1.   Internet casinos, operated from offshore islands, allow bettors to wager on any number of sports events.

2.   Most seasoned sports bettors still wager with their bookies, who advance them credit and render tax liability issues moot.

3.   Some deep-pocketed companies are gambling that the government will allow bettors to wager at home.

4.   This year bettors can wager on dozens of propositions, some of them odd, to put it mildly.