Sports and Sportsbook Sports Betting Rants

Looking for a New Sportsbook

2011-10-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

Oddly enough, I am looking for a new sportsbook to take my business because of all of the problems with banking and security where half of the books I used no longer take US clients.

Let me tell you that finding a new book is a tough chore that I hate doing because of all of the pitfalls and traps involved.

In general, I have in the past have gotten pretty good luck in finding decent places for online sports betting by following the following rules when it comes to opening an account with a new sportsbook:

If I choose a new book(for the bonus!) I only deposit $500 or less and take out my winning and initial deposit before the end of October. Anything after is asking for trouble as that is when new books start slow paying.

Also, I never make large wagers($100 or less) and keep my winning small as to not draw attention that would give them an excuse for them to keep my money.

Check out the reviews on the book before hand in trusted sportsbook watchdog websites.

So far, I have narrowed my choices to the following as they seem to have good reviews:

www.betabcislands.com and looselines.com

Where to Find Cupones en Costa Rica

2011-07-30T15:41:00.001-07:00

After having lived in Costa Rica for the past few years, I have become a bit tighter on my bankroll since I am not getting any younger and I am planning a trip to Europe as well.

One of the most annoying things in Costa Rica that bothered me was that Costa Rica cupones are hard to find unlike the US where we have lots of sites that offer coupons as well as the Sunday newspapers.

So far I have only found a couple of websites that lists coupons but nothing from grocery stores so if anyone can suggest a website, please let me know!

Costa Rica Gambling Sites Are Taking a Pounding

2011-05-30T09:02:00.000-07:00

Wow, it seems like this year many sportsbook and poker websites that are based in Costa Rica are being shut down by the U.S. Government like beted and absolutepoker.

I'm not sure why the US decided that now is a good time to suddenly up its efforts to crack down on these sites other than the fact that they estimate the sportsbook income is worth $12 billion a year.

The funny thing about all of this is that more states are beginning to allow more gambling joints and sports betting a prime example is the State of Maryland.

Ha ha ha, I guess they dont like the competion from overseas.

Bought a House in Costa Rica

2011-05-05T15:58:00.001-07:00

I know I have been silent of late but I had good reasons for that. I recently bought some real estate in Costa Rica and am now rennovating it.

I kind of got tired of my old condo which was fine but to be honest, it was just full of young people and it was just too loud living there which is why I decided to buy a house this time to get more peace and quite.

I am certainly not a party pooper as I enjoy the occasional drinking myself but I am also not getting any younger.

NFL Thanksgiving Game Recap - Saints and Cowboys

2010-11-26T06:26:00.001-08:00

I hope everyone had a great Thanskgiving and enjoyed your time with family and friends. For those who were too busy stuffing their face with turkey, gravy and more here is a recap of the NFL Thanksgiving matchup between the Saints vs Cowboys.

The Saints took on a victory over the Cowboys with a final score of 30-27. This game was full of excitment as the Dallas Cowboys tried for a comeback that would have probably been known as the "Greatest Thanksgiving Comeback" but were stopped short by Malcom Jenkins as he snatched the ball from Roy William at the 11.

NFL Handicapping

2010-10-10T13:38:00.000-07:00

This is a post out of the blues but I found this interesting page about nfl handicapping that can be found there: http://knol.google.com/k/lynda-wright/nfl-handicapper/2mwn882wiid3y/4#

I am by no mean a sexist but I found it interesting that this article was written by a young lady. I found her opinion refreshing from the usual guy football handicapping talk so thought you might enjoy it.

NFL Sunday Week 5

2010-10-10T13:29:00.000-07:00

Its another exciting day NFL Sunday and the here is a late NFL football pick.

San Francisco 49ers at -3.

The 49ers lose a power point because they are playing at home and it will be a struggle for thme to cover the point spread since the Eagles are a power house. However, the Eagles are pretty banged up from last week since losing Vick.

The 49ers have been struggling with their pass defense but since Vick is out of the picture, it won't be much of an issue in this matchup.

Monday Night Football Free Pick

2010-09-19T20:10:00.001-07:00

This NFL season, my NFL handicapping record is on fire!!!

I'm currently 6:2:0 AT. That means, I got a 75% win average. Pretty good for someone who doesnt sell his football picks.

For my Monday Night Football free pick, I'm taking the New Orleans at -6. Preyty confident about this one since because the 49ers defense has been in serious doubt in the past couple of games.

even though the offense of the Saint's is not as good as last year I dont think that Alex Smith will be able to get out of his current rut.

Betting Directory Review

2010-08-10T11:12:00.000-07:00

As I was browsing the internet looking for a betting directory to look for a new sportsbook, I came across several websites under that keyword but I was disappointed by most of them as they are not true betting directories.

Obviousy, when you search for a directory, you expect to find something like Dmoz but all of the directories that I saw where sites that either had a gambling directory but was more of a secondary item and most of the site was filled with other content or the directory was more of an article related directory site.

After a bit more searching I did come across a decent directoy, http://www.mybettingdirectory.com which appears to be a newcomer to the betting scene.

I'm just glad that this site popped up as it should allow people that are looking for a directory to actually find one where people can just add their betting related website on by simply registering and use the add site button.

