OddJack Gambling Guide on the 2010 NBA Basketball Season, March Madness, French Open, the Ultimate Fighting Championships, Boxing, NASCAR and all Sports Betting Picks, Tips, Odds and Lines

Who better to judge a slam dunk contest than these slam dunk champions right?

Yep, we all saw the likes of Charles Barkley bastardizing the most electrifying play in NBA Basketball, THE DUNK, blabbering about things they don’t understand. Hell, one of the greatest dunkers in the game today, Andre Iguodala, even said Kenny Smith screwed him last year, leading to his decision not to join the slam dunk contest this NBA All-Star weekend in Las Vegas.

Well, it will be different this season. THIS TIME, slam dunk champions will judge the slam dunk contest on All-Star Saturday night, not aging overweight retards like Sir Charles Barkley.

Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins will lead the Slam Dunk contest judges this year. ‘His Airness’ and ‘the Human Highlight Film’ will be joined by ‘Doctor J’ Julius Erving and two of today’s most electrifying aerial displays, Kobe Bryant and Vince Carter.

Wow. It doesn’t get any better than that right?

Michael Jordan gave us that classic ”leap from the free throw line dunk,” Kobe Bryant gave us that ”between the legs slam” and Vince Carter showed us that crazy ”360 counter-clockwise between the legs jam.” WHEW!

New York Knicks guard Nate Robinson will…

First off, kudos to former Miami Heat guard Tim Hardaway for being blunt and frank about it.

Yep, the fiery Miami Heat point guard, Tim Hardaway, was direct to the point, saying that he is indeed homophobic, doesn’t like gay people and doesn’t like to be around them.

”You know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known,” Tim Hardaway said. ”I don’t like gay people and I don’t like to be around gay people. I am homophobic. I don’t like it. It shouldn’t be in the world or in the United States.”

FINALLY! Somebody is not afraid to tell the world what he really thinks. And yes Tim, my boy feels the exact same thing. How about that, J.J. Jack is on the same page with a Miami Heat athlete, even though the said athlete is already retired.

Unfortunately, the NBA removed Tim Hardaway from its All-Star weekend activities, a day after he said all that ”I hate fags” thing in a radio interview. (Boo!)

The NBA canceled all of Hardaway’s…

Is anywhere more fitting than Las Vegas to see something hard to believe?

Las Vegas entertainment may have yet to build New Yorker David Blaine his eponymous theater but The Mirage isn’t still home to Siegfried & Roy for nothing. From Penn & Teller to David Copperfield, Las Vegas magic shows offer comedy, illusions, and tricks you can take your kids to see. Forget strip poker girls, these are affordable Las Vegas deals and much of your moolah won’t make a disappearing act.

Las Vegas Magic Shows

Steve Wyrick Real Magic at Aladdin; Nathan Burton Comedy Magic at Aladdin; World’s Greatest Magic Show at Greek Isles; The Mac King Comedy Magic Show at Harrah’s; David Copperfield at MGM Grand.

Monte Carlo, Lance Burton: Master Magician, Lance Burton Theatre. Two-time Magician of the Year by the Academy of Magical Arts, Lance Burton has performed for Queen Elizabeth and President Ronald Reagan. He performed a record nine years with the longest-running Folies Bergere before Monte Carlo inked with him the longest contract ever given to any Las Vegas entertainer. Named Entertainment Today’s #1 family magic act, his show celebrates its tenth year with a new illusion, Solid Gold Lady, which makes use of $10 million in gold.

Orleans, Magic of Rick Thomas, Orleans Showroom. A long-time Las Vegas regular at both Tropicana and Stardust, Rick Thomas has been named Magician of the Year by the Academy of Magical Arts, and Stage Magician of the Year by the World Magic Awards. Royal white and orange Bengal tigers, staples of his successful afternoon show, are sheltered on a two-acre habitat adjacent to his…

Chicago Bears fans have waited a damn long time for this.

21 long years to be exact. And you bet your ass the Chicago faithful will be cheering their lungs out and gasp all at the same time whenever Bears quarterback Rex Grossman makes one good play followed by another fumble.

With that said, if you’re a Chicago Bears fan, where can you go to celebrate something 21 years in the making? Where can you go for you to join your fellow Bears faithful to holler obscenities at Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning?

