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International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive Haroon Lorgat favours legalisation of sports gambling in India while retaining his optimism for a corruption-free World Cup in the sub-continent.

There has seldom been a cricket corruption of late without an Indian connection and the clamour is growing to legalise betting in a country where legal gambling is confined to horse-racing while casinos are allowed only in a couple of states.

Lorgat and his colleagues in the ICC have held discussions about urging the Indian government to legalise cricket gambling, according to a report in The National newspaper on Monday.

"I agree with the notion that if it is regulated it is a lot better than if it is not regulated," Lorgat was quoted as saying.

"We have made inquiries, and these are the things we are working towards."

In the absence of official figures, media reports claim an India-Pakistan one-day international draws bets worth $20 million through an illegal syndicate of which Mumbai is considered the hub.

Lorgat, however, had no doubt that the Feb 19-Apr 2 World Cup, which India co-hosts along with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, would be free of corruption with ICC's anti-corruption unit beefing up its presence.

"I am confident (the World Cup will be free from corruption) for two reasons," Lorgat said.

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"The main one is that the vast majority of players are honest players. They do play the game in the spirit that it should be played. They are not seeking to make gains out of untoward means.

"Secondly, we are alive to what could come to the fore in terms of corruption. We have measures in place...

"I am satisfied we will have measures in place at the World Cup. We will increase capacity because we realise things do change."

An ICC tribunal on Saturday banned the Pakistani trio of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, who were found guilty of spot-fixing in the fourth test against England last August.

Lorgat hoped the punishment would serve as a deterrent. "I think it would take someone very brave not to take heed of what has happened.

England captain Andrew Strauss shared Lorgat's optimism. "The important thing with any punishment is that it sends a strong message to people who might be tempted to do it in the future that if you do it, your career is going to be substantially reduced if not completely destroyed," Strauss said in Perth on Sunday.

"I think this sends a pretty strong signal out there... I think it is a good thing that the game is cleaning itself up.

"This is just the start of a process, only the ICC and the relevant authorities know how far they are willing to dig and how thorough they will be on it.

"But I would urge them to be as thorough as they possibly can be on it because, as we've said before, if there is a whiff of something dodgy going on, that degrades the whole sport."

It’s been far too long since Tony Stewart was a legitimate threat on NASCAR betting odds. He has some of the best odds to win this year’s Sprint Cup — can the hot-headed driver turn things around? This is your 2011 Tony Stewart preview.

Stewart is coming off a seventh-place finish in last year’s Sprint Cup standings. It marked the fifth consecutive year he’s failed to even crack the Top 5. The last time he did, of course, was in 2005 — when he won his second career championship; he is 11/1 on Bodog’s auto racing odds to win the title in 2011. Stewart’s other title came in 2002, part of a blistering start to a promising career. He had a pair of championships and four Top-5 finishes in the first seven years of his career; Stewart has none in the last five.

Still, there are signs of hope. Stewart spent the first 10 years of his career with Joe Gibbs Racing. Since switching to Stewart-Haas, the star driver has considerably improved his average starting position. In his last two years with Joe Gibbs, for example, Stewart’s average starting position was 17.3. He won four total races in that span while failing to win a single pole. With Team Stewart-Haas, Stewart’s average starting position has improved to 12.7. Those two seasons were much more prosperous in the wins category, as Stewart picked up six victories and six poles.

Stewart could afford to improve on his consistency. He cracked the Top-5 nine times last season — the worst total of his entire career. He only earned 17 finishes among the Top 10, the second-worst number of his career (he had just 16 Top-10 finishes in his final year with Joe Gibbs Racing).

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Tennis betting fans can get their fix this week with the SAP Open. The quick tourney may not have all the biggest names, but there are definitely some familiar faces making an appearance. The action begins Monday and runs until Feb. 13.

