Monthly Archives: January 2022

Military juntas have failed to deliver any good to the people of Ghana – Addai-Nimoh – GhanaWeb

Posted: January 9, 2022 at 4:51 pm

Former Member of Parliament for Asante Mampong, Francis Addai-Nimoh

Government must involve citizens in governance process to prevent coup dtat, Addai-Nimoh

We need to examine factors that led to the disruptions in our journey to development, Addai-Nimoh

Ghana marks 4th constitution day

A former Member of Parliament for Asante Mampong, Francis Addai-Nimoh, says for the country to preserve its democracy, there is a need for government to engage citizens in the governance process in order to prevent any possible coup dtat in the country.

According to him, this is necessary because the military juntas have failed to deliver any good to the people as they have disregarded the rule of law and rather focused on looting of state property.

In a Facebook post to commiserate constitution day, he said Interestingly, military juntas, in my view, have mostly failed to deliver any good to the people. Military juntas largely come with extrajudicial killings, looting of state resources, oppression of the people, and disregard for the rule of law. And that's why it's important to preserve our democracy through citizens' involvement in the governance process in order to kill any possibility of a coup dtat. On this day, let everyone reflect on our journey thus far, and identify what more we can do to improve our lots.

He added that the nation has enough reason to celebrate the fourth republic which has lasted for almost three decades.

Today is a Constitutional Day on the national calendar of our country. The purpose of the day is to celebrate the constitutional milestone of the 4th Republic. Considering that our history is replete with many disruptions of the constitutional order, we have every reason to celebrate the sustenance of the 4th Republic for almost three decades on this day.

He however indicated that government must consider factors that led to the disruption in the countrys journey to development.

In this vein, I subscribe to the theory that a stable democracy is the bedrock for national development. But, we need to begin to examine, after three decades of constitutional practice, what factors led to the disruptions in our journey to development. Are those factors present today? Have we consolidated our democracy hermetically to prevent another disruption? These questions are critical especially when West Africa is seeing a surge in military strongmen who are vacating the constitutions of their respective country.

Below is his post

I take this opportunity to wish all Ghanaians, far and near, a prosperous new year. No challenge is insurmountable and so, I have positive intuition that the challenges that ravaged 2021, would be surmounted in 2022.

Today is a Constitutional Day on the national calendar of our country. The purpose of the day is to celebrate the constitutional milestone of the 4th Republic. Considering that our history is replete with many disruptions of the constitutional order, we have every reason to celebrate the sustenance of the 4th Republic for almost three decades on this day.

Many governance experts believe that but for the incessant disruptions of the constitutional order, Ghana could have witnessed an accelerated development. For the proponents of this theory, a stable democracy is the bedrock for national development. If we test this theory against the 4th Republic, can we say Ghana has developed? The obvious answer is no. However, it's refreshing to note that we've made enormous progress though there's more room for improvement.

In this vein, I subscribe to the theory that a stable democracy is the bedrock for national development. But, we need to begin to examine, after three decades of constitutional practice, what factors led to the disruptions in our journey to development. Are those factors present today? Have we consolidated our democracy hermetically to prevent another disruption? These questions are critical especially when West Africa is seeing a surge in military strongmen who are vacating the constitutions of their respective country.

In most, if not all, military juntas, the leaders ride on the collective outrage of citizens to overthrow the constitution. A reading of our own history will support this point. When there's a state of despondency and frustrations in a country, perceived or real, military strongmen latch onto that to carry out their agenda, mostly to the admiration of civilians. Indeed, it should not be lost on us, flipping through our history pages, that, misgovernance and misrule, in summary, have been the reasons adduced by coup leaders in Ghana to justify their actions.

A case in point which buttresses the point supra, is the 1979 coup led by the late Jerry John Rawlings. To date, some people think the circumstances of that coup is justified. This goes to underscore the possibility of coup leaders to galvanise the support of the ordinary citizens to sustain their agenda. I daresay, without the support of citizens, the barrel of the gun can't succeed at overthrowing the constitution. A recent example is what happened in Turkey when the people poured on the streets to foil a coup attempt by the military.

My reflections on our journey as a people so far and looking at scenarios in other jurisdictions, point to an irresistible conclusion that, to sustain our 4th republican democracy, we need the unflinching support of the ordinary citizens of our country. We can attain this by serving the people in truth. The needs of the people including employment, access to healthcare, education, etc should be addressed. All attempts must be made to secure the trust of the people in the political class. This can be achieved through bridging the gap between the political class and the ordinary people.

Interestingly, military juntas, in my view, have mostly failed to deliver any good to the people. Military juntas largely come with extra judicial killings, looting of state resources, oppression of the people, and disregard for the rule of law. And that's why it's important to preserve our democracy through citizens' involvement in the governance process in order to kill any possibility of a coup d'etat. On this day, let everyone reflect on our journey thus far, and identify what more we can do to improve our lots.

