Mammoth Blog

Ohio State Buckeyes (1-0) vs Ohio Bobcats (0-1) College Football Picks Week 2: The 3rd seeded, Ohio State Buckeyes, for the second week in a row, will play an instate rival when they host the Ohio University Bobcats to Ohio Stadium in Columbus. This College Football Week 1 game has a scheduled kickoff of 12 PM ET, and can be seen on ESPN and ESPN.360. At SBGglobal.com, the Ohio State Buckeyes are huge -34(-110) betting odds favorites against the Ohio University Bobcats +34(-110).

These interstate rivals will be meeting for the 6th time. The last time they played, was back in the 1999 season, when the Buckeyes were victorious by a final score of 40-16.

The OVER/UNDER in this Ohio State Buckeyes vs Ohio Bobcats College Football Picks Week 2, has been set at a total of 46 points.

Ohio is coming off a heartbreaking 20-21 loss at Wyoming, but they did have some stellar performances in that game. WR Taylor Prince (junior) brought down a school-record 14 receptions for a total of 139 yards. Freshman Donte Harden, also set a school record with his 2nd quarter, 100-yard TD kickoff return. And on the defense, second year LB Noah Keller recorded 15 tackles in the loss.

The Buckeyes routed Youngstown last week to the tune of 43-0 at a packed Ohio Stadium on Saturday. RB Chris Wells was the standout player for Ohio State, as he rushed for 111 yards in just 13 attempts with 1 TD, before coming out of the game with a foot injury. Earlier in the week, it was announced that Chris Wells' injury would keep him from playing in Saturday's game. However, there's reason to believe the injury will not keep him sidelined for longer than that. source>>>

For betting purposes, let's look at the contestants:

FRANKLIN (23-3, 1 NC, 12 KO's), the -230 favorite in the BetUS UFC betting odds, is someone who has existed as a great image-builder for the UFC. A former high school teacher, he learned about submission fighting mostly from watching videotapes, and turned pro back in March of 2000. He was undefeated in his first dozen mixed martial arts bouts, fought in several different organizations, until he suffered a loss to Lyoto Machida in Japan on New Year's Eve of 2003. Franklin scored a big win by first-round TKO over Ken Shamrock in April 2005 and in his very next fight he won the UFC middleweight title with a stoppage in the fourth round over Evan Tanner. Franklin defended his title twice before losing the crown to Anderson Silva in October '06. He fought Silva in a rematch last October, and was stopped in the second round. His last bout was in April, as he TKO'd Travis Lutter in the second round. Now he is moving to light heavyweight, since it's not likely another fight with Silva will materialize.

HAMILL (4-1, 3 KO's), the +180 underdog at BetUS, is also a shining example to many because he competes at a high level of mixed martial arts despite being deaf. Hamill won three national wrestling titles in Division III competition while at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). He made his pro debut on The Ultimate Fighter 3, and took out Jesse Forbes in one round. After three wins he was put in with Michael Bisping in September of 2007 and went the whole distance, losing a split decision. A scheduled rematch with Bisping never materialized because Hamill had to pull out with a knee injury. Last time out he won on a second-round TKO over Tim Boetsch on April 2. Hamill works extensively with deaf children and apparently there is going to be a movie made about his life.

Franklin may not be the fighter he once was, but at age 33 he still has something left. And when you think about, the guy has a world of experience. When you have fought Anderson Silva twice, not to mention Shamrock, Tanner, Nathan Quarry, David Loiseau, Yushin Okami, Machida and others, there is a tremendous store-house of knowledge that is obtained. This constitutes a huge difference between his experience level and that of his opponent, more than making up for the fact that Franklin is moving to a division that is relatively new to him.

One thing Franklin is going to do that I think will be to his advantage is that he is not going to gratuitously go out there weighing 205 pounds, just because that's the limit or what his opponent may be weighing. he has resigned himself to the fact that he will be giving up some weight, and that will manifest itself in more quickness, and probably give him a more careful game plan, as he knows he can't get caught with Hamill on top of him on the ground. source>>>

The Isle is ready for some football.

The Pompano Beach casino is conducting a "$1 million Football Frenzy," giving visitors NFL games to pick each week. Get 165 of the 245 games right (67.3 percent) and win $1 million.

