Rafael Nadal goes into Friday's semi final with a 3-1 head-to-head lead over his opponent Rainer Schuettler.  More importantly than past results, Rafael also goes in a lot more fresh with Rainer taking over 5 hours to beat France's Arnaud Clement in the quarter final.

Rafael Nadal has looked on top of his game throughout the tournament, only dropping 1 set.  His serve is unreturnable, his determination is 2nd to none and his fitness is peak.  Rainer Schuettler has done extremely well to get to this stage, knocking out James Blake and Janko Tipsarevic in the process.  But he has spent significantly longer on the court throughout his 20 sets, compared to Rafael Nadal's 16.  Rafael Nadal hasn't had much of a problem in his previous 5 matches, whereas Rainer had to come from 2-1 down to see off James Blake and beat Arnaud Clement in 5 sets this evening.

These 2 have never met on Grass before but Nadal won the last meeting at Chennai 2-0 last year.

Odds on Rafael Nadal are extremely small but betfair offer the best at 3/100.  But to make anything significant from this you will need to stak a fair bit.

Our recommended bet is to take Rafael Nadal to beat Rainer Schuettler 3-0.  Unibet offer 1.18 odds on this which is pretty good considering Rafa will win this match with ease.

The ultimate cruise experience is so much more than just choosing a great ship. Although the onboard amenities and ship's grandeur play a big part, the itinerary, sights and local shore excursions can make all the difference. The world is your oyster when it comes to cruising and journeyPod is about to take you on a guided cruise tour, so to speak...

In questo video vi mostriamo i migliori bluff delle World Series of Poker.Da non perdere amici,dopo visto questo video ci amerete ancora di più!

Il fenomeno del poker è ormai diventato nazionale e sono svariati milioni gli italiani che giornalmente giocano ai tornei dei poker forniti dai maggiori operatori internazionali.

Il poker sportivo che molti definiscono un gioco d'azzardo come gli altri è invece secondo noi una vera e propria attività sportiva,una disciplina che ha richiesto una petizione per diventare gioco olimpico.

Già,il poker sportivo non necessita che il giocatore sia ricco per partecipare ad un torneo,al poker possono giocare sia l'operaio che l'imprenditore,senza ranghi sociali o intellettuali.

Dalle prossime settimana il governo probabilmente emanerà un decreto legge che favorirà e consentirà la raccolta del gioco on line sul poker.Il business che è arrivato a 60 miliardi di euro è un bel bocconcino per lo stato Italiano che con questo sistema ricevera un notevole introito,che altrimente andrebbe nelle casse di operatori stranieri.

Da due anni il poker è di moda in Italia,grazie anche alla trasmissione World Series of Poker in onda su Italia 1 e si calcola che sono più di 20 milioni gli italiani che hanno giocato almeno una volta nella vita al poker e 5 milioni i giocatori abituali.

Prova anche tu l'ebbrezza del poker on line cliccando su uno dei nostri sponsor,fai all in!

A while back, Malcolm Pett & Steve Ashley contacted me to see if I was willing to contribute to a betting systems and strategies e-book that they were putting together called Pro Betting Systems and after listening to their idea, I didn't even have to think about it, I said I was in!

Now, what Malcolm & Steve have put together is a unique publication that brings together 14 of the most well-known online betting industry's authors and professional gamblers. In the Pro Betting Systems e-book, all 14 of these authors have each contributed (at least) one of their own personal betting systems.

14 different authors/systems, over 100 pages of insider information, I think you'll agree that this type of publication has never been attempted before!

Now this is unlike ANYTHING you have seen before, this is not recycled garbage that has been repackaged and present as something new and revolutionary, the PRO BETTING SYSTEMS ebook is over 100 pages of pure profit strategies that will give you a valuable insight into how pro punters generate consistent profits betting on sports.

You've probably bought some e-books before, and found they were 40 pages of 'filler', and just 10 pages of actual useful information. Well, Pro Betting Systems is over 100 pages of pure information, no filler.

I heartily recommend that you get your hands on the PRO BETTING SYSTEMS ebook now and discover HOW to really start profiting from sports betting.

Here's are today's MLB Baseball stats and trends for Thursday, July 3, 2008

Today's MLB Pick: L.A.Dodgers vs. Houston: UNDER 8.5 -130

• Who's Hot: Chicago White Sox 7 SU Wins, Tampa Bay 4 SU Wins
• Who's Not: Boston 5 SU Losses, Cleveland 5 SU Losses, Atlanta 4 SU Losses

When BALTIMORE team played as a Home team - Total is between 9.5 to 10.0 - Vs. Right handed pitchers - Coming off a Home win as a Favorite - Coming off a 2 game winning streak.

• SU Record: 19-4-0
• O/U/P Record: 8-15-0

When NY YANKEES team played as a Home team - Last 5 years - Total is between 9.5 to 10.0 - Coming off a series loss - Allowed 7 runs or more AGAINST in their last game.

• SU Record: 11-1-0
• O/U/P Record: 3-9-0

When NY YANKEES team Played as Home team as a Favorite - Vs Conference Opponent - Vs. Left handed pitchers - Coming off a 1 game win - Coming off a Win vs. AL WEST opponent.

• SU Record: 10-2-0
• O/U/P Record: 4-8-0

When BOSTON team played as a Road team - Vs. Left handed pitchers - 1st game of a series - Coming off a Road loss - Coming off a series loss.

