Finding Value With NFL Futures

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Finding Value With NFL FuturesOne of the biggest misconceptions about professional gamblers is that they are all top-notch handicappers. They aren't. But they do one thing far better than the average bettor. They know how to shop for lines.
Getting the best available betting lines can often make the difference between a winning season and a losing one. Those who bet for a living are quick to acknowledge that fact. If you want to see the value in shopping for lines, look no farther than the NFL futures market for odds to win the 2009 Super Bowl.

A number of smart bettors will typically avoid placing futures bets, as the house typically has an estimated 30- to 50-percent advantage over bettors. But for those willing to shop for the best odds, those percentages can be drastically reduced.
What we'll do here is look at the odds to win the 2009 Super Bowl from four well-known sportsbooks - Bodog, Intertops, Olympic, and Wagerweb. We'll compare the odds for each team and point out which sportsbook the player should wager at.
NOTE: Odds can change at any time depending on bets received by the sportsbook. You usually get the best odds by acting early, as most sportsbooks will lower the odds on one team, without raising the odds on others to make up the difference.
Odds to Win the 2009 Super Bowl

Arizona Cardinals 30.5-1 to 50-1
Three of our four sportsbooks have the Cardinals at 50-1 to win the Super Bowl, while Olympic has Arizona at just 30-.5-1 to bring home the big trophy, so obviously, Arizona should be bet at Intertops, Wagerweb, or Bodog.

Atlanta Falcons 100-1 to 165.5-1
None of the four sportsbooks gives the Falcons much of a chance to win the Super Bowl and its hard to blame them, as Atlanta figures to be a few years away from even competing for the playoffs. The worst odds on the Falcons are the 100-1 offered at Olympic, while bettors who place a bet at Wagerweb will get the best odds, 165.5-1.

Baltimore Ravens 50-1 to 75-1
The Baltimore Ravens are another team that shows a good-sized difference in odds depending on which sportsbook a wager is placed through. Wagerweb offers the best odds on Baltimore at 75-1.

Buffalo Bills 48.5-1 to 80-1
The best place to bet the Buffalo Bills is Intertops, where bettors can get a lofty 80-1, while Wagerweb and Olympic are both offering the Bills at 50-1 or less. There is no reason to wager on Buffalo at either of those two books.

Carolina Panthers 40-1 to 52.5-1
Bodog and Olympic are both listing the Panthers at 40-1, while Intertops lists Carolina at 50-1 and Wagerweb is offering 52.5-1 odds. The spread range isn't nearly as great for Carolina as it is for a number of other teams.

Chicago Bears 35-1 to 40-1
There is a general consensus among all for of the sportsbooks here, as the odds difference is minimal for Chicago. The Bears' biggest challenge could be making the playoffs, as Green Bay and Minnesota also figure to be in the hunt for the division title and Wildcard spots.

Cincinnati Bengals 40-1 to 60-1
Those who like the Bengals should look to Wagerweb where they can find a hefty 60-1 on Carson Palmer and the boys. The Bengals are one of the most inconsistent teams in the league, but if they put things together, who knows?

Cleveland Browns 25-1 to 33-1
The Browns are getting a bit of respect among all of the different sportsbooks listed. The price range is fairly narrow, with Intertops having the best odds at 33-1.

Dallas Cowboys 6-1 to 8-1
The Cowboys are the favorites to make it to the Super Bowl from the NFC, but are only about the fourth choice to win the Super Bowl, as San Diego and the Colts have comparable odds. Intertops is where you'll find 8-1 odds.

Denver Broncos 40-1 to 50-1
The Broncos have fallen on some hard times and are now considered a sizable longshot to do anything in the postseason, if they get there at all. Wagerweb has the team at 50-1.

Detroit Lions 52.5-1 to 80-1
The Lions are one of the biggest longshots on the board, as the team appears to be in transition once again. Detroit is 80-1 at both Intertops and Wagerweb.

Green Bay 20-1 to 35.1
he Packers are still expected to do well without Brett Favre, as Aaron Rodgers is ready to take the helm. He has done well in spot duty and has patiently waited for his chance. Wagerweb is where Cheeseheads should look to wager with odds of 35.5-1.

Houston Texans 60-1 to 80-1
The Houston Texans are another team still looking for an identity, thus the lofty odds, which are pretty well deserved. Wagerweb is the place to bet the Texans at 80-1.

Indianapolis Colts 7-1 to 7.85-1
There's minimal difference in the odds on the Colts, as all four sportsbooks have the team between 7-1 and 7.85-1. The Colts, along with the Chargers, are expected to be the toughest test for New England. Wagerweb is where you can find 7.85-1 on Manning and crew.

Jacksonville Jaguars 10.15-1 to 14-1
The Jaguars are getting a good amount of respect from the sportsbooks. There is a bit of a price range on the team, with Intertops offering the best odds at 14-1.

Kansas City Chiefs 90-1 to 145.5-1
The Chiefs are another team that has fallen on hard times as of late. The once potent offense has dropped quite a bit, while the defense has gotten better, but not nearly enough. Wagerweb is where you'll find 145.5-1 odds.

Miami Dolphins 90-1 to 145.5-1
The Dolphins were clearly the worst team in the NFL last season, so it isn't surprising to see them listed here. Only the Falcons are listed as a longer shot than Miami. Wagerweb is the book offering the 145.5-1 odds.

Minnesota Vikings 18-1 to 25-1
The Minnesota Vikings are getting a bit of respect from the sportsbooks and have the potential to be a very dangerous team if Tarvaris Jackson continues to show the improvement expected of him. Intertops is where you'll find the 25-1 odds.

New England Patriots 3-1 to 3.55-1
The Patriots are once again favored to win the Super Bowl, as well they should be. The price range is pretty slim for the Pats, with Olympic narrowly offering the best odds at 3.55-1, with Sportsbook right behind at 3.5-1.

New Orleans Saints 16.5-1 to 25-1
The Saints are another of the teams in the NFC that have potential to pull a few surprises. If the defense steps up a notch, the Saints have a good enough offense to make a playoff run. Wagerweb is where you'll find the 25-1 odds.

New York Giants 14-1 to 22.5-1
The Giants aren't given a great chance of repeating as Super Bowl champions, but they are certainly one of the favorites in the NFC. It's difficult to repeat and things certainly fell the right way for New York last year. Wagerweb is where you'll find the 22.5-1 odds.

New York Jets 35-1 to 105.5-1
The New York Jets hold the distinction of having the largest difference in odds of any team, being a paltry 35-1 at one sportsbook and a lofty 105.5-1 at Wagerweb.

Oakland Raiders 50-1 to 100-1
The Raiders are another team with a large gap in odds. Those wishing to back the Raiders should look to Wagerweb and the 100-1 odds being offered.

Philadelphia Eagles 20-1 to 25-1
The Eagles are another one of the NFC teams that have the potential for a deep playoff run, but it's a matter of how things fall into place for them. Wagerweb is where you'll find the 25-1 odds.

