Odds to win the 2011 Super Bowl as we are coming into Week 1 had a bunch of teams vying as long favorites.  By that we mean, NFL teams will pay a minimum of $800 on a $100 bet should they win the 2010 Super Bowl.

The Indianapolis Colts were technically the favorites at +800 or 8/1 coming into Week 1 of the new season at SBG Global.  Other single digit favorites included the Dallas Cowboys at +900 and New Orleans Saints, also at +900.

“It’s a great time to bet on NFL futures,” exalts Don Shapiro of Gambling911.com.  “The value is extraordinary.  Typically a team will open as a 3/1 favorite.  These are some of the longest odds on an upcoming Super Bowl we have ever seen coming into a new season.”

Odds to win the 2011 Super Bowl within the 10/1 to 20/1 range included The Atlanta Falcons at 20/1, Baltimore Ravens 12/1, Green Bay Packers 10/1, Minnesota Vikings 12/1, New England Patriots 12/1, New York Jets 12/1, Pittsburgh Steelers 15/1, San Diego Chargers 10/1, and the San Francisco 49ers 15/1.

“This is the first time in nearly the last 10 years the New England Patriots haven’t opened with single digit odds of winning a Super Bowl,” points out Shapiro.  “The same holds true for the Steelers in recent years.”

The 21/1 to 40/1 range odds to win the 2011 Super Bowl included Chicago at the long 40/1 odds, Cincinnati at 25/1, Houston at 30/1, Miami at 30/1, The Giants at 25/1, Philadelphia at 25/1, The Titans at 30/1 and the Washington Redskins at 40/1. 

Arizona comes in with 55/1 odds of winning the 2010 Super Bowl.

Buffalo had long 125/1 odds, which would pay out over $12000 for every $100 bet.

Carolina is a bit of a surprise at 75/1 odds.

Cleveland pays 95/1.

Detroit and Jacksonville both pay out 100/1 odds.

Kansas pays 90/1.

Oakland pays 75/1.

Seattle pays 85/1.

Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com 

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A standout game for us here at Gambling911.com is a Saturday 3:30 pm EST affair in College Football:  Kentucky vs. Louisville.  This is the Gambling911.com Betting Edge.

We see that the online sportsbooks have a strong enough opinion on Kentucky not to move the line off the -3.

That’s interesting because action on this game is so lopsided in Kentucky’s favor at a near 90 percent clip.

It’s not always easy for oddsmakers to move much off the number “3”.

Here is some line history for Kentucky vs. Louisville at SBG Global:

08/04/10 4:45:02 PM

3/-110 (Open)

OFF

08/30/10 2:45:04 PM

3/-110

49 -110 (Open)

09/02/10 5:35:08 PM

3/-110

49.5 -110

09/02/10 7:15:13 PM

3/-110

49 -110

09/03/10 7:15:03 PM

3/-110

47.5 -110

09/03/10 8:45:01 PM

2.5/100

47.5 -110

09/03/10 9:45:03 PM

2.5/100

48 -110

09/04/10 8:45:02 AM

3/-110

48 -110

09/04/10 10:15:02 AM

3/-110

47.5 -110

09/04/10 12:05:02 PM

3/-110

47 -110

We only saw a move off the -3 Friday and, strangely enough, it was enticing even further action on Kentucky.

A recent meeting in this series had Kentucky winning by just 4 points.  Prior to 2006, Louisville had dominated in this series.

Louisville offensive coordinator Mike Sanford told the Louisville Courier that the days of anemic production are gone, keeping in mind that last season’s 18.1 points per game ranked dead last in the Big East.

 “I’m not going to say how many points we’re going to score, but I expect to score more, when you talk about the whole year, than this team scored last year,” Sanford said. “And I expect us to be an attacking, explosive offense.”

Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com

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With the North Carolina Tar Heels vs. LSU Tigers the most bet on game of the weekend, with lopsided action all going the way of LSU, Gambling911.com gives its readers the Betting Edge.

The line opened with North Carolina as a +1 road favorite, remarkably, and now the odds on this game have North Carolina at +10 at betED.com. Talk about the sportsbooks trying to get action desperately on the Tar Heels!  This is perhaps the biggest line move we have ever seen at Gambling911.com. 