A happy constitutional day.

God bless our homeland Ghana!

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Squid Game and the survival drama genre – WSWS

Posted: at 4:51 pm

Squid Game (2021)

Squid Game, written and directed by South Korean filmmaker Hwang Dong-hyuk, is the latest entrant in the survival drama genre and a significant presence on the popular cultural landscape. Following its release in September, Squid Game quickly claimed the attention of millions around the globe, in October becoming the sixth show in Netflixs history to surpass three billion minutes viewed in a week.

No doubt, the mini-series owes its popularity to various factors, some healthier than others, but, as the WSWS review indicated, the central one is clearits [Squid Games] depiction of desperate individuals put in desperate situations, the consequences of a society riven by social inequality, the greed and criminality of the rich, and associated themes. The widespread interest in the series undoubtedly reflects a growing awareness of the rigged character of the existing social order, as well as mounting popular anger.

In the film, hundreds of poor and working class contestants from all walks of life compete, literally, to the death in a series of warped childrens games for a large sum of money, which would allow them to escape their poverty-stricken reality.

While Squid Game presents a unique twist on the effort to represent capitalism as a fight to the death, it is only the most recent example of the genre. Over the past two decades, there have been other films and works sounding similar themes, such as Battle Royale (Kinji Fukasaku, 2000), based on Koushun Takamis novel , completed in 1996 and published in 1999, and Suzanne Collins novel Hunger Games (2008) and its 2012 film adaption, directed by Gary Ross. We will discuss these below.

Beyond that, however, Squid Game bears a relationship to film trends that developed in the US at least in the 1970s. The first death-game films were made at that time, such as Death Race 2000 (Paul Bartel, 1975) and Rollerball (Norman Jewison, 1975), later Deathsport (Allan Arkush, Nicholas Niciphor, 1978) and The Running Man (Paul Michael Glaser, 1987)and from Italy, Endgame (Joe DAmato, 1983).

These dark, mostly unsatisfying and sometimes even unimportant films reflected social processes underway in the US and the rest of the advanced capitalist countries: economic stagnation or decline and accompanying social and political developments. To a certain extent, the artists were conscious of these phenomena. We learn from one commentator, for example, that Norman Jewison, the Canadian-born director of the most ambitious of these early works, Rollerball, had become preoccupied with the sinister increase of corporate power and had read Global Reach: The Power of the Multinational Corporations, a scholarly, influential 1974 study by Richard Barnett and Robert Muller.

Certain features of the genre were established at the time and subsequently became almost standardized. A more or less omnipotent elite, assisted by the latest in technologies, rules with an iron fist or plays an overpowering role in society. The mass of the population is downtrodden and relatively easy prey for the manipulations of those on top. The fight to the death games provide economic incentives to the participants and also often a means of entertaining the demoralized, debased masses or members of the elite itself.

The following summary of Jewisons Rollerball is instructive: Corporate nations and their supercomputers rule humanity, shaping digitized historical records to their liking. The masses are pacified by watching rollerball, a professional sport thats like football played on a roller derby loop with motorcycles. Rollerball players have a glamorous existence: fans idolize them, executives envy them, and theyre provided lavish homes, beautiful wives or girlfriends, and fancy TVs with extra screens that show smaller, differently angled shots of whatever theyre watching. In return for all this, they let corporations control their lives. ( The Verge )

Film critic Robin Wood once pointed out that the collapse of ideological confidence that characterizes American culture throughout the Vietnam period becomes a major defining factor of Hollywood cinema in the late 60s and 70s. Wood suggested that disintegration and breakdown had increasingly become the central theme of the American cinema, reflected in the growing trend of disaster films and, more generally, by the fact that various genres have reached their apocalyptic phase. And a great deal of water has flowed under the bridge since that time!

Indeed, the overwhelming majority of post-apocalyptic and dystopian films and television seriesfrom the US, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Canada and Europehave appeared since the 1970s and most of those since 1990. What began to a certain extent with gloomy dystopias like THX 1138 (1971), Soylent Green (1973) and A Boy and His Dog (1975), in the words of one film historian, has become a widespread phenomenon. The amount of light these films shed on the processes involved has varied wildly. For the most part, they have tended merely to register passively, if quasi-hysterically and morbidly, the relentlessly deteriorating social and moral situation.

The supposed passivity of the mass of the population, its alleged willingness or even eagerness to be pacified and entertained by the powers that be, is a theme or, worse still, an assumption that will recur in virtually every subsequent film in the dystopian and related trends. That will grate on anyone familiar with real-life conditions and with the behavior of the working class in America or anywhere else, even under the most peaceful circumstances. Such a false notion runs counter in particular to everything in the traditions, mentality and experience of the socialist movement, whose basic idea, Plekhanov once remarked, is the resolute and final rejection of submissiveness.

