Gambling

Spring practices are in the books and fall camps will be here before you know it so that means getting an early jump on the 2006 NCAA football season. Knowing the teams now will save you time in August and Matt Fargo is here to help you get a grasp of what to expect this upcoming year. We go from worst to first in this 2006 College Football Preview.

#56 – Nevada Wolf Pack 9-3 SU; 7-5 ATS

Fargo’s Take Nevada snuck up on a lot of teams last season and that isn’t going to be the case again following a spectacular 9-3 season. The Wolf Pack had one of the best offenses in the country last season and it was also one of the strangest. The mini-shotgun or better known as the pistol, was a brand new look for opposing defenses and it found some great success. Nevada averaged 34.2 ppg on the season and that jumped to 37.1 ppg in WAC games following a learning curve during non-conference action. Most of the pieces are back in 2006 for the offense to shine once again. The defense was not very solid but it was just good enough to allow the offense to outscore most of its opponents. The one strength of the Wolf Pack defense was stopping the run and while that will once again be the strong suit, they need to find a way to better defend the pass as they were torched on many occasions. Nine wins will be a stretch again but another bowl game is not.

Returning Starters on Offense – 7 Head coach Chris Ault, in his third different stint at Nevada, installed this offense last year and it is now considered one of the most potent attacks around. Quarterback Jeff Rowe flourished in the new system as he passed for 2,925 yards and 21 touchdowns while tossing just 10 interceptions. This is not a pass oriented offense however as balance was proven with 200 ypg rushing and 250 ypg passing. The main cog of that running game, WAC Offensive Player of the Year B.J. Mitchell, has departed but Robert Hubbard, who gained 719 yards on 5.9 ypc looks like the perfect guy to step in and not miss a beat. The receiving corps is stacked with experience while the offensive line returns three of its starters from last season. Opposing teams have a year of game film to look at so the preparation should be better which might cut down on the Nevada production slightly.

Returning Starters on Defense – 7 The Wolf Pack allowed 31.9 ppg last season which was 101st in the country but it was actually an improvement from 2004. With seven starters coming back along with two starters from 2004 who missed last season, the unit could be considerably better. It all starts in the secondary where Nevada allowed a whopping 269.3 ypg, 104th in the nation, and while Joe Garcia is one of the best cornerbacks in the conference, he had no supporting cast last year as injuries hit hard. There isn’t much experience coming back as Garcia is the only returning starter but there is some solid depth thanks to the players that had to step in last season. It should improve but it will be very slight. The front seven is strong and experienced and the rushing defense that held six teams to fewer than 100 yards on the ground remains the backbone.

Schedule Not only do teams have an idea of what to expect now but the schedule takes a big step up in class. The Wolf Pack open the season at Fresno St., a team they beat last year in the regular season finale to gain a share of the WAC title. Four straight non-conference games follow that with the first three coming against Arizona St., Colorado St. and Northwestern, the latter two being played in Reno. Four of the final seven games are at home with the first six games in that stretch all being winnable. The first three home games are against San Jose St., New Mexico St. and Utah St., three of the worst teams in the conference. The season finale is at home against Boise St. and the Wolf Pack will need to pull the same magic it did against Fresno St. last year to pull that one out.

You can bet on… Nevada was very undervalued last season but that will not be the case in 2006. The Wolf Pack closed last year with eight wins in their last nine games including a bowl win over Central Florida, only the third bowl win in school history. If Nevada can pull out two or three wins in its first six games, another bowl is a likely guarantee but that opening stretch is brutal. The Wolf Pack have been predictable against the spread over the last two seasons, going 6-0 ATS as a home favorite and 0-7 ATS as a road dog. While those unblemished records will likely start to reverse out this year, it might not happen right away as the road games where they will be receiving points are extremely tough and the home games where they will be favored are as easy as they get.

If you enjoy playing for great sums of money then you may want to consider playing a poker tournament online. These tournaments have much to offer and you can play them from your home computer. There are a variety of exciting benefits to playing a poker tournament online and you can take advantage of them easily and with a few clicks of a mouse.

1. Big Pots

Some of the biggest pots available in online poker are the pots associated with a poker tournament online. Many sites have huge pots for the winner of a tournament and at times these pots may be in the over one hundred thousand dollars. This is nothing to sneeze at and if you are good at poker you may want to check out a poker tournament online and see how lucky you can get.

