Costly Gas? Roll With It.

"We could not do this inside the United States. The laws are funny -- it is absolutely legal for you to be in Washington, D.C., or Arlington, Va., placing the bet, but it would be illegal for me to be there taking the bet," says Harris.

Another issue is that some online gambling sites are scams in which even winners end up losers. While YouWager.com has been in business 12 years and is certified and endorsed by the Off Shore Gaming Association (OSGA) and the Official Offshore Betting Guide (OOBG), two independent industry watchdogs that monitor online gambling businesses, many gambling sites don't get the seal of approval, and some are blacklisted due to their bad business practices and rip-offs.

And, other than filing a complaint with the OSGA and OOBG, a customer has little recourse if there's a dispute because online casinos and sportsbooks are outside the scope of U.S. consumer-protection laws.

Buyer Guidance

Most consumers know the name Consumer Reports and its annual buying guide (this year expected to sell 200,000 retail copies in addition to the 4 million that Consumer Reports subscribers receive; see The Color of Money column, Page F1).

But many consumers don't know Consumer Reports has been publishing the Buying Guide for almost 70 years.

The first Buying Guide, published in 1937, was 283 pages of summaries of product information and ratings -- about like today's edition. Example: The first guide listed A&J can openers as "not acceptable" because the cutting edge dulled quickly, and it gave Zorite a thumbs-down since the Food and Drug Administration had "brought proceedings" against the maker of the disinfectant "for misbranding or for making false claims."

Says Margot Slade, editor and senior director of the nonprofit Consumer Reports: "We're one of the few institutions out there that will tell you what not to buy, what to avoid and what isn't worth it at any price -- and we did that in a very muscular fashion way back in 1937."

So muscular that Consumer Reports had to report on its own buying guide's short-comings that year. Seems the editors had decided to use a heavy-weight, semi-glossy cover for that first edition and, despite the assurances of their binding experts, the glue used was not strong enough to hold the guide together.

The defect was caught, and most copies were rebound correctly. But several thousand copies were recalled in the May 1937 issue of Consumer Reports magazine. Says Slade, "Typical of us, we reported our own recall."

Got questions or comments? A consumer complaint? A helpful tip? E-mail details toconsumer@washpost.comor write to Don Oldenburg, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071. Because of the volume of mail, replies are not always possible.