Fernando Verdasco is the top seed. The Spaniard, ninth in the ATP World Rankings, is the SAP Open defending champion. He’s played twice in 2011. Verdasco got off to a rocky start, losing in the first round to Benjamin Becker at the Brisbane International. He looked sharper at the Australian Open, winning his first three matches before falling in the fourth round to Tomas Berdych.

With Verdasco already proving himself in last year’s SAP Open, he’s as good a bet as any to take care of business this week. He’ll face Wild Card entrant Ram Rajeev in the first round. Rajeev, an American, is ranked No. 188 in the world.

Gael Monfils is the second seed in the tournament. The Frenchman is ranked 12th in the ATP World Rankings. Just 24 years old, Monfils will be searching for his fourth career victory. He got off to a rocky start at the Australian Open, winning in the first two rounds before losing to Stanislas Wawrinka.

Monfils also drew a Wild Card entrant in the first round, though his opponent could prove much more interesting than Verdasco’s. Monfils will face Stanford junior Bradley Klahn, the 2010 NCAA singles champion.

Sam Querrey rounds out the tournament’s top contenders as the third seed at the SAP Open. The American won four tourneys last season and will be gunning for his first of 2011. The SAP will be his third appearance of the season. Querrey is still searching for his first winning match of the year; he lost in the first round to Lukasz Kubot at the Australian Open and in the second round (after enjoying a bye) to Alexandr Dolgopolov at the Medibank International.

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Carl Edwards has been incredibly close to winning a Sprint Cup Championship, and he’s among the favorites this year with 7/1 Bodog NASCAR betting odds. Can Edwards finally break through and join the circuit’s elite? This is your 2011 Carl Edwards preview.

Edwards racked up yet another strong season last year, finishing fourth overall in the Sprint Cup standings. It was the third time in a seven-year career he’s made the Top 5 (and the fourth time he’s finished among the Top 10).

Driving for Roush-Fenway Racing, as has been the case his whole career, Edwards rebounded from a weak 2009 campaign with a rock-solid 2010. Edwards wound up in the winner’s circle twice last year and added three poles.

But nothing can compare to that dominant 2008 season, when Edwards finished second in the Sprint Cup standings. Perhaps most importantly, Edwards was a model of consistency. Yes, he had nine victories, but he also had career highs with 19 finishes among the Top 5 and 27 finishes among the Top 10.

Edwards also enjoyed a career-high average starting position of 12.3 that year. Naturally, his average finish was a career best as well (9.5; his next best average finish is last year’s 11.8). If he can once again reach those lofty standards, it’s hard to believe there’s not a championship in his future.

Edwards is a strong closer, but if he can start the season well he might improve his odds of winning a championship. Edwards won the final two races of the season last year and collected Top-10 finishes in five of his final nine outings. He picked up just a single Top-10 effort in his first five races, however, and found himself in a bit of a hole just one month into the season.

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In a welcome move to all those who favour open and fair sports betting, the head of the International Cricket Council (ICC) this week declared he is in favour of legalising sports gambling in India.
"I agree with the notion that if it [sports betting] is regulated it is a lot better than if it is not regulated," ICC chief executive Harron Lorgat was quoted as saying by The National newspaper on Monday.

Lorgat and his colleagues at the ICC have also held discussions about urging the Indian government to legalise cricket gambling, according to further newspaper reports.

Media reports claim an India-Pakistan one-day international can draw bets of up to $20 million through illegal gambling syndicates, most of which go through Mumbai.

The 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup will be held in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh from February 19 to April 2.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. may be one of the most popular drivers in NASCAR betting, but he hasn’t delivered the results to justify that popularity. With 40/1 odds to win the Sprint Cup Championship, will this season be any different? This is your 2011 Dale Earnhardt Jr. preview.

Earnhardt may have the pedigree, but he simply hasn’t come up with enough victories over the past few years. A year after a very disappointing 25th-place finish in the Sprint Cup standings, Earnhardt barely improved to 21st last season.

