South Africa features Betting Odds Sports
BRAMLEY, SOUTH AFRICA,
Gamblingsa.com is South Africa's number one site for all things gambling. The portal has long offered gambling enthusiasts in Southern Africa the most comprehensive review of land-based as well as online casinos in the region.
But it's not just about casinos at Gambling SA. Their sports section is packed with news, views and the latest odds on a variety of sporting events, which obviously includes rugby. The Gambling SA rugby betting section is designed to help South African fans decide where to bet.
"We are huge rugby fans, and like everyone else, we have an opinion," says Ryan D, co-founder and Editor of Gambling SA. "Each week we post a preview and our tips for the weekend's games, as well as the best betting odds available from Sports books that cater for South Africans."
In addition to rugby specific betting options, the portal also reviews some of the world's largest sports betting sites that cater for South African betting fans, and offer deposits and withdrawals in Rands. "Not too many people know this, but there are a number of online sportsbooks licensed in the United Kingdom that have a specific focus on the South African marketplace," says Ryan.
"Sports betting sites like Ladbrokes.com offers odds on many different South African sporting events, and allow people to transact in Rands, eliminating the concerns people would have about exchange rates when transacting in other currencies." There are a number of options, and they are all reviewed in Gambling SA's Betting Guide.
Gambling SA continues to keep South African online casino fans up to date with the latest odds. "Although South Africans can pretty much pick and choose any online casino out there, it makes sense to pick casinos that offer transacting and betting in Rands, and make it easy to use a South African bank account or credit card," says Ryan. "We review the top online casinos that focus on the South African marketplace.
South Africa features Betting Odds Sports
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Online Gambling Finds the Political Spotlight With Betting Odds Sports
Online Gambling Finds the Political Spotlight With Betting Odds Sports
With changes coming from Washington, D.C. in unprecedented fashion, the possible legalization of online gambling might be the next issue to find the political spotlight.
Recently, Congressman Barney Frank, chair of the Financial Services Committee, vowed to reintroduce a bill "within weeks" that, if passed into law, would reverse the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), which made it illegal for banks and credit card firms to process online bets in the U.S.
The proposed legislation would also create a licensing and regulatory mechanism for online gaming operators.
In an interview with the Financial Times of London, Frank said that the UIGEA, which was passed in late 2006, was an ill-conceived law because Americans "are demanding the right to gamble online."
Of course, Frank tried to build support for similar legislation last year without success, but the new climate in Washington might offer fertile ground for Frank’s initiative.
Strengthening his case has been calls for the government to consider legalizing sports betting, which finds solid support on the Internet, but is only legal in Nevada.
According to a Merrill Lynch estimate, sports betting online could reach $200 billion by 2015. Both the Huffington Post and Bloomberg ran articles calling for Congress to legalize sports wagering. At the crux of their arguments was the dramatic need for public revenues and the billions of dollars in sports transactions that go untaxed every year.
A case in point was the recent Super Bowl, which generated about $80 million bet legally in Nevada, but resulted in an estimated $6 billion to $7 billion in online and illegal wagers. Over 10 years ago, the National Gaming Impact Study Commission estimated that U.S. citizens bet over $360 billion a year on sports. The Huffington Post estimated that number may have doubled by now.
Online Gambling Finds the Political Spotlight With Betting Odds Sports
With changes coming from Washington, D.C. in unprecedented fashion, the possible legalization of online gambling might be the next issue to find the political spotlight.
Recently, Congressman Barney Frank, chair of the Financial Services Committee, vowed to reintroduce a bill "within weeks" that, if passed into law, would reverse the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), which made it illegal for banks and credit card firms to process online bets in the U.S.
The proposed legislation would also create a licensing and regulatory mechanism for online gaming operators.
In an interview with the Financial Times of London, Frank said that the UIGEA, which was passed in late 2006, was an ill-conceived law because Americans "are demanding the right to gamble online."
Of course, Frank tried to build support for similar legislation last year without success, but the new climate in Washington might offer fertile ground for Frank’s initiative.
Strengthening his case has been calls for the government to consider legalizing sports betting, which finds solid support on the Internet, but is only legal in Nevada.
According to a Merrill Lynch estimate, sports betting online could reach $200 billion by 2015. Both the Huffington Post and Bloomberg ran articles calling for Congress to legalize sports wagering. At the crux of their arguments was the dramatic need for public revenues and the billions of dollars in sports transactions that go untaxed every year.
A case in point was the recent Super Bowl, which generated about $80 million bet legally in Nevada, but resulted in an estimated $6 billion to $7 billion in online and illegal wagers. Over 10 years ago, the National Gaming Impact Study Commission estimated that U.S. citizens bet over $360 billion a year on sports. The Huffington Post estimated that number may have doubled by now.
