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Gambling has always been a regular fixture of snooker halls up and down the UK. Nevertheless, there is something ironic in having online sports betting company Betfair sponsors the World Championship currently taking place in Sheffield, especially with some of the game’s top celebrities succumbing to addiction over the years.

Perhaps snookers biggest gambler was also one of its most flamboyant, namely Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins who blew a fortune on the horses and other wagers. Fellow top pro Jimmy ‘Whirlwind’ White was a good friend of Higgings, but too, suffered from gambling addiction and was bankrupted in the 1990s, and only managed to get his habit under control after passing his prime as a player. In their time, both Higgins and White were at the pinnacle of the sport and as such reaped the top heavy rewards associated with the game, even if there pockets were emptied just as quick. Spare a thought, then, for players such as Willie Thorne, who hardly made a mint throughout his career and after battling a serious gambling problem most of his life, attempted suicide in 2002 when faced with bankruptcy.

Recent players to suffer from gambling addiction include the bankrupted Silvino Francisco, who ended up working in a fish-and-chip shop, or Mark King, who ran up £100,000 in gambling debts, and later confessed:

“I found myself in a situation where I was even thinking about doing a robbery to get money to gamble. That is just not me, not who I am.”

Unlike players such as Higgins and White, these players would have struggled to make a living from the game of snooker, and recently snooker’s rising star Judd Trump spoke out on the “pitiful” amounts of money snooker players are paid. As Trump explains:

“It’s embarrassing. You’re not earning anything. Look at the average earnings of the top 32 players. If you’re in the top 32, you earn about £30,000. You’ve got to take into account that there’s five tournaments in China. You’re spending £20,000 a year just on flights. Then you’ve got hotels, petrol, accommodation. People inside the top 48 are literally struggling to make a living. They’re probably on less than minimum wage.”

The highlight of the snooker calendar is currently taking place at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, and Judd Trump was eliminated in the semi-final and so picked-up £52,000 for his reward, whereas quarter-finalists received £24,050, and £16,000 went to the last 16.

The final match between Ronnie O’Sullivan (photo left) and Barry Hawkins is set to be concluded on Bank Holiday Monday, with £250k going to the winner and £125k to the runner-up. Ronnie O’Sullivan, 37, is one of the highest earners ever in snooker but recently performed a dramatic u-turn on his decision to retire. As he explained this week:

“In an ideal world I’d love to go out there and play. But any of this money that’s coming to me I have to pay out straight away to keep the wolf from the door. I’ve been backed into a corner. I’ve spent £250,000 on lawyers’ fees over the last three years, plus the court orders and this, that and the other, so there’s no point in me playing, I might as well be skint.”
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The coming of social gaming on the internet has brought with it the rolling out of social media presentations of games converted for real money action. This is a situation where social media has crossed the line between for fun gaming with a social aspect to online gambling for profit and loss.
At the recent Social Gaming Summit being presented in San Francisco discussion evolved about the disruption of the online gambling industry and the potential for increased regulation of social games that may happen as a result.
Betable has the ambition to disrupt real-money online gambling by enabling more businesses to enter the market by converting mobile games so they can accept real-money bets. Social casino game makers can take their existing products and integrate the Betable applications programming interface which converts them into real-money gambling games. Betable’s backend infrastructure handles tasks such as regulatory compliance, identification of the player and whether the player location verification, security and funds handling.
Jill Schneiderman, Vice President of games for Social Gaming Network , said that her company’s partnership with Betable enables the company to focus on making games and then pass on the set up for gambling regulations to Betable. Schneiderman commented, “We’re experts in making fun and engaging social games,” adding, “We’re leveraging their backend and their expertise in this world to be able to enter it with traditional types of casino games, but we’re also exploring a hybrid of skill games and casino games.”
Jez San, the CEO of real-money online gambling firm PKR, also said, “I think that Betable and companies like that are a real threat. What it effectively enables any gaming company to do is to take their existing social game and make it playable for real money. The problem is that those existing social games weren’t designed to be played for real money. They’re not designed around fairness. All the mechanics that real-money games go through – the auditing and the verification and everything else – are all missing from the development side of those social games.”



