Known for offering some of the best sports odds and diverse entertainment prop bets found online, playblackjack.com has released odds on whether the Pittsburgh Steelers will release franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

Dave Johnson, head bookmaker at playblackjack.com, had the following to say regarding the current odds on this prop bet: “Ben Roethlisberger is arguably one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.  Two Superbowl rings and numerous on-field accolades are just the beginning of what he means to the success of the Steelers. However, his off-field actions have started to churn the rumor mill and it’s not far fetched to believe the Rooney family is tired of his distractions. They traded Plaxico a few years ago after he became a distraction and the team went on to win a few Superbowls. We opened the odds on ‘Yes, he will be traded’ at +1500. As the rumors heat up, we expect to take a lot of money at +1500. The incoming action will determine whether we will drop the odds to +1400 or lower. This bet is based on Big Ben being traded from the Steelers. For the bet to win, he must be excluded from the opening day roster when the regular season resumes.”

Will the Steelers (Rooney family) decide to trade Big Ben? Only time will tell.

Playblackjack.com has released the following odds on Ben Roethlisberger being traded before the start of the 2010-2011 season:

•    The odds above will be graded on the opening day of the 2010-2011 season.
•    Action is based on him being traded or remaining with the team.
•    If Big Ben is excluded from the opening day roster for any other reason than being traded all bets are deemed ‘no action’ and bets are returned.

Public Relations
For more information or to request an interview regarding this article/press release please contact Rebecca at rebecca@playblackjack.com.  All inquiries will be addressed immediately.

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Known for offering some of the best sports odds and diverse entertainment prop bets found online, playblackjack.com has released odds which NBA team will win the coveted Lebron James sweepstakes.

Dave Johnson, head bookmaker at playblackjack.com, had the following to say regarding the current odds on this prop bet: “Lebron James is arguably the greatest NBA player on the planet. He very well may be the greatest to ever play the game. He automatically makes any NBA team a championship contender. With that in mind there are many teams this season trying to create cap space with the hopes of possibly acquiring Lebron in the off-season. There are only a few teams who realistically have a shot at the superstar. The Cavaliers are the current favorite to re-sign James next season. They have taken necessary steps like bringing in Shaq as well as signing Jamison at the deadline. We have them listed as a -300 favorite at the current time. However, the New York Knicks are also a viable contender. James loves to play at MSG and a big-market team like New York will appeal to his desire to be recognized as the greatest NBA player of all-time. We have the Knicks listed at +400.”

Which NBA team will win the Lebron James sweepstakes? Only time will tell.

Playblackjack.com has released the following odds on Lebron James’ team in 2010-2011:

•    The above odds are based on which team Lebron James will play for on opening day of the season in 2010-2011.
•    If Lebron James for any reason does not play for any NBA team next season then all bets are deemed cancelled and money is returned.

Public Relations: For more information or to request an interview regarding this article/press release please contact Rebecca at rebeccah@playblackjack.com. All inquiries will be addressed immediately.

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Rule will lead a small field of seven in the race. The three-year old had a solid two-year old season and is poised to get in shape for the Triple Crown season by taking part in several races during the winter season.

Rule, the 8-5 favorite, won his final three races of his two-year campaign in impressive fashion, leading from start to finish in each race.

If Rule falters, the secondary choice appears to be Uptowncharlybrown at 2-1 odds.

The odds were set Thursday morning.

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The rowdy crowd began hurling objects onto the court when the Mountaineers (19-4, 8-3) began to lose a huge lead to their rivals on February 3. West Virginia ultimately were able to right the ship and get the big conference victory, but the scene got so volatile that West Virginia coach Bob Huggins had to address the crowd pleading for calm.

Several members of the Pittsburgh Panthers team were hit with coins and that information certainly will be on the minds of those in attendance at Peterson Events Center, which is why security will be heightened.

The drama on the court should be all the need as the longtime rivals are both ranked for the second straight time and just the fifth time in the series with West Virginia at fourth and Pittsburgh barely holding on to a spot at 25.

West Virginia’s standing will take a hit probably regardless of the outcome on Friday as they dropped their last game, at home, to the fourth-ranked and Co-Big East-leading Villanova Wildcats on Monday, snapping their six-game winning streak.

They have also had a lot of trouble winning in Pittsburgh where they last were victorious on February 23, 2005.

Pittsburgh has won two straight since their loss to West Virginia and defeated cross-town rival Robert Morris on Monday behind 33 points from Juan Dixon. They also defeated the Seton Hall Pirates handily in their last conference game to stay within striking distance of the surging Wildcats.