2. Fun, Fun, Fun

Not only can you win big money when you play a poker tournament online but you can also have a great amount of fun. Even if you do not win you will get the chance to play a highly competitive tournament with people who enjoy playing the game. This allows you a time of fun and relaxation while competing for great money prizes.

3. Get Used to the Pressure

If you have a hard time dealing with the pressure of poker in the casinos then playing a poker tournament online may be a great way to practice. You can practice reading the odds, reading the other players, and learning how to play long games without giving in to the pressure.

Many people say that learning how to play Texas Hold em Poker only takes a minute but it takes a lifetime to master.

Amen to that!

Then again we can’t master the game until we learn how to play Texas Holdem properly.

Before we learn exactly how to play and learn all the rules of Texas Holdem Poker let’s first look at the three types of Texas Holdem games:

Limit (Fixed Limit) Texas Holdem - there is a specific betting limit applied in each game and on each round of betting.

Pot Limit Texas Holdem - A player can bet what is in the pot.

No Limit Texas Holdem - A player can bet all of his chips at any time.

There are many important Texas Holdem rules that you need to be aware of. We will cover them on this page. The first one you need to understand is that Holdem Poker uses what is called a dealer-button to indicate the dealer of each hand.

After each hand is completed, as with standard poker rules, the button moves clockwise to the next active player. This player will be considered “the dealer” for that hand.

Now let’s get into the nitty griddy of how to play Texas Holdem and some of the more specific Texas Holdem rules. Please remember that this page is designed for Texas Holdem beginners. But then again we can all use a little refresher every now and again.

How to play Texas Hold em Poker - Round One: before the Flop

A fresh table starts off with the first person sitting on the table becoming the dealer and the next player posting the small blind. A new game on an active table starts with the button moving clockwise to the next player. The player next to the button / dealer is required to place the small blind. The small blind is equal to half the lower stake. This is a guideline for determining the blinds and not a strict rule.

The player to the left of the small blind is required to post the big blind, equal to the lower stake limit. All the blinds in Holdem poker are considered live bets and the players who posted them will have the option of checking, calling, raising or folding when the betting returns to their position.

After the blinds have been placed, the down cards / hole cards are dealt to each active player. In Holdem, 2 cards are dealt to each of the players, after which the first betting round starts.

The player to the left of the player who placed the big blind starts the betting for this round. Each player will now have the option to place his or her bets in the first round, which is set at the lower limit of the stakes structure.

For example in a $10/$20 Holdem game, value of each bet is $10 for the first round. When we say the bets are limited to $10, it refers to: a Bet (single bet) of the value of $10, so when a user places “BET” then it is $10, “RAISE” would be $20 – includes one additional bet and a call on the previous bet placed by a player.

Bets can be placed by playing any of the following options – Bet, Call and Raise. Each player will also have the option to Fold. These options are available to each player depending on the action taken by the previous player.

The first player (left of the big blind) to act (in the first round) would get the Bet, Call and Raise options. Subsequent players would also get the options of Call and Raise.

To Call is to bet the same as what the previous player has bet. Raise action calls for raising whatever was the bet/call amount of the previous player, and can be calculated based on the value of the previous bet amount.

Every player participating in the hand should place equal amount of bet as the previous players (includes bets, calls and raises). Till the time all the players have placed equal amounts in the pot, the betting will continue.

There is a limit on the amount and the number of bets a player can place during a betting round, which also would be considered during the hand.

After the first round of betting is over, the Flop (the first three cards of the community) is dealt. The community cards are common to all the players participating in the hand.

How to play Texas Hold em Poker - Round Two: after the Flop and before the Turn/4th Street

After the flop and in each subsequent betting round, the first active player left of the button is first to act.

The second betting round also limits the value of bets and raises to the lower limit of the stake structure. So in a $10/$20 value of each bet is $10 for the second round.

When we say the bets are limited to $10, it refers to: a Bet (single bet) of the value of $10, so when a user places “BET” then it is $10, “RAISE” would be $20 – includes one additional bet and a call on the previous bet placed by a player. Bets can be placed, by playing any of the following options – Bet, Call and Raise. These options are available to each player depending on the action taken by the previous player.