However, this failing does not come out of the blue. It has an objective basis in the decades of political reaction and stagnation and suppression of the class struggle, policed by the trade unions and other so-called labor organizations. Moreover, the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the bombast about the end of history sharply affected the artists. For their part, the various postmodern and pseudo-left trends have done everything in their power to paint the working class as a backward and hopeless mass and create as much of a breach and a misunderstanding as possible between the artists and the workers.

Enter Squid Game and the more recent entrants into the genre, which has now become thoroughly globalized. Clearly, new and important elements have been added, above all, the advanced degree of economic polarization. And, to a certain extent, hints of popular rebellion.

As noted above, many commentators refer to Takamis Battle Royale as the progenitor of the recent survival drama trend. The novels release garnered substantial praise, making it one of Japans most successful novels while also earning it condemnation from the countrys government. The film adaptation, directed by Kinji Fukasaku, became Japans highest grossing film in 2000.

Takamis book recounts an alternate history in which Japan is the dominant world superpower ruled by a fascist government that instills fear in the populace by kidnapping youth and forcing them to fight to the death. The film adaptation recontextualized the plot within Japans economic crisis of the late 1990s. In this version, the horrific battle royales emerge as the Japanese republic resorts to crushing a youth rebellion.

The novel and film adaptation conclude very differently. The book ends with the surviving characters hoping to escape to an idealized democratic America. The films finale provides a more promising twist, with the survivors beginning to organize a rebellion against the government. Unfortunately, the 2003 film sequel, Battle Royale II: Requiem (directed by Kenta Fukasaku, the son of Kinji Fukasaku, who died after shooting only one scene of the new film), destroys those possibilities, transforming the revolt into a terrorist group rebelling against the countrys adults.

The battle royales are seemingly intended to reference the wave of austerity measures and cuts to workers living standards that the Japanese ruling elite carried out in the midst of a real-world recession. Yet, the films fail to connect these issues with the wave of youth rebellion and delinquency they portray. The unrest appears to be more vague disillusionment and unfocused violence than a burgeoning rebellion in need of suppression.

The next milestone in the international genre was Collins novel Hunger Games and its 2012 film adaptation, directed by Ross. (The Maze Runner the 2009 novel and 2014 film, the first of three in a seriesand Divergent the 2011 novel and 2014 film, also the first of threeare related phenomena, all aimed at young adults.) Taking more than a handful of pages from Takamis book, Collins presents US capitalism in a fictional dystopian future. Like Battle Royale before it, Hunger Games clearly struck a chord.

The novel and film imagine a despotic government ruling over North America and its 12 impoverished working class districts. An annihilated thirteenth district is left in ruins, a warning to those considering rebellion. As a further means of oppression, each district must annually send two children to participate in a televised battle royale, the Hunger Games.

The sole survivors district receives food rations as a prize. Though promisingly presenting rebellion as the means to transform society in its sequels, the promotion of individualism and the unconvincing character of the rebellion ultimately lead the various Hunger Games iterations into a blind alley. They trip over many of the same artistic and intellectual hurdles as Battle Royale.

A more intriguing addition to the survival drama genre arrived with Jinsei Kataokas manga (Japanese graphic novel) Deadman Wonderland (2007-2013). In 2011, the series received an anime adaptation by studio Manglobe, covering the first 21 chapters of the manga.

Set in modern Japan ten years after a massive earthquake, which sank much of Tokyo underwater, the story follows 14-year-old Ganta Igarashi. Gantas stable life falls apart when a terrorist attack on his classroom, carried out by a man in red armed with otherworldly powers, leaves him the traumatized sole survivor. Ganta is framed on trumped up charges and sentenced to death at Japans only privately run prison, Deadman Wonderland.

The maximum security prison doubles as a theme park featuring lethal games played by the inmates. The games provide a means of profit for the prison and a path to gain prison currency for the victorious inmates. For death row inmates (known as Deadmen) like Ganta, the games serve as a means of staving off a slow poisoning death (the means of execution) through buying antidotes with their winnings.

Deadman Wonderland makes an effort to humanize its protagonists. The Deadmen, who face terrible conditions and have brutal backgrounds, ultimately prove their innate decency and reason in response to the official savagery.

Even so, Deadman Wonderland s more striking socially critical elements are marred by a lack of historical and social concreteness. Its plot, while encouraging a rebellious attitude and response toward oppressive structures, tends to fall into the same individualistic trap as its predecessors. Increasingly, Gantas powers appear as the primary means to fight the prison authorities. Regressive tropes from the anime and manga genre crop up as the story progresses, devouring much of the focus in later chapters.

