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With the swimming events finished, the focus in week two of the 2008 Olympics turns to the athletics action at Beijing's 91,000 capacity Bird's Nest stadium. Track and field odds The men's long jump final, the past domain of such Olympic greats as Carl Lewis and Bob Beamon, leads the finals action on day ten (Monday). Irving Saladino will be hoping to add his name to that list and give the Central American nation of Panama its first gold ever at an Olympics (and just its third medal in history). The current world champion enters the contest a firm 8/13 favorite at Ladbrokes, ahead of Greece's Louis Tsatoumas, 4/1, and Cuba's Ibrahim Camejo, 5/1. Other events to come to their conclusion on Monday include the women's 800m, pole vault and discus finals and the men's 400m hurdles. Team sports: volleyball Indoor volleyball has been an Olympic sport since Tokyo 1964. The men's tournament is a two-horse race between the two traditional powerhouses, Russia (winner of three Olympic volleyball tournaments as the Soviet Union) and two-time winner Brazil. The two look certain to make it to the knockout stages after cruising through the preliminary rounds. Russia, who have already defeated the Brazilians at this tournament three sets to one, have rightly laid claim to tournament favoritism - 11/10 at Ladbrokes. Brazil is 11/4, well ahead of the next-rated team, the USA, at 5/1. Unbeaten Brazil is an almost-unbackable 1.25 favorite at Betfair (using the decimal, rather than fractional odds system) to win its first women's Olympic volleyball gold. Italy, 3.5, the USA, 5, and three-time champion Cuba, 6 are also in the running. Hosts and two-time champion China have started badly with losses to Cuba and the USA, and are at odds of 8.6. The story so far Most of the swimming events have been completed, with Michael Phelps claiming the eight gold medals he was chasing at the beginning of the tournament. Ladbrokes has already begun taking bets on how many medals he'll win at the 2012 London Olympics, with 5/6 odds being offered on the two choices of five or more and four or less. In the medal tally, China is getting away from the United States, with 32 gold medals late on Sunday to the Americans' 19, making the chance of a comeback unlikely. However the US can take consolation in the fact they have more medals overall (63 to China's 57). Most bookmakers actually had China as favorites for the most golds and the US as favorite for most medals, showing that this race at least has been predictable for bookmakers and punters.
In 1973 Paul Newman and Robert Redford carried out a great horse-racing betting scam in a movie called "The Sting." The plot of the movie was based on the fact that there is a 3 hour time difference between the east and west coasts of America. The con-men used this to send information by wire, which enables bettors at the other end to place bets on races that have already been run and thus win huge amounts of money. No Hollywood ending What we have in this operation which ended in a gruesome double real-life murder are people working a scam based on football matches shown on TV. It seems that the TV broadcast in China is about a minute behind the live action in the stadium, so gambling syndicates would place employees at games to gain an advantage. So many people were recruited to watch live games that the gambling bosses needed agents to manage them. This was the path to the murder. Double-murder The man who was murdered, Zhen Xing Yang along with his girlfriend Xi Zhou, both 25, placed ads under the name CICI-UK, the girlfriend's nickname, on the ‘Powerappple' website last October. The ad read: "Work: watch football games and send live information to people." More recently an ad was placed that read, "UK-based football 'information' company looking for live information from the Mexican League." Mexico connection Could it be that the Mexican crime gangs resented anyone crashing into their territory? Could this be the work of the Chinese Triads? Many theories are being examined by the police. The murders were brutal. Both Yang and his girlfriend had been killed in a savage, prolonged attack with a knife and another sharp-edged implement. Bruising to Yang's forearms had been sustained up to an hour before he suffered the blows to his head that killed him. His girlfriend had been beaten and suffocated. The couple's black and white cat had been drowned and hidden in the bathroom in a bowl of water covered with a towel and a pair of kitchen gloves. Northumbria police believe the killer or killers were known to their victims because they appear not to have forced entry into the apartment. But why this popular couple, who met at Newcastle University where they were studying for MAs in 2005, was targeted is unclear. Gambling scam Now Internet forums for the Chinese community are buzzing with one particular theory: that Yang had been involved in shadowy businesses, and gained some dangerous enemies. It is also emerging that Yang failed to make payments he had promised to people - presumably agents he had hired in his betting business. With the help of Mandarin interpreters, police are trawling through Internet forums, examining a computer and three mobile phones taken from the couple's flat. Detective Superintendent Steve Wade, leading the investigation, said: "Community intelligence supported by the examination of computer equipment and mobile call data has shown that both of the victims were involved in fraudulent activity which has angered and upset a number of people."
