Daily Archives: February 1, 2022

Denise Coates betting company, Bet365, disbursed 480,000,000 in levies last year and again topped the list of Britains highest taxpayers. Peter and Fred Done of the BetFred empire came fifth.

You shouldnt be impressed; be angry. These are the spoils of one of our most damaging, swaggering, sordidly profiteering industries.

People are hurting, people are ensnared, people are dying because they are caught in the cycle of gambling addiction. Successive governments merely tinker with regulations because they do not want to weaken the cash cows. Profits come before human well-being every time.

I hear reports that the NHS will no longer accept donations for addiction clinics from gambling businesses. Good. But why was this money ever accepted? We know why.

In 2016 Fintan Drury, chairman of Paddy Power between 2002 and 2008, spoke out about the cosy relationship between gambling companies that was unchecked by any moral code. He also said that this was because the British governments desire to boost Treasury coffers override[s] consideration of acute social ills.

Another excited Paddy Power boss, Stewart Kenny, now a psychotherapist, has misgivings about the damage caused by the products he sold. I say to these apostates: Its too bloody late. If I seem unforgiving, its because I am.

Before I was born, my father was a compulsive gambler. His debts devastated the family. One night he went into City Bar in Kampala, Uganda, and left his toddler son and daughter in the car to play Blackjack. My frantic mum walked to the bar and shouted. Papa, never previously violent, broke her little finger. It stayed bent. That made him stop.

Millions of Britons will relate to this story. According to the Gambling Commission, punters annually spend around 14.5 billion on gambling, much of it now online. More than 340,000 Britons are seriously hooked and children are impacted too.

In 2013, when they were deregulated, TV gambling adverts increased by 600 per cent in the space of a year. Many of these still appear during live football broadcasts. According to the BBC, there has been a 114 per cent rise in gambling-related hospital cases since 2014.

Tony Blair facilitated this social disaster. He and Tessa Jowell liberalised the laws and here we are. Does he show remorse? Jowell did, but not him, not ever.

Hundred of suicides are related to gambling problems. My colleague Ian Birrell has written movingly about victims, among them Phil Stretton, 20, Aaron Sluman and Joshua Jones both 23, Jack Ritchie 24, Ryan Myers, 27, Kimberly Wadsworth 32, Lewis Keogh and Daniel Clinkscales both 35. After Jack Ritchie died, his parents Charles and Liz founded Gambling with Lives to share grief and stop the evil. They are like those protestors in Tiananmen Square, small and helpless as the tanks roll on.

Most addicts are male, but the number of compulsive, secret female gamblers is rising. Experts believe almost a million of them are in that dark place. It was reported that Reality TV star Scarlett Moffatts mother and manager, Betty, stole 50,000 from her daughter to fund the habit; Beauty blogger Abbey Little bet once for fun, was besieged by online adverts, lost 5000 and took an overdose. Since the lockdown, she fears says it has got out of hand.

One reader emailed this week: My husband, he lost all our savings putting money on horses. It was terrible. He died in 2014. My twin girls 19, are now gambling online using my cards. I cant live like this again. How can this be happening?

How indeed. Its a question Ms Coates et al and Rishi Sunak will never answer, because they have the power.

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The government will never act on gambling addiction, betting firms are their favourite cash cow - iNews

Sports betting is a giant industry, with more than $92 billion wagered since the Supreme Court ruled in May 2018 that states could allow it. Thats why, if youve watched any NFL games on television this year, youve seen almost as many commercials for online betting sites as for beer and trucks.

Lets get one thing straight at the outset, though: Betting on the Super Bowl at those sites (or on any other sports played by humans not on horseback at a licensed racetrack) is illegal in California. Even if its legal in your home state, if you come to Los Angeles for Super Bowl LVI, you cannot place a legal bet on the game at a licensed U.S. sports book while youre here.

For many Californians, however, legal restrictions are merely a speed bump. An unpublished study in 2019 estimated that Californians were making $15.7 billion in sports bets, whether with friends, bookies or offshore sites.

Hence the countless commercials touting betting sites, along with the chatter on TV and radio about point spreads and favorites.

According to the California attorney generals office, state law generally prohibits wagering on the outcomes of contests between animals and/or people (including sporting events). The only exceptions are for the state lottery and licensed card rooms, tribal casinos and horse races.

You will note here that the prohibition is on outcomes of contests. Thats one reason fantasy teams and drafts the purview of companies such as Fan Duel and Draft Kings can legally take money from people in California, even though the games they offer involve wagering. (The companies also argue that fantasy contests are games of skill, not chance, and some researchers and state legislatures agree.)

California state law is probably the broadest in the country when it comes to restricting gambling, said I. Nelson Rose, a gambling law scholar and emeritus professor at Whittier College. It makes it a crime a misdemeanor to accept, record or even make a bet on a sports event. Obviously, nobody ever gets arrested for making bets on sports events. But its clearly against the law.

Federal laws, such as the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and the Illegal Gambling Business Act, bar gaming sites from operating in states that prohibit gambling. In 2011 and 2012, federal prosecutors brought charges against four major foreign online poker sites, successfully prosecuting a number of their executives. Three of the companies remain in business, although they have stayed out of states where online poker isnt legal.