In fact, it marked the fourth straight year — and fifth time in six seasons – he has missed the Top-10 by the end of the season. The best stretch of Earnhardt’s career was undoubtedly 2003-2006, when he finished third, fifth, nineteenth, and fifth in the Sprint Cup standings.

Those prosperous years, of course, came with his father’s company — Dale Earnhardt Inc. Junior bailed for Hendrick Motorsports in 2008, and the move obviously hasn’t paid dividends yet. Earnhardt has just a single victory in three years with Hendrick Motorsports, back in his first season with the team.

And while Top-5 finishes used to be the norm, he has just five finishes among the Top-5 in the past two seasons combined. Earnhardt has been just as unsuccessful at cracking the Top 10. After averaging about 16 Top-10 finishes per season from 2001-2008, Earnhardt managed just 13 total in the past two years.

Earnhardt certainly won’t be carrying any momentum into 2011, either. He cracked the Top 10 just once in his final nine races of the season, and just twice in his final 18 races. Needless to say, things aren’t looking bright for Dale Earnhardt Jr.

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This week’s European Tour golf betting promises to be just as exciting as the PGA Tour, as some of the biggest names in the world will compete at the Dubai Desert Classic. Martin Kaymer is the favorite with Tiger Woods trailing closely behind.

Kaymer has 5/1 odds to win the Dubai Desert Classic. The German finished 28th at the Commercialbank Qatar Masters last weekend. It was a rather disappointing finish considering he’d won the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship in late January. Now, he’ll have to deal with the pressure of facing Woods. Kaymer has passed Woods on the World Golf Rankings, sitting second to Tiger’s third.

Woods checks in with 11/2 odds to take care of business at this weekend’s Dubai Desert Classic. Woods will be making his first appearance on the European Tour this season. He’s played just once this year, making his debut at the Farmers Insurance Open. Woods looked solid to open the tournament, shooting a pair of 69s on the first two days, but he ground to a halt after that, shooting a 74 and a 75. That sent Woods spiraling down to a 44th-place finish.

Woods’ effort will be heavily scrutinized this weekend after some interesting comments from rookie Brendan Steele. Steele claims Woods — traditionally the ultimate grinder — lost interest during his final round at Torrey Pines a few weeks ago.

Rory McIlroy is next up with 6/1 Dubai Classic golf odds. If you want momentum, McIlroy is your man. The Northern Ireland native closed out 2010 with a bang, finishing fifth, sixth, and fifth in his final three tourneys. McIlroy picked up right where he left off at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship in January, finishing second.

Lee Westwood rounds out the top competitors with 10/1 odds to win. Westwood, the world’s No. 1-ranked golfer, is off to a rather sluggish start this season. The Englishman finished 77th at the Qatar Masters and was 64th in Abu Dhabi.

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American sports have for a long time turned a blind eye to the hundreds of millions of dollars that is bet on their events. In the case of the NFL, the league even goes as far as to deny that gambling is the driving force behind its popularity.

Australian sports, on the other hand, have embraced betting. The sports leagues, however, are concerned over the deception that has arisen from the activity. Bookmakers have been involved with match fixing and bribing players, and the leagues want this problem solved.

One of the more powerful lobbying groups, the Coalition of Major Professional and Participation Sports, has gone to the government seeking tougher regulations on sports gambling. The Coalition met on Thursday with Sports Minister Mark Arbib, hoping to convince the lawmaker that unified laws are needed.

The lobbying group represents the rugby union, soccer, tennis, cricket, the NRL and the AFL. The lobbying group is seeking an expansion of Victoria's sports betting law that targets corruption within the sports gambling industry. The lack of a unified law has the Coalition concerned about bookmakers infiltrating their leagues and searching for weak players to bribe.

"Existing criminal legislation is inconsistent across Australia and does not deal specifically with corruption in sport," said Coalition Chairman James Sutherland.

One of the area the lobbying group wants addressed is transparency within the gaming industry. The group is calling for all sports books to keep records of their betting patterns. If the records were kept, the betting patterns could be investigated during a potential match fixing scenario.