Pittsburgh Steelers 14-1 to 25-1
There is a bit of a price range on the Steelers, who are just a few years removed from winning the Super Bowl. Pittsburgh is one of those teams who can beat anybody on a given day. Bodog and Wagerweb each have Pittsburgh at 25-1.

San Diego Chargers 7-1 to 8-1
The Chargers are seen as one of the three main contenders from the AFC, with New Egland and the Colts the other two. San Diego does have the luxury of playing in a relatively week division, which should guarantee a solid playoff seed. Bodog is where you'll find 8-1.

San Francisco 49ers 52.5-1 to 80-1
The 49ers made some improvements last season, but still have plenty of question marks heading into the new season. Wagerweb and Intertops both have San Francisco at 80-1.

Seattle 25-1 to 35.5-1
The Seahawks are another team that has the advantage of playing a relatively week division, which should be enough to get them into the playoffs. That's the first step towards the Super Bowl, which is one reason the odds are somewhat low for Seattle. Olympic is the place to get the 35.5-1.

St. Louis Rams 60.5-1 to 80-1
Defense has never been a strong suit for the Rams, even when St. Louis was a Super Bowl contender, but this unit was just horrendous last year. The Rams have some offensive talent, but giving up 438 points isn't going to get the job done. Wagerweb has the Rams at 80-1.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 35-1 to 52.5-1Tampa Bay quietly allowed fewer points than any other team in the NFC last season and figure to be strong defensively once again. Wagerweb is where you'll find the 52.5-1 odds.

Tennessee Titans 35-1 to 42.5-1The Titans will need Vince Young to play up to his potential to be considered a serious Super Bowl threat. While Young improved in some areas last year, his interceptions were up and his touchdowns were down. That's never a good thing for your quarterback. Wagerweb has the 42.5-1 odds.

Washington Redskins 35-1 to 52.5-1Washington was a bit of a disappointment last year, despite making the playoffs, as the team has the talent to do better. It will be interesting to see how Washington responds to new head coach Jim Zorn. Wagerweb is where you'll find the 52.5-1 odds.

Remember, these are the odds at just the four listed sportsbooks. If you can mange the time, don't be afraid to shop for lines at other places. As the old sports gambling adage goes, "What you save is what you earn."

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A Little Lady Takes on the Big Boys in Preakness

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They’ll be a new player in Baltimore for the 134th Preakness. She’s the likely favorite – Rachel Alexandra.
All that’s formally needed is the $100,000 supplemental fee to make the restricted 14-horse field as long as there’s a slot open. So far, a dozen colts and the Kentucky Derby winning gelding Mine That Bird plan to race on Saturday.
Both new owner Jess Jackson and trainer Steve Asmussen said last week that if Rachel Alexandra continued to do well she would run against the boys.
On Sunday, she did. The daughter of Medaglia d’Oro posted a sharp 48 2/5 breezing four furlongs at Churchill Downs, galloping out five furlongs in 1:02.
She was full of energy entering the backstretch, observers told the Daily Racing Form, and by the time she passed the half-mile pole she was in full flight.

The filly won the Kentucky Oaks by an amazing 20 ¼ lengths for her fifth consecutive victory and her fourth straight triple-digit speed figure. That’s just one less than all likely Preakness runners combined.
In addition, jockey Calvin Borel chose to ride her over Mine That Bird, but was aboard the son of Birdstone Monday when he breezed four furlongs in 49 1/5 at Churchill Downs.
Alexandra the Great is so feared that a couple of owners had considered running more horses to keep her on the sidelines. Thoroughbred Times first reported that Mark Allen, co-owner of Mine That Bird, and Ahmed Zayat, owner of Derby runner-up Pioneer of the Nile, planned “to enter at least one additional horse.”
The announcement triggered such an avalanche of comments, mostly negative, that the TVG racing network contacted Zayat on Sunday. After thoroughly reviewing the situation, Zayat said by phone he would not run any other horse. Later, Allen also said he had changed his mind.
Pimlico oddsmaker Frank Carulli had already announced he would make Rachel Alexandra the morning line favorite. The last two fillies favored in the Preakness were Derby champs Genuine Risk in 1980 and Winning Colors in ‘88.
Genuine Risk finished second to Codex while Winning Colors was third to Risen Star. Four of the 52 that triumphed at Pimlico were Florcarline, ‘03; Whimsical, ‘06; Rhine Maiden, ‘15; and Nellie Morses, ‘24. You could call ‘15 the Year of the Filly because Regret took the Derby.
Genuine Risk was the first of two fillies to start all three legs of the Triple Crown, finishing second in the Belmont, while Winning Colors ran sixth.
Horses exiting the Derby hold a distinct advantage: 21 of the past 23 captured the Preakness. The only exceptions were newcomers Red Bullet in ‘00 and Bernardini in ‘06, returning $14.40 and $12.20, respectively.
The longest longshot in Preakness history was Master Derby in ‘75, returning $48 on the front end. In the last 14 years, four Derby winners paid more: Thunder Gulch in ‘95, $51, Charismatic, ‘99, $64.60; Giacomo, ‘05, $102.60; and Mine That Bird, $103.20.
Seven Derby champs also won the Preakness since ‘93 when the last runner-up scored — Prairie Bayou. That bodes ill for Pioneer of the Nile.
Other Derby runners headed to Pimlico: Musket Man, third; Papa Clem, fourth; General Quarters, 10th; Friesan Fire, 18th; and Flying Private, 19th and last.



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Frank’s bill doesn’t include sports betting

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All of you WagerWeb.com customers in the United States who were hoping that new legislation introduced by Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank would make online sports betting legal in the U.S. are going to be disappointed.
It only relates to online poker and games of the sort.
Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Peter King, R-N.Y., unveiled the legislation Wednesday that would basically repeal the 2006 UIGEA that was rammed through Congress while hidden on a port security bill. The law currently prohibits U.S. credit card companies and banks from processing bets placed on online gambling Web sites.
The Frank bill would allow the Treasury to license and revoke licenses of Internet gambling Web sites. It also would also allow the Treasury to “assess” license holders for the costs of background checks and investigations of Web sites applying for the license.
“The government should not interfere with people’s liberty unless there is a good reason,” Frank said. “This is, I believe, the single biggest example of an intrusion into the principle that people should be free to do things on the Internet. It’s clearly the case that gambling is an activity that can be done offline but not online.”

But why not allow betting on the NFL, NCAA football, etc.? Well, the NFL, for one, is a powerful lobbying force in Washington. And any bill that included full sports gambling would have no chance to pass. Even this one has no better than maybe a 25 percent chance. No similar bill has been proposed in the Senate, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has said that he opposes Internet gambling.
Michael Waxman of the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative, a lobbying group, told Covers.com that political realities limited Frank to legislation that is at least a step in the right direction.
“We’re disappointed that this version of the legislation does not include online gambling,” says Waxman.
“We think that Americans should not be prohibited from placing a bet on the team of their choice. (But) Congressman Frank obviously felt that he needed to file a bill that had a chance of passage.”
Among the safeguards in the bill is that any Internet gambling operator would be required to ensure an individual placing a bet is of legal age and physically located in that jurisdiction.
If the Frank bill does pass, banks would no longer have to report credit card transactions between U.S. residents and web sites that offer poker and other casino games. Thus in reality, you could still bet on other sports on that site with the impetus falling on the site on whether to accept those bets.


