Posted on 08/08/2005 8:20:52 AM PDT by newgeezer
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The largest sports betting site on the Internet expanded Friday into the energy arena, offering gamblers a chance to bet on soaring U.S. retail gasoline prices.
"Record gasoline prices are affecting everyone, so why not let people bet on it?" said PinnacleSports.com spokesman Kyle Fratini. "We've been thinking about this for months."
The online betting site, which normally focuses on mainstream sports like football, basketball and soccer, is giving gamblers a chance to bet on whether gasoline will reach $3.00 a gallon in New York or Los Angeles by the end of the year, with 30 to 1 odds.
On Friday, average gasoline prices in Los Angeles were a lofty $2.616 a gallon, up more than 20 percent from last year and among the highest in the nation, according to the AAA's daily survey.
AAA's survey will be used by PinnacleSports.com as the benchmark for its bets.
Nationwide, gasoline prices are zipping along just over $2.30 a gallon, within 2 cents of the record peak hit July 14, as oil refiners are forced to pay up for record world crude oil prices of over $60 a barrel.
Also up for wager: Will the average price of gas in the United States reach $2.35 per gallon by Labor Day? Will the average price of gas in the U.S. reach $2.40 per gallon by the end of the year?
Fratini said maximum bets on gasoline will be around $500, though the site allows for bets in the thousands of dollars for sports like football.
You remind me of a bumper sticker I saw years ago Down South, "Drive 90, Freeze a Yankee" Sigh.
LOL...Yep they'll go from just being an organ to become an organ donor.
Lately I've been seeing a lot of SUVs on the side of the road with For Sale signs on them. When gas hits $3.00 a gallon the For Sale signs will change to "Free To A Good Home" signs.
"Big Oil" is a MYTH as far as price at the pump is concerned.
More people should check the facts about where gasoline comes from, how much it costs to find the stuff, get it out of the ground, get it to a refinery, refine it, get it distributed..they would realize that "BIG OIL" is being used as a Fall Guy...for bad Government policies.../B>
http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/petroleum_supply_monthly/current/pdf/table37.pdf
You may want to update your source of information about where we get our crude oil. See these May, 2005 numbers. Saudi leads the pack of OPEC countries, with Venezuela a close second. Almost half of our crude is being imported from OPEC countries.
I think so but am not 100% sure.
The first problem I have with that is the Fed gov't sticking its nose into matters of state gov't. The second is that it's illogical and a solution looking for a problem. Mandating the removal of taxes is just going to add to the problem of high demand. People who do not wish to pay the going price simply need to use less of it. Carpool, move closer to work, work closer to home, etc. That's how we get price relief. We quit using so much of the stuff. Apparently, high prices is the only way that's going to happen.
Another problem is to remove all gasoline mixtures and allow only one.
If you mean the 'boutique' blends forced on us by the EPA and the envirowhackos, I agree 100%. We need perhaps one 'dirty' fuel for the boonies, and one cleaner fuel for the metro areas. Elevation might dictate some other needs but, again, that's market-driven instead of letting the envirowhackos have their way.
Next is to allow only the low and highest octane of fuel and eliminate the middle rating.
Let the market decide that. Many retailers sell only two grades already. If additives (e.g. ethanol) aren't involved, the mid-grade (where you find one) is often just a mixture of the other two.
Most all cars can burn low octane and it would take many years for it to do any damage to the car. Valve clatter and a slight loss of power could be a nuisance, but so what.
Actually, I just heard on the radio again this past weekend that most of the newer cars which "require" premium are computerized to such an extent that they will automatically detect predetonation ("ping") and retard the spark to eliminate it. Thus, those cars only require premium to achieve their best acceleration. If you don't mind somewhat-reduced performance -- e.g. maybe that Beemer will take an extra second or two to get to 60 MPH at full throttle -- you can use Regular without damaging anything. Interestingly, although our Lincoln required 91 octane, we always ran 89.5 (even 87 once by mistake) and never once heard a ping at other than full throttle.
This is a national security problem.
While our dependence on foreign oil is indeed a national security problem, the price of gasoline is not, no matter how high it gets.
I have 8 kids.
I read that he has on FR about 6 months ago. It will still take years to build them even know he is waving a lot of the environmental concerns
Varies by state. In the state of Texas it would be 38.4 cents less per gallon.
In your state, Virginia its 18.4 cents federal tax and 18.9 cents state (state taxes as of 2002). According to the American Petroleum Institute http://api-ec.api.org/AdvancedSearch.cfm
Virginia has a 17.5 cent tax plus a 0.6 cent per gallon storage tax plus a 2% sales tax in regions that are part of or contiguous with the Northern Virginia Transportation District (whatever that is)
Until people realize that we should not depend on FOREIGN OIL..Nor listen to enviro-nuts who know nothing about the Highly Natural Occuring Product..Crude Oil..gas prices will continue to remain high.. People really should do a bit of research on the industry. Try WTRG.com
That's the fun part. 3.00 per gallon shouldn't surprise anyone.
Congress and POTUS have zero influence on gas prices unless they cap them in which case the supply will fall to zero as in the late 70s.
Is that what you want ??
BUMP
Gasoline is already over $3 a gallon, if you go by imperial gallons, not the quart short American gallon.
An imperial gallon costs $3.91 (USD) in Canada ($4.75 Canadian dollars)
A U.S. Gallon would cost $3.31 (USD) in Canada. That's because gasoline taxes are that much higher in Canucky land.
So, as you can see, things could be worse. $2.60 for a US gallon ($3.25 for an imperial gallon) isn't all that bad.
Economically, the USA is the cheapest place to do business as far as energy costs go.
In Europe, and the UK, gas could cost you $6 or more for an imperial gallon.
Sell the boat and save your leaves.
LOL!!!
With all the environmental wackos that forced all these laws and prices on us Americans, where are they in forcing China to grow without oil like they try with us.
Childless Sportute bashing. The other day I went to drop my son off at preschool. I put him and the baby in carseats, drove to preschool. Took out two kids from carseats, went inside, Came back out with one baby, back in the carseat. Went home, and took out baby. Six car seat wranglings just to drop off. Repeat at end of preschool to pick up. Just imagine trying to bend all the way over to the ground with a 35 pound baby in a tiny car versus the higher SUV. Carseats and small cars were apparently designed as torture devises for mothers. No one is designing cars and carseats with a mothers comfort. If they were, babies would be able to ride in the front next to mom.
Try doing a little Math. Take the cost of a New Chevy Tahoe, use 12,000 miles per year, include average financing, insurance, maintenance and depreciation over 4 years. Look at the total cost per mile at $1.50 and $2.50 per gallon of gasoline. The change in cost per mile is about 10%. Not enough to drastically change behavior and preferences.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.