The casino also will pay the top picker each week $1,000 and award $10,000 to anyone who gets all the games right in a week and nails the exact Monday night game score as well.

Contestants can pick their slate of games every day -- giving them seven chances each week to win the weekly money. You also can have more than one season-long entry running, to shoot at the $1 million.
How it works: NFL contest at the Isle Casino in Pompano Beach

Football contests are popular in Las Vegas sports books, including one at the Hilton that costs $1,500 to enter and generates $300,000 in prize money. Florida doesn't have legal sports gambling, but the Isle's game is OK because participants aren't betting any money. So it's not actually gambling.

The contest includes Sunday and Monday NFL games picked against the point spread. Picking NFL games straight-up is hard enough, said Marc Lawrence of Weston, who owns the gambling site playbook.com and publishes the preview magazine Playbook: A Football Handicapper's Yearbook.

Against the spread, it's like flipping a coin each time.

In his 33 years of picking, Lawrence said he has had two seasons of 66 percent or better. But that was picking only three to five games a week, not the entire slate. source>>>

M eyer Lansky had a dream. It was bigger than the one his friend Bugsy Siegel had, but it didn't last as long.

Lansky's dream was to build a string of Mafia-owned casinos across the Caribbean, with Havana at the center. It was more audacious and potentially more profitable than Siegel's dream of a gambling mecca in the Nevada desert, yet Havana lasted only about five years as a Sin City while Las Vegas grinds on into the night, its casinos controlled by corporations, not the gangsters who first built them.

Lansky's problem was that Fidel Castro had a dream, too, and revolution meant the end of the sweet deal Lansky had with the Cuban government of Fulgencio Batista. It all came crashing down on New Year's Day, 1959, just like Francis Coppola depicted it in "The Godfather: Part II." The real Lansky was tough and smart but otherwise different than the Hyman Roth character played by Lee Strasberg in the movie.
Advertisement

Lansky "was trim and tanned, as usual," T.J. English writes in his terrific new book "Havana Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba . . . and then Lost It to the Revolution." "His 5-foot-4 stature had earned him the nickname 'Little Man.' It was meant ironically: In his chosen profession as an underworld entrepreneur who specialized in gambling, Lansky was anything but little."

A Russian Jew in a syndicate ruled by Sicilians, a man who didn't carry a gun or personally commit violent acts in a world of men who lived for bloodlust, Lansky prospered because he was smarter than everyone else, and he always had a plan. He grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and with his childhood friends Siegel and Lucky Luciano moved from bootlegging to gambling. As early as 1928, Lansky had designs on Cuba "as more than just a transshipment for booze," as English writes.

When Luciano was deported from the U.S. to Italy in 1946, he quickly turned around and headed for Havana and a reunion with Lansky. English opens his story there and moves quickly to the infamous Mafia conference December of 1946, when the decision supposedly was made to kill Siegel because of cost overruns in Las Vegas. English throws in a colorful story about Frank Sinatra being interrupted in the middle of an orgy by a nun and some Girl Scouts and moves into a double-barreled narrative.

The main branch explains how Lansky and his associates essentially took over Cuba with the willing assistance of their local partner, Batista. After a Batista-led coup in 1952, the next seven years were a nonstop frenzy of hotel and casino construction and the establishment of Havana as a glamorous international playground. Lansky's baby was the Havana Riviera, a swank palace that survived the revolution intact.

While the Mob was exploiting the country, Castro and a rag-tag band of rebels were winning hearts and minds in part by exploiting resentment against the corruption and vice in Havana. English does a nice job of putting Castro's actions in context and showing how the revolution succeeded because Cubans wanted it to succeed. When Havana fell, the casinos were trashed as a symbol of foreign excess, and Castro rebuffed efforts by the Mob to cut a new deal.

Peter Moruzzi, an architectural historian, has put together a beautiful book called "Havana Before Castro: When Cuba Was a Tropical Playground" that is a wonderful visual complement to "Havana Nocturne." It's easy to picture Havana in the 1950s because so much remains unchanged -- the cars, the clothes, the casinos waiting for a new government. source>>>

Are casino outings for gambling or entertainment?

