Off Shore Gaming Association

Every year the sportsbooks in Las Vegas offer contests both big and small for the football season. This year there are a few college and pro football contests, including one that has a $100,000 entry fee at the M Resort! Since we don’t know too many people with that kind of dough, we will focus on several others being offered in the desert.

For players who want to participate in any of these contests you must appear in-person to enter. After the first week however, many of them accept ‘proxies’. A proxy is a person that the contestant would designate to be eligible to enter the picks each week. Players can use friends or relatives but may also find a company or person that does this throughout the football season. One of them is Tom Thompsen. He has run a reputable proxy service in Las Vegas for the last three years. Interested players can contact Tom at tmt228@sbcglobal.net.

Below are a smattering of the most popular (and affordable) season-long contests with a deadline before the season starts.

The Super Contest at the Las Vegas Hilton is one of the most popular and longest standing contests in Vegas. As in previous years a $1,500 entry fee is required and entries are limited to two per person. Proxies are allowed and must sign up with contestant. The Contest: Entrants pick five NFL games against the spread each week. First prize is 40 percent of all entry fees. Winners are paid through 20th place. The Hilton also gives an aggregate $10,000 bonus for anyone who picks over 67 percent. Sign-up by 4 p.m. Monday, Sept. 6, to be eligible for a free $10,000 winner-take-all contest on the last three weeks of the regular season. Selections are due by 11 a.m. Saturday each week, unless playing a Thursday game, then all five plays due before the scheduled kickoff of Thursday’s game. The deadline to sign up and get first week’s entry in is 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 11. Get more on this contest here.

The Pro Football Survivor Contest at Wynn Las Vegas has a $100 entry fee with a maximum of 10 entries per person. Players must sign up for their Red Card. Proxies are allowed and must show up with contestant to fill out form. The Contest: Players pick one NFL game each week with no spread and if you lose once, you are done. The last person standing wins entire prize pool. The pool offers a guaranteed minimum $100,000 prize. Each week the games with highest spreads will be excluded starting with one the first week and proggressing during the season. Selections must be made on Saturdays by 11:59 p.m. or one hour prior to kickoff of games earlier in the week.

Leroy’s Sportsbooks offer multiple contests, as they do every season. All of the contest are available at all Leroy’s outlets.

The Leroy’s College Challenge requires a $250 entry fee. There is a limit of five entries per person. This contest lasts 12 weeks using Saturday games only from Sept. 11 through Nov. 27. The Contest: Contestants pick seven college games against the spread (all games are half-points) from a list of up to 50 games. First prize is 30 percent of all entry fees, which would be $30,000 based on 400 entries, but will adjusted depending on the final number of entries. Multiple contestants can win in this one with prizes paid through 40th place. In addition, 5 percent of the prize pool will go to the winner of a mini-contest over the final four weeks. The deadline to sign up is 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 10 and selections are due by 5 p.m. each Friday. There is a very similar Pro Challenge based on Sunday’s and Monday’s NFL games only. The prize structure is the same as the College Challenge.

In addition, Leroy’s offers a contest with just a $25 entry fee. The Three N Out contest limits entries to 5 per person. The Contest: Players pick just one NFL spread or total with all lines set at half-points. The last person standing wins entire prize pool and if all remaining contestants are eliminated in the same week, they split prize equally. Picks must be made each week before the scheduled kickoff time of the game used. The deadline to sign up is 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 11. Leroy’s will also a free entry into a separate midseason Three N Out starting on Oct. 24 for anyone who plays the first three weeks of the the aforementioned contest and loses all three games. Get the scoop on all three Leroy’s contests here.

Station Casinos, Fiesta Casinos and Wildfire Casinos will offer thier Last Man Standing NFL and College contests for just a $25 entry fee each. There is a maximum of five entries per person and buying four will get one free. The Contest(s): Players pick one NFL game against the spread each week with all spreads will utilizing half-points. Since this is a Last Man contest, if you lose once, you’re out. The last contestant standing wins entire prize pool - for Pro, a guaranteed minimum $75,000 and for college, $25,000. $100,000 bonus is up for grabs if someone wins both the college and pro Last Man Standing contests. Each week selections must be made before the scheduled kickoff time of the game used. The deadline to sign up is 9 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 12.