I'll definitively add my site to this directory.

Japanese Video Games

2010-08-09T15:54:00.000-07:00

I recently received from my nephew japanese video games which was an odd gift as I don't play video games. I was bit intrigued as I open his gift which was a large box with a black device called a PS3(This happens to be the name of the japanese game console by the way).

Along with the larger package came 2 smaller packages which are the japanese video games. The first one was a game with a bunch of cartoon looking character but the 2nd box caught my attention as it looked like some kind of japanese video game that is a hores racing simulator.

Now, I handicap sports and I do a bit of horse betting which is why the game caught my attention. As a race bettor, I'm not very good and will never make a living off of it but this game was actually quite enjoyable as it actually let you bet on a horse and even had sttistics for the horse and everything else.

The game itself is called, Winning Post 2010 and I marvel at how far the japanese vidoe game industry has advance as this old foggy was impressed when they first came out with pac man.

Football Handicapping Competition

2010-07-18T12:33:00.000-07:00

I was browsing thru this football handicapper monitoring site that I am on today to check out the competition when I noticed a new handicapper on the site.

His name is kevin Steel and he runs this site, pigskingenius

Looking at his stats, he seems to be very good. He seems to be able to claim his football handicapping stats for the last 4 years but has only been monitored for 1 year.

If anyone knows who this person is, I would like to get soome feedback about this guy.

In other news, football season is fast approaching and I think that this year will be interesting with the new recruits as we have some outstanding draft picks this year.

Asian Handicap Betting - Coming to America

2009-09-21T11:01:00.000-07:00

With the world Cup less then 9 months away, I thought Asian Handicap Betting would be a good topic. I actually wrote an article about Asian Handicap betting for this Sports Handicapping Website in order to give people time to prepare for the World Cup 2010 Betting.

Here is a quick recap of the article I wrote:

the basic rules of Asian Handicap got rid of the draw by putting a handicap of x.5 as well as adding more advanced features like Quarterball/Split Line Handicap and many other features. A full explanation of Asian Handicap can be found on this website, http://www.handicappertracker.com.

Asian Handicap is now growing in popularity in Europe and has begun to make its way into the heart of U.S. bettors due to the increased popularity in football or Soccer in America and the more attractive odds it offers. More and more U.S. gamblers are asking their bookies to adopt Asian handicap and sports betting websites like www.betphoenix.com have now become in a sense Asian bookies.

Read more...

Finally, NFL Betting Season is almost here

2009-07-31T12:14:00.001-07:00

Finally, NFL betting season is right around the corner. 9 days to be exact.

I personnaly bet on the pre seasong NFL games however, I never give out handicapping picks for them because, well, hey are very hard to figure out.

One of the reasons is that no one is going to go all out on these games since they are just a warm up for what is to come.

Second, these games don't count towards a team's ranking meaning why would a team want to risk injuring their players for a warm-up game.

And these are the main reasons that my stats are useless right now.

So keep reading because I will have some great NFL sports handicapping picks for you next month.

Baseball Betting Tips

2009-06-11T16:13:00.000-07:00

Today after watching my daily doze of baseball I realize that I want to share a new wisdom, that I discover and that I see that has great Value for us the true sports fans,,,,

Traditionally, finding value through pitching matchups and home underdogs has been the key to winning with Major League Baseball. So called wiseguys have consistently beaten the books for more money in baseball than any other sport

Without the standard point spread that accompanies basketball and / or football, the devoted baseball handicapper often times much simply pick the games victor. In general, this allows for fewer bad beats or backdoor covers.

Most sites offer two options when playing a given team to win. Those options are the money line and the run line (-1.5 runs). In my mind this always made it difficult to bet a favorite. I either had to lay a big number betting the favorite to simply win or risk a one run victory to get any value.

I want to bring your attention, however, to a third option that has been offered in some books which I will let you know soon!!! . So we can all enjoy the benefits that this brings for us the Players.

But back to the third option and betting favorites.

This third option I'm referring to is very simple. If you play at X Site, then its been staring you in the face every time you make a wager. When you want to play a favorite, you simply buy half a run back from the 1.5 run spread. In essence, this approach allows you to merge the two lines and find a nice value-laden number in between the two.

Let's say the Yankees are -175 to win outright and paying +125 to cover 1.5 runs at home against the Orioles. You love the pitching match up and recent trends and just cant? envision New York losing this one. Just as you’re ready to lay that juice and play it safe, that +125 run line is calling your name.

Alas, I found a way to get the best of both worlds. Instead of going for the "underdog" run line, we buy a half a run at X Site and get the Yankees -1 at -118. If the Bronx Bombers do win on 1, then we simply push with our wager. If the Yankees lose and the play of the day fall flat, then we didn’t have to lay 1.75 to 1 only to see our starting pitcher get roughed up in the first three innings.

Admittedly, this is nothing revolutionary. But when laying the juice with favorites (which in my opinion is an inevitable part of betting baseball) I think this option offers a nice middle ground and may save you some of those nasty headaches when your home favorite wins by 1 lonely run.

So stay tuned for more Wisdom ahead !!!