Online Gambling Finds the Political Spotlight With Betting Odds Sports
Sports Forum: Why is A-Rod targeted, while Stallone is not?
Sports Forum: Why is A-Rod targeted, while Stallone is not?
by Evan Weiner, Business of Sports Examiner
The Salem Witch Trialsended in 1692. Senator Joe Mc McCarthy's reign of blacklisting came to a sudden halt in 1954, but in the world of baseball writers, sports radio talk show hosts and sports TV's talking heads The Scarlet Letter (a book which was written in 1850 by Nathaniel Hawthorne) of S, for steroids, has been pinned on Alex Rodriguez. And it is seemingly being done so for the benefit of fellow baseball writers and certain politicians, not the general public.
The whole Alex Rodriguez situation is a dog and pony show with little journalistic integrity.
The problem for the writers is two-fold. Elected officials have far more to worry about than the results of Alex Rodriguez urine sample and most baseball fans don't care. The writers, the moral guardians of baseball, are the only ones who are writing about whether Alex Rodriguez should get booed or whether he belongs in the Hall of Fame.
The writers are complaining about Alex Rodriguez news conference and how he didn't answer their questions to their satisfaction about getting supplements in the Dominican Republic. One New York newspaper, the Daily News, which recently cut its contribution to the employees’ 401k plan, sent a reporter to the Dominican Republic to see how easy it was for Rodriguez and others to get steroids and other performance enhancing drugs. It was pretty easy for me to find it in Samana in December; it is all over the place. It was simple for the Daily News reporter to find it too. Steroids are sold over the counter in the Dominican Republic pharmacies.
One by one, the bad guys, or the ones who don't necessarily play footsie with the regular baseball beat guys, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez, are falling and the scribes are having a conflicting time over this. The bad actors, or the ones they perceive as bad actors, are paying the price by their daily public humiliations. But baseball is being tarnished.
But missing in a lot of the prose written about Alex Rodriguez is the fact that he took performance-enhancing steroids in the Dominican Republic, not the United States and that is the way of the culture there. This remains a law enforcement issue or an immigration issue. Border patrol is not going to give drug tests to athletes. Miguel Tejada got a visa to play baseball this year even though he plead guilty to one count of perjury for lying to Congress in his testimony in 2005 on whether or not Rafael Palmeiro lied about whether or not he used steroids. Tejada faces a year prison term.
Tejada got into legal trouble, not for taking illegal substances but for lying to Congress. Alex Rodriguez is only in trouble in the public court of opinion with sportswriters and columnists presenting the story.
Players like Alex Rodriguez better apologize to the baseball writers or else. The or else is you can end up like Barry Bonds, intensively disliked by people who never met him personally in the perceived perception imaginary that is sold by the media because you didn't kiss the butts of baseball writers. After all, the baseball scribes matter, just ask them even if their jobs are being lost as many newspapers globally go out of business or go into bankruptcy. After all, the baseball scribe is the eyes and ears of the fan who has no access to players. They are acting on the fans behalf.
But all of this brings up a very troubling question. Is there a new Mc McCarthyism being practiced by baseball writers and is there a media double standard when it comes to baseball players and other athletes and baseball players and entertainers?
The actor Sylvester Stallone told Time magazine in 2008 that he used human growth hormone to get in shape for his new "Rambo" movie and added "HGH (human growth hormone) is nothing.
"Testosterone to me is so important for a sense of well-being when you get older. Everyone over 40 years old would be wise to investigate it because it increases the quality of your life. Mark my words. In 10 years it will be over the counter."
In 2007, Stallone was caught smuggling 48 vials of the banned human growth hormone Jintropin into Australia. In May, he was ordered to pay $10,651 in fines and court costs. It was the end of the story; Stallone paid his fine and moved on with his life. No one was calling for the removal of the statue of his Rocky character that sits near entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art as a cultural landmark. After the Australian conviction, a statue of Rocky was also erected in the Serbian village of Zitiste. His film Rocky has been inducted into the National Film Registry as well as having its film props placed in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC. The film and the props have not moved since his sentence.
Stallone made big news this week when it was announced that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will be shooting a cameo appearance for his new movie the spring. Nowhere in all the publicity stories surrounding "The Expendables" is there a mention of Stallone's Jintropin court appearance or Schwarzenegger use of steroids during his body building days before US made steroids a controlled substance. Yet the stories written about Alex Rodriguez continue a pace with the emphasis on steroids and how fans should be booing the Yankees players.
Entertainment writers have not editorialized about how Stallone has let down kids for taking drugs but baseball players are role models or at least there is a mythology about athletes as role models. Stallone could not have been a role model because actors and musicians aren't heroes like athletes.
Athletes are divided into two segments, baseball players and others. It seems very few sportswriters have ever complained about National Football League players being suspended for using banned substances. Sports and entertainment writers don't even approach professional wrestling even though the body count from performers that have died unnatural deaths in the past decade have skyrocketed with many of those deaths attributed from the use of banned performance enhancing drugs.
