have to make up for all of that money we are losing by having Tom Golisano takes up residence in Florida.
Betting Sports Forum: New York Should Allow Sports Gambling
The state of Delaware has now approved sports gambling. They have joined Nevada, Montana and Oregon. New York State should be on that list. Someone tell me why there are so many hypocrites who allow state lottery, but act like allowing people to bet on a game is the end of civilization as we know it?
If a person wants to legally bet on a game now, they can sign up for an off-shore account and gamble away. Of course if you just want to bet on something, and you live in Rochester, all you have to drive more than an hour and you can find a casino and play all the blackjack or slot machines that you would like. Or you can walk down to the 7-11 and buy a scratch off lottery ticket.
The biggest hypocrites in the country are the NFL owners who will publicly say they are against any additional legal forms of pro football gambling. But of course they know that their games popularity is tied to a great extent by a tremendous amount of illegal gambling on games.
Go ahead and allow sports gambling in New York. We have to make up for all of that money we are losing by having Tom Golisano takes up residence in Florida.
Betting Sports Forum: New York Should Allow Sports Gambling
Betting Sports Forum: The NFL’s Position On Sports Betting In Delaware
Betting Sports Forum: The NFL’s Position On Sports Betting In Delaware
Posted by Mike Florio
We’ve obtained, from NFL spokesman Greg Aiello, a copy of the brief submitted by the NFL to the Delaware Supreme Court, and we’ve read all of it carefully.
OK, we’ve skimmed all of it carefully.
OK, we’ve skimmed most of it.
OK, we’ve skimmed the first page and the last page. But we got the gist of it.
Here’s the context. Delaware thinks that its proposed sports betting scheme will be more likely to withstand subsequent court challenges if Delaware gets its Supreme Court to sign off on the process before the sports betting scheme is launched.
The league explains that it is opposing the Delaware sports betting scheme because “[s]ports lotteries threaten the integrity of NFL games and are grossly inconsistent with the values of the NFL.”
Here are the league’s arguments, in a nutshell.
First, the NFL contends that the question of whether sports gambling violates the Delaware Constitution is something that cannot be resolved easily or quickly. Article II, Section 17 of the Delaware Constitution permits only a lottery — and a lottery is premised on chance, not skill. The league points out that, in past cases arising in other states involving the “chance” versus “skill” debate, decisions have been made based on the development of a significant “factual record” (i.e., hours of droning witnesses and acres of dead trees and other stuff on which informed decisions can be made, if the folks digesting the information can stay awake long enough to make a decision).
Second, the NFL contends that the Delaware Supreme Court can’t offer a sufficiently binding and reliable opinion on whether the proposed sports betting scheme will violate federal law.
In 1992, the U.S. government essentially slammed the door on the expansion of sports gambling, banning all such betting and exempting only those states that already had allowed sports wagering and those states that had done so at some point between 1976 and 1990.
Delaware believes that a sports lottery game used for a brief time in 1976 fits within the exception to the federal law (and which failed miserably because gamblers were winning too consistently). But, as the NFL points out, there simply is no way for the Delaware Supreme Court to know what will happen if/when the feds decide to explore the proposed Delaware sports gambling initiative.
Third, the NFL argues that the Delaware Supreme Court can determine prospectively that sports betting necessarily involves skill, and thus violates the Delaware Constitution.
Frankly, we can’t imagine anyone taking the position that sports betting doesn’t involve skill. Some think the betting line is aimed at making the picking of a winner and a loser the equivalent of guessing whether a coin will come up heads or tails. In reality, the betting line is aimed at ensuring equal “action” on each team, with the bets canceling each other out and the house’s profit coming from the vigorish — the eleventh dollar that is bet in order to win ten of them.
So if a bettor possesses the ability to spot the situations in which the line is affected by the inaccurate perceptions of the masses, a bettor can push the odds in his or her favor by spotting those situations in which the line doesn’t reflect the realistic difference between the teams.
Finally, the NFL argues that the potential validation of the sports betting scheme by the Delaware Supreme Court disrupts the balance of power among the executive, legislative, and judicial branch by giving the highest court in the state a role in the development of legislation that, typically, a court interprets and applies after the other two branches have made it law.
Though we still aren’t sure whether the NFL should care about any of this, given that people are going to gamble regardless of whether it’s legal, we think that the NFL is right on this one. Sports betting is based on skill, and thus the proposed sports betting scheme would violate the Delaware Constitution.
Betting Sports Forum: The NFL’s Position On Sports Betting In Delaware
Posted by Mike Florio
We’ve obtained, from NFL spokesman Greg Aiello, a copy of the brief submitted by the NFL to the Delaware Supreme Court, and we’ve read all of it carefully.
OK, we’ve skimmed all of it carefully.
OK, we’ve skimmed most of it.
OK, we’ve skimmed the first page and the last page. But we got the gist of it.
Here’s the context. Delaware thinks that its proposed sports betting scheme will be more likely to withstand subsequent court challenges if Delaware gets its Supreme Court to sign off on the process before the sports betting scheme is launched.
The league explains that it is opposing the Delaware sports betting scheme because “[s]ports lotteries threaten the integrity of NFL games and are grossly inconsistent with the values of the NFL.”
Here are the league’s arguments, in a nutshell.
First, the NFL contends that the question of whether sports gambling violates the Delaware Constitution is something that cannot be resolved easily or quickly. Article II, Section 17 of the Delaware Constitution permits only a lottery — and a lottery is premised on chance, not skill. The league points out that, in past cases arising in other states involving the “chance” versus “skill” debate, decisions have been made based on the development of a significant “factual record” (i.e., hours of droning witnesses and acres of dead trees and other stuff on which informed decisions can be made, if the folks digesting the information can stay awake long enough to make a decision).
Second, the NFL contends that the Delaware Supreme Court can’t offer a sufficiently binding and reliable opinion on whether the proposed sports betting scheme will violate federal law.
In 1992, the U.S. government essentially slammed the door on the expansion of sports gambling, banning all such betting and exempting only those states that already had allowed sports wagering and those states that had done so at some point between 1976 and 1990.
Delaware believes that a sports lottery game used for a brief time in 1976 fits within the exception to the federal law (and which failed miserably because gamblers were winning too consistently). But, as the NFL points out, there simply is no way for the Delaware Supreme Court to know what will happen if/when the feds decide to explore the proposed Delaware sports gambling initiative.
Third, the NFL argues that the Delaware Supreme Court can determine prospectively that sports betting necessarily involves skill, and thus violates the Delaware Constitution.
Frankly, we can’t imagine anyone taking the position that sports betting doesn’t involve skill. Some think the betting line is aimed at making the picking of a winner and a loser the equivalent of guessing whether a coin will come up heads or tails. In reality, the betting line is aimed at ensuring equal “action” on each team, with the bets canceling each other out and the house’s profit coming from the vigorish — the eleventh dollar that is bet in order to win ten of them.
So if a bettor possesses the ability to spot the situations in which the line is affected by the inaccurate perceptions of the masses, a bettor can push the odds in his or her favor by spotting those situations in which the line doesn’t reflect the realistic difference between the teams.
Finally, the NFL argues that the potential validation of the sports betting scheme by the Delaware Supreme Court disrupts the balance of power among the executive, legislative, and judicial branch by giving the highest court in the state a role in the development of legislation that, typically, a court interprets and applies after the other two branches have made it law.
Though we still aren’t sure whether the NFL should care about any of this, given that people are going to gamble regardless of whether it’s legal, we think that the NFL is right on this one. Sports betting is based on skill, and thus the proposed sports betting scheme would violate the Delaware Constitution.
Betting Sports Forum: The NFL’s Position On Sports Betting In Delaware
Betting Sports: The fish that got away
Betting Sports: The fish that got away
Submitted by New Jersey CourierPostonline.com
New Jersey lawmakers erred by not giving Atlantic City casinos the chance to offer sports betting first.
Atlantic City already has been hit hard by the national recession and by the opening of racetrack casinos in Pennsylvania.
Things are about to get tougher.
Last week, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell signed a bill that makes betting on sports legal in the state. Delaware's two racetrack casinos -- Delaware Park in Wilmington and Dover Downs in Dover -- plan to have sports betting operations up and running by the start of the NFL season in September.
New Jersey lawmakers missed the boat, big time, and Atlantic City will pay for it in more lost business.
Delaware's racetrack casinos, which are also due to get table games such as blackjack and poker under the bill Markell signed, will lure more gamblers, drawing some of them away from Atlantic City. Delaware's casinos will now be able to offer something that no gambling parlors outside of Nevada have, including those in Atlantic City.
New Jersey could have and should have cornered the market on this.
In the 1990s, when there was federal legislation and New Jersey was given a chance to have legal sports betting, lawmakers here foolishly said no.
Then, over the past five to 10 years, when it became obvious in the Internet age that sports betting online cannot be stopped, our lawmakers didn't do anything to get the federal law changed.
Finally, U.S. Sen. Ray Lesniak, D-Union, filed suit in March to overturn the federal law that bars 46 states from legalizing sports betting. Lesniak contends, rightly so, that's its wrong to allow Delaware, Nevada, Montana and Oregon to have sports betting but not other states.
While we hope Lesniak's lawsuit is decided in New Jersey's favor, it may be too little too late. Delaware will now establish itself as a magnet for bettors who want to wager on sports. That will pull people away from Atlantic City.
New Jersey lawmakers dropped the ball on this in the early 1990s and this decade by not taking action against the federal law. We just hope the mistake doesn't cost too many more jobs in battered Atlantic City.
Betting Sports: The fish that got away
Submitted by New Jersey CourierPostonline.com
New Jersey lawmakers erred by not giving Atlantic City casinos the chance to offer sports betting first.
Atlantic City already has been hit hard by the national recession and by the opening of racetrack casinos in Pennsylvania.
Things are about to get tougher.
Last week, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell signed a bill that makes betting on sports legal in the state. Delaware's two racetrack casinos -- Delaware Park in Wilmington and Dover Downs in Dover -- plan to have sports betting operations up and running by the start of the NFL season in September.
New Jersey lawmakers missed the boat, big time, and Atlantic City will pay for it in more lost business.
Delaware's racetrack casinos, which are also due to get table games such as blackjack and poker under the bill Markell signed, will lure more gamblers, drawing some of them away from Atlantic City. Delaware's casinos will now be able to offer something that no gambling parlors outside of Nevada have, including those in Atlantic City.
New Jersey could have and should have cornered the market on this.
In the 1990s, when there was federal legislation and New Jersey was given a chance to have legal sports betting, lawmakers here foolishly said no.
Then, over the past five to 10 years, when it became obvious in the Internet age that sports betting online cannot be stopped, our lawmakers didn't do anything to get the federal law changed.
Finally, U.S. Sen. Ray Lesniak, D-Union, filed suit in March to overturn the federal law that bars 46 states from legalizing sports betting. Lesniak contends, rightly so, that's its wrong to allow Delaware, Nevada, Montana and Oregon to have sports betting but not other states.
While we hope Lesniak's lawsuit is decided in New Jersey's favor, it may be too little too late. Delaware will now establish itself as a magnet for bettors who want to wager on sports. That will pull people away from Atlantic City.