So Many Sportsbook to Choose from

2009-04-21T18:34:00.000-07:00

Since I started this website about sportsbook rants, people have been emailing me about which sportsbook I personaly use.

Sicne I am tired of answering these emails, I will tell you which sites I use.

I am a bit reluctant to mention the sites I use sicne I do not want to advertise websites. Especially if an issue occurs and you lose money with them but what the heck.

My sportsbook of choice are the following:

Pinnacle Sports - This one is a rock. I mean they pay on time and they got discount lines, asian handicap and discount juice.

BetJamaica - Another very reliable book. Their lines are up fast and they always pay out even if you take them for a big chunk of cash.

BetPhoenix - A newcomer in the business compared to the firs two but they are solid as they come.

So here is my list and you can find more informatin on good sportsbook at a website I co-own as well as get great sports handicapping information. Just go to www.handicappertracker.com

March Madness Sports Handicapping

2009-03-14T11:11:00.000-07:00

Its March Madness Sports Handicapping time again because we are only a day away from the hottest NCAA sports tournament. This year, the winning teams are more less as expected according to this March Madness Sports Handicapper.

he top 3 teams that will win the whole shabang this March Madness season according to the best sports handicapping dude(that would be me) are as followed:

Marquette Golden Eagles - This is the underdog that is on fire. With 8 wins in a row, the Golden Eagleswant that title and are all pumped up for it.

Even though they are ranked #14 in the country, they do have 3 strong players that average over 15 points per game. Its a long shot but its well worth risking a few bucks on that team.

Georgetown Hoyas - The mighty Hoyas have had some tough competition but they still managed to take the #6 spot in RPI. They have a strong solid team with a coach that has some battle experience in March Madness Playoff this team is one to lookout for.

Oklahoma Sooners - Even though basketball is a team sports, Blake Griffin averages 22 points per game along with a whopping 13 rebounds per game. Combined with Austin Johnson this team has got the players to make it to the end.

The Sooners are my top pick but they will definitely make it to the Final Four.

Skiurlaub in Tirol

2009-02-14T14:53:00.000-08:00

"Skiurlaub Tirol" is a German word that literally translates to skiing holiday in Tirol. Tirol is a region of Austria and Italy as well as a village in the province of of Bolzano-Bozen.

For those who have never heard of this place and why I am mentioning skiurlaub tirol is because it is the perfect place for a skiing vacation.

As a professional traveler and skier, I am always looking for new places to go relax and have fun in the snow. I have to admit that I had never before heard of Tiro until a friend of mine from Austria visit him for an invigorating vacation in Tirol for some, "skiurlaub".

At first, I was a bit skeptical due to it being located a continent away. It seemed like a lot of money to spend just to go on a sky trip when I can just go to Colorado which is only a few hours away from my home in Las Vegas.

After doing a bit of research, I found out that Tirol is a great little place in Austria that offers many historical attractions and is perfect for as they say, skiurlaub as well as enjoy a rich culture ingrained in medieval history.

Once I arrived in Tirol, I was breath taken by the beauty and charm of this quaint village. The people were very friendly and most knew enough English to facilitate my stay.

I stayed in this great skiing lodge where the employees were very helpful in pointing me in the right direction as to what to see. Things like:

Market Day in Tirol´s Old Town
The Kasermandl
Kaunergrat Natural park
and many more

If you are looking for a skiing vacation abroad, I highly reccomend that you consider going to Tirol for some Skiurlaub!

Starting a Sportsbook in Costa Rica

2009-02-11T07:17:00.000-08:00

Starting and owning a sportsbook in Costa Rica has been a question that many people have emailed me about lately. I am not a sportsbook owner so I am not sure why people have been asking me about it but I do have some knowledge about what is necessary to open a sportsbook in Costa Rica.

The first thing you will need is money. Owning a sportsbook in Costa Rica is just like any other business and you will need starting capital. How much you will need will depend on many factors such as:

Betting Limits
Post Up or Credit
Hours of Operation
Full Juice or Reduced Juice
Staff
Office
Cost of Server
Cost of Software
Website Designer
Programmer
Banking Options

The Second thing you will need is a website and the sportsbook software.

The third is a dedicated Server to host your sportsbook. A regular server will only take you so far and the software needed needs a lot of space as well as a database.

The fourth is a good banking system. Its useless to own a sportsbook if you can´t take money in and out.

The Fifth is the staff. If its a small sportsbook and you intend to do all of the customer service by yourself then you can get away with just a lines manager and a programmer.

The Sixth is you need to register a company.

These are all of the things I can thinnk of right off the top of my head but since I wanted to make a decent post I actully did some research on how to open a sportsbook in Costa Rica and found this company that can help get you started. So here is the link to get you started on your way to Owning a Sportbook in Costa Rica: http://www.blindmonkeymedia.com/sportsbookcreation

From what I understand, this company offers consulting on how to open a sportsbook in Costa Rica and can provide you with the software, help you with getting the company registered in Costa Rica, getting office space, banking, website design and everything involved in opening your own sportsbook in Costa Rica.

Finally, I found the right marketing company for me!