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Chuck Daly died, he was 78

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Chuck Daly, who coached the Dream Team to the Olympic gold medal in 1992 after winning back-to-back NBA championships with the Detroit Pistons, has died. He was 78.
He died Saturday morning in Jupiter, Fla., with his family by his side, the Pistons said. The team announced in March the Hall of Fame coach was being treated for pancreatic cancer.
Daly was renowned for his ability to create harmony out of diverse personalities at all levels of the game, whether they were Ivy Leaguers at Pennsylvania, Dream Teamers Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley, or Pistons as dissimilar as Dennis Rodman and Joe Dumars.
“It’s a players’ league. They allow you to coach them or they don’t,” Daly once said. “Once they stop allowing you to coach, you’re on your way out.”
Daly was voted one of the 10 greatest coaches of the NBA’s first half-century in 1996, two years after being inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. He was the first coach to win both NBA and Olympic titles.
“I think Chuck understood people as well as basketball,” Dumars told The Associated Press in 1995. “It’s a people business.”
On Saturday, Dumars called Daly “a special coach, but more importantly he was a special human being.”
Doug Collins, a former Pistons and Chicago Bulls coach, lauded Daly for his class and dignity.
“He was a mentor and a friend,” Collins said. “He taught me so much and was always so supportive of me and my family. I loved him and will miss him.”
Daly had a golden touch at the Barcelona Games with the likes of Magic Johnson, Jordan, Larry Bird and Barkley, using a different lineup every game.
“I played against Chuck’s teams throughout the NBA for a lot of years. He always had his team prepared, he’s a fine coach,” Bird said shortly after Daly’s diagnosis became public.
“Chuck did a good job of keeping us together. It wasn’t about who scored the most points. It was about one thing: winning the gold medal.”
Daly humbled the NBA superstars by coaching a group of college players to victory in a controlled scrimmage weeks before the Olympics.
“I was the happiest man in the gym,” Daly said.
Daly also made the right moves for the Pistons, who were notorious for their physical play with Bill Laimbeer and Rick Mahorn leading the fight, Rodman making headlines and Hall of Fame guards Isiah Thomas and Dumars lifting the team to titles in 1989 and 1990.
“He did an unbelievable job of taking a bunch of different personalities and molding them into a team,” Mahorn said.
Thomas, the former New York Knicks coach and president who now coaches at Florida International University, added: “I can’t explain in words how much he gave me as a player and a man. … This is an immeasurable loss for the NBA and the entire basketball world.”
Former Piston John Salley gave Daly the nickname Daddy Rich for his impeccably tailored suits. The National Basketball Coaches’ Association created pins with the initials “CD” that many coaches and broadcasters are wearing as it dedicates this postseason to Daly. The organization also established the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award, which will be given annually.
Daly had a career regular-season record of 638-437 in 13 NBA seasons. In 12 playoff appearances, his teams went 75-51. He left Detroit as the Pistons’ leader in regular-season and playoff victories.
“Chuck left a lasting impression with everyone he met both personally and professionally and his spirit will live with all of us forever,” family and team spokesman Matt Dobek said.
Despite his success, Daly wasn’t part of a Coach of the Year presentation until he handed the trophy to then-Detroit coach Rick Carlisle in 2002.
“This is as close as I’ve ever been to that thing,” Daly said, looking at the Red Auerbach Trophy.
Born July 20, 1930, in St. Marys, Pa., Charles Jerome Daly played college ball at St. Bonaventure and Bloomsburg. After two years in the military, he coached for eight seasons at Punxsutawney (Pa.) High School and then spent six years as an assistant at Duke.
Succeeding Bob Cousy as coach at Boston College, Daly coached the Eagles to a 26-24 record over two seasons and then spent seven seasons at Penn, leading the Quakers to the Ivy League championship in 1972-75.
Daly joined the NBA coaching ranks in 1978 as an assistant under Billy Cunningham in Philadelphia. His first head coaching job was with Cleveland, but he was fired after the Cavaliers went 9-32 the first half of the 1981-82 season.
In 1983, Daly took over a Detroit team that had never had two straight winning seasons and led the Pistons to nine straight. He persuaded Rodman, Thomas, Dumars, Mahorn and Laimbeer to play as a unit and they responded with championships in 1989 and 1990.
Far from being intimidated by the Pistons’ Bad Boys image, Daly saw the upside of it.
“I’ve also had players who did not care,” he said a decade later. “I’d rather have a challenging team.”
After leaving Detroit, Daly coached the New Jersey Nets for two seasons and led them to the playoffs both times.
He left broadcasting to return to the bench 1997 with the Orlando Magic and won 74 games over two seasons, then retired at 68 because he was weary of the travel. Daly joined the Vancouver Grizzlies as a senior adviser in 2000. In retirement, he split time between residences in Jupiter, Fla., and suburban Detroit.
The Pistons retired No. 2 in 1997 to honor Daly’s two NBA titles.
“Without you, there wouldn’t be us,” Mahorn told the coach during the ceremony.
Daly is survived by his wife, Terry, daughter Cydney and grandchildren Sebrina and Connor.
Associated Press Writer Jim Irwin in Detroit and AP Sports Writers Cliff Brunt in Indianapolis and Tim Reynolds in Miami contributed to this report.

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How a Bookmaker and a Whiz Kid Took On a DDOS-based Online Extortion Attack PART II