Online Gambling Social Gaming Lines Become Blurred
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Greg Quill, an acclaimed Australian roots musician and longtime Toronto Star entertainment critic died in his Hamilton home Sunday afternoon. He was 66.

“Any time we strayed off work topics, it was always about his wife and daughter, and her child, and how much he loved them,” said Star book editor Dianne Rinehart. “He was a big man with a bigger heart.”

Prior to pursuing a journalistic career in Toronto, Quill was a household name in Australia. Throughout the early ‘70s his roots band, Country Radio, released a number of hit singles and albums that resulted in a number of national tours there, where he shared the same stage as Elton John and Creedence Clearwater Revival among others. “Greg was a first-rank writer, a man with a big heart who and had an encyclopedic knowledge of music,” said acclaimed music critic Larry Leblanc. “When he wrote music he wrote poems. His writing was of extreme high quality that was well thought out and emotional. I’m just heartbroken.”

After the 1974 release of his critically acclaimed solo album, The Outlaw’s Reply, Quill received a travel grant from the Australian Arts Council and moved to Toronto to live here part-time.

When he was not working with his newly formed band Southern Cross, Quill was often called upon by the local media to write about music and after a final farewell tour of Australia, became an entertainment reporter at the Star.

“He was the consummate critic, a master of the undulating sentence that flowed down the page,” remembers Antonia Zerbisias, who met Quill in 1989 when both were covering television. “He could take the most mundane sitcom and, after he was done with it, even though he hated it, you always felt that he elevated it into something worth noticing.”

Up until the end, Quill was both an artist and a journalist to the core.

“Just a couple weeks ago when we were planning a story on Rush, I mentioned the name of the artist who did the band’s album covers. Greg casually commented that the guy had also done an album cover for him back in the day,” recalls Janet Hurley, the Star’s entertainment editor.

“I loved the fact that this man who stood alongside us as a colleague had another history and life as a music superstar and yet in the newsroom he was simply one of us, a journalist.”

His family said on Facebook that Quill died from complications due to pneumonia and recently diagnosed sleep apnea. He is survived by his wife Ellen Davidson, daughter Kaya and a grandson, Raymond as well as by his step-daughters Angela and Tosha and three step-grandchildren, Jack, Owen and Evelyn.
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Manne wrote: New Jersey to Hire Online Gambling Expert to Help Strengthen Gaming Regulations

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE) is in the course of finalizing its regulations for online gambling and is about to name the consultant, who will help the division vet the completed draft. The related contract, which is set to commence on April 30, 2013, is for a single service provider to provide consultancy services covering four segments, namely, the preliminary stage, the testing and implementation phases as well as the maintenance aspect.

The NJDGE deems that a consultant, with well-rounded experience in handling gaming operations in accordance with the rules and regulations imposed by jurisdictions in the European Union, can help in determining whether its completed draft for Internet gambling regulations is adequate or still requires further adjustments. This includes identifying and addressing any unrecognized loopholes, which the NJ gaming and enforcement division, aims to address before it launches the Internet gambling regulations during the testing and implementation phase.

Although the regulators behind the completed draft disclosed that the drafting process involved extensive research work, they still need to make sure that there are no lapses or possible omissions. The consultant will also help the NJDGE properly evaluate the reasonableness of the responses and reactions of the NJ casino industry, during public consultation.

Part of the consultancy services is the performance of a GAP analysis, which entails the process of making a comparison of the actual results of the rules formulated, as against the results that NJDGE regulators aim to achieve once they enforce the Internet gaming regulations. In line with this objective, the consultant will likewise give the NJDGE specific advice and guidance related to audit procedures and technologies to put in place, to determine the reliability and integrity of the gaming systems used, as well as the accuracy of data integrated into the system.