The reason for this drastic move:  Most of North Carolina’s key players will be out of Saturday’s game due to ongoing NCAA violations.

While the bookies will do whatever they can to shade this line, their reaction suggests some pretty serious fear that this one can turn into a blowout.

The line move has been gradual since September 1 (Wednesday) at betED.com and based on the amount of lopsided action coming in on LSU:

09/01/10 1:40:11 PM

3.5/-110

42 -110

09/01/10 2:10:12 PM

4.5/-110

42 -110

09/01/10 2:40:13 PM

4.5/-110

42.5 -110

09/01/10 5:30:13 PM

5/-110

42.5 -110

09/02/10 9:50:11 AM

6/-110

42.5 -110

09/02/10 11:20:12 AM

6.5/-110

42.5 -110

09/02/10 12:40:13 PM

6.5/-110

42 -110

09/03/10 9:40:14 AM

6.5/-105

42.5 -110

09/03/10 10:10:12 AM

7/-110

42.5 -110

09/03/10 12:00:12 PM

7.5/-105

44 -110

09/03/10 6:40:11 PM

8/-105

44 -110

09/03/10 7:30:11 PM

8.5/-105

43.5 -110

09/03/10 9:00:11 PM

9.5/-105

43.5 -110

09/03/10 9:10:11 PM

10/-105

43.5 -110

09/04/10 10:10:12 AM

10/-110

44 -110

Gambling911.com suggests a line above -10 for LSU by game time 8 pm EST Saturday night.  That’s because 90 percent of the action was still coming in on the Tigers even at that number. 

Even without the suspensions, there might be a betting edge for the Tigers, albeit slight.

Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com

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An afternoon game between the Michigan Wolverines and Connecticut Huskies has “Upset” written all over it even though Michigan is a mere -3 point favorite. 

Nevertheless, for online sportsbooks, a Connecticut win (or cover) would provide the upset.  Michigan is the 3rd biggest bet of the afternoon following LSU and Florida (2nd only after LSU at some Internet books). 

“The sportsbooks won’t make out like banshees if the Huskies win,” suggests Don Shapiro of Gambling911.com.  “The action isn’t as lopsided as with some games.  It’s only around 60/40 to 65/35 in favor of Michigan.”

Compare that with LSU getting around 95 percent of the action.

Tim Furious of BetUS.com:

Connecticut is returning four seniors to the offensive line who have played against the 3-3-5 so they’ll know exactly what to expect, which could get Michigan’s college football season off to an odd start.

What makes the move to a 3-3-5 defense a pain in the rear end for the Wolverines is that it’s an unorthodox scheme. Though they have the talent along the defensive line and at linebacker to make the system work, it takes time for the adjustments to fully take affect.

The quarterback is unknown (though Denard Robinson is expected to take the first snap), most of the secondary has little or no experience, and the defensive line is without its All-America playmaker.Since so few players stepping in are known commodities,

Then again, he makes another good point:  Connecticut will be at a disadvantage without much game film.

Get a FREE $75 in CASH when you open an online betting account with $200.  Mention bonus code GAMBLING911.  The industry leader since 1994.

Ean Lamb, Gambling911.com 

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The course will teach the students about table games, dealing, and other information about casinos, even though there are no casinos anywhere near the college. Students will also learn how online casino games operate, and are controlled, as well as how the online casino games are created. They will also learn some information regarding the business side of online casinos and other online gambling institutions.

John Devere is the Dean of Reading Community College. He is of the opinion that there is not likely to be a land based casino in the area of the college anytime in the near, or possibly distant, future, so he feels that business opportunities and job opportunities for those who wish to work in the gambling industry, lie with online casinos.

When asked why he would offer this kind of course, Devere said: "We keep a pulse on the local labor market."

Not only will the course educate students about land based and online casinos, it will also be taught online. This way, the course will be available, even if only one student signs up for it. Devere noted: "We normally couldn’t afford to do this, so whether we get one student or 100, we can run that class."

He further explained: "Since there was no guarantee there were going to be any casinos close by, I thought how can I get involved in this and how can the college get involved with it without making a commitment to hiring a full-time or part-time instructor."