New Jersey lawmakers dropped the ball on this in the early 1990s and this decade by not taking action against the federal law. We just hope the mistake doesn't cost too many more jobs in battered Atlantic City.
Betting Sports: The fish that got away
Delaware's Betting Sports System system yet to take shape
Delaware's Betting Sports System system yet to take shape
By Frank Fitzpatrick
Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer
Even last week, as Gov. Jack Markell signed the enabling legislation in a Delaware Park VIP lounge, in front of a giant video scoreboard that listed odds on all that day's sporting matchups, few in the state were willing to bet on just how Delaware's new sports-wagering system might work.
"The shape it will take, that's not really clear at this point," said Corey Morowitz, an Atlantic City-based gambling consultant who has advised Delaware.
Will it be a football pool-type lottery like the one that flopped in Delaware in 1976? Will bettors be allowed to wager on single sporting events, in casino-style luxury, as they can in Las Vegas? Or will they be restricted to parlays - single bets on two or more events - as is the case in several Canadian provinces?
No one will know until Delaware's Supreme Court, which is scheduled to begin deliberations on the issue this week, rules on the issue.
But in the excitement generated by the legislature's decision to recommence sports wagering after a three-decades-plus absence, supporters said they favored a system that would approximate the Las Vegas sports-book experience - point spreads, single-game wagers, and all the amenities a casino can provide.
Officials at Delaware Park, the northernmost of the state's three racetrack-slot casinos - racinos - said discussions with their customers has convinced them a Las Vegas-style system is the way to go.
"These people tell us they'd be more inclined to make a straight bet, say, putting $100 against the spread on the Eagles over the Giants," said Andrew Gentile, general manager of Delaware Park, "than play some sort of parlay or lottery-type game."
Thirty-three years ago, when cash-starved states everywhere began exploring gambling's revenue potential and when the only legal option here was a bet on a mediocre horse race, Delaware, over the loud objections of the NFL, instituted a sports lottery.
Bettors were required to pick the outcomes of multiple football games, just as they would in an office pool. But the odds were high and the public's interest low. When a few state-set point spreads were so wildly out of line that they threatened to bankrupt the system, the brief experiment was discarded like a losing ticket.
The door to sports gambling was left open when, in 1992, a federal ban on the practice grandfathered in the four states - Delaware, Nevada, Oregon and Montana - where it remained legal.
Throughout the years there was occasional talk about reviving sports gambling, but it was only in the last few years, as the nation's second smallest state faced a big-state budget deficit, that the sleeping giant was reawakened.
Markell, whose first budget is projected to be nearly $800 million in the red, recently signed into law a measure that once again permits sports betting in the First State. (The legislation also permits table games at the state's three racinos, the details of which will be determined by a commission.)
Predictably, politicians, gamblers and Delaware's racino operators hailed the move as a financial panacea for the state as well as a necessary salvo in an ever-escalating gambling war with Mid-Atlantic neighbors Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland.
"I think if you polled the people in our industry and our customers, the closer we get to what Las Vegas does, the better it will be for everyone involved," said Ed Sutor, CEO of Dover Downs, a harness track.
If the court rejects single-game bets, however, most observers believe the next most likely scenario would be parlay bets, a system expert predict would generate far less revenue.
Still, regardless of the court's decision, Philadelphia-area sports bettors who make the trip south on I-95 should discover a small-scale version of a Vegas sports book whenever the system gets rolling, presumably in time for the fall start of the 2009 NFL season.
At Delaware Park, Dover Downs, and Harrington Raceway, they will find complexes that offer upscale accommodations, entertainment, food options that range from snack bars to gourmet meals, and plush sports books equipped with odds boards, trained cashiers, and scores of TVs tuned into games across the globe.
"We've got all the technology in place," said Gentile, the Delaware Park GM. "We can be up and running whenever the state wants to start."
Whatever form the sports gambling takes, operators said, the racinos won't have to invest heavily in new infrastructure.
All three already have race books, where bettors can watch and wager on horse races and jai-alai matches. A few more cashiers, some additional training, a couple more flat-screen TVs, and maybe an additional snack bar or restaurant, and they said they'll be ready to go.
"We've got more than 200 TVs and video boards already," said Gentile. "And we've got all the other amenities in place too."
Dover, which because of the economy recently scrapped plans for a $50 million addition that could have been used for a sports book and table games, will convert a now-empty, 7,500-square-foot restaurant on its site into a combined facility for sports and racing bettors.
"That will be plenty large enough most of the time," said Sutor. "But we don't know what will happen during those events that typically pack the books in Vegas, like Super Bowl weekend or the start of the NCAA tournament."
Sutor and Gentile both said they hoped the lingering sports-betting questions would be resolved in time for the 2009 NFL season this fall.
The state's Supreme Court, which was asked to intervene by Markell, already has begun accepting legal briefs from Wilmington law firms on both sides of the issue.
The NFL again has publicly come out against sports wagering in the state and recently filed an opponent's brief with the court. League spokesman Brian McCarthy said that in terms of the opposition it might mount "nothing had been ruled out."
The league contends bets on its games are illegal under Delaware law because they require skill instead of chance. That distinction is a significant one.
In 1977, the NFL sued Delaware to try to halt the gambling scheme. The Supreme Court approved the lottery system, noting that the enacting legislation allowed chance-based wagers. However, it said single-game wagers were not permitted because, in its opinion, those required an element of skill, something the law prohibited.
That reasoning has single-game proponents optimistic.
"Back then the court's ruling noted that when Jimmy the Greek picked games even up, he was right 75 percent of the time," said Sutor. "But when he picked winners using a point spread, his success rate fell to 50 percent. Well, we believe 50 percent is a chance bet."
Regardless of the outcome, Delaware, the only state east of the Mississippi where sports gambling is permitted, should find itself with a monopoly in a heavily populated, gambling-savvy region.
"We already draw from several markets - Delaware, Southeast Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and Baltimore-D.C.," said Ray Spera, Delaware Park's senior vice president. "We would expect that sports betting would give us a deeper penetration in all of those areas."
Oregon, which had a sports lottery, dropped it in 2006 after the NCAA threatened to prohibit any of its tournaments from being played there.
The NCAA could penalize Delaware in much the same way, a move that could seriously impact the University of Delaware.
Delaware athletic director Edgar Johnson said the school has remained neutral on the sports-betting issue because it collects a sizable portion of its revenue from the state.
But, Johnson said, it would be "wrongheaded" for the NCAA to penalize the school's student-athletes for a situation over which they have no control.
"Our football team has been in two national championship games in the last five years," he said. "They've had several playoff games at home. We've hosted national lacrosse playoffs, and we're making a bid now to hold a national volleyball tournament at the Carpenter Complex.
"If all that is taken away because Delaware has legalized sports betting, it would not only hurt our student-athletes but have a serious impact on our entire athletic program."
Not surprisingly, estimates on how much revenue sports gambling would generate for the state vary widely.
Delaware's Betting Sports System system yet to take shape
By Frank Fitzpatrick
Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer
Even last week, as Gov. Jack Markell signed the enabling legislation in a Delaware Park VIP lounge, in front of a giant video scoreboard that listed odds on all that day's sporting matchups, few in the state were willing to bet on just how Delaware's new sports-wagering system might work.
"The shape it will take, that's not really clear at this point," said Corey Morowitz, an Atlantic City-based gambling consultant who has advised Delaware.
Will it be a football pool-type lottery like the one that flopped in Delaware in 1976? Will bettors be allowed to wager on single sporting events, in casino-style luxury, as they can in Las Vegas? Or will they be restricted to parlays - single bets on two or more events - as is the case in several Canadian provinces?
No one will know until Delaware's Supreme Court, which is scheduled to begin deliberations on the issue this week, rules on the issue.
But in the excitement generated by the legislature's decision to recommence sports wagering after a three-decades-plus absence, supporters said they favored a system that would approximate the Las Vegas sports-book experience - point spreads, single-game wagers, and all the amenities a casino can provide.
Officials at Delaware Park, the northernmost of the state's three racetrack-slot casinos - racinos - said discussions with their customers has convinced them a Las Vegas-style system is the way to go.
"These people tell us they'd be more inclined to make a straight bet, say, putting $100 against the spread on the Eagles over the Giants," said Andrew Gentile, general manager of Delaware Park, "than play some sort of parlay or lottery-type game."
Thirty-three years ago, when cash-starved states everywhere began exploring gambling's revenue potential and when the only legal option here was a bet on a mediocre horse race, Delaware, over the loud objections of the NFL, instituted a sports lottery.
Bettors were required to pick the outcomes of multiple football games, just as they would in an office pool. But the odds were high and the public's interest low. When a few state-set point spreads were so wildly out of line that they threatened to bankrupt the system, the brief experiment was discarded like a losing ticket.
The door to sports gambling was left open when, in 1992, a federal ban on the practice grandfathered in the four states - Delaware, Nevada, Oregon and Montana - where it remained legal.
Throughout the years there was occasional talk about reviving sports gambling, but it was only in the last few years, as the nation's second smallest state faced a big-state budget deficit, that the sleeping giant was reawakened.
Markell, whose first budget is projected to be nearly $800 million in the red, recently signed into law a measure that once again permits sports betting in the First State. (The legislation also permits table games at the state's three racinos, the details of which will be determined by a commission.)
Predictably, politicians, gamblers and Delaware's racino operators hailed the move as a financial panacea for the state as well as a necessary salvo in an ever-escalating gambling war with Mid-Atlantic neighbors Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland.
"I think if you polled the people in our industry and our customers, the closer we get to what Las Vegas does, the better it will be for everyone involved," said Ed Sutor, CEO of Dover Downs, a harness track.
If the court rejects single-game bets, however, most observers believe the next most likely scenario would be parlay bets, a system expert predict would generate far less revenue.
Still, regardless of the court's decision, Philadelphia-area sports bettors who make the trip south on I-95 should discover a small-scale version of a Vegas sports book whenever the system gets rolling, presumably in time for the fall start of the 2009 NFL season.
At Delaware Park, Dover Downs, and Harrington Raceway, they will find complexes that offer upscale accommodations, entertainment, food options that range from snack bars to gourmet meals, and plush sports books equipped with odds boards, trained cashiers, and scores of TVs tuned into games across the globe.
"We've got all the technology in place," said Gentile, the Delaware Park GM. "We can be up and running whenever the state wants to start."
Whatever form the sports gambling takes, operators said, the racinos won't have to invest heavily in new infrastructure.
All three already have race books, where bettors can watch and wager on horse races and jai-alai matches. A few more cashiers, some additional training, a couple more flat-screen TVs, and maybe an additional snack bar or restaurant, and they said they'll be ready to go.
"We've got more than 200 TVs and video boards already," said Gentile. "And we've got all the other amenities in place too."
Dover, which because of the economy recently scrapped plans for a $50 million addition that could have been used for a sports book and table games, will convert a now-empty, 7,500-square-foot restaurant on its site into a combined facility for sports and racing bettors.
"That will be plenty large enough most of the time," said Sutor. "But we don't know what will happen during those events that typically pack the books in Vegas, like Super Bowl weekend or the start of the NCAA tournament."
Sutor and Gentile both said they hoped the lingering sports-betting questions would be resolved in time for the 2009 NFL season this fall.