The casino industry's spin is entertainment, which in a broad sense is credible when you factor in dining, recreation, shopping and shows.

Gambling, however, is what drives the casino industry.

For a vast majority of gaming enthusiasts, this component is entertainment as well.

Many people derive pleasure from spending that portion of their income set aside for recreational pursuits on casino games.

And all leisure pursuits cost more money these days.

Professional sporting events, restaurants, concerts, the theater, cinema, amusement parks, overnight getaways and even a golf outing once or twice a week represent significant monetary investment.

Casino-goers can budget as much money for a gaming session as many other activities and obtain the desired result: fun, adventure and escapism.

It's what they chose to do. There's even the unique bonus of possibly winning some cash.

As is the case with many other things that people do, gambling can also be a problem.

Read More

Gamblers are wondering how much longer they can roll the dice at the Seneca's temporary casino in Downtown Buffalo.

Senior Correspondent Rich Newberg has the latest as the National Indian Gaming Commission responds to a court ruling against the Senecas.

Patrons are still filing in and out of the Seneca Nation's temporary casino at Michigan and Perry, even as the National Indian Gaming Commission said the operation is in violation of Federal law.

U.S. District Judge William Skretny has already ruled gambling on this particular site in Buffalo illegal, and the Indian Gaming Commission was obligated to issue a notice of violation.

Anti-Casino Lead Attorney Neil Murray said, "They just can't sit there and allow it to continue. Otherwise, they risk the rath of Judge Skretny, who keeps closing the door a little tighter. He closed the door, now he turned the knob, and he's about to put the key in and lock it."

So far, no one has turned the key, not the judge or the Gaming Commission.

The Seneca's quickly filed an appeal with the Commission, which could trigger a two or three-month review of the case, and it is possible the casino could remain opened during that review.

Many patrons believe they should have the right to spend their money any way they see fit.

Those opposed to casino gambling in Erie County believe the odds are turning in their favor.

Citizens Against Casino Gambling in Erie County Joel Rose said, "We fully expect them to comply with the judge's order. Eventually the only place that that can lead is to close down the casino. The casino is an illegal operation."

They could force the closing of the temporary casino and also impose fines of $25,000 a day, if the Seneca's do not shut it down.

They could also let it stay opened until the appeal is reviewed. source>>>

The 2008 College Football Season is now underway as action shifts to Week 2. Oddsmakers have officially released the odds for this weekend's college football action.

Bet College Football Week 2

Checking out games in the top five, Central Michigan heads to Athens to take on No. 1 Georgia, Ohio stays in state to take on No. 2 Ohio State, Cincinnati travels to Oklahoma to take on the No. 4 Sooners and Miami (FL) battles in-state rival Florida and the No. 5 Gators.

Oddsmakers from online sports book SBG Global have made the Bulldogs a 23.5-point favorite over the Chippewas, while the Buckeyes are 34-point favorites over the Bobcats. Oklahoma is a 21-point favorite over Cincinnati and Florida is a 21.5-point favorite over the Hurricanes.

Fresh off their upset over Virginia Tech, the East Carolina Pirates are 8-point home underdogs against the West Virginia Mountaineers. Bowling Green pulled off an upset of Pittsburgh last week and is now 6-point favorites at home against Minnesota. For complete odds of College Football's Week 2, see below.

Read More

Sportsbetting fans get ready! The Las Vegas Hilton Supercontest, the biggest NFL handicapping contest in the U.S is back and promises to pay at list $300,000 to its lucky winner. Odds for Week 1 have the contest have been released and all sports betting fans can now start placing their bets.

The Las Vegas Hilton Supercontest is by far the most popular NFL handicapping contest in Las Vegas, last year's winner cashed more than $300,000 and this year the contest guarantees to match or overpass that amount. To participate in this NFL contest; players need to make five selections against the point spread each week and 45% of the entry fees (which is $1,500) will be paid to the winner. The top 20 places also receive a piece of the prize pot.

Below are the odds for Week 1 of the 2008 NFL Season. Good luck to all players.