RedEye Super Bowl Party at Duffy’s Tavern and Grill. Festivities start at 9 am with a $20 food and drink package featuring a breakfast buffet, domestic drafts, cocktails and more. At game time, you can watch the Chicago Bears on multiple screens and bring a Budweiser or Bud Light bottle cap to compete for cash prizes in RedEye’s squares tournament.

Bears and Buckets at Redmond’s. The Lakeview bar is serving brunch until 3 pm. There will also be drink specials that include $15 domestic buckets and $20 import buckets. You can also watch the game on multiple high-definition screens.

Abbey Pub Super Bowl Party. Now this lets you party with the big boys instead of a cub-sized celebration watching the game at home. (Unless of course you’re watching a Chicago Cubs game. Cub-sized, Chicago Cubs. Get it? I don’t either…)

Alcock’s Super Bowl Party. They will let you Bears fans celebrate today’s team with an open bar, a buffet and the game on 14 screens. Oh yeah, some say you might just get a glimpse of the Chicago Bears Super Bowl champions of yesteryear too.

Roscoe’s Super Bowl Party. This could be the best of the…

Yep, even strippers are gearing up for Super Bowl XLI in Miami, Florida.

Football. Booze. Women. Yep, that’s the combination strip club owners will be offering the Super Bowl-crazed male once the Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago Bears meet on Super Bowl Sunday.

Watching football has never been so good boys. The biggest rivalry Super Bowl Sunday isn’t between the Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago Bears, but between two of the most well-known gentlemen’s clubs in Broward and Miami-Dade.

Pure Platinum near Fort Lauderdale and Tootsie’s Cabaret in Miami Gardens try to snare the lucrative Maxim-meets-Playboy demographic. In other words, the two rivals hope to pack their clubs with guys who want plenty of booze, women and food to supplement their giant plasma-screen viewing of Super Bowl XLI between the Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago Bears.

Angelina Spencer, an executive director of the Naples-based Association of Club Executives, said that the Super Bowl is big business. Yes, even for the region’s gentlemen’s clubs.

The Association of Club Executives is the trade association for…

The most unforgettable Las Vegas magic shows happen at the casino tables.

It can be argued, and then again, there are those other kinds of Las Vegas magic shows happening onstage for little kids and adult kids to see. Where objects made to disappear aren’t so much betting money at slots or poker card rooms but rather wild birds, huge cats, and dream-like showgirls. Comedy, illusion, magic tricks make for some of the best Las Vegas show deals, and in Sin City’s myriad worlds of magic, playing cards are involved, either way.

Las Vegas Magic Shows

Aladdin, Steve Wyrick Real Magic, Steve Wyrick Entertainment Complex. For its newest headliner magician, Aladdin had custom-built a 22,000 sqft mega-facility comprising the 500-seat Steve Wyrick theater where the new Las Vegas show is held; plus TRIQ ultra lounge, and MAGIQ shop offering some of Wyrick’s easy-does-it magic tricks. For a $30 million, multi-year deal, the extravaganza features four astronomic illusions never before performed by Wyrick along with familiar favorites, all of which are kid-friendly.

Aladdin, Nathan Burton Comedy Magic, V Theatre at Desert Passage. Nathan Burton remains known for ‘7 Days and 7 Showgirls’ in a transparent crate hanging in mid-air, and is a part of Buck Wild and V – The Ultimate Variety Show. He takes the stage solo well before dark to treat Las Vegas of all ages with magic and comedy involving, among others, a toilet paper launcher and the hugest hair dryer you’ll ever see. A show highlight is ‘dream date’ wherein one lucky dude from the audience meets the dancer of his dreams.

Greek Isles, World’s Greatest Magic Show, Star Theatre. The Mediterranean-styled casino hotel hosts a variety show replete with magic and entertainment productions, hosted by Paul Kozak. It regales with…

The Beatles and Las Vegas. Don’t really ring a bell as Sinatra and Elvis.

But the new generation of Beatles fans, and those very young to even have a f@#*ing idea that the band’s music has been reused to the point of sacrilege by many in today’s sounds, will have the chance of a close Beatles encounter. Vegas style.