The state's Supreme Court, which was asked to intervene by Markell, already has begun accepting legal briefs from Wilmington law firms on both sides of the issue.
The NFL again has publicly come out against sports wagering in the state and recently filed an opponent's brief with the court. League spokesman Brian McCarthy said that in terms of the opposition it might mount "nothing had been ruled out."
The league contends bets on its games are illegal under Delaware law because they require skill instead of chance. That distinction is a significant one.
In 1977, the NFL sued Delaware to try to halt the gambling scheme. The Supreme Court approved the lottery system, noting that the enacting legislation allowed chance-based wagers. However, it said single-game wagers were not permitted because, in its opinion, those required an element of skill, something the law prohibited.
That reasoning has single-game proponents optimistic.
"Back then the court's ruling noted that when Jimmy the Greek picked games even up, he was right 75 percent of the time," said Sutor. "But when he picked winners using a point spread, his success rate fell to 50 percent. Well, we believe 50 percent is a chance bet."
Regardless of the outcome, Delaware, the only state east of the Mississippi where sports gambling is permitted, should find itself with a monopoly in a heavily populated, gambling-savvy region.
"We already draw from several markets - Delaware, Southeast Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and Baltimore-D.C.," said Ray Spera, Delaware Park's senior vice president. "We would expect that sports betting would give us a deeper penetration in all of those areas."
Oregon, which had a sports lottery, dropped it in 2006 after the NCAA threatened to prohibit any of its tournaments from being played there.
The NCAA could penalize Delaware in much the same way, a move that could seriously impact the University of Delaware.
Delaware athletic director Edgar Johnson said the school has remained neutral on the sports-betting issue because it collects a sizable portion of its revenue from the state.
But, Johnson said, it would be "wrongheaded" for the NCAA to penalize the school's student-athletes for a situation over which they have no control.
"Our football team has been in two national championship games in the last five years," he said. "They've had several playoff games at home. We've hosted national lacrosse playoffs, and we're making a bid now to hold a national volleyball tournament at the Carpenter Complex.
"If all that is taken away because Delaware has legalized sports betting, it would not only hurt our student-athletes but have a serious impact on our entire athletic program."
Not surprisingly, estimates on how much revenue sports gambling would generate for the state vary widely.
Delaware's Betting Sports System system yet to take shape
Saturday, May 9, 2009
House OKs Retooled Betting Sports Plan
House OKs Retooled Betting Sports Plan
ESPN.com news services
A reworked sports betting bill passed the Delaware House of Representatives last week, greatly improving the odds that the First State will become the only state east of the Mississippi to allow legal gambling on sporting events.
An earlier version of the bill that would have authorized sports betting fell two votes short of a needed three-fifths majority. But the proposal, backed by Gov. Jack Markell as a means to address the state's fiscal crisis, was amended to address some concerns of the state's three racetrack/casinos.
"My administration worked with the leadership in the house and senate to get this done," Markell said in a prepared statement. "We never stopped fighting to do what was right for the taxpayers of Delaware."
Under the new proposal, the racetrack/casinos will eventually be allowed to conduct table games -- currently, only slot machines and other electronic gaming are allowed -- and will see a larger share of sports betting revenues than what was initially proposed.
The reworked bill passed the House 30-4. It still requires passage in the state Senate and Markell's signature to become law.
Markell said the current proposal bill will bring in an estimated $52 million in fiscal 2010, but added that could increase if table games are running by early next year, according to The News Journal of Wilmington. Markell is already proposing an 8 percent wage decrease for state workers as Delaware deals with budget woes.
Major sports leagues and the NCAA have opposed the proposal. Delaware, which briefly experimented with a sports lottery in the 1970s, is one of four states grandfathered under a 1992 law that bars states from establishing legal sports betting. Montana, Oregon and Nevada are the others.
House OKs Retooled Betting Sports Plan
ESPN.com news services
A reworked sports betting bill passed the Delaware House of Representatives last week, greatly improving the odds that the First State will become the only state east of the Mississippi to allow legal gambling on sporting events.
An earlier version of the bill that would have authorized sports betting fell two votes short of a needed three-fifths majority. But the proposal, backed by Gov. Jack Markell as a means to address the state's fiscal crisis, was amended to address some concerns of the state's three racetrack/casinos.
"My administration worked with the leadership in the house and senate to get this done," Markell said in a prepared statement. "We never stopped fighting to do what was right for the taxpayers of Delaware."
Under the new proposal, the racetrack/casinos will eventually be allowed to conduct table games -- currently, only slot machines and other electronic gaming are allowed -- and will see a larger share of sports betting revenues than what was initially proposed.
The reworked bill passed the House 30-4. It still requires passage in the state Senate and Markell's signature to become law.
Markell said the current proposal bill will bring in an estimated $52 million in fiscal 2010, but added that could increase if table games are running by early next year, according to The News Journal of Wilmington. Markell is already proposing an 8 percent wage decrease for state workers as Delaware deals with budget woes.
Major sports leagues and the NCAA have opposed the proposal. Delaware, which briefly experimented with a sports lottery in the 1970s, is one of four states grandfathered under a 1992 law that bars states from establishing legal sports betting. Montana, Oregon and Nevada are the others.
House OKs Retooled Betting Sports Plan
Win Big at Online Betting Sports
Win Big at Online Betting Sports
Gambling has been made easy with the advent of Internet. But one must step cautiously. Internet is a depthless, endless space and if you do not know your way around, you may just get tricked. And getting tricked for money is never a pleasing experience. If you enjoy gambling and like winning money on your bets and have just ventured in to the world of gambling online, then we propose Online Gambling. A comprehensive, educative guide to all your online gambling tips, complete with useful tips and directing you to the best betting offers available - that’s Online Gambling for you.
So what is it that you want to bet your money on? Is it lotto, bingo, slots, casino games or is it pure sports that you want to dabble in? Whatever may be your choice, Online Gambling has an offer for you to have fun with your money! But we take gambling seriously. It is not just for fun, it is also to help the players get better odds. To achieve that, we have used the best available internet tools and options to pick up the best gambling offers for you so that you can make an informed decision.
Each gambling site or casino, lotto or bingo site are handpicked by the team behind the website, so that those are secure, trustworthy and can give you a complete gaming experience. We do not encourage frivolous, shady websites and we work hard towards ensuring that all the sites listed in our website are good. When it comes to gambling, safety and accuracy are of paramount importance. You wouldn’t want your money put in a gambling site where the software logic has errors and may end up giving inaccurate results. It is here that Online Gambling comes in - a great website ensuring that your playing experience is safe and accurate.
We want to keep our customers happy and those who take gambling seriously know how important it is to maintain your standard and reputation in order to get repeat business. Each gambling site represented in our website has proven track records and have won awards of excellence from time to time. So we will see to it that you are in safe hands.
The best part of Online Gambling website lies also in the fact that once you register, you get a free deposit bonus. You can utilize that amount towards your initial games. Registration is mandatory to each site once you decide on a few. You will also need to specify the currency of transaction. Once the details are entered and verified, you can start betting right away! Since we do not charge you anything for connecting you to the best gambling portals online or for giving you a crash course on different sports if you are in to sports betting, we are quite sure that gambling with us will be an enjoyable experience for you.
Win Big at Online Betting Sports
Gambling has been made easy with the advent of Internet. But one must step cautiously. Internet is a depthless, endless space and if you do not know your way around, you may just get tricked. And getting tricked for money is never a pleasing experience. If you enjoy gambling and like winning money on your bets and have just ventured in to the world of gambling online, then we propose Online Gambling. A comprehensive, educative guide to all your online gambling tips, complete with useful tips and directing you to the best betting offers available - that’s Online Gambling for you.
So what is it that you want to bet your money on? Is it lotto, bingo, slots, casino games or is it pure sports that you want to dabble in? Whatever may be your choice, Online Gambling has an offer for you to have fun with your money! But we take gambling seriously. It is not just for fun, it is also to help the players get better odds. To achieve that, we have used the best available internet tools and options to pick up the best gambling offers for you so that you can make an informed decision.
Each gambling site or casino, lotto or bingo site are handpicked by the team behind the website, so that those are secure, trustworthy and can give you a complete gaming experience. We do not encourage frivolous, shady websites and we work hard towards ensuring that all the sites listed in our website are good. When it comes to gambling, safety and accuracy are of paramount importance. You wouldn’t want your money put in a gambling site where the software logic has errors and may end up giving inaccurate results. It is here that Online Gambling comes in - a great website ensuring that your playing experience is safe and accurate.
We want to keep our customers happy and those who take gambling seriously know how important it is to maintain your standard and reputation in order to get repeat business. Each gambling site represented in our website has proven track records and have won awards of excellence from time to time. So we will see to it that you are in safe hands.
The best part of Online Gambling website lies also in the fact that once you register, you get a free deposit bonus. You can utilize that amount towards your initial games. Registration is mandatory to each site once you decide on a few. You will also need to specify the currency of transaction. Once the details are entered and verified, you can start betting right away! Since we do not charge you anything for connecting you to the best gambling portals online or for giving you a crash course on different sports if you are in to sports betting, we are quite sure that gambling with us will be an enjoyable experience for you.
Win Big at Online Betting Sports
Legal or illegal, Betting Sports is still big business
Legal or illegal, Betting Sports is still big business
China's lottery could topple those of the United States and become the world's first hundred billion dollar lottery, according to China Center for Lottery Studies at Peking University.
It has the potential to grow more than tenfold from its current level of $15 billion sales with more than 100 million players to one worth $150 billion.
Wang Xuehong, executive director of the China Center for Lottery Studies and a senior research fellow, Ministry of Finance, said the China Lottery has huge potential for growth, if it could capture some of the illicit gaming market.
"The challenge has to be to win back the 300 billion yuan spent on illegal lottery games and that is where a lot of China's immediate lottery growth could come from,” she said.
"This can be achieved by making a lot of the China lottery games more exciting and interesting to play. I think if this can be done then China's lottery could easily grow to a thousand billion yuan in a relatively short time frame."
If China's lottery was to grow to $150 billion, it would be almost three times the size of that of the combined state lotteries of the United States, the world's largest lottery market, which generated sales of $53.7 billion in 2007, according to US lottery games giant Scientific Games.
It would dwarf those of Italy with annual sales of $21.1 billion, Spain with $14.7 billion, France with $13.7 billion and the United Kingdom with $9.6 billion.
It would also be of equivalent size to the entire economic output of countries such as Egypt and New Zealand.
There has been speculation within the global lottery industry that the Chinese government could be set to issue a third major lottery license, its first in 15 years, to raise revenue for cultural and educational projects.
A new license would coincide with the drafting of China's first Lottery Act, which received the backing of the State Council last week.
Gary Newman, chairman and chief executive officer of Global Lottery Corporation (GLC), based in Las Vegas, Nevada, one of the world's leading lottery technology providers, said talk of a new license in China is currently the major talking point in the world's lottery industry.
"It will be dramatic. Rumors are all out there to lottery service providers that a third license has been issued and it is a national license,” he said.
"We have heard they (the Chinese government) want to go the cellular route. It would mean a person's cell phone would be a retail lottery terminal and it would open up big revenue streams for the government."