The Supreme Courts 2018 ruling shifted the tide dramatically, and now 30 states have at least some kinds of legal sports betting within their borders. In California, however, legislation to create a regulated online gambling industry has been stalled amid tussling by the states card rooms, its tribes, sports leagues and Nevada casinos over what to allow and where to allow it. California voters are likely to see one or more initiatives on that subject this November sponsored by various special interests.

The 2018 ruling also has drawn some of Las Vegas most famous casino operators into the online sports betting business. Yet Rose said they still have to abide by the federal Wire Act, a law enacted to help then-Atty. Gen. Robert Kennedy crack down on organized crimes gambling operations. The Wire Act prohibits the use of phone or telegraph lines to convey sports bets or betting information across state lines, regardless of whether wagering is legal.

As a consequence, companies such as Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts had to set up separate sports betting sites in each state where sports betting is legal, and then take bets only from people in those states. If youre a California resident and you try to place a bet at one of those casinos sites, you wont be immediately shown the pages where you can bet on games. Instead, Caesars will invite you to bet on fantasy sports, and MGM will suggest that you travel to a nearby state where betting is lawful.

It doesnt take a wizard at online search, though, to find places online that will gladly take a Californians wagers. These are foreign sites, often based in Latin America or the Caribbean, and they contend that California law doesnt apply to them. They accept cryptocurrencies, which are exchanged anonymously, and at least some of them even take credit card payments from Californians, which federal law would seem to prohibit.

Jeff Ifrah, a gambling law expert who leads a trade association for regulated online gaming companies, doesnt buy the argument that offshore sites can legally take sports bets from Californians. The feds, of course, still have the authority to go after offshore sports betting, Ifrah said.

Stephen M. Hart, an attorney in Phoenix who specializes in gaming law, said the key factor isnt where the sports books servers are its where the bets are placed. As long as the bets being placed here in California, California has jurisdiction, Hart said. A states authority does not stop at the border, when gaming occurs in the state.

Federal court rulings back that up. For example, Rose pointed to a 2018 ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals holding that a tribal reservations online bingo game violated the federal Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act when it accepted bets from players within the states jurisdiction.

Offshore sports books may be counting on the insulation of distance to protect them from prosecution. Practically speaking, Hart said, it is very difficult for California law enforcement officers to travel around the world enforcing the law.

But if you place bets there, Ifrah warned, your bet or wager may be unsafe because its being placed with an operator thats acting illegally and is unregulated.

Thats the main issue for bettors when they send their money offshore. If there should be a problem with their account or their bets with winnings not being recorded, funds vanishing or terms not being honored theres no authority that can help them. Theres nowhere to go, other than a media forum or a complaint center, Ifrah said.

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Don't bet on it. Wagering on the Super Bowl is illegal in California - Los Angeles Times

I am in touch with an FX trader in the UK. He trades on different FX markets. I invested 15,000 with him, on which he pays me a monthly 3 per cent return. So each month I get approximately 420 paid into my bank account. Sometimes its a bit more thats an approximate figure.

This comes under the spread-betting sphere he assures me from which income generated is not taxable in the UK or Ireland.

I started doing this six months ago. I am wondering are there any other tax implications for this income, or can I just keep on reviewing?

Mr D.L., email

Trading currencies can be a volatile business; spread betting only increases that volatility risk. It does sound like that is what your UK-based trader is up to. I hope you know what youre doing. And I certainly hope you have placed a stop to limit losses should your traders bets turn sour.

Basically, in spread-betting you are gambling on the future price direction of the underlying asset. In the case of foreign exchange trading, your trader is betting that one currency will strengthen (or weaken) compared to another currency. If you think itll weaken, you go short; if your view is that it will strengthen, you go long.

You bet a certain amount on each point that a bet moves in either direction. If you bet 5 a point long on the dollar against sterling and the dollar advances against the British currency, you win. But, if sterling firms relative to the dollar, you are out of the money and it could prove costly.

For currencies, which I gather are generally quoted out to four decimal places, the point is that fourth decimal place.

So if, for example, the dollar is trading at $1.3401 against sterling when you buy and moves to $1.3521 when you close the bet, your 5/point bet has made you 600 (5 x 120 points).

Of course, if the dollar weakens to, say, $1.3240, you will be on the hook for 805 (5 x 161) and if you dont close the bet those losses could keep mounting.

The real peril in spread-betting is margin. You only have to put up a fraction of the potential stake on the bet. Thats makes it very accessible for investors with modest stakes. But it means that both winnings and losses can be magnified.

Thats fine on the winnings side but if the bet runs against you, the potential loss is open-ended unless you have placed an instruction to close the bet and accept your losses at a certain financial point. With spread-betting, chasing losses in the hope a bet will come good is generally a one-way ticket to the poorhouse.

But what about the tax?

This is one of the major attractions of spread betting. In both Britain and Ireland, spread betting is not subject either to capital gains tax or, with one significant caveat, to income tax.

The exemption to capital gains tax (CGT) is fairly logical. CGT is assessed on gains from the sale of physical assets, but with a spread bet, you never actually own anything: youre simply betting on the movement of an underlying asset.