The first player placing the bet would get the Bet option (the player left to the Button). Other players will get the Call and Raise options only. After this the fourth community card is dealt out – this is known as the Turn or 4th Street.

How to play Texas Hold em Poker - Round Three - after the Turn and before the River

The third betting round starts again with the player left to the button, and bets and raises are limited to the upper limit of the stake structure ($10/$20 game, $20 would be the upper stake).

When we say the bets are limited to $20, it refers to: a Bet (single et) of the value of $20, so when a user places “BET” then it is $20, “RAISE” would be $40 – includes one additional bet and a call on the previous bet placed by a player.

Bets can be placed by playing any of the following options – Bet, Call and Raise. Combinations of these options are available to the player depending on the action taken by the previous player.

The first player placing the bet would get the Bet option (the player left to the Button). After this the fifth community card is dealt out – this is known as the River or 5th Street.

How to play Texas Hold em Poker - the Fourth and Final Round: after the River

The fourth (and final) betting round starts again with the player left to the button, and bets and raises are limited to the upper limit of the stake structure ($10/$20 game, $20 would be the upper stake).

When we say the bets are limited to $20, it refers to: a Bet (single bet) of the value of $20, so when a user places “BET” then it is $20, “RAISE” would be $40 – includes one additional bet and a call on the previous bet placed by a player. Bets can be placed by playing any of the following options – Bet, Call and Raise.

Combinations of these options are available to the player depending on the action taken by the previous player. The first player placing the bet would get the Bet option (the player left to the Button).

Want some additonal insigt on how to play Texas Hold em Poker, then you may want to refer to this guide.

How to play Texas Hold em Poker - More Texas Hold em Poker Rules

- A maximum of four bets, which includes one bet, and three raises are usually allowed for each betting round per player.

- The term cap is used to describe the final raise in a round since betting is then capped and no one can make another raise. Once capped, players will have the option of calling or folding only.

Exceptions to the value of betting in each round

A player who does not have enough chips to call a bet is declared All-In. The player is eligible for the portion of the pot to the point of his final wager.

All further action involving other players takes place in a “side pot”, which is unavailable to the player who has already gone All-In.

When a player goes All-in, the pot currently at the center of the table, which has contributions from him/her as well, is treated as the main pot, over which the All-in player has rights.

After the player goes all-in, all the new bets are placed in a side pot, over which only the contributing players have rights. The All-in player does not have any rights over the side pot. The side pot is then given to the next winning combination.

After the final round of betting, it’s time for – Showdown. This refers to the action of deciding who the winner of the pot is.

Five cards of the total of hole and community cards are to be used for deciding on the winning hands. A combination of the following may be used:

- Both hole cards and three community cards - One hole card & four community cards - All five community cards (playing the board)

On the final round of betting, the player who bets first (or checks first if no one else bets) is required to show their cards first at the showdown. If they have the best hand, the remaining players may/may not show their cards as they wish.

The aggressors’ hand is only turned over first if he was the last to initiate action on the river. If two or more hands are the same ranking, the winner is the one having the higher cards.

For example, a Flush with an Ace high beats a Flush with a King high. If the poker hands remain tied, then the highest card not being held in common (the kicker) determines the winner.

The suit order of the cards is not taken into account while deciding on the winning cards. Should poker hands be absolutely identical in ranking, the rule of poker pot distribution will be split evenly between the two or more winning players.

The game play remains same for both No Limit Texas Holdem and Pot Limit Texas Holdem games with a few exceptions to the rules mentioned above:

- In Limit Texas Holdem a maximum of four bets is allowed per player during any betting round. This includes a (1) bet, (2) raise, (3) re-raise, and (4) cap,

- But in No Limit Texas Holdem and Pot Limit Texas Holdem there is no limit to the number of raises that a player can make. The only criteria being that you cannot raise yourself, (i.e. if a player bets during a betting round, then that player would have to be raised by another player in order for him/her to be able to re-raise). If all the other players in the hand only call or fold, the player would not get an option to raise, because the last raise was done by him.

Betting Structure for No Limit Texas Holdem.

- Minimum raise - The raise amount must be at least as much as the previous bet or raise in the same round. As an example, if the first player to act bets $100 then the second player must raise a minimum of $100 (total bet of $200).