A government source, however, told China Daily there was no plans for a third license to be issued.
A move towards being able to play the lottery on mobile phones would be a logical move for the Chinese government, however.
One of the big problems for the existing lottery, which has been running for 22 years, is the relatively small number of participants.
Last year, China's lottery amassed revenues of just $15.6 billion (105.1 billion yuan), compared to an estimated $45 billion (300 billion yuan) spent on illegal lotteries and around $150 billion (1.03 trillion yuan) spent in total on illegal forms of betting.
It is estimated that only 18 percent of China's 1.3 billion people have ever played the lottery and the fact that there are 500 million mobile phone users in China would considerably widen the access.
Newman at GLC, which has offices in San Diego, Vancouver, London and Hong Kong, said he believes cellular is a potential way forward for China.
"The key advantage would be speed, ease and the fact that almost everyone has got a cellphone. There are real problems in such a vast country of doing it through retail outlets since it is immensely expensive," he said.
Tang Namei, a 25-year-old financial manager who lives in Shenzhen and is a regular lottery player, said she would welcome other distribution channels to play the lottery.
"I would play the lottery on my mobile phone if I was too busy to go and buy a ticket because it would be more convenient," she said.
Some such as Huang Yi, 27, a bank accountant from Luxian County in Sichuan province, would still prefer the security of a paper ticket.
"I don't like the idea of playing the lottery on my mobile phone because I like the security and certainty of being able to hold onto a ticket," he said.
China issued the first license for a welfare lottery in 1987 and a second one for sports in 1994.
Wang, who studied gaming management at the University of Nevada in Reno and is involved in drafting China's Lottery Act, said she believes that if China's lottery is to grow and develop it needs the right regulatory framework in place.
"If the lottery is to grow, much depends on the policy of the government. Sometimes decisions can be taken overnight which are not based on either the industry's or the market's needs and there is a need for a much longer-term approach," she said.
"If there are the right laws in place, people feel confident playing the lottery and this leads to greater consumer confidence among players," she said.
The lottery has been a consistent revenue earner for the government. The sports lottery, which celebrated its 15th anniversary this month, provided $400m (2.75 billion yuan) toward last year's Beijing Olympics. It has also funded 8,728 park-based fitness areas, 132 fitness centers and 12 sports parks under China's national fitness program.
Wang Jun, deputy director of the China General Administration of Sport, said it had made a major contribution to sports.
"Without the public welfare fund from the sports lottery, we won't be having such excellent fitness facilities for the ordinary citizens in such a short time," he said.
"It serves as a strong impetus in our effort to let ordinary Chinese do exercise and keep healthy."
Wang at the China Center for Lottery Studies insisted this sort of funding would massively increase if the lottery was made more exciting for players.
"If it doesn't come up with interesting games then people will graduate to the illegal lottery and other forms of gambling," she said.
"There needs to be more products provided to the market. There always needs to be more advertising and promoting of the lottery."
"The key change, however, needs to be in the distribution network. It needs to be enhanced and made better and become much more market-orientated."
For Chinese lottery players, however, winning is everything. Tang, the financial manager from Shenzhen, said she still hopes to win the jackpot one day.
"I have been buying welfare tickets for a year and got several 10 yuan prizes, although a colleague of mine won a big prize a couple of weeks ago. I'll keep buying until some day I win the jackpot," she said.
Legal or illegal, Betting Sports is still big business
China's lottery could topple those of the United States and become the world's first hundred billion dollar lottery, according to China Center for Lottery Studies at Peking University.
It has the potential to grow more than tenfold from its current level of $15 billion sales with more than 100 million players to one worth $150 billion.
Wang Xuehong, executive director of the China Center for Lottery Studies and a senior research fellow, Ministry of Finance, said the China Lottery has huge potential for growth, if it could capture some of the illicit gaming market.
"The challenge has to be to win back the 300 billion yuan spent on illegal lottery games and that is where a lot of China's immediate lottery growth could come from,” she said.
"This can be achieved by making a lot of the China lottery games more exciting and interesting to play. I think if this can be done then China's lottery could easily grow to a thousand billion yuan in a relatively short time frame."
If China's lottery was to grow to $150 billion, it would be almost three times the size of that of the combined state lotteries of the United States, the world's largest lottery market, which generated sales of $53.7 billion in 2007, according to US lottery games giant Scientific Games.
It would dwarf those of Italy with annual sales of $21.1 billion, Spain with $14.7 billion, France with $13.7 billion and the United Kingdom with $9.6 billion.
It would also be of equivalent size to the entire economic output of countries such as Egypt and New Zealand.
There has been speculation within the global lottery industry that the Chinese government could be set to issue a third major lottery license, its first in 15 years, to raise revenue for cultural and educational projects.
A new license would coincide with the drafting of China's first Lottery Act, which received the backing of the State Council last week.
Gary Newman, chairman and chief executive officer of Global Lottery Corporation (GLC), based in Las Vegas, Nevada, one of the world's leading lottery technology providers, said talk of a new license in China is currently the major talking point in the world's lottery industry.
"It will be dramatic. Rumors are all out there to lottery service providers that a third license has been issued and it is a national license,” he said.
"We have heard they (the Chinese government) want to go the cellular route. It would mean a person's cell phone would be a retail lottery terminal and it would open up big revenue streams for the government."
A government source, however, told China Daily there was no plans for a third license to be issued.
A move towards being able to play the lottery on mobile phones would be a logical move for the Chinese government, however.
One of the big problems for the existing lottery, which has been running for 22 years, is the relatively small number of participants.
Last year, China's lottery amassed revenues of just $15.6 billion (105.1 billion yuan), compared to an estimated $45 billion (300 billion yuan) spent on illegal lotteries and around $150 billion (1.03 trillion yuan) spent in total on illegal forms of betting.
It is estimated that only 18 percent of China's 1.3 billion people have ever played the lottery and the fact that there are 500 million mobile phone users in China would considerably widen the access.
Newman at GLC, which has offices in San Diego, Vancouver, London and Hong Kong, said he believes cellular is a potential way forward for China.
"The key advantage would be speed, ease and the fact that almost everyone has got a cellphone. There are real problems in such a vast country of doing it through retail outlets since it is immensely expensive," he said.
Tang Namei, a 25-year-old financial manager who lives in Shenzhen and is a regular lottery player, said she would welcome other distribution channels to play the lottery.
"I would play the lottery on my mobile phone if I was too busy to go and buy a ticket because it would be more convenient," she said.
Some such as Huang Yi, 27, a bank accountant from Luxian County in Sichuan province, would still prefer the security of a paper ticket.
"I don't like the idea of playing the lottery on my mobile phone because I like the security and certainty of being able to hold onto a ticket," he said.
China issued the first license for a welfare lottery in 1987 and a second one for sports in 1994.
Wang, who studied gaming management at the University of Nevada in Reno and is involved in drafting China's Lottery Act, said she believes that if China's lottery is to grow and develop it needs the right regulatory framework in place.
"If the lottery is to grow, much depends on the policy of the government. Sometimes decisions can be taken overnight which are not based on either the industry's or the market's needs and there is a need for a much longer-term approach," she said.
"If there are the right laws in place, people feel confident playing the lottery and this leads to greater consumer confidence among players," she said.
The lottery has been a consistent revenue earner for the government. The sports lottery, which celebrated its 15th anniversary this month, provided $400m (2.75 billion yuan) toward last year's Beijing Olympics. It has also funded 8,728 park-based fitness areas, 132 fitness centers and 12 sports parks under China's national fitness program.
Wang Jun, deputy director of the China General Administration of Sport, said it had made a major contribution to sports.
"Without the public welfare fund from the sports lottery, we won't be having such excellent fitness facilities for the ordinary citizens in such a short time," he said.
"It serves as a strong impetus in our effort to let ordinary Chinese do exercise and keep healthy."
Wang at the China Center for Lottery Studies insisted this sort of funding would massively increase if the lottery was made more exciting for players.
"If it doesn't come up with interesting games then people will graduate to the illegal lottery and other forms of gambling," she said.
"There needs to be more products provided to the market. There always needs to be more advertising and promoting of the lottery."
"The key change, however, needs to be in the distribution network. It needs to be enhanced and made better and become much more market-orientated."
For Chinese lottery players, however, winning is everything. Tang, the financial manager from Shenzhen, said she still hopes to win the jackpot one day.
"I have been buying welfare tickets for a year and got several 10 yuan prizes, although a colleague of mine won a big prize a couple of weeks ago. I'll keep buying until some day I win the jackpot," she said.
Legal or illegal, Betting Sports is still big business
A New Chance for Online Betting Sports in the U.S.
A New Chance for Online Betting Sports in the U.S.
By ERIC PFANNER
New York Times
PARIS — Is online gambling coming in from the cold?
When the U.S. Congress cracked down on Internet betting in 2006, the big, publicly traded European companies that had dominated the business closed up shop in the United States. Growth in the booming industry shifted away from these companies, once the darlings of the stock market, to private operators in offshore locations like Antigua and the Isle of Man.
But now, executives of some of the European companies whisper excitedly that they may soon get a second chance in the United States. Meanwhile, a number of European countries that have long maintained barriers are moving, under pressure from regulators, to legalize, and tax, online gambling.
“There’s still a lot of gambling going on, where there’s no revenue coming in to the governments,” said Gavin Kelleher, an analyst at the research firm H2 Gambling Capital in Ireland. “They realize they could use the revenue.”
The biggest potential change would be in the United States, where, perhaps within days, Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, is expected to introduce legislation aimed at overturning the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.
“He supports the repeal and wants to move forward on it,” said Steve Adamske, communications director for the House Financial Services Committee, of which Mr. Frank is chairman.
Mr. Frank tried and failed to do so once before, in 2007. But advocates of liberalization think they might get a friendlier hearing in Washington this time around. President Barack Obama, they note, boasted of his poker prowess during the election campaign. And the Democrats, who are seen as less hostile to Internet gambling than the Republicans, have tightened their grip on Congress.
A study by PricewaterhouseCoopers says the U.S. government could raise more than $50 billion over 10 years from taxes on legalized online gambling.
“I’d be amazed if it didn’t happen over the next two or three years,” said Clive Hawkswood, chief executive of the Remote Gambling Association, a trade group based in London. “It’s just a question of what exactly the regulations will say.”
Some analysts say that may be getting a little bit ahead of the game. Opponents of a repeal, including the Christian Coalition of America and the National Football League, have vowed to fight any new effort to end the ban.
Michele Combs, a spokeswoman for the Christian Coalition, said the group was gearing up for a “massive campaign” of letter-writing and lobbying to try to prevent any loosening of the law.
“We’re not saying people shouldn’t go to Las Vegas,” she said. “But when it’s in your home, it’s too easy. It breaks up families.”
U.S. sports leagues, meanwhile, worry that the ease of online betting increases the chances of game-fixing. Even the most bullish advocates of online gambling acknowledge that Internet sports betting — as opposed to poker or casino games — is highly unlikely to be legalized.
“There’s a better chance now for some sort of gaming legislation to be approved,” said Nick Batram, an analyst at KBC Peel Hunt, a brokerage firm in London. “But it took longer than expected to put anti-gaming legislation in place, and it will probably will take longer than expected to remove it.”