Its not beyond governments to change their view on this as budgetary needs or a view on the proliferation of such untaxed income emerges but it would need legislation so there would be plenty of advance warning. And theres absolutely no suggestion of anything like that at the moment.

On the income tax side, betting wins generally are not seen as subject to taxation. This applies to lotteries and sports betting, and the same principles apply to spread betting.

But, its not entirely a blank cheque. The issue is whether the betting (and winnings) are incidental, or whether they can be seen as part of your trade. If the latter, then yes, the Revenue Commissioners would argue, they are taxable.

The real question is, if this activity forms a regular part of your activity, how do you determine whether its a trade? Revenue says it looks at it on a case-by-case basis; legal analysts think it would need to be very much part of your working business for Revenue to be able to enforce taxation if challenged.

Id imagine Revenue will look both at what share of your income is accounted for by spread-betting earnings and also what other employment earnings you have and in what type of business.

The bottom line is that, in your case, I doubt Revenue will consider these winnings taxable.

The flip side, of course, is that if you get a losing bet, you cannot offset those losses against other taxable gains under CGT rules in the same way that you could if you owned and sold a physical asset, such as a share, at a loss.

To be perfectly honest, my view is that if you did not have a very clear understanding on spread betting including the tax implications then you probably shouldnt be playing that game, but thats your call.

Please send your queries to Dominic Coyle, Q&A, The Irish Times, 24-28 Tara Street, Dublin 2, or by email to dcoyle@irishtimes.com. This column is a reader service and is not intended to replace professional advice.

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Gambling is a winner on taxes but the losses can hit you hard - The Irish Times

The National Football League is nearing $2 billion in partnership fees, the most in professional sports.

Agreements from betting firms and technology companies helped the NFL lure a record $1.8 billion in sponsorship revenue, sports partnerships consultancy firm IEG told CNBC. The NFL's figure is a 12% increase year-over-year from $1.62 billion it made in the 2020 season. It pulled $1.47 billion from sponsorships in the 2019 season.

Sports gambling companies, casinos and lotteries saw the most significant spike in NFL sponsorship agreements. DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars became sportsbook partners in 2021 after the companies struck five-year pacts worth just under $1 billion combined. The NFL also landed secondary deals with BetMGM, WynnBET, Fox Bet and PointsBet.

Partnership deals with the NFL usually run from three to seven years and cost a minimum of $10 million per year for smaller companies. More prominent firms could pay more than $200 million per year.

FanDuel app

Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Verizon has one of the more prominent NFL deals and paid the league over $300 million annually. In September, the communications company agreed to a new 10-year deal with the NFL and added 5G rights. But the new deal doesn't include live streams of games, which makes it less valuable. That also means the NFL's mobile rights are also up for grabs.

IEG's estimates come days after the NFL produced one of its most memorable playoff weekends, which included the thrilling overtime game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills. That game attracted over 42 million viewers, the highest divisional postseason game since 2017.

"It's not coming from traditional places," said Peter Laatz, IEG's global managing director. "It's coming from emerging categories. Not only are we seeing emerging talent on the field; we're seeing emerging categories."

Although gambling sponsorships saw the biggest increase in the NFL's 2021 season, tech deals ranked first in absolute dollar figures for 2021, led by Microsoft. The tech giant has an on-the-field deal with the league, which uses Microsoft's Surface tablet. That agreement is worth roughly $100 million per year, according to IEG data.

Gambling deals ranked second, and alcoholic beverage deals ranked third.

In December, the NFL renewed its deal with Anheuser-Busch, which pays the NFL more than $250 million per year for beer and hard seltzer rights. The company lost control of hard alcohol rights, which Diageo took over for a reported $30 million per year.

The NFL put its wine and champagne rights up for auction but has yet to strike a partnership for that category.

"They've cut those categories (tech and alcohol) pretty fine," said Laatz, calling the NFL's sponsorship money a "runway revenue train." He then projected the NFL would endure a "finer cutting of categories" in the future to grow deals in the U.S.

Although the NFL's total sponsorship revenue increased significantly, the bulk of that growth went to league-wide sponsorships, which grew 23%. NFL clubs took in only 4% additional revenue in rights fees year-over-year.

To grow revenue streams for clubs, the NFL is taking a page from the National Basketball Association's playbook and allowing teams to leverage international markets. Last month, the NFL permitted 18 teams to market their intellectual property in 26 territories, including Canada, Germany, Mexico and the United Kingdom.

But it could be a while before teams see real traction in that department.

There's no doubt the NFL is dominant domestically, but American football isn't a big draw overseas like the NBA. In addition, Canada and Australia already have established football leagues, so the NFL has serious competition.

Laatz said he's "skeptical" of the NFL's overseas plan, which the league labeled the "International Home Marketing Areas." The NFL has tried to grow its product in London with its annual games, and Germany has shown interest in the NFL.

But those sporadic overseas games may not be enough to vault the NFL into international prominence like the NBA.

"There's a big difference between playing games internationally, which the NFL has clearly done, and having a prominent NFL footprint to grow the sport overseas," Laatz said.