- Maximum eligible raise - The size of your stack (your chips on the table).

Betting Rules for Pot Limit Texas Holdem

- Minimum eligible raise - The raise amount must be at least as much as the previous bet or raise in the same round. As an example, if the first player to act bets $100 then the second player must raise a minimum of $100 (total bet of $200).

- Maximum eligible raise - The size of the pot: The size of the pot is defined as the total of the active Pot (which can be either the main pot or the side pot depending on whether anyone has gone “all-in”) plus all bets on the table plus the amount the active player must first call before raising.

As an example, if the active pot is $200 and the first player to act in the round bets $150 and the next player calls $150, the third player has a maximum eligible total bet of $800. The $800 total is made up of the $150 call and $650 raise. The $650 max raise portion is equal to the pot of $200 + first player’s $150 + second player’s $150 + his own call of $150.

Has there ever been a manager in baseball like Felipe Alou who can get results while playing with less then a full deck? With all the swirling controversy in San Francisco, Alou has been able to keep his players focused long enough to post a 49-47 record, good enough for second place and just 1 ½ games out of first.

Tonight, they host the division leading Padres and unfortunately for the Bay area team, Jake Peavy will be standing on the hill. When the ace pitcher toes the rubber, if you’re into making some money sports betting, it’s a good idea to place your bets on the Padres.

Peavy (4-9, 4.78 ERA) hasn’t won since May 28th, but will look to defeat San Francisco for the fourth straight time when he takes the mound Friday in the second game of the club’s four-game series at AT&T Park. Peavy is 8-3 with a 3.07 ERA in 15 career starts against San Francisco including 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA in two starts this season. He is 2-9 with a 5.23 ERA this season in his 16 outings versus all other opponents including 0-4 in his last seven starts.

The 25-year-old right-hander hasn’t lost to the Giants since September 17, 2004 when he gave up Barry Bonds 700th career home run. Bonds is 6-for-25 (.240) in his career against Peavy with three homers, 11 walks and five strikeouts. He went 0-for-2 in a 10-4 loss to Peavy and the Padres on May 1.

Will Peavy turn his season around against his usual victims or will the Giants find success against the struggling Padre? Pick-em is the line. Bet it at your favorite sportsbook.

The hungry Tigers host the dangerous Oakland A’s who are always making noise annually after the All-Star break. Oakland is 289-162 (.641) after the All-Star break since the 2000 season. Before this season’s break, the A’s dropped three of four to the Los Angeles Angels, but rebounded to take three of four from AL-East leading Boston last weekend.

A very interesting player may return to the lineup on Friday as Dmitri Young resurfaces from the minors. This guy has a tendency to run his mouth a bit too much and has had some serious personal issues this season. Tigers skipper Jim Leyland will run his butt out of town if Young falls off the wagon once more. There is no doubting Young’s potential, but it remains to be seen if he can abide by the boss’ rules!

If you like A. J. Burnett, then tonight is the night to bet him as he is a lukewarm -121 to beat the Yankees. New York once again got a shoddy fielding performance from A Rod and the pinstripers lost to the Jays. The reigning AL MVP made his 17th error in the series opener, a 5-4, 11-inning loss Thursday for New York that ended with a walk-off home run by Toronto’s Vernon Wells.

On Friday, the Yankees hand the ball to Jaret Wright (6-4, 4.29 ERA) who looks to win three consecutive starts for the first time since 2004. Wright’s starts haven’t been spectacular or particularly effective this season, but he’s been backed by solid run support and a strong bullpen.

In his last start on Sunday against the Chicago White Sox Wright pitched 5 1-3 innings giving up three runs and eight hits in the 6-4 win.

Wright is 1-5 with a 9.17 ERA in nine starts against the Blue Jays. He gave up four runs in five innings in his last start against them on April 28th walking four in a 7-2 loss.

Toronto will counter with A.J. Burnett (1-3, 4.25), who is trying to regain his form since coming off the disabled list on June 22. The right-hander has been inconsistent since rejoining the team, but is coming off one of his better starts from Sunday, when he held the Seattle Mariners to two runs in seven innings while striking out seven.

Burnett, who is 1-2 with a 3.62 ERA in five starts since coming off the disabled list, did not get a decision in Toronto’s 4-3, 11-inning win.