There is less than one week left for bets to be placed on Olympic action, with a whole four years to wait until the Games come round again in London. Athletics odds Athletics will remain the point of greatest interest until the completion of the Games on August 24. Tuesday's finals include the men's high jump and women's 100m hurdles. The high jump will be hotly-contested between three of the best in the world. Russia's Andrey Silnov, granted a late reprieve after originally missing out on Olympic selection because he finished fourth in Russian qualifying (with only three athletes from each country are allowed) has grasped his opportunity to compete and is favorite to win the event. With the highest jump (2.38m) of the year to his name, Silnov goes in a 5/4 Ladbrokes favorite. Swede Stefan Holm, who has jumped 2.37m this year, is 7/4. Russian Yaroslav Rybakov is 5/1. American Lolo Jones leads the field in the hurdles, listed 2/9 ahead of Jamaica's Bridgitte Foster-Hylton, 8/1. It's a traditional trans-Atlantic battle between the USA and Britain in the women's 400m final, with American Sanya Richards an odds-on 1/5 favorite to defeat her main rival from across the pond, Christine Ohuruogo, 5/1. Special online casino deals Online casinos are still offering special deals during the Olympics. One online betting outlet - Spin Palace - is offering the chance to win prizes of five "gold medals," worth 2008 Euros, 10 silver prizes of 1000 Euros, and 30 bronze prizes of 350 Euros in value to those who place bets on the game.
One can do virtually anything on the Internet, from ordering dinner, buying clothes, trading on the stock exchange and checking one's bank balance. If you want fun you can do the crossword, watch a movie, listen to music or gamble online. The only limit to the Internet is man's imagination. Having found this 'new' freedom it is impossible to take it away. Try and stop online gambling and watch what happens! Online gambling is a hit The company com.Score Media Matrix, who monitor unique visits by US Internet users to different categories of websites, show that online gambling visits in July 2008 were up 5 percent over the previous month, placing the category around the halfway mark on a list of 10 top gaining categories. Their hit-count shows that in June 2008 there were 12 million visits to online gambling sites, up in July 2008 to 12.6 million despite the determined efforts of US enforcement agencies to discourage online gambling. Double edged sword The future of online gambling appears to be assured and liable to keep gaining in popularity but the casinos have to play ball and behave themselves. One bad move by an online casino and the entire online gambling community will know about it in seconds. Online casinos seem to know a great deal about refreshing their sites, introducing new games and making new offers, all in the course of normal business. They probably understand that like every business there will be ups and downs and people along the way trying to derail them. Legal limbo The US is witnessing a possible legal (taxed) return to online gambling as federal and state governments examine the potential revenue arising from the taxing of online casinos. Now that online gambling is a fact, it is here to stay. All that can be done is to manage it well. The other threat that faced the Internet in the past, mobile gambling, seems to have subsided, but that doesn't mean it has gone away. It may just be waiting for new technology to help it off the launch pad.