Still, to get a sense of the value a U.S.-based sports club can earn from international deals: The Golden State Warriors one of the most popular NBA teams abroad agreed to a multiyear global rights sponsorship with crypto platform FTX for roughly $10 million total.

Laatz believes NFL teams' deals could be even more lucrative.

A Bitcoin symbol on an advertisement at Mass Transit Railway station in Hong Kong, China, on Oct. 27, 2021.

Tyrone Siu | Reuters

Meanwhile, the NFL is taking a wait-and-see approach toward deals in the cryptocurrency space.

In October, at the NFL's owner meetings in New York, officials told CNBC that crypto-related deals are still being examined. Laatz called it the "sideline model" as in, the NFL waits to see how other institutions maneuver.

"They're careful about not getting into speculative arrangements that can cause backtracking," said Laatz.

While the NFL stalls on crypto deals, companies are pouring millions into the NBA.

In addition to the FTX-Warriors deal, crypto platform Coinbase agreed to a $192 million deal over four years with the NBA. On the team level, the Los Angeles Lakers landed a $700 million naming rights deal with Crypto.com. And the Portland Trail Blazers landed the NBA's first crypto jersey patch deal.

Outside basketball, Major League Baseball added a crypto patch agreement for its umpires, and individual NFL players like Tom Brady are also striking crypto deals.

But Laatz says the delay won't really matter, given the NFL's ample revenue growth. "The thing they are leaving on the table right now is risk."

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Tech, gambling and alcohol helped the NFL earn almost $2 billion in sponsorships this season - CNBC

A gambling addict has described the moment she won 127,000 as the worst day of her life a move that led her down a path of debt, destruction and homelessness.

Lisa Walker, 48, from Essex said her addiction, which started with a poker tournament win, eventually led to bankruptcy, even losing her family home in the process.

The Peer Aid support worker has issued a message to others on the serious dangers of betting as Gamble Aware today release a new campaign on harms prevention for women.

Lisa was first introduced to gambling when her dad and grandad played cards together, but back then she would bet no more than 50p.

Is this an issue you want to warn others about? Get in touch: mirror.money.saving@mirror.co.uk

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Even as a child, she remembers the rush she got from winning something as little as 1. Once she turned 18 and it was legal for her to enter casinos, Lisa's habit escalated drastically.

A big win in February 2001 became the start of a nightmare that would last two decades.

Aged 29 at the time, Lisa won a jackpot of 127,000 at Rendezvous casino and she describes it as the "worst day of my life".

"My heart was pumping in my chest and all I could think about was how in a couple of minutes every single person in this casino was going to know that I had won that jackpot," she told Jam Press.

"As the dealer slowly unveiled players cards, he got to mine and slowly revealed the royal flush.

"In a flash, alarms went off, people were screaming, the casino manager ran up to me telling me theyd have to check the cameras right away, and random strangers were running up to me congratulating me.

It was the worst day of my life.

"What should have been the best day of my life, some 20 years ago, led to a journey of despair, hopelessness, and having an awful, awful gambling addiction.

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Lisa became mesmerised by the atmosphere in casinos, overwhelmed by the tables and the bright lights, the smartly-dressed people and, thanks to the clever design of these spaces, the fact she couldn't tell what time of day it was.

Her newly-pocketed winnings enabled her to gamble much more frequently, typically four to five times a week.

She said: I became reckless with money.

On nights where I would usually only take 50 to a casino, I took 100, 200 or 500.

"With that came greater hours spent gambling, which I reckon was in the region of around 8-10 hours each day.

"Whether that was in the casinos, the dog tracks, betting shops, anywhere.

"I truly loved it. I loved the buzz it used to give me, but naturally with them came the crushing lows.

"Thats what it means to be a compulsive gambler, being truly unable to stop.

Even if I had won a 1million that night, it wouldnt have mattered because one way or another, every single pound would have gone back to gambling.

Lisa estimates that she has lost up to half a million pounds over the past two decades.

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She said: Throughout the years, given my wins and losses, I would say that Ive lost over 400,000-500,000.

"This would be from both losing the large win but also from gambling away the money that I got from re-mortgaging my house, not just once but three times, to continue to have the money to gamble and spent every single penny I had towards gambling.

The dangerous habit eventually left Lisa in sizeable debt so severe that she was forced to declare bankruptcy and sell off her house to pay it off.

She had previously sold her home but the sale didnt cover her debts, leaving her account still in the red.

She said: It's extremely difficult to think about it right now, and to think about all the things I could have had, whether that was my own little house, being debt free, being mortgage-free by the age of 30.

"But I didnt, and instead I chose this life of self-destruction.

"It was hell, well and truly, hell on earth.

Gambling also affected the support worker's health, as she struggled to sleep most nights, lying awake wondering where she was going to get more money to gamble with.

And her relationships suffered, too.

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Lisa said: It also resulted in the breakdown of a marriage and ultimately resulted in my children and I being forced to move into a hostel for a period of time.

It wasnt until her wedding night in 2018 to her third (and current) husband, Garry, that Lisa realised she desperately needed help.

She said: We had decided to have our wedding in Las Vegas and despite 15 of my closest family friends flying over to enjoy the wedding with both me and my husband, I spent the entire night playing the slots till 6am not leaving for a moment to enjoy their company or to enjoy the celebration.