Read More

A new College called the International
Gambling College is drawing the attention of gamblers, mathematicians, and the
general public, as it introduces serious gambling students to state-of-the-art
player training methods, and prepares to expand its training to people in
Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

The successful emergence of this unlikely institute of higher learning has
primarily been made possible by advances in the science of Fractals, Chaos,
and a new level of understanding in gambler psychology.

Read More

UFC favorite Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell looks to continue his crusade to regain the UFC Light Heavyweight Title this weekend, Saturday September 6, when he squares off against undefeated light heavyweight contender Rashad "Sugar" Evans. UFC 88 Breakthrough takes place at Phillips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. UFC Betting Odds at BetUS.com have Chuck Liddell as -260 moneyline favorite over Rashad Evans who is listed as +200 underdog. Get your Chuck Liddell vs Rashad Evans UFC 88 Prediction in now at BetUS.com

The 6'2" 205lb Chuck Liddell got a huge win over the hated Wanderlei Silva in UFC 79. It took three rounds and a Unanimous Decision for Chuck to get the victory. In the first round Liddell had Silva hurt with a punch. He went in to finish but Silva stunned him back. This would happen a few times in the round. The second round had Silva swinging and connecting, Liddell drops to the mat. Chuck got up and proceeded to go after Silva, he split Silva's eye and it started bleeding badly. Both fighters continue swinging and landing. It was a great second round. In the third it's the same thing with both fighters swinging and connecting, but with 45 seconds left Silva misses with a big overhand right. Liddell takes Silva down with 17 seconds left to likely secure the final round and the fight as a whole. This was a big win as Chuck lost a disappointing fight to Keith Jardine at UFC 76 and at UFC 71 when he lost the belt to Quinton Jackson. Chuck Liddell vs Rashad Evans UFC 88 Prediction in now

Read More

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Kyle Busch ran more laps than anyone during Speedweeks. He led a bunch of them, too.

Just not the ones that really mattered.

Busch finished fourth in the Daytona 500 on Sunday, ending a hectic weekend that also included strong showings in the Craftsman Truck Series and the Nationwide Series.

Busch was second in both of those.

He was considerably better in the big one, leading a race-high 86 laps and dominating most of the afternoon.

But several late cautions kept the field bunched together, and Penske Racing teammates Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch hooked up to prevent Busch from getting to Victory Lane.

"Just frustrating to come home fourth," Busch said. "But that's part of the Daytona 500 when you run as good as we had all day long. Those guys couldn't keep up with us, but there were all those cautions at the end that propelled them forward enough in order to get them ahead."

Read More

When it comes to Internet gambling sites, the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office recommends residents stay away from them because federal and state laws right now are complex when it comes to online gambling.

Channel 11 has gotten questions from viewers about what the IRS rules are when it comes to gambling online.

Betty Stringer was stunned and confused when she got a tax notification from Worldwinner.com. Stringer had won a total of $1,079 in 2007 and that it had been reported to the IRS.

Stringer said, "It says you have to pay taxes. I said excuse me, for what? I couldn't figure out what I had to pay taxes on. I never took any cash out of there."

Stringer said the couple dollars she'd won she just kept putting right back into the game account, not keeping track and never considering it money won especially since she never had more than $10 or $20 in her game account. She never received a dime.

Peter Habib, a CPA said, "Any dollar earned should be reported to the IRS." Continue

Harvard Med School study shows there is hope for problem gamblers

Presumably quoting from the Harvard Medical School report commissioned by the Vienna listed online gambling company Bwin, the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry has published the results of an HMS study that found many gambling addicts recover from their addiction naturally, without treatment, and that problem gambling is a more dynamic phenomenon than was previously believed.

The published review paper, "Stability and Progression of Disordered Gambling: Lessons From Longitudinal Studies," covers five important studies conducted by Harvard researchers, whose findings challenge conventional wisdom about problem gambling.
Problem gambling bodies have long held the belief that addiction to gambling is a degenerative condition, with victims betting more as the condition progresses, and continued betting fuelling the addiction.

However, the Harvard researchers found that gambling addicts do not necessarily get steadily worse over time, and they can fall in and out of problem gambling. Some may even recover from the addiction on their own.

Read More

We know this is off topic for the blog, but, to funny not to share.

There are few words so may not be suitable for all ages.

