1.   Bettors, unlike the betting services, have little reason to fear the law.

2.   Advertising is just one of the costs of what betting service executives say is a very expensive business to operate.

3.   Jon McCoy, assistant attorney general for Washington state, has been closely following the Minnesota case as part of a national effort to confront the online betting services.

4.   Part of the upfront cost for a betting service is the licensing fee that must be paid to the host country.

5.   So proclaims a Web site for the World Sports Exchange, an online betting service based in Antigua.

6.   The names of the owners of the betting services are often kept confidential.

7.   The state of Minnesota recently filed suit against a telephone betting service in the first-ever legal action aimed at stopping the proliferation of illegal sports books.

8.   The trend toward offshore telephone sports betting services alarms officials in the NCAA and all major sports leagues.

9.   Trying to recover, it was all he could do to keep the betting service from calling his house at all hours.

10.   U.S. Justice Department officials say they frown on the offshore betting service businesses, but are powerless to stop them.