It was when we returned from Las Vegas that I finally made the conscious effort to reach out and to get help from a close friend from someone that I knew at Gamblers Anonymous.

Lisa is one of 50,000 women who have now registered to self-exclude from all online gambling sites through GAMSTOP, a free tool for people living in the UK.

Since the pandemic struck, the proportion of women self-excluding through the service has been rising; in March, 26% of all registrants to GAMSTOP were women, which has risen to 31% by September.

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According to Gamcare, the number of women reporting gambling problems is increasing at double the rate of men, but only 1% of women who experience gambling related harm contact the National Gambling Helpline.

Lisa is sharing her story to raise awareness of the life-altering impact of a gambling addiction and to stop it being seen as such a taboo.

She said: No one ever confronted me about my money problems during my addiction.

"Problem gambling is a very easily-hidden addiction, unlike drink or drugs.

"Obviously with both of them you have signs to look out for.

Lisa has been in recovery for three-and-a-half years and counsels others who are suffering with similar struggles.

She is also in the process of establishing a women-only group for compulsive gamblers, which she hopes to launch within the coming months.

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Lisa added: What I have found is that women dont feel that they can talk about their addiction, with it often being seen as a male issue.

I have spoken with many women who dont feel they can go to support meetings, and I find it so upsetting that somebody could feel that way, as though they cant even seek help.

I hope things change and if we can increase the visibility of women who are recovering in the media that could make a big difference.

To people starting out, I just say be very, very careful. It is a slippery slope.

"You can control it and you can put it to bed. It is bloody hard work though.

"So if youre struggling, dont struggle alone and reach out."

According to GambleAware, losing track of time, spending more than was affordable and keeping gambling a secret were key warning signs of an unhealthy addiction to betting.

Its own figures show the number of women receiving treatment for gambling has doubled in the past five years, up from 1,134 in 2015/16 to 2,423 in 2020/21, according to data from the National Gambling Treatment Service.

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GambleAware chief executive Zoe Osmond said: "Our research shows women may not be aware they are starting to experience harm from gambling or, may be worried about reaching out for support due to stigma or shame.

"That's why our campaign highlights the warning signs to look out for, so we can support women who gamble and prevent them from developing gambling harms."

Gambling addiction expert and counsellor Liz Karter said: "Gambling behaviours manifest themselves differently in women than men.

"For example, we know the easy availability of online gambling leads many women to games which appear innocent and socially acceptable.

"The games seem safe and familiar, as they are so similar to the free play digital games we are all now used to playing.

"In addition, the hopes of financial gains can prove a powerful motivator.

"While gambling doesn't always lead to harm, it's vital women are aware of early warning signs including losing track of time, incurring increasing debt, or a tendency to hide gambling from others or gambling to forget their problems."

The NHS has an online help page for people worried they may be addicted to gambling.

You can take a test and answer a few questions to work out if your betting habits are under control.

GamCare also offers free information, support and counselling for problem gamblers in the UK.

The National Gambling Helpline is available on 0808 8020 133 and operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

If you live in England or Wales, are aged 16 or over and have complex problems related to gambling, you can also refer yourself to the National Problem Gambling Clinic.

If you live in England or Wales, are aged 13 or over and have complex problems related to gaming, you can refer yourself to the National Centre for Gaming Disorders.

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Gambling addict says winning 127,000 poker jackpot was the 'worst day' of her life - The Mirror

Jason White| Special to the Courier & Press

Lorenzo's Locks: NFL Championship weekend

As Championship gets underway, USA Today's Lorenzo Reyes is locking in the Kansas City Cheifs and Los Angeles Rams.

Lorenzo's Locks, USA TODAY

Last weekend produced a massive amount of drama for sports bettors. All four NFL playoff matchups were decided on the final play, including threefield goals and a knockout touchdown in overtime.

But since NFL conference championships began in 1970, the home team has a record of 69-33 straight up. Since 2013, the home team is 13-3 straight up and 11-5 against the spread.

CHIEFS (-7) vs. Bengals: The Chiefs have gone 11-1 in their last 12 games and appear to be on their way to winning it all. Its easy to root for the Bengals, but this game is going to come down to the lack of pass protection for Joe Burrow. Hes been sacked 61 timesand that number will grow on Sunday. Patrick Mahomes isnt going to throw threeinterceptions, which is what the Bengals needed to win last week against the Titans.

RAMS (-3.5) vs. 49ers: The Rams are firing on all cylinders and have the advantage in all phases of the game. This will come down to quarterback play, and Matthew Stafford has been monumentally better than Jimmy Garoppolo. In his last fourgames, Garoppolo has thrown twotouchdown passes to six interceptions. That level of play wont be nearly enough to advance to the Super Bowl.

Anytime touchdown - JaMarr Chase (+100) - Bengals atChiefs: The Bengals are going to be trailing throughout, so Chase will have plenty of opportunities to score during garbage time.

OVER (5.5) receptions by Travis Kelce (-115) - Bengals atChiefs: The Bengals are vulnerable against the tight end position and Kelce is in an optimal position for massive production.