Dong-Hyuks Squid Game has a number of quite distinct, interrelated features. It depicts South Korea, one of the supposed miracles of modern globalized capitalism, as blighted by social polarization and home to widespread social misery and oppression. From this point of view alone, it is a slap in the face of the official version of contemporary life. The economic desperation of the central characters is compellingly and convincingly conveyed.

Squid Game, unlike many of its predecessors, attempts to provide these characters with social and psychological backgrounds, as well as their relationship to the larger social picture. For example, the series introduces the life and conditions of an immigrant refugee laborer and those of an autoworker who participated in a strike that was harshly suppressed.

At the same time, some of the same generalized difficulties reemerge. The voluntary nature of the games presents one such issue. Following the first round, which results in the brutal deaths of hundreds, the participants vote to end the gamesonly for most of them to return later of their own accord. This is a fable, not a naturalistic work, but still some accordance with psychological and social reality is called for. To suggest that men and women, even those financially stressed, would willingly submit to having their fellow creatures massacred is something of a libel against mankind, and provides a glimpse of the misanthropic Lord of the Flies strand in the filmmakers thinking.

The extreme violence is another expression of the Squid Game s problems. It is both a concession to the bloody mayhem pervading current global filmmaking and an indication of a demoralized view of humanity. It also serves as a distraction from genuine dramatic lapses and failings.

As the WSWS noted in its review of Squid Game, the first seasons lead-in to the coming one suggests a brewing rebellion against the games. One hopes director Dong-Hyuk takes strength from the growing wave of international strikes and emerging working class opposition.

In any event, whatever the fate of Squid Game, the future course of the genre and of filmmaking as a whole depends, above all, on objective social developments and the reflection it finds in the thinking and activity of the artists. Ultimately, it is the conscious movement of the working class and its struggle for freedom that will scatter, in a great Marxists phrase, the clouds of skepticism and of pessimism which cover the horizon of mankind.

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Where Is Sports Betting Legal? A Guide To All 50 States – Forbes

Posted: at 4:50 pm

Dialing for Dollars: Mobile sports betting is now legal in 18 states with more to come in 2022.

Americans love to put a little action on their favorite sports team and states love the extra tax revenue from legal gambling. Currently, there are about 30 states where sports betting is now legal, including 18 that allow online sports wagering. This means more than 100 million Americans can place a legal wager where they live.

On Jan. 8, New York State will launch its much-anticipated mobile sports wagering program. Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings, FanDuel and Rush Street Interactive will launch what will become a $1 billion market (annual gross gaming revenue) and Ballys, BetMGM, Wynn Interactive, Resorts World and PointsBet are expected to enter the market soon.

The legalization of sports wagering has spread across the country since 2018, when the Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act. PASPA had effectively made sports betting illegal except in Nevada and a few other states. After the ban was struck down, states have been allowed to legalize sports betting and launch their own programs. The industry has been on fire and growing rapidly. The market has grown from 19 states to 32 and Washington, D.C. in the last 12 months.

As legalization continues to spread across the country, more Americans are betting more money than ever before. According to the American Gaming Associations (AGA)Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker, U.S. sports betting handle hit at $42.19 billion from January 2021 through October, almost doubled the amount wagers during the same time in 2020. Legal sportsbooks held more than $400 million in October 2021 alone, according to the AGA.

Maryland, Nebraska, Ohio, and Wisconsin are in the process of launching their programs. Florida legalized sports betting last year through a gambling compact with the states Seminole Tribea deal that was slated to bring $2.5 billion in tax revenue to Florida over five years. But a federal judge overturned the deal, ruling that the plan violated the states constitution and federal Indian gambling law. The tribe is appealing the ruling and the states mobile sports betting market is currently in limbo.

See the map below for where online and in-person sports betting is currently legal in the U.S.

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These are the first mobile sports bets placed in New York – New York Post

Posted: at 4:50 pm

Its bettor in the Big Apple.

New Yorkers placed their first legal online, in-state sports wagers Saturday morning, the first day mobile sports-betting was allowed in the Empire State.

One gambler was feeling lucky, plunking down $15 on a longshot, six-team, football parlay which will pay him $1,430.45 if he wins, DraftKings revealed in a tweet.

The bet was placed at 9:01 a.m., a minute after four casino operators Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings, FanDuel and Rush Street Interactive opened for action.

Another risky parlay was the first bet on the Caesars app, with a user betting $20 to win $233.16 on five European soccer games, the company said in a tweet.

On Rush Street, a pretty confident gambler placed $500 on Saturdays Chiefs-Broncos game, a company rep said.