Player who are looking to enter a contest for FREE and play from the comfort of thier own homes can enter either the OSGA Progressive Pick ‘em or the OSGA Last Man Standing contest. The two contests are distinct, but share in common over $2500 worth of prizes with absolutely NO ENTRY FEE.

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This year the Off Shore Gaming Association is proud to offer, not one but
TWO huge football contests players can enter for FREE!!. The two contests
are distinct, but share in common over $2500 worth of prizes with
absolutely NO ENTRY FEE.

After a successful season-long contest last year, we have again introduced
the 2010 OSGA Progressive Pick ‘em. This contest is actually two contests
in one. A weekly prize of a $100 betting account at BetOnline plus a
progressive contest that builds throughout the season. Each week OSGA players
vie for a $100 free betting account by picking each game straight up with no
point spreads involved. The progressive part of the contest asks a player
to get every game on the board correct. The prize is $100 weekly but grows
every week no one selects all games correctly.

Though a perfect week seems likely throughout an entire season, last year’s Progressive Pick ‘Em saw no player get all games on the board correct.
Therefore, at the end of the season players with the top win-loss records
split a generous rollover pot. The contest winner collected a cool $850 cash,
courtesy of OSGA.

A fun, new handicapping challenge from the OSGA is a Last Man Standing
Contest. Each week players need only pick one single winner again, straight
up. But, throughout the course of the entire NFL season, no team can be
selected twice. This is a “one-and-done” event with a losing pick getting you
instantly bounced from the competition.

The contest is co-sponsored by Badlands Gambling Hall who are offering up
huge FREE BETTING ACCOUNTS for the top four finishers including a $1000
free gambling account for the Last Man Standing. Easy pickins’, right?
After all, who can’t pick 1 NFL winner a week straight-up? Well..for those who
manage to slip-up is a $25 Free Play consolation prize courtesy of
Badlands during the contest’s first month.

If last year is any indication, players cannot only expect a good time but
weekly prizes and huge payoffs at the end of the season. Get on board
today for both the Progressive Contest AND the Last Man Standing Contest. We’re happy to bring these annual FREE football contests to the
OSGA nation and wish everyone who enters, good luck!

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The NFL preseason started last weekend with the Hall of Fame game and now there is a full slate of pre-season games this weekend, right through the first MNF game of the season. And your favorite sportsbooks are also gearing up for football season with website updates and new bigger and better bonus offers than in previous years.

This week BetED launched a brand new website largely based on user feedback and input. The new site features improved graphics, a crisp, clean new look and a streamlined betting center. The company has also expanded the ‘Clubhouse’ section of the website with in-depth previews, special members-only contests and added columnists aimed at satisfying the real sports fan. BetED told us that this site will enable them to offer more odds on more teams, leagues and events than ever before. “If you can bet on it, we’ve got it,” a company spokesman stated.

Over the last month or so Hollywood Sportsbook has finally moved into the 21st century with a new look website, packed with fun features. This is the first site update we have seen from Hollywood in at least 5 years but it look like it was worth the wait. Updated last month, the website features a slick look, unique content and stats, new casino games, a new poker platform and the Hollywood Hotties! The sportsbook is also getting ready for football with cash bonuses, a new loyalty program and upcoming free contests.

This is the time of year that many books create huge offers to attract players for football and the bonuses are beginning to pile up. However, players are urged to read the fine print of any offer before sending any money. An accounting firm must have travelled to the Caribbean and Latin America as offshore books have really crunched the numbers to ensure that the bonus structure in 2010 is also sound business-wise. Where many books used to offer big bonuses with 4, 5, or 6 time rollover, now any bonus in excess of 50% is almost a guaranteed to have a rollover in excess of 10 times. We also are seeing many offers that increase with the amount of deposit a player sends offshore. But, keep in mind, this will also increase the amount of rollover or the amount of times that the deposit+bonus must be wagered before collecting the bonus can become a reality.

