Bookies Call Game 5 for Phillies

...Singapore

(AP) - Asia will be home to the world's two biggest casino markets as early as this year, with Singapore set to take the No. 2 spot from Las Vegas, a US gambling industry group said today. Singapore raked in $5.1 billion in gaming revenue last year and could bring in up to $6.4 billion this year. The city-state opened its first two casinos last year. Las Vegas, which lost its No. 1 spot to Macau in 2006, earned $5.8 billion in casino revenue last year, but is a mature market with little potential for big growth, says the American Gaming Association president. More»

Vegas prepares for 'cutter' scam

(NEWSER) - Las Vegas casinos are readying their defenses against a group of baccarat cheaters, the Las Vegas Sun reports. The group, known as "cutters" and described by police as "extremely well-organized," are thought to have stolen tens of millions from casinos worldwide. They take advantage of the baccarat custom in which the dealer allows a player to cut the deck after shuffling. Using a tiny camera embedded in a sleeve or cufflink, the "cutter" spreads the cards slightly, videotaping their suit, value, and order. More»

The former NBA stars were Woods' Vegas companions

(NEWSER) - You already know more than you ever wanted to about Tiger Woods’ personal life, but guess what? You still haven’t heard it all. Vanity Fair teases its upcoming article by Mark Seal, which “may be the most complete account to date of the golfer’s secret life”:

• His teachers: Woods made his frequent trips to Las Vegas with Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley—even though one of his attorneys had warned him to “stay away from that son of a bitch,” referring to Jordan. Jordan almost stole away one of Tiger's girls for himself, adds the New York Post in a look at the article.

Irish outfit says it'll enhance its $75M offer

(NEWSER) - You’d think Tiger Woods would be eager for any sponsorship he can get right now, but apparently he still has standards. The Irish gambling outfit Paddy Power says the scandal-plagued golfer has turned down its $75 million sponsorship offer. But the company says it “remains keen” to sign Woods and will soon sweeten the pot with an “enhanced” offer. More»

A near miss gives that winning feeling, study finds

(NEWSER) - Scientists have unlocked a key to obsessive gambling—the lure of the near miss. In search of the reason gamblers keep playing even after strings of horrible losses, Cambridge University researchers examined the brains of gamblers. They found that a near miss—putting a bet on a horse that finished second, for example—stimulates areas of the brain nearly identical to those that respond to winning. More»