But first, a note to regular visitors of this blog: You may notice a change to the blog banner today. That's because we have a new logo, which I think jazzes up our blog's home page a bit, don't you?

Moving on, Alan Zaremba, author of The Madness of March: Bonding and Betting with the Boys in Las Vegas, returned from his annual trip to Las Vegas days ago, but he's still updating his blog often. Yesterday, he wrote this post, which is about basketball, betting AND a radio call-in show, all in one:

One of the perks of writing a book like this is that occasionally someone will contact me and want to do a media interview. This gives me an opportunity to speak again about the project, and I enjoy doing so. On Monday, I was on a radio talk show program and not only conversed with the host, but also had a chance to speak with a caller who phoned the program while I was on the air.

I had just mentioned that it is difficult to win regularly betting on basketball in Las Vegas. The phone rang and soon thereafter I was involved in an exchange with a man who identified himself as "Hurricane."

Hurricane took issue with the claim that it is difficult to win in Las Vegas. He said he was a prognosticator and had been successful. Then in a way that would seem to make sense if I did not know better, he began to explain a method that he uses to win with his basketball betting. It was a complicated formula which I might have worked at trying to understand if I did not know that it could not possibly be effective over the long haul. Interested readers might want to look at Chad Millman's book, The Odds, which traces three professional gamblers' attempts at picking basketball games as their primary job. No matter how wise you are, you can not predict unpredictable last second changes that affect the spread. For those contemplating doing so for anything other than an avocational adventure, I suggest you reconsider.

Or you can call Hurricane and fly with him out to Las Vegas. I am sure the casinos have already sent a private plane for him, because he has a system.