Since the 2006 law was passed, North America, once the biggest market, has been passed by Europe and Asia, according to figures from H2 Gambling Capital. The law makes it illegal for financial institutions to handle payments to online gambling sites. But enough people have found ways around it, some by using overseas payment processors, to ensure that online gambling remains a thriving business. H2 says online gambling generated revenue of $6 billion last year in North America, more than a quarter the global total of $22.6 billion, up from $17.6 billion in 2006.
Pulling out of the United States cost PartyGaming about three-quarters of its business. Its position as the biggest online poker provider has been taken over by PokerStars, a privately held operator based on the Isle of Man.
This month, PartyGaming agreed to a $105 million settlement with the U.S. attorney’s office in New York, involving the period before 2006, when it acknowledged that its activities had been “contrary to certain U.S. laws.” In turn, the U.S. authorities agreed not to prosecute the company, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, or its executives.
The agreement fueled speculation that PartyGaming might be trying to position itself for a return to the U.S. market, if online gambling were legalized.
Analysts say one possibility for European companies like PartyGaming, should the ban be lifted, would be to form partnerships with American casino operators. That would allow the European companies to share their online expertise. Operating alone, they might struggle to obtain licenses, given their history of run-ins with U.S. law enforcement, analysts said.
“It’s my feeling that even if the market were opened up, the U.S. government, in a palatable way, would probably find a way to give local companies a favorable position,” Mr. Batram said.
So far, Las Vegas executives have maintained a cautious stance about legalization of online gambling. Steve Wynn, chief executive of Wynn Resorts, said in an e-mail message that he thought it would be “impossible to regulate.”
“Even though it would be a benefit to our company, we are strongly opposed,” he said.
But speculation that Las Vegas casino operators were looking into the possibilities was fueled by recent reports that Harrah’s Entertainment, which owns Caesars Palace and other casinos, recently hired Mitch Garber, former chief executive of PartyGaming, for an unspecified role. Harrah’s did not return calls.
Mr. Ryan said that PartyGaming planned to focus on acquisition opportunities to increase its market share in Europe and elsewhere, something that was difficult as long as investors were worried about the U.S. litigation. “We think Mr. Frank’s efforts are quite meaningful to the sector,” he said.
Several other online gambling companies whose shares are traded in London, including 888 Holdings and Sportingbet, are still in talks with the U.S. Justice Department. Analysts expect them, along with companies like Bwin International, whose stock is traded in Vienna, to be involved in a round of consolidation in the industry — along with a possible eventual move back into the United States.
As they await developments in Washington, online gambling companies are looking for growth in Europe and Asia. Under pressure from regulators in Brussels, several European Union members, including France, Italy, Spain and Denmark, have been moving to legalize some kinds of online gambling, turning it into a regulated and taxed business. Britain was the first big European country to do so, in 2005.
Other countries, like Germany, Greece and the Netherlands, continue to hold out, though, in what the European Commission sees as an effort to protect government-sponsored gambling monopolies from private competition.
The commission in March published a report arguing that the United States was violating World Trade Organization rules by keeping out European online gambling companies, given that online betting on horse racing is permitted in the United States. But the commission said that it favored negotiations, rather than legal action, to end the dispute.
Also in March, however, the European Parliament adopted a separate measure supporting the right of individual E.U. member states to make their own rules on online gambling.
“It’s interesting that the European Commission is telling the U.S. it’s persecuting European companies when it can’t even get its own house sorted out,” Mr. Batram said.
A New Chance for Online Betting Sports in the U.S.
By ERIC PFANNER
New York Times
PARIS — Is online gambling coming in from the cold?
When the U.S. Congress cracked down on Internet betting in 2006, the big, publicly traded European companies that had dominated the business closed up shop in the United States. Growth in the booming industry shifted away from these companies, once the darlings of the stock market, to private operators in offshore locations like Antigua and the Isle of Man.
But now, executives of some of the European companies whisper excitedly that they may soon get a second chance in the United States. Meanwhile, a number of European countries that have long maintained barriers are moving, under pressure from regulators, to legalize, and tax, online gambling.
“There’s still a lot of gambling going on, where there’s no revenue coming in to the governments,” said Gavin Kelleher, an analyst at the research firm H2 Gambling Capital in Ireland. “They realize they could use the revenue.”
The biggest potential change would be in the United States, where, perhaps within days, Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, is expected to introduce legislation aimed at overturning the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.
“He supports the repeal and wants to move forward on it,” said Steve Adamske, communications director for the House Financial Services Committee, of which Mr. Frank is chairman.
Mr. Frank tried and failed to do so once before, in 2007. But advocates of liberalization think they might get a friendlier hearing in Washington this time around. President Barack Obama, they note, boasted of his poker prowess during the election campaign. And the Democrats, who are seen as less hostile to Internet gambling than the Republicans, have tightened their grip on Congress.
A study by PricewaterhouseCoopers says the U.S. government could raise more than $50 billion over 10 years from taxes on legalized online gambling.
“I’d be amazed if it didn’t happen over the next two or three years,” said Clive Hawkswood, chief executive of the Remote Gambling Association, a trade group based in London. “It’s just a question of what exactly the regulations will say.”
Some analysts say that may be getting a little bit ahead of the game. Opponents of a repeal, including the Christian Coalition of America and the National Football League, have vowed to fight any new effort to end the ban.
Michele Combs, a spokeswoman for the Christian Coalition, said the group was gearing up for a “massive campaign” of letter-writing and lobbying to try to prevent any loosening of the law.
“We’re not saying people shouldn’t go to Las Vegas,” she said. “But when it’s in your home, it’s too easy. It breaks up families.”
U.S. sports leagues, meanwhile, worry that the ease of online betting increases the chances of game-fixing. Even the most bullish advocates of online gambling acknowledge that Internet sports betting — as opposed to poker or casino games — is highly unlikely to be legalized.
“There’s a better chance now for some sort of gaming legislation to be approved,” said Nick Batram, an analyst at KBC Peel Hunt, a brokerage firm in London. “But it took longer than expected to put anti-gaming legislation in place, and it will probably will take longer than expected to remove it.”
Since the 2006 law was passed, North America, once the biggest market, has been passed by Europe and Asia, according to figures from H2 Gambling Capital. The law makes it illegal for financial institutions to handle payments to online gambling sites. But enough people have found ways around it, some by using overseas payment processors, to ensure that online gambling remains a thriving business. H2 says online gambling generated revenue of $6 billion last year in North America, more than a quarter the global total of $22.6 billion, up from $17.6 billion in 2006.
Pulling out of the United States cost PartyGaming about three-quarters of its business. Its position as the biggest online poker provider has been taken over by PokerStars, a privately held operator based on the Isle of Man.
This month, PartyGaming agreed to a $105 million settlement with the U.S. attorney’s office in New York, involving the period before 2006, when it acknowledged that its activities had been “contrary to certain U.S. laws.” In turn, the U.S. authorities agreed not to prosecute the company, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, or its executives.
The agreement fueled speculation that PartyGaming might be trying to position itself for a return to the U.S. market, if online gambling were legalized.
Analysts say one possibility for European companies like PartyGaming, should the ban be lifted, would be to form partnerships with American casino operators. That would allow the European companies to share their online expertise. Operating alone, they might struggle to obtain licenses, given their history of run-ins with U.S. law enforcement, analysts said.
“It’s my feeling that even if the market were opened up, the U.S. government, in a palatable way, would probably find a way to give local companies a favorable position,” Mr. Batram said.
So far, Las Vegas executives have maintained a cautious stance about legalization of online gambling. Steve Wynn, chief executive of Wynn Resorts, said in an e-mail message that he thought it would be “impossible to regulate.”
“Even though it would be a benefit to our company, we are strongly opposed,” he said.
But speculation that Las Vegas casino operators were looking into the possibilities was fueled by recent reports that Harrah’s Entertainment, which owns Caesars Palace and other casinos, recently hired Mitch Garber, former chief executive of PartyGaming, for an unspecified role. Harrah’s did not return calls.
Mr. Ryan said that PartyGaming planned to focus on acquisition opportunities to increase its market share in Europe and elsewhere, something that was difficult as long as investors were worried about the U.S. litigation. “We think Mr. Frank’s efforts are quite meaningful to the sector,” he said.
Several other online gambling companies whose shares are traded in London, including 888 Holdings and Sportingbet, are still in talks with the U.S. Justice Department. Analysts expect them, along with companies like Bwin International, whose stock is traded in Vienna, to be involved in a round of consolidation in the industry — along with a possible eventual move back into the United States.
As they await developments in Washington, online gambling companies are looking for growth in Europe and Asia. Under pressure from regulators in Brussels, several European Union members, including France, Italy, Spain and Denmark, have been moving to legalize some kinds of online gambling, turning it into a regulated and taxed business. Britain was the first big European country to do so, in 2005.
Other countries, like Germany, Greece and the Netherlands, continue to hold out, though, in what the European Commission sees as an effort to protect government-sponsored gambling monopolies from private competition.
The commission in March published a report arguing that the United States was violating World Trade Organization rules by keeping out European online gambling companies, given that online betting on horse racing is permitted in the United States. But the commission said that it favored negotiations, rather than legal action, to end the dispute.
Also in March, however, the European Parliament adopted a separate measure supporting the right of individual E.U. member states to make their own rules on online gambling.
“It’s interesting that the European Commission is telling the U.S. it’s persecuting European companies when it can’t even get its own house sorted out,” Mr. Batram said.
A New Chance for Online Betting Sports in the U.S.
Betting Forum Sports: New Book focuses on internet gambling
Betting Forum Sports: New Book focuses on internet gambling
The future of sports broadcasting encapsulated, on to gambling. A fine book has just come out (and if there is one thing that you need to survive The Crucible it is a fine book) called Free Money by Declan Lynch in which the author details, bet by bet, a year spent gambling on the internet. Like many brought up in the days when betting shops were required by law to be decorated like a circle of hell, Lynch has not lost his "sense of wonder that something so brilliant and so potentially catastrophic can be available in his own home to every man who can get himself an internet connection and a credit card".
Interleaving his bets with entertaining anecdotes on how he became a keen gambler, and what that means, Lynch's book cracks along at a merry pace. But it soon reveals its remorseless side in the sheer accumulation of bets that are made in order to win or lose increasingly insignificant (in terms of time spent to secure them) amounts. That is often the downside of gambling, not the amount one loses but the amount of time wasted limiting those losses. Lynch closes his book with a quote from Girolamo Cardano, author, in the 1560s, of Liber Di Ludo Aleae, "the greatest advantage in gambling lies in not playing at all". Easy to say in the mid-16th century when the incitements to play were limited by there being neither internet gambling nor red-button viewing.
Betting Forum Sports: New Book focuses on internet gambling
The future of sports broadcasting encapsulated, on to gambling. A fine book has just come out (and if there is one thing that you need to survive The Crucible it is a fine book) called Free Money by Declan Lynch in which the author details, bet by bet, a year spent gambling on the internet. Like many brought up in the days when betting shops were required by law to be decorated like a circle of hell, Lynch has not lost his "sense of wonder that something so brilliant and so potentially catastrophic can be available in his own home to every man who can get himself an internet connection and a credit card".
