Let your mouth speak archive

Online gamblers in New Jersey are waiting patiently for Governor Chris Christie to finally sign legislation that would make the state the first in the nation to regulate online casinos. Unfortunately, these gamblers may have to wait a while longer.

The Senate and Assembly passed the legislation with no problem, but Christie is weighing whether or not he can handle the political pressure that comes along with signing such a groundbreaking bill. The governor is being pulled in both directions on the pending law.

"If Governor Christie signs the law, he would gain the support of millions of online gamblers across the US, and that would help him if he ever decided to run for a higher office," said Gaming Analyst Steve Schwartz. "On the other side, Christie could lose some key supporters within his own party if he signs the legislation, so he may take as much time as needed to figure out his next political move."

The state, meanwhile, is reeling from the loss of millions of dollars in revenue from Atlantic City casinos that have been hit hard by the economy. The AC casinos would receive a tremendous boost if they were able to offer online casino gambling in the future. If the law is created, it is estimated that hundreds of millions of dollars would be added to the state budget from tax revenue.

Lawmakers in other states are watching closely for the outcome of the New Jersey online gaming bill. If Christie decides to veto the bill, Florida would possibly be next in line to become the first state to regulate Internet gambling.

Florida legislators are discussing the possibility of allowing pari-mutuel facilities to offer online poker gambling. The lawmakers pushing the idea are hopeful the law can be created and online poker rooms be open by July.

Governor Christie will be in Atlantic City on Tuesday signing other legislation that would help revamp the gaming industry in Atlantic City. While in AC, the governor may be pushed for an answer on how he will rule on the pending online gambling law.

She is Hugh Hefner’s ex and former star of “The Girls Next Door,” she’s Holly Madison and she has recently received some depressing news from her new employer at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. It’s a girl’s worst nightmare and as a Playboy model, the last thing you want to hear is that you need to lose some weight for your next show.

Holly is starring in a production called “Peepshow” which is a strip tease act where she plays Bo Peep, a young woman who slowly gets transformed into a more confident and sensual woman with the help of her co-stars. The show was created by award-winning director and choreographer Jerry Mitchell.

As a striptease show, she is required to wear skimpy clothing but nothing she isn’t used to I’m sure. Holly claims that she has gained some weight since she first arrived in Las Vegas back in 2009 but adds that it was simply weight she had lost after competing on “Dancing With the Stars,” which required her to work out for a total of 6 hours a day.

The 32-year old model claims, “The truth is there’s just no way I’m going to be thin like that again.” According to the Examiner, Holly was quite shocked and told Radar Online, "I always thought I looked fine. It was a shock to me when they told me to lose weight."

Since the announcement, she has changed her eating habits and has a scheduled cardio routine to help her lose the extra pounds she needed. She wasn’t happy about the decision but according to Radar Online, her curvy figure didn't fit in with her co-stars appearance who were apparently uber thin.

You’d think that a curvy figure would be more suitable for a burlesque type act but I suppose curvy figures just may be an acquired taste for Vegas audiences.

When Charlie Sheen is in a pinch or taking part in a drug-fueled bender, it’s good to know that he can rely on his porn star friends to take care of his kids. After weeks of hard-core partying, Charlie Sheen's is truly going over the edge after concocting a plan to have a porn star mansion where the party never ends while hiring one of them to do the babysitting.

The girl in question is Kacey Jordan, who after an interview on the morning show Good Morning America , dished on the time he spent with Sheen. She spoke about how she was offered to work for Sheen in his newly rented mansion as one of the many “party girls” who would be hired to keep the party going in exchange for $250K a month and a little babysitting. “He’s like, can you babysit? I need a girl I can rely on to babysit, you know?” reported US Magazine. She also claimed that she was offered $5K to attend the party where Sheen seemed to be on what she calls a suicide binge.

Sheen shares two kids with actress Denise Richards who wasn’t too happy about the whole situation to which she tweeted, “No adult film star will be babysitting our kids!” Fair enough, she wins that argument hands down.

After Sheen’s recent displays of “I don’t give a f*ck” behavior, TMZ reported how Sheen was going to check into a rehab center but chose to stay at home and hire professionals to help him work through his problems. Will Charlie be able to control his behavior at home? They say porn stars and drug dealers do make house calls.