Finally, NASCAR betting has returned. The 2011 season kicks off Saturday with the Budweiser Shootout, and Kevin Harvick is favored on Bodog’s auto racing odds to get things started with a win.

Harvick has finished among the Top 5 in the Sprint Cup standings four times in his career, including a third-place effort last season. It was easily the best season of Harvick’s career, as he racked up 16 Top-5 finishes and 26 Top-10 finishes, not to mention three victories. The most relevant stat? He won the Budweiser Shootout. It was Harvick’s second career win at Daytona, and he also finished seventh in another race there last season. In fact, in Harvick’s past three races at Daytona, he’s finished seventh, first, and second. Not a bad track record.

Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart are tied with 8/1 odds to win the Shootout. Busch is trying to work his way up the standings after finishing eighth last season. If he can recapture the magic of 2008, when he won eight races, that would be a great start. Unfortunately, he struggles at Daytona. Busch failed to crack the Top 10 in either of his races there last season and had a brutal averaging finishing position of 27th. He has one win in 12 career races at Daytona.

Stewart is searching for his first championship since 2005. He’s cracked the Top 10 in the standings in four consecutive years, but hasn’t made the Top 5 since he won it all. Stewart didn’t fare well at Daytona last season; despite starting sixth and ninth in his two races, he finished 22nd and 25th. Traditionally, he’s been much better there over his career. Stewart has finished among the Top 10 in half of his 24 races at Daytona, including seven Top-5s and three victories.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, and Jamie McMurray round out the top competitors. They each have 10/1 odds to win the Shootout.

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Professional athletes get a lot of scrutiny, work 365 days per year and end up walking like Abe Vigoda when they finally decide to retire. But then there’s that paycheck that seems to make up for it.

Hundreds of millions love to be entertained by them; therefore they get paid hundreds of millions throughout their career. You may think they get paid too much, but if millions of people came to watch you work you’d probably get a huge check too. Plus, the real rich ones, the billionaires, they usually make history, break records and pass uncanny milestones.

That’s why with Bodog about to reach its billionth hand in blackjack – quite a milestone –we’re giving you pro sports’ billionaires (or those who are close enough), and the great milestones they’ve reached.

Don’t forget you can live like one of these big ballers by competing in the Bodog Billionth Hand of Blackjack.

Michael Jordan

Like most athletes it’s hard to gage how much money Michael Jordan currently has in assets and his bank account. But considering he has his own clothing brand, is one of the most endorsed athletes ever and is majority owner of the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats it’s safe to say he’s a billionaire.

Jordan has reached plenty of milestones in his career, reaching third all time in scoring and having the greatest scoring average in NBA history, and being part of the 72-win 1995-96 Chicago Bulls.

Michael Schumacher

You don’t hear as much about Michael Schumacher like years past, when he dominated F1 for Ferrari. That said, we doubt his bankroll has been damaged since 2005, when Eurobusiness named him the world’s first billionaire athlete.

As for milestones? Boy. Schumacher’s reached the most championships, race victories, fastest laps, pole positions, points scored and races won in a season.

Tiger Woods

Cheating heart aside Tiger Woods still packs in the big bucks. Yes, even after his divorce settlement. In 2009 Woods was named the world first billionaire athlete by Forbes magazine – Schumacher might have something to say about that – and we’re sure he still has the zeroes.

Milestones reached include the second-highest major golf championships and more career wins than any other active golfer.

Jeff Gordon is undoubtedly a legend in NASCAR betting, but it’s been a long time since he’s delivered a Sprint Cup Championship. Still, he has 11/1 odds to break the slump this season. This is your 2011 Jeff Gordon preview.

Gordon has four career championships to his credit, though he’s failed to win a title since 2001. Despite the lack of championships, Gordon has hardly fallen off the map. He’s finished in the Top-10 of Sprint Cup standings eight times in the last nine years (his worst finish was 11th in 2005), and five of those were Top-5 finishes.

