Pixabay Commons Santa Clara, California, Jun 4 (EFE; odds by IDSca.com).- Cristian Zapata and James Rodriguez scored first-half goals to lead Colombia to a 2-0 victory here over the host United States in the opening match of the Copa America Centenario. Friday night's win at Levi's Stadium was a critical one for Colombia in Group A, which also is made up of Costa Rica and Paraguay and has b...

"Stephen Curry 2" by Keith Allison from Owings Mills, USA - Stephen Curry. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons Oakland, California, Jun 3 (EFE).- The defending champion Golden State Warriors showed off their vaunted depth in a 104-89 victory here over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, cruising to the win despite uncharacteristically poor performances by their t...

Flickr Commons Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson announced last Friday that six men from Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island have been variously charged in a 37-count indictment for running an illegal Internet gambling operation that took over $13 million in wagers on various professional and collegiate sporting events and wired payments to an off-shore location. District Attorney Thom...

Wikimedia Commons Cleveland, May 26 (EFE; odds by IDSca.com).- The Cleveland Cavaliers pummeled the Toronto Raptors 116-78 to take a three-games-to-two lead in the Eastern Conference Finals and move within one win of trip back to the championship round. After losing the two previous games at Toronto's Air Canada Centre, which will be the venue for Friday's Game 6, the Cavaliers dominated fr...

Flickr Commons Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal announced today the arrests of forty-six (46) individuals, the execution of forty-six (46) search warrants in three states (New Jersey, New York, and Florida), as well as the seizure of approximately $2,000,000 in U.S. currency. The arrests, search warrants, and seizures are the result of an investigation into a large-scale, multi...

"Stephen Curry 2" by Keith Allison from Owings Mills, USA - Stephen Curry. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons Oklahoma City, May 25 (EFE).- The Oklahoma City Thunder continued to dominate their matchup against the Golden State Warriors, winning Game 4 118-94 to take a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference Finals and put the defending champions on the verge of elimination. Supers...

Flickr Commons London, May 21 (EFE; betting context by IDSca.com).- A remarkable goal by Jesse Lingard in the second half of extra time gave Manchester United a 2-1 victory here Saturday over Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final, the Red Devils' record-tying 12th title in soccer's oldest tournament. After a first half short on excitement at Wembley Stadium, Marouane Fellaini and Anthony Marti...

Wikimedia Commons Cleveland, May 18 (EFE).- Star point guard Kyrie Irving and do-it-all forward LeBron James combined for 51 points to lead the red-hot Cleveland Cavaliers to a 115-84 shellacking of the Toronto Raptors in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Irving scored 27 points, while James contributed 24 points, grabbed six rebounds and handed out four assists in Tuesday night's co...

San Antonio Spurs AT&T Center., Wikimedia Commons San Antonio, May 11 (EFE).- The Oklahoma City Thunder moved within one victory of a berth in the Western Conference Finals with a 95-91 victory here over the San Antonio Spurs, who were unable to contain point guard Russell Westbrook in the final minutes of the contest. Westbrook scored 35 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out nine ...

Wikimedia Commons (PRESS RELEASE) -- The live final of The Americas Cup of Poker (ACP) will be held at Resorts Casino Hotel, Atlantic City from June 23-27, 2016, PokerStars, an Amaya Inc. brand, has revealed. This year, the Grand Final will coincide with the big soccer event taking place in New Jersey. Teams representing countries from North and South America will each be composed of five p...

Wikimedia Commons Madrid, May 6 (EFE; odds by IDSCA.com).- Atletico Madrid midfielder Gabi said Bayern Munich had been his club's toughest rival in this season's Champions League and that the second leg of their semifinal clash was Atleti's most difficult game.   "Bayern was our toughest opponent and gave us our most difficult match. Luckily, all the suffering was worth it and we're...

"Stephen Curry 2" by Keith Allison from Owings Mills, USA - Stephen Curry. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons U.S. Sports Desk, May 4 (EFE; odds by IDSca.com).- Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry sat out once more while recuperating from a right knee injury, but the Golden State Warriors again showed their depth of talent by rallying for a 110-99 victory over the Po...

Flickr Commons Sportsbooks in Costa Rica are currently busy handling the NBA playoffs, but these are not the only places where number crunching and statistical probability models are being developed. At the University of California, Merced, students of applied mathematics are working on advanced algorithms and stochastic models to predict outcomes of NBA games. According to a recent article...

Wikimedia Commons Jonathan Zaun, editor of Newswire.net, recently published an article about how the international poker circuit has been transformed in recent years, and he mentioned Jaco Beach as one of the best tropical destinations for "poker refugees." As previously reported by The Costa Rica Star, poker refugees are those players from the United States who were affected by the Black F...

