It is estimated that $14 billion is wagered on singlegame betting annually, with none of that money making it directly into Canadian coffers. It’s time to get that money into our above-ground economy is Waugh’s thinking.

Whether you agree with betting or not, it is happening and $14 billion is being lost.

As those of you who like to wager on sports games know, only parlay bets — picking two or more teams — are permitted on Sports Select tickets. It is fun to play, but the odds of winning are really low.

Seasoned gamblers stay away from parlays. It is difficult enough to profit by consistently picking the winner of one game, without adding two or three or more to the ticket.

Mathematically, the chances of winning one bet are 50/50, of course. The problem in many instances is that the house skims 10 per cent off the top typically. So, you have to bet $110 to win $100. If you win half your bets, you are out 10 per cent of the total wagered. That is a really simplistic example. There are all kinds of permutations.

To be a successful sports gambler, the bettor has to win an estimated 52.5% of his/her bets.

Waugh says the $14 billion annually was either leaving Canada or going to criminals. He pointed at Hell’s Angels and the Quebec mob as culprits. His private-member’s bill was passed recently in the House of Commons, and now sits in the hands of the Senate for final approval. Waugh said $10 billion was going to organized crime, and $4 billion to off-shore gambling sites. There will always be gangsters, and online betting sites are really efficient.

I placed wagers through Sports Select over the years. I have placed sports bets in Las Vegas as well.

The first time in Vegas was in the 1980s, when Sandy and I were there on vacation. The sports guys at the StarPhoenix, where I worked at the time, and others sent money with me to bet on a game. They decided it would be an Edmonton Oilers game against Detroit.

I went into a sports book, as they are known, and asked the person behind the counter how it worked. He told me a bit about the numbers on a board that was situated behind him and said I could bet as little as $10 if I wanted to try it out.

I told him I wanted to bet $1,000 on the Oilers to win. The Oilers won and the next day, I collected $1,900 — their $1,000 and $900 profit. The boys at home were happy campers.

Another Las Vegas story occurred on a Sunday morning during an NFL season. I went to a sports book, as they are known, to bet my $25. Standing in front of the odds board were two very wealthy-looking men, based on their clothing and bling.

They were speaking in a foreign language. The younger man turned to me and asked how it works when picking an NFL game. I explained it as best I could. He asked me who I was betting on. I said the Buffalo Bills. This game was not one of the Super Bowls the Bills lost.

The younger man walked up to the betting window. I followed him to place my bet. He put $10,000 on Buffalo. You have to keep reading to see how the game went.

Among the off-shore sites Waugh was referring to is Bet365. For what it is worth, Bet365 advertises on CFL games. Another site is called Bodog. Sports fans have probably seen ads for it as well.

What I find interesting is that Bodog was founded by a person named Calvin Ayre. Get this, Ayre grew up on a farm near Lloydminster.

According to Wikipedia, Ayre read a newspaper article in 1992 about betting over the telephone. He thought how about the Internet? He set up his business and 1996, and Bodog went live in 2000.

Ayre lived what was called the Bodog lifestyle. He has said his bad-boy image back in the early 2000s was genuine. “The lifestyle I live is about 80 per cent the reality of what I live.” In many photos he is with bikiniclad women.

Ayre’s net worth is estimated to be $1.2 billion. Now 59, he spends much of his time on the Calvin Ayre Foundation. Among its components are rapid response to world disasters, social development, and education and sports. By all accounts, Ayre is doing great work.

Gosh, did I go off topic.

Good for Kevin Waugh for having his single-game betting bill pushed through the House. The odds are long on private member’s bills passing. About as long as the odds were on the Ottawa Senators winning the Stanley Cup this season.

Helping the bill along was the endorsement of the four major sports leagues in Canada. I am not sure the CFL, under its current leadership, is a major sports league, but so be it.

It will be interesting to see how single-game betting will be set up. I am guessing it will be online to avoid long lineups at confectionaries. It would be mayhem, like it is moments before NFL games kick off on a Sunday morning.

I used to have nicknames for the guys at the confectionary. Two were Sweat Pants and The Genius. The Genius would offer advice and lament that he came close to winning. He would say things like he had threeout-of-four correct the week before. It is the same as having zero-out-of-four correct.

Anyway, it will be nice if a big chunk of that $14 billion stays in the hands of clean-living Canadians.

Oh, and by the way, Buffalo won the NFL game.

-Cam Hutchinson