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Hackers create zombies by scanning for exposed systems that they can manipulate remotely. Often these are home and office broadband users. (Lately, existing bot networks have been found scanning for more computers to turn into bots when they're not launching attacks of their own—akin to an army recruiting its soldiers in peacetime. One security consultant said he connected an unsecured computer to the Internet to see what would happen, and it was recruited within three minutes.) Hackers can also insert their attack code through phishing, spyware, viruses and social engineering. Universities have long been popular spots for creating zombies because of the number of easily accessible, unsecured public computers. With a zombie network in place, the only issue left is scale. The more zombies on a network, and the more aggregate upstream bandwidth they have, the swifter and more severe havoc they can wreak. Several hundred computers could generate 100MB of traffic, enough to knock a small network offline. A 10,000-computer bot network could deliver a 1Gb attack, enough to knock anyone offline who hasn't installed some rudimentary anti-DDoS infrastructure. Some experts believe that right now different sets of hackers are engaged in an arms race to see who can build the biggest zombie network. Not for bragging rights, but for renting out the networks to anyone who wants to launch an attack, the raw capitalist idea being that the biggest network will generate the best rental business. Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2003: Running Out of Time The extortionists' e-mail that arrived on this morning demonstrated that they were losing whatever patience they had: [all typos sic] "I told you that if you try and f*** with us that your site will be down forever.... The excuse that you were in the hospital does not matter to me. So here are your choices: 1) You have until 4pm est today to send us our $40K. 2) You have until 4pm est Wednesday to send us $50K if you can not send the $40K today. 3) You do not pay and your site will be down for 4 days starting Thursday and it will cost you $75K to come back up Monday. 4) You do nothing and do not respond to this email within an hour and we will make sure you are down forever...." Richardson was panicked. He can't remember precisely when—the entire week has blurred in his memory—but by this time, he had reported the crime to the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) in Scotland Yard. According to an NHTCU spokeswoman, the unit had already opened a similar investigation with a British gaming site called CanBet.
According to Richardson and Lyon, the NHTCU encouraged Richardson to wire two extortion payments of a few thousand dollars each to separate Western Union offices in Eastern Europe. The NHTCU wanted to nab anyone who showed up to take the cash. (NHTCU won't confirm this; the spokeswoman said the unit does not discuss investigative tactics.) Richardson agreed, but for a different reason: He wanted his site back up. "I knew another person [in the industry] who was successful getting back online by sending three or four small payments like this," Richardson says, "and those guys didn't even have a solution to the problem when they paid. I knew Barrett was getting closer and closer to a solution. So I sent the payments, thinking maybe I can get a good week out of this." But no one took the bait. After about two weeks, Richardson pulled the money back. Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2003: Barrett's Big Bet From Sacramento, Lyon instructed the PureGig engineers who would turn on his system 630 miles southeast, in Phoenix. Another 2,400 miles southeast from Phoenix, everyone at BetCris waited impatiently. Lyon's system intercepted traffic headed for BetCris's servers in Costa Rica, diverted it to his creation in Phoenix, scrubbed off the attack traffic and delivered legitimate traffic back to Costa Rica. It was designed to bar DDoS traffic from touching BetCris. If the system failed, it couldn't defend BetCris, and it wouldn't be able to send legitimate traffic to Costa Rica. But BetCris itself wasn't getting attacked. The system did a lot of other stuff too: monitoring, capacity planning, logging and analysis. It wasn't perfect. After it was installed, Lyon had to tweak routers on the network, install new versions of software and add capacity to his system. The extortionists kept changing attack vectors, and Lyon and his team kept tweaking. It was a constant battle, but Lyon was confident that the system would enable BetCris.com to stay online. Wilson at PureGig called Lyon's system "ingenious" not because it was unique—it was monitoring and filtering at a proxy location—but because Lyon's monitoring and filtering seemed to stop attacks better than any other effort he'd seen. But when it was first turned on, the extortionists stuffed too much traffic down its throat. Wilson recalls the math: "We had 100MB links to the DNS servers. We went from handling under 2MB per link to, all of a sudden, 600MB." That's six times a full load. Imagine Fenway Park, which holds about 35,000 people. Now imagine 200,000 people trying to get inside Fenway Park at one time. The DNS servers were overloaded, and Phoenix got tense. Costa Rica had been tense for nearly a week (as much as half a million dollars in lost revenue), but now BetCris was bordering on despair. Mickey Richardson lacked sleep, and he struggled to make decisions and lead. His IT staff was fracturing, feeling impotent as they watched the attacks and waited for Lyon. BetCris's small call center staff was getting abused around the clock by customers calling in to vent frustration and demand to know what the heck was going on. The simple task of creating a smart message about what was happening eluded Richardson. "You can't just have your call center staff tell people you were hacked," Richardson says, because it creates more questions than answers. At the same time, his decision not to pay the extortionists was affecting other wagering sites that shared the same ISP and were experiencing network problems. "I'm getting calls from friendly competitors saying, 'Look, Mickey, we paid. Just pay. We're going down because of you.'" He was running out of time and energy. Richardson remembers around this time having to update his staff—275 or so people who weren't entirely sure they'd have a job soon—and he couldn't even find words. He thought, "I wish they could read my mind because I'm too exhausted to explain it anymore. I don't have any answers." In hindsight, Richardson says, he would have spent more time preparing for these human issues attached to the crisis—decision making under pressure, keeping the staff together—and less time worrying about technical defenses. Yes, create those technical defenses and make sure you have a crisis response plan. But also focus more on issues like exhaustion and emotional distress, and how they can be handled. It was in this context that Richardson received an e-mail, at 11:12 a.m. It caused him to feel, for the first time, "blind fear." "I would like to thank you for not keeping your end of the deal and making this upcoming weekend an enjoyable one for me." The extortionists demanded $75,000, but then seemed to disregard the money. "I do not care how long I have to destroy your business and I will. You will learn the hard way that you do not make a deal and then f*** around with us.... Let the games begin." Richardson would soon learn they were not bluffing. They could destroy his business, and they were going to try. For BetCris to survive, Lyon's slapdash system in Phoenix, which was just starting to find its purchase, would have to stand up to the biggest DDoS attack any of them had ever seen.


The DNS servers that had overloaded in Phoenix were brought back online in a couple of hours, after Lyon and Wilson adapted some filtering scripts and increased the size of their network pipes. Lyon then spent Thanksgiving and Friday eating leftover turkey his girlfriend delivered and tweaking his system to absorb bigger DDoS attacks. On Friday, he believed it could handle a 1Gb attack, and he felt good about that. He assured a frayed Richardson that he'd never see an attack that big. It would take tens of thousands of zombie computers. Which is exactly what happened. It turns out the extortionists had more than 20,000 zombies. PureGig's data center suffered badly, which affected several of its ISP customers. PureGig decided to take Lyon's system offline to fix it. "The attack went to 1.5Gb, with bursts up to 3Gb. It wasn't targeted at one thing. It was going to routers, DNS servers, mail servers, websites. It was like a battlefield, where there's an explosion over here, then over there, then it's quiet, then another explosion somewhere else," says Lyon. "They threw everything they had at us. I was just in shock." Richardson recalls the attack: "So I have Barrett on the line, who I think is the second coming, and he says, 'Let me think about this. Give me some time.' And I say, 'OK, I don't want to pressure you. I have faith. But if you don't fix it, I'm out of business.'" Why Online Extortion Works It was never supposed to have gotten to this point; Richardson was supposed to have paid long ago. The extortionists expertly optimized the chances of it. To ensure a quick, quiet transaction, the extortionists did what all extortionists (in the physical or online world) do: They exploited the problem of the commons. An ecological principle, the problem of the commons states that people will act in self-interest if it profits them in the short term, even if that act will hurt everyone, including themselves, in the long term. Every act, every threat, every negotiation tactic, every single move extortionists make is designed to make paying the protection fee not only appealing, but in fact, the smartest business decision you can make in the short term, even if you know in the long run that you haven't stopped the problem at all. Thus, extortionists attack when it hurts the target the most; they ask for $10,000 to $100,000 (generally considered the sweet spot of extortionist profitability versus victim willingness to pay, depending on the size of the victim company).