Interleaving his bets with entertaining anecdotes on how he became a keen gambler, and what that means, Lynch's book cracks along at a merry pace. But it soon reveals its remorseless side in the sheer accumulation of bets that are made in order to win or lose increasingly insignificant (in terms of time spent to secure them) amounts. That is often the downside of gambling, not the amount one loses but the amount of time wasted limiting those losses. Lynch closes his book with a quote from Girolamo Cardano, author, in the 1560s, of Liber Di Ludo Aleae, "the greatest advantage in gambling lies in not playing at all". Easy to say in the mid-16th century when the incitements to play were limited by there being neither internet gambling nor red-button viewing.
Betting Forum Sports: New Book focuses on internet gambling
Betting Sports Tip: Ping Pong will gain popularity quickly in U.S.
Betting Sports Tip: Ping Pong will gain popularity quickly in U.S.
By MATTHEW FUTTERMAN
Walled Street Journal
A group of sports and entertainment marketers is betting ping pong will be the next game to sweep the nation, and Anheuser-Busch InBev's U.S. unit is getting into the action.
Anheuser-Busch, one of the biggest advertisers in the U.S., has signed on as the lead sponsor of the Bud Light Hard Bat Ping Pong Tournament, which started last month.
The big brewer is backing Robert Friedman, president of media and entertainment for New York commercial-production company Radical Media, and several major partners, who think ping pong could be the next Texas Hold 'Em, the card game featured in the highly successful World Series of Poker.
The nostalgia factor, made keener by the recession, is one reason they are confident of ping pong's appeal. "This is about the residual goodwill we all feel for the better times we grew up with," says Mr. Friedman. "This conjures up family."
As the idea for the new tourney began to jell, Anheuser-Busch was re-evaluating, and even shedding, several longtime deals with athletes and major sports teams. It removed the familiar Budweiser sign from atop Chicago's Wrigley Field and ended a 30-year relationship with drag-racing legend Kenny Bernstein.
In came ping pong. With exclusive sponsorships for mainstream teams and sports becoming ever more expensive, Anheuser-Busch needed to strike a balance. Keith Levy, the brewer's vice president of marketing, says his company has to do big, brand-building campaigns attached to major events and teams, but also reach beer drinkers at the grass-roots level.
"Bud Light has always been a fun brand," Mr. Levy says. "This fits in with what we've done with it in the past."
More is at stake than fun, however. The brains and the money behind the tournament come not just from Anheuser-Busch and Radical Media but also from Mark Gordon Co., which produces "Grey's Anatomy" and other hits, and FremantleMedia Enterprises, producer of "American Idol," which see it as a potentially major moneymaker.
"Table tennis is ripe for reinvention," says Keith Hindle, executive vice president of London-based Fremantle, who foresees a variety of revenue streams from live ping-pong events, branded merchandise, sponsorships and league memberships.
The organizers know they have to come up with an innovative approach to televising a game that in the past has been hard to follow because of the speed and the size of the ball. Even if they can, could this really be the next poker?
Poker already had a long-established mystique, built on images of high rollers in deluxe Las Vegas hotel suites, before Internet gambling and the World Series of Poker inspired a wider appreciation of the mental calculations taking place around the table behind low-brimmed caps and sunglasses.
Ping pong, by contrast, is more closely associated with suburban basements and harsh fluorescent lights. Even so, the International Olympic Committee says table tennis is the world's leading participation sport, with 40 million competitive players world-wide and tens of millions more playing for fun.
Hard-bat ping pong is played with old-style wooden paddles covered with dimpled rubber that produce an unmistakable knocking sound. They also make for a slower game with longer rallies than the foam or sponge paddles that yield the fast-paced, spin-crazy brand of table tennis in which most points end within a few shots. Using the hard-bat paddles levels the playing field, giving a standout barroom player a chance to topple a pro, especially with the handicap system the Bud Light tournament will use.
Competition started in March, with local Anheuser-Busch distributors supplying Bud Light-branded ping pong tables to some 4,600 bars where regional competitions are under way. Winners can land an invitation to the tournament finals and play for the $100,000 prize in Las Vegas in late June. K-Swiss, the tennis outfitter, has agreed to be the official clothing and footwear supplier for the event.
That event, which will also include professionals, will be the focus of a two-hour television special that the organizers plan to air on Walt Disney's ESPN in September.
Mr. Friedman and Jordan Wynn, executive of Mark Gordon Co., say they noticed ping pong re-emerging in popular culture over the past year. The posse on the HBO series "Entourage" played during an episode, for example, and hip-hop star 50 Cent had a ping-pong theme at his birthday party.
"The question was could we take this game out of the basement and the cluttered garages," says Mr. Friedman. "We think the timing is just right."
Mr. Wynn goes so far as to suggest ping pong has sex appeal. "It's taking on this cool cultural space of short-shorts and retro headbands, and it's kind of goofy, but it's also got people who take it very seriously," Mr. Wynn says. "It's poker eight years ago."
Betting Sports Tip: Ping Pong will gain popularity quickly in U.S.
By MATTHEW FUTTERMAN
Walled Street Journal
A group of sports and entertainment marketers is betting ping pong will be the next game to sweep the nation, and Anheuser-Busch InBev's U.S. unit is getting into the action.
Anheuser-Busch, one of the biggest advertisers in the U.S., has signed on as the lead sponsor of the Bud Light Hard Bat Ping Pong Tournament, which started last month.
The big brewer is backing Robert Friedman, president of media and entertainment for New York commercial-production company Radical Media, and several major partners, who think ping pong could be the next Texas Hold 'Em, the card game featured in the highly successful World Series of Poker.
The nostalgia factor, made keener by the recession, is one reason they are confident of ping pong's appeal. "This is about the residual goodwill we all feel for the better times we grew up with," says Mr. Friedman. "This conjures up family."
As the idea for the new tourney began to jell, Anheuser-Busch was re-evaluating, and even shedding, several longtime deals with athletes and major sports teams. It removed the familiar Budweiser sign from atop Chicago's Wrigley Field and ended a 30-year relationship with drag-racing legend Kenny Bernstein.
In came ping pong. With exclusive sponsorships for mainstream teams and sports becoming ever more expensive, Anheuser-Busch needed to strike a balance. Keith Levy, the brewer's vice president of marketing, says his company has to do big, brand-building campaigns attached to major events and teams, but also reach beer drinkers at the grass-roots level.
"Bud Light has always been a fun brand," Mr. Levy says. "This fits in with what we've done with it in the past."
More is at stake than fun, however. The brains and the money behind the tournament come not just from Anheuser-Busch and Radical Media but also from Mark Gordon Co., which produces "Grey's Anatomy" and other hits, and FremantleMedia Enterprises, producer of "American Idol," which see it as a potentially major moneymaker.
"Table tennis is ripe for reinvention," says Keith Hindle, executive vice president of London-based Fremantle, who foresees a variety of revenue streams from live ping-pong events, branded merchandise, sponsorships and league memberships.
The organizers know they have to come up with an innovative approach to televising a game that in the past has been hard to follow because of the speed and the size of the ball. Even if they can, could this really be the next poker?
Poker already had a long-established mystique, built on images of high rollers in deluxe Las Vegas hotel suites, before Internet gambling and the World Series of Poker inspired a wider appreciation of the mental calculations taking place around the table behind low-brimmed caps and sunglasses.
Ping pong, by contrast, is more closely associated with suburban basements and harsh fluorescent lights. Even so, the International Olympic Committee says table tennis is the world's leading participation sport, with 40 million competitive players world-wide and tens of millions more playing for fun.
Hard-bat ping pong is played with old-style wooden paddles covered with dimpled rubber that produce an unmistakable knocking sound. They also make for a slower game with longer rallies than the foam or sponge paddles that yield the fast-paced, spin-crazy brand of table tennis in which most points end within a few shots. Using the hard-bat paddles levels the playing field, giving a standout barroom player a chance to topple a pro, especially with the handicap system the Bud Light tournament will use.
Competition started in March, with local Anheuser-Busch distributors supplying Bud Light-branded ping pong tables to some 4,600 bars where regional competitions are under way. Winners can land an invitation to the tournament finals and play for the $100,000 prize in Las Vegas in late June. K-Swiss, the tennis outfitter, has agreed to be the official clothing and footwear supplier for the event.
That event, which will also include professionals, will be the focus of a two-hour television special that the organizers plan to air on Walt Disney's ESPN in September.
Mr. Friedman and Jordan Wynn, executive of Mark Gordon Co., say they noticed ping pong re-emerging in popular culture over the past year. The posse on the HBO series "Entourage" played during an episode, for example, and hip-hop star 50 Cent had a ping-pong theme at his birthday party.
"The question was could we take this game out of the basement and the cluttered garages," says Mr. Friedman. "We think the timing is just right."
Mr. Wynn goes so far as to suggest ping pong has sex appeal. "It's taking on this cool cultural space of short-shorts and retro headbands, and it's kind of goofy, but it's also got people who take it very seriously," Mr. Wynn says. "It's poker eight years ago."
Betting Sports Tip: Ping Pong will gain popularity quickly in U.S.
Online Betting Sports Now Family Entertainment
Online Betting Sports Now Family Entertainment
To win over the odds, using only your intelligence and basic instincts…To live on intuition, it's a process that gets the blood flowing and a sense of wonder when you finally beat that downward trend. To start this experience you can open an online-betting account, and start betting immediately on just about anything. If you start winning, you can withdraw your winnings instantly to your credit card by pressing a button.
Things have come a long way since the days when you actually had to go to a bit of trouble to get to some side-street bookie's office, and hand over real money to make your bet. There was nothing that might encourage you to linger or to have a pleasant experience. This was generally the domain of men, the days are gone when it took a fair amount of guts to go downtown and find a card game in a smoked filled, cigar chewing, whiskey drinking sort of place. Now the online gaming experience can take the form of a well lit living room with your cup of tea next to you and a firm grip on the mouse.
The urge to gamble is being facilitated at every turn by the interplay between sports, television, and online betting, a devastatingly powerful combination. Many sports are now sponsored by betting corporations, and are televised almost entirely for betting purposes.
Mother can now play a friendly game of bingo, Dad can bet on his favourite sports team and the kids can learn how to be a poker champions before puberty wears off. It sounds like family entertainment to most of us. A sage with some obvious wisdom once said, 'The subject of gambling is all-encompassing. It combines man's natural play instinct with his desire to know about his fate and his future.'
Online Betting Sports Now Family Entertainment
To win over the odds, using only your intelligence and basic instincts…To live on intuition, it's a process that gets the blood flowing and a sense of wonder when you finally beat that downward trend. To start this experience you can open an online-betting account, and start betting immediately on just about anything. If you start winning, you can withdraw your winnings instantly to your credit card by pressing a button.
Things have come a long way since the days when you actually had to go to a bit of trouble to get to some side-street bookie's office, and hand over real money to make your bet. There was nothing that might encourage you to linger or to have a pleasant experience. This was generally the domain of men, the days are gone when it took a fair amount of guts to go downtown and find a card game in a smoked filled, cigar chewing, whiskey drinking sort of place. Now the online gaming experience can take the form of a well lit living room with your cup of tea next to you and a firm grip on the mouse.