Still, there are some great offers out there and for a true player, the rollovers are easily achievable for anyone who wagers consistently throughout the football season. And one book even asked for our input for an exclusive offer.

The offer that OSGA had some input with is over at Badlands. They asked us to provide input from our call center and email database. We gladly assisted them to come up with an offer based on player feedback and Badlands just released a 25+25 bonus exclusive to OSGA visitors. The offer includes both a LIFETIME 25% free play bonus on deposits of $100-$5,000 with a low 4x roll over. That means that as long as you are a Badlands customer you will get a 25% free play bonus on EVERY deposit made I excess of $100. In addition, one of the biggest player peeves is the high cost of payouts. Badlands addressed this need in this exclusive bonus package with lifetime $25 Flat Payout Fee for payouts via check! We are very happy that Badlands sought our advice to come up with something that addresses players wishes. Though this may not be the biggest offer out there, it is an offer that will last a lifetime.

The BetPhoenix brands are offering the “Early Bird Special” – up to 60% bonus based on the size of the deposit. The offer consists of half of the bonus in cash and half of it in free play. For example, if a player deposits $1000, he gets a 20% cash bonus and a 20% free play to use. The bonus amount (and rollovers) increases with larger deposits. Similar offers can also be found at BetMania and WagerChief. WagerWeb also offers up a bonus that grows with the size of deposit. At this Costa Rican book you can receive up to 100% free play if you are willing to send at least $500. The offer can work for smaller players too as a deposit of $25 – $250 will get new players a bonus of up to 50%. And BetOnline also gets into the act with their progressive bonus structure. Players can start with as little as a $50 and get a 10% free play with only a 3X rollover. The bonus gets bigger as the deposit increases until a player sending $2000 or more can grab a 45% free play with a reasonable 8X rollover.

Not to be outdone, 5Dimes is offering the most free play we have ever seen from them with their “50% Plus” bonus program. New Player deposits from $100 to $400 will receive a 50% Free-Play Reward, up to a total of $200 in Free-Play. Here’s the Plus… if the deposit amount exceeds $400, and is up to $2000, it will also qualify for an EXTRA 20% Free-Play Reward.

It’s shopping season, so we urge players to check our Sportsbook Bonus page, which gets updated as new bonuses are released. We tell players ever year to make sure that the offer is not just a big bonus, but also features requirements that they are able to fulfill. Good Luck shopping!

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In just two days we will all have a huge entertainment decision. Which group of uninterested millionaires should we watch – The NFL’s best at the Pro Bowl or music’s royalty at the Grammys? But a larger decision looms. Which event is the one to bet on?

The NFL seems very happy with itself over the whole week-before-the-big-game exhibition. They build-up of excitement surely has fans and bettors alike writhing their hands in anticipation of this Sunday’s matchup. The league may have moved the date of this game to keep bettors active in what normally would be a dead week, knowing that fan support only goes so far. But considering their stance on betting, I am sure that this ever crossed the mind of league officials (wink, wink).

Football is the hold grail of sports betting and when the real games and the real point spreads are gone, so are the players, taking with them all deposits and winnings. It will be 6 long months before sportsbooks will have a chance at winning back any of that money again. Perhaps league officials have spoken with offshore operators who tell them that the week after the Super Bowl over 50% of the players withdraw their balances, resulting in very little action for the Pro Bowl. Still, this new format does not appear to be breaking from tradition, even if players do have available balances. Players who are willing to wager on the game have not stepped up to the plate yet, with several outlets reporting almost no action on the Pro Bowl just 48 hours before the game. On gameday, one way to get in on some meaningful action is through live betting. 5Dimes will be offering wagering on the live action during the game and expects more volume on the live wagering than on wagers made before the game!