But for some reason only baseball players have the Scarlet Letter S as a permanent part of their wardrobe. Baseball scribes are seeing to that. Perhaps the baseball writers are trying to make up for the fact that they led the cheering in Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig's hope for a "Baseball renaissance" after the 1994-5 players strike (the owners were found guilty of non faith bargaining in that work stoppage) and accepting the Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa home run race as an important part of the "Baseball renaissance" and looked the other way despite whispers in the industry that certain players were juicing.
In 1997 and 1998 “juicing” was illegal in the United States and that has been forgotten by the baseball writers community.
For some reason baseball, which has endured a betting scandal in 1919 (eight members of the Chicago franchise were banned from baseball for throwing World Series games, giving the victory to the Cincinnati Reds, the players were acquitted after a Grand Jury was convened) and a drug scandal in 1985. The game goes on and it will survive Clemens, Barry Bonds, Rodriguez and scorned baseball writers and columnists even if there are just a handful left after newspapers succumb to financial pressures and the recession.
Perhaps one day, Congress will delve into the entertainment industry that feature Stallone and Schwarzenegger and will address why there is no outrage that performance enhancers are used by actors and actresses and ask why there is no call for testing of actors and actresses whose bodies are their livelihoods as well and also hold hearings on why non-high school athletes are taking banned performance enhancing drugs. That would force baseball writers, who really are only interested in watching games, to do some real journalism.
Right now, all baseball players, including those who never took an illegal performance enhancer, are now forced to wear the scarlet letter, S, placed upon them by the judge and jury baseball writers. There is an awful lot wrong with the way the whole baseball-steroids-HGH affair is being played out. Where have law enforcement people been over the past 18 years after steroids possession was made illegal? Why did it take until 2002 for an investigation into the use of banned substances to begin, which happened in the BALCO case in San Francisco? After all there were hints for years that something was going on.
Why is the focus just on baseball players in the US? Why haven't there been Congressional hearings about banned performance enhancers in other industries and finally why are baseball writers the judge and jury and placing the scarlet letter S on baseball players? Why does Sylvester Stallone get a pass and no one is looking to throw him in jail when he is caught red handed with HGH and baseball players scrutinized?
The Salem Witch Trails, the Scarlet Letter and McCarthyism live on if you are a big league baseball player.
Sports Forum: Why is A-Rod targeted, while Stallone is not?
by Evan Weiner, Business of Sports Examiner
The Salem Witch Trialsended in 1692. Senator Joe Mc McCarthy's reign of blacklisting came to a sudden halt in 1954, but in the world of baseball writers, sports radio talk show hosts and sports TV's talking heads The Scarlet Letter (a book which was written in 1850 by Nathaniel Hawthorne) of S, for steroids, has been pinned on Alex Rodriguez. And it is seemingly being done so for the benefit of fellow baseball writers and certain politicians, not the general public.
The whole Alex Rodriguez situation is a dog and pony show with little journalistic integrity.
The problem for the writers is two-fold. Elected officials have far more to worry about than the results of Alex Rodriguez urine sample and most baseball fans don't care. The writers, the moral guardians of baseball, are the only ones who are writing about whether Alex Rodriguez should get booed or whether he belongs in the Hall of Fame.
The writers are complaining about Alex Rodriguez news conference and how he didn't answer their questions to their satisfaction about getting supplements in the Dominican Republic. One New York newspaper, the Daily News, which recently cut its contribution to the employees’ 401k plan, sent a reporter to the Dominican Republic to see how easy it was for Rodriguez and others to get steroids and other performance enhancing drugs. It was pretty easy for me to find it in Samana in December; it is all over the place. It was simple for the Daily News reporter to find it too. Steroids are sold over the counter in the Dominican Republic pharmacies.
One by one, the bad guys, or the ones who don't necessarily play footsie with the regular baseball beat guys, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez, are falling and the scribes are having a conflicting time over this. The bad actors, or the ones they perceive as bad actors, are paying the price by their daily public humiliations. But baseball is being tarnished.
But missing in a lot of the prose written about Alex Rodriguez is the fact that he took performance-enhancing steroids in the Dominican Republic, not the United States and that is the way of the culture there. This remains a law enforcement issue or an immigration issue. Border patrol is not going to give drug tests to athletes. Miguel Tejada got a visa to play baseball this year even though he plead guilty to one count of perjury for lying to Congress in his testimony in 2005 on whether or not Rafael Palmeiro lied about whether or not he used steroids. Tejada faces a year prison term.
Tejada got into legal trouble, not for taking illegal substances but for lying to Congress. Alex Rodriguez is only in trouble in the public court of opinion with sportswriters and columnists presenting the story.