Messi with teammate Neymar. Wikimedia Commons Barcelona, Apr 23 (EFE).- Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez scored four goals for the second time this week as FC Barcelona routed Sporting Gijon 6-0 Saturday at Camp Nou. With Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid both winning earlier in the day, Barça was fully aware that anything short of a victory would leave it in third place and with little hope of ...

Source: Wikimedia Commons On April 15, the Rhode Island State Police and the Attorney General announced the arrest of 19 men and one woman on charges relating to the management of a statewide criminal gambling organization and a marijuana distribution operation that extended to Costa Rica. The arrests were the result of an 8-month investigation led by members of the State Police Intelligenc...

Flickr Commons With various teams dominating in their respective first-round of the NBA playoff series, bettors who place wagers with offshore sportsbooks in Costa Rica often look for sweep strategies that can improve their betting outlook. Before considering betting strategies on playoff series that feature sweeps, consider the current situation: U.S. Sports Desk, Apr 21 (EFE).- The Cle...

Flickr Commons U.S. Sports Desk, Apr 20 (EFE; odds by IDSca.com).- The San Antonio Spurs and Atlanta Hawks stymied the Memphis Grizzlies and Boston Celtics, respectively, with outstanding defense to grab 2-0 leads in their best-of-seven, first-round playoff series. The Spurs held the injury-riddled Grizzlies to 32.6 percent shooting and also got 56 points from their reserves in a 94-68 vict...

"Stephen Curry 2" by Keith Allison from Owings Mills, USA - Stephen Curry. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons Oakland, California, Apr 14 (EFE; betting context by IDSca.com).- The Golden State Warriors set an NBA record for most regular-season victories, eclipsing the mark set by the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls with a 125-104 rout here of the Memphis Grizzlies. Superstar point gu...

"Stephen Curry 2" by Keith Allison from Owings Mills, USA - Stephen Curry. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons Oakland, California, Apr 8 (EFE; odds by IDSca.com).- The Golden State Warriors became just the second team in NBA history to win 70 regular-season games, reaching that milestone with a 112-101 victory over one of their main Western Conference rivals, the San Antonio Spu...

Source: Wikimedia Barcelona, Apr 2 (EFE; betting context by IDSca.com).- Real Madrid stunned FC Barcelona with a strong late finish to Saturday's Clasico, getting a pair of goals over the last half hour of the match to defeat its arch-rival 2-1 at Camp Nou. Barça had hoped the match would be a fitting tribute to Johan Cruyff, a legendary Dutch player and manager who passed away on March 24 ...

"Stephen Curry 2" by Keith Allison from Owings Mills, USA - Stephen Curry. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons U.S. Sports Desk, Mar 24 (EFE; betting context by IDSca.com).- The Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs continued their remarkable seasons with wins over the Los Angeles Clippers and Miami Heat, respectively, and remain unbeaten at home with just weeks remaining i...

Source: CONCACAF Los Angeles Galaxy Press Release (odds by IDSca.com) - Major League Soccer continues to set the standard in diversity across the North American sports landscape, as the league boasts the most diverse group of athletes among the top five major sports leagues in the U.S. as determined by birthplace. As of March 18, 2016, a total of 59 countries from around the world are represen...

Source: Gisele Bunchen Instagram Star NFL quarterback Tom Brady of the New England Patriots is currently enjoying a sunny vacation in Costa Rica along with his supermodel wife Gisele Bundchen. On Palm Sunday, Mr. Brady and Ms. Bundchen spent time with their children in the Central Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, where they own a beach mansion in Playa Herradura, not far from Jaco Beach. This i...

Wikimedia Commons London and Madrid, Mar 15 (EFE; odds by IDSca.com).- Manchester City qualified - for the first time ever - for the Champions League quarterfinals Tuesday in battling Dynamo Kiev to a scoreless draw in the second leg of the Round of 16, or knockout stage, but advancing as the 3-1 aggregate winner, after beating Dynamo in Kiev in the first leg. Man City's Vincent Kompany was...

Zinedine Zidane. Wikimedia Commons Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, Mar 13 (EFE; odds by IDSca.com).- Real Madrid beat Las Palmas 2-1 in the Canary Islands on Sunday, but the game was on tenterhooks as things heated up with a tying goal in the 87th minute and the capital squad's game-winner two minutes later, re-securing a victory from the jaws of an unexpected potential draw. The visitor...

Wikimedia Commons International Sports Desk, Mar 7 (EFE; odds by IDSca.com).- Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova said Monday in Los Angeles that she tested positive for the banned substance Meldonium at the Australian Open earlier this year. The 28-year-old Sharapova - winner of five Grand Slam titles, 35 singles titles and currently ranked 7th in the world - discussed the failed doping te...