According to the State House Gaming Oversight Committee, there are already jobs available in this field. Reading, Pennsylvania, certainly has the distinction of being the first college to offer a course such as this one, but there are predictions that it is not likely to be the last college to offer courses of this type.

An interesting way that this course could be applied for those who wish to work only with online casinos, and not with land based casinos, is that the students who learn to deal, can use their skills in a "live dealer" online casino.

News from Casino People

Heading into the first College Football weekend of 2010, North Carolina vs. LSU and Michigan vs. Connecticut continued to get the most wagering action as of Friday night.

LSU was getting an extraordinary 94 percent of the betting action at Sportsbook.com.

Michigan was getting close to 65 percent of the betting action.

Another game getting very good action heading into Saturday was Purdue vs. Notre Dame.  Just slightly more than 65 percent of the action was going Purdue’s way.

Texas vs. Rice was also seeing a good amount of wagering activity, though nearly all the money was going Texas’ way.  The line was a ridiculous -31 too.

Even more ridiculous, Florida was getting over 95 percent of the action against Miami Ohio as a -38 favorite.

Oklahoma State, Washington U and UCLA were attracting decent action with Washington U the +2 road dog getting close to 80 percent.  UCLA was getting around 65 percent.  Oklahoma State was getting some extreme lopsided action at 95 percent.

The Boise State vs. Virginia Tech game was already among the top 10 most bet on heading into Saturday, with this one slated for Monday night.  The action was relatively even with Boise State the -2 road favorite.

Ean Lamb, Gambling911.com 

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Casino City had an interesting report this week regarding the most overexposed poker pros.  They provided their top 10.  Who made the list?

Howard Lederer came in at number 10. 

Casino City says it’s a case of “What have you done for me lately?”  Well, he hasn’t had a six figure win in six years. 

“As a founder, co-owner and CEO of the company that created Full Tilt Poker, Lederer may be spending more time focusing on the business end of the online business than the tournament circuit,” writes Aaron Todd of Casino City.

Antonio Esfandiari, the face of Victory Poker, comes in at number 9.  He’s cited as having not made a final table in a major event since 2005, yet he appears on quite a few poker shows.

Gavin Smith, Annie Duke and Tony G. round out the bottom 10.

Regarding UB.com representative Annie Duke: “Duke is one of the most well-known professional poker players, in part because she’s a woman playing what has traditionally been a man’s game. She has just one WSOP title, won in 2004, and until this year, hadn’t broken the $200,000 threshold in tournament earnings since that year. While she did win the NBC National Heads-Up Championship this year for $500,000, she didn’t post one cash in this year’s WSOP, outside of the invitational-only Tournament of Champions.”

The top 5 most exposed poker players include Phil Gordon at number 5 and Welcome Back Kotter star Gabe Kaplan at number 4.

“We get it. Mr. Kotter played poker before poker was poker. Hey, he even made four final tables before the boom, and one after. Heck, he even made a TV final table on the WPT in 2004. But he’s not one of the top players in the game. Including him in the NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship seems … charitable, to say the least.”

At number 3 is Vanessa Rousso and Gambling911.com feels her inclusion among the most “overexposed” might not be appropriate unless we are talking about her Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue photos.  Rousso has enjoyed great success in the past year-and-a-half, regardless of whether she has never made a WSOP or WPT final table.  Big cashes included back-to-backs NBC Head’s Up Championship for the $250,000 2nd prize in March of 2009, followed by a May first place win of just over $1 million at the Grand Final PokerStars EPT/Season 5.  She’s had a few substantial cashes and two wins in major poker tournaments since.

Phil Laak, who our own Jenny Woo is sitting down with this week, comes in 2nd. 

“’The Unabomber’ has made just two WSOP final tables. And while his more famous girlfriend — Jennifer Tilly — has a WSOP gold bracelet, he’s still looking for his first,” Todd writes.

And finally, the most exposed poker player is…

Prahlad Friedman.

Patrick Flanagan, Gambling911.com 

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With news that Pittsburgh Steelers starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s suspension for violation of a league personal conduct policy has been reduced from 6 games to 4 games, the Steelers odds of winning the 2010 Super Bowl has been slashed from just over 20/1 to 15/1 at SBG Global.