The urge to gamble is being facilitated at every turn by the interplay between sports, television, and online betting, a devastatingly powerful combination. Many sports are now sponsored by betting corporations, and are televised almost entirely for betting purposes.
Mother can now play a friendly game of bingo, Dad can bet on his favourite sports team and the kids can learn how to be a poker champions before puberty wears off. It sounds like family entertainment to most of us. A sage with some obvious wisdom once said, 'The subject of gambling is all-encompassing. It combines man's natural play instinct with his desire to know about his fate and his future.'
Online Betting Sports Now Family Entertainment
Betting Sports Tip: List of U.S. friendly casinos online
Betting Sports Tip: List of U.S. friendly casinos online
There is no denying it. It's getting harder to find quality U.S. friendly online casinos these days. Due to the many hurdles stemming from various laws, lack of regulations and the fact that the U.S. states are left with the role to find creative and Chinese-like ways to ban their residents from gambling online, there have been no new online casinos coming out lately that could be deemed U.S.-friendly. But if you are new to the whole online gambling thing, you still have plenty of options. Depending on what you are looking for in an U.S.-friendly online casino, whether it's the bonus, fast payouts or easy deposits, we have created this quick guide to getting the job done. This guide to finding U.S. friendly online casino is for informational purpose only, always check your laws before gambling on the internet.
Bodog Casino - best overall U.S.-friendly online casino: The Bodog Casino comes atop our rank list of US friendly online casinos for many reasons. It's still the online casino with the highest success of credit card deposits, Bodog has the decade+ experience in the online gambling scene and it offers a nice package of gambling services, including sports betting and poker room. It offers 10% bonus on every deposit the player makes in his or her casino account and various ongoing bonuses and specials are also posted every week. The casino looks great, the graphics are lively and as real as it gets, depositing is easy and withdrawals have been coming like clockwork since 1997. This U.S. friendly online casino is also home of the Cleopatra's Gold popular slot machine, which has made many of players rich. This is a quality online gambling company, although foreign players should be aware that residents from Canada and Turkey are not allowed to gamble here.
And if the bonus is what you are looking for, Golden Casino got you covered. This U.S. friendly online casino offers a whopping $555 match-up bonus on your first deposit, but the bonus train doesn't stop here. Extra free money will be disbursed for using various ewallets, although credit card payments are also an option, the casino has a comprehensive loyalty program which helps generate comp points and then turn them into real money, weekly out-of-the-blue bonuses and more. The Golden Casino remains honest and secure, with customer service on top of its game 24/7 via phone, email or chat sessions. What the Golden Casino is most famous for is the many slots tournaments it runs every week. A large number of those slots tourneys are free to enter, while winners get real money as a prize. Those that require buy-ins on the other side give the players chance to win large amount of cash, some slots tournaments with purses of over $100K.
Las Vegas USA Casino - and if you are looking for the best RTG software U.S. friendly online casino, Las Vegas USA is the first stop one should make. The RealTime Gaming (RTG) software is boosting over 100 different games, large number of slots, all casino table games and video poker machines you would find at a B&M Las Vegas casino, hence the name. This is the online casino that will get you as close to the Vegas-style gambling on the Internet as it's possible with the current technology. Well worth downloading all the games.
These are the current best U.S.-friendly online casinos. Of course, if you need to see a larger number of online casino websites friendly to U.S. players, you can always visit our list of online casinos for US players here. All the casinos listed there are of great quality and any country restrictions are noted for each casino. You can also read reviews of the internet casinos, see the current bonus offers and more.
Betting Sports Tip: List of U.S. friendly casinos online
There is no denying it. It's getting harder to find quality U.S. friendly online casinos these days. Due to the many hurdles stemming from various laws, lack of regulations and the fact that the U.S. states are left with the role to find creative and Chinese-like ways to ban their residents from gambling online, there have been no new online casinos coming out lately that could be deemed U.S.-friendly. But if you are new to the whole online gambling thing, you still have plenty of options. Depending on what you are looking for in an U.S.-friendly online casino, whether it's the bonus, fast payouts or easy deposits, we have created this quick guide to getting the job done. This guide to finding U.S. friendly online casino is for informational purpose only, always check your laws before gambling on the internet.
Bodog Casino - best overall U.S.-friendly online casino: The Bodog Casino comes atop our rank list of US friendly online casinos for many reasons. It's still the online casino with the highest success of credit card deposits, Bodog has the decade+ experience in the online gambling scene and it offers a nice package of gambling services, including sports betting and poker room. It offers 10% bonus on every deposit the player makes in his or her casino account and various ongoing bonuses and specials are also posted every week. The casino looks great, the graphics are lively and as real as it gets, depositing is easy and withdrawals have been coming like clockwork since 1997. This U.S. friendly online casino is also home of the Cleopatra's Gold popular slot machine, which has made many of players rich. This is a quality online gambling company, although foreign players should be aware that residents from Canada and Turkey are not allowed to gamble here.
And if the bonus is what you are looking for, Golden Casino got you covered. This U.S. friendly online casino offers a whopping $555 match-up bonus on your first deposit, but the bonus train doesn't stop here. Extra free money will be disbursed for using various ewallets, although credit card payments are also an option, the casino has a comprehensive loyalty program which helps generate comp points and then turn them into real money, weekly out-of-the-blue bonuses and more. The Golden Casino remains honest and secure, with customer service on top of its game 24/7 via phone, email or chat sessions. What the Golden Casino is most famous for is the many slots tournaments it runs every week. A large number of those slots tourneys are free to enter, while winners get real money as a prize. Those that require buy-ins on the other side give the players chance to win large amount of cash, some slots tournaments with purses of over $100K.
Las Vegas USA Casino - and if you are looking for the best RTG software U.S. friendly online casino, Las Vegas USA is the first stop one should make. The RealTime Gaming (RTG) software is boosting over 100 different games, large number of slots, all casino table games and video poker machines you would find at a B&M Las Vegas casino, hence the name. This is the online casino that will get you as close to the Vegas-style gambling on the Internet as it's possible with the current technology. Well worth downloading all the games.
These are the current best U.S.-friendly online casinos. Of course, if you need to see a larger number of online casino websites friendly to U.S. players, you can always visit our list of online casinos for US players here. All the casinos listed there are of great quality and any country restrictions are noted for each casino. You can also read reviews of the internet casinos, see the current bonus offers and more.
Betting Sports Tip: List of U.S. friendly casinos online
Betting Sports Forum: Poker Organization to Spend $3 Million to Lobby for Online Poker
Betting Sports Forum: Poker Organization to Spend $3 Million to Lobby for Online Poker
By Joseph Ewens
Permalink
One of poker world’s most high profile pressure groups has committed itself to a multimillion dollar lobbying campaign over the next 6-8 months. The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) has told the Associated Press that they have a war-chest of $3 million to utilize during this Congressional session.
The PPA’s one million members have done their part raising the money, although much of the fund arrived courtesy of industry group The Interactive Gaming Council. This session of Congress began in January and concludes on October 30th for the winter adjournment. The vast majority will be spent trying to convince Washington politicians to repeal the UIGEA. The bill, which came into effect in 2006, effectively bans all forms of online gambling, forcing many lucrative businesses to move off-shore.
Although $3 million sounds like an excessive sum, PPA coffers may be stretched to their limits as they fight off opposition from America’s major sporting leagues. The NFL in particular was instrumental in attaching the UIGEA to the unrelated Safe Port Act in 2006. Last year it stepped up its anti-gambling activities, hiring a full time activist called Jeff Miller to represent its interests in Washington. These organizations claim that online sports betting threatens the integrity of their games and have vowed to oppose any efforts to see the ban repealed. The Christian Coalition also has a history of taking political action to further the cause of the UIGEA.
The timing of this announcement may well be timed to coincide with the activities of House Financial Services Committee Chairman, Barney Frank. During the last two years he has introduced a number of bills designed to re-legalize online gambling. His latest attempt, slated to appear before the end of April, will seek to reintroduce online gambling to legality along with legislation and taxation. Assuring a fair and even industry that contributes to the national economy is seen as a key part in its reintroduction.
Betting Sports Forum: Poker Organization to Spend $3 Million to Lobby for Online Poker
By Joseph Ewens
Permalink
One of poker world’s most high profile pressure groups has committed itself to a multimillion dollar lobbying campaign over the next 6-8 months. The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) has told the Associated Press that they have a war-chest of $3 million to utilize during this Congressional session.
The PPA’s one million members have done their part raising the money, although much of the fund arrived courtesy of industry group The Interactive Gaming Council. This session of Congress began in January and concludes on October 30th for the winter adjournment. The vast majority will be spent trying to convince Washington politicians to repeal the UIGEA. The bill, which came into effect in 2006, effectively bans all forms of online gambling, forcing many lucrative businesses to move off-shore.
Although $3 million sounds like an excessive sum, PPA coffers may be stretched to their limits as they fight off opposition from America’s major sporting leagues. The NFL in particular was instrumental in attaching the UIGEA to the unrelated Safe Port Act in 2006. Last year it stepped up its anti-gambling activities, hiring a full time activist called Jeff Miller to represent its interests in Washington. These organizations claim that online sports betting threatens the integrity of their games and have vowed to oppose any efforts to see the ban repealed. The Christian Coalition also has a history of taking political action to further the cause of the UIGEA.
The timing of this announcement may well be timed to coincide with the activities of House Financial Services Committee Chairman, Barney Frank. During the last two years he has introduced a number of bills designed to re-legalize online gambling. His latest attempt, slated to appear before the end of April, will seek to reintroduce online gambling to legality along with legislation and taxation. Assuring a fair and even industry that contributes to the national economy is seen as a key part in its reintroduction.
Betting Sports Forum: Poker Organization to Spend $3 Million to Lobby for Online Poker
Betting Sports Works Great for NFL QB's Model Wife
Betting Sports Works Great for NFL QB's Model Wife
Tom Brady's wife, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, has reportedly won $1 million in the last three months gambling on soccer matches.
The National Football League may have a policy to oppose all sports gambling, and even online casinos which do not handle sports betting, but one prominent player is richer, due to his wife's wagering on sports. Tom Brady's wife, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, has reportedly won $1 million in the last three months gambling on soccer matches.
The Metropolitan Post says Mrs. Brady is a fan of Italian championship team Internazionale Milano, and has already pocketed $1 million in winnings if Inter continues its winning ways. Gisele apparently has future bets placed on Inter repeating as winners of the Scudetto, the "little shield" that signifies the champion of Serie A, Italy's premier soccer league.
Bundchen, according to the Post, is placing weekly bets on Inter, and will collect if the team wins the Scudetto, a likelihood as it enjoys a comfortable lead.
The NFL contends any gambling at all, let alone sports betting, creates corruption and a loss of integrity for its games. Yet soccer suffers no loss in public confidence or prestige by sports gambling, even though Bundchen has a connection to Inter Milan.
Before marrying Brady, Bundchen dated former Inter player Fancesco Coco. She also professes complete faith in coach Jose Mourinho, another personal acquaintance.
No comment has yet been released from the offices of the NFL about the sports gaming habits of the wife of Brady, one of the best-known players in the league. The New England Patriots quarterback is not alleged to have placed bets of his own.