• SU Record: 9-2-0
• O/U/P Record: 7-1-3

When NY METS team played as a Road team - Vs Conference Opponent - Playing on Thursday - Coming off a 1 game loss - Coming off a night game.

• SU Record: 9-1-0
• O/U/P Record: 2-6-2

When COLORADO team Played as Home team as a Favorite - During a night game - Total is between 9.5 to 10.0 - Coming off a Win vs. NL WEST opponent - Coming off a Home win.

• SU Record: 6-4-0
• O/U/P Record: 2-8-0

When BALTIMORE team Played as home team as a Favorite - During the 2008 season - During a night game.

• SU Record: 12-3-0
• O/U/P Record: 8-4-3

When BALTIMORE team Played as home team as a Favorite - During a night game - 4th game of a series.

• SU Record: 7-6-0
• O/U/P Record: 2-8-3

When KANSAS CITY team played as a 100 to 120 road Underdog - Total is between 9.5 to 10.0 - During the month of July.

• SU Record: 3-8-0
• O/U/P Record: 2-8-1

When NY YANKEES team Played as home team as a Favorite - During the month of July - Total is 9.5.

• SU Record: 32-8-0
• O/U/P Record: 13-27-0

In an earlier post, I wrote about the power that a friendly competition like a trivia contest has to keep patrons in your bar and keep them coming back.  Another sure-fire trick is to induce them to gamble on some (future) sporting event.  It pretty much guarantees that they will return to your establishment to watch the game and (hopefully) collect their winnings.

The most popular form of bar gambling when I worked in Montréal was what we called a "football grid" - although the Internet seems to prefer the term "football squares."  The bartender would divide a large piece of paper, or even better, bristol board, into a 10 × 10 grid, with room on the left and top to fill in numbers later.  The visiting team's name is written on the left and the hosts on the top.  Then, the individual squares would be sold to patrons, let's say $10 each for this example, and they write their name in the square they've chosen.  It can be any empty square on the grid.  Once all the squares are sold, and this is key, only once they are all sold, the numbers 0 through 9 are written on small pieces of paper and drawn one by one from a hat.  With witnesses present, the bartender fills in the numbers in the order they are drawn, first down the side, then across the top.

The random selection of numbers is important, as you'll see.

On game day, the winners are chosen by looking at the last digit of each of the teams' scores.  So if the score is 28 - 17 for the visitors, you find the 8 on the left and the 7 on the top and the person with their name in the intersecting square wins.  Because you want there to be more than one winner (more people with sudden disposable income in the room), you usually have a prize for each of the quarters, but building up to a larger one for the final score.  In our example (100 squares × $10 = $1,000), it might be broken down like: first quarter, $100; second, $150; third $250; final score, $500.  Of course, all the money must be paid out - there is no cut for the house.

The reason the randomness is important, is that certain numerals are much more likely in football scores than others.  Without explaining all about the different ways to get points in a football game, just believe me when I say that the best numbers are, in order, 7, 0, 3, 4.  So someone with their name in the 7-7 square will feel pretty good with their lot, but the schmo in 5-5 is essentially hooped.  If the numbers were put on the grid before  the squares were sold, no-one would buy 5-5.

SWEET JESUS!!!  When two of my absolute favorite things on the planet, politics and gambling, come together I swear it's like manna from Heaven. 

TIME wrote a marvelous piece Wednesday (which I've posted in its entirety after the jump) talking about what Barack Obama and John McCain's gambling proclivities tell us about them as political candidates.

You may not know this, but you can pretty much divide the world into two groups: people who like to throw dice vs. people who like to throw cards. 

TIME observes that "the casino craps player is a social animal, a thrill seeker who wants not just to win but to win with a crowd" -- rightly pointing out that craps is "a game for showmen, Hollywood stars and basketball legends with girls on their arms." 

Read the rest of this page »

With a US$4.5 billion budget in its treasure chest, Canadian developer Asian Coast Development Ltd. is planning to develop Vietnam's very first casino resort.

Dubbed the Ho Tram Strip complex, the casino resort project will call for construction of an undeveloped 432 acre stretch of beach and forest in Xujen Moc, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province some two hours away by car from Ho Chi Minh City.

Asian Coast Chairman Michael Aymong said that the project is scheduled for completion by 2011 with the intial phase to have a couple of hotels offering 2,300 rooms. The Canadian developer hopes to increase room capacity to about 10,000 by 2015 along with additional facilities.

Part of the Asian Coast project will involve the firm investing in the building of infrastructure which includes an airport, a ferry terminal and highways.

It is reported by Asian Coast, who received their casino license last March 2008, that the project is already attracting investor interest.

Florida Lottery officials on Wednesday said they will add the national Powerball game to the state's portfolio in January and become the new host for the game's semiweekly drawings.

Adding Powerball reversed a decision nearly 10 years ago by former Gov. Jeb Bush, who feared the popular national game could damage Florida's offerings.

Florida Lottery Secretary Leo DiBenigno said Wednesday that times have changed.

"Like any other businesses have to change, we have to adjust to the marketplace," DiBenigno said. "The lottery will constantly re-evaluate its options."

Powerball will relocate from Iowa to an undetermined Florida site for its televised drawings on Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. in the Eastern time zone to roughly 100 stations across the nation.

So get your numbers together and your dollars, your big chance is here.  BTW, the odds of being struck by lightening on a clear day are better than winning the lottery.  Just thought you would like to know.