The US Online Gaming Association has announced its formation, featuring some big names in the world of online gaming that plan to “advocate for the legalization and regulation of online gaming in the States.” The USOGA will represent online gaming companies, and already has the backing of corporations such as PKR and Sportingbet.

The USOGA will be headed by Malanie Brenner, the former executive director of the lobbying group Poker Voters of America. Brenner said that the progress of online gambling in America, at least in the near future, is likely to be determined at the state level.

“With the failure of a federal solution to this issue, the opening of the lucrative US market will be through state capitols such as Tallahassee, Sacramento and Trenton,” Brenner said. “The work we have done through Poker Voters has uniquely positioned us to be the most effective voice in moving this issue.”

Along with PKR and Sportingbet, Secured American Games has also pledged its “financial and technical support” to the USOGA. According to reports, Brenner has also told eGaming Review that she expects “three to four major founder members” to commit within the coming week. Companies have until February 14 to pledge their support to the group if they would like to become members of the USOGA’s executive committee.

The USOGA is actually the second online gaming trade organization formed to promote the industry in the United States this week. The same groups that pushed the online gambling bill that has passed the New Jersey legislature has now organized the American Institute of iGaming (AIIG), the goal of which is to “educate and advocate for igaming in America.”

The AIIG will be headed by Bill Pascrell, the leading lobbyist behind the New Jersey online gaming bill. The group is expected to include not only gaming companies, but also casinos and payment processors, each of whom have unique concerns about the current shape of the American online gambling marketplace. The group will make efforts to advance both state and federal level igaming laws.

With New Jersey, Florida, and California all showing interest in legalizing online gambling, some have speculated that more states may ramp up their efforts in an attempt to stay at the cutting edge of state-level gambling operations. Now, a move by the Nevada Gaming Control Board has many experts wondering if they would be the next state to hop on the online gambling bandwagon.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board announced that they will be working with the Alderney Gambling Control Commission in order to share information and expertise with each other. The agreement would help both groups when conducting investigations and developing technical standards.

However, the Nevada Gaming Control Board may also be interested in having a partnership with an organization that has more experience in online gaming – something Nevada has yet to deal with directly. The Alderney Gambling Control Commission regulates gambling in the British Channel Islands.

According to a report in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, there are other signs that Nevada may be preparing to eventually offer online gaming to its citizens. State gaming regulators are currently examining the suitability of 888 Holdings, a company specializing on operating online gambling sites. They currently operate three sites in the United Kingdom for Caesars Entertainment, including one site that utilizes the World Series of Poker brand name. The investigation started last April and is still ongoing.

According to Gaming Control Board Chairman Mark Lipparelli, these companies will help Nevada prepare for the future of gambling.

"There is no question that the Internet gaming world is moving quickly and at a good speed toward Nevada," Lipparelli said. "We've realized that it is important for Nevada to form these alliances. We need to look at the places that have been regulating Internet gaming and engage these regulators."

Nevada is expected to continue seeking agreements with other regulatory agencies around the world. As of yet, there has been little movement to speak of at the state level to implement and regulate online gambling in Nevada.

Governor Mark Dayton is one of the many politicians around the US that campaigned on an idea of gambling expansion. Dayton claimed during his campaign that he was in favor of a state-owned casino in Minnesota.

Now, after having won the election, Dayton is backtracking on his casino support. While not ruling out a new casino in the future, the governor believes there is not enough time this session to create the law necessary to include gaming revenue in this years budget.

During the campaign season, Dayton said he would support a casino at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport or a casino near the Mall of America in Bloomington. With lawmakers moving slowly to make the casino a reality, Dayton has proposed a budget without the gaming revenue included.

The Minnesota Vikings and their fans may be the biggest losers if the new casino is not approved by legislators. The Vikings are looking for a way to get a new stadium built, and adding a casino to pay for the stadium is a plan that many lawmakers have endorsed.

The Vikings, by many analysts' accounts, could move out of Minnesota if they do not get a new stadium. Los Angeles has been mentioned as a possible destination if the Vikings ownership decides to move the team.