Players like Alex Rodriguez better apologize to the baseball writers or else. The or else is you can end up like Barry Bonds, intensively disliked by people who never met him personally in the perceived perception imaginary that is sold by the media because you didn't kiss the butts of baseball writers. After all, the baseball scribes matter, just ask them even if their jobs are being lost as many newspapers globally go out of business or go into bankruptcy. After all, the baseball scribe is the eyes and ears of the fan who has no access to players. They are acting on the fans behalf.
But all of this brings up a very troubling question. Is there a new Mc McCarthyism being practiced by baseball writers and is there a media double standard when it comes to baseball players and other athletes and baseball players and entertainers?
The actor Sylvester Stallone told Time magazine in 2008 that he used human growth hormone to get in shape for his new "Rambo" movie and added "HGH (human growth hormone) is nothing.
"Testosterone to me is so important for a sense of well-being when you get older. Everyone over 40 years old would be wise to investigate it because it increases the quality of your life. Mark my words. In 10 years it will be over the counter."
In 2007, Stallone was caught smuggling 48 vials of the banned human growth hormone Jintropin into Australia. In May, he was ordered to pay $10,651 in fines and court costs. It was the end of the story; Stallone paid his fine and moved on with his life. No one was calling for the removal of the statue of his Rocky character that sits near entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art as a cultural landmark. After the Australian conviction, a statue of Rocky was also erected in the Serbian village of Zitiste. His film Rocky has been inducted into the National Film Registry as well as having its film props placed in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC. The film and the props have not moved since his sentence.
Stallone made big news this week when it was announced that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will be shooting a cameo appearance for his new movie the spring. Nowhere in all the publicity stories surrounding "The Expendables" is there a mention of Stallone's Jintropin court appearance or Schwarzenegger use of steroids during his body building days before US made steroids a controlled substance. Yet the stories written about Alex Rodriguez continue a pace with the emphasis on steroids and how fans should be booing the Yankees players.
Entertainment writers have not editorialized about how Stallone has let down kids for taking drugs but baseball players are role models or at least there is a mythology about athletes as role models. Stallone could not have been a role model because actors and musicians aren't heroes like athletes.
Athletes are divided into two segments, baseball players and others. It seems very few sportswriters have ever complained about National Football League players being suspended for using banned substances. Sports and entertainment writers don't even approach professional wrestling even though the body count from performers that have died unnatural deaths in the past decade have skyrocketed with many of those deaths attributed from the use of banned performance enhancing drugs.
But for some reason only baseball players have the Scarlet Letter S as a permanent part of their wardrobe. Baseball scribes are seeing to that. Perhaps the baseball writers are trying to make up for the fact that they led the cheering in Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig's hope for a "Baseball renaissance" after the 1994-5 players strike (the owners were found guilty of non faith bargaining in that work stoppage) and accepting the Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa home run race as an important part of the "Baseball renaissance" and looked the other way despite whispers in the industry that certain players were juicing.
In 1997 and 1998 “juicing” was illegal in the United States and that has been forgotten by the baseball writers community.
For some reason baseball, which has endured a betting scandal in 1919 (eight members of the Chicago franchise were banned from baseball for throwing World Series games, giving the victory to the Cincinnati Reds, the players were acquitted after a Grand Jury was convened) and a drug scandal in 1985. The game goes on and it will survive Clemens, Barry Bonds, Rodriguez and scorned baseball writers and columnists even if there are just a handful left after newspapers succumb to financial pressures and the recession.
Perhaps one day, Congress will delve into the entertainment industry that feature Stallone and Schwarzenegger and will address why there is no outrage that performance enhancers are used by actors and actresses and ask why there is no call for testing of actors and actresses whose bodies are their livelihoods as well and also hold hearings on why non-high school athletes are taking banned performance enhancing drugs. That would force baseball writers, who really are only interested in watching games, to do some real journalism.
Right now, all baseball players, including those who never took an illegal performance enhancer, are now forced to wear the scarlet letter, S, placed upon them by the judge and jury baseball writers. There is an awful lot wrong with the way the whole baseball-steroids-HGH affair is being played out. Where have law enforcement people been over the past 18 years after steroids possession was made illegal? Why did it take until 2002 for an investigation into the use of banned substances to begin, which happened in the BALCO case in San Francisco? After all there were hints for years that something was going on.
Why is the focus just on baseball players in the US? Why haven't there been Congressional hearings about banned performance enhancers in other industries and finally why are baseball writers the judge and jury and placing the scarlet letter S on baseball players? Why does Sylvester Stallone get a pass and no one is looking to throw him in jail when he is caught red handed with HGH and baseball players scrutinized?
The Salem Witch Trails, the Scarlet Letter and McCarthyism live on if you are a big league baseball player.
Sports Forum: Why is A-Rod targeted, while Stallone is not?