Heading into Friday’s game, the Mountaineers were 2 ½ games off the conference lead with Pittsburgh close behind at 3 ½ with about six weeks left in the regular season.

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The Canucks (35-21-2) built up a bit of a lead over the second-place Colorado Avalanche with a plethora of home games before being exiled from their home for 14-games and over a month due to the drum up, staging and winding down of the Winter Olympics which began this week in Vancouver.

They started their trip strong with a 5-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on January 30, but have struggled to maintain consistency since, three of their last four and needing overtime on Saturday to defeat the Boston Bruins.

The Canucks have now seed their lead in the division completely gone as they are now tied with the Avalanche with 72 points following their most recent defeat, 3-1 in Tampa Bay to the Lightning on Tuesday.

Vancouver’s goal scorers have gone silent in the middle of the road trip. The team was firing on all cylinders offensively, notably the top line of the Sedin brothers and Alex Burrows. Behind their sharp sticks, the Canucks accounted for 34 goals and 57 assists in their 18-games before the marathon trip, going 14-2-2 during that span.

But the top line has gone could, recorded just one point over the past four games. The cold streak has hampered Henrik Sedin, who has not scored in those four games, a season high.

This is the second year in a row that the Florida Panthers (24-26-9) appear to be swooning down the stretch. Last season and this, they were having a decent season and looked to have a better than decent chance of getting into the playoffs for the first time since 2000 and ending the league’s longest drought, but they fell apart late last season and are starting to do it a bit early this year.

Florida has lost four straight and five of their last six and have gone from the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference all the way to 12th. The Panthers were pasted on the road against the Carolina Hurricanes in their last game, 4-1 marking the 11th straight time that the Panthers have not scored more than two goals.

This will be Vancouver’s first trip to Sunrise, Florida since losing 4-3 in a shootout on February 1, 2008. The teams met once last year with the Canucks winning on home ice 5-3 on December 14, 2008.

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Think of the Super Bowl as a Groundhog’s Day for sports books.

But while Puxatony Phil saw his shadow last week, meaning six more weeks of winter (at least as the legend goes), the Super Bowl saw no shadow and is hopefully that they are looking at a profitable 2010.

The casinos throughout Nevada reported raking in $6.9 million in profit while taking in more than $82 million in bets for the game on Sunday, February 7. That profit is up by nearly $200 grand, but a bit down in terms of total bets.

While the lower action can be seen as a bit discouraging, the profit margin is not and some insiders stated that the reason for the small dip in action was because much of the East Coast was dealing with digging their cars out of snow banks and simply did not have time to sit down and figure out where they wanted to lay their bets before the roughly 6:30 Eastern kickoff.

“We thought the Super Bowl was a great measuring stick of the economy and we think the economy is just a little better than what it was last year,” said Jay Kornegay.

Kornegay is the Executive Director of the Las Vegas Hilton. He noted that even though the entire industry was down in wagering, his sportsbook was up 14 percent, but that the volume of each bet (meaning, for example, someone may have put $100 down on the Cardinals covering the spread last year, may have put $50 on the Saints doing the same this year).

Before the economy fell into its worse shape, Super Bowl XL took in the most wagered in February of 2006 with over $94 million bet on the game which was won by the Pittsburgh Steelers over the Seattle Seahawks.

Their most profitable Super Bowl was the year prior when the New England Patriots defeated the Philadelphia Eagles and the casinos took in $15.4 million and their biggest loss was the New York Giants’ upset of the previously undefeated New England Patriots two years ago.

The books lost $2.6 million and were as stunned as the rest of America.

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The Lakers (40-13) are expected to be without Andrew Bynum and Kobe Bryant for a third straight game when they play at EnergySolutions Arena. Bynum is out with a hip injury while Bryant’s condition is more up in the air, but odds are he will use the game before the All-Star game to rest, and perhaps skill the All-Star game this weekend to prepare for the stretch run and upcoming postseason.

With the way the Lakers have been playing without them, Bryant may think why bother returning quickly. They defeated San Antonio, at home, on Monday 101-89 and had also defeated Portland in their building, 99-82 on Saturday.

Still Bryant’s 28 points and Bynum’s 15.1 points per game will be missed against the Utah Jazz (32-18) who is seeking their 10th straight victory on Wednesday and 14th time in 15 tries.

They powered their way to their ninth straight win Tuesday in Los Angeles against the other team, the Clippers, winning 109-99 behind 13 points and 11 assists from Deron Williams, an All-Star for the first time.

