It seems we’ve hit the 30-mark, which can only mean that the Premier League season is drawing to a close. But just because there are only a few more weeks of football doesn’t mean that the competition isn’t hotter than ever.

The race for the title has never been tighter, as Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal all vie for the number one spot. On the other end of the table, Hull City, Burnley, Wolves, West Ham, and Wigan are all trying to avoid the bottom two places that will join Portsmouth in the Championship next season.

Sportsbook.com has odds on every match this weekend, so let’s preview the best action on offer.

Everton: -181
Draw: +250
Bolton: +550

Everton vs. Bolton: Their American talisman may have departed back to his homeland, but the Toffees are still flying high on a brilliant run of recent form. Unbeaten in their last six appearances at Goodison, the bookies are strongly tipping the home side to come away with the points on Saturday. With Yakubu scoring freely, and Tim Cahill returning to full fitness, this could very easily be a straightforward victory.

Bolton produced their biggest win of the season last weekend with a 4-0 thrashing of Wigan Athletic. While their away performances haven’t been quite so vivacious, Owen Coyle will be rallying his troops to take back-to-back wins. Unfortunately for the Trotters, Goodison Park has been something of a fortress for Everton during the season, and with an injury tally that dwarfs their opponent’s, it could be a very long afternoon for the travelling fans.

Portsmouth: +110
Draw: +220
Hull City: +220

Portsmouth vs. Hull City: This one has already been dubbed the battle of the cellar dwellers, and with good reason. Portsmouth received their 9-point deduction from the Premier League board this week, sending them back down to 10 league points and certain relegation. If for nothing else, they will want to take as many wins as they can for their fans. They are slight favorites to win this tie, but it’s hard to see them having much motivation after the events of this week.

Hull City have had a similarly rocky week. Long-time manager Phil Brown was put on immediate gardening leave, with Iain Dowie brought in just days ago. He couldn’t ask for a better opponent for his first fixture, but whether the Hull City players will warm to his new tactics or not is another matter entirely. The Tigers need points, and without a win on the road for more than a year, there is the distinct possibility that we could see a repeat performance of their previous 0-0 meeting.

Manchester United: -142
Draw: +250
Liverpool: +380

Manchester United vs. Liverpool: With a fourth consecutive title within their grasp, Manchester United can’t afford to drop points at any stage of the season. Their next match-up is against a team that has continued to produce inconsistent results, despite the fact that Fernando Torres is now fully fit. Wayne Rooney is in stellar form, already breaking his previous record for number of goals in a season; his next milestone will be attempting to surpass Cristiano Ronaldo’s 42 goals in a single season.

Liverpool might have moved into the Europa League quarterfinals with a 3-0 victory over Lille, but the Reds could very well miss out on another Champions League berth if they fail to take points at Old Trafford. While it’s hard to tip any team that can’t put together back-to-back wins, the strength of Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard should never be written off.

Check out Sportsbook.com leading up to the weekend for all the latest odds and stats, and be sure to back your favorite Premier League club all the way to the final day.

I’m going to start replying to some of the questions I get via email here on the blog so everyone can see my answers.

First up Rob from the USA asked.

“I am wondering about 5 dimes casino, is it legit, do they payout, are they reputable to play on?”

Well Rob, that’s a well timed question, because we are just about to add 5 Dimes here at OnlineGambling.com as a recommended online sportsbook.

So your answer is yes, I trust  5 Dimes, and they will be featured here at OG soon as a good place to play. But if you’re signing up to play casino games, I’d take a look at this list of online casinos first. If you specifically want to play casino games at a site that also has a good sportsbook, I’d probably choose Bodog as their casino is excellent and they often run bonus promos related to sports events that are actually worth playing. It’s where I usually play if I feel like playing casino games. Hope that helps.

Question #2 came from Pennie

“I haven’t gambled online in years and now I want to deposit into casinos and play Roulette. But the Casinos I’ve checked out want to tie up my money so I can’t even cash out my own deposit or winnings! I’ve spent the whole day searching for a Casino that will allow me to cash out when I want to and I can’t find one. Can any one here help me?  Can you name a couple good Casinos for me?”

This is a common question. If you’re like me, you probably don’t care too much about bonuses and the terms and conditions that sometimes come with accepting them. At some sites they give you a bonus to lock your money up until you clear a certain amount of playthrough or earn rewards points. Never fear though as this is easily fixed. All you have to do is email the support department and request to become a non-bonus player. Then you will be able to deposit and withdraw at will without worrying about earning points or playthrough. It also helps to use an e-wallet to deposit, as it usually makes withdrawals much easier.

Once again Bodog is a good choice as they run their bonuses differently to most casinos and have a great support department.  You shouldn’t have problem with clearing bonuses there.

Hope that helps Pennie!

I’d just like to add a footnote to that last answer. We can’t look at the casinos as bad guys for adding these terms to their bonuses – they are giving away free money after all, so have the right to determine how it is given away. All the rules that are in place with bonuses these days never used to exist back in the early days of online casinos. Bonuses used to be just like the free drinks at the tables in Vegas – given to anyone playing ! But over time players got greedy and started abusing the bonuses and casinos had to become a lot more savvy about how & when they give their money away. If you look really closely at T&Cs you might sometimes see that residents of certain countries are excluded from bonus offers (like Denmark).  This is because they became so good at manipulating the terms and conditions to obtain bonus money with little risk that the casinos gave up and stopped offering them free money!

Send me some more questions to ed @ onlinegambling.com. I like answering them – it makes me feel useful… lol

You can also friend me on Facebook now if you like. I finally gave in and set up a profile. But I need some friends!

UFC Live on Sunday March 21st will be of interest to avid MMA bettors, as Sportsbook.com is offering odds.

The main event of UFC Live will be a fight between Jon Jones and Brandon Vera, and Sportbook.com has it at -240 Jones to +190 Vera. Both are coming off of unfortunate losses – Jones by DQ and Vera thanks to a close decision that didn’t go his way. Jones is an up-and-coming prospect who has shown a lot of talent, and Vera is really just a stepping-stone to the upper echelons of the light heavyweight division. It is possible that Vera could show us all signs of his early career dominance, but it is far more likely that Jones will be continuing his rise to the top after a short pause to decision Brandon Vera along the way.

Another major match up is Junior Dos Santos v Gabriel Gonzaga, which is -290 JDS to +230 Gonzaga at Sportsbook.com. Dos Santos has yet to lose a fight in the UFC, but Gonzaga presents him with an interesting challenge. Lately, Dos Santos has mostly been fighting striking specialists, with wins over Cro Cop and Gilbert Yvel. However, Gonzaga is an incredible BJJ player, as well as a striker of some talent (he’s best known for KOing Cro Cop with a left head kick). This could cause Dos Santos some problems if the fight goes to the ground or if his striking gets sloppy. Gonzaga has proven he’s no world-beater in MMA, though, so the likely outcome is a JDS victory. This will probably be followed by a match with the loser of Mir/Carwin, as it’s about time Dos Santos really started vying for title contention.

Finally, let’s talk about Cheick Kongo v Paul Buentello. Sportsbook.com has the fight -575 Kongo to +375 Buentello, which would make you think this is going to be a stomp match. I can’t agree, as Buentello just isn’t that bad, and Kongo just isn’t that good. I do think Kongo will win, but I doubt he’ll do it dominantly, and he’ll be in danger first before he can stop Buentello.

If you would like to bet on UFC Live on Sunday March 21st at these odds, then sign up for a Sportsbook.com account and take advantage of the 10% first deposit bonus on offer to new players.