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Despite Opposition, Delaware Might Bring Back Sports Betting
Despite Opposition, Delaware Might Bring Back Sports Betting
By Steve Berkowitz, USA TODAY
Legal, lottery-style betting on pro and college sports events might be coming to Delaware, where several recent developments could prompt lawmakers to activate the state's exemption from the 1992 federal law that generally bans such gambling.
A governor who opposed sports betting has departed after serving the maximum two four-year terms. The state projects an estimated $600 million budget deficit for the fiscal year that begins July 1. And the pillars of its gaming industry — horse racing and slot machines — are up against challenges from the introduction, or approval, of slot machines in Pennsylvania and Maryland.
"This year is different," state House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf said.
Delaware's House of Representatives passed a sports-betting bill last year 28-10, but it didn't get past a state Senate committee because of disagreements over operational details and then-Gov. Ruth Ann Minner's opposition.
Schwartzkopf and Senate Majority Leader Tony DeLuca say a sports-betting bill will be introduced after legislators reconvene March 17, following six weeks of budget hearings. "A properly written bill stands a pretty good chance" of becoming law, Schwartzkopf said.
Gov. Jack Markell has asked the state's finance office to talk with companies that would be interested in running a sports lottery about the amounts of direct and ancillary revenue this type of betting could produce, spokesman Joe Rogalsky said.
Delaware, Montana, Nevada and Oregon have exceptions to the federal sports-betting ban because they had forms of legalized pro and college sports betting before or close to the time when legislation was introduced in 1991. Nevada was the only state with largely unlimited sports betting. Delaware and Oregon had operated sports lotteries, so named because they require players to wager on more than one outcome in a single bet known as a parlay; this creates more of an element of chance than is involved with betting on a single outcome in a sporting event.
Parlay betting on NFL games under the lottery system was allowed in Oregon from 1989 until 2006, when state lawmakers voted to end it.
It wasn't because of pressure from the NFL. And it wasn't because bettor interest had declined; in 2006, sales for the so-called sports lottery increased for a fifth consecutive year and set a record of $14 million.
"The rationale was that the state could realize more economic benefit from hosting NCAA (basketball) tournament games — specifically men's games," Oregon Lottery spokesman Chuck Baumann says.
And, Baumann says, the NCAA Division I men's basketball committee had made clear that if sports betting existed in Oregon, tournament games would not. In March, first- and second-round games will be played in Portland, the state's first men's tournament games since 1983.
As lawmakers in Delaware consider allowing pro and college sports parlay betting, they say they aren't worrying much about pressure from the NCAA, NFL or any other sports organization.
And such opposition will come "vigorously," says Laird Stabler, a lobbyist in Delaware who represents the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball and the NCAA, "all of which strongly oppose states legalizing, and thereby promoting, betting on their sporting events."
But there are no venues in Delaware large enough for an event such as the NCAA men's basketball tournament, and legislators, facing a projected $600 million deficit for fiscal 2010 and threats to the state's lucrative gaming industry, are unlikely to be swayed by impact on possible NCAA postseason home games for the University of Delaware or Delaware State, says DeLuca.
"We have seen lobbying for the NFL come in," says DeLuca, referring to last year when the state House of Representatives approved sports-betting legislation that had faltered in the Senate. "They say they don't want to be associated with gambling. With no disrespect intended, I think that boat has already sailed."
DeLuca and Schwartzkopf say the primary obstacles to passage of a bill by legislators are mechanical issues: whether sports betting would be limited to casinos at the state's three horse racing tracks; the cost of licensing and specifics of how the betting would work.
"There are all kinds of people with vested interests," DeLuca says. "And I'm sure there will be lively debate, but I would say (a bill) is going to be successful."
This is not only a function of potential revenue gain, Schwartzkopf says, but also prevention of projected revenue loss. Delaware has a lottery, slot machines and horse racing. In fiscal 2008, it got more than $250 million of its $3.3 billion budget from slots and the lottery — $213 million from slots. That makes the lottery and slots the state's No. 4 income source to personal income taxes, franchise taxes and abandoned property.
Pennsylvania introduced slot machines in 2007. Maryland voters in November approved slots, which could start operating in 2010. Delaware has avoided large revenue losses to Pennsylvania by adding machines, extending hours and using promotions, says Thomas J. Cook, the state's deputy secretary of finance. Without sports betting, Cook says, Delaware could lose $70 million a year in revenue once Maryland's slots are fully operational.
Stabler says he questions the degree to which sports betting in Delaware could offset that.
"Even without the (budget) deficit, we have to stay competitive," Schwartzkopf says. "The bottom line with sports betting is that only Delaware can do it east of the Mississippi (federal law also allows it in Nevada and Montana). Sports betting can draw people away from the other states. And while there is money to be made on sports betting, the real dollars are in the carryover to casinos" in slot play and meals.
