David B. Watkins was arrested Thursday after police raided his home in Spokane, Washington. Officials believe that Watkins operates FantasyThunder.com and that half of the site’s revenue from gamblers goes to him.

According to the police, Watkins would make the gamblers bet on a team of NASCAR drivers. He allegedly then pocketed half of the money the gamblers spent, while the other half goes to winners. Suspicions arose when some of the gamblers who won complained about not being paid.

According to Steve Schwartz, a gaming analyst, fantasy sports leagues should have all of the money collected put into the prize pool so that the operation can run legally. Therefore, Watkins pocketing half of the money earned from bets makes operation illegal.

Investigation is still ongoing and the police have reason to believe that the site has been operating since the last ten years. Fantasy sports gambling has seldom been investigated by law enforcement, let alone arrested.

If convicted, Watkins will face up to five years of imprisonment. The Washington police has already charged him with professional gambling. Gamblers were notified that the site had run out of cash and that was the reason why they were not paid.

Owners made a vote Tuesday that would alter the overtime rules of the games. In the old rule, the winner of the coin toss wins the structure. But in the new rule, both teams will be able to get the chance to get the ball at least once in the event of an overtime.

The change in rules may affect the betting pattern in the game next season. Betting lines may be adjusted upwards a little bit to give way for extra possessions during an overtime

The overtime rule imposed by the NFL over the years has been a subject of heavy criticisms. As the accuracy of the kicker gets better and better, it is always expected that the team who will get the possession first will almost surely win most of the overtime games.

The team which has the possession of the ball also has the advantage of having the kick-offs move back. Returners are given a good starting field position with this.

The vote on Tuesday was not unanimous but the number of team owners who voted for the new rule was enough to implement. Players on the field also have mixed reactions on the new rule, with some even hoping for more changes.

England was a good draw for the US when the teams and pairings were announced several months ago. In the months since, however, England has lost two premiere players to injury. The latest injury was to former England star David Beckham.

While on the surface it does not look as though the Beckham injury will vastly alter England’s chances, it is little things Beckham brings that may be missed.

Beckham is considered to be one of the best in the world at free kicks and corners. England would have had the luxury of having Beckham in position to take those kicks late in games, but now they will need to find a replacement.

Beckham tore his left Achilles tendon this past weekend. England’s coach, Fabio Capello has downplayed the significance of the injury, but clearly there will be an affect.

Another player that may have been lost over the weekend was defender Wes Brown. Brown injured his foot in a match Saturday while playing for Manchester United. He will know late Monday the severity of that injury, and whether it will ruin his chances of playing for England this summer.

Representative Harry Moberly wants to install electronic gambling machines in horse racetracks. He may already have the support but it is not enough to push through with the bill.

Senator Damon Thayer is more ambitious in his plans to totally amend the current laws governing gambling. Just like Rep. Moberly, Sen. Thayer also wants slot machines at horse racing venues, but he just could not get the support he needs.

Governor Steve Beshear is also a proponent of gambling in his state, but lawmakers do not have much time. All legislations should be passed within three weeks and if they ever will, there is also not much time in debating about it.

Racetracks in Kentucky have been producing less and less revenue over the last few years. The state lawmakers are hopeful that with the installation of slot machines, the state’s income from horse racing can significantly increase.

Having the games held in Vancouver, there would be more Canadian hockey fans cheering and betting for their team to bring home the gold. The team will not allow themselves to fail their countrymen.

During the first few days of the games, Team Canada was a little sluggish and fans seemed to have lost hope when they were defeated by Team USA in a preliminary match up. The home team, however, has regained momentum in the medal round.’

To be able to get to the final match, Canada crushed Germany, Russia and Slovakia along the way. The US is now the only team blocking their way to the much coveted gold medal.

Team USA has exhibited exemplary game play through all of its matches. Sports analysts were even expecting Canada to win during their first clash but the scoreboard went the other way around. Just like Canada, the US is also very confident to take home the gold.