New Jersey to Hire Online Gambling Expert : ADI News
Well that's nice ..😁
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With legal gambling moving beyond the casinos and onto the Internet, the industry is bracing for the most far-reaching changes in its history.

A Las Vegas firm, Ultimate Gaming, on Tuesday became the first in the U.S. to offer online poker, restricting it, for now, to players in Nevada. New Jersey and Delaware also have legalized gambling over the Internet and expect to begin offering such bets by the end of this year.

And many inside and outside the industry say the recent position taken by the federal government that states are free to offer Internet gambling — as long as it doesn’t involve sports betting — will lead many cash-hungry state governments to turn to the Web as a new source of tax revenue.

Ten other states have considered some form of Internet gambling so far this year, but none has legalized it yet. Efforts to pass a national law legalizing online poker have sputtered, leaving states free to pass laws as they see fit.

“It’s no longer a question of if Internet gaming is coming; it’s a question of when,” said Frank Fahrenkopf Jr., president of the American Gaming Association, the trade organization for the nation’s commercial brick-and-mortar casinos.

“Unless there is a federal bill passed, we are going to have the greatest expansion of legalized gambling in the United States. I don’t think that’s what anyone intended, but it is what we’re seeing.”

The brave new world for gambling brings with it a host of questions and concerns: Will letting people bet online result in fewer visits to casinos, and therefore fewer dealers, beverage servers and hotel and restaurant workers? Will Internet bets create a new revenue stream from new players, or will it simply redirect money from gamblers who otherwise would have visited a casino, and might have eaten dinner and seen a show as well? And will it create even more problem gamblers?

Michael Frawley is chief operating officer of The Atlantic Club Casino Hotel, perhaps the most endangered of Atlantic City’s 12 casinos. A deal for it to be sold to the parent company of PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker website, is up in the air. The Atlantic Club’s owners said Wednesday the deal was dead, but PokerStars said the next day it still wants to salvage the purchase. It was not immediately clear whether the deal will ultimately get done. Frawley said the Internet’s vast reach could help double business at his casino, provided the right balance is struck between the online and physical gambling experiences for customers.

“If you go to the movies, you can watch one at home, or you can watch one in the theater,” he said. “Both of them can be a great experience.”

Regardless of whether PokerStars buys The Atlantic Club, Internet gambling is expected to take off in New Jersey before long. The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa has said it is preparing to offer online gambling later this year, and Gary Loveman, CEO of Caesars Entertainment, has also said he expects his company’s four Atlantic City casinos to grab a large share of New Jersey’s online market.

Geoffrey Stewart is general manager of Caesars Online Poker. Parent company Caesars Entertainment’s World Series of Poker brands, as well as its 37 casinos across the U.S., make it an early favorite to be a leader in online gambling. He said brick-and-mortar casinos such as Caesars Palace can use Internet play to complement their physical casinos.

“Someone comes to play with us online, we will be able to offer them seats to the real World Series of Poker, or offer them hotel rooms at Caesars Palace,” he said. “Like any other business, you’re always looking for what is the next distribution channel.”

Not everyone in the industry is all-in, however.

The American Gaming Association conducted a study a few years ago on whether poker-only Internet gambling — which it supports — would cannibalize the existing brick-and-mortar casinos. The study determined that it would not. But when Internet gambling allows for casino games, such as in the bill recently adopted by New Jersey, the traditional casinos could suffer, Fahrenkopf said.

The most popular form of Internet gambling is online poker.

When the Justice Department charged executives of three online poker sites in April 2011 with conducting illegal transactions, it was a $6 billion-a-year industry. After the crackdown, it was largely on hiatus, because at the time, taking online bets from U.S. customers was illegal. But not long afterward, the U.S. Justice Department revised its stance, allowing states to take online bets so long as they didn’t involve sporting events. Eric Baldwin is a professional poker player who’s eager to get back online again now that poker is once again available online.

“The money’s good when things are good,” he said. On the other hand, he acknowledges, “Most people don’t go to work for 12 hours, do their best and come home down a couple thousand dollars.”