Despite Opposition, Delaware Might Bring Back Sports Betting
By Steve Berkowitz, USA TODAY
Legal, lottery-style betting on pro and college sports events might be coming to Delaware, where several recent developments could prompt lawmakers to activate the state's exemption from the 1992 federal law that generally bans such gambling.
A governor who opposed sports betting has departed after serving the maximum two four-year terms. The state projects an estimated $600 million budget deficit for the fiscal year that begins July 1. And the pillars of its gaming industry — horse racing and slot machines — are up against challenges from the introduction, or approval, of slot machines in Pennsylvania and Maryland.
"This year is different," state House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf said.
Delaware's House of Representatives passed a sports-betting bill last year 28-10, but it didn't get past a state Senate committee because of disagreements over operational details and then-Gov. Ruth Ann Minner's opposition.
Schwartzkopf and Senate Majority Leader Tony DeLuca say a sports-betting bill will be introduced after legislators reconvene March 17, following six weeks of budget hearings. "A properly written bill stands a pretty good chance" of becoming law, Schwartzkopf said.
Gov. Jack Markell has asked the state's finance office to talk with companies that would be interested in running a sports lottery about the amounts of direct and ancillary revenue this type of betting could produce, spokesman Joe Rogalsky said.
Delaware, Montana, Nevada and Oregon have exceptions to the federal sports-betting ban because they had forms of legalized pro and college sports betting before or close to the time when legislation was introduced in 1991. Nevada was the only state with largely unlimited sports betting. Delaware and Oregon had operated sports lotteries, so named because they require players to wager on more than one outcome in a single bet known as a parlay; this creates more of an element of chance than is involved with betting on a single outcome in a sporting event.
Parlay betting on NFL games under the lottery system was allowed in Oregon from 1989 until 2006, when state lawmakers voted to end it.
It wasn't because of pressure from the NFL. And it wasn't because bettor interest had declined; in 2006, sales for the so-called sports lottery increased for a fifth consecutive year and set a record of $14 million.
"The rationale was that the state could realize more economic benefit from hosting NCAA (basketball) tournament games — specifically men's games," Oregon Lottery spokesman Chuck Baumann says.
And, Baumann says, the NCAA Division I men's basketball committee had made clear that if sports betting existed in Oregon, tournament games would not. In March, first- and second-round games will be played in Portland, the state's first men's tournament games since 1983.
As lawmakers in Delaware consider allowing pro and college sports parlay betting, they say they aren't worrying much about pressure from the NCAA, NFL or any other sports organization.
And such opposition will come "vigorously," says Laird Stabler, a lobbyist in Delaware who represents the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball and the NCAA, "all of which strongly oppose states legalizing, and thereby promoting, betting on their sporting events."
But there are no venues in Delaware large enough for an event such as the NCAA men's basketball tournament, and legislators, facing a projected $600 million deficit for fiscal 2010 and threats to the state's lucrative gaming industry, are unlikely to be swayed by impact on possible NCAA postseason home games for the University of Delaware or Delaware State, says DeLuca.
"We have seen lobbying for the NFL come in," says DeLuca, referring to last year when the state House of Representatives approved sports-betting legislation that had faltered in the Senate. "They say they don't want to be associated with gambling. With no disrespect intended, I think that boat has already sailed."
DeLuca and Schwartzkopf say the primary obstacles to passage of a bill by legislators are mechanical issues: whether sports betting would be limited to casinos at the state's three horse racing tracks; the cost of licensing and specifics of how the betting would work.
"There are all kinds of people with vested interests," DeLuca says. "And I'm sure there will be lively debate, but I would say (a bill) is going to be successful."
This is not only a function of potential revenue gain, Schwartzkopf says, but also prevention of projected revenue loss. Delaware has a lottery, slot machines and horse racing. In fiscal 2008, it got more than $250 million of its $3.3 billion budget from slots and the lottery — $213 million from slots. That makes the lottery and slots the state's No. 4 income source to personal income taxes, franchise taxes and abandoned property.
Pennsylvania introduced slot machines in 2007. Maryland voters in November approved slots, which could start operating in 2010. Delaware has avoided large revenue losses to Pennsylvania by adding machines, extending hours and using promotions, says Thomas J. Cook, the state's deputy secretary of finance. Without sports betting, Cook says, Delaware could lose $70 million a year in revenue once Maryland's slots are fully operational.
Stabler says he questions the degree to which sports betting in Delaware could offset that.
"Even without the (budget) deficit, we have to stay competitive," Schwartzkopf says. "The bottom line with sports betting is that only Delaware can do it east of the Mississippi (federal law also allows it in Nevada and Montana). Sports betting can draw people away from the other states. And while there is money to be made on sports betting, the real dollars are in the carryover to casinos" in slot play and meals.
