I'm thinking it'll be this with horses.

There are rumors that Michael Mann – famed director and an important part of the legendary Miami Vice – is attached to a pilot for a drama set in the exciting world of horse racing. It’s called “Luck” and it’ll be made for HBO, which usually guarantees 3 things: sex, violence and Machiavellian intrigues.

David Milch is writing it, with Mann to direct the pilot, so I really hope this is picked up. The question is: Will it get more people interested in horse racing, or will they assume that going to the racetrack means tawdry affairs and stylish violence? …Actually, I bet people would find that a compelling enough reason to start following horse racing.

If you already have a taste for horse betting, then try out BetUS or one of our recommended racebooks on our racing pages.

NBA commissioner David Stern let slip this week in an interview with Sports Illustrated, that the league is now open to the prospect of regulated sports betting on it’s games.

It created a firestorm of interest around the web and media agencies. And to be honest I’ve been a little astounded by some of the negativity and ignorance shown by some respected journalists reporting the change in direction. How do they get through life ignorant to what is happening in the rest of the world and only forming opinions based on their own little neighborhood? They couldn’t be so against Stern’s thoughts if they had done the slightest bit of research on the topic at all and seen what the rest of the world has been doing for years.

Many have derided Stern for what is simply an admission that gambling happens now anyway, so why not benefit from it? It’s logical, and forward thinking from the most respected commissioner in pro sports.

He said quite candidly that “”The betting issues are actually going to become more intense as states in the U.S. and governments in the world decide that the answers to all of their monetary shortfalls are the tax that is gambling.”

He may be the first US sports leader to think like this, but he’s still a long way behind the rest of the world. Nearly everywhere has regulated & taxed sports betting already. The US is the only developed western nation I know of where it’s citizens don’t have the freedom to walk down the street to legally place a bet on their favorite sports team – except in Nevada of course.

The Author of the piece, Ian Thomsen, had this to say; “My take, as written several times over the years, is that legalized betting on professional sports in the U.S. is inevitable for two reasons: (1) If sports wagering becomes a legal and taxable form of revenue, then governments will actively police sports betting in order to protect that revenue base, as well as to safe-guard the leagues that create the windfall of new taxes; and (2) Betting on games will create more fan interest and, ultimately, bring in more money to the NBA and other leagues.”

It’s just a pity that it has taken the lure of dollars to make more people in the USA see the light when it comes to regulated gambling on sports. Why couldn’t they have just done this already because it makes sense? The land of the free is more like land of the ‘nothing comes for free’ these days.

In light of the NBA’s change in thinking, BetUS has posted odds on which sports league will regulate gambling on their games first. Of course the NBA is an almost unbackable 2/3 favorite. They’re also favorite to have an NBA team in Las Vegas first at 1/1.

I know I’d love to see the Las Vegas Kings in town! But who needs ANOTHER excuse to visit Vegas?!

Bodog Founder Calvin Ayre has a new website where he pays people to regurgitate stories circulating around the online gambling sites and he occasionally uploads a video.  It’s okay to check out every so often, but to be honest I was expecting better when I heard about it.

In a recent vid, he answers the question “What is your biggest ever bar tab?” Here it is …

My questions are. What barns has Calvin been hanging out in? And how was the tab €33,000 before 1994 (when Bodog was launched) , when the Euro was only introduced as a currency in 1999?

Anyway, Calvin will be good for a laugh every so often, even if his uncomfortable delivery of his scripted lines is funnier than the actual material! Don’t get me wrong, I admire what he’s doing – and it is good for online gambling. But I just find it amusing how he always tries to talk big and act like such a high rollin’ pimp. He seems like a nice guy, he should just be himself more!