Jamaican Usain Bolt is a red-hot favorite with bookmakers to take the 100m-200m double at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Athletics odds The men's 200m sprint will be the main event on day 12 (Wednesday) of the Olympics, but with Bolt so strong in betting, it is shaping up as either a non-event or - if he loses - as one of the biggest Olympic upsets of all time. Such was Bolt's dominance in Saturday's 100m sprint, which he won in a world record time of 9.69s, that he is an odds-on 1/100 favorite at Ladbrokes to repeat the feat in the 200m at 10:20 on Wednesday night at Beijing's Bird's Nest stadium. 100m bronze medalist, American Walter Dix, sits back in the field at 33/1, behind Brian Dzingai, Zimbabwe, and Shawn Crawford, USA, 25/1, and level with American Wallace Spearmon, USA. But it might be worth putting money on those four for the silver, because their hopes of upsetting Bolt are fairly slim. The women's 400m hurdles final takes place immediately after the men's 200m. Beach volleyball odds Wednesday is quarter-final day in the men's water polo, with eight teams competing to make it through to the medal rounds. Match of the day features Balkan rivals Croatia and Montenegro. The Montenegrans are searching for the first ever Olympic medal as a stand-alone nation, after gaining independence from their federation with Serbia in 2006, which of course was in itself a remnant of the former Yugoslavia. Serbia-Montenegro won the silver medal at Athens in 2004, while Croatia won the silver at Atlanta in 1996. In-form Croatia is 8/11 at Ladbrokes for the win here, against Montenegro 33/20. Serbia goes in 3/5 favorite against Spain, 19/10. Greece and Italy are strong favorites to beat Canada and China respectively. 2004 gold medalist Hungary is out of the tournament. The women's medal matches take place Thursday, with the United States the Betfair favorite to beat Holland for gold. Australia plays Hungary in the bronze medal match.
Macau is "gambling town" is every sense. Over 70 percent of all income is a direct product of gambling. All the other niceties are used strictly to entice more gamblers This is in direct disproportion to Las Vegas where only 20 percent of resort revenue is derived directly from gambling. Merchandise, shows, bars and clubs, high-end restaurants and pricey hotel rooms provide the rest. The Las Vegas casino industry is showing a decline in income in the current economic downturn and it seems that it is as a result of the diversification of business away from the primary concern, namely gambling. As casino management searched to find new revenue sources they left themselves open to the surges of the general economy. Gambling builds strong The Online Casino Advisory's gambling analyst Sherman Bradley, suggests that gambling growth, if properly exploited, may continue unaffected by the economic situation of the world. Macau clearly demonstrates this. Bradley's view is that Las Vegas would find it more profitable to return to its roots. "The good old days of the $1 shrimp cocktail, $2 steak dinner, and comped rooms will act as effective insulation against the slumping economy." Asian growth In the meantime, PricewaterhouseCoopers has identified the Asia-Pacific region as the world's fastest growth market, with new casinos in Macau, Thailand and Singapore spurring an annual revenue growth of 15.2%. By 2012 the Asia-Pacific region should account for $37.2 billion in gambling revenue, or around 24% of global gambling revenue, compared to $18.3 billion in 2007, or 16% of global gambling revenue.
It's finals galore in women's team events on day 12 (Thursday) of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Basketball odds The women take to the court Thursday in semi-final basketball action. Neither game is expected to be much of a contest. The USA is 1/100 at Ladbrokes to defeat Russia, 10/1, while in the other semi, Australia - despite injuries to key players Penny Taylor and Lauren Jackson - is an almost-as-solid 1/50 in the odds to defeat hosts China 8/1. The men's semi-finals take place on Friday, with the USA the hot favorite to go all the way and win the gold medal after losing it at Athens. The USA is 1.11 (in decimal odds) at Betfair to win the tournament, against 6.2 for the "any other nation" option. Handball odds It's also ladies' day in the handball, with the notable absence of three-time defending champion Denmark from proceedings after they were knocked out in the preliminary rounds. The stage is now set for another country to take over the mantle of champion. Norway is 4/11 favorite to defeat 2004 silver medalist South Korea. Russia is 3/10 to beat Hungary, 13/4. 2004 men's gold medalist Croatia leads a field of eight teams hoping to progress from Wednesday's quarter-finals to medal contention. Volleyball odds Arch-rivals the Cuba and the United States face each other in women's volleyball semi-finals Thursday. While this will get much of the attention from television viewers, the two teams are actually third and fourth in the odds for the gold medal - Cuba 3/1 and the USA 13/2, respectively. Brazil (8/11 for the tournament) plays China (11/4) in the other semi-final. Medal matches in women's football, softball and field hockey are also being held Thursday.