This is one of those stories where you begin to chuckle....then find yourself laughing out loud. (Not to mention the tears that come with the laughter)

TASER GIFTING

Pocket Taser Stun Gun, a great gift for the wife. A guy who purchased his lovely wife a pocket Taser for their anniversary submitted this.

Last weekend I saw something at Larry's Pistol & Pawn Shop that sparked my interest. The occasion was our 15th anniversary and I was looking for a little something extra for my wife Julie. What I came across was a 100,000-volt, pocket/purse-sized taser. The effects of the taser were supposed to be short lived, with no long-term adverse affect on your assailant, allowing her adequate time to retreat to safety....

'WAY TOO COOL! Long story short, I bought the device and brought it home.

I loaded two AAA batteries in the darn thing and pushed the button. Nothing! I was disappointed. I learned, however, that if I pushed the button AND pressed it against a metal surface at the same time; I'd get the blue arc of electricity darting back and forth between the prongs.

AWESOME!!!

Unfortunately, I have yet to explain to Julie what that burn spot is on the face of her microwave.

Okay, so I was home alone with this new toy, thinking to myself that it couldn't be all that bad with only two triple-A batteries, right?

There I sat in my recliner, my cat Gracie looking on intently (trusting little soul) while I was reading the directions and thinking that I really needed to try this thing out on a flesh & blood moving target.

I must admit I thought about zapping Gracie (for a fraction of a second) and thought better of it. She is such a sweet cat. But, if I was going to give this thing to my wife to protect herself against a mugger, I did want some assurance that it would work as advertised. Am I wrong?

So, there I sat in a pair of shorts and a tank top with my reading glasses perched delicately on the bridge of my nose, directions in one hand, and taser in another.

The directions said that a one-second burst would shock and disorient your assailant; a two-second burst was supposed to cause muscle spasms and a major loss of bodily control; a three-second burst would purportedly make your assailant flop on the ground like a fish out of water. Any burst longer than three seconds would be wasting the batteries. All the while I'm looking at this little device measuring about 5" long, less than 3/4 inch in circumference; pretty cute really and (loaded with two itsy, bitsy triple-A batteries) thinking to myself, "no possible way!"

What happened next is almost beyond description, but I'll do my best... I'm sitting there alone, Gracie looking on with her head cocked to one side as to say, "don't do it master," reasoning that a one-second burst from such a tiny little ole thing couldn't hurt all that bad. I decided to give myself a one-second burst just for heck of it. I touched the prongs to my naked thigh, pushed the button, and ..

HOLY MOTHER OF GOD, WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION!

I'm pretty sure Jessie Ventura ran in through the side door, picked me up in the recliner, then body slammed us both on the carpet, over and over and over again.

I vaguely recall waking up on my side in the fetal position, with tears in my eyes, body soaking wet, both nipples on fire, testicles nowhere to be found, with my left arm tucked under my body in the oddest position, and tingling in my legs.

The cat was standing over me making meowing sounds I had never heard before, licking my face, undoubtedly thinking to herself, "Do it again, stupid, do it again!"

Note: If you ever feel compelled to "mug" yourself with a taser, one note of caution: there is no such thing as a one-second burst when you zap yourself!

You will not let go of that thing until it is dislodged from your hand by a violent thrashing about on the floor.

A three-second burst would be considered conservative.

SON-OF-A-... That hurt like **%!!! A minute or so later (I can't be sure, as time was a relative thing at that point), I collected my wits (what little I had left), sat up and surveyed the landscape. My bent reading glasses were on the mantel of the fireplace. How did they get up there??? My triceps, right thigh and both nipples were still twitching. My face felt like it had been shot up with Novocain, and my bottom lip weighed 88 lbs. I'm still looking for my testicles! I'm offering a significant reward for their safe return!! Still in shock!

P. S. My wife loved the gift, and now regularly threatens me with it!

"If you think Education is difficult, try being stupid."

There are tons of sports tickets going on sale today, here are some highlights

Chicago White Sox

Houston Astros

Tampa Bay Rays

Big 12 Championship

Boxing Cotto vs. Gomez & Cintron vs. Margarito Tickets

To see the list of all tickets onsale today visit
TicketsOnSaleToday.com