2009-02-04T13:44:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, in a blog post titled, "Online Marketing Professional Services on the internet", I wrote about looking for an online marketing company in costa rica. My main issue was finding an affordable company that could handle the website design programming and SEO located in Costa Rica.

They are plenty of companies in Costa Rica but only a few where they have a staff that understans and speak perfect English. Communication is key when hiring a marketing or web design company because how will you know that they understand what you want if there is no communication?

Well, this is what I got out of BlindMonkeyMedia. After a week of getting to know them and discussing my website plan. They came up with a great concept that met all of the criteria I was looking for along with some great insight from them as to how to make my future website more competitive.

I was impressed by the amont of time they spent with me even though I was not even a client of theirs yet. So I must say that I give them 2 thumbs up and will reccomend them to anyone willing to listen to the rantings of an old man.

2010 World Cup Qualifying Starting with CONCACAF

2009-01-27T12:02:00.000-08:00

For the 2010 World Cup, three or four teams from the CONCACAF Region will make it to South Africa to take part in the 2010 World Cup and represent their country´s pride and honor.

There are 35 countries in CONCACAF, but only three or four of those teams will advance thru 4determining rounds to see which teams will make the cut

The first two rounds being a single-elimination format.

The first round consists of eleven games between the teams ranked #35 to #14 by the official FIFA Rankings. The winners advance to the second round to play another single-elimination game agains the remaining 13 teams.

The twelve winners of the second-round matches advance to the third round. Here, the twelve teams are divided into three groups of four, where each team plays the other team one at home and once away. The top two teams in each table advances to the fourth and final round.

The final round consists of the six remaining teams in a single table. Once again, each team will play a home and away match against every other team in the group. The top three teams get an automatic birth to the World Cup. The team that places fourth has a home-away playoff with the fifth-place team from the South American Region for a spot in the World Cup.

This year, the top three teams according to the May 2007 FIFA Rankings were Mexico, United States and Costa Rica. All three of those teams advanced. USA and Costa Rica advanced rather easily, while Mexico struggled in the third round and ended up advancing due to goal differential.
Honduras (ranked #4) and Trinidad & Tobago (#6) also advanced to the final round. #20-ranked El Salvador was the surprising final team.

The dates for the final round have been announced, with the first games of the round being played on February 11th. Asian sportsbooks will no doubt have USA and Costa Rica as heavy favorites throughout. Mexico will also be favored the majority of the time, but their spotty play may worry some online football bettors.

Costa Rica has looked the sharpest of the remaining countries, winning all six games in the third round and finishing with a goal differential of +17. The United States finished with five wins and one defeat, while Mexico struggled with three wins, two losses and a draw.

The matches set for February 11th have Costa Rica opening at home against Honduras, USA hosting Mexico, and Trinidad & Tobago travelling to El Salvador.

The World Cup is the most watched event in the sporting world so don´t let people fool you when they say the Super Bowl is the most watched event.

Pearland Photography Studio Services

2009-01-24T18:05:00.000-08:00

Pearland photography studio services are hard to find if you are looking for quality customer service. Why in the world am I writing about pearland photography services?

ha ha ha, well, its because I happen to be in Texas right now and in the Pearland area which is where my cousin lives. I happen to be there to watch a basketball game but I will get into that later.

Anyway, I happen to mention photography services because I thought that since I rarely visit Texas and when I do I rarely visit my cousin that I would get them all a nice professional family portrait.

I wandered the streets of the Pearland area for hours lookig for a decent photography studio and every shop I went into, the customer service was awful or the prices where outrageous. Desperate to find a good shop, I turned to the internet and found this website for Pearland Photography, called, Kayumangi. What a name I tell you but I found out through the, Marius Lardizabal that it means the brown race and is a philippino word.

So after finding his site, I made an appointment to meet him and after talking shop with Marius, he gave me an excellent rate and even added a 10% discount since I was an out of towner and it was for a gift. He appreciated that and when it came down to the photography shoot with my cousin´s family he was very professional and very patient. Especially with the little one.

I reccomend to anyone in the Pearland area that is looking for a photographer to visit his shop. You can find more information about the photography services that he offers by going to www.kayumangi.com. Whedn you do go for a photgraphy session, let him know that Frank sends his regards!

Online Marketing Professional Services on the internet

2009-01-18T12:02:00.000-08:00

I have been looking for an online marketing professional services on the internet without too much luck. Not that I was not able to find an online marketing company but more like I was having problems find the right company.

What I am thinking of building is a website where sports bettors can get unbiased sports handicapper statistics. Where a handicapper would place their picks on my website and the website would autiomatically grade their picks and show all sports bettors the results.

Well, I ain´t too good at website design, website programming, that online marketing stuff and that SEO stuff.

So I began my search looking for a company and man, they sure are a lot of companies out there. My problem was not getting ripped off.

Luckily enough, I found this article on www.diggs.com called, "SEO Services: Choosing the Right SEO Company which really helped me out and lead me to this website called, BlindMOnkeyMedia(what a name) that offered all of the services I was looking for. A kind of one stop shop for me.

This in turn led me to this page, Online Marketing Professional Services Available for Internet Businesses which lists all of their services. So I tohught, what the hell, lets see if that company actually does what it preaches.