The Grammy are the Super Bowl of the music world. And, there are more betting options available, but surprisingly the event is not available at every outlet. A quick perusal of Elite and Premier rated sportsbooks showed that more than half do not have Grammy wagering available yet.

There are actually 4 main categories that are available for Grammy Awards betting action and are the most widely offered. The top wagering categories are Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist. You can also bet on Best Rock Song at SBG Global, Pinnacle (though the field is one of the wagers) and betED. The craziest bet of the event is also available at betED – “Who will be the 1st to invade the stage?” with Lady Gaga as the favorite!

So for my tastes, I know that the Grammys will provide me with at least three-and-a-half hours of totally free, quality entertainment. But can the Pro Bowl guarantee me the same thing? With the replacements and the seeming lack of interest from the players, I’ll watch the Grammys.

But which event gets the wagering dollars?

Again, the Grammys. The Pro Bowl side wager has dropped to two and even 1 online, as if there is much basis for this. The not-so-giant point total has nothing to do with handicapping and frankly, at about the same number as Super Bowl total, may be an attractive betting option. But, with the Grammys you can do a little handicapping. Take a look at album sales, Billboard charts, previous awards shows and even TMZ to get an edge. It’s a shame you cat make parlays out of prop bets, but this is exactly why. Taylor Swift sure looks like easy money in a couple of categories after her hauls at the CMAs (she won all four awards for which she was nominated) and the VMAs (think Kanye West). Swift is the favorite in three available wagering categories. A differing line among several outlets in the Song of the Year Award category and Record of the Year category makes me lean towards the young starlet winning for Album of The Year. Employing the same logic, Pinnacle is leaning far towards Swift in this category; odds are currently at a whopping -113. The Kings of Leon are a sure bet to win the Best Rock Song award but at a long price, if available.

Enjoy watching and good luck with any wager you make, on either event.

For a complete, updated list of Grammy Betting Odds, click here.

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The NFL is sure going to be busy in 2010. And not promoting its product outside the United States or ramping up its fledgling TV network. No, the NFL, or should I say the NFL’s lawyers, are going to be busy fighting new legislation introduced this week from several states and a Supreme Court fight.

Last year, the tiny state of Delaware spent over $600,000 in legal fees to ensure passage of a very watered-down version of a sports betting bill. However, by providing just multi-game betting (parlay and teaser cards), the state still turned a profit. Now, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell has announced a decision to appeal an August ruling, by the 3rd circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, to the Supreme Court! That’s gonna incur some legal fees. Still, the state has to convince the court to hear the argument, thus, expanded sports betting in the 1st State is still a long shot.

The NFL and other sports leagues were able to convince the Third Circuit Court that Delaware should only be allowed to offer sports betting in the fashion that it was offered before the passage of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) that was passed in 1992. The federal law includes a partial exemption for Delaware, Nevada, Montana and Oregon, allowing them to have sports betting “to the extent” it was “conducted” previously. PASPA is really the one piece of legislation that is stunting any hope for the growth of sports betting in the U.S. If the case does get heard by the land’s highest court, it will be, as far as I know, the first time the Supreme Court has heard a challenge to the federal law.

However, help may be on the horizon in other cases that are sure to be heard throughout the land. Perhaps on the success of Delaware, the State’s lawyers may be getting assistance from newly sponsored legislation in two states to void PASPA.

New Jersey made a bit of a play last year as State Sen. Raymond Lesniak introduced legislation to allow sports betting in Atlantic City, mainly as a way to bolster the dying casino town’s revenue stream. He was able to garner support from then-governor John Corzine and had the assistance of iMEGA, but his bill did not gain much traction. Just two weeks into the New Year and Leasniak is already making another play. He has introduced an act “permitting wagering at casinos in-person and through an account wagering system using telephone, Internet and other means on the results of professional and collegiate sport or athletic events”. Talk about going for the gusto! Lesniak is not only including sports betting, but, in the face of certain litigation by the NFL and NCAA, he is also adding in the Internet. Yes, internet wagering has made it into his 2010 version of the bill. So, the Justice Department will most likely also have something to say about this piece of legislation.