He plans to at least try out legalized Internet poker to see if the player pools are big enough to make it worthwhile.

Lawrence Vaughan, chief operating officer of South Point Poker, one of the first Nevada online licensees, said legalizing Internet poker removes the stigma some people had associated with it.

PokerStars, one of the parties charged in the 2011 crackdown that came to be known in the industry as “Black Friday,” later bought Full Tilt Poker, another defendant, and reached a settlement with the federal government, paying $547 million to the Justice Department and $184 million to poker players overseas to settle a case alleging money laundering, bank fraud and illegal gambling. It admitted no wrongdoing and says it is in good standing with governments around the world.

Its parent company, The Rational Group, based on the Isle of Man in the U.K., would not say whether it plans to try to buy another casino or partner with one to gain entry into the U.S. online gambling market.

Introducing new players to
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The concern for the students in Thailand who are becoming globally tuned in with the technology available today there is a greater call for parental guidance over the use of the internet. The Thailand government is strict in its rules regarding gambling of all sorts but it is having a hard time keeping up with web related gambling sites that offer every form of wagering there is. There are 205 Thai sites that offer games in English or Thai and accept wagers in Thai Bhat or US Dollars and 11 of those are mobile online casinos. With the proliferation of tablet computers and smart phones the internet and online gambling is becoming more accessible to young people who may not have the same restraint when going online to place a wager on a game.

The nature of the global reach of online gambling operators means there is little officials can do to prevent players in Thailand from frequenting these offshore casinos and poker rooms. The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology is monitoring the situation, and is pondering whether to block access to such websites. The Thai language is an issue for players as there are few operators that offer their native tongue.
Recently academics from Bangkok urged government agencies to start developing policies to prevent students from getting involved with online gambling. Health Laws and Ethics Center academic from Thammasat University, Mr. Paisan Limsatit commented at a gambling prevention among youth meeting, 16.7 million people regularly visit online casino related websites more than half of that figure are youths aged between 15-19 years old and the word 'casino' appears in 1,548 items from app store search engines.
The government's One Child One Tablet scheme means every young person who receives a tablet may be at risk says Limsatit. The internet must be filtered for these young people and policies put in place soon say critics in Thailand.



Thailand Searches for Online Gambling Policies
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Blockbuster film “Iron Man 3” is giving Regal Entertainment Group a major boost following the movie theater operator’s rather drab first quarter.

The super hero flick starring Robert Downey Jr. produced opening weekend ticket sales of $174.1 million in the U.S. and Canada, second largest of all time.

In the first 12 days of release, the movie has delivered a monster box office of $678.9 million worldwide, according to Hollywood.com.

Those numbers should bode well for Knoxville-based Regal’s second quarter earnings report, especially given the slate of summer movies soon to be released.
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Spanish are tackling austerity by flocking online to play poker and fill the coffers of e-gaming company 888, founded by two pairs of Israeli brothers back in 1997. Investors piled into the shares as 888 flagged up profits “materially ahead” of City hopes this year on strong trading, sending the stock up 14 per cent to 74p.

The company is now the second-biggest player in the Spanish poker market after building “significant” market share as unlicensed operators are slowly squeezed out. Spanish regulators granted 888 an e-gaming licence in May after a one-off payment of €7.4m (£5.8m).

Business will not be quite as bullish in the second half, however, as 888 ratchets up marketing spending in Spain, but it should comfortably exceed current forecasts of £46.5m in underlying earnings this year.

Avi & Aaron Shaked, owners of the successful online Casino and Poker room, 888, founded the gambling website in 1997, under the name “Virtual Holdings Limited, along with a second pair of brothers: Shay and Ron Ben Yitzhak.

Aaron Shaked was the mind beyond the website. The idea occurred to him while attending a dentist conference in Monte Carlo. Aaron realized the market potential and as soon as he came back to Israel, he contacted his brother Avi, a chemical engineer, and discussed the idea of establishing a virtual casino. Since neither he nor his brother knew the basics of gambling. Therefore, they connected the Ben Yitzhak brothers and founded the business as a joint venture. The 4 brothers took a $ 1000,00 form the Island of Antigoa and mortgaged their houses in order to start the business.

