Cleary Tom DeLay has been a powerful ally inside the appropriations process and the leadership process in the Congress and you don?t lose an ally like that without having some consequences.

The far bigger question is whether this community can get a broad base of allies inside the Congress so that we are not constantly fighting those kinds of battle where you depend upon one person at the last minute to pull out a miracle.

The Lakers are a public team, like the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings. They get a lot more people betting on them. Even if a team like that should be at 20:1, we might go 15:1 because we know we're going to get more play on them.

It's huge. My guess, and it's a complete guess, is somewhere around $25 million to $30 million. It could be more than that.

It's funny; the two teams we've got the most exposure on are the Vikings and the Raiders,

It's a gut-wrenching loss for us and a great win for the public. That's why they call it gambling. What can you do?

It's as busy as we can possibly get. It's monstrous. In terms of dollars bet, it's growing a little bit.

The days of true oddsmakers are gone. There aren't many guys in town like that anymore,

You know there are going to be Cinderella stories, but you just don't know which teams.

But 95 percent of the time, it's first come, first serve.