So I sent them an inquiry. lets see what will happen when they reply to me and if those online marketing professionals are the real thing.

Cheap Real Estate in Costa Rica

2009-01-15T13:19:00.000-08:00

I started doing a search for cheap real estate in Costa Rica after a recent trip to to this lush and wonderful paradise country. I was curious about moving there because the natives are educated and friendly, American goods are available, the weather is perfect and the cost of living is cheap in comparison to the United States.

After quite a bit of research contacting several real estate companies in Costa Rica I came to this conclusion, real estate in Costa Rica is cheap.

The question though is why is it so cheap?

The main reason is that Costa Rica is in Central America and even though it is considered an Industrial Country, the infrastructure of Costa Rica is at least 50 years behind the United States.

On top of that, Costa Rican economists have predicted that Costa Rica is entering a recession making prices of real estate in Costa Rica even cheaper.

How cheap is Costa Rica real estate though? Here is an example to show you the cheap prices of Costa Rican real estate.

A home in the Atlanta, GA area priced at $500,000 USD will cost you in Costa Rica around $125,000. Looking at these real estate prices,if you are looking to retire and own your own home in the United States then Costa Rica is the perfect place to buy and invest in real estate.

Thus even if you sold your home in the United States at 25% loss, you would still come ahead after buying some of Costa Rica´s cheap real estate. In addition, the cost of living here is cheap when compared to the United States.

For example, the cost of living in Costa Rica is around $300 per month if you want to live like a local. If you plan on living like an American with American Food then you will probably need around $1,500 a month to live the good life(if you a house).

For an extra $500 added to your monthly budget, you can hire yourself a maid/cook.

The drawbacks to cheap real estate in Costa Rica is the change in lifestyle, the process of moving there which includes a lot of paperwork and being away from family and friends.

In the end, if you have the money and want cheap real estate and a low cost of living then Costa Rica is the place for you. All it takes is the will to move to a small country the size of West Virginia that is located in Central America

BCS Championship Game Betting - Florida as the Favorite?

2009-01-07T08:36:00.000-08:00

BCS National Championship Game betting is just around the corner. Fans and bettors are eagerly waiting for some Orange Bowl Betting action where on January 8, 2009 the Oklahoma Scooners(1) will take on the Florida Gators in Miami, FL.

Lines makers and football handicappers all agree that the Gators are the favorite team to bet on with a spread of -4. Bookmakers are expecting that this BCS Championship Betting matchup will be a high scoring game as well with an over/under of 69.5.

Even though the Sooners are ranked no 1, why is everyone choosing Florida as the favorite? Some say its because this season, the SEC has destroyed the BIG 12.

The big thing going for Florida is their 12-1 at home record. However both teams have each crushed their competition with some hig scoring action with the Gators averaging 50 points in the their last 9 games.

The Sooners aren´t that far behind themselves in term of point scoring with an average of 60 points per game in for their last 5 games.

The concensus is that the Florida will cover -3 but if you can find a line on the Sooners at +4 then grab it and bet on it.

for the over under, even though the smart money says to go on the over, I´m going to go on a limb on that one and say that the under is where the betting money is at.

Whichever team you decide to put your BCS Championship betting money on, don´t miss out on this game which will air on FOX at 8:15PM ET.

Turkey Cooking and Hawaii Bowl Betting

2008-12-23T12:08:00.001-08:00

Since its the holiday season, I won´t be talking too much about sports until after Christmas is over, except maybe for the Hawaii Bowl BABY!!!

That´s right, Hawaii will be facing Notre Dame at 8:00pm ET on Christmas Eve. So I hope that everyone will enjoy their families and a win for your Hawaii Bowl betting on December 24, 2008! As a gift for putting up with my Christmas Eve Dinner Turkey cooking tangent, you get to see my picks for the Hawaii Bowl so keep on reading.

This Christmas Eve, I´m having my family over. All of my relatives and guests are contributing to the Christmas Eve feast like a pot luck dinner but as the host, the main course is my duty.

Thus, cooking the turkey is up to me. Now, I´ve never cooked a turkey before so it will be a challenge to have a nice juicey turkey for dinner while placing a few choiced bets on the Hawaii Bowl with several sportsbooks(You can´t put all of your eggs in one basket, plus, I´m looking for a certain line).

So I´ve been doing a bit of digging on the internet and I have to say that most of these websites that show you how to cook a freaken turkey must think you are Wolfgang Puck or that Rachel Ray gal. As a fast food microwave dinner kind of guy, I couldnt tell you the difference between poaching and a bain marie.

After hours of looking and reading, I finally found the perfect site that teaches you how to cook a turkey in simply layman´s terms and with pictures to boot. No fancy recipe, just showing you how to cook the darn turkey. If you are a single old fart like me that sucks at taking directions but want to learn how to cook a turkey then got to: http://www.howtocookathanksgivingturkey.com/

Now, back to the Hawaii Bowl.

There is no doubt in everyone´s mind that Notre Dame has more talent than Hawaii but the Fighting Irish have been choking on the Bowls since 1994. On top of that, this season they have been breaking in a new coach and a new offensive line up.