UNDER (39.5) rushing yards by Deebo Samuel (-115) - 49ers atRams: Samuel is starting to show wear and tear from getting so many weekly touches. Hell have rushing opportunities but fall short on this total.

UNDER (279.5) passing yards by Matthew Stafford (-115) - 49ers atRams: Both teams will look to establish their running games, keeping passing totals below projections.

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The Commish's gambling picks are in for NFL conference championship Sunday - Courier & Press

First of all, do not contemplate if it's your fault that led the child towards gambling. From the day you notice a behavioural shift in your child try to take action immediately. Teach them about the pros and cons of gambling. Tell them when and how gambling will become a major problem and what are the different ways to get out of the addiction.

Parents should always be on the lookout for telltale signs so that the addiction doesn't grow on the child.

"Kids with a problem will talk about gambling, watch gambling shows, and lie about their own gambling.Parents will find scratch lottery tickets in drawers, amongst other things," says Dr. Jeffrey Derevensky, of the Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology at McGill University.

If you are into gambling and want your child to know about it, then teach responsible gambling. Remember, whatever you teach the child stays in the mind for a long time and will be considered the biggest reference.

Do not coerce your child to give up gambling, instead help the child understand what disaster gambling can bring in if it becomes an addiction. Give examples of problem gambling.

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What parents should teach their kids about gambling? - Times of India

MINNEAPOLIS - JANUARY 26: Coach Joe Gibbs of the Washington Redskins is held up by his teammates ... [+] after winning the Super Bowl XXVI against the Buffalo Bills at the Metrodome on January 26, 1992 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Redskins defeated the Bills 37-24. (Photo by Focus on Sport via Getty Images)

Thirty years ago Wednesday, Mark Rypien threw a pair of touchdown passes and the NFL team that played its home games in Washington, D.C. cemented its status as the closest thing professional football had to a dynasty in Pete Rozelles era of parity as it beat the Buffalo Bills, 37-24, in Super Bowl XXVI.

Washingtons win (more on the lack of a nickname shortly) also marked perhaps the first and nowhere near the last time The Simpsons accurately predicted the future.

Lisa the Greek, the first heavily sports-themed episode in the potentially never-ending run of The Simpsons, celebrated its 30th anniversary of its first airing Sunday. Three days before Washington rolled to its third Super Bowl win in 10 years, an estimated 23.2 million people watched Homer and Lisa bond over the latters uncanny ability to correctly pick NFL games.

Lisa, frustrated after Homer declined her invite to go hiking the Sunday after the Super Bowl in favor of going bowling with fellow barfly Barney, initially declined to pick a Super Bowl winner but eventually said Washington if she still loved Homer and Buffalo if she didnt.

After a fitful afternoon and evening of enduring long pregame shows, strange halftime shows and a Duff Bowl (won by Duff Dry because, as Moe puts it, they wanted it more), Homer cheered with relief as Washington won on a last-second touchdown. (As it turns out, in an era of Super Bowl blowouts, The Simpsons could not will into existence a second straight classic finish) The show ended with father and daughter climbing Mt. Springfield the following Sunday.

I find its very well-liked and well-regarded, longtime Simpsons show runner Al Jean said during a phone interview last week. It doesnt have as many lines that people give back to you, like I choo choo choose you or cromulent or embiggens. But every time somebody mentions it, its always like Oh yeah, that was really sweet. They love that show.

The football aspects of Lisa the Greek serve as an affectionate ode to the era that turned Jean and his fellow writers and staffers into big football fans one that helped football emerge as Americas most popular sport for television viewers and gamblers alike while turning Super Bowl Sunday into an unofficial national holiday.

Only viewers of a certain age will get the obvious references to The NFL Today featuring Jimmy the Greek, the first oddsmaker to appear on television, as well as Phyllis George, who had a card catalog entry as Lisa investigated the history of professional football at the Springfield Public Library and understand why Homer sat glued to the couch because getting up might have meant missing the rare display of all the days NFL scores.

You didnt know what the scores were you started watching Headline News to see the scores scroll, Jean said. Now on the Internet, you can find out whats going on at any game at any time. But at that point, it was a lot harder to get a result. It was a very different world.

Settling on Washington and Buffalo as the Super Bowl teams shortly before the episodes air date was another chance for the staff to put its football knowledge to use to a degree, anyway. While it would have been easy to dub in Yeardley Smith, the voice of Lisa Simpson, picking another team or teams if either of her picks lost prior to the Super Bowl, staffers were confident Washington and Buffalo the top seeds in their respective conferences as well as the only two teams to score more than 400 points in 1991 would make the big game.

But while the staff decided Lisa would pick Washington to prove her love for Homer, Jean and many of his co-workers recalling teams such as the Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Colts, Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins and Oakland Raiders, all of whom lost an early Super Bowl before winning one within the first 15 years of the Super Bowl era ended up making friendly wagers on Buffalo, which lost Super Bowl XXV when Scott Norwoods 46-yard field goal sailed just right in the final seconds of a 20-19 loss to the New York Giants.

Alas, that was the first of four straight Super Bowl losses for the Bills, making them a super-sized version of the Minnesota Vikings, who lost four Super Bowls between the 1968 and 1976 seasons. Lisa called Buffalos last two losses as well: In January reruns of Lisa the Greek in 1993 and 1994, Lisa picked the Cowboys.

