Bulls Host Magic, Melo and LeBron On Court in Trio of Bet NBA Predictions — BetUS Locker Room

Bulls Host Magic, Melo and LeBron On Court in Trio of Bet NBA Predictions — BetUS Locker Room

Tim Donaghy readily admits crossing a lot of gambling lines – betting in casinos even though it broke NBA rules, using inside information to place bets on NBA teams, even betting on games that he himself refereed. But Donaghy wants everyone to know that he never fixed a game.

“I know, I know,” he says now in answer to a question about the public’s perception of him. “But I zoned everything out and concentrated hard on just calling the game as I saw it. I know it doesn’t pass the laugh test – calling a clean game that I had money on. And it’s hard to sell that to people. But it’s the truth.”
If you’ve lost track of the NBA referee who went bad, Donaghy will tell you now that he is finally at peace with himself and trying to put his life back in order after spending 11 months in prison.

He is doing his best to repair the damage that his actions and subsequent incarceration did to his relationship with his four daughters.

He spends his time hawking his new book and gearing up for what he hopes will be his next career – warning college students about the dangers of compulsive gambling.
In a recent interview with Covers.com, Donaghy candidly discussed every aspect of his career as an NBA official, pressure that the league placed on officials to make sure superstars stayed in games, efforts to keep big-market teams alive in playoffs, and his own role in the betting scandal that caused many fans to believe – and many others to merely confirm – that not all games in the Association are completely on the up and up.

And as for games being fixed, while Donaghy proclaims he never made even a single call to help affect the betting line or outcome of a game, he also says that NBA had subtle ways of making sure that the teams it wanted to win, did indeed win.

“With David Stern it’s all about superstars and money,” said Donaghy. “He made the decision long ago to sell the league as entertainment. Only one team can win a title, but people will still come out to see a show. So a show is what Stern wants, and a show is what the referees help give the fans. So, did the NBA actually pre-determine the outcome of games? I guess it depends on how you define things.”

From the time referees are recruited and hired, says Donaghy, they are taught – in a subtle manner – that it is not in anyone’s interest for foul-plagued superstars to spend large amounts of time on the bench. Fans want to see LeBron James dunk, even if he has to take 4 steps to do it.

“If a little white guy from Seattle tried that, we called travel,” he says matter-of-factly. “Just the way things are in the NBA, and every official knows it.”

Every time a Kobe Bryant, LeBron James or Dwyane Wade gets away with a hand check, travels without getting called, pushes to get a rebound or gets away with cursing an official, the superstar’s team gets a huge advantage. Is that outright fixing, or just part of the show that Stern and the league bring to fans around the world?

Donaghy tells anyone who’ll listen that he didn’t need to fix games because of his inside information was so reliable. ESPN’s Outside the Lines did a great job reporting on the information Donaghy was talking about.



Donaghy readily admits that he took advantage of league directives and referee grudges to make money on bets.

“One time (Jan. 6, 2007) we were in Utah [the Jazz were playing Denver] and the league was getting complaints that Allen Iverson was getting an edge by palming the ball all the time. The other refs (Bernie Fryer and Gary Zielinski) and I agreed that we were going to call palming on anything close. Before the game I made a phone call and bet the Jazz, knowing that Iverson would be all messed up. Utah went up 15 early, Iverson was out of his comfort zone, and I cashed easily.”

The game was actually in Denver. Iverson turned the ball over five times and made just five of his 19 shots from the field. Utah won outright, 96-84, and covered as a 5.5-point underdog.

Another example:

“We’re in Los Angeles for a Lakers game and during our pregame meeting the NBA supervisor walks in with a tape that had been sent to him by the Lakers. It showed Kobe Bryant driving to the basket 25 different times, and the Lakers felt he should have drawn a foul on every play. The supervisor says that the Lakers were right 22 of those times, then walks out. The implication was clear – call more fouls on the defense when Bryant has the ball. I excused myself and made the bet. Kobe gets a ton of free throws and the result was predictable.”
Donaghy says it was well-known in referee circles that Dick Bavetta would be scheduled if a big-market team was in danger of being eliminated from a playoff series.