And on FanDuel, at 9:01 a.m., the first bet placed was a $21 wager in the Cowboys-Eagles game.

No data was given out by the casinoson how much money was won or lost on sports in New York Saturday. The state Gaming Commission said it will release data on betting volume monthly.

There was at least one winner Saturday: former New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who signed on as an ambassador with Caesars Sportsbook.

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Sports betting is now allowed at the Oneida Casino. Will it soon be approved for the Potawatomi Casino? – WUWM

Posted: at 4:50 pm

The year 2022 could be when sports betting is allowed at the Potawatomi Casino in Milwaukee.

Casino managers say they're pursuing an agreement with the state of Wisconsin.

Last year, Gov. Tony Evers approved deals to allow sports betting at two other tribal casinos in Wisconsin, including the Oneida Nation hall, just west of Green Bay.

The Oneida Casino has been around for nearly three decades, offering poker, slot machines, bingo and table games like 21.

On a recent weekday, hundreds of people wearing COVID masks gambled in the main rooms of the casino, as music played on the PA system.

Off in a corner there were a dozen electronic kiosks offering something new at the casino: sports betting, or what's sometimes called the sportsbook.

The Oneida's chief financial officer for gaming, Chad Fuss, described the options on the kiosk touchscreen.

"On the left-hand side, you have all your major league sports, all your collegiate sports. You can make a bet on the day of a game, or you can make a bet on what's called a futures pick. So, if you want to make a bet on who's going to win the Super Bowl in February, you can make that bet also," Fuss said.

As in Nevada, or the more than two dozen other states with legalized sports betting, there is usually a point spread, an over-under, or some other betting line that gamblers have to evaluate before placing their bet. Wagering on in-state Division I college games is not allowed at the Oneida casino, so you can't bet on the Wisconsin Badgers, Marquette or UWM basketball. The Oneida also generally does not take bets on Division III games.

Fuss said the kiosks do not accept credit cards but take cash. A ticket will come out that registers the bet, and if you later think you're a winner, you can take the ticket to a nearby Oneida cashier who will pay you.

If gamblers who made a bet on a current game want to watch how their team is doing, Fuss pointed toward a bank of televisions on the wall.

"On a typical Sunday, you probably see for the noon game, probably at least four games, and for the afternoon game, three or four games, so they're always watching a live game, based on the bet they've made," Fuss said.

The televised action may also spur gamblers to bet on additional contests.

WUWM mainly saw young men intently placing bets during our time near the kiosks. But Fuss said older men and women wager on sports, too.

Fuss politely declined our request to interview any of the gamblers, saying the Oneida protects the privacy of its customers.

Upstairs in his office, Fuss said sports has a big following in Wisconsin.

"We wanted to match or blend our sports fanatic with leisure gaming and really bring those two together, to give our customers and potential customers an even better experience," Fuss said.

Fuss said the Oneida casino also offers a highly ethical and closely regulated way to bet on sports. Of course, sports betting goes on often in Wisconsin think even of your office football or NCAA basketball pool. But for right now, the Oneida has the only legalized sports betting venue.

Evers recently signed another sports wagering deal with the St. Croix Chippewa, a plan currently under federal review.

Potawatomi Hotel and Casino CEO Dominic Ortiz recently told the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce that he's interested in a new agreement too, in part to compete with sports betting in Illinois.

"We'll bring sports betting. We're going to challenge Chicago with the assets and the liveliness of the excitement we're going to bring to Potawatomi," Ortiz told MMAC members.

A casino spokesperson said the Potawatomi does not want guests to have to travel to place a sports bet.

Back in Green Bay, at the Wisconsin Council on Problem Gambling, executive director Rose Blozinski said her non-profit maintains a neutral stand on legalized gambling. But she says some people do go too far into sports betting.

"We see people who can maybe social gamble for a while, and then especially sports betting, it can maybe get out of control. They spend more money, gamble more often. We see people start to have financial problems, family, relationship problems, suicidal issues sometimes with compulsive gamblers, as well. So, these are things you always want to pay attention to," Blozinski said.

A few other tribal casinos in the U.S. have started offering sports betting since the federal government gave its OK four years ago. Some tribes say they're holding off while determining if creating a sports betting area will be more lucrative than offering other gaming.

But national studies show that a lot of money is bet on sports, perhaps billions of dollars.

The Oneida already sense more profits. They're building a 2,000 square foot sports betting lounge at their main casino and planning to let gamblers place sports bets using an app on their phone.

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How to read and calculate sports betting odds – New York Post

Posted: at 4:50 pm

How do sports betting odds workGetty Images

Betting odds have always lined newspapers, and now theyve started to become popularized in electronic applications, too, as the presence of mobile betting expands. Some formats of betting odds are different by country or by sport, and its important to have those betting odds explained so the best way to maximize money is understood.