So the lines makers have given Notre Dame a spread of -2 which is a blessing in disguise because the bookies are greatly overestimating Notre Dame.

So take Hawaii at +2

I am also taking the under at 45 because Notre Dame has had consistency problems running the football so I expect it to be a low scoring game.

My strategy, is to put up a 2 team parlay with one book and place straight bets with a couple of other books on the Hawaii at +2 and if I can find one sportsbook with the right line, I´m gonna take Notre Dame.

Enjoy the holidays.

Betting on the Browns was a Big Mistake

2008-12-16T11:40:00.000-08:00

Well, NFL week 15 was a bust for me.

My last bet was on the Cleveland Browns at +15 and they not only disappointed me but they made me lose money.
I had figured that after such a losing streak and they would get some will power but I was wrong. Maybe I should get out of betting on the NFL and just stick to soccer because so far, this NFL season has been horrible for me.

On an off topic note, here is an interesting article I found about last weekend´s EPL Matches about EPL Betting and how betting on the draw really paid off for some people.

Liverpool vs Hull game recap

2008-12-13T10:08:00.000-08:00

This match ended up being one of the better matches for this Saturday´s EPL matchups.

for Hull who were trying to advance in the overall standings it was a disappointing match with a 2-2 draw againt Liverpool FC.

In the 22 minutes of the match, Hull City came out strong scoring at the 12th minute mark and the 22nd minute mark. However, Liverpool fans were not disappointed to see their club come back from a 2-0 deficit when S. Gerrard came back with a goal followed by another goal 8 minutes later by S. Gerrard again.

I wish I had taken a parlay on the over and a draw but instead just place a wager on the draw because www.xsbet.com had the over/under for the game at 2.5.

So the top 3 seats in the EPL are now:

1. Liverpool
2. Chelsea FC
3. Manchester United

College Bowl Betting Preview

2008-12-09T05:52:00.000-08:00

It´s December and along with the holidays, the partying, the gifts and the good is the college bowl betting. The college bowl odds are not up yet but here is a preview of what to expect for the first set of college bowls.

EagleBank Bowl - RFK Stadium in Washington D.C.

Date/Time - Dec. 20, 08 at 11:00am
Who - Wake Forest vs Navy
Game Expectations - Wake Forest has Skinner who has a good completion ratio of 62.8 however, Navy has an overall good team meaning with excellent marks in rushing yards so I expect the game to be a high scoring one.

New Mexico Bowl - University Stadium in Albuquerque, NM

Date/Time - Dec. 20, 08 at 2:30pm
Who - Colorado State vs. Fresno State
Game Expectations -

MajicJack St. Peterburg - Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL

Date/Time - Dec. 20, 08 at 4:30pm
Who - Memphis vs South Florida
Game Expectations - Florida will choke

Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl - Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, NV

Date/Time - Dec. 20, 08 at 8pm
Who - BYU vs Arizona
Game Expectations -

As the lines come out, I´ll give you my best pick for free as a holiday gift! So don´t be shy about sneaking in a bet over the holidays.

Technology is great because it allows me to sneak my bets in without anyone noticing during the holidays. Now that most bookmakers have mobile betting and Live wagering, I just have to go take a pee break, no need to call I just get online with my Palm Pilot and Bam, my bet is in baby!

The fight for legalizing Internet gambling

2008-12-04T13:28:00.001-08:00

After years of fighting the bible belt and the christian coalitions, there may be a silver lining for one online gambling venue. The poker Industry has been gaining ground in their efforts to legalize online poker according to this article, http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=4977663

Of course, its not a surprise considering that Poker has often been romanticized in movies like, "Rounders" and"Maverick" and lets not forget the TV shows where the men always have their "Poker Night". Thus, Hollywood and televsion have given people and even politician the feel that poker is not really gambling but rather a respected game of skill where one uses his intuition, intelligence and atsuce to win.

On the other hand, you have every other gambling movies that portrays any other kind of gambler from Blackjack to sports bettors and horse bettors as degenerate outlaws who would rather losse their families and jobs to place that one last bet.

I say it´s a good step towards legalzing online gambling but will the the Poker Players Alliance keep up the fight online gambling battle after online poker has been legalized?

UK Sports Programmes Wants a Piece of the bookmakers sports betting revenues

2008-11-29T05:25:00.000-08:00

Ha ha ha, I just read an article in the Guardian, http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/nov/28/gerry-sutcliffe-gambling, where they say and I quote, "We think it is wrong that commercial betting companies make use of our sporting product without making any payment for doing so," wrote Collier."

What a ridiculous argument considering that part of the reasons as to why sports are popular is because of the betting that is going on. If sports betting was taking away their revenue, than I would understand their concerns. However, this is not the case. Sports betting is actually helping the sports franchises make money and they should be thankful for it.
The way they phrase it, I might as well say that Dell should get a piece of the money I make writing on the internet because I use a Dell computer.

Its always about everyone wanting a piece of the pie. It kind of makes me sick and the government are fine with it because if were to pass then the UK government would get to tax twice a piece of the sports betting revenues.

Ah, these clever governements never cease to amaze me.

Football Betting Bad Beats or November Miracles?