Last season was a bit of a downer, though, as Gordon fell to ninth in the standings. His numbers were down generally across the board. For the second time in three years, Gordon failed to win a race. He enjoyed his fewest Top-5 finishes (11) and fewest Top-10 finishes (17) since 2005. In fact, you could make a very good case that 2010 was Gordon’s second-worst season in 16 years.

The lack of victories is alarming. Even though Gordon hasn’t won a championship in nine years, he was still consistently finding his way into Victory Lane. In the six seasons following his last championship, Gordon won 23 races — nearly four races per season. He has only a 2009 win at the Samsung 500 to his credit in the last three years.

Certainly bad luck and poor pit strategy played a role in Gordon’s struggles last year. With a few better bounces or decisions, Gordon would have finished much higher up the standings. That said, he still wouldn’t have won a title, and it’s hard to blame bad luck on the past three years. Gordon is skating by on reputation, and it’s very hard to justify 11/1 odds on a driver with just a single victory in the past three years.

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NASCAR betting fans are looking for value on this year’s Sprint Cup Championship odds. Clint Bowyer offers 20/1 odds to win it all, but does he really have a chance to bring home a title? This is your 2011 Clint Bowyer preview.

Bowyer is entering his sixth year on the circuit. After a solid debut, Bowyer strung together a pair of excellent seasons, finishing third in 2007 and fifth in 2008 in the Sprint Cup standings. Since then, however, he’s taken a major step back. Bowyer finished 15th in 2009 and rebounded slightly to 10th in last year’s standings.

If you’re looking for a consistent driver, Bowyer has it in spades — he’s not going to throw too many surprises at you, good or bad. In the past four years, Bowyer has finished in the Top-10 of a race 17, 17, 16, and 18 times. During the same span, he’s finishing in the Top-5 of a race 5, 7, 4, and 7 times. It’s hard to get any steadier than that.

The problem is Bowyer doesn’t offer enough “bang” for your buck, at least not to truly get into the championship picture. His win totals over the past few seasons are as consistent as they are unimpressive. Bowyer has one, one, zero, and two wins over the past four seasons. If he’s going to make a run at Jimmie Johnson, that needs to change in a major way.

A stronger finish might go a long way to nudging Bowyer a little further up the standings. He cracked the Top-10 just three times during his final nine races of the year, although he did win the AMP Energy Juice 500.

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With 10/1 odds to win the Sprint Cup championship, Kyle Busch is one of the biggest favorites on this year’s NASCAR betting odds. But with just one career Top-5 finish in the season standings, can he come through with a title? This is your 2011 Kyle Busch preview.

Busch enjoyed one of the strongest seasons of his career in 2010, finishing eighth in the final standings. It was his fourth career Top-10 finish in the Sprint Cup standings, with his best being a fifth-place finish in 2007.

The Joe Gibbs Racing star has shown tons of flash throughout his young career, but he’s yet to put it all together in one season. The closest he came was 2008, when he came through with career-highs in wins (eight), poles (seven), Top-5 finishes (17), and Top-10 finishes (21). Despite the impressive totals, Busch finished just 10th in the final Sprint Cup standings.

Last season, Busch was solid if unspectacular. He racked up a respectable three victories while adding a pair of poles, but he didn’t flirt with the winner’s circle as much as in 2008. Busch produced 10 results among the Top 5, while adding 18 finishes among the Top 10. The most positive stat was his average finish; Busch posted the second-best number of his career at 14.0 (it was 12.5 in 2008).

Unfortunately, his 2011 campaign is off to a rather lukewarm start, as the best he could muster was a 16th-place finish at the Bud Shootout. It was a disappointing result after a hot start last season, when he picked up a pair of Top-5 finishes in his first two races.

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European Tour golf betting gets underway this weekend with the Avantha Masters in New Delhi, India. Jeev M. Singh and Soren Hansen are each favorites to win the tournament with 16/1 odds.

