San Jose, Costa Rica – May 3, 2006 – WagerWeb.com, one of the Internet’s largest betting sites known for its offering of odds for the hottest issues surrounding the news media (especially sports), posted odds today on the likelihood that tropical storms and hurricanes will blow into the country with the same, less or greater force than last year. Predictions by experts call for storms hitting landfall in the U.S. to be almost 50 percent greater than previous years. High winds and torrential rainfall took a heavy toll in 2005.

“Last year’s hurricanes and storms hit the country with a one two punch that crippled the Eastern half of the country,” says Dave Johnson, CEO of WagerWeb.com. “This year could be worse, so we figured that posting odds would get people out of their chairs into the home stores buying water, lumber and flashlights.”
The odds ask bettors to predict wind speed and numbers of storms as follows (–110 means $11 bet wins $10):
Total Number of Atlantic Tropical Storms/Hurricanes
Over 21.5 …..-110
Under 21.5 …..-110

Total Number of Hurricanes (Wind Speed at least 74 mph)
Over 10.5 …..-110
Under 10.5 …..-110

Will there be a Category 5 Hurricane (155+ mph winds)?
Yes …..-110
No …..-110
Note: National Weather Service statistics/classification for 2006 will be used for grading purposes. Post-season re-analysis will not be counted towards wagers made on this release.