2008-11-22T08:19:00.000-08:00

There were a couple of football games this past weekend that had football betting fans either crying foul or jumping for joy as the final gun went off. While every football bettor inevitably has some bad beats and lucky wins throughout the season, two of this past weekend’s games were much more extreme.

USC was a 24-point favorite last Saturday in Stanford, and was set to extract revenge from the Cardinal’s mammoth upset from a year ago (Stanford won in USC as a 41-point underdog). At halftime, it looked as if Stanford might upset the Trojans again, as the score was tied at 17-all. But USC came out of halftime fired up, and scored 28 straight points, meaning the Cardinal would have to march down the field and put the ball in the end zone to spoil USC backers out of a win.

With six seconds to go, after backup Stanford quarterback Alex Loukas was sacked, head coach Jim Harbough called a timeout, much to the dismay of USC coach Pete Carroll. After a 13-yard pass out of bounds, Stanford lined up for a 35-yard field goal with three seconds remaining, but Carroll apparently wanted a second-half shutout, so he called a timeout.

During that timeout, Loukas lobbied Harbough to go for the touchdown, to which he obliged. Loukas delivered with an 18-yard touchdown strike to Austin Gunder on the final play of the game, putting the final score at 45-23. USC backers just needed Pete Carroll to not call a timeout with three seconds remaining and a 28-point lead to get a win. As it turned out, Stanford backers got a November Miracle.

While the ATS verdict was put on the coach in that game, it’s much tougher to stomach a pointspread defeat because of bad officiating. That was the case in Sunday’s Pittsburgh vs. San Diego match.

European Bookmakers listed the Steelers as 4.5-point home favorites against the Chargers. Pittsburgh was making their winning drive with under a minute to play when Willie Parker found the end zone with a four-yard touchdown run, which would have put Pittsburgh ahead 15-10 with an extra point. The touchdown was called back on a holding penalty.

That was the thirteenth penalty called on the Steelers, with just two being called on San Diego. “"No, I have never seen a game ended with 13-to-1 in penalties [the official tally was 13 against the Steelers, two against the Chargers], but I am not answering questions about the officiating," said head coach Mike Tomlin.

After the touchdown was called back, Tomlin immediately put in his field goal unit, which came through and the Steelers had an 11-10 lead with a few seconds left to play. After the kickoff, San Diego tried one last gasp to reach the end zone via a number of laterals, but one of those tosses resulted in a fumble, which safety Troy Polamalu returned for a touchdown. But again, the officials overturned the score.

Official Scott Green admitted the mistake after the game ended, “"We should have let the play go through in the end, yes," Green said, "It was misinterpreted that instead of killing the play, we should have let the play go through."

While it was a tough pill to swallow for Steelers backers, it was a lucky win for San Diego supporters.

Reduced Juice Sportsbook or Big Bonus Sportbook part 2

2008-11-18T15:07:00.000-08:00

Ok, I've been asked to go into more details about the last article I wrote about reduced pricing sportsbooks so instead of just editing it, I just rewrote it for your viewing pleasure.

When it comes to sports betting, players are constantly bombarded with hundreds of e-mails, flyers, mailers and so on from sportsbooks all over the world. Of course, since we are talking about a billion dollar industry with a yearly growth of 6.5% it´s normal that every sportsbook out there wants to get a piece of your action.

The question remains though as to which sportsbook should one choose over another and more specifically, the type of sportsbook which will best fit your sports betting needs.

A sportsbook can pretty much be categorized into two categories.

1. Full Juice (Big Bonus) Sportsbooks
2. Reduced Juice (Discount Pricing) Sportsbooks

The Full Juice Sportsbook is considered the norm and is the most widely used type of sportsbooks out there.

The Reduced Juice Sportsbook also known as a Discount Price Sportsbook has risen in popularity in the past few years because it charges the players less money to place a bet.
Seeing the advantage of a Reduced Juice Sportsbook, why would a player choose a traditional, Full Juice Sportsbook over saving money with a Reduced Juice Sportsbook?

It all depends on the type of bettor you are.

A regular sportsbook will usually offer a 10 cent line meaning that they get charge 10 cents for every dollar a player bets. Since they make more money with each bet, they can afford to give bigger incentives to their players like giving them a big sign up bonus which usually varies from 20% to 100% bonus. These types of bonuses usually attract recreational betters who are just looking to bet on a few games and then take a payout.

A reduced juice sportsbook however will charge the player less for placing a bet with them. For example, XSbet.com has its NFL sides starting at -105 meaning they will charge you 5 cents for every dollar you bet. Since the Reduced Juice Sportsbook makes less money off of a player, it cannot give it big bonuses to attract new players. These types of sportsbooks are best suited for a serious or professional bettor who knows he will bet often and is looking to save money on the long run.

So if you are the type of bettor that will only place 20-30 bets during the NFL season, then you will more than likely choose the bigger bonus because if you win at the end of the season, you will probably end up cashing out more money due to the bonus.

On the other hand, if you have a bettor that places 20-30 bets a week, then this bettor will probably choose to go with the Reduced Juice Sportsbook because in the long run, they will save more money because they get charge less per bet.

