PayPerHead.com, an online sportsbook service provider for local agents, today unveiled a new campaign featuring Vince Curatola, Johnny Sack of The Sopranos fame.

The campaign leads with Vince asking “Five bucks per head, that’s what I wanna pay…” and the website, featuring video and voice overs by Vince, walks you through the product, the process and the competition.

“Five bucks a head is really an industry first given our level of service,” a spokesman from PayPerHead.com explained. “And we very carefully and in great detail delineate on the website exactly what you get and at what price level at PayPerHead versus the other serious players, such as ABC Per Head.”

You get a great deal of sports betting services, including not only the traditional online sportsbook but an optional casino, live poker, in game live betting, mobile betting, tools for managing players and their funds, layoff and scalp accounts, even a “sharp check.” “We have the sharpest lines out there and one of the most experienced stages anywhere offshore,” the spokesman said, “so if we start seeing sharp action from one of your players, we can give you a heads up. What you want to do with him is up to you.”

The choice of Vince Curatola was an interesting one. “We always liked Vince’s character on The Sopranos, as John “Johnny Sack” Sacramoni,” the PayPerHead spokesman said. “He had a certain style, classy, but not over the top; there’s a calmness and authority about him that we really admire.  He brings that serious business demeanor to PayPerHead.com, the first sportsbook-service to EVER feature any kind of celebrity in its marketing.”

With post-up books like BetUS, Sportsbook.com and SportsInteraction stopping taking US players, Bodog and others struggling with “Ecom” processing problems, the street scene is heating up and players are posting daily in forums looking for a “local out.” Most players want the huge selection of markets, including live in-game betting, and the convenience of anytime betting online or via a mobile device, but more and more, we hear players say “they want to bet online but want to settle in cash on Monday.”

Many in the industry think this is the future of online sports betting – and it very well could be. And with firms like PayPerHead.com investing in marketing in an unprecedented way (celebs, who’d have thunk it?!) and in product (they also offer live poker, casino and in-game betting), expect to see this sector grow significantly this season.

For more information, see PayPerHead.com.

It’s a big weekend for NCAA basketball betting players as Rivalry Week comes to an end, and here are the three games that should pique your interest.

Ohio State Wisconsin Betting – Saturday, 2:00 PM ET

The top-ranked Buckeyes are undefeated, but they’ll be underdogs on the road against the No.13 Badgers as they’ve never won at the Kohl Center. The Buckeyes haven’t won at Wisconsin since New Years Eve 2000, but they’re 5-3 ATS on the road. However, Wisconsin is 8-3 ATS at home.

Tennessee Florida Betting – Saturday, 6:00 PM ET

The No.17 Gators will be favored at home against the Volunteers, who are 3-2 SU and ATS in their last five trips to the O’Dome. Tennessee is 5-3 ATS on the road this season, while Florida is only 3-7 ATS at home, and this will be a close game as Bruce Pearl is one of the best coaches in the country at getting his team ready for a tough game. After losing at Kentucky in his return to the bench, Pearl knows his team needs a win on Saturday.

Pitt Villanova Betting – Saturday, 9:00 PM ET

In the nightcap, the No.9 Wildcats should be home favorites against the No.4 Panthers, who are 2-3 SU in their last five at Villanova, but a solid 3-2 ATS, although they may be without scoring leader Ashton Gibbs. The Panthers are 4-2 ATS away from home, while the Wildcats are 8-5 ATS at home, but anything can happen in the Big East, so be careful where you lay your sports bet

Online sports betting offers sports fans an exhilarating and secure means to make money and have some fun. A good example for this is no deposit casino bonus wherein players can automatically play and have fun without depositing.

Here are a few basic concepts you need to understand before you start making sports wagers online.

Sports Betting 101 – Opening an Account

Now that you have made the decision to wager on sports, you need to create an online sportsbook account. The Internet is littered with sportsbooks looking for new customers. Many, if not all, offer sign-up bonuses and incentives. Particularly top online casino offers a big incentives for fresh registrants. Just find a popular online sportsbook, take advantage of their sign-up bonus and you’ll be good to go.

Sports Betting 101 – Depositing Money

It is relatively easy to deposit funds into your online sportsbook account. The most common payment method is the credit card. However, some credit card companies prevent funds from being dispersed in sports book accounts. Other methods include bank wires, Western Union and e-checks.

