Casino Blog

A former head linesmaker for the online gambling website Nine.com was nabbed in Panama while attempting to obtain a new passport. MajorWager.com first broke the story Sunday morning.

The linesmaker, whose first name is “Rick”, was well respected within the offshore sportsbook world. He had recently lost over 400 pounds.

Rick also worked in the same operation as high profile poker cheat and scammer Allan “AJ Green” Grimard. You might recall that Grimard worked as a consultant for the online poker room Absolute Poker, where he used a “super user” account to cheat players out of thousands of dollars in specified tournaments. Absolute later had to refund all individuals who participated in the tournaments.

Some former Nine.com employees have been named as operating a “scam” business, LazerWager.com. Rick has no involvement in any of the later scams or the culprits involved in them.

Rick had previously worked at a sports betting operation whose owners were indicted over a decade ago for tax evasion. It is unclear why the US government had taken in the former Nine.com bookmaker.

source: www.gambling911.com

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Poker-playing in Florida card rooms would be allowed around-the-clock on the weekend and 18 hours a day during the week under a measure that has made its way through the state Senate but is so far at a standstill in the House.

The measure would also allow poker rooms to host two high-stakes, televised poker tournaments a year, similar to the popular “World Poker Tour” show, along with celebrity charity tournaments six times a year.

But anti-gambling groups say it’s another step toward unbridled, Las Vegas-style gaming, bringing with it the promise of more crime and bankruptcy.

The expanded hours were approved as part of a larger pari-mutuel measure in the Senate last week but the tournament provision has yet to hit the Senate floor.

Senate sponsor and Senate Minority Leader Steve Geller, a Democrat from Hallandale Beach, pointed to the expanded hours on Indian reservations and in slot rooms in Broward County.

“It doesn’t make sense - the slot machines are open longer than the poker rooms,” Geller said. “You’re packed and then you’re closed.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Female poker player Brandi Hawbaker, a familiar face on the World Poker Tour, committed suicide.

The Los Angeles County Coroner confirms that female poker player Brandi Hawbaker, also known as Brandi Rose or Naami Dea, committed suicide in Playa Del Rey, California, last week, Sunday, April 13.

Brandon Gerson, Hawbaker’s former boyfriend, explains that during the last year and a half, Hawbaker visited several doctors in order to treat her “a very serious mental illness.”

Hawbaker made her first appearance in the 2006 World Poker Tournament finishing 35th and winning $20,000. Her career was targeted by many media sources due to her successful run throughout the period, earning as much as $40,000, as well as her eccentric behavior. Read the rest of this entry »

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Hello everybody,

I could go through and not to say a word regarding one pretty interesting website I have recently found browsing online: pokerscout.com.

To those who like statistics and rankings, this source migh seem a useful one. It shows dayly updates traffic reports and traffic estimates for the most popular poker rooms online. Let’s see what we got for today:

There is also a section where you can find out where the famous poker players play. For PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, you will even see where to find the pros playing online right now. Read the rest of this entry »

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William Hill is one of the world’s leading betting companies and has traditionally specialized in off-track betting. Their arrival on the online casino scene has been, as you’d expect from such a gambling heavyweight, rather successful but not without its hiccups.

Payouts here are fast and all the major currencies are supported. Customer support is good and overall, transactions and this side of the operation run very smoothly. William Hill has a lot of experience in this area so this is hardly surprising.

As far as playability, William Hill casino is definitely good, but other sites are better. They use Boss Media software and while the graphics have room for improvement , the site nonetheless gives off a rather “classy” feel. In an industry dominated by Playtech and Microgaming, you might expect William Hill to suffer a bit in terms of games, but their game selection is actually pretty good at over 100 games and several progressive jackpots.

Overall, William Hill’s experience in the gambling industry makes their online casino a reliable choice for players searching for a solid all-around experience and perhaps a change of pace from other sites run on Playtech and Microgaming software. They’ve even become the fastest UK based internet gambling site online and that’s not the result of dumb luck. So, to sum up, we’d certainly recommend giving William Hill Casino a chance and at the very least, and will be keeping an eye on its progress.

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In this section, we take a look at some of the major organizations within or related to the gambling industry. What follows below is short, yet continuously updated, list of some of the principal players whose names you might come across during your gambling experiences. You may also find that some of the organizations might have information on certain topics of interest to you or other gamblers. Click on the industry’s name to be taken to the organization’s main page.