But before you place your next bet, its important to understand how betting odds work and how to read them regardless of whether you wager online or in-person. The Post answers questions below thatll help you accomplish that.

Betting odds can be displayed in three distinct formats American, decimal and fractional and they signal a probability of the game, or teams, theyre connected to and how much an individual could win by selecting those odds.

For American odds, which are the default options at United States sportsbooks according to Action Network, theres a + or - symbol in front of a three-digit number. For decimal odds, theres a number rounded to two decimal places, like New York Yankees (5.40), that determines the amount that you wager is multiplied by to determine the winnings. And for fractional odds, which are perhaps most commonly seen during horse races, the numerator details the number of times the bookkeeper expects the result to fail while the denominator illustrates the number of times they expect the result to succeed. If its 8/5 odds for a race for Horse A against Horse B, that means Horse would be expected to lose eight out of the 13 outcomes while winning the other five.

With bets, they can be placed on either the favorite, known as the team projected to win, or the underdog, which is the team thats predicted to lose. The + sign in front of a number for example, +350 means that a bet has been placed on the underdog, and the three digits following that sign indicate the amount paid out if the bet wins and the bettor had wagered $100.

The - sign in front of a number indicates that a bet has been placed on the favorite, and the three digits that follow, similar to the bets on the underdog, signal how much someone would make if they bet $100.

The important factor to remember about bookmakers and odds they create is that everything happens with the central goal of making a profit in mind. If every possible bet that people could wager on is covered, the hope would be that the books eventually balance out between who won and who lost their bets. Odds are heavily influenced by statistical and analytical research too, considering past outcomes given certain opponents and situations.

For American odds, since outcomes are calculated based on a $100 bet. If, for example, the New York Giants are favored in their matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles with a -120 line, and someone were to bet $24, their payout is calculated when the 24 is multiplied by the $100 baseline bet and then divided by 120. This payout would be $20.

In bets for the underdog, though, the fraction is flipped. If the Giants were underdogs against the Eagles, with the line +120, that 120 would be multiplied by 24 and divided by 100 giving a payout of $28.80.

The method for calculating winnings for decimal and fractional odds is slightly different, though. If, given the Yankees example above, $50 is wagered on the 5.40 odds and the bet win, those two numbers multiplied together minus the original wager payment determines the winnings. In this example, that total is $220.

And for fractional odds, those winnings are calculated by taking the wagered amount and multiplying it by the fraction. If $25 was wagered for the horse racing example, the total winnings would be $40.

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Louisiana in-person sports betting has been a win so far – Saturday Down South

Posted: at 4:50 pm

Robert Linnehan | 6 days ago

Louisiana online sports betting has yet to launch, but the state has had a nice opening to sports betting since its October 31 launch.

According to Louisiana State Police Gaming Enforcements November revenue report, eight casinos accepted $27.6 million in sports bets from Oct. 31 through November. The net proceeds reported by casinos were nearly $5.7 million over that period of time.

The Louisiana State Police Gaming Enforcements report does not break down handle or revenue for each of the eight casinos that accepted retail sports bets over that time. However, it did note what types of bets were the most profitable for casinos.Casinos won the most money for sports bettors through parlays, reporting $3.7 million in net proceeds from parlay bets. Football bets accounted for the most profit for casinos out of the top four sports, netting $1.57 million.

The casinos paid $568,570 in taxes to Louisiana.

Here are the bet types that have been most profitable for the casinos:

The vast amount of revenue and handle will be collected when Louisiana launches online sports betting. Louisiana Gaming Control Board Chairman Ronnie Johns previously told Saturday Down South he hopes to have Louisiana online sports betting up and running before Super Bowl LVI on Feb. 13, 2022.

The gaming board chairman said the target date for Louisianas online sports betting launch will be for mid-January. Johns said he expects several sportsbooks to be licensed on the mid-month launch date.

The properties need to be inspected by the Louisiana State Police prior to receiving their online licenses. Additionally, internal controls need to be verified and compliance inquiries need to be made before licenses can be approved.

It all equals a mid-January launch if everything goes smoothly.

While Louisiana has missed out on most of the online sports betting revenue for this NFL season, Johns said its important for the state to have its online sports betting program launched prior to the Super Bowl.

So what will be available when online sports betting is launched? FanDuel and DraftKings both currently offer Daily Fantasy Sports contests in the state and will also be part of the online sports betting launch as well.

Caesars Entertainment has also been confirmed, as the sportsbook app is already available for download in Louisiana. Users cannot place bets as of yet, but can register and fund accounts.