Zinedine Zidane. Wikimedia Commons Madrid, Mar 5 (EFE; odds by IDSca.com).- Cristiano Ronaldo scored four times in Real Madrid's 7-1 rout of Celta Vigo here Saturday, a win that serves as a confidence-booster ahead of the Blancos' upcoming Champions League clash against Roma. The host squad began threatening the Celta Vigo goal in earnest late in the first half and finally opened the scorin...

A probe by investigators in the United States is attempting to determine if Englewood, Colorado-based money transmitter, Western Union was aware of gambling transactions by its agents in Costa Rica and other Latin American countries, the company revealed in an annual filing with regulators on Friday. The government is investigating “concerns the company was aware there were gaming transactions”...

Messi Poster in Buenos Aires FC Barcelona football star Lionel Messi became the first player to score 300 goals in La Liga competitions as he scored a brace against Sporting Gijón in an away match at El Molinon and his tally reached 301 on Wednesday. Barcelona defeated Gijon 3–1 and leads the La Liga table. Messi scored a long range goal in the 25th minute of the game. He has scored 173 goa...

Wikimedia Commons Press Release by The Professional Footballers Association; odds by IDSca.com - Everton utility man Bryan Oviedo's recent impressive performances have been rewarded with a new three-and-a-half-year contract. The Costa Rica international has signed the deal after showing this season he is back to his best following an horrific double fracture of his leg two years ago. "I ...

Messi with teammate Neymar. Wikimedia Commons Barcelona, Feb 14 (EFE).- Lionel Messi was outstanding on Sunday in Barcelona's 6-1 drubbing of a hapless Celta Vigo at Camp Nou, a victory that kept the Catalan club atop the Spanish First Division soccer standings. It was Messi getting the home squad on the board first in the 28th minute on a fabulous left-footed direct free kick, but then Swe...

Wikimedia Commons New York, Feb 13 (EFE; odds by IDSca.com).- The New York Yankees and Cuban star closer Aroldis Chapman agreed to a one-year, $11.3-million contract, avoiding salary arbitration. The Yankees will pay Chapman, whom they acquired this offseason from the Cincinnati Reds, $11,325,000 in his first season in the Bronx, Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal said. Chapman, who turns 28 this...

Source: Pixabay Commons Concerns about the fast spread of the Zika virus in the Americas are keeping public health officials on their toes, and discussion about the often uncomfortable topic of sexual tourism is emerging as a sort of side effect. As recently reported by The Costa Rica Star, the first endemic case of the Zika virus in our country appears to have been contracted by a tourist ...

San Francisco, Feb 7 (EFE; local reporting by The Costa Rica Star).- Security is tight at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, where the Carolina Panthers will take on the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50 on Sunday evening. Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies will be out in force at the facility in the San Francisco Bay Area in the wake of the terrorist attacks late last year...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Los Angeles, Feb 3 (EFE; odds by IDSca.com).- The Los Angeles Lakers got 38 points from Kobe Bryant in a 119-115 victory here over the Minnesota Timberwolves, avoiding what would have been a franchise-record 11th straight loss. The 37-year-old Bryant made 10 of his 21 shots from the field, including going 7-of-11 from distance, grabbed five rebounds and dished out ...

Wikimedia Commons Las Vegas, Jan 25 (EFE; additional context by The Costa Rica Star).- The Carolina Panthers will take on the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara, California, on Feb. 7. The Broncos won the American Football Conference championship by edging the New England Patriots 20-18 on Sunday, while the Panthers crushed the Arizona Cardinals 49-15 to claim the National Footb...

Houston, Jan 10 (EFE; odds by IDSca.com).- The Kansas City Chiefs rolled to a 30-0 win over the Houston Texans, while the Pittsburgh Steelers rallied to beat the Cincinnati Bengals 18-16 in the American Football Conference wild card playoff games. Quarterback Alex Smith led the Chiefs to their first playoff win in 22 years. Kansas City will play the New England Patriots on Jan. 16 in the div...

Pixabay Commons Press Release by Seattle Sounders FC - The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) confirmed this evening the completion of the field for the historic 2016 Copa America Centenario, to be played this June in stadiums across the United States. In a pair matches contested in Panama City on Friday evening, Panama defeated Cuba and Ha...

Wikimedia Commons International Sports Desk, Jan 9 (EFE; additional context by The Costa Rica Star).- Serbian world No. 1 Novak Djokovic trounced Rafael Nadal 6-1, 6-2 in Saturday's final of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open to capture the 60th title of his career and edge ahead of the Spaniard in their career head-to-head for the first time. Nadal fought hard to make the match competitive but was ...