Interactive Gaming Council
Founded in the US in 1996 yet relocated and incorporated in Canada in 2000, the IGC provides a `forum for interested parties to address issues and advance common interests in the global interactive gaming industry, to establish fair and responsible trade guidelines and practices that enhance consumer confidence in interactive gaming products and services, and to serve as the industry’s public policy advocate and information clearinghouse.` Unlike most of the other organizations listed here, the IGC focuses solely on the `online` or `interactive` aspects of the gambling industry. They have established a number of `partner agreements` or policies which many of their members proudly display on their sites indicating their adherence to agreed-upon norms.

American Gaming Association
The American Gaming Association focuses on `creating a better understanding of the gaming entertainment industry by bringing facts about the industry to the general public, elected officials, other decision makers and the media through education and advocacy.` They represent the commercial casino entertainment industry by addressing the formulation of laws which affect its members and their employees and customers, The AGA also has an aggressive public education program which focuses on transmitting the organization’s message to people across the country. Furthermore, the association provides the media, politicians, and others with accurate gaming industry data. Read the rest of this entry »

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Spain’s first sports betting shop opened for business on Wednesday, one of thousands that foreign bookmakers hope to launch in the football-crazy nation which already bets more than any other European country.

British bookie William Hill and Spanish gambling firm Codere plan to set up 70 sports betting shops across the Madrid area — the first of Spain’s 17 regions to grant licenses — under the joint venture’s Victoria brand. The Spanish betting market is expected to grow to 39 billion euros ($57.8 billion) by 2010, with the sports betting market set to hit 4.5 billion euros, according to MECN consultants.

“There is a huge demand everywhere,” said Victoria’s Operations Manager John Hallahan. “It’s an old cliche but the sky is the limit,” he added. Spaniards already spend an average of 670 euros each a year on betting, according to industry and government figures. Spain’s state-run Christmas lottery, known as ‘El Gordo’ or ‘The Fat One’ is the world’s biggest prize draw, dishing out 2.2 billion euros last December.

However, apart from a workplace sweepstake or an informal wager between friends, up to now Spaniards have had to go online to bet on sporting events, although the state-run lottery does offer a twice-weekly football pools game. Although Madrid’s residents will be able to bet on social events and TV competitions like Pop Idol or Big Brother, authorities have banned wagers on religion or politics. Read the rest of this entry »

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Since the 1970s, the Democrats and Republicans have been leaking market share like a Chevy Nova leaking oil. In 1970, the Harris Poll asked: “Regardless of how you may vote, what do you usually consider yourself — a Republican, a Democrat, an Independent, or some other party?” Fully 49% of respondents chose Democrat, and 31% called themselves Republicans. In 2006, the latest year for which data are available, those figures were 36% for Democrats and 27% for Republicans. With that gap closing, it’s not surprising that presidential elections have become battles over voters who identify with neither party.

Libertarians, for instance. As David Boaz of the Cato Institute and David Kirby of America’s Future Foundation note in a study of public opinion polls, roughly 15% of the electorate can be considered libertarian. Such folks are fiscally conservative and socially liberal. They like gays and guns, low taxes and free speech. They are pro-globalization and antiwar. They are at the center of American politics. Win them over and you’ll win every national election for the next several decades. Here are some smart — and popular — policies that will appeal not only to libertarians but to other centrist voters fed up with budget-busting compassionate conservatives and nanny-state buttinsky liberals. Read the rest of this entry »

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A trans-Atlantic spat over online gambling may help rewrite the rules of the game for Internet commerce across borders. For a change, the Europeans stand on the side of free trade, while America dabbles in regulatory overreach.

The European Union last month launched an internal probe into whether the U.S. Justice Department selectively enforces its antigambling laws against European online firms that offer wagers on sports events. Brussels is making a narrow legal point that Washington discriminates against Europeans by simultaneously permitting U.S. Internet horse betting. That’s against World Trade Organization rules, and the case may end up there.

The U.S. last year lost a similar WTO online gambling case against Antigua and Barbuda. The island nation argued that U.S. online gambling rules violated Washington’s GATT commitments to open its market in “recreational, cultural and sporting services.” The U.S. countered that its policies were justified to protect public morals and public order, a legitimate exception under WTO rules. But the WTO panel ruled that America wasn’t applying its restrictions equally to foreigners and domestic operators. U.S. online horse-betting sites aren’t banned. Read the rest of this entry »

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MGM Mirage Inc, the biggest casino operator in Las Vegas, has fired more than 400 middle management employees as part of a cost-cutting scheme.

The move has been triggered by the downturn in the U.S economy and the decision will save the company $75 million.

“We were able to see the signs of trouble on the economic horizon last August,” said Alan Feldman, spokesman for MGM Mirage Inc.

“The economy was beginning to worsen and clearly was not going to get better in the immediate term.”

As a result, guests seem to be much more frugal and careful with their money once they come to the resorts. Read the rest of this entry »

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