In BetCris's case, the extortionists revealed they were Eastern European, which would make them hard to find, never mind prosecute. Online crime laws are weaker in Eastern Europe than in the United States and the desire to enforce them weaker still (and the FBI wouldn't get involved with offshore gaming sites being extorted from overseas). The online version of extortion provides unique advantages (relative anonymity, low probability of prosecution, lots of easy targets, diminished chance of physical violence) that have made it a highly lucrative business alternative for bad guys. BetCris was just another easy target. What the extortionists didn't count on was the unlikely confluence of Richardson's resolve, Lyon's ingenuity and an ISP that would provide them a place to fight back. Friday, Dec. 12, 2003: BetCris Wins the War of Attrition The extortionists must have screamed "Hooy na ny!" or some other Russian expletive after their blitzkrieg, when Lyon "got the chemistry down" and managed to absorb the massive amounts of attack traffic and get PureGig and BetCris back up and running. Lyon assumed the bad guys would come back with something bigger, as hard as that was to imagine, so he set out to scale up his system "for whatever was next, a 6Gb attack or something." But for the next week, the attack stayed steady at around 1Gb. BetCris, Lyon and PureGig had entered a war of attrition. The extortionists would find a way to kick Lyon's system, Lyon and Lebumfacil would tweak it and get back up. Cat and mouse. "Attack, counterattack, back and forth," Lebumfacil says. "It was 24-by-7 monitoring for two weeks." Wilson and PureGig stopped noticing any of this because the attacks had been segregated from PureGig's other traffic. And then, suddenly, the attacks stopped. At 8:46 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 12, two weeks after the assault that nearly put him out of business and three weeks after he first read the words "Your site is under attack," Richardson received an e-mail: "Dear Mickey, I tried getting to your site today and I could not. I thought with all the money you spent you would not have these problems anymore. I guess you wasted your money instead of keeping your word. Good luck. P.S. I bet you feel real stupid that you did not keep your word. I figure by now you have lost 5 times what we asked and by the end of the year your decision will cost you more than 20 times what we asked."
Richardson knew this was an admission of defeat, even if it was disguised as braggadocio. His site was up. The extortionists couldn't get to it because they were blocked. He hadn't paid them a dime. They made no more threats. They couldn't because they couldn't back them up with action. The extortionists had lost. And yet, the e-mail was not far off. Richardson figures it cost him a million dollars in lost revenue and IT investments to win this war. "It was worth it," he says. "I just didn't know it would take a couple years off my life." "It was amazing we made that system work against that attack," Lyon says. "It was a wake-up call on how good the bad guys had gotten." And Lyon knows the bad guys have gotten even better since. They've built zombie networks of 35,000 machines, capable of delivering a steady stream of 3Gb traffic. Peter Rendell, CEO of Top Layer Networks, which makes intrusion prevention and anti-DDoS hardware, says he expects botnets to pass 50,000 machines (and 4Gb to 5Gb) by the end of this year. It's an arms race, as defenses scale, then offenses scale, though Lyon is convinced the defenses have far outpaced what extortionists can throw at them. But the bad guys have a response. Extortionists have encrypted DoS attack scripts and have put them on peer-to-peer networks, making criminals who use them nearly impossible to track or contain. They're registering domains and then attacking those domains, only those domains are redirected to other targets. "The only way to stop that is to delete the domain," Lyon says, "and that's not something you can just do." Lyon stopped an attack but certainly didn't stop the problem. Still, he wouldn't learn of all this until later, after he decided to start a business and, as he did with Don Best, track down the BetCris extortionists. At that moment, though, after the extortionists admitted defeat, he was ready to relax. He booked a vacation in San Jose, Costa Rica, for New Year's. Finally, he'd meet the people he saved and celebrate with them. New Year's, 2004: Visit to an Online Gaming Hotbed Costa Rica is about the size of West Virginia, bookended by Nicaragua to the northwest and Panama to the southeast on the Central American isthmus. With coastlines on both the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, and mountainous terrain inland, Costa Rica sits along the Ring of Fire, so volcanoes and earthquakes are native. Political strife is not. The CIA calls Costa Rica a "Central American success story."
Lured by its stability, BetCris located there in 1993. Richardson joined as a "utility man" in 1996. Back then, the business wasn't online, it was a call center. BetCris's call center once employed more than 500 operators at peak hours, but the number dwindled as the business moved online. Today, maybe 30 operators will man a call center at peak hours, or during an extortion crisis. As the Internet took off, so did San Jose as an offshore gaming mecca, for several reasons. The government encouraged the industry to expand its economy. (BetCris supports an industry group to lobby local politicians.) Also, the people are educated, with an excellent work ethic, Richardson says. Costa Rica has a 96 percent literacy rate. More high-level employees at gaming companies are Costa Ricans, including all of BetCris's accounting staff and 90 percent of its managers. The other reason gaming companies swarmed here is, of course, because it's not the United States, where gambling laws are difficult to negotiate. Today, hundreds of offshore gaming companies, most of them online ventures, operate from San Jose. In BetCris's seven-story headquarters alone, Richardson says, there are 10 such enterprises, two software companies and a telecom company—pretty much offering everything you need to get started in the online gambling business in one building. The competition is mostly friendly. Richardson says it's not unusual to bump into competitors at a restaurant and join them for dinner. The valley that makes up the San Jose metropolitan area holds almost half the country's 4 million people. Richardson says the valley gets blistering hot, and downtown San Jose is "undesirable." But BetCris, and most of the gaming and tourism industries, are above all that, nestled in the higher elevations of the valley's surrounding mountains, where Richardson compares the weather—and the lifestyle—favorably to San Diego. When Lyon arrived here, he felt a sense of pride for helping. He saw "this beautiful building with this top-notch data center," he recalls. "And I met all the people who work there, and I kept thinking, I protected all of this. Me and my keyboard helped all these people keep their jobs. It was so neat to see how good a thing it was that we did." Richardson and Lyon bonded immediately. There was a party with professional-grade fireworks launched from Richardson's front lawn. They went to dinner, talked about life and the attacks. Lyon had developed antipathy to the extortionists; he wanted to nail them. He told Richardson and Lebumfacil he was going to start a business, a service whereby people could subscribe to his anti-DDoS attack infrastructure. Lyon recruited Lebumfacil to help him start DigiDefense. BetCris was his first customer. Richardson gave them office space to start.



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This week on PGA Tour: The Players Championship

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Certainly Sergio Garcia’s biggest moment thus far in the United States came in last year’s Players Championship.

Entering the 2008 Players, Garcia was struggling, failing to finish in the top 10 in his first eight starts on the PGA Tour and having missed the cut at the Masters for another disappointing major finish.

But he opened The 2008 Players with a 66 and finished with a huge par-saving putt on the 72nd hole, the same type of putt he usually missed, getting Garcia into a playoff that he won when Paul Goydos hit his tee shot into the water at the famous par-3 17th.

Garcia would go on to finish third in the FedExCup standings in 2008 — with playoff losses to Vijay Singh and Camilo Villegas in two events — and rose to second in the Official World Golf Ranking at the end of the year.

