If all goes according to plan, Venus Williams and Serena Williams will meet in the women’s singles final on Saturday. This would be the third all-Williams final at Wimbledon and the first since 2003; Serena took the opening two rounds and is 11-10 to make it a triple – make that a treble. Zheng Jie is an interesting outsider at 10-1, backed by the monetary support of a Chinese government that has been making a Cold War-style sporting push toward the Beijing Olympics.

Sunday’s men’s final is almost certain to be the third in a row featuring Roger Federer against Rafael Nadal. Federer has won every Wimbledon since 2003; odds for 2008 were pending at press time.

Jackson is the prohibitive favorite at –260, with the popular Griffin checking in at +200. From a value perspective, Griffin is the easy pick. He’s 5-2 since winning the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter, and he’s coming off an impressive victory over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 76.

The TUF alumni have been solid value picks in general, and many of Jackson’s fellow ex-PRIDE superstars (like Rua) have found difficulty making the transition from the ring to the octagon. But Jackson has been the exception. His combination of striking and grappling skills has been successful in every combat environment from cagefighting to kickboxing. As a straight-up pick, Jackson is the man.

These casinos never shut down.

You can play all the games round the clock, and you never have to wait for a shift change or new equipment – like card decks – to be changed out. Electronic action can go as long as you can, and most offer better odds than you’ll get in your traditional casinos.

If you work evening hours and like to play casino games you usually only have a couple of hours to play. Online action works around your schedule, so you play when it’s convenient for you instead of when the casinos decide they’re open. 

The big concern for Tiger supporters is whether the No. 1 golfer in the world is ready for the Open. He’s coming off arthroscopic surgery on his left knee; even if he’s recovered from the procedure, Woods hasn’t played a round of competitive golf in two months.

Greenberg also rightly points out the success long shots have had since Woods’ last Open victory in 2001. But he’s one of several commentators who have misread the tealeaves about the lengthening of the South course at Torrey Pines. The longer the course, the more difficult it is for shorter hitters to reach the green in regulation. The extra yardage plays right into Tiger’s strength.

Blind stealing becomes more important as the blind levels increase. In the later stages of a tournament, blinds can grow to become a major factor, and blind stealing becomes a part of every player’s strategy. Players will even slow play big hands pre-flop because they know that late position players will try and steal, and they can re-raise them once they try. If you don’t steal your share of blinds, your chip stack will deplete over time.

You get to choose from $0.01 to $10 bets, and you can run 1 to 10 consecutive games. There’s a quick pick option that will pick ten numbers for you; then you just decide how many games to play.

It gives you $100,000 to play with, so your free session won’t be over after a couple of games. I wasn’t able to hit any more than six numbers while I played, but I hit enough to win over $2000 in about 15 minutes of play. The audio feature is nothing special, especially the weird sound it makes when you move your cursor over the Round Hits section.

But let’s stick with sports for now. If you want to make more money without having to put too much effort into it (and we all do), you can become a more successful gambler simply by changing the way you follow the sports you already spend time following.

- Look for more reliable sources. Some of the talking heads on TV are very knowledgeable about the game. Others are full of hot air.
- Embrace advanced statistics, especially in baseball.
- Pay close attention to a team’s front-office moves.
- Give far less credence to a team’s front-office spin.

Bodog has a school that will teach you how to play just about any game you will encounter in an online casino. Every table game is covered, from baccarat to war.

Tower Gaming has a school that not only covers table games, but the slots and video poker as well. You can also check out the strategy section once you have a good grip on how the games are played.

The WizardOfOdds is a great site for casino game information. You’ll not only get a tutorial, but specific numbers and percentages of your favorite games. This site gives you the best bets for any game, plus links to just about anything related to gaming.

The Stanley Cup playoffs are where heroes are made. Hockey players who rise to the occasion are highly treasured at this time of year; the more you have on your team, the better. Here are three of the heroes in question right now.

Daniel Briere, Flyers: Leads all scorers with six goals and 11 points. Four of Briere’s goals were on the power play, and he assisted on the Game 7 overtime winner against Washington – also on the power play.

Chris Osgood, Red Wings: Took over in goal for Dominik Hasek in the middle of Game 4. Has given up just one goal on 54 shots since then, leading Detroit past the Predators in six.

Carey Price, Canadiens: Made a costly rookie mistake in Game 5 to let Boston back into the series, but made up for it with a brilliant shutout – his second of the playoffs – in Game 7.

I thought cops where supposed to play the good guy? This role is not completely being filled in Iowa. The Iowa gaming authority is training cops to cheat at casinos and the poker tables. This isn’t all fun and games though. The purpose is that cops will be able to recognize casino cheats because well…..now they are cheats too.

“There is a criminal element out there trying to cheat, and they are always trying to get one step ahead of the game. This facility allows us to come in and work different issues, and to develop tactics and techniques,” Director Steve Bogle said.

Since this cheating training has been implemented cops have busted 25 cheating cases in Iowa’s casinos according to state officials.

So what do you do if you’re in Iowa at the casino and want to make some big coin with out playing fair? Just look out for the guy with a gun in a holster on his hip. That means that he’s a cop, just lay low, wait till he gets tired and goes home, then you’re good to go.

gambling cops