Last Friday, the US team defeated Finland which was the silver medallist during 2006 Torino Olympics. They dismantled the Finns early in the game by scoring six goals during the first period.

The amendment proposal aimed to get betting to approved locations in cities or counties. However, all hopes were shattered when lawmakers broke off the plan leaving the industry scrambling to find more options for them to just in this current economic turmoil.

Critics of the proposal say that the idea of widening the betting options would not help the horse racing industry at all. They even say that horse racing would just deepen the society’s problem in gambling addiction.

Supporters of the proposed additional betting options, on the other hand, say that races would not be able to survive if the industry owners would only depend on track bets. Attendance on race tracks all across the country has fallen continuously recently.

Kentucky is already in the move to submit a bill that would add slot machines on the horse race tracks. It is still tough road, however, since most lawmakers are not in favor of the bill although Governor Steve Beshear has been pushing for the bill to push through.

States affected by the recession have been looking at other options to boost their revenue. Casinos are now being built everywhere in even those states that already had casinos to expand income generation.

The latest figure of bets that came from Nevada alone totalled to more than $82 million. Outside the state and outside the country, hundred million dollars more was wagered on Sunday’s biggest sporting event.

Some analysts believe that NFL has to deal with the idea that sports betting really exists for their games. Several states have started to think of ways to boost their economic system and gambling could be a good option.

The NFL lost a hard fought battle with Delaware when it legalized sports betting. They might be probably doing the same once New Jersey starts the legalization process of their own sports betting.

The NFL as its policy does not condone any type of gambling related to any of its teams.

The NBA has somehow softened its stance on gambling when it held an All-Star game in Las Vegas two years ago. Even the NBA Commissioner David Stern has said once that the league could probably support legal gambling soon.

The football league has to realize that even with the current economic crisis, people still managed to wager millions of dollars on their favorite sport.

Every year, more and more people are spending more and more money on gambling for the Super Bowl. A new record is almost set each year for the amount wagered on what is considered the biggest annual sports event in the United States.

There will surely be winners and losers on Sunday night. Winners may rejoice but losers will definitely feel the pain by Monday morning, which raises concern on gambling addiction.

The number of people who undergo treatment for gambling addiction has continuously increased over the years. Sunday’s Super Bowl will definitely enhance these people’s addiction considering the amount of money they are potentially going to win.

There will definitely be people who would lose control while betting. Fortunately, there are treatment centers who would warmly welcome them.

The Denver Nuggets has been a favorite team among basketball analysts. They made it to the finals last season and experts are saying that with Chauncey Billups under its wings, they may be able to make it this season.

The Nuggets have already been exceeding expectations of late. They have become the most favored team in the West. Even without Carmelo Anthony, the team still continued its winning streak last week.

Another team to watch out for is the Memphis Grizzlies. The team traded Pau Gasol to Lakers some time ago and that enraged analysts. The Grizzlies now, however, are one of the youngest teams in the league that continue to surprise fans and experts alike.

The Atlanta Hawks are also making waves in the East considering the team is just second bets next to the Cavaliers. The Orlando Magic is also showing a better play last week while the Boston Celtics may not make it at all.

The Cavaliers’ management was trying to search for people who could surround Lebron James and make good play. They made a gamble with Shaquille O’Neal and that seems to have paid off.

It did not start out right for the Cavaliers. The Los Angeles Lakers were making heads spin off by taking the early lead after winning the NBA championship last year.

However, the tides seemed to have changed during the past month as Lebron’s team are gearing up for their best season ever. They just passed Lakers’ best record last Sunday.

Kobe Bryant may still have the upper hand when it comes to good players around him, but Lebron looks more dominant this season than ever before. Take note that Bryant just had injuries.

Some teams still have the stake to become winners in this year’s NBA championship. These teams include Boston, Dallas, Denver, Orlando, and San Antonio. Among them, the Spurs and the Nuggets have the biggest chance to beat the Lakers in the West.

Cleveland though is going through an easy path as the Boston Celtics are a little bit weary during their past games and the Orlando Magic seems to have a similar play.