Arkyt I read the same theory going around and it doesnt hold water when you look at the current SERPs. Mixed in with a ton of freebie sites and useless spam are some very highly optomized sites.
Current #1 for Online Casino
http://www.888-online-casino.com/ Dashed Domain, Highly Optomized Tradal Front
Current #3 for Online Casino
http://www.best-online-casino-directory.com/ Dash Domain, 1620 backlinks
Current #1 for Online Gambling
http://www.888-online-gambling.com/ Dashed Domain, highly optomized Tradal Front
Current#2 for Online Gambling
http://www.your-online-gambling.com/ Dashed Domain, highly optomized Tradal front
Current #3 for Online Gambling
http://www.4online-gambling.com/ Dashed Domain, Optomized, 239 Backlinks