But Lesniak is serious, already ramping-up the rhetoric. He has been quoted as saying, “People are doing it. They’re doing it every day. They’re doing it for the NCAA tournament. They’re doing it for the Super Bowl and professional football. But we can’t regulate it and run it in the state of New Jersey.” Finally, someone who gets it - gamblers are gonna gamble. In fact, I just got doing it, and I want to do it again! Lesniak is also considering suing the Federal Government to overturn the PASA law.

Also this week, out of left-field, came a House Resolution from legislators in Missouri, of all places. Can it be that Gary Kaplan and David Carruthers are working their St. Louis jailers over to have their lawmakers allow sports betting? After all, the state probably owns the URL betonsports.com after taking down one of the largest sports gambling houses on the Internet. Was this really the whole reason that BOS was indicted and convicted - to pave the way for legal sports betting in the state?

The piece of legislation, House Concurrent Resolution No. 22 urges the United States Congress to remove the federal ban on sports wagering. The best line in the document is when the State legislators declare, I guess after the demise of BOS and little or no change in the gaming landscape, that “the federal sports wagering ban is not effective in curbing illegal sports gambling.” I wonder when the light bulb went on to figure that out? But cynicism aside, this resolution is being sent to the Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States Congress and to each member of the Missouri Congressional delegation. Hopefully, it will have some impact.

So, all of this legislation and legal wrangling could be a perfect storm for the NFL, NCAA and other sports leagues. PASPA was passed nearly two decades ago and all that has happened since then is the explosion of the multi-billion dollar Internet gambling industry and the continued expansion of gambling throughout the country. Following the success that Delaware has seen with just multi-game wagering, in just their first year of operation, and with states looking for any way to generate revenue, perhaps this is just the leading edge of the PASAP perfect storm. Next week Florida is going to discuss Internet wagering in the state capitol and Indian tribes in California are attempting to build a consensus on Internet poker issues. Perhaps we are approaching a perfect storm for Internet wagering as well.

My prediction for all of this for 2010? If states continue to struggle to find revenue, PASAP will have a tough time continuing to be the law of the land. I expect to see other states put pressure on the Federal government as well. And, oh, yeah, a whole bunch of lawyers are going to make a whole bunch of money!

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Yesterday marked the rebirth of sports betting in Delaware. The NFL had their day in court and smoked the smallest state in the Union. The State and three state-approved racinos went ahead anyway. The existing three racinos dumped a reported total of 11 million into the betting facilities and September 10, 2009 may become a day sports bettors remember . . . with Parlay Cards, Teaser Cards, Super Teaser Cards and ‘off the board’ betting.

That’s right, the games are varied in nature. There are the Parlay Cards and Teaser Cards. Parlay Cards will be limited to $2-$100 bets, but the state will also take ‘off the board’ parlays with a $5 minimum and a $3000 max wager. ‘Off the board’ bets use updated lines from the electronic tote board, as opposed to the pre-printed parlay cards, but offer slightly lower payouts. The different types of cards resemble the ones that I saw all throughout my youth, but they all have ½-point spreads – there will be no pushes in Delaware. The Parlay Cards are just like any other and the two Teaser Cards are for either a point differential of 5-7 points or 9-11 points (Super Teaser). Both teaser cards are quite interesting because the points teased are not the same on each game or each card (the Teaser Card uses 12 points total and the Super Teaser , 20 points total). For example: in the Teaser Card for last night’s game (Steelers -6.5, again, there can be no even spreads), the Steelers were teased down to -1.5 (5 points) and the Titans were moved to +13.5 (7 points). The Dolphins/Falcons game is teased at an even 6 points on the Teaser Card but on the Super Teaser Card the Dolphins are given 9 points to leave them at +13.5 while the Falcons were granted 11 point to move their number to +6.5.