Singh will be gunning for his fourth European Tour victory. The India native last won in June 2008, when he captured the Bank Austria Golf Open. He peaked that season, finishing 10th on the European Tour money rankings and ending up in the Top 10 eight times. Singh played in just 15 European Tour tourneys last year. He made 10 cuts, cracked the Top 25 seven times and the Top 10 twice.

Hansen, meanwhile, has been very active this year already. He’s played in five tournaments, though he’s mostly struggled. The Copenhagen native finished sixth at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters in early February, but his next best finish is 37th. Hansen placed 78th at last week’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

Thongchai Jaidee is next in line with 18/1 odds to win the Avantha Masters. The Thailand native played in just eight European Tour tournaments last season. He only made the Top 10 once, while cracking the Top 25 twice. In fact, he missed the cut in four of his eight appearances.

Rafael Cabrera-Bello has 22/1 odds to win the Avantha Masters. He’s searching for his second career European Tour victory. Cabrera-Bello, just 26 years old, has already played in five tournaments this season, and he’s off to a pretty good start. The Spaniard has cracked the Top 10 twice, finishing seventh at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship and third at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters. Cabrera-Bello finished 20th at least week’s Dubai Desert Classic.

Do you know the Euro Tour? Then place your bets at Bodog Sportsbook!

Golf betting fans can also hit up the LPGA Tour this weekend, as the ladies take part in the Honda LPGA Thailand. Three ladies are tied with 7/1 odds to win the tournament: Jiyai Shin, Na Yeon Choi and Yani Tseng.

Shin, a South Korea native, is making her 2011 debut. She was a beast in 2010, racking up 14 finishes among the Top 10 in her 18 tournaments played. Shin has five career victories, with two of them coming last year. She buzzed around the top spot numerous times, as she earned 12 finishes among the Top 5.

Fellow South Korean Choi is also making her first appearance of the year. She had 15 Top-10 finishes to Shin’s 14, although Choi played in 23 tournaments. She has four career victories, with two of them coming last season. Choi also racked up a dozen finishes among the Top 5.

Tseng is somewhat of a drop-off from the other two ladies, at least if you are speaking statistically. The Taiwan native had just eight Top-10 finishes in her 19 appearances last season. But while Tseng lacks consistency, she is capable of the big score; she has five career victories, with three of them coming last year – and of her eight Top-10 finishes, six of them were among the Top 3.

There’s a logjam after those three ladies, as Paula Creamer, Cristie Kerr and Suzann Pettersen are tied with 10/1 odds each to win the Honda LPGA Thailand. Michelle Wie, In-Kyung Kim and Ai Miyazato are behind them with 16/1 odds to win.

LPGA season is underway. Get all your golf odds at Bodog Sportsbook!

The PGA Tour stop at historic Riviera Country Club this weekend for the Northern Trust Open and the tournament, coming a week before the big-money WGC-Match Play, has a drawn a very good if not quite excellent field. Bet on this event with Bodog’s golf odds.

Five members of the world's top 10, 12 of the top 20 and 29 of the Top 50 will play this week at Riviera, which hosted the U.S. Open in 1948 and the PGA Championship in 1983 and 1995 and has a long association with neighboring Hollywood. It’s by far the strongest field so far on the PGA Tour this year. Defending champion Steve Stricker leads a group that includes Phil Mickelson, Paul Casey, Jim Furyk and Luke Donald. The field would have been even better but both Nick Watney and Ernie Els withdrew earlier this week.

Mickelson has opened as the 10/1 favorite on Bodog’s golf odds this week. Lefty had a stellar three-year run of success in this tournament starting in 2007, finishing runner-up that year and then winning in 2008 and 2009. Last year Mickelson finished tied for 45th. Lefty has played well this year, with Top 10-finishes in three PGA Tour events.