Next month a new club will be opening at The Mirage. It’s a Beatles themed night spot to be called The Revolution. It was said that the dig will feature “cutting edge, interactive experiences to create a psychedelic sensory environment and a contemporary interpretation of the Beatles’ era. Each night will be an evolutionary journey, where both the music and interior transform, resulting in an eclectic nightlife adventure.”

That’s kinda like the Fab Four’s state of mind whenever they record an album. Sure John Lennon insists Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds was inspired by Little Sean’s drawing. But you gotta be too stoned to actually believe that.

News reports added that each night at the club will “have a specific musical direction, with the club’s DJ’s featuring various types of music, from Beatles music to funky lounge remixes, house, rock, electro, new wave, and Brit pop.”

Yeah, that’s just the perfect way to alienate…

It’s not just celebrity impersonators or tribute acts that make up the concert acts at the top Las Vegas casino hotels. Some of them are the real deal.

Big celebrity names that add glitter into the Vegas nightlife include top comedians like Jay Leno, Ray Romano, Dave Chappelle, Don Rickles, Dennis Miller, the fiesty Joan Rivers, and other names fast climbing the stand up comedy food chain.

But most importantly, it’s the concert acts that bring in huge ticket sales.

Legendary concert artists have been part of Vegas’ history and tradition. Old Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra, led his Rat Pack — consisting of equally venerated figures of the time, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, and Joey Bishop — in staging memorable performances around Vegas in the ’50s and ’60s.

In the 70s, it was The King, Elvis Presley’s turn to bring down the house.

The Rat Pack and Elvis’ love for the Sin City even spawned two of the greatest movie hits in history, the original Ocean’s 11 and Viva Las Vegas.

Other artists who made denting marks in the City of Lights include Barry Manilow, and glamor gurus Cher and Elton John.

Today, the undeniable queen of Vegas concerts is Celine Dion. You won’t miss it. Everywhere you go in Vegas you’ll encounter gigantic billboards and posters of the Canadian diva. Even if you try to avoid her face, it’ll end up right in front of you when you least expect it.

Why Las Vegas, why now? The answer is easily the same reason George Lucas revisited Star Wars through prequels, or Gus Van Sant took a stab at Psycho with a remake. There were things we could not do before and can do now to make the magic of multimedia productions. And with all its glitz and neon displaying an unapologetic use of technology, Las Vegas is the place to do it.

Phantom: The Las Vegas Spectacular is an all-new production that revisits The Phantom of the Opera. Aficionados of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical may relax – the original creative team itself, led by Webber and director Hal Prince, was hands-on in bringing Phantom to 2006. The uninitiated may equally chill – it’s got sfx and pyrotechnics, and the official site wasn’t lying either about the “amazing chandelier experience” (more of it later).

Having become Las Vegas entertainment, is the new Phantom as lukewarm as the Star Wars prequels, or as hot as the Psycho remake? And anyway, what did change?

Change, it did, as I suspected the moment I entered the vast theater, custom-built to the tune of $40 million at The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino. It was designed by David Rockwell, known for the Academy Awards‘ Kodak Theatre in LA, to feel like Paris Opera House; or Opera Garnier, where the very story takes place in the novel that began it all, Gaston Leroux’s Le Fantôme de l’Opéra…

WTF?!? Yup, my sentiments exactly.

Merely minutes after putting up a boxing clinic against Carlos Baldomir to win the welterweight championship of the world, Floyd Mayweather Jr. dropped the bombshell that was even bigger than his one-sided win over that stupid boxer from Argentina.

Floyd Mayweather Jr., the same man who toyed with then welterweight champion Carlos Baldomir, the same man who is regarded as the best pound for pound fighter in boxing today, and yeah, the same man who is STILL yet to taste defeat, WILL RETIRE after his next boxing match.

He arrived at the press conference dressed in a dark suit and flashing his broad smile. The interview session figured to serve as a victory lap following his dominating performance and to start the drumbeat for an eventual showdown with Oscar De La Hoya.

But NO, this wasn’t one of those press conference meetings.

Searching for words, Floyd Mayweather choked up before turning to weep on HBO executive Kery Davis’ shoulder. After Mayweather regained his composure a couple of minutes later and wiped his face with a white towel, he found the words that took everyone by surprise in Las Vegas…