I dont know why anybody ever picked Buffalo, Jean said with a chuckle. I remember, as a kid, a team would lose, theyd come back and they would win. With Buffalo, youre thinking OK, they lost the first one, now theyll win the second. And they just kept getting worse every year.

(Here we should note Jean said the Bills wouldnt win this year but that Lisa would pick Green Bay over Kansas City. Lets call it a half-correct prediction?)

While the Bills are back in annual Super Bowl contention, much of what aired on Lisa the Greek serves as a time capsule for the NFL and the Super Bowl circa the early 90s.

Washingtons nickname was dropped prior to the 2020 season after decades of protests by Native American groups. After two seasons of going as Washington Football Team, the organization is slated to announce a new nickname next week.

The idea of a three-hour pregame show was mocked on Lisa the Greek, but the Super Bowl 55 pregame show began on CBS last Feb. 7 at 11:30 AM.

And the Super Bowl XXVI halftime show dubbed Winter Magic and paying tribute to the upcoming Winter Olympics on CBS and including a pair of songs performed by Gloria Estefan ended up being the last of the hokey era. With networks looking to hold viewers who left in droves at halftime in 1992 for Foxs live telecast of In Living Color, the Super Bowl XXVII halftime show by Michael Jackson heralded the start of the extravagant concert era. The trailer for this years halftime show was released last week, when the playoff field still consisted of eight teams.

Fewer than two years after Super Bowl XXVI, Fox went from thumbing its nose at the NFL to becoming part of the establishment by outbidding CBS for the rights to NFC games. Fox began airings NFC games in the fall of 1994, when The Simpsons moved from Thursdays to Sundays, where it has remained ever since. For 10 straight seasons from 2009-10 through 2018-19 the seasons highest-rated episode was one airing immediately after an NFC playoff game.

Theres no question The Simpsons ratings success is hugely due to a football lead-in, Jean said.

And in January 1999, seven years after Troy McClures Handle With Care parodied the idea of launching a dud of a new show in the post-Super Bowl slot (heres to your moment in the sun, MacGruder and Loud and Davis Rules), Fox used the window following its second Super Bowl telecast to launch Family Guy, which was followed by a football-themed Simpsons episode, Sunday Cruddy Sunday. Another superstar-packed Simpsons episode Homer And Neds Hail Mary Pass aired immediately after Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005, followed by the premiere of American Dad.

Nothings changed as much over the past 30 years as gambling itself, which has moved from the periphery into the mainstream. With gambling advice available on innumerable websites and on shows broadcast on every sports network, bettors no longer have to make their picks by relying on a Jimmy the Greek type or cartoonish pitchmen touting their impossibly high success rates via 1-800 lines.

In January 1992, when Homer tried convincing Marge gambling was illegal only in 48 states, a mere $50 million was legally bet on Super Bowl XXVI in Nevada. Today, gambling is legalized in 30 states plus Washington D.C. and casinos and sports books are advertising partners with leagues. More than $500 million was legally bet on Super Bowl 55.

They used to talk about it on Monday Night Football they would be very elliptical, though: So some of you are wanting this kick to go over the crossbar, Jean said with another laugh. But now its like Theyre 3 1/2 point favorites. They know. Its just the line is completely blurred.

Theres a lot more to wager on today, too so much so that with the love of his daughter at stake in 2022, Homer would have plenty of prop bets to consider beyond the point spread or a straight-up winner.

I think he would just make the stupidest prop bet like total number of missed two-point attempts or something where theres no possible way you can think about it and calculate it, Jean said. Its just random.

Will the first player to score a touchdown have a name starting with H? Thats the bet he would make and put a lot of money on.

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Lisa The Greek Turns 30: Al Jean On Super Bowl XXVI, Gambling And The First Simpsons Sports Episode - Forbes

The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, Shell and ExxonMobil are among those pursuing high cost oil projects that wont pay off in a 1.8C world

Fossil fuel firms are gambling on global warming going unchecked and the price of oil remaining high, a Carbon Tracker analysis has claimed.

The analysis says that, if the goals of the Paris Agreement are met then many oil exploration projects will not deliver the returns that their investors are expecting.

It names five projects which are particularly dependent on climate failure although report author and former BP geologist Mike Coffin told Climate Home News they were just five of thousands.

They are the expansion of the Lower Fars heavy oil in Kuwait, Shell and ExxonMobils Bosi field in Nigeria, Petrobrass Tupi and ExxonMobil and Equinors Bacalhau projects in Brazil and the Ichalkil Full project in Mexico.

Four of the five are offshore as these projects tend to be larger and therefore more expensive and time-consuming to build. They all require an oil price of above $50 a barrel to break even.

Oil and gas analyst Axel Dalman is the reports lead author. He said: Companies may see high prices as a huge neon sign pointing towards investment in more supply. However, this could become a nightmare scenario if they go ahead with projects which deliver oil around the time that demand starts to decline. Shareholders could face catastrophic levels of value destruction as prices fall.

The report says that the current high oil price of around $90 a barrel will not last as the worlds transition towards clean energy, particularly for vehicles, lowers demand for oil.