This year is shaping up much like the last. Garcia has gotten off to a slow start with no top-10 finishes in six starts on the U.S. Tour and has just one top-25 showing. He wasn’t a factor at the Masters again – even criticizing the course, which brought out all those critics who say Garcia whines when things don’t go his way.

He just missed the cut at last week’s Quail Hollow Championship and currently ranks 173rd on tour in putting. Garcia again has switched from a standard putter back to a belly putter.

“I obviously am not feeling 100 percent with my game at the moment and it shows. I’m just not having a great time on the course” said Garcia.

But maybe the site of his greatest triumph will be a spark for the second straight year.

“I’ve been looking forward to returning since they gave me the trophy,” Garcia said. “I’ve always enjoyed that demanding course, where you know pars and an occasional birdie is a good score. I know I can contend if my game is in good shape.”

But oddsmakers at WagerWeb.com only list the Spaniard near the bottom of the top-10 favorites at +3300.

Of course Tiger Woods is the favorite this week at +265. Woods will be favored in probably every event he enters for the next five years, but Sawgrass isn’t one of his favorite courses. He did win here in 2001 and finished second in 2000, but his best finish since then is 11th. He missed last year’s event.

This week, Woods admitted his driving distance has yet to return following that knee surgery. On Tuesday, he was experimenting with different shaft lengths but decided to stick with the same driver setup he had used all year.

“It’s just I’ve been away from the game for a long time,” said Woods, whose driving distance average is just over 293 yards, down a yard from a year ago, when he was ranked 44th on the PGA Tour in distance. “And it’s going to take a little bit of time before my body gets back to where I can hit the ball the same distances. I don’t hit the ball the same distance with my irons or my driver.”

Jim Furyk lives near the course and badly wants to win here. He has made 11-of-12 cuts at Sawgrass and has finished 28th or better in the past six. But he has broken par in the final round just four times.

Phil Mickelson (+950 on WagerWeb.com) also has had success here, winning in 2007 and having five career top-15 finishes. He also finished strongly last week at Quail Hollow.

Speaking of Quail Hollow, last week’s winner there, Sean O’Hair (+2300 this week on WagerWeb.com), has six top-10 finishes in 10 starts this year. He has finished outside the top 25 once. He is first in scoring average and first in all-round ranking.

Boo Weekley (+4500) is a long-shot worth considering. He has three consecutive top-15s on Tour.

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Craps Railing Scam

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Railing is one casino scam that takes lots of balls. On craps tables running hot with a lot of action, there are usually several players gathered around them with chips swelling in their table racks on the rail. These players are always bending down to place their bets and pick up their chips from the layout. Their movements are in unison. When a shooter rolls a winner, the players bend down harmoniously to collect their winnings. On a loser they do the same, replacing the swept-away chips on the layout. During these movements many of the players leave their racks exposed. Their chips could be picked away at by an agile chip-thief with quick hands willing to stick his hand into neighboring chip racks along the rail of the table. These thieves became known as “railbirds,” long before the same term was given to bust-out poker players gone broke watching poker games from the rails outside poker rooms.

Players drinking heavily as they gambled made the best targets. One aspect of stealing other players' chips that delights many railbirds is that railing other players’ chips is not ripping off the casinos; you couldn't take casino steam. Your principal danger was getting caught by the victim himself. True, there was the chance of being seen by a surveillance camera above, but that risk was minimal because surveillance operators are rarely watching out for craps players’ chips in the table racks.

The first known successful professional railing team was an offshoot of the Classon Pastposting Team, consisting of the notorious brothers Henry and Joe Classon. Cruising the old Las Vegas Sands casino in search of a potential victim one night in the late 1950s, Joe came across a tall wobbling craps player underneath a Stetson hat who seemed to never put his whiskey in the glass-holder built into the rail. He constantly held it in his left hand, handling his chips with his right. His chip rack on the rail was filled with black $100 chips.

Joe had wanted to be the first “railbird” and pass whatever chips he could pick off to his brother standing behind him, but Henry vetoed that idea and told Joe to stand behind him.

He squeezed in between the mark and another player while Joe stood behind. He already had a fistful of green $25 chips when he approached the table, avoiding the contact with the dealer and boxman that would have been necessary had he bought chips at the table. Henry knew that early chip preparation was essential, just like it was for all casino cheating scams.


The Art:

The first nuance of railing was to make your mark feel comfortable with your presence. If he became nervous or fidgety, his natural move was to excessively protect his chips. More important than talking to your mark was ingratiating yourself by your movements. The key was to follow him, keep the same rhythm. When he bent over to make his bet, you made yours. When he bent over to pick up his chips, you did likewise. A little chit-chat didn't hurt but wasn't mandatory. Not all gambling drunkards were open to conversation. You had to feel your mark's vibes.

Henry bet two green chips next to the mark's black chips. He had to be careful about the placement of his chips because if the mark wasn't comfortable with them, the occasion could be blown. In the same manner that you didn't want to crowd the mark with your presence, you didn't want to crowd him with your chips either. If you bet your chips too close to his, he might feel the encroachment. If you bet too far away, he might also be disturbed for one reason or another, though too close was definitely worse than too far.

A final precondition the railbird needed to victimize his mark was a table that stayed hot. When a table went cold, it was the casino getting all his chips. Soon there was nothing left in his rack for you to peck away at. A table could go from hot to cold extremely fast.

Henry got into the guy's rhythm after just a couple of rolls. They exchanged a little small talk about how the table was running good. The guy laughed, even patted Henry on the back. He was going to be plump for the pickings.

When the mark reached down to pick up the black chips the dealer had just paid him, Henry reached down with him to pick up his greens. While they were both bent over the rail, Henry's left hand picked up his own chips off the layout while his right hand slid underneath his left outstretched arm into his neighbor's chip rack. Then with a pinching movement of his thumb, index and middle finger, he plucked three black chips from the end of the lined-up chips closest to him, and in the same motion passed them subtly behind his back to Joe, who put them in his jacket pocket. This chip pass-off was necessary to protect Henry in the event the mark caught him in the act, or accused him afterward. If that happened, Joe would instantly leave the table. Since Henry had been betting only green chips, he could defend against any accusations by asserting that he didn't have a single black chip on him. How could he be guilty of stealing this man's black chips? If casino security searched him, they'd find no black chips at all, not in his pockets, not on his person. The pass-off to Joe was their cover and had to be done in the "dark."

Henry picked away at the mark for the hour that the table ran good. It was important not to be greedy. You chose your moments for picking. If you took too much at once, the mark was bound to notice. If the table was choppy you held back. The old saying about getting your fingers caught in the cookie jar was every bit as applicable to railing craps tables. When the table finally went cold and busted out the mark, Henry and Joe met outside the casino to count up their profits. Joe emptied out his jacket pocket. There were fourteen black chips inside, $1,400.


