David Beckham plans to play out the final year

David Beckham plans to play out the final year of his contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2011 while continuing to hope he’ll play for England again. Beckham said in an interview with The Associated Press on Monday that he doesn’t know what will happen after his contract expires next year.

Beckham has a five-year contract with Major League Soccer worth $32.5 million. He could buy out the final year and leave next month when the playoffs end.

The former England captain would hurry home, though, if England coach Fabio Capello called on him to play for his country again. Beckham is England’s most experienced active player with 115 international appearances. Beckham won’t go on loan to a European team like he did with AC Milan the last two years to keep fit during the MLS offseason, which could dash his hopes of playing for England again.

The Galaxy won’t allow another loan after his Achilles’ tendon injury kept him out of most of this season. The 35-year-old superstar says he is “80 to 85 percent” fit after tearing his left Achilles’ tendon while on loan in March. He was sidelined for six months and missed the World Cup in South Africa.

Beckham will join the Galaxy for its friendly in Newcastle, Australia, next month. His latest injury is one of many that have knocked Beckham out since he arrived to unbelievable hype four years ago, stating his goal was to raise soccer’s profile in the United States.

Manchester United fears Rooney to land with bitter rival Man City

Manchester United fears it will be left with little choice but to sell Wayne Rooney to its big-spending crosstown rival, Manchester City, according to two sources close to the club. United, which defeated Turkish club Bursaspor 1-0 in Champions League play on Wednesday, was rocked to the core by a pre-match statement from Rooney that confirmed that the England forward wants to quit the club.

That leaves Manchester City as the most likely destination, as it is bankrolled by Arabian billionaire Sheikh Mansour and has more readily available cash than any other team in the world. And while other clubs such as English Premier League champion Chelsea and Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona also would be interested, there is a growing belief that Rooney’s preferred option would be a move just down the road.

Rooney also could dramatically increase his salary at City, which last summer made Yaya Toure the highest-paid player in the EPL, enjoying a weekly wage of around $306,903.17 (USD). Rooney was offered $285,915.35 per week to stay at United before contract talks broke down, according to Sky Sports News.

Yet the 24-year-old, who established himself as one of the world’s top players last season before a drastic dip in form, insists that his reasons for moving on are not motivated by money.

Barcelona takes control over their Group

Lionel Messi’s double gave Barcelona a 2-0 win over FC Copenhagen on Wednesday in the Champions League despite the hosts’ poor finishing in front of goal. Messi found space outside the area to launch a shot past goalkeeper Johan Wiland into the top corner in the 19th minute. He added the second in injury time after a nervous second half for Barcelona.

Wiland had saved from Messi, David Villa and Daniel Alves to keep the Danish champions in the match at the Camp Nou stadium. But Copenhagen striker Cesar Martin wasted several chances and Dame N’Doye rattled a shot off the crossbar.

Barcelona’s usual precise passing game saw it dominate the first half, but the Danes did not surrender despite going behind early and looked close to equalizing on several occasions before Messi’s fourth goal of the competition.

Messi’s first goal was a spectacular shot high into the net from Andres Iniesta’s pass, while his second was more simple, the Argentina striker controlling Eric Abidal’s errant volley as it came down before poking into goal.

Even with Xavi Hernandez starting on the bench, Barcelona looked ready to roll over Copenhagen as Villa hit the crossbar after five minutes before Wiland stopped Maxwell and then snatched away a hard Messi header inside 17 minutes.

N’Doye missed a header from a well-placed cross in the 48th and then fired a shot past goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto—who was filling in for Victor Valdes— in the 67th but found the crossbar. With Pinto out of position and an open net beckoning, Cesar Martin somehow managed to head the rebound wide.

Cesar Martin had already provoked the ire of coach Stale Solbakken in the 26th when the Brazilian striker surprisingly pulled up from a run thinking he was offside, even though no referee’s whistle was forthcoming.

Only Daniel Alves kept Christian Bolanos from getting Copenhagen on the board in the 74th with a last-ditch sliding tackle. Daniel Alves, one of Barcelona’s standouts, sliced a shot off the far post in the 87th as Barcelona looked to close out and avoid dropping points at home, as it had in the group stage last season in a 1-0 defeat to Rubin Kazan.