Bob Acton

Online Sports Betting

I would like to discuss conference play in the NCAA. At my company we concentrate on four conferences and we find ample opportunity in these conference matchups each and every week. Not unlike NFL football where there is a ton of information and trends we use when teams play in their own division for the 2nd time around. In this article today I will let you in on a few secrets of the trade I have used that have made myself and my clients over the years a great deal of unit gains using these simple, yet effective methods.

The key to success in any endeavor is specialization. There are a ton of games on the board each week, and while I take a close look at them all, I find that concentrating your efforts on a finite number of teams helps you better know the trends and tendencies of each team in given scenarios. Let us take a look at a few items that will help you. Schools like Nebraska, Ohio State, Michigan, Florida State and in years past Notre Dame and Penn State always carry inflated lines against weak sisters in conference action. More times than not they cover those numbers, but there are exceptions when there is opportunity. A key for me has been to look ahead on the schedule and see whom they are playing next week. There is parity in college football. Most every team has talent, 300-pound lineman, guys that can hit like a freight train, and wideouts and running backs that can run 4.3 - 40 yard dashes. If any given team is not ready and prepared to play a game, they can be beat, and most assuredly cannot cover a big number. An example would be in the first week of this season in 2000 when Nebraska laid 50 points to San Jose State and did not come close to covering the number. Guess who they had on the schedule the next week? They played Notre Dame. In conference action when you have an Ohio State playing Michigan, take a good look at who they are playing the week before. If they are playing a weak sister in their conference, I can bet you a dime to a dollar they are laying a big number, even on the road, and chances are better than not they are looking ahead and will not cover. Another angle is homecoming in college football. Teams rise to the occasion, especially weaker teams that are playing a top team in conference action. When this scenario occurs you usually have a double-digit home dog, and there is value in this situation against the line.

There are revenge factors from the previous years meeting that you need to explore, and also there are allot of intra-state rivalries. A good example of this is the Texas and Oklahoma game every year. Both these teams have been battling in this contest, called the Red River War, for a long time. There is a huge emphasis on this game at both schools. It even takes on more importance now that both teams are in the Big 12 Southern division. The underdog in this series going into this year’s game was 10-5 ATS the last 15. Until Bob Stoops took over this OU team, the underdog was 9-2 ATS. OU has owned Mac Brown and Texas but as the gap gets narrower, the spread is getting wider, as OU was favored 4 1/2 in 2004 and won by over 40 points. This game is circled every year on my schedule because oddsmakers make it a tight line, yet OU is dominating the series the last 4 years, and I am finding opportunity with this series. In 2005, when Texas was on their way to winning a national title, REVENGE was apparent, and they laid a HUGE number in this game, and covered with ease, thus folloing trends and knowing revnege factors paid HUGE dividends. My Game of the Year 3 out of last 4 years has come out of this game and I have cashed them all! That is 12 Units of winners out of 1 conference game in 3 years of unloading on it.

When you are either handicapping professionally like myself, or doing it on your own, sometimes you can over analyze games and get to a point where you cannot see the forest because of all the trees! I am more of a situational analysis type of handicapper, and sometimes you find opportunity against the spread by looking at the simple things that it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out. Use these simple techniques for your college football handicapping and you will be units ahead at the end of the season.

Tony George is the owner of Midwest Sports Consultants in Lincoln, NE. In operation since 1992, Midwest is known as a very ethical, and non-hype organization with over 35 Top Ten awards from respected Monitoring Services since 1996. Tony’s plays can be found here daily at this site you are viewing.

In NFL Sports Betting, the running back is one of the most important players to think about. As we see it, here are the top five running backs, in rank order, heading into the 2006 fantasy football season.

1. Shaun Alexander (Seattle) – Sure, you may hear some folks make a strong argument for Larry Johnson as the first pick, but the numbers don’t lie. 1958 combined yards from scrimmage. A League record 27 rushing touchdowns – and maybe most important, over 23 rushing attempts per game. At 28 years old, these numbers have been building to this point in his career, and we see no reason for him to slow down in 2006.

2. Larry Johnson (Kansas City) – After waiting patiently behind Priest Holmes for two seasons, LJ exploded onto the scene last season with 2,093 combined yards and 21 total touchdowns. At 26 years old, he may actually be better than Alexander, but the retirement of 11-time Pro Bowl tackle Willie Roaf, and the Chief’s recommitment to the passing game, at least makes us wonder if the numbers may fall off a bit.