Over the years, the Classons railed craps tables whenever their pastposting operations were taking heat and had to be put on hold. At opportune times, they were able to rail $500 chips from high-rolling craps players, making scores above $20,000. One laughable incident occurred in the late 1970s when Joe Classon snuggled up to a gorgeous and even wealthier Texas Oil Baroness at a craps table who was playing purple $500 chips. He charmed her, cajoled her and railed her—to the tune of $22,500. But the grand prix came a week later when she invited him down to her Dallas ranch and showed him some Southern hospitality he never forgot!

Today, railing is still quite prevalent in the world’s casinos, if it is little known or talked about. The modern railbird always passes off the chips he picks to his or her cohort standing behind. Notice that “his or her” is used to portray railbirds. This is because more than half of today’s craps chip thieves are women! And usually pretty women, who use their seductive charm to divert men high rollers’ attention from the chips in their table racks to the tits in their neighbors’ racks!

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Doyle Brunson: A Real Man of Online Gambling

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When the going got tough, the tough didn't get going. Doyle Brunson, the fierce Texas Dolly whose escaped the clutches of death several times throughout his long lifetime, has stood pat for the industry he loves and believes in despite a law that has forced two of Doylesroom.com host poker networks to abandon the U.S. market. When down (not that Doyle was ever completely down), he just got up again and found a new vehicle to ride like some dusty old barn trailer.

Now - thanks to the Cake Poker Network - Doyle has never been stronger - offering a 110 percent bonus, the best Celebrity Bounty Hunter tournaments online today (with players such as Mickey Rourke and Nicky Hilton), and $100,000 guaranteed every Sunday at 5 pm EST.

"Doyle is a real man," exalted The Costa Rican Bookie Senior International Correspondent, Xi Tak. "A trooper - gruff, probably hairy, I doubt he shaves his body hair, and he's packing - in more ways than one I hear."

In fact, Doyle has become the new face of online gambling along with the equally hard-edged Annie Duke, both of whom are making it known that this industry is not made up of "quitters" and "pansies".

"Hee haw! The cowboy hat just drives me nuts!" a giddy Woo climaxed. "Doyle never postures and always says what's on his mind and everyone I know in the industry respects him. Not only is he sexy, masculine and full of hybrid vigor, Doyle is a wise man and his stamina has helped bring respect and integrity to online poker. Those eyes: They simmer and cut through my beating bleeding heart like a dirk."

Brunson is the first player to earn $1 million in poker tournaments and has won ten World Series of Poker bracelets throughout his career, tied with Johnny Chan for second all-time, one behind Phil Hellmuth's eleven. He is also one of only four players to have won the Main Event at the World Series of Poker multiple times, which he did in 1976 and 1977.

So what are some traits of a real man that Jenny loves about Doyle?

"Doyle is focused and doesn't waste his time on stupidities. When a real man makes a promise, he keeps his word. A real man would never desert his true love (poker). He also doesn't try to look like a woman (no offense to Sparky Collins). A real man isn't afraid to hunt down a wild bore as opposed from running away from the raging beast."

Likewise, Doyle does not have to hang around with celebrities to make himself feel important - instead they feel honored to hang around with him. Jenny can understand why.

"I've been with Vin Diesel, I've been with Doyle Brunson. I've had sex with neither," Woo anguished. "It I had to choose between two real men like Vin and Doyle, I'd go with the fine aged win - Doyle Brunson."

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Kentucky Derby Hangover After Record Numbers

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What recession? That's what some of us around here at The Costa Rican Bookie are asking - at least when we look at this past weekend's Kentucky Derby figures....what we have of them.

Preliminary stats show that the Derby brought more traffic through the Wagerweb.com website, however, final server stats were not immediately available on Sunday as the total had not been fully added up by the scheduled report time.

"Early numbers suggest that Kentucky Derby traffic was up around 25 percent from the Super Bowl," says Tommy "The Hammer", Senior Editor of The Costa Rican Bookie website.

Until now, this year's Super Bowl was the single most trafficked day for the Wagerweb.com website with over 2 million hits and close to 900,000 page views.

At one point immediately following the Derby conclusion, the Costa Rican Bookie site underwent extreme pressure due to the vast amount of traffic coming in. For nearly an hour and twenty minutes the site experienced the greatest strain on its resources ever. The server did crash for two intervals of eight minutes and twelve minutes over this period. Additional bandwidth pipelines in Canada had to be opened.

"Nearly everyone and their mother and their grandmother was clicking on the Wagerweb.com website to get the online payout results," says "The Hammer".

The best payout - found at - Sports Interaction - was 80/1 on the 2009 Kentucky Derby winner, Mine That Bird (compared to the 50/1 official odds posted by Churchill Downs). It is believed that as many as three Sports Interaction customers bet on Mine That Bird though no dollar amounts were revealed. The Sports Interaction website was also knocked out for a brief time following the race.

"Now we must focus in on the Preakness," says "The Hammer".

The Preakness, which takes place in two weeks, has traditionally underperformed compared with the Kentucky Derby, yet still ranks among the most bet on events of the year. Last year's numbers suggest that the Preakness is becoming even more competitive among major one day wagering events.

"We were pleasantly surprised by the numbers that came in for the Preakness," says "The Hammer". "When we have huge underdogs like Mine That Bird paying out significant sums of money, this only helps fuel an interest in horse betting across the Internet."

Kentucky Derby traffic figures were also supplemented by a huge fight card that drew significant attention from bettors:

Ironically, it was Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear who spoke during ceremonies on Saturday and celebrated in the Winner's Circle. It was Beshear who earlier this year lost a court battle to seize 141 online gambling domain names, claiming these businesses were cutting into Churchill Downs revenues. The Web gaming sector was represented by the powerful Interactive Media & Gaming Association (iMEGA).

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Interview with Poker Pro Vanessa Rousso Winner of One Million at EPT 25K High Roller

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Poker pro Vanessa Rousso informed The Costa Rican Bookie this evening that she won a cool million (or close to it) at the EPT 25K High Roller Tournament. We are so excited for her.

"I am so excited!" she said.

Rousso's luck has been extraordinary as of late. She recently came in second place at NBC's National Head's Up Championship Celebrity Poker Tournament.

I recently had a chance to sit down with Vanessa while she was in West Palm Beach taking part in the "Big Slick Boot Camp"

The Costa Rican Bookie: What was it like finishing second at the recent NBC Head's Up Tournament?

VANESSA: It was probably as good as it gets because not only did I finish second but I did so in a way that finally people couldn't really say, "Oh she just got]lucky" - because the people that I faced to get to the finals included Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, 2007 Head's Up champ - Phil Wasicka, and among others - formidable opponents to say the least. So I earned it to get there or at least I believe I did and I think most people agree after that line up. Being a woman in poker, I often have to swallow my pride and so it was especially sweet to get there.

The Costa Rican Bookie: Well here we are on the last day of Big Slick Boot Camp (www.bigslickbootcamp.com) - The Art of Poker where you were in Pompano earlier in the month, then Jacksonville, and now here in West Palm. Overall, how was the turnout?