So to recap, a Reduced Juice Sportsbook is like the Sam´s Club of sports betting where the more you but the better the value while a Full Juice Sportsbook is the Kroger of sports betting where you get a great deal for your purchase as long as it´s not an everyday item and you get it on sale.

Sportsbook Conspiracy Theory or Just a bad Judgement?

2008-11-17T17:23:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday Night´s NFL football game with the Steelers and the Chargers ended up with many angry NFL and and sports betting fans as well.

It was pretty obvious that the Steelers were going to win the game as per the point spread on that game being Steelers at -4 to -5. However, when Troy Polamalu returned an errant lateral 12 yards for an apparent touchdown on the final play and the the play was overturned it destroyed any chance of a bettor winning his bet on the Pittsburgh spread.

I lost money on that game and so did several thousand other bettors. All because of a misinterpreted play.

Sure they was a lot of confusion when the little man in black and white strippes got in huddle in the middle of the field to talk about which play was what. But in the end, sportsbooks ended up winning at least 20 million dollars. People have been killed for a lot less.

Perhaps someone should keep these referrees in check for a few months to see whether their spending habits have changed any.

Reduced Juice Sportsbook or Full Juice Sportsbook?

2008-11-15T09:55:00.000-08:00

Recently, I´ve been asked by some people about the difference between a full juice sportsbook, like www.betjamaica.com and a reduced juice sportsbook like www.xsbet.com. So let me explain the difference between the two.

It´s all in the pricing as in how much the sportsbook will charge you to place a bet with them.

A regular sportsbook will usually offer a 10 cent line meaning that they get charge 10 cents for every dollar a player bets.

A reduced juice sportsbook however will charge the player less for placing a bet with them. For example, XSbet.com has its NFL sides starting at -105 meaning they will charge you 5 cents for every dollar you bet.

With this in mind, why would anyone not bet with a reduced juice sportsbook instead of a full juice sportsbook? It all depends on the type of bettor you are. A full juice sportsbook is able to give out bigger deposit bonuses and benefits for using their service because they charge more per bet while a discount price sportsbook is not able to do that because it is already giving you a big discount.

So if you are the type of bettor that will only place 20-30 bets during the NFL season, then they will more than likely choose the bigger bonus because if they win at the end of the season, they will end up cashing out more money due to the bonus.

On the other hand, if you have a bettor that bets 20-30 bets a week year round, then this bettor will probably choose to go with the reduced juice sportsbook because in the long run, they will save more money because they get charge less per bet.

Another way to put it would be to call a Reduced Juice Sportsbook a Sam´s Club and a Full Juice sportsbook a Kroger. You get more for your money.

CONCACAF World Cup Qualifier Update

2008-10-07T19:07:00.000-07:00

The World Cup is one of the most prestigious sporting event in the world which will take place in 2010. Right now, teams all over the world are fighting to get a spot in the World cup.

Currently, the teams in the CONCACAF football league which includes the United States are all competing to clinch a spot in their upcoming contest.

The United States are the biggest favorites at a 10:1 odds.

So lets root them on!!!

I also found this website that keeps pretty good articles about football(soccer) called www.xsbet.com where you can also bet there in a betting style called, asian handicap.

That style of betting is not popular in the US due to the sports not being too popular yet but it will probably pick up as more Americans get into the sport of soccer.

2008 olympics

2008-07-31T10:27:00.000-07:00

Today is a beautiful sunny day in Costa Rica and I'm looking forward to the Olympics. Especially since my pitiful attempt at understanding soccer didnt work very well I think I'll watch the olympics instead.

France is the team to bet on for the UEFA 2008

2008-05-29T14:53:00.000-07:00

Did I mentiono that I live in Costa Rica? It's a small Central American country above Panama and below Nicaragua. Being a Latin country, Soccer or rather football is king.

Well right now it's the rainy season or "winter" as they call it here. So here I am stuck inside the house with nothing to do except browse the internet and trying to find a nice european football team to root for.

I've decided to go for France. Why? well for one thing, even though I am asian I do have some French background. It's a long story that I'll tell you about some other time.

Anyway, I like the French Football team because:

It has made it in the UEFA playoffs, which comes up only every 4 years, 3 times and won it twice. Once in 1960 where it lost and in 1984 and 2000 where it won the cup. And did I mention that the UEFA cup has only been around since 1960? That means that they are 2 in 11 which I must say is pretty good and the country with the best record so far. Ha ha ha I love a winner and if I was confident about my sports betting skills, I'd put my money on them.
After doing so research on soccer(I'm still trying to figure out the rules by the way) I found out that their team stats are simply amazing and are 2nd below Italy.

cheers

What about soccer or rather football|?

2008-05-20T12:10:00.000-07:00

One thing that I am passionate about is sports. I love American football and I never can get enough which does cause a problem for me afgter the football season is over.

So I thought to myself, why not try to get passionate about soccer. The majority of the world population watch soccer enough to have riots, threaten referrees and players and heck, even bet on it. So there's got to be something to it.

So now my goal will be to learn all that I can about football(soccer) and and see if I one day I can reach a level where I'll paint my face, wear the gear and get in a football brawl.

I think that right now is a perfect time to start since the Euro 2008 cup is coming up in July.