In the meantime, lawmakers in Minnesota will have to come up with a way to bridge a projected $6.2 billion budget deficit over the next two years, Governor Dayton still has two weeks to tweak the budget proposal before he presents it to lawmakers.

Since Charlie Sheen decided to check into rehab, Two and a Half Men is taking a 3-month hiatus, putting everyone who works on the show (300 people) out of a job until Sheen quits snorting coke and banging hookers. Good luck with that.

TMZ reports that the studio hasn't decided whether to fully or partially compensate the staff – which is gonna be pretty expensive when it comes to employees like Sheen's Emmy-winning co-star Jon Cryer, who makes $400,000 per episode. With a 3-month hiatus equalling eight episodes, by our calculation, it will cost Warner Bros. a cool 3.2 million to fully compensate Cryer alone.

It is being reported that although they are all worried about finances, the staff is supportive of Sheen seeking treatment, since a healthy and sober Charlie Sheen offers them more job security than the Charlie Sheen they've got right now.

Meanwhile, Sheen himself isn't too worried about cash, reportedly writing a $30,000 check to porn star Kacey Jordan, which she recently cashed at a bank. During Sheen's infamous 36-hour bender, he wrote the large check to "cash" so that Jordan would join his "porn family."

Sheen is rehabbing at his home after CBS and Warner Bros. found an addiction expert as well as other professionals who agreed to go to Sheen's L.A. to try and help to the flailing actor's life around. Think Sheen will be able to clean up his act? Get all your celebrity odds in the Bodog Sportsbook. If you need an account, Join Bodog today.

United Kingdom online gaming websites PKR and Sportingbet are among the founding members of a new trade association that will advocate for the legalization and regulation of online gaming in the United States.

The companies along with Secured American Games were the first to pledge financial and technical support for the newly created U.S. Online Gaming Association.

Melanie Brenner, the former executive director of the Poker Voters of America lobbying group, was named as the association's president and executive director.

A Feb. 14 deadline has been set for companies to commit financial support and become members of the new trade association.

I can just see Charlie Sheen in a Texas Hold 'Em game.....He probably likes to raise Two and a Half Big Blinds....😉

I see your ho, and I raise you a ho.

I feel so strong about this:

Diddy didn't do it

or maybe diddy did it, I don't know.:dirol

I don't think, I'll lose any sleep.

Joe Francis made a living by exposing college aged girls in front of the cameras. Francis' Girls Gone Wild series has netted hundreds of millions, but apparently not enough for Francis to pay his gambling debts.

A grand jury unsealed an indictment on Wednesday, alleging that the Girls Gone Wild creator did not pay back a $2.5 million marker at the Wynn Las Vegas. The casino claims it gave Francis several chances to repay the marker.

"He was given an opportunity to make restitution like any other bad check defendant," said District Attorney David Roger. "And he failed to live up to his end of the bargain, so we are moving forward with his criminal case. His alleged celebrity status has played no role in our decision to move forward."

The debt stems from a 2007 appearance at the Wynn, when the casino gave him a marker of $2.5 million. To date, the casino claims that Francis has only paid back $500,000 of the debt. The two parties have been in a bitter civil battle over the debt, but now Francis will be facing criminal charges.

In Nevada, the law states that not paying back a gambling marker at a casinos is the same crime as writing a bad check. Prosecutors over the years have gone after gamblers who have chosen to disregard their gaming debts at the casinos in Las Vegas.

The marker was given, according to the casino, in exchange for a check from Francis. The casino later claimed that the check was written out of an account that Francis had closed. Francis and his lawyers believe they will beat the case when the facts come out in court.

It’s always been attacked by lawmakers as unsafe for American gamblers and Vegas Casino operators were right there standing behind them agreeing and advertising how much safer and smarter it was to gamble at their gaming establishments. For years gamblers believed the land based casinos stories, and flooded their gaming floors with their hard earned cash for their gambling enjoyment. But today players are finding out that online casinos maybe the ones that are safer, not the self promoting Vegas casinos.