In an election year, everyone watches the candidates. That's so obvious that we never think about it, but it's a basic fact that colors everything "we," the people and the candidates, do. This year, we're all living in a fishbowl. Some background Since the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), in 2006, the online gaming community has kept a close eye on political contests. Gamers want to know who's running for the open seats, and where they stand on Internet gambling. Let's face it: there's a large bloc of potential voters out there who want this Act repealed. With this in mind, online casino and poker players have given the Presidential candidates some close scrutiny. Both have mixed records when it comes to online gaming, and neither has received a high rating from the Poker Players Alliance; McCain was given a D rating, and Obama only received a C. Where Obama stands That C rating of Obama's seems incongruous, but is it really? While an Illinois state senator, Obama voted against several restrictions on gambling (and voted 'present' on other similar bills), but not because he was opposed to gambling; rather, he stated that he didn't like the way those particular bills were written. This, from a man who says he enjoys a good poker game... Obama's most recent cross party endorsement isn't likely to endear him to the PPA, either. Former Congressman Jim Leach, of Iowa, the GOP veteran who helped to write and sponsor the UIGEA, has thrown his weight behind Obama. What kind of repercussions will this have for Democratic nominee, the online gambling industry, and online gamers? Probably, very little. We need to remember several points here. First, Leach is a defeated Congressman, and ex-Congressmen, while they may have some clout in their former district, no longer need to be reckoned with in government circles. Second, Obama has a personal history of dodging tough issues (remember those 'present' votes?). And finally, Leach never mentioned gambling in his endorsement; he said that he approves of Obama's desire for change in the way America does politics. The bottom line All of this adds up to a nice cross-party endorsement for Barack Obama, but not much else. Don't look for it to have any impact on Federal policy toward online gambling, either before or after the election.
It's hard to imagine the action on days 12 and 13 (Thursday and Friday) of the 2008 Olympics could beat Usain Bolt's world record-breaking performance in the 200m sprint Wednesday, backing up from his previous world record in the 100m. Nevertheless, there is still some exciting athletics action remaining. Athletics odds The men's 4 x 100m relay final takes place on Friday night at Beijing Bird's Nest stadium. Jamaica, with Bolt and former world record-holder Asafa Powell in its corner, are firm 4/7 favorites at Ladbrokes. The USA is 11/4, and Trinidad and Tobago 12/1. With all three medalists from the women's 100m sprint - gold medal winner Shelly-Anne Fraser, and silver medalists (in a dead heat) Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart - in its corner, nobody is likely to come close to Jamaica in the women's 1 x 100m final. The island nation is 1/4 for the gold, followed by the USA, 11/1. Basketball odds It's men's semi-final day in a number of team sports, including basketball. The USA's "Redeem Team" is getting stronger with every match. Argentina, 10/1, is not expected to trouble Kobe, LeBron and the rest of the American team, an odds-on 1/100 to progress to the gold medal playoff. In the other semi-final, Spain is a 3/10 favorite to knock out Lithuania, 12/5. Handball odds 2004 men's handball gold medalists Croatia can move to within one win of a repeat performance at Beijing, if they beat France in Friday's semi-final. France is actually the favorite for the tournament, at 11/10, while Croatia is listed at odds of 16/5. Spain (5/2 to win gold) takes on Iceland, 4/1, in the other semi. Volleyball odds Brazil is a 4/5 favorite to win its second consecutive men's volleyball gold medal, and third overall, going into its semi-final with Italy, 11/2. Russia is 11/4 to win the tournament, but it will need to get past dark horse the USA, 7/2, before it gets a chance at the gold medal.
Bodog messes with US authorities and it costs it big-time. On a slightly different note, a Chinese student messes with the mafia and pays with his life. At least men and women get along fine on bingo sites. The end of Bodog as we know it? Funds seized from Bodog accounts in the USA seem to have the famous casino and entertainment company in serious trouble, possibly on the verge of extinction. Costly Gambling Scam Youngsters involved in a betting scam, taking advantage of a 1 minute delay in broadcast between the UK and China, were found dead after probably crossing with Chinese mafia. Anything Women Can Do Men Can Play Too Online bingo - not only for women. Surprising numbers tell a gender-blind story.
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