This is not the case on every game, but for certain games (especially those revolving around 3 or 7) it looks like the house is hedging a bit. After all, does anyone think that the Fins are going to lose by more than two touchdowns or that the Titans were going to get pasted last night? Obviously not Brandywine Gaming, who runs the backend lines and systmes forDelaware.

An example where the mighty number 3 comes into play reveals a bit more how Delaware is playing the game this time around. The line on the Parlay Card for the upcoming Rams/Seahawks snooze-fest is Seahawks -8.5. A six point teaser would bring the Seahawks margin of victory under the magic 3. The state apparently will have none of that type of advantage to the player and thus moved Seattle to -3.5 and the Redskins to +13.5 ( 7 points). In a bold showing, the Super Teaser will only allow the Chargers to be teased on Monday night down to -1.5, a mere 8 points. But, that does open the door a bit for Raiders bettors who are now getting 21.5 points on the Super Teaser card.

The bottom line is that each game must be looked at to play the teaser cards. It’s not as simple as putting in a 6 point teaser on the Internet and having every game calculated to 6 points right before your eyes. It also may give the Internet player an advantage seeing how the house is shading the line on a particular wager. One thing is for sure, the favorites are almost always going to be a bit pricier in Delaware.

We were particularly interested in the odds that the State was going to offer to gamblers. We figured to insure that the state would fill the coffers, players were looking at 5-1 or worse 3 team parlays. But the state can say they offer the highest parlay odds in the world – at least on three team parlays. The printed payout odds on the back of the card are 6.5 -1 for a 3-team parlay, 11-1 for a four teamer and 20-1 for five correct. The State offers all the way up to 10 team parlays, and these pay 800-1. Shocked, I knew immediately that the three team parlay were at very competitive odds. In fact, as-high-as-you-can-find odds. Offshore, only two outfits offer 6.5-1 on 3 teamers, BetOnline and Payoffs Plus. Interestingly, both used to offer 7-1 but those days are gone. Delaware even has very competitive odds the whole way up the board. Still, most offshore outfits will beat the odds offered by Delaware for 4, 5, 6 and even up to nine by a few bucks (12-1 on a 4 team parlay offshore vs, 11-1 in DE.). But if you play 10-team parlays, the Delaware Racinos would be heaven. No book on the Internet, comes close to 800-1 on a 10 teamer. I may just play one every week for two bucks…..at 800-1, as that is damn close to true odds. The highest we could find on this wager offshore is 642-1.

I once spoke with a book owner offshore after a weekend where the books went a bit sideways – some made a few bucks and some lost a few bucks. This particular owner sounded quite depressed on the phone. I said, “You sound down, from what I understand it was a pretty even weekend for everyone. Did you get creamed?” He replied in a montone voice – “10 team parlay” . . . But, Delaware does have a bit of a buffer. On the rules of the card it states that there is a maximum aggregate payout of $100,000 plus two times that handle for that week. By only offering parlays, I doubt that there will ever have to be some type of pari-mutuel payoff to players.

The teaser payouts in Delaware are also giving offshore books a run for the money. At 13 to 5 or +260 for a three-team 6-point teaser, those odds are really high. Offshore books generally pay anywhere from 3-2 to +180 for this same wager. And, they offer up to 12 team teasers in Delaware! And they pay out at 65-1! Again, as with parlays, the 4-8 team teaser can be gotten for a better price offshore. But, players who buy computer generated tickets looking to hit the big one, because that what this is all about, being a ‘lottery’, will have a shot at a pretty big payday on a similar type of longshot low money wager. And, I think the odds of hitting a 12-team teaser are better than hitting the daily number.

On Sunday, Delaware is giving it a go and so will we. I will be in front of the tote board in less than 48 hours. I will also be stepping outside the racino/sportsbook to provide live updates via our Facebook site. Feel free to check it out and get involved in the first legal sports betting east of the desert since the 70’s.…..perhaps a Facebooker will have a 10 teamer up their sleeve….

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