It seems that pc hackers have found a way to get player information from Las Vegas data banks and have been able to steal comp points and delve into private information of Vegas gamblers. Las Vegas Casinos, among other land based casinos, usually offer “player cards” which you fill out with your personal info and then use these cards when gambling to accrue “comp” points which can be used as cash for numerous different things at their casinos. The Nevada Gaming Commission is now looking into this matter to find out how these hackers obtained the information needed to hack into player reward cards and steal comp points and personal data. Online gamblers have also gone through similar data breaches in the past and have had to deal with the “big brother” backlash about how unsafe and unreliable online casinos are, and how much better gambling is at Vegas casinos, so it’s a horse of a different color now that those “impenetrable” casinos have had a dose of “foot in mouth” disease.

The West Australian Government says it will fight any moves for a federal takeover of gambling regulations.

The Federal Government is working on an overhaul of gambling regulations as part of its deal to secure the support of the independent M-P Andrew Wilkie.

Mr Wilkie wants a system introduced, under which all gamblers would have to say how much they are prepared to lose before they can start using a poker machine.

WA has a long-held and bi-partisan opposition to poker machines and the only place they can be played in the state is at the Burswood Casino.

The WA Premier Colin Barnett says using federal powers to introduce Mr Wilkie's system could lead to pokies proponents using the courts to introduce the machines in WA.

Mr Barnett says Mr Wilkie needs to understand his proposed changes could introduce pokies in W-A.

"He's a new member of parliament, as he spends time in the Federal Parliament I think he will realise that once you get an area of Commonwealth regulation come into something that in this case has traditionally been state-controlled that Commonwealth regulation will inevitably overtime increase and increase," he said.

But Mr Wilkie says the new rules would not allow poker machines into WA.

The Independent M-P says the Premier's concerns about the proposed overhaul are either misplaced or mischievous.

Mr Wilkie says he would not support any legislation that would relax poker machine laws in any State or Territory.

He says Mr Barnett seems intent on trying to score political points against the Federal Labor Government.

We all know that Google is out to conquer the world one step at a time and with their latest creation, Google Art Project, anyone with an internet connection can virtually walk down the aisles of some of the world’s most famous art museums while being able to view every speck of detail from each painting.

Google has struck deals with the world’s top museums including the Tate Britain, the MoMa (Modern Museum of Art, NYC), Free Gallery of Art – Smithsonian and the Van Gogh Museum to open up their galleries and important works of art to the world via Google’s new digital art project.

Users of Art Project will be able to navigate down corridors, zoom in on paintings and switch from one museum display to the next while also having the ability to see the most intricate details of each painting through the use of gigapixel technology, which offers the viewer amazingly high-resolution images . Users are also given the freedom to create their own personal art collections by having the ability to save their favorite paintings into a personalized collection which can be shared with other users through social networks.

While nothing can really beat taking a real-life trip to a museum, Google Art Project comes pretty close to the real thing minus the crowds of screaming kids.

The state most famous for its wide-open gambling may soon join the twenty-first-century move to online gaming. Officials with the Nevada Gaming Control Board announced that they have reached a consulting agreement with the Alderney Gambling Control Commission, an overseas agency that regulates several offshore gaming sites.


The two agencies agreed to share information on how to structure a regulatory schedule for online gaming within the state. The Alderney Gambling Control Commission, based in the British Channel Islands, has been overseeing various online gaming sites, including the popular online poker site Full Tilt Poker, since May 2000.


Andre Wilsenach, Chief Executive Officer of the AGCC, said that his group is “very pleased” to be working with the Nevada agency. “Cooperation with other regulatory bodies around the world is fundamental to being a successful regulatory body,” Wilsenach said in a press statement. “We are looking forward to working with them in the areas of investigations, compliance and developing technical standards.”


Mark Lipparelli, Chairman of the NGCB, said that his group “must adapt as an agency” for the changing climate. “We are fortunate and appreciative of our relationships with governments around the globe similar to what we have developed with the AGCC. Formalizing these distant relationships is a benefit to all involved from many perspectives including cost, time and quality.”


