Place your bets!

Time to put my money where my mouth is. As the World Cup approaches, I've been looking around for a site that does online betting. I figure it'll make things even more exciting if there's some coin resting on a result. Funny thing is, most of the European sites like BetandWin or William Hill don't accept bets from US residents. Initially I couldn't believe it to be true, but it turns out that since US gambling laws are so blurred, these companies would rather not deal with it. California is one of only three states that has a law on its books explicitely banning online gambling. However, no-one has EVER been prosecuted for it.

It turns out that there are plenty of online sports books that will take bets from the US, and I found one in particular called SportsInteraction.com that's the official partner of Globecast 157, the internet radio station that carries Radio Le Mans and other motorsport content. So I started looking around at their available bets. Lo and behold they offer betting on Formula 1, including this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix.

Now it would be silly to admit in a public place to online gaming in California since that's a misdemeanor. But let's say if I had decided to place some bets, what would I have gone for? A solid choice would be Michael Schumacher to place, since he has such a good record there. A $2 bet will pay $6 if he wins and $2.80 if he's second or third. Alonso would have been a safer choice but would have paid very little. The "big money" bet however is on winning constructor. I'm a big fan of Jenson Button, and the lads on Globecast 0157's Midweek Motorsports show noted how good a record Rubens Barrichello has at Monaco, so I think it would be fun to go with Honda at 13-1 to win. It's a long shot, but if they don't I'd only be out $2. If they do, I'd be $26 the richer.

I may have a patriotic flutter on Dan Wheldon to take the Indy 500 as well. It doesn't pay much, I think he's at 9-4, but hey, he's a Brit like me, so as I said, time to put my money where my mouth is. If I'm such an expert on racing I needn't worry about losing any money LOL!