The Steelers odds of winning the AFC North remain around the same at +230.   

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ star quarterback met with Goodell early Friday and was told he could return on Oct. 17 against Cleveland.

“I have learned a lot over the past several months about myself as a person,” Roethlisberger said in a statement. “I am committed to continuing on this path of being the type of person my family raised me to be, and exceeding what is expected of me as the quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers.”

Ean Lamb, Gambling911.com 

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Australia is tipped to get a massive pokie forum, initially starting at pubs, clubs and hotels… so pokies palaces, then onto land based casinos, but insiders in the think of the action say the plan won’t actually work and go onto explain why? FUD (fear, uncertainly and doubt), spin, or just the hard facts Jack? The developments come months after the release of the Australian Productivity Report into gambling, and as brands such as World Poker Tour, World Series of Poker, PartyGaming and Virgin continue to eye of Australia and the greater Asia Pacific region. Media Man and Gambling911 set sail to the land down under, encountering whales, dolphins and tuna. What a catch punters…

Australia is tipped to implement a number of gambling reforms, starting with everyones favorite – the pokies, you know… down the road at the pub. But, the reforms may be easier said than done, says folks on both sides – the pokie lovers and the pokie haters. Even those who are completely neutral on the matter says its going to be complex and may not actually the yield the desired result, which could well lead to a tidal wave of sackings from industries tied to gambling and gaming, including NRL and RSL clubs.

It’s now widely believed from all ranks that putting in place a national “pre-commitment” system on pokies aka one armed bandits to enable gamblers to preset their spending limits would be “enormously” expensive and quite unlikely to actually reduce “problem gambling” (whatever exactly that is), industry veteran Len ‘Always Winning’ (MM tag) Ainsworth says. Gambling is isn’t it, and some of course have a bigger problem than others, but now the Aussie federal government has a new wave of problems on their hands. Let’s learn more shall we.

Ainsworth’s firm employs roughly 300 punters… ok, staffers, to build machines down under in Australia. It is one of dozens set to be affected by the pre-commitment system, which PM Julia ‘Jungle Girl’ (MM tag) Gillard has promised independent MP and anti-pokies campaigner Andrew ‘Wild and Witty’ (MM tag) Wilkie she will introduce (if) Labor wins government. Keep in mind the Liberal party needs to see all 3 remaining polies come across to Liberal ranks, if the Libs are to win! Want to place money on that.. but, stranger things have happened, so on with the story.

Ainsworth in his wisdom has estimated it would likely cost hundreds of millions of dollars to implement, and would be an incredibly complex task, because the various gaming machine makers that supply Australian venues would need to offer a compatible system. This might cause international manufacturers to leave the market, he said. There’s a massive flow on effect, and this could end up just sending more players online, in a growing trend, so they can still play all time favorites like Cleopatra, Monopoly, Wheel of Fortune, many almost online exact replicas. Firms such as IGT already have a dedicated online gaming arm – WagerWorks, which supplies some games to the likes of PartyGaming and Virgin Games.

Now get this…contrary to findings of the Productivity Commission, which has recommended the system, Ainsworth passionately argued problem gamblers would not be deterred because their gambling usually reflected an underlying problem, and its hard to argue with this point. Many people have some sort of problem, it just depends what exactly it is. Machines don’t cause problems, people do. Same thing with driving a car. Some issues are part of a persons make up, and these can be passed on from generation to generation. It’s in the blood, be it to much drinking or whatever.

“A problem gambler is like a problem drinker or a serial killer; you’ve got to get to the cause,” Mr Ainsworth said.

Investors sent the shares of another pokie machine manufacturer, Aristocrat, down 16¢ to $3.64, and Woolworths (linked to gambling) shares fell 9¢ to $28.38.

Woolworths, via the ALH Group, owns about 11,000 of Australia’s 198,000 pokie machines. From 2012 it’s going to own thousands more down in Victoria, when the current ownership duopoly of Tatts Group and Tabcorp hits the wall.

Woolworths declined to comment while an election result remains unknown, so I guess we can’t blame them for the current silent treatment.

The change is not expected to significantly affect Tatts and Tabcorp, because they are exiting the market, but it may have some impact on future ventures. Some flow on effects may take years to trace to the cause, which may end up being mismanagement from the Australian government! Don’t be against it.