Sports Betting 101 – Straight Bets

A straight bet is the most frequent type of bet in sports wagering. The potential bettor puts their money on either the favorite or the underdog. In straight bets, you risk $11 to make $10. In basketball and football, the straight bet takes into account a point spread. For example, the Arizona Cardinals are hosting the Seattle Seahawks. You bet on the Cardinals, who were favored by two points. Arizona must defeat Seattle by at least three points in order for you to win the bet.

Sports Betting 101 – Money Line Bets

A money line bet does not factor in the point spread. You bet on either the favorite or the underdog to win. The odds are higher that the favorite will win, so you must risk more money. In contrast, betting on the underdog to win will yield a higher payout because their odds of the underdog winning were lower.

Sports Betting 101 – Betting on the Totals or Over/Under

Betting on the total score of a game between two teams is known as a total or over/under bet. For example, it is predicted that the total points scored in a college basketball game between the Michigan Wolverines and Duke Blue Devils will be 144. If you bet on the under, the two teams would have to combine for 143 points or less for you to win the wager.

Sports Betting 101 – Parlay Bets

The parlay provides potential bettors with an opportunity to earn a huge payout without having to risk a great amount. It involves at least two games and as many as 12. The more games are involved, the lower the odds will be, and higher the payout will be. In the event that one of the games in a parlay is a tie, the payout decreases. If you lose any game in a parlay, you do not win anything.

The Atlanta Hawks did what most sportsbook cappers expected on Sunday – they clinched a playoff spot. While the win was considered a foregone conclusion by most fans and pundits, Atlanta’s playoff hopes and expectations continue. The Spurs led the Hawks by 14 points in the first half on Sunday, shooting 51% from the floor. Atlanta, for their part, shot 47% and 23/28 from the line in their comeback effort. The overtime win shows once again that Atlanta is a team that can get it done when it counts, and are not a team discouraged by adversity. This win, as well as their 93-92 overtime win on Friday against Charlotte show a dangerous team, ready for the playoffs.

San Antonio is in for a rough week – after narrowly defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night, the Spurs look to take on the Lakers on at home on Wednesday, and then test themselves against the best team in the league at present – Cleveland’s Cavaliers. Afterward, they hit the road to take on the Celtics and Nets Sunday and Monday. Things looked disastrous for the Spurs early on Monday, but the team was able to overcome an early deficit, as well as Kevin Durant’s blistering 45 points, revealing a disturbing trend for the Thunder – they are blowing big leads and playing bad defense. San Antonio needs to build on this new momentum and bring confidence into their games later in the week. Book per head bettors know that wins against the favored Lakers and Cavs would mean much to San Antonio at this point in the season.

Online betting players are anxious to see how the Denver Nuggets handle the stretch run as their coach, George Karl, will be off and on the bench due to his cancer treatments. Will they be able to stay in the race for the No.2 seed, or possibly catch the Lakers at the top of the West?

The Nuggets should be fine without Karl, although we’re sure that their minds will be with him when he’s not on the bench. Karl just missed four games, and the Nuggets went 3-1, winning in Minnesota, New Orleans and Memphis before losing a game late in Houston, and the Nuggets have enough veteran leadership that things shouldn’t change much without Karl. Chauncey Billups is the on-the-floor leader, and Carmelo Anthony isn’t the petulant kid he once was. Even J.R. Smith has improved his shot selection by leaps and bounds, and the Denver bench is still strong.

It’s funny to talk about how the Nuggets could miss Karl, when before last year, it looked like he or Anthony was going to be shipped out of town. Bringing in Billups definitely helped to bridge the gap on the Nuggets, and if anything, Denver will probably use this to inspire them throughout the season. Everyone knows that Karl is brave for putting on the face he has, and the Nuggets appreciate him even making the effort to be there, which means that anything less than 100% effort isn’t fair to the team, or Karl, who at least now has time to fill out his March Madness bracket contest.

The National Basketball Association named its Player of the Week awards yesterday.

Milwaukee Bucks’ center Andrew Bogut was named the top player in the Eastern conference. The Western conference winner was Brandon Roy of the Portland Trail Blazers, with the awards announced right before college basketball betting peaks.