The house edge on blackjack worsens

Well, the inevitable has begun to happen. When the recession first hit and credit dried up, everyone predicted the casinos would lose out. If the banks squeeze credit, people cannot maintain their levels of discretionary spending and, sadly, gambling is always going to be one of the choices made less often. The prediction then ran on: if fewer people go into casinos and those that do go spend less, the casinos will find their profits under pressure. At this point, the forecasters would take a deep breath. This will not be a problem so long as the casinos hold their nerve. The economy will slowly pick up. Confidence will return as consumers save less and spend more. In three to five years time, casino revenues will be back to their normal levels. But, and this is where the forecasters would look grim, if the casinos try to suck extra dollars of profit out of fewer players, they risk killing the golden goose. So which way have casinos played their hands?

In most states, blackjack has always been the biggest table game. But in 2009, casinos across the US lost an average 20% of their annual revenue from the tables. When you lose such a big slice of your revenue from just one game, this puts pressure on the casino operators. Unfortunately, they have tended to move in the wrong direction. Most states regulate on the basis of a 3:2 payout on blackjack (i.e. if you bet $10 and win, the casino pays $15). In Colorado, operators have applied for an increase in table odds to 6:5 (i.e. a winning $10 bet pays out only $12). For those of you who like the math, this lifts the house edge from 1.5% to 2.9%. In Nevada, the table odds moved to 6:5 months ago, closely followed by a general raise in the table minimums. This drove away the casual players and, not surprisingly, the high rollers followed. The casinos shot themselves in the foot by both tightening the rules and reducing the payouts.

Where has the business gone? Well, the hard core gamblers have decided they don't like the deck being so obviously stacked against them. There's no reason why should they tolerate low payouts when online casinos have kept their table odds at a fair level and not changed their table minimums. Online, you can still play at $1 or $5 tables if that's all you want to risk. The higher table minimums are there if you want them but there's no pressure. In the real world, slightly stressed staff are trying to encourage you to spend more. Sitting in the peace of your own home, you can pull a beer out of the fridge and take life easy. There are so many good online casinos where you can play blackjack with many different styles of online blackjack to choose from. If the mood takes you, there are tournaments to play. If the money runs out, you can always play for free. This is one time when the greed of the real world operators has worked against them. In the good old days before the internet, it was a real world casino or nothing. Now that the internet has come of age and the quality of the casino software has improved, the real world casinos have a real fight on their hands if they want to remain relevant.

New in the casino world

The world never stands still too long. If it does, this may mean it's dying and has nowhere else to go. The eternal question for every business lucky enough to hit a winning formula is whether to change it and, if so, by how much and how quickly. In one shape or form, casinos have been around for centuries. They were gambling in Ancient China and Rome long before anyone thought of building in the Nevada desert. Yet, the basic idea has remained the same. If your luck is in, a small bet will win you a fortune. It's a remarkably seductive temptation. Just think. All you need is for the dice to fall just so, or the next card to be the 8. The games may change their appearance, but the principle of betting on the outcome of random events remains the same. To that extent, gambling never changes and probably never will change significantly. If there is change, it's superficial. Say, from the one-armed bandit invented by Charles Fey to the video slots version you start by the press of a button. This makes the arrival of online casinos the first real revolution for at least a century. People have always gathered together to gamble. It could be in a friend's home, a private club or a place with public access (often condemned as a "den"). The internet does away with the requirement for a "place". Now people can stay home and still enjoy the pure experience of gambling. It avoids the inconvenience and expense of travel, buying food and drinks in more impressive surroundings and, in many cases, finding somewhere to stay overnight. All you have to tolerate is the quality of the animation and the annoying soundtrack of "live" players and the games. Over the last decade, real world casinos have come under real competitive pressure. They are not doing too well. But, before you all celebrate, this means the states take less in revenue and, as their deficits rise, tax hikes may have to fill in the gap.

This article brings two "back-to-basics" gambits by the competing forms. Let's start in Atlantic City. There has been a significant drop in the number of players in all venues and for all games. The recession is biting hard. So, albeit only on a trial basis, the management has gone back to the $2 game at two blackjack tables. The thinking is easy to explain. High table minimums frighten away the learners and the more conservative gamblers. People want the maximum gambling experience for the least possible outlay. The casino assures us that, if the trial is a success, more tables will go back to the $2 minimum. Except there's a twist. If you only bet in the range $2 to $5, you pay a fee of 25 cents per hand as a "contribution toward the operating costs". It seems casino managements cannot resist biting gamblers in the ass.

Going to blackjack online, Microgaming is introducing a live dealer version. You will be able to interact with the no doubt sexy dealer through the wonder of streamed video. Better still, it makes the online experience more obviously "fair". Although we have all come to trust the RNG, it's always more reassuring to see someone deal real cards. Others can also Bet Behind on the seated players and you can book a seat with your favorite dealer. It will be interesting to see whether live dealers represent a new nail in the real world casinos' coffin.