Caesars will offer in-person sports betting at its properties Harrahs New Orleans and Horseshoe Bossier City. Each casino will soon take in-person bets at temporary retail locations, before the unveiling of their new Caesars Sportsbooks. In the fall of 2022, Isle of Capri Lake Charles will be renovated into Horseshoe Lake Charles and reopen with an additional Caesars Sportsbook location.

Additionally, Caesars acquired a 20-year, exclusive naming-rights partnership with the New Orleans Saints to rebrand New Orleans downtown stadium as the Caesars Superdome. Caesars Sportsbook is also the official sportsbook partner of LSU Athletics.

WynnBET will also be available in the state, as the company announced it secured online sports betting marketaccessthis past October. A source previously toldSaturday Down Souththat WynnBET has secured a partnership for its online sports betting app through one of Caesars physical casino properties in Louisiana.

WynnBET is currently available in Arizona, Colorado, Indian, Michigan, New Jersey, Tennessee and Virginia.

Its safe to assume the Barstool Sportsbook will also be available, as Penn National Gaming has partnered with two casinos that currently offer in-person sports betting. LAuberge Casino Baton Rouge and Boomtown Casino Hotel both offer in-person sports betting and are Penn National Gaming properties.

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What is a parlay? Examples and how to make a parlay bet on sports – New York Post

Posted: at 4:50 pm

A parlay bet can be one of the most exciting ways to gamble. Its a great way to get better odds, and a thrilling way to win.

But before you bet parlays, you need to understand them.

The Post answers your questions on parlays.

A parlay bet allows you to add multiple selections into one bet. To win, all of the outcomes need to go your way, but you will get better odds, reflective of the combined odds of your selections.

To use an example from the NFL:

Baltimore -7.5 over Miami (-110.)

Jacksonville +10.5 over Indianapolis (-110.)

A standard parlay with two bets at -110 will pay out at +260 odds (or 13/5). So if you were to bet $100 on those two games in a single parlay, you would win $260.

As you add more teams to the parlay, your odds will continue to improve. A three-team parlay, all at -110, will generally pay out at 6/1. A four-team parlay will generally pay out at 10/1. Thats because the more outcomes you add to a parlay, the lower chance you have of it winning.

Better odds. If youre confident in your picks, then combining them can get you a larger payout. To use the Baltimore-Jacksonville example from before, betting $100 on those two games individually would net you $181.82 if you won both bets. On a parlay, youd win nearly $80 more.

If you feel strongly that the Ravens and Jaguars are in good shape going into Sunday, then thats an easy way to add to your potential payout. If youre less confident and want to protect yourself, though, you would want to bet them individually to protect yourself.

Theyre harder to win because multiple outcomes need to go your way.

Or, put more bluntly, theyre suckers bets.

Think of it this way. The implied odds of a -110 bet are 52.38 percent. The implied odds of two -110 bets are 27.43 percent. The implied odds of three are 14.37 percent. Obviously thats in a vacuum, but point being, it can be hard to predict multiple outcomes all correctly.

Parlays very often lose. Especially when you start adding more teams. Winning one is a thrill and if you can win them consistently, your bankroll will grow substantially but thats easier said than done.

Most online sportsbooks make it pretty easy to make a parlay. If you select multiple bets, an option for a parlay will usually show up in your betslip, which on most books is on the right-hand side of the screen. You also may see options for teasers, round robins or other kinds of bets.

Some books also offer live parlays, which you can do in-game. You can also do multi-sport parlays or, really, just about anything you want.

The sportsbook will usually show you the odds. There are also parlay calculators you can find on the internet. Calculating it manually is possible, but time-consuming and usually unnecessary.

Firstly, wed recommend checking the rules at your specific sportsbook. But generally, if one game is cancelled, the parlay will be reduced to the next number of teams. This also applies if a game ends in a tie or a push.

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What is a parlay? Examples and how to make a parlay bet on sports - New York Post

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Once Again, Sports Betting Will Be Much Talked About Issue In Massachusetts – Sports Handle

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Massachusetts state Sen. Eric Lesser, co-chairman of the legislatures Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, is now a candidate for lieutenant governor. And he intends to use the campaign trail to continue pushing for legalization of sports betting in the Bay State.

My hope is that we can get that done long before the campaign, Lesser told MassLive Tuesday, the same day he announced his candidacy. Keep in mind the election is 10, 11 months from now.

Lesser went on to call legal sports betting a prominent issue he will raise while campaigning.

Lessers committee has been exploring legal sports betting through hearings, meetings, and closed-door conversations for going on five years now. While Massachusetts home to sports betting and DFS titan DraftKings is now nearly surrounded by legal wagering states, politicians have been unable to get out of their own way and find a solution.