One wit suggests that the NFL might want to lock up Gisele in the same cell as Janet Jones-Gretzky, also noted for her looks and gambling hobby. "Then," the wag said, "we could experience one of those women-behind-bars movies come to life."
Betting Sports Works Great for NFL QB's Model Wife
Tom Brady's wife, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, has reportedly won $1 million in the last three months gambling on soccer matches.
The National Football League may have a policy to oppose all sports gambling, and even online casinos which do not handle sports betting, but one prominent player is richer, due to his wife's wagering on sports. Tom Brady's wife, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, has reportedly won $1 million in the last three months gambling on soccer matches.
The Metropolitan Post says Mrs. Brady is a fan of Italian championship team Internazionale Milano, and has already pocketed $1 million in winnings if Inter continues its winning ways. Gisele apparently has future bets placed on Inter repeating as winners of the Scudetto, the "little shield" that signifies the champion of Serie A, Italy's premier soccer league.
Bundchen, according to the Post, is placing weekly bets on Inter, and will collect if the team wins the Scudetto, a likelihood as it enjoys a comfortable lead.
The NFL contends any gambling at all, let alone sports betting, creates corruption and a loss of integrity for its games. Yet soccer suffers no loss in public confidence or prestige by sports gambling, even though Bundchen has a connection to Inter Milan.
Before marrying Brady, Bundchen dated former Inter player Fancesco Coco. She also professes complete faith in coach Jose Mourinho, another personal acquaintance.
No comment has yet been released from the offices of the NFL about the sports gaming habits of the wife of Brady, one of the best-known players in the league. The New England Patriots quarterback is not alleged to have placed bets of his own.
One wit suggests that the NFL might want to lock up Gisele in the same cell as Janet Jones-Gretzky, also noted for her looks and gambling hobby. "Then," the wag said, "we could experience one of those women-behind-bars movies come to life."
Betting Sports Works Great for NFL QB's Model Wife
Facts Versus Faith Dominate Online Betting Sports Debate
Facts Versus Faith Dominate Online Betting Sports Debate
By Christopher Nole
General Online Casino News
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition! In this supposedly enlightened age, many US citizens still claim their right to believe articles of faith, even when all scientific investigation and existing facts prove otherwise. The argument over legalized online gambling falls in the center of this phenomenon, as baseless assertions are refuted by scientific study, yet many continue to spread the falsehoods as beliefs beyond impeachment.
"It [Internet gambling] is so seductively habit-forming that individuals can in short order lose their homes and jobs and, indeed, their families and futures. And the effects on individuals rebound into society," says Former US Representative Jim Leach.
But objective scientific study finds otherwise.
“On a theoretical level, online gaming’s increased accessibility should make it more dangerous than traditional gaming. But... it does not seem to be the reality,” says Professor Dan Ross, director of research at the National Responsible Gambling Program in South Africa.
"The very first thing we learned (studying Internet gambling patterns), which we didn't expect, was that the vast majority, the overwhelming majority of gamblers online gamble in a very moderate and mild way," says Dr. Howard Shaffer after conducting a two-year study as director of the Division of Addictions at Harvard Medical School.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said, "However, we can exercise our right to oppose Internet betting on our games. ... Gambling on our games -- online or off line -- threatens the integrity of our games and all the values they represent."
But years of legal Las Vegas sports gambling have not hurt the NFL, and European sports leagues have found cooperation with online casinos essential to prevent corruption and undue influence.
Professor Earl Grinois of the Baptist school Baylor University says social ills of casino gambling do more damage than the revenue produced offsets. Grinois says introducing a casino into a neighborhood causes crime to increase five to eight percent, with the primary jump in violent crime like burglary and murder.
But actual facts show otherwise. Casinos were brought to Bossier City, Louisiana, fifteen years ago. "There were fears, even from all of us, about the crime," Bossier City Police Chief Mike Halphen said. "But, so far, crime (in Bossier City) has actually dropped."
In the meantime, Bossier City has beautified itself, redone infrastructure, funded social aid programs, seen decreased unemployment, and created a trust fund with over $30 million for future civic needs.
In Florida, Hallandale Representative Joe Gibbons testified in front of Grinois that casinos had come to his district two years earlier. `And in those last two years, our crime rate has gone down.''
Grinois responded that crime rates go up starting in the third year.One witness guessed if Gibbons had said four years, Grinois would have said five is the measure.
Michelle Combs of the Christian Coalition lobbies for the UIGEA, saying, "We’re not saying people shouldn’t go to Las Vegas. But when it’s in your home, it’s too easy. It breaks up families.”
Yet every bit of evidence is that this is not so. Dr. Shaffer's and Dr. Ross's research shows play at online gambling sites to be controlled and budgeted by the overwhelming majority of patrons. Religious groups like to relate horrible anecdotal stories of a single incident, disregarding the statistical insignificance of the occurrence. According to statistician Frederick Felson, "Saying Internet gambling caused one horror story and is therefore evil and must be barred is the equivalent of banning cell phones because one person was beaten with a cell phone."
US Representative Spencer Bachus tried to use scientific proof to back up his belief that Internet gaming leads to mental issues by asserting a survey proved that one in four teenagers who gambled online attempted suicide. Unfortunately for Bachus, the author of the study denounced his interpretation, saying he had totally misrepresented the facts. That seems to be a common position for religious right-wingers opposing online gambling.
Facts Versus Faith Dominate Online Betting Sports Debate
By Christopher Nole
General Online Casino News
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition! In this supposedly enlightened age, many US citizens still claim their right to believe articles of faith, even when all scientific investigation and existing facts prove otherwise. The argument over legalized online gambling falls in the center of this phenomenon, as baseless assertions are refuted by scientific study, yet many continue to spread the falsehoods as beliefs beyond impeachment.
"It [Internet gambling] is so seductively habit-forming that individuals can in short order lose their homes and jobs and, indeed, their families and futures. And the effects on individuals rebound into society," says Former US Representative Jim Leach.
But objective scientific study finds otherwise.
“On a theoretical level, online gaming’s increased accessibility should make it more dangerous than traditional gaming. But... it does not seem to be the reality,” says Professor Dan Ross, director of research at the National Responsible Gambling Program in South Africa.
"The very first thing we learned (studying Internet gambling patterns), which we didn't expect, was that the vast majority, the overwhelming majority of gamblers online gamble in a very moderate and mild way," says Dr. Howard Shaffer after conducting a two-year study as director of the Division of Addictions at Harvard Medical School.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said, "However, we can exercise our right to oppose Internet betting on our games. ... Gambling on our games -- online or off line -- threatens the integrity of our games and all the values they represent."
But years of legal Las Vegas sports gambling have not hurt the NFL, and European sports leagues have found cooperation with online casinos essential to prevent corruption and undue influence.
Professor Earl Grinois of the Baptist school Baylor University says social ills of casino gambling do more damage than the revenue produced offsets. Grinois says introducing a casino into a neighborhood causes crime to increase five to eight percent, with the primary jump in violent crime like burglary and murder.
But actual facts show otherwise. Casinos were brought to Bossier City, Louisiana, fifteen years ago. "There were fears, even from all of us, about the crime," Bossier City Police Chief Mike Halphen said. "But, so far, crime (in Bossier City) has actually dropped."
In the meantime, Bossier City has beautified itself, redone infrastructure, funded social aid programs, seen decreased unemployment, and created a trust fund with over $30 million for future civic needs.
In Florida, Hallandale Representative Joe Gibbons testified in front of Grinois that casinos had come to his district two years earlier. `And in those last two years, our crime rate has gone down.''
Grinois responded that crime rates go up starting in the third year.One witness guessed if Gibbons had said four years, Grinois would have said five is the measure.
Michelle Combs of the Christian Coalition lobbies for the UIGEA, saying, "We’re not saying people shouldn’t go to Las Vegas. But when it’s in your home, it’s too easy. It breaks up families.”
Yet every bit of evidence is that this is not so. Dr. Shaffer's and Dr. Ross's research shows play at online gambling sites to be controlled and budgeted by the overwhelming majority of patrons. Religious groups like to relate horrible anecdotal stories of a single incident, disregarding the statistical insignificance of the occurrence. According to statistician Frederick Felson, "Saying Internet gambling caused one horror story and is therefore evil and must be barred is the equivalent of banning cell phones because one person was beaten with a cell phone."
US Representative Spencer Bachus tried to use scientific proof to back up his belief that Internet gaming leads to mental issues by asserting a survey proved that one in four teenagers who gambled online attempted suicide. Unfortunately for Bachus, the author of the study denounced his interpretation, saying he had totally misrepresented the facts. That seems to be a common position for religious right-wingers opposing online gambling.
Facts Versus Faith Dominate Online Betting Sports Debate
New Jersey Residents Overwhelmingly Want Legal Sports Betting
New Jersey Residents Overwhelmingly Want Legal Sports Betting
The poll, conducted by Farleigh Dickinson University, shows that people living in New Jersey support bringing legal sports gambling to Atlantic City casinos by a spread of better than two to one.
A new survey of public thinking has found that residents of the state of New Jersey favor legalizing sports gambling by a decisive margin. The poll, conducted by Farleigh Dickinson University, shows that people living in New Jersey support bringing legal sports gambling to Atlantic City casinos by a spread of better than two to one.
Sixty-three percent of residents says sports books should be legal at AC casinos. The same number supported allowing horse tracks to take sports bets, while opposition fell even lower, from thirty-two to thirty percent.
The numbers fell to roughly even as to whether to permit sports betting at off-track betting venues. Forty-eight percent said yes, while forty-three percent said no, just outside the poll's four percent margin of error.
New Jersey state Senator Ray Lesniak and the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association have filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Justice, alleging that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act unconstitutionally treats four states differently than the rest in outlawing sports gambling in most of the US.
"Here is an issue in which the voice of the public has clearly spoken. Any politician who votes against his constituents must surely be seen as serving special interests, any claim to the contrary notwithstanding,“ says legislative observer Thomas Riordan.
New Jersey Residents Overwhelmingly Want Legal Sports Betting
The poll, conducted by Farleigh Dickinson University, shows that people living in New Jersey support bringing legal sports gambling to Atlantic City casinos by a spread of better than two to one.
A new survey of public thinking has found that residents of the state of New Jersey favor legalizing sports gambling by a decisive margin. The poll, conducted by Farleigh Dickinson University, shows that people living in New Jersey support bringing legal sports gambling to Atlantic City casinos by a spread of better than two to one.
Sixty-three percent of residents says sports books should be legal at AC casinos. The same number supported allowing horse tracks to take sports bets, while opposition fell even lower, from thirty-two to thirty percent.
The numbers fell to roughly even as to whether to permit sports betting at off-track betting venues. Forty-eight percent said yes, while forty-three percent said no, just outside the poll's four percent margin of error.
New Jersey state Senator Ray Lesniak and the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association have filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Justice, alleging that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act unconstitutionally treats four states differently than the rest in outlawing sports gambling in most of the US.
"Here is an issue in which the voice of the public has clearly spoken. Any politician who votes against his constituents must surely be seen as serving special interests, any claim to the contrary notwithstanding,“ says legislative observer Thomas Riordan.
New Jersey Residents Overwhelmingly Want Legal Sports Betting
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