In a 1.8C warming scenario, oil demand will peak and then fall rapidly. To maximise their profits, Carbon Tracker said fossil fuel firms should only meet the rising demand with shale projects, which deliver faster.

To limit global warming to the strongest target in the Paris Agreement of 1.5C, the International Energy Agency has said that there is no room for any new oil and gas production (including shale).

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Even if the world reduces oil demand and the projects disappoint investors, Coffin told Climate Home News that many will continue anyway because, with so much money already spent, the remaining costs will be covered by revenue.

Of the five projects, the most expensive is state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporations Lower Fars project, at $7.5 billion. Its part of the huge onshore Ratqa field in the north of Kuwait.

To make 10% returns on their investments, the default rate of industry analyst Rystad, the project needs the price of oil to be in the high $50s. That means a huge demand for oil, incompatible with the world meeting its climate targets.

Chatham House Gulf analyst Glada Lahn told Climate Home News: Projects like this gamble on a desperate world in which oil may trade for higher prices as hope of reining in climate change is lost. No sensible investor should be banking on a future for heavy oil.

This project is particularly horrendous from an environmental as well as economic perspective, she said, because it requires high levels of energy and water to get the oil out of the ground and to turn it to a liquid so that it can be transported.

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Kuwait is a member of the oil-producing countries club OPEC, which does not expect oil demand to peak until the late 2030s. This is why development in oil production is going on, said Aisha Al-Sarihi, research fellow at the National University of Singapore who has worked on climate policy in several Gulf countries.

The emirate has a target of producing 4m barrels of crude oil a day by 2040, up from 2.4m in 2020.

Kuwait has what claims to be the worlds first sovereign wealth fund, which invests oil wealth in a range of international sectors to enable future generations to face the uncertainties ahead with greater confidence.

Now it urgently needs to invest in transition domestically, said Lahn. That $7.5bn could far more beneficially be spent on efficiency and climate resilience.

Kuwait has suffered increasingly from heatwaves, water shortages, dust storms, sand storms and rising sea levels. According to its governments latest climate plan, these are all made worse by climate change.

Al-Sarihi said Kuwait should use its oil revenues to invest in economic diversification, renewables and hydrogen. If the returns on the Lower Fars project are low, Kuwaiti people will suffer as the government will have less oil revenue to spend, she said.

But, according to Chukwumerije Okereke, a Nigerian professor in environment and development at Reading University, fossil fuel firms pulling out of these projects will also cause problems.

While Nigeria is vulnerable to climate change, it also relies on oil economically. Oil and gas accounts for up to 86% of Nigerias foreign exchange revenues. Nigerias poverty rate is 40%, four times higher than the global average.

Shell and ExxonMobil have said they will develop the Bosi offshore oil field. Carbon Tracker finds the project needs $6.7bn in capital expenditure, wont start pumping oil until 2029 and needs an oil price in the high $50s per barrel.

Shell has promised to reduce its oil production 1-2% a year and focus on value over volumes, making it more cautious about taking on expensive or contentious projects. If it pulls out, Nigerian taxpayers and workers could suffer.

Okereke said: Oil exploration is a major source of climate pollution in Nigeria but also, at least for now, the lifeline of Nigerias economy. The situation in Nigeria now is grave. Nigeria is between the devil and the deep blue sea with regards to stranded assets in particular and climate change in general.

As well as the economics of the global energy transition reported on by Carbon Tracker, Okereje said that local factors like insecurity and environmental degradation were making oil companies rethink their commitment to oil drilling in Nigeria.

It is sad that the poor will be the most impacted by the loss of jobs associated with unplanned energy transition in Nigeria, he said.

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Named: The oil companies gambling on climate failure - Climate Home

To say that Drake makes a lot of money would be the understatement of the century. Through music, which turned him into the biggest superstar on the planet currently, Drake has been able to step into ventures that generate wealth for the unforeseeable future. Not only are his songs andalbums still doing astronomical numbers, Drake has clothing deals,battle rap campaigns (with Smack and the URLTv team),record labels, and other operations bringing in a ridiculous bag. Almost unfairly, his gambling luck struck in a big way recently as well.

Drake posted on an Instagram story that he was playing roulette. This isn't a surprise, due to the copious amounts of money he can blow without issue, as referenced in a 2009 track with Lil Wayne and Birdman. The result of his gambling? A whopping $354,000 output for him to add to his wallet. All of this happened in the comfort of his lavish 50,000 square foot mansion in Toronto.

Speaking of Drake's home,Google recently tabulated the numbers of searches regarding rappers' living quarters. Drake came out on top in search quantity, with more than 1 Million people browsing with the intent of seeing his estate. The only person that accumulated more search action was Elon Musk, billionaire and aspiring entrepreneurial astronaut.

While $350,000 is chump change to a mega millionaire, that is an absurd sum of money to win, especially while sitting in your favorite chair or chilling in bed. We'll see what else the year holds for Drake as 2022 unfolds.

What is your favorite business venture that Drake has had a hand in? Tell us your opinions down below.

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Drake Won $350,000 Gambling From The Comfort Of His Home - HotNewHipHop