3. Ladanian Tomlinson (San Diego) – The number one back in 2005 only falls slightly this year because of the superhuman stats put up by Alexander and Johnson last season. Is there anyone who doesn’t believe that Tomlinson gets 1,500 yards and 20 TDs just for showing up every week? You should note that he also threw 3 TDs last year.

4. Edgerrin James (Arizona) – New team. New turf. No Peyton Manning. A speedy receiving corpse that will keep defenses honest. If he remains healthy – and two years after his knee injury, there’s no reason to think he shouldn’t – James has the potential to put up numbers this season that he previously only dreamed of.

5. Tiki Barber (NY Giants) – Barber fans have vented their frustration about Barber being teamed with a power back (Ron Dayne) that gets more goal line carries, but Tiki has the potential to bust a long one on any play. Besides, 2,390 all-purpose yards is nothing to sneeze at. Oh yeah, did we mention that Dayne is no longer there? Barber belongs in the upper echelon of running backs in 2006.

So there you have it, the top 5 NFL running backs that anybody serious about sports betting must consider before making any wagers. These are the back that can make or break a game.

Buying and scratching instant lottery tickets is something that almost everyone has done at one time or another. For some folks it’s probably something they do too often. I guess for me, the bad buying habit is junk food. If I had spent my extra money on instant lottery tickets over the years, I may have been rich by now instead of overweight. Like anything, whether it’s food or gambling one must do it in moderation, and that is often not easy to do.

Here in the state of Pennsylvania where I live, the first scratch off ticket came out in 1975, and they have been a big hit every since.

I have bought instant lottery tickets of every available price range in my state. I usually buy the $1 - $2 tickets, but once in awhile I buy a $5 - $10 ticket, and one time, I purchased a $20 instant ticket. I won nothing on the $20 ticket, not even $1 or a FREE ticket, so that was like throwing away my $20. You would think that with having to spend that much money, they would give everyone at least a FREE $1 ticket or something. I thought afterwards that I was kind of foolish for spending and losing the $20 on one ticket, but heck as they say, “If you don’t play, you can’t win !”, it was a gamble, and I didn’t win that time. I have known two individuals who each won near $20,000 on instant lottery tickets. So I can say for sure, “yes, some folks do win it big.”

Unlike the live lottery that is usually drawn by picking numbers, the instant lottery is pre-determined months ahead of it’s release. The tickets are designed and printed, then they are distributed to the lottery retailers throughout the state. Most small convenience stores offer instant lottery tickets, as well as the large chain stores. You can usually find them in a vending machine with multiple styles and price ranges to choose from, or they are at the cashiers area on the counter or behind a shielded section. Instant lottery tickets sell for as low as $1 and as high as $20 each in most states of the U.S. but some states may have tickets that sell for even more than $20 each.

States do instant lotteries to help fund many different programs. For instance in Pennsylvania, the lottery is used to generate funds to benefit programs for the Commonwealth’s older residents. In Ohio, since 1974, the Lottery has provided more than $13 billion to public education. Annually, the lottery provides about 4.5 percent of the funding needed for Ohio’s public education. In Missouri, approximately 27.3 cents of every dollar spent on the Lottery benefits education programs; 61.6 cents goes back to players as prizes, 5 cents is used for administrative costs and 6.1 cents goes to retailers in the form of commissions, incentives and bonuses. In all, more than 93 cents of every dollar stays in Missouri. It’s different for every state, but the lottery is very beneficial despite the few problems it can cause to some, in the form of gambling addictions.

Most folks buy instant (scratch off) tickets, and if they don’t win anything, they throw the tickets in the trash. Did you know that every time you throw a losing instant lottery ticket in the trash, you are throwing money away ? Yes, there are literally hundreds if not thousands of folks around the world that would love to buy your tickets from you. I have seen losing lottery tickets sell for as high as $15 each, these were tickets that had no redeemable value. I once went to a local convenience store and asked them if I could have a bag of losing instant lottery tickets I saw they had on the floor behind the counter. The clerk gladly gave them to me, I took the tickets home and after checking through them all, I found two that were $1 winners that were not redeemed, and I sold the remaining losing tickets for $30, and the store was just going to throw them away.