Many lawmakers and Gov. Charlie Baker are staunch supporters, but the nearly 20 sports betting-related bills that have been sitting in the hopper on Beacon Hill since last year are all over the map. Theres no consensus on the tax rate, whether to allow wagering on college sports,, and numerous other issues.

This has absolutely been a top-tier issue, Lesser said in a recent virtual meeting in December. Its been something many of us have been working on, on almost a daily basis. And there are very active conversations going on.

There were promises throughout 2021 about legalization, but after the House passed a budget bill that included legal sports betting, the issue languished in the Senate.

According to a discussion on WGBH, sports betting is a likely legislative priority this year, though the House and the Senate are two different chambers with very different ideas on myriad issues, statehouse reporter Mike Deehan said during a broadcast Wednesday.

I think sports betting is definitely something thats going to be coming up, he said. Thats something that the House really wants to do. The Senate seems to have no interest theyre kind of dragging their heels on what their plan for that would be.

You know, in all this time and all these hearings and process and it comes down to two chambers that might have radically different bills and different plans, and then they try to jam them together and come up with a compromise very late in the day, usually within days or hours of the end of their sessions. And thats where things tend to fall apart they put it off, and then the two chambers, both dominated by Democrats, just dont see eye to eye and cant make these compromises happen, increasingly.

That kind of process has failed in numerous states across the country. In the nearly four years since the Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in May 2018, the states that have been able to legalize are those in which lawmakers brought agreed-upon bills to their peers after education, discussion, and negotiation took place, whether in Connecticut or Colorado or Washington state. In the states where lawmakers play politics on chamber floors think Georgia or Kentucky or Maine proposals languish and ultimately die.

Since PASPA was overturned, four of Massachusetts five border states have legalized, including New York. But one stakeholder told Sports Handle that outside pressure to legalize does not appear to move the needle in the Massachusetts Senate. Its already clear that Massachusetts is losing revenue as bettors drive over the border to Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island to place bets by phone.

New York, which will be the biggest state by population in the U.S. to offer mobile wagering, is aiming to launch operators ahead of the Feb. 13 Super Bowl.

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Once Again, Sports Betting Will Be Much Talked About Issue In Massachusetts - Sports Handle

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Fanatics lands Topps, but TV and sports-betting ambitions remain elusive – New York Post

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Michael Rubin may now be the undisputed champion of US sports merchandise, but his ambitions to build a TV and sports-gambling empire have lately suffered a few setbacks.

The billionaires Fanatics sports-licensing company clinched a deal to buy the Topps trading card business this week, reportedly valuing that side of the business at $500 million less than a paltry three times earnings.

Credit Rubin, who had quietly some might say ruthlessly struck a deal with Major League Baseball and its players union to secure their trading-card rights from under Topps Chairman Michael Eisners nose.

But elsewhere, insiders told On The Money that Rubins reputation for cold, shrewd and successful calculation has lately taken a hit.

Fanatics reportedly valued at more than $10 billion last fall in a deal whose backers included Silver Lake and Endeavor wants to be the biggest online sports betting operator. But recently, the company, which doesnt have a sports betting license in any state, lost the race for a New York license despite being confident it would win, sources close to Fanatics said.

About a year ago, Fanatics was in the auction to buy PointsBet, an Australian online sports gambling company, two sources close to that situation said. Rubin saw the inside of PointsBets operations and decided instead of buying an operator to build a business organically, the source said.

He also considered buying other sports bookmakers and ended up passing, sources said.

In the fall, when bidding for newly issued New York online betting licenses, Fanatics teamed with rapper Jay-Z and Dave Portnoys Barstool Sports. In particular, some Fanatics execs believed they were a cinch to win with Jay-Z on board, two sources close to the bidding group said.

Instead, Empire State gambling regulators awarded a license to two other groups led by companies like FanDuel, DraftKings, MGM, Ballys, Caesars and PointsBet.

Nevertheless, sources said Fanatics plans to launch a sports book late this year, aiming to gain traction by renting gaming licenses in several states from current bookmakers in exchange for a slice of revenue.

We believe this is a meaningful long-term opportunity but we are going to be patient to build it the right way over the years, Rubin told The Post in a Wednesday interview.

The company likewise has expressed interest in buying regional sports television networks but has recently passed on buying the stations Comcast is selling, including a piece of SNY, two sources close to the situation said. Rubin may have decided to step away from the Comcast RSNs after seeing the declining revenue of the networks, sources speculated.

Fanatics may instead try to work with Major League Baseball, whom it is already partnered with, in a few years to build an MLB-controlled direct to consumer streaming package, a source said, or wait for Sinclair Broadcasting, which owns the most RSNs, to simply go bankrupt in the next few years.

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Fanatics lands Topps, but TV and sports-betting ambitions remain elusive - New York Post

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