Gambling Analyst and President of SportsInfo.com Releases Statement Regarding NBA Commissioner David Stern Changing NBA Referee Gambling Policies to Allow Casino Gambling

Gambling Analyst and President of SportsInfo.com Releases Statement Regarding NBA Commissioner David Stern Changing NBA Referee Gambling Policies to Allow Casino Gambling

MIAMI, Oct. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- With the tipoff of the National Basketball Association's 62nd season just hours away, the league looks to rebound from a chaotic off-season caused by referee Tim Donaghy's game-fixing scandal. Despite the turmoil, NBA Commissioner David Stern has gone on record as saying the rules designed to bar referees from entering the gaming area of a casino or betting (at anything other than a racetrack) during the offseason are outdated. Following the league's Board of Governor's meetings last Thursday, Stern said he is considering relaxing the rules to allow off-season visits to casinos.

The author of the best selling book "Bets, Drugs and Rock & Roll," and CEO of the nation's largest sports handicapping website, http://www.sportsinfo.com/, Steve Budin, says Stern is committing a major turnover. "Back in the 50's and 60's, game-fixers always knew where to find easy marks ... in casinos. They could always find players and refs who had busted out and were in need of fast money. Why would Commissioner Stern, at a time when the public is questioning the ethics and integrity of the league and its officials, even consider changing the rules to make referees more accessible to shady gamblers lurking in the shadows, looking to take advantage of an easy mark?"

Further supporting the idea that NBA referees and gambling don't mix, SportsInfo.com (http://www.sportsinfo.com/) General Manager and Lead Analyst Al DeMarco, a 24-year veteran of the sports handicapping industry, adds "Stern's change in attitude comes at a time when the game and its officials have been 'tainted' by Donaghy's actions. Even the consideration of access to casino floors -- no matter the time of year -- only furthers the perception, right or wrong, that referees could be dirty. This issue cannot be swept under the table by saying current rules are too strict or broad to be enforced. Rather what is needed is a swing in the other direction making referees beyond reproach and as pristine in appearance as possible so the public can regain its trust in the game itself."

Budin adds, "It's one thing for Stern to say with a straight face that Donaghy was a rogue criminal and that his league doesn't have a gambling problem; it's another to push his referees into casinos to prove it."

About SportsInfo.com

SportsInfo.com is the flagship website of the world's largest conglomerate of sports handicapping pay-per-view websites. Sportsinfo.com maintains over 50,000 clients worldwide and is a provider of syndicated game analysis to numerous media affiliates.

About Steve Budin

There is no more relevant voice in the sports gambling business than Steve Budin, considered the founder of the Offshore and Online Gambling Industry having established the first offshore sportsbook in 1993. Mr. Budin, the author of "Bets, Drugs, and Rock & Roll: The Rise and Fall of the World's First Offshore Sports Gambling Empire", is the CEO of the world's largest online sports pay-per-view analysis conglomerate, SportsInfo.com (http://www.sportsinfo.com/). With over 20 years experience in the sports gambling industry, first as an offshore sportsbook pioneer and now as an online picks entrepreneur, Steve Budin's perspective is unmatched in the gambling world.

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Source: SportsInfo.com

CONTACT: Jimmy Shapiro, +1-425-292-0425, for SportsInfo.com

Web site: http://www.sportsinfo.com/

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Profile: International Entertainment