Last year, Stricker shot a final round of 1-under-par 70 and won the Northern Trust Open by two strokes over Donald. Stricker started with a six-stroke advantage, but the lead evaporated to two-strokes after the first five holes. Stricker is the second favorite at 18/1. He has only played two PGA Tour tournaments this year but finished in the Top 10 of both in Hawaii.

The hottest player on Tour is Mark Wilson, who is the only two-time winner so far this season. He’s No. 1 in FedEx Cup points and on the money list. However, Wilson did miss the cut last week at Pebble Beach and has never had a Top-10 finish in three trips to this event. Thus he is long shot this week on Bodog’s golf odds at 66/1.

Get the best PGA Tour odds and props always at Bodog Sportsbook

Ryan Newman is a huge long shot on NASCAR betting odds, as he has 50/1 odds to win the Sprint Cup Championship. Does the veteran driver look like a respectable value pick? This is your 2011 Ryan Newman preview.

For a few years, Newman looked like he would at least be very competitive on an annual basis. He finished either sixth or seventh in the final Sprint Cup standings from 2002-2005 and was especially impressive in 2003. That season, he set career highs across the board: eight victories, 11 poles, 17 Top-5 finishes and 22 Top-10 finishes.

Newman has struggled over the last five years, however, cracking the Top-10 in the final standings just once. He’s finished 18th, 13th, 17th, ninth, and 15th in that span and, suffice to say, the wins have dried up. During his four-year hot streak, Newman captured 12 checkered flags and 34 poles. In the last five years, he has just two wins and nine poles.

In fact, Newman hasn’t even been close. From 2002-2004 he picked up Top-5 finishes in 14, 17, and 11 races. Newman hasn’t cracked double-digits in the past six seasons, however, so he’s got some serious catching up to do.

But 2011 could be different. After racing for Penske for his entire career, Newman has jumped ship and signed with Stewart-Haas Racing. So far, the move looks like a clever one. Largely aided by a strong qualifying effort — he started eighth on the grid last weekend — Newman secured a third-place finish at the Budweiser Shootout. Last year, it took Newman eight races to earn his first Top-5 finish of the year despite starting in the Top-10 four times.

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Professional athletes earning to much money!!

The NASCAR season officially kicks off on Sunday afternoon with the Super Bowl of that sport, the Daytona 500. Get the best props and odds on this race at Bodog.

This year’s race could be one of the most interesting in years because the new surface at Daytona led to speeds as high as 206 mph in practices for last week’s Shootout, with NASCAR stepping in and slightly altering the carburetor restrictor plate to try and slow things down a bit. Still, two-car packs were prevalent at the Shootout and were again in Thursday’s Gatorade Duels. So in a 43-car field, expect 21 two-car packs as drivers use the other car as a drafting partner on the new surface – and it won’t be teammates paired up many times but just whichever car is closest.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. originally won the pole in practices last weekend but then lost it on Wednesday when he wrecked his car – crashes could be plentiful in the race because the cars are so tightly bunched together on the track. While on the official lineup he is still listed as the polesitter, Junior will actually start at the back of the pack when the race begins. He is 9/1 to win the race in Bodog. Junior, who won the Daytona 500 in 2004 but hasn’t won any race in his past 93 starts, had been as low as 7/1 when he was still on the pole.

Kurt Busch won the first Gatorade Duel on Thursday and will start on the pole. Busch won last Saturday’s shootout, but only five drivers have won the Shootout and the 500 in the same year: Bobby Allison (1982), Bill Elliott (1987), Dale Jarrett (1996 and 2000), and Jeff Gordon (1997). No driver has ever won the Shootout, a Gatorade Duel and the Daytona 500 in the same year. Busch is 9/1 on Bodog’s NASCAR odds to do so. He has never won a points race at Daytona but has nine Top-5 finishes.

Kevin Harvick is the current favorite at 8/1 on Bodog. He won this race in 2007. Last year he finished seventh and was the runner-up the year before. Jamie McMurray swept past Harvick with just two laps remaining to claim the checkered flag in 2010. But Harvick led for the most laps (41).