Several other states, including California, Florida and New Jersey, are also considering allowing for legal online gambling within their borders. However, any state that passes such online gambling legislation may encounter a legal battle from federal authorities. States must show that their regulations do not conflict with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which prohibits US-based banks from dealing with online gaming sites.

Despite giving key approval to a bill legalizing charitable raffles, the Senate next week will return to the issue, and the stakes will grow. That's because the Senate must still vote on a constitutional amendment that triggers the law, which passed 18-14 on second reading Thursday. Any vote on a constitutional amendment requires at least 30 votes instead of a simple majority.

“I think we have a pretty good chance of stopping it at that point,” Sen. David Thomas, a Fountain Inn Republican and opponent of the bill, told The Greenville News.

Even after the constitutional amendment, the Senate won’t get away from the topic of gambling. A bill allowing at-home poker and dice games is up for debate after raffles.

The vote on raffles Thursday afternoon came after two failed attempts at a compromise, after the chamber grew weary of a filibuster by Thomas, who had filed 142 amendments to the bill. The Senate has spent more than a week debating the issue.

“Gentlemen, we've talked about this long enough,” Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler told his colleagues Thursday morning. “When our Senate calendar gets constipated, our people's stomachs hurt.”

It took hours more of debate and filibuster before the Senate agreed on legislation.

The bill would legalize charitable raffles with a number of protections aimed at keeping the games from attracting professional gambling.

Charities would have to be in operation for at least five years to operate a raffle, “casino” night games would only be for entertainment, and prizes would be capped at $40,000 under the legislation.

The legislation would expire in five years unless it is reauthorized by legislators.

Senators also removed a $50 fee requirement for charities after Sen. Nikki Setzler, a West Columbia Democrat, said the Secretary of State's Office had a surplus at the end of last year that could be tapped to pay for the costs.

Thomas' aim was to remove a provision allowing charities to operate casino nights with players winning chances at a raffle. Opponents argued the games might open the door to professional gambling interests and spawn casinos throughout the state. Proponents denied that and said players would only win a chance at a raffle prize. The compromise allows charities to only hold casino nights without any prizes.

“We think it's much better than it was because it precludes the casinos,” Thomas said of the bill.

But he said he still plans to fight the constitutional amendment because the large prize limits — $250,000 per event — could invite out-of-state interest by gambling organizers.

“This is much bigger than people think,” he said. “We're afraid it's going to turn into something we will regret.”

Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell of Charleston, who has pushed for years to legalize charitable raffles, voted for the final bill but against the compromise because of the regulations he said were onerous and an intrusion of personal freedoms.

He railed against what he said was another example of the “nanny state” protecting people from themselves.

“Why do you think it's your business if I want to buy a raffle ticket?” he asked the Senate.

If the Senate passes the constitutional amendment, the two bills must then go to the House. Voters must approve the constitutional amendment before the law can be triggered.

The late Ken Uston, Al Francesco, Arnold Snyder and Stanford Wong have all made a name for themselves in the Blackjack Hall of Fame. Yet compared to the number of successful professional poker players making a name and a comfortable living for themselves, there are relatively few professional blackjack players who can make the same claim............


Read more: Blackjack Pro Lives Like a Billionaire



Play online blackjack at Bodog

Viewers of this year’s 53rd Grammy Awards show will be in for a few surprises including a performance by Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger, who will be gracing us with his presence this year as he performs a tribute to the late soul singer, Solomon Burke.

This will be Jagger’s first performance ever on the Grammy Awards show who was lured to the stage to perform in memory of his friend and Burke who he had toured with many times before. His performance will take place during the memoriam sequence of the show where artists who have made significant contributions to the industry and have passed on within the last year, will be remembered.

I guess this means you shouldn’t expect any crazy stage antics from Jagger but there is a bit of mystery involved in his performance since he was not willing to discuss the details of his performance. “He’s asked me not to go into detail about what he’s doing, but I think when you see the performance, it will make a lot of sense," said producer Ken Ehrlich.

As part of The Rolling Stones, Jagger did appear on the famous awards show but via satellite back in 1986 when the group received a Lifetime Achievement Award but that was the only time in over five decades of a very long and successful career.