Where did I sell them ? On eBay. I happened to look one day and I noticed there was losing instant lottery tickets for sale on the eBay auction website. There are folks selling non-winning, so called ‘worthless’ lottery tickets on eBay all the time. I just did a search now while writing this article, and I found over 100 different auction listings for them. Who buys these non-winning lottery tickets ? Collectors.

Instant Lottery Ticket collecting is fast becoming a big thing. There are groups and individuals all around the world, that love collecting lottery tickets. There are many websites, discussion groups and forums now just for lottery ticket collecting. In fact there is even a new term or name for an instant lottery ticket collector: LOTOLOGIST, and the instant lottery ticket collecting hobby is called: LOTOLOGY. To see how big this hobby is becoming just visit your favorite search engine, such as GOOGLE, and do a search for: lotologist OR lotology. And you can find many sites collecting, selling and buying used non-winning instant lottery tickets.

One unique website is the ‘Pennsylvania Lottery Merchandise Museum’ - They will buy or accept donations of Pennsylvania Lottery Merchandise. The Museum has all of their lottery merchandise online for visitors to easily view, you can visit the museum at this website address:

http://www.rb59.com/palot.htm

There is Computer Software that is made just for collecting instant lottery tickets. The software is called: ‘ Lottery Ticket Collector Professional ‘, you can download and try the software for free at this website address:

http://www.rb59.com/ltcpro

By Robert W. Benjamin

Copyright © 2006

You may publish this article in your ezine, newsletter or on your web site as long as it is reprinted in its entirety and without modification except for formatting needs or grammar corrections.

Roulette is a very simple game to play. There is little to the game after bets are placed, besides that the wheel is spun and you win by where the ball lands. Most of the rules involve the actual betting that goes on in the game.

There are certain things that you can bet on, these include:

Single numbers up to 36 with a 35 to 1 payout

On a line, which bets on two numbers at once, with a 17 to 1 payout

On a row, with an 11 to 1 payout

On a corner, with an 8 to 1 payout

Two rows, with a 5 to 1 payout

1st 12 (numbers 1-12), 2nd 12 (numbers 13-24), or 3rd 12 (numbers 25-36), with a 2 to 1 payout

1-18 or 19-36 collectively, with an 1 to 1 payout

Red or black, with a 1 to 1 payout

Even or odd, with a 1 to 1 payout

Your payout is based on where you had placed your bet and it is always wise to keep your bets with each other. For example, bet on 12, red, and even instead of 12, black, and odd. This keeps you from being your own opponent because to win, you also have to lose.

Roulette is a very simple casino game once you know how to place your bet. Gambling on it can be confusing at first but, once you get the hang of it, can be exciting due to the various ways you can place your bets on each round. Deciding on a betting strategy can even be half the fun!

By doing an internet search, you will be able to find hundreds of even thousands of responses for an internet poker website. They all offer basically the same thing, but there are some small variances to consider when you are trying to determine which internet poker website would be the best one for you. There is a large market for internet gambling, so sites are always trying to find little key pieces that they can use to give their site an advantage over competing sites.

First, you should consider the amount of money that is given away each month in prizes. This can tell you a lot about the website. This is done so you can have some help to see how busy they are, which in turn can help show you how much of a challenge you will be faced with when it comes to playing a game on the Internet poker website. The Internet poker website will also have bonuses listed if they offer any. It is advantageous for internet poker websites to offer signup bonuses to their patrons, because this encourages people to come to their site to play poker, and in turn they have more people on their site gambling. It is a very lucrative symbiotic relationship then between the new patron and the poker website.

Finding a poker website that works for you does not have to be a difficult, challenging and time consuming task. Just find out what you are looking for in a gambling site, and figure out what your priorities are about the site. Search for that, and you will be able to find the right poker website for you before you know it!

It never ceases to amaze me just how many sports bettors pass when it comes to wagering on NFL preseason games, the reason probably has more to do with past preseason wagering losses than anything else, in the big picture most simply do not understand that you can not handicap the NFL preseason using the same methods that you use when handicapping NFL regular season games.