Tatts and Tabcorp have been coexisting, and Crown Limited remains focused on hotels and casinos in Australia, as well as driving forward projects in Macau, with the odd venture further afield. Tatts is considered a strong contender to become Victoria’s new monitor of the integrity of poker machines from 2012. Tabcorp will manage gaming rooms for venues after 2012.

Victoria has plans to introduce a pre-commitment system, phased in from this December to 2015, when all the machines will be linked across the state to prevent a player using any machine for a set period, once their spending or time limit has been reached. The tech has been used in Queensland and South Australia, and is offered to loyalty club players at Crown Casino. It’s got a bit of a ‘Big Brother’ feel to it, but Australia’s been big on ‘Big Brother’ and ‘Thought Police’ for decades, however these days its just more obvious.

Aristocrat in fact provides the “central monitoring system” for Norway’s Norsk Tipping, which has a mandatory pre-commitment system.

“The system tracks usage by each player with the player able to set limits up to a maximum allowed by the Norwegian government,” an Aristocrat spokesman disclosed.

Of the $19 billion Aussies spent on gambling – gaming in 2008-09, $10.5 billion was spent on poker machines in pubs and clubs. Another $1.4 billion was spent on pokies at casinos. Just how much went to internet portals and online casinos is not clear, but website portals such as Media Man, Casino News Media and Global Gaming Directory attract millions of hits per month, and MM remains ranked in the Hitwise top ten (entertainment category), so you know there’s serious numbers involved.

Some state governments which on average get 10% of their revenue from gambling taxes are tipped to resist the federal push for change.

Enter the academics…constitutional law expert George ‘Why Is It So’ (MM tag) Williams, of the Uni of New South Wales, advised the federal government could use its powers under the Corporations Act to enforce the change, and that would probably apply to clubs as well. However, under WorkChoices states had demonstrated a precedent to get around this, he said. So, its all very complicated and like a gigantic Pandora’s box. Hey, there’s probably going to be an online slot games for it too… there’s a Rubik’s Cube slot. The possibilities are endless, and the internet is infinity in size, so its fun and games all the way…for the meantime.

The Late News…

Australian Casino, Gaming And Lifestyle Entrepreneurs Unite: James Packer and Shane “No Spin” Warne; Kym Illman Marketing Aussie Gumleaf Mafia Connection…

Warnie and Packer, long time mates and associates, have been working on something big for quite a while now, and the past Warnie – Kym Illman – Messages On Hold campaigns have been impossible to miss, thanks in part to Max Markson and even everyones favorite… wait for it… Media Man.

Cricket legend, poker player and Aussie larrican, Shane “No Spin” Warnie is officially going into business with Aussie casino and lifestyle king, James Packer. Warnie sure know how to pick mentors, also getting guidance and business opportunities from fellow mate Kym Illman, over the years.  Yep, the Aussie Gumleaf Mafia is leaping ahead in leaps and bounds. It’s enough to make Gambling911 resident and friend to all, Kasino Koala blush and fall out of his tree.

Back to business at hand, this year the Packer – Warnie collaborations with bit hitting the casinos, and they also have a few tricks up their sleeve for cafes, restaurants, gyms and other venues down under in Australia, and they don’t have to be existing ‘Gumleaf Mafia’ or Warne – Packer inner circle to get in on the action, depending on what b2b deals are of interest. However, the casino joint venture is a Crown Limited thing, and the spinner might just get his own branded poker room at Crown if he plays his cards right.

Warne has been on fire, and not just fired up and pissed about what happened with the Paki fixing scandal. The legend is also tipped to get an ‘Ashes’ talkback show on Network Nine. No coincidence that Bondi Beach local David Gyngelll, just happens to be the CEO of Nine, and holds a seat on the Crown Limited board. Again, relationships matter, as does loyalty. A couple of Aussie media entrepreneurs have purchased Crown shares over the years in a big picture – holistic type strategy, and the same happened with Virgin, owner Richard Branson also being on good terms with Packer.

The spinner remains tight lipped on some matters, but did tell press a bit about his passion for good music. Ah, his colourful exploits with a few blond goddesses over the years hinted at that. Music does get one in the mood, so does coffee and a few other unspeakables.

