Sports Betting
If you have a friend that's a sports "bookie", be nice to him because he may be looking for a different line of work very soon. The United States Supreme Court has recently struck down an act (the PASPA Act) that suppressed and tightly controlled sports betting, so now it will be quite easy to place a bet on any single sporting event anywhere in America, legally. Over 18 states have already introduced legislation to legalize sports wagering and you know it's only a matter of time before the flood gates open and you can lay a wager on anything, anytime, anywhere. You can bet on it! (Pun intended)
Canadians will soon be crossing the longest undefended border in the world to place their hard-earned money, and lots of it, on bets on baseball, hockey, basketball, golf, football, boxing and plenty more. This won't be a death blow to places such as Las Vegas and Atlantic City but it will definitely put a dent in their bottom line, as it will to organized crime, and you know they won't be happy campers. (Then again, some of you won't have to worry about "Knuckles" coming around to collect your contribution for the Boss).
This is not good news for the Canadian government. If they can't see the billions of "future" dollars that will annually be flying out of this country, then they're either very stupid or naive or both, likely both. The CGA (Canadian Gaming Association) estimates that approximately $14 billion is illegally wagered every year in Canada through bookmakers while only $500 million is wagered through legal provincial sports lotteries... mainly thanks to yours truly. That's a hell of a lot of tax money not going to our provincial and national governments' coffers, not to mention the huge economic spin offs (the thousands of jobs) that this industry could and does create. It's a no-brainer but don't expect our visionary elected officials to lead the charge.
Our federal government had better get off their butts quickly and allow the nine provinces with casinos to legalize sports betting, something they have begged for over many years but to no avail. Bills in the past dealing with this exact issue have been introduced into the House of Commons but it has never made its way through the Senate or to the GG, dying on the House or Senate floor each time.
I'm sure every government thinks that if they pass legislation legalizing sports wagering that somehow the devil will surely show up and everyone who gambles will end up in his place down south. (I'm going there anyhow, so it really doesn't matter to me).
Since millions of Canadians spend billions of dollars every year, why not make the simple effort to keep a lot of that money at home where it could do so much good in so many ways.
Stanley Cup
What we have here is one of the most unlikely scenarios that the NHL could have possibly dreamed up eight months ago, pitting a perennial loser (Washington, a team that has always had so much promise but has never won Lord Stanley's mug) versus an expansion franchise (Las Vegas, who under normal circumstances wouldn't be close to even making the playoffs).
Nevertheless, it will be a great series, they always are, so even though they got off to a rough start, take the Capitals over the Golden Knights in six. Even though Commissioner Gary Bettman is putting on a happy face and saying all the right things in front of the TV cameras, behind the scenes the league and the owners are fuming inside, stunned at how they allowed an expansion franchise to steal all their glory. I guarantee you it won't happen again, are you listening Seattle?
Oilers doubleheader on Sunday at home, Souris & Wawanesa.