VANESSA: They were great. We averaged about forty for each camp - maybe thirty for the first one and forty for the other two. So it's been good.

The Costa Rican Bookie: Do you think with a little bit more time there'll be a bigger response for next year's boot camp?

VANESSA: Yeah. I mean we really did a very short notice. We didn't give ourselves much time - we kind of winged it.

The Costa Rican Bookie: So lessons learned for next year - right?

VANESSA: Right.

(The Costa Rican Bookie messes up big time)

The Costa Rican Bookie: Has Chris been here through this whole thing or has he been off doing his own thing?

VANESSA: Who?

The Costa Rican Bookie: Chris - your fiancée Chris.

VANESSA: Chad.

The Costa Rican Bookie: I'm so sorry. I can't believe I said Chris. (haha)

VANESSA: I was like Chris who's Chris? I'm not supposed to know a Chris. (haha)

The Costa Rican Bookie: I'm sorry. (haha)

VANESSA: He's been here for most of the time. He's actually right now in Italy. He went up to San Remo first because I went to the 25K in Vegas and came back here cause I knew I had to do this. We actually have spent the last ten days apart. We miss each other a lot. I can't wait to see him. I see him tomorrow. Actually I leave straight to the airport from here.

The Costa Rican Bookie: Have you been able to relax? The last time we talked you had said that you wanted to get some sun and catch up on some movies.

VANESSA: No. A little bit - very little. It's been a lot of work.

The Costa Rican Bookie: Well you look great.

VANESSA: Thanks. I actually went to the beach yesterday.

The Costa Rican Bookie: Well have you been able to prep for Monte Carlo?

VANESSA: Not really but there's not really much to prep for a tournament like that. The important thing is that I get my sleep. I'll have an extra day when I get there to go to bed and make sure that I get enough sleep.

The Costa Rican Bookie: What key advice would you give some one like me that is looking to get started in poker?

VANESSA: Treat the study of poker like you would any other career you were preparing for. It has the potential to reap the rewards of a career, so why not treat it with the responsibility of career. You know - read the books that are out there, treat it responsibly, don't squander your winnings and gamble them away, don't show up to work drunk (haha) - things like that. Simple, be responsible - that's pretty much the most reasonable advice I can give you.

The Costa Rican Bookie: Thank you.

VANESSA: You're welcome.

Immediately after ending our interview, I took a spot in the back of the class (Jenny always avoided the front) to get a few pointers from this pro. After the first 15 minutes, I realized that I still had a lot to learn about the game of poker as I had no clue. I also realized how patient and willing Vanessa was to teach these students what they wanted and needed to know about the art of poker. She answered every question with ease with an added bit of her humor.

She began the class with an outline on what would be discussed throughout the six-hour session with a complete itinerary. The workbook provided had an initial question. "So, what is a game?" The answer provided, "Technically, a "game" is a strategic interaction between "players" with certain preferences and possible courses of action." Her examples given are: Dating Games, Political Games, Board Games, Negotiations, Poker. Her suggestion of a better question was - What isn't a game? She had a good point and I liked the idea of that question. "What isn't a game?" And you could tell that others in the room were understanding and liking her concept.

Vanessa stated early on in the course, "I'm going to teach you about tournaments today." She asked the group, "What is the main goal in a poker tournament"? As there were a few good and close answers - Vanessa said, "Ultimately, the goal in a poker tournament is surviving." Another pointer she outlined in her workbook was Many Sources of Info at the Table - Quantities and Calculations - Based on blinds, number of players, chip counts, chips in play, odds of winning a hand, size of pot. As she explained this section to the students she told them not to worry about learning it over night because it's almost impossible to do unless you're Bill Chen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Chen). She followed that up by giving a brief poker bio on who Bill Chen was to those who didn't know including that he was a game theorist like Chris Ferguson and herself. Vanessa had also referenced the book "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu further explaining that the military strategies used were a lot of the same fundamentals used in poker.

I sat through an interesting and informative hour more of the boot camp and thought it would be a good time to make my exit. However, Vanessa had other plans as she had called my name and asked me a question upon Jenny getting up for my departure. I felt like I was in school all over again being called on by my Algebra teach, Mrs. Mills. I answered her question correctly but in question form. Hey - I felt pressured. WTF? I stayed for a bit longer seeing that I didn't want to put another spotlight on myself. Big mistake! As she was explaining "outs" and your chances on winning on a flop and a turn, she called upon me again asking me how many 8s are in a deck. I responded (again) with a question. Uh, four? Duh!

Overall, The Costa Rican Bookie definitely has a lot to learn before I even think of getting involved with this game. I do have to say that I did learn some key points from this young talented and self-taught pro. Vanessa's a natural teacher always taking time to answer questions and involving the students by not doing all the talking herself and asking relative questions to keep all of us on our toes. Unfortunately, I couldn't stay to attend this boot camp in its entirety because I needed to get back to the office. But if given the chance for the next boot camp, I'm there ready and willing.

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Bring on Floyd Mayweather!

That seems to the way the winds are blowing as to the next fight for Manny Pacquiao in the wake of Saturday’s stunningly easy knockout win over Ricky Hatton.

According to the Manila Times, Pacquiao said he wants to battle Mayweather in what will undoubtedly be the fight of the decade. Mayweather announced his own comeback just before Pacquiao’s fight.

“I like to fight him. I can fight anybody,” Pacquiao told the Times.

A Mayweather fight makes sense, in that Floyd Jr. retired as the regarded pound-for-pound champ, a throne since taken by Pacquiao. But Mayweather first must beat Pacquaio’s old rival Juan Manuel Marquez on July 18.

That Mayweather agreed to that fight apparently surprised the Pacquiao camp, who say they are unlikely to rest until the super-fight. Pacquio mentioned returning to the ring in the late fall.

“A busy fighter is a good fighter, we’re not going to wait around,” Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach said. “Mayweather just had to wait one day and this fight could’ve happened. I think he’s scared of Manny.”
Aside from Mayweather, Miguel Cotto, Sugar Shane Mosley and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. are also being floated as possible opponents for Pacquiao.

Mosley congratulated Pacquiao late Saturday, then quickly lobbied to get that fight.

“Let’s get it done,” Mosley said. “I don’t see a reason they’d want to fight Cotto when I’m the champion who beat [Antonio] Margarito, who beat Cotto. It’d be a classic fight [against Pacquiao]. We both have good hand speed and power and I think that fans want to see the best fight the best.”

According to the L.A. Times, Team Pacquiao doesn’t want to fight either Mosley or Cotto at the welterweight limit of 147 pounds, and would demand that either move down to a catch-weight bout of 143 pounds.

Hatton, meanwhile, is being urged by many to retire. That second-round KO in Las Vegas that left the 30-year-old Briton requiring a brain scan.

“I’m so desperately sorry for you all,” Hatton told his followers. “I thought I would win but it went wrong. I’m OK but so upset for all the supporters who came out here.”

About 20,000 fans are thought to have made the trip from Britain to see Hatton fight.

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