Jagger will be performing along with other stars including Drake, Rihanna, Arcade Fire, Lady Antebellum, Muse and even a special performance by the Jim Henson Company puppets.

So what’s Mick Jagger up to these days? There was a rumor of another monster tour but nothing has been confirmed as of yet. These guys may be in their 60’s but they’re still making big bucks especially after their last tour which earned over half a billion dollars. His band mate Keith Richards is set to star in together with Johnny Depp in the next Pirate of the Caribbean flick and the word is that he’s also trying to get Mick to star in the movie as well. There will be no rest for these guys anytime soon……

LAST SUMMER, House Speaker Robert DeLeo was blaming Governor Deval Patrick for the closure of the Wonderland dog track in Revere, and for layoffs at Suffolk Downs in East Boston. Now he’s saying slot parlors would never pull an Evergreen Solar and get up and walk off to China. At first glance, it seems that business on Beacon Hill is picking up right where it left off in July. That’s the script DeLeo is working from. The speaker is riding high after jettisoning two top aides and promoting several legislators who strongly supported his casino and racino push last year. The shakeup has left DeLeo surrounded by hawks who backed the 11th-hour no-compromises confrontation that ultimately derailed gambling legislation last July.

The hawks’ advice — tell the governor he’ll have to accept slots at two racetracks, or he’ll get no casino bill at all — proved disastrous. It cost DeLeo political capital, while bolstering Patrick’s image as a tough, independent governor. The promotions indicate that DeLeo will make an even harder run at legalized gambling.

Restarting the gambling debate isn’t as easy as switching the rhetoric machine back on, though. That’s a problem for the speaker, and for the dozens of developers and other gambling businesses cheering him on.

The political climate has shifted drastically since DeLeo dared the governor to veto the House’s gambling bill. Those shifts make it far less likely that the speaker will enjoy victory this time around — even if he gets exactly what he wants.

Since DeLeo stared him down last summer, Patrick found his voice on the campaign trail, and has emerged as a stronger leader. Patrick is now firing department heads, seizing control of agencies, and pushing a reorganization of the state’s criminal justice system. He’s comfortable keeping score and meting out political punishment. He’s a very different politician than the one DeLeo tangled with last summer.

The House DeLeo runs, on the other hand, has been weakened by internal power struggles and public corruption stories. A federal grand jury is investigating the Legislature’s role in patronage at the Probation Department. The House’s former leader, Sal DiMasi, will soon stand trial on charges he sold his speakership. There’s a strong possibility DeLeo and other prominent House figures could get dragged into the proceedings. So it’s not an ideal time for the House to launch any kind of insurrection. But that’s especially true of expanded gambling.

Casinos hold lawmakers’ attention because they’re an easy way to pad state coffers without having to immediately account for economic costs. Slot machines, which the House is especially hot for, can be quickly set up in any old dump and programmed to spit out local aid funds. DeLeo has additional skin in the game. Two of the state’s four racetracks, Suffolk Downs and the now-shuttered Wonderland, sit in his district.

If DeLeo loses this latest gambling push, it will be a huge setback for a politician who’s already being tested by controversy. Winning might not be much more satisfying, though.

From the beginning of DeLeo’s tenure as speaker, gambling legalization has had the feel of an inside job. Gambling interests have spent $6.5 million lobbying on Beacon Hill over the past two years. Thanks to the recent convictions of former Senator Dianne Wilkerson and former Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner, the looming DiMasi kickback trial, and the Probation investigation, this isn’t the best time to be seen buying legislation.

Suffolk and Wonderland, which are essentially a single entity, and which have pumped a combined $3 million into gambling lobbying since 2005, are especially troublesome. They’re basically the speaker’s tracks. They’ve long been the odds-on favorites to win a casino license. If they’d won one last year, the deal would have looked wired and unseemly, but also not all that unexpected.

Things are different now. There’s an intense public focus on rooting out corruption and conflicts of interest. The speaker himself has hailed a new era of openness and transparency in state government. It’s worth asking whether he really wants to kick off this new era by creating instant millionaires in his own district — and whether he’s ready for the public backlash that would follow.

Paul McMorrow is an associate editor of Commonwealth magazine. His column appears regularly in the Globe.