Bogut has been great all season, a key part of the Bucks’ resurgence in the east. The star center was at his best this week, averaging over a double-double, and scoring 19.3 points per game while grabbing 13.7 rebounds, and registering a league-high 3.67 blocks. His phenomenal play has helped Milwaukee win six straight to reach the fifth spot in the east. Bogut beat out Stephen Jackson of Charlotte, whom online betting cappers have also seen win six in a row, Lebron James, and Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic.

Roy was recognized for his incredible 56.0 percent shooting mark for the week, which gave him an average of 27.0 points per game for the week. His outstanding play has led to four straight, and has pushed the Blazers in to the eighth and final playoff spot in the west. Portland is now five games up on ninth place Memphis with just 13 games left to play, and barring a major letdown to close the season, will secure a postseason berth. Roy beat out Houston’s Louis Scola, Phoenix’s Amare Stoudamire, and San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili for the award.

A hot team loses their star, and things can fall apart. A team loses three of their most important players, and even the most hard-nosed critic can be forgiving of a poor performance under such conditions.

The Cavaliers proved that it would take way more than that to stop them, sending a chill down the spine of all potential opponents for the remainder of the regular season, and into the playoffs. The Cavs were without LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal and Antawn Jamison, but Delonte West and Mo Williams just looked at it as an opportunity to flex. While the Cavs are seen by most as a team with some depth, the shine of LeBron James’ star often conceals the team’s actual prowess. It did not help matters that Cleveland had been 0-9 since 2007-2008 without James. Still, Cleveland showed San Antonio just what they had to offer on Monday night, and the potential finals between the Lakers and the Cavs that most sports book odds makers have been predicting all season suddenly seems a little more interesting. The Lakers are in need of something – anything – to stop the three game losing streak they’re currently riding. While the Lakers are not staring down the barrel of a gun just yet, the team needs to turn things around if for no other reason than to silence critics. If a demoralized team is faced with an unexpected injury or other unpleasant surprise, the Lakers could be deprived of the title most have expected them to take all season.

If you’re looking to take a break from the sports action and get into casino betting, you don’t have to drive hours to your nearest online casino to find the excitement.

Nowadays, there are plenty of online casino options that you can choose from and unlike the old days, security, trust and technology have improved.

The only issue is that nowadays, there are so many casino shops on the internet that it is tough to determine which is the one for you. Some have higher bonuses either for deposits or recurring players, some have more games available for you to bet on and others have excellent VIP programs that reward their loyal players for playing.

But as someone who is just shopping around, it’s important to find out a website that can help you sift through all of the different avenues available and help you narrow down your choices.

Your online casino guide should be able to tell you about which casinos are best for blackjack, roulette, slots, craps and video poker. That way you can deposit in the place that is tailored to your needs as a customer.

Online Casino Spotlight is respected reviewer and they have a large archive of shops that they have reviewed. They know the difference between a good one and a so-so one, and they only recommend the best ones. They are the biggest directory of casinos on the internet and if you can’t find it there, you won’t find it anywhere.

Take a siesta from the sports betting or supplement your current action with some exciting casino gaming. While sporting events generally don’t start until the evening, you can get into the action thanks to the Online Casino Spotlight. And plus, NBA betting can sometimes be tricky but playing a few hands of cards or slots is much easier on the mind.

I wonder what the sports betting odds were on how long it would take Allen Iverson to return to the NBA. “The Answer” made his return to the team that drafted him, the Philadelphia 76ers in a 93-83 loss to Denver, where Iverson was traded to last year from Detroit. Iverson played 38 minutes, going 4-of-11 from the floor for 11 points, while adding six assists and five boards for the 76ers. Quite frankly, this is the best scenario for Iverson, and for the 76ers’ NBA betting odds.

First, Philadelphia fans LOVE Iverson. I mean, the last time they were good, he was the reason for it. They’ll follow that dude through a fire if they have to. Second, Iverson seems to realize that it’s Andre Igoudala’s team, as Iggy had 31 against the 76ers. Now, I have no problem with Iverson playing major minutes….as long as he understands that he’s no longer a superstar and starts jacking up 30 shots a game. Iverson is an excellent complementary piece if he keeps his head together, and you never know: the 76ers could be an NBA betting darkhorse in your sportsbook if Iverson sticks to the script.