The Jazz are hoping that the All-Star break will not hamper their momentum as they will begin a tough road trip following the break. They will take the court again on Tuesday with a trip to Houston which starts a four-game road trip.

The teams have split their two meetings this season with each team winning on their own home court, including their last meeting on December 12 in Utah, a 102-94 Jazz victory.

The Lakers also resume their season Tuesday with a two-game home stand with Golden State and Boston.

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This will be the case as the defending national champion Tar Heels welcome in the Duke Blue Devils for the first game against each other this season.

It is seventh-ranked Duke (19-4, 7-2) that has the edge in the standings this season with North Carolina (13-10, 2-6) struggling to find an identity following the departure of several key members of their team that helped them to the national title last spring, but the current crop seems destined for the NIT, if at all.

The Blue Devils have not taken advantage of their lead in the ACC and the conference is still up for grabs with just a half-game lead over the Maryland Terrapins and a game over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.

Duke comes in winners of four of their last five overall and are also looking to turn the tide against North Carolina, whom they have struggled against, losing six of the last seven and three straight.

North Carolina is sputtering big time and have lost three straight overall and six of their last seven, including a particularly ugly 92-71 loss in Maryland on Sunday. Once again the Tar Heels vice was allowing their opponents to shoot well from three-point land and that may be seen again on Wednesday when Duke brings its conference-nest 39 percent threes into the contest.

In addition to the breakdowns defensively, North Carolina’s offense is decidedly down, decreasing from their season average of 80 points to 69.8 over the past seven games along with its 1-6 record.

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The Detroit Red Wings (27-21-10) have the longest active playoff streak in the four major sports on the line at 19, although they have pretty much given up on a ninth straight Central Division title as the Chicago Blackhawks 23 points ahead of them.

Franzen (34 goals in 2008-09 were good for second on the team) has been out since he tore his ACL on October 8 and he returns to a team that is struggling when they cannot afford to struggle, going 3-5-2 in their last 11 games, including a subpar 1-2-1 on their current five-game road trip.

Detroit has 64 points, putting them in ninth in the Western Conference, two points behind the eighth-seeded Nashville Predators.

The Red Wings have had many collapses this season when they have been staked to seemingly insurmountable leads, but have lost them. This was the case in their last game on Saturday in which they led the Los Angeles Kings 3-0 before the Kings stormed back four three goals in the second period and scored what would prove to be the game-winner with 2:21 left.

The St. Louis Blues got their season off to a solid start by taking two games in Sweden against the Red Wings in early October, but not much has gone right in the city of St. Louis for the Blues this season. They are 9-16-5 at home and are looking to avoid five straight losses there.

St. Louis has to find some scoring from somewhere. They dropped their most recent game, 5-2 to the Colorado Avalanche on Monday. They have now scored two goals or less seven out of their last eight.

The Blues have split the two games in the United States this year, giving them a 3-1 mark over their divisional rivals this year.

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Michigan State (19-5, 9-2) was running away with the Big Ten, was undefeated in the conference, and off to their best conference start in school history before heading out on a tough road trip which took them to Wisconsin and Illinois.

During a blowout against the Badgers, 67-49, which would be their first conference loss of the season, the Spartans received a scare when their guard Lucas crumpled down in a heap during the second half and left for the rest of the game and was out for their 78-73 loss in Champaign on Saturday.

Lucas is questionable to return in Tuesday’s game.

Dryamond Green did his best to fill in for his teammate, having a great game on both sides of the ball, scoring 17 and grabbing an impressive 16 rebounds, but the Illini was able to shoot at 52.5 percent and force 18 turnovers which proved to be the difference in the five-point win for Illinois.

The Big Ten is now wide open as the Spartans’ three-game lead has been slashed in half and three teams are tied for second, one game back and Purdue is behind those, 1 ½ games behind.

Purdue (19-3, 7-3), ranked sixth, figured to challenge for the conference title this year coming off of the first Big Ten tournament title in school history. They had their best start since 1996 with a perfect start, but skidded with three straight losses and appeared to fall too far behind Michigan State.

Now the Purdue Boilermakers can pull within a half game of the Spartans and extend their winning streak to six games with a rare win at the Breslin Center on Tuesday. They have not won in East Lansing since March 1, 1998.

Purdue side-stepped the upset and got confidence by winning a game in a building their rarely taste victory, Assembly Hall, something that should give them confidence heading into Michigan State’s house.

JaJuan Johnson scored 21 and grabbed nine rebounds and blocked four shots in the 78-75 win over the Indiana Hoosiers on Thursday.

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