Can McMurray repeat? Last year he became the ninth different winner in the last nine Daytona 500s. He led only two laps, which is the least amount by a Daytona 500 winner. No driver has repeated as Daytona champion since Sterling Marlin in 1995. McMurray is 12/1 to win Sunday.

DAYTONA 500 LINEUP
(Car number in parentheses)
1. (88) x-Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 186.089.
2. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 185.966.
3. (22) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 184.896.
4. (31) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 185.071.
5. (78) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 183.681.
6. (33) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 185.223.
7. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 184.74.
8. (15) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 183.966.
9. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 184.102.
10. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 183.595.
11. (4) Kasey Kahne, Toyota, 183.602.
12. (92) Brian Keselowski, Dodge, 177.581.
13. (42) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 184.763.
14. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 183.685.
15. (43) A J Allmendinger, Ford, 184.29.
16. (2) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 184.008.
17. (5) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 184.991.
18. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 181.316.
19. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 185.422.
20. (56) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 183.456.
21. (39) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 185.002.
22. (99) Carl Edwards, Ford, 184.475.
23. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 184.687.
24. (00) David Reutimann, Toyota, 184.019.
25. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 184.911.
26. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 184.911.
27. (83) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 183.557.
28. (37) Robert Richardson Jr., Ford, 181.466.
29. (09) Bill Elliott, Chevrolet, 184.532.
30. (7) Robby Gordon, Dodge, 182.12.
31. (47) Bobby Labonte, Toyota, 183.576.
32. (21) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 185.445.
33. (46) J.J. Yeley, Chevrolet, 180.977.
34. (6) David Ragan, Ford, 184.612.
35. (9) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 184.748.
36. (77) Steve Wallace, Toyota, 182.574.
37. (71) Andy Lally, Chevrolet, 180.828.
38. (20) Joey Logano, Toyota, 183.206.
39. (34) David Gilliland, Ford, 182.697.
40. (38) Travis Kvapil, Ford, 184.271.
41. (87) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 184.222.
42. (36) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, 183.793.
43. (32) Terry Labonte, Ford, Past Champion.
x-Earnhardt will start from position 43, after wrecking his primary race car in practice.

Who wins the Great American Race? Get those bets down at Bodog Sportsbook

A new Fairleigh Dickinson poll that was released this week shows what many had already suspected. US residents want legalized sports betting in areas outside of Las Vegas and Delaware. The study also indicated that New Jersey residents are not quite ready for Internet gambling.

Sports betting is one of the most popular forms of entertainment in the US, yet it is legal in only two states. Nevada has long allowed sports books to offer betting odds on the most popular sports worldwide, and Delaware lawmakers did the same a couple of years ago.

The Fairleigh Dickinson poll asked New Jersey residents whether or not they wanted the federal ban on sports betting lifted, and fifty-three percent of those polled agreed with that premise. When it came to only New Jersey, sixty-two percent favored sports betting in the state.

The issue has been heavily debated over the past year with lawmakers finally passing sports betting legislation earlier this year. Governor Chris Christie, however, is in the process of reviewing the bill, and it seems likely that the governor may veto not only the sports betting legislation, but also Internet gaming legislation that was passed.

The governor has received heat from his colleagues at a national level that are asking him to veto the legislation. Conservatives at a federal level have been pushing to keep online gambling prohibition in place, while many Democratic leaders have attempted to overturn the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

If New Jersey was to move forward with the regulation of online gambling and sports betting, other states would likely follow. Already, California and Florida are considering bills that would regulate online poker.

New Jersey has also filed a lawsuit to have the sports betting law overturned at a federal level. The legislation, according to the lawsuit, is unconstitutional because it allows certain states to offer sports betting while prohibiting other states from doing the same.

The Fairleigh Dickinson poll also showed that the majority of respondents felt that people already bet on sports, even in jurisdictions where the activity is illegal. Only thirty-seven of those polled felt that sports betting was bad.