Warne, a mark for ’80s music, have taken like a duck to water for the music industry. Specifically lyric-free ambient music, set to calm the soul, energise the body and warm the heart. Yep, we’re been reading up on the sales blurb too.

Warne yesterday spruiked his latest biz alliance Groove Gallery, a company that sells ambient music to gyms, cafes and restaurants that wish to “sub-consciously” put their customers in the mood to spend a dollar or ideally, much more.

Shane Warne Inc, a spin off from Billionaire Inc, now sports roughly 16 business investments at last count. There’s “Advanced Hair, yeah yeah” poker website 888, a Messages on Hold deal, luxury designer Dunhill and a bush tucker bag of paid gigs and appearances et al with Channel Nine, Sky Sports and Cricket Australia, and god knows what else on the boil. Media Man TV?

His family and life after cricket and some key motivators.

Speaking with News Limited Warnie shared “We’ve got two or three that we are looking at at the moment, there’s a business that I have with James Packer that we’ll be launching next year. I’m not sure James would want me talking about that yet”.

He’s seriously cashed up, but he’s not really a showoff. More a lifestyle guy who loves his family and big boys toys.

We obtained quite a property asset list of Warnie… $9 million Middle Brighton home, a $3.35 million investment property in Sandringham, and a $2.2 million holiday home in Arthur’s Seat and a home in London. Who knows what else he has. How about a Bondi Beach pad too mate, if you haven’t already. We might see you up at Icebergs Bergs Gaming

As you might have cottoned on, things are good for the spin man…”Life is going great, never been better,” he said.

For Warnie its been about ups, downs, roller coasters, working hard and playing ‘n party int harder. Clearly things are on the up and up for Warnie, be it business, pleasure and passion, or more likely, both. Knock em for 6 sport.

Paki Cricket Scandal…Warnie Speaks…

Just on the red hot subject matter of cricket for moment. Warne said “I thought that the game was clean now with the anti-corruption people there”. We’re not certain if that’s music to the ears of inner circle Packer and Illman or not, but this Aussie ‘Gumleaf Mafia’ types have a habit of turning controversy and negatives into bags full of cash’ whispered a Media Man insider, (at a well known Bondi Beach cafe…hit Sparrow… interested to give the music a test run). Ah, relationships matter. Media Man believes that relationship marketing, buzz marketing, and the simple concept of headline grabbing Shane Warne will pretty much guarantee the success of all or most of Shane Warne linked campaigns in the foreseeable future.

Media Man Profiles

Australia

http://www.mediamanint.com/profiles/australia.html

James Packer

http://www.mediamanint.com/profiles/packer2.html

Shane Warne

http://www.mediamanint.com/profiles/warne.html

Kym Illman

http://www.mediamanint.com/profiles/illman.html

We think the Packer – Warne – Illman collaboration is a can’t miss, and poised to knock ‘em for 6 success, but what do you think? Tell us in the forum.

Wrap Up…

Gambling and pokies reform may be easier said than done. It’s complex, and there’s strong cases for and against on both sides. What happens if the Australian government gets it wrong? Numerous analysts forecast that 10,000s of people could be soon out of work, with the hospitality and entertainment industry being a major employer of Australians, and the proposal already threatens some of the good work of GenerationOne, that has been supported by James Packer’s Crown Limited (Crown Casino and Burswood Entertainment Complex etc).

The stakes may never have been higher. It’s not a few dollars down a slot anymore, its potentially a large chunk of the Australian workforce, and with gambling being such a significant part of Australian culture the proposed reforms are certainly akin to dancing with the devil. Yep, the devil is in the detail. In the meantime the early indicators are that the pokie playing public will be driven to website portals like Media Man, Gambling911 and Google, and the Aussie government will remain the 8 ball, chasing their tail, as they try to grasp new technologies, and at the same time the population telling them they don’t want online censorship, offline censorship, thought police et al. And, the public awaits the downfall of yet more politicians involved in porn and internet surfing scandals at work and priests getting busted for porn offences.

It all looks like a perfect storm, and unless your Aussie casino king James Packer, sailing the high seas in your Arctic P, with casinos and entertainment icons scattered half way across the world, there could be stormy waters ahead.