“If the league wanted a Game 7,” says Donaghy, “everyone knew that Bavetta would be on the court in Game 6. He was a company man through and through.”

And no Game 6 in NBA history has received more scrutiny than the 2002 Western Conference final match between the Lakers and the Kings in Los Angeles.

[Note: The game was played before Donaghy says he started wagering on NBA games.]

A Kings victory would mean sagging TV ratings in the Finals, and Donaghy says the NBA was sweating about it. In his book, Personal Foul: A First Person Account of the Scandal That Rocked the NBA, Donaghy recounts a conversation he had with Bavetta before the game:

“If we give the benefit of calls to the team that’s down in the series, no one’s going to complain,” Bavetta purportedly said to Donaghy. “The series will be even at three apiece, and the better team can win Game 7.”

The numbers don’t support that theory. Bavetta, who is an active referee in the league, has worked 12 Game 6-playoff contests and the side that was down in the series won six of those games.

Donaghy says Bavetta’s comments came after the league had sent word to referees that calls that would have benefitted the Lakers were being missed. “It wasn’t hard to connect the dots,” Donaghy says now.

Bavetta, Bob Delaney and Ted Bernhardt worked the game. Los Angeles shot 26 free throws in the final period (many the result of questionable foul calls against Sacramento) and won the game 106-102.

For the record, the O/U number was 193.5 and the total easily went over, but the Lakers (-6) didn’t cover. The Lakers went on to win Game 7 in Sacramento, then defeated the Nets for the NBA title. In the uproar that followed the game, the NBA said that it had found nothing unusual about the officiating.
Donaghy, an admitted avid gambler (golf, casinos, cards), says that he made his first bet on an NBA game in November 2003, using inside information he acquired from the league, other referees, clubhouse attendants . . . anywhere and everywhere. He made his last bet in November 2006, as FBI agents were gathering information on him that would result in his resignation and time in a Florida prison.

In between that first and last bet, says Donaghy, he was right on between 70 percent and 80 percent of his bets. But, he says again, “I never fixed a game. Besides, when you’re right 80 percent of the time, you don’t have to fix a game.”

BetUS and John Morrison scam exposed!!

I'm sure most of you are not surprised and this has actually been discussed is some forums here.

For those of you that don't know here it is.

How the scam works: When players sign up with BetUS through the Sportsbettingchamp.com website, BetUS identifies that player as a “Chase system” referral. When that player wants to make a play released by the tout, BetUS deals a unique, higher-priced line on that game for that specific player. It is similar to a grocery store changing price tags after they find out what you were sent to purchase.

For example, on March 23, 2009, the “Chase system” told the players to bet on the Los Angeles Clippers. BetUS and most books were offering a spread of +15 for this game. Most BetUS players, including those referred to BetUS through other professional handicapper websites received the fair line of +15. Players who were referred to BetUS from the Sportsbettingchamp's website were offered a line of +13.5.

Other recent examples of dealing inflated lines only to the tout’s subscribers include:

March 7, 2009: Golden State Warriors +6 (vs +8)
March 3, 2009: Toronto Raptors +6.5 (vs +8)
March 1, 2009: Toronto Raptors +4.5 (vs +6)
February 24, 2009: Charlotte Hornets +5.5 (vs +7)

In every case, the alternate line is only on games released by the tout, and always hurts the player following paying for the pick. The BetUs customer essentially pays much more than he or she realizes. BetUS’s tactic of moving the line against these players means that instead of charging the normal -110 for these wagers, BetUS is effectively charging these players -140 – FOUR TIMES the usual bookmaker commission.

Here we go again!

Federal ruling spells mixed results for online gambling

A federal judge has dismissed an attempt to overturn a ban on online betting brought by the Internet gambling industry, according to MSNBC.com.