Despite Opposition, Delaware Might Bring Back Sports Betting
MGM Mirage, Bally’s, Wynn, Harrah’s Lose Out on Betting Sports During Tough Economic Times
MGM Mirage, Bally’s, Wynn, Harrah’s Lose Out on Betting Sports During Tough Economic Times
By Jagajeet Chiba
February 23, 2009
Las Vegas is hurting during these rough economic times. Hotels on the strip have drastically slashed room rates in an effort to compete.
But the likes of MGM Mirage, Bally's, Wynn, Harrah's and a whole slew of others appear to be losing out in a big way.
The online gambling sector is a multi-billion dollar industry that continues to thrive despite the economic downturn. Sure these Vegas giants want to get in on the action once all the legalities are ironed out.
However, Vegas casino companies can be doing more now to capitalize on the Internet gambling market. And the Las Vegas hotel casinos need to start marketing more effectively. The bleeding continues to get worse.
Just how bad are things with the casinos?
From the Motley Fool earlier this month:
"Seventeen casino operators are at a high risk of default, says Moody's Investors Service. The endangered species list contains mostly small, private companies. And those are just the worst of the bunch. No commercial casino operator followed by Moody's or Fitch Ratings has an investment-grade rating. "
According to Motley Fool, Harrah's Entertainment, which was taken private in early 2008, saw its long-term debt nearly double to $24 billion by Sept. 30, compared to Dec. 31, 2007. In late December 2008, Harrah's won some breathing room by exchanging some existing debt for new debt, pushing back the maturity dates on obligation.
MGM Mirage, Bally’s, Wynn, Harrah’s Lose Out on Betting Sports During Tough Economic Times
By Jagajeet Chiba
February 23, 2009
Las Vegas is hurting during these rough economic times. Hotels on the strip have drastically slashed room rates in an effort to compete.
But the likes of MGM Mirage, Bally's, Wynn, Harrah's and a whole slew of others appear to be losing out in a big way.
The online gambling sector is a multi-billion dollar industry that continues to thrive despite the economic downturn. Sure these Vegas giants want to get in on the action once all the legalities are ironed out.
However, Vegas casino companies can be doing more now to capitalize on the Internet gambling market. And the Las Vegas hotel casinos need to start marketing more effectively. The bleeding continues to get worse.
Just how bad are things with the casinos?
From the Motley Fool earlier this month:
"Seventeen casino operators are at a high risk of default, says Moody's Investors Service. The endangered species list contains mostly small, private companies. And those are just the worst of the bunch. No commercial casino operator followed by Moody's or Fitch Ratings has an investment-grade rating. "
According to Motley Fool, Harrah's Entertainment, which was taken private in early 2008, saw its long-term debt nearly double to $24 billion by Sept. 30, compared to Dec. 31, 2007. In late December 2008, Harrah's won some breathing room by exchanging some existing debt for new debt, pushing back the maturity dates on obligation.
MGM Mirage, Bally’s, Wynn, Harrah’s Lose Out on Betting Sports During Tough Economic Times
Global Financial Crisis Does NOT Affect Betting Sports
Global Financial Crisis Does NOT Affect Betting Sports
Blair Speedy | February 25, 2009
Article from: The Australian
Northern Territory-based gambling company, Centrebet, expects a 10 percent rise in annual profit as the global financial crisis fails to quench the desire to bet.
Centrebet, which recently launched a hostile takeover bid for rival International All Sports, reported a net profit of $5.3 million after tax for the first half of the financial year, down 11 per cent from the previous first half.
However, the bottom-line result was reduced by $1.2 million in unrealized foreign exchange losses and an extra $2.5 million in marketing costs, which helped to boost revenue by 11 per cent to $34.6 million.
Chairman Graham Kelly was pleased with Centrebet's outlook for solid growth despite declining economic conditions.
Managing director Con Kafataris affirmed forecasts for full-year profit to rise by at least 10 per cent.
Revenue from Australian online gambling was up 23 per cent while the Europe rose 11 per cent.
Wagering revenue was up 15 per cent to $25.9 million while sports betting revenue was up 14 per cent to $15.8 million, including a 30 per cent rise in online racing revenue to $8 million.
Global Financial Crisis Does NOT Affect Betting Sports
Blair Speedy | February 25, 2009
Article from: The Australian
Northern Territory-based gambling company, Centrebet, expects a 10 percent rise in annual profit as the global financial crisis fails to quench the desire to bet.
Centrebet, which recently launched a hostile takeover bid for rival International All Sports, reported a net profit of $5.3 million after tax for the first half of the financial year, down 11 per cent from the previous first half.
However, the bottom-line result was reduced by $1.2 million in unrealized foreign exchange losses and an extra $2.5 million in marketing costs, which helped to boost revenue by 11 per cent to $34.6 million.