But, punters and media, its not all bad news.  For the meantime at least your can continue to surf the world wide web coming across thousands of slot games, virtual casinos, table games, arcades the worlds. PartyGaming, Virgin, Playtech Microgaming, Captain Cooks, World Poker Tour, WSOP, PKR, Media Man and the like may get short to medium term gains, but what will be the long term result is just about anyones guess. Punters are tipped to bet harder and more frequently, including on the web, as the news comes, knowing that the party may soon be over. Even a small amount of punters and gaming entrepreneurs are starting to speak about setting up new homes and bases abroad, as a protest against the Australian government, but that’s only a small minority of people, but its a trend on the rise. Pubs, clubs, hotels and casinos are yet to start mass sackings, now unable to afford to employ the same amount of staff they once did, however experts say give it 3 to 6 months, and the trend will become clear, with welfare departments such as Centrebet about to get a whole lot more customers. Ah, the Aussie casino and gaming wars just keep getting bigger. Aren’t you glad you have your (unfiltered) computer at home. If the filter comes, just add proxy. We’re told its child’s play, but the mess the Aussie government is heading in is anything but. Work hard and party and play harder

Readers, know the odds, bet with your head, not over it, and have fun.

*Greg Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911

*Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company. They also publish Casino News Media http://www.casinonewsmedia.com and Global Gaming Directory http://www.globalgamingdirectory.com

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As Sportsbook.com members wait until the NFL betting season officially begins, they’ll have a full slate of College Football betting in addition to plenty of key MLB match-ups.

Cincinnati at St. Louis

The Cardinals have their top three pitchers going in a series that marks their last hope to gain serious ground in the NL Central. Cincinnati enters Friday with an 8-game lead on St. Louis, having gained four games in four days. The Reds are 14-4 in their last 18 games, while the Cards are coming off a dreadful 2-8 road trip against some of the worst teams in the NL — Pittsburgh, Washington and Houston.

Oddsmakers will expect the Cards to sweep and get back in the Central race with their big three of Jaime Garcia, Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter. This trio has a combined 43-20 record and will all be heavily favored against the Reds’ trio of Bronson Arroyo, Travis Wood and Homer Bailey.

One staggering betting trend gives the Reds value Friday night. Play Against – Home teams with a money line of -100 to -150 (ST LOUIS) – after being swept on the road in a 3 game series by a division rival, with a winning percentage of between 45-55% on the season. (32-14 since 1997.) (69.6%, +24.1 units. Rating = 3*).

This stat gives enough reason to pick the Reds for the entire weekend. Play On – All underdogs with a money line of +100 or higher (CINCINNATI) – with a winning record on the season, in September games. (265-237 over the last 5 seasons.) (52.8%, +100.2 units. Rating = 3*).

Colorado at San Diego

The Padres have the pitching matchup advantage this weekend to distance themselves from the never-say-die Rockies. San Diego has lost seven straight games, but still leads the West by three games over San Francisco and 7.5 games over Colorado.

On Friday, the Padres send Cory Luebke to the mound for his major-league debut. Despite his lack of major-league experience, oddsmakers set the line at -149 for the 6-foot-4 southpaw. Luebke finished his stint at Triple-A Portland with a 14-inning scoreless streak and posted a 2.97 ERA, 44 K and 17 BB in nine starts with Portland. The line is also indicative of Luebke’s opponent Aaron Cook (4-8, 5.34 ERA) and his 13.98 ERA and 3.00 WHIP in his last three starts.

FoxSheets, found at Sportsbook.com, shows two reasons to take San Diego on Friday.

Play Against – Road teams (COLORADO) – after a game where the bullpen was rocked for 6 or more earned runs against opponent with a hot bullpen whose ERA is under 3.00 the last 15 games. (70-23 over the last 5 seasons.) (75.3%, +43.8 units. Rating = 4*).

Play Against – Road underdogs with a money line of +100 to +150 (COLORADO) – with a bad bullpen that blows 38% or more of their save opportunities, with a cold starting pitcher- WHIP >= 2.250 over his last 3 starts. (37-8 over the last 5 seasons.) (82.2%, +26.9 units. Rating = 4*).

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