You must approach NFL preseason handicapping from a totally different perspective and actually pretend that you are the head coach of the team that you are handicapping, as a head coach in preseason action you must have pre-defined goals of what you want to accomplish during the preseason.

Above all you must never forget that the NFL preseason is actually practice and “Tune up” time for each team to work on their weaknesses from the previous season and of course to take a look at each player on their roster and especially the players that are fighting for starting and backup positions, remember that as a HC you must also whittle down the roster as you go.

I mentioned above that as a HC you really want to use the preseason to practice and perfect any and all changes you made during the offseason in order to fix whatever weaknesses your team had, a simple way to do this is by taking a look at how your team ranked offensively and defensively from the previous regular season.

For example, at the conclusion of the 2004 regular season the final statistics showed Tampa Bay, San Francisco, Miami, and Oakland ranked 29th, 30th, 31st, and 32nd respectively in offensive rushing yards, to correct this the Bucs drafted RB Carnell “Cadillac” Williams, the Niners drafted RB Frank Gore, the Dolphins drafted RB Ronnie Brown and the Raiders made a key free agent pickup of former Jet RB Lamont Jordan.

So, now that we know that these four teams finished in the bottom four slots with regard to total rushing yardage in 2004, and we also know that each team has taken steps to correct this weakness for the upcoming 2005 season, doesn’t it make sense that these four teams will in all likelihood want to practice their running game during the preseason?

The Bears allowed a whopping 66 sacks last year while the Rams allowed the next highest amount of sacks with a total of 59, this of course means that we can probably expect to see a lot of personnel shifting and experimentation along the offensive line for these two teams during the preseason.

Kansas City, Oakland, Tennessee, and Green Bay statistically ranked 32nd, 31st, 30th, and 29th in defensive yardage per pass allowed in 2004, meaning that their deep pass defense was terrible last year, thus I would look for a lot of new schemes and new players to be utilized in the defensive secondary of these four teams during the 2005 NFL preseason.

New Orleans, Miami, St Louis, and Cleveland finished 2004 ranked 29th, 30th, 31st, and 32nd respectively in defensive rushing yards allowed, each of these four teams allowed a whopping 140 yards or more on average to their opponents per game last year, thus you would expect to see these four teams use different people or different combinations of people along their defensive line during the preseason and/or use different blocking schemes or a different style of defense.

On the flip side however, keep in mind that the opposite is just as true with regard to the teams that finished at the top of each offensive and defensive category, these teams will probably be using the same starters from last season and thus will give the backups more playing and practice time during the preseason.

Another key strategy I like to use in preseason action is to know what the QB rotation will be for each team in any given contest, usually this information can be found in the local newspaper of whatever city that team plays in at least a couple of days prior to the preseason game taking place.

If a team has a strong starting QB but a so-so backup QB and rookie third and fourth stringers and they are playing a team that also has a strong QB along with a pretty good backup, a decent third string journeyman and possibly a rookie fourth stringer you can bet that I am going to back the team with the better QB rotation and especially if there are a few other reasons to back this team as well.

If you can pin point a team that has a QB “controversy” going on, meaning a team that has two QB’s vying for the starting job, this can lead to many winning opportunities because of the fact that the HC will want to be viewed as being fair by giving each QB equal playing time with the starting offensive line and starting RB’s and WR’s which of course means that this teams offensive starters will be on the field longer than the other teams defensive starters.

Once you have grown accustomed to analyzing each team in any given preseason match up from the stand point of what each HC wants to accomplish as I have outlined above you will invariably start to notice many winning situations either by wagering on the side or the total in that affair.

In closing, always remember that betting the NFL preseason requires you to recognize a team’s needs and also requires an understanding of what a particular HC wants to accomplish before Week One of the regular season rolls around.

Keep in mind that HC’s want to look at the “Fresh Blood”, meaning that teams ranked high in defensive categories from the previous regular season can be involved in very high scoring preseason games, and consequently teams known for high scoring contests can be involved in defensive showdowns because in each instance new players are being looked at.

Remember that passing teams can suddenly become running teams and running teams can suddenly become passing teams, during the NFL preseason teams tend to take a departure from their normal game plans in order to experiment which is why so many bettors lose money trying to handicap the NFL preseason as if it was a regular season contest and thus are convinced there is simply no way to handicap the preseason, but we know better don’t we?