Chairman Graham Kelly was pleased with Centrebet's outlook for solid growth despite declining economic conditions.
Managing director Con Kafataris affirmed forecasts for full-year profit to rise by at least 10 per cent.
Revenue from Australian online gambling was up 23 per cent while the Europe rose 11 per cent.
Wagering revenue was up 15 per cent to $25.9 million while sports betting revenue was up 14 per cent to $15.8 million, including a 30 per cent rise in online racing revenue to $8 million.
Global Financial Crisis Does NOT Affect Betting Sports
TIGER WOODS WGC ACCENTURE MATCHPLAY BETTING SPORTS TIPS
TIGER WOODS WGC ACCENTURE MATCHPLAY BETTING SPORTS TIPS
February 23, 2009 - Kyle Foster
Tiger Woods is going to be back in action for the first time in a long time at the WGC Accenture Matchplay Championship in Tucson, Arizona. With this being a non-traditional PGA Tour fixture, combined with the fact that Woods does commercials for Accenture, you have to wonder whether Woods was rushed back into contention for this one or whether he's truly been fit to perform for quite a while. I think he will be coming back with a lot of momentum, and we all know that Woods is here to play and when he plays- he wins.
Since this is a matchplay fixture featuring seeded players, it's important to know which brackets are up for grabs. At Paddy Power, one of the most interesting markets is the bracket betting. Tiger Woods (15/8) is the top seed in the Bobby Jones bracket among names like Geoff Ogilvy (15/2), Camillo Villegas (8/1) and Mike Weir (11/1). The unfortunately named Rory McIlroy (15/1) will also be in contention, and he can be happy about not being handicapped in certain areas like other Rory's.
Sergio Garcia (9/2) leads the Gary Player bracket, in-form Phil Mickelson (4/1) leads the Ben Hogan bracket while Henrik Stenson (5/1) sits atop the Sam Snead bracket. Anthony Kim (11/2) and Padraig Harrington (13/2) are sitting just behind him and I expect this to be by far the most competitive bracket.
You can also bet on Tiger Woods versus the field and back Tiger at 11/2. You can back the field (basically, Tiger Woods to not win the tournament) pays 1/10. You can take this a step further and back the Big 5 (Woods, Mickelson, Garcia, Stenson & Kim) at 7/4 or you can back the field at 2/5.
In terms of outright betting, Woods is listed at 11/2, Phil Mickelson sits at 14/1, Sergio Garcia is at 18/1 while Henrik Stenson sits at 20/1. Anthony Kim is listed at 22/1 with Geoff Ogilvy not far off at 25/1. Adam Scott has a base price of 30/1 with Camillo Villegas, Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington all rounding off the likely winners at 33/1.
TIGER WOODS WGC ACCENTURE MATCHPLAY BETTING SPORTS TIPS
February 23, 2009 - Kyle Foster
Tiger Woods is going to be back in action for the first time in a long time at the WGC Accenture Matchplay Championship in Tucson, Arizona. With this being a non-traditional PGA Tour fixture, combined with the fact that Woods does commercials for Accenture, you have to wonder whether Woods was rushed back into contention for this one or whether he's truly been fit to perform for quite a while. I think he will be coming back with a lot of momentum, and we all know that Woods is here to play and when he plays- he wins.
Since this is a matchplay fixture featuring seeded players, it's important to know which brackets are up for grabs. At Paddy Power, one of the most interesting markets is the bracket betting. Tiger Woods (15/8) is the top seed in the Bobby Jones bracket among names like Geoff Ogilvy (15/2), Camillo Villegas (8/1) and Mike Weir (11/1). The unfortunately named Rory McIlroy (15/1) will also be in contention, and he can be happy about not being handicapped in certain areas like other Rory's.
Sergio Garcia (9/2) leads the Gary Player bracket, in-form Phil Mickelson (4/1) leads the Ben Hogan bracket while Henrik Stenson (5/1) sits atop the Sam Snead bracket. Anthony Kim (11/2) and Padraig Harrington (13/2) are sitting just behind him and I expect this to be by far the most competitive bracket.
You can also bet on Tiger Woods versus the field and back Tiger at 11/2. You can back the field (basically, Tiger Woods to not win the tournament) pays 1/10. You can take this a step further and back the Big 5 (Woods, Mickelson, Garcia, Stenson & Kim) at 7/4 or you can back the field at 2/5.
In terms of outright betting, Woods is listed at 11/2, Phil Mickelson sits at 14/1, Sergio Garcia is at 18/1 while Henrik Stenson sits at 20/1. Anthony Kim is listed at 22/1 with Geoff Ogilvy not far off at 25/1. Adam Scott has a base price of 30/1 with Camillo Villegas, Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington all rounding off the likely winners at 33/1.
TIGER WOODS WGC ACCENTURE MATCHPLAY BETTING SPORTS TIPS
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