· The latest problem to face the Phillipines? Gambling lords have set up shop in graveyards. Cutting out the middleman for non-paying debtors said to be behind this latest consolidation. [Sun Star]
· Australians were said to have spent $17.4 billion on gambling in the past year, outpacing Iran by nearly $17.4 billion. […]

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Why the crap did we draft Tomlinson so high then? Fantasy Football [FEFA]

9 p.m. Baltimore Ravens (2-4) at Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2) Best Line: PITT -10, BALT +13 This line is loaded with slop money. It’s moved four points since it first opened and right now, many bookies aren’t planning on touching it. But if it starts to come down, well, then we’ll know that the bookies are praying that Anthony Wright can find some semblance of an offense this evening and actually score points, so they can make some major bank from the overzealous Pittsburgh bettors.

Jeez. It seems like we’ll have to go through this once a month from now on. Here we are again, regardless. Those ritalin pounding futures market traders over at Tradesports are once again throwing money at a confirmation for newly appointed Supreme Court nominee Judge Samuel Alito. Prices for Alito’s confirmation are hitting the 78-80 range. Second time is the charm? We’ll monitor this situation closely as these markets were once again correct in predicting that Harriet Miers would not be confirmed.

Here’s a new story about how online poker is degrading youth and ruining college students’ credit for life. (Sallie Mae is not a fan of online poker,we’re almost positive.) Yet, this piece seems to have a misleading title with "Pathological gambling among the young is exaggerated, experts say", however, due to the fact that it seems most of the experts actually do believe there is a legitimate problem with online gambling and youth. Observe: · "According to the Annenberg Public Policy Center, the 2003-04 period saw an 84 percent growth in weekly poker play among male high school and college students and half of all college students gamble at least once a month.

· Covers goes ATS over everything from Big Ben, to Cowher. [Covers] · Be wary of the Steeler’s run defense if you’re betting the first quarter line. They take a while to lock down. But if your’e betting the first quarter lines with 3-3 ATS, well, you have a fucking problem anyway. [Covers] · Steelers are 10-0 at home on Monday Night? That should be enough. [ABCNews] · One-time offensive mastermind Brian Billick is the main reason the Ravens’ offense is putrid, according to this article.

Fantasy football between friends can get ugly with money on the line. Let’s say your opponent had Peyton Manning on bye this past week, and no one to back him up. If you could corner the market on free agent QBs, would you? Even worse, what if you cut a single QB from your bloated roster late in the afternoon on Saturday, knowing he wouldn’t technically clear waivers before game time on Sunday. Your opponent could see him in free agency but couldn’t pick him up at the last minute. Associate editor BG (who’s the co-commissioner of the league) chose to turn the screws on his opponent, who then posted the following to the league’s message board:

"Seriously.

Must be nice to be the Cleveland Cavaliers’ super-stud guard Lebron James and have the all important decision of which fast-food company to shill for next. If we had our druthers, we’d love it if Lebron did something for Blue Nine Burger. Shit’s amazing. But, of course, they’re left of the list of potential Lebron suitors on Bodog. Odds favorites are McDonald’s which pays out a wimpy 3/2 and Burger King paying out 9/5. Subway is paying out 5/2, but unless Jared goes all Raging Bull, we don’t see that as a possibility. Longshot odds go to Jack In The Box, at 7/2, which may lose out unless it starts offering something else besides fried chicken.

See mom? We can meet someone special playing online poker. From Online Casino Reports:

"(O)nline casinos can hardly be regarded as a good place to find a date. Not in the case of Danny Tackett and Marianne Graves, who got engaged as a result of playing against one another in a game of poker hosted by Poker World Online Casino. The two have set a date and they are scheduled to get married next month on November 17th.

After playing just one hand of Texas Hold?em, the two began corresponding in online chats, sharing their love for the game of online casino poker.