However, the ruling also gave the group legal standing to challenge the law in an appellate court, the report said.

U.S. District Judge Mary L. Cooper in Trenton ruled that the Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association had not shown sufficient cause to order her to block enforcement of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, passed by Congress in 2006.

That law was passed to choke off Internet gambling profits by preventing the electronic processing of money for online wagers or payouts, such as credit card companies and PayPal accounts.

Enforcement of the law is currently under a six-month moritorium while lawmakers scramble to draft legislation that would legalize online gambling and add an estimated $1.2 billion in tax revenue to the federal coffers.

ASI's Internet Sportsbook Ratings for 2010

The results are in. Here are the best and worst rated Internet Sportsbooks.
Top 10 Rated Sportsbooks from best to worst!

1.) Las Vegas ( It was obvious)
2.) BetEd.com (Had 26% of the voting)
3.) BetUs.com (Had 21% of the voting)
4.) Sports Interaction (Had 15% of the voting)
5.) Sportsbook.com (Had 10% of the voting)
6.) Logans (Had 8% of the voting)
7.) SBG Global (Had 8% of the voting)
8.) BetJamaica.com (Had 5 % of the voting)
9.) 5Dimes.com (Had 5 % of the voting)
10.) Bodog ( Had 2% of the voting)-(More negative email by far!)

Let us know what you think!!

How super is the Super Bowl this year?

When I was a kid I remember watching one of my first Super Bowl games with my Dad. It was the Raiders vs Vikings and it was incredible. I was a huge Raiders fan, Yes can you believe it, a Raiders fan! I loved watching Kenny Stabler, Dave Casper, Fred Biletnikoff, that's when football was football. You could actually tackle the QB without getting flagged. It wasn't about high priced contracts, it was for the love of the game the players bleed and sacrificed their bodies. It was a great time in NFL Football. It has been a long time, probably 15 years since I really have had an interest in the outcome of a Super Bowl Game (other then winning money!) I believe this year has meaning. I want to congratulate the New Orleans Saints, the Saints fans, and the Saints owner Tom Benson. There has never been another team or owner that has persevered more than the Saints or Mr. Benson? Mr. Benson had many opportunity's to pull a Robert Irsay (Baltimore Colts Owner) and leave New Orleans but didn't. He stayed through the loosing seasons and most impressively stayed through the turmoil and destruction of Hurricane Katrina. Has their ever been a better feeling about an NFL team? I'll be honest, I wasn't a huge Saints fan until now. It's a team that you want to win. It's a Team, Owner and City that deserves to win. It's a team that has given so much hope to the city on New Orleans and in return fans have given so much appreciation and thanks back to the team. I believe that most of America will be pulling for the Saints tonight, and why not, It makes us feel good to pull and cheer for them. So is this years Super Bowl super? I would have to say thanks to the Saints, yes!

Sportsbooks, can they be trusted?

As sports wagering becomes bigger and bigger each month we all have been forced to use some type of offshore book to take our action. Most of us are not using the infamous bookie anymore (It's still illegal!), and unless you live in Las Vegas our choices are extremely limited to fulfill our fix. Lets face it, some states seem to be warming up to gambling and they realize it generates a tremendous amount tax money for their state. Possibly in the near future more states in this country will accept gambling. But what happened to the Sports Book? Sports wagering has been left behind. I really don't understand why Biloxi and Atlantic City have Casinos that offer table games and poker but no Sports Book. Does this make any sense? Until we have more states that offer Sports Wagering in their Casino's we will have to continue to go offshore to a small, and in most cases poverty stricken country to place our sports wagering. Does this scare anybody? I hear all kinds of story's of bounced checks and payouts never received from offshore clients daily, So, do we continue to trust offshore books, do we have a choice? Do you have a story? good or bad about a book you use or have used in the past. Do we honestly sleep good at night with our money in offshore wagering accounts? Give us your opinion!