In 2005, 8 years after it was founded, 888 went on the London Stock Exchange and raised $ 1.1 billion. The two brothers sold stocks for more than $90 million, but kept their mutual control of the company’s shares, each of them holding 25.6% of the stocks. Shaked turned to politics and tried to get elected to Israeli parliament in 2005, presenting himself as the “Socialist Billionaire”, but this time the dice fell on the wrong side and this attempt has failed.

In October 2006, an American law issued prohibited the online gambling industry to receive any payments from users. nevertheless, both investors and users kept their faith in online gambling industry,that has been flourishingmore than ever.

Aaron Shaked and his daughter Tal have founded a holding company, investing in Clean tech technologies, infrastructures and medical devices In January 2010 Shaked passed away from an illness at the age of 58,



888 online gambling sweeps Spain away – Jewish Business News
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Investors have sent Amaya shares surging 65 per cent over the past year, betting it will benefit from more relaxed rules by U.S. states for legalized online poker and other casino games. Following several acquisitions to take advantage of an expanding global gaming industry, Montreal-based Amaya is now involved in everything from Internet poker to land-based casinos and sales of gaming machines. The company’s biggest deal took place last fall with the $177-million purchase of Cadillac Jack Inc., a manufacturer of slot machines. It also bought online casino games developer Cryptologic Ltd. last year, and gaming software provider Chartwell Technology Inc. in 2011. The purchases come at a time when more states consider making Internet gaming legal. Last month, Nevada became the first state where its residents can play poker online for money. Internet poker had been outlawed since 2011 when the U.S. Department of Justice seized the domaine names of offshore sites catering to U.S. customers. Amaya’s stock hit a 52-week high earlier this week after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results.

Manager insight: Amaya shares are now trading on expectations of cash-hungry U.S. states legalizing online gambling as opposed to moving on earnings numbers, says Robert McWhirter, president of Selective Asset Management Inc. “To a degree, it is starting to trade like [transportation giant] Bombardier Inc. that trades on expectations in backlog.”

With its latest acquisitions, Amaya is able to offer “basically one-stop shopping for a land-based casino” that wants to expand into the new frontier of legalized virtual gaming, said Mr. McWhirter, who is eyeing Amaya shares for a future purchase.

Various states are approaching Internet gaming differently, but investors will also focus on how many states will permit a full-suite of offerings as opposed to a state like Nevada, which currently only permits online poker, he said. New Jersey and Delaware have thrown the doors open to not only Internet poker, but also other online casino games, including the slots.

“I expect other states to allow Internet gaming,” he said. California is only considering a bill to permit online poker. In Pennsylvania, the second-largest gambling market outside of Nevada, a bill was introduced last month to legalize all kinds of online casino games.

A near-term catalyst for Amaya is the Cadillac Jack division expanding into different markets like native-operated North American casinos with its slot machines, Mr. McWhirter said. Amaya will also benefit from the synergies from the acquisitions, and “cross-selling opportunities” because they will have different customers, he added.

A 12-month target price of $9 to $10 a share is not unreasonable for Amaya, he said. If the company can increase its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization [EBITDA] to roughly $60-million to $63-million this year from $23-million in 2012, as some analysts expect, “that would be a further catalyst for a rising stock price,” he added.

The risk to Amaya shares is the possibility of U.S. states delaying legalization of Internet gaming, or only permitting poker as opposed to an array of offerings, he said. “Because of the need of revenue by the states, I would expect that those risks are relatively low.”





Stock to watch: Amaya a bet on online gaming - The Globe and Mail
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Online poker pro, Phil Ivey has issued a writ against the oldest casino in Britain, Crockfords in Mayfair, for millions he claims is due to him in punto banco payouts. Ivey said that he visited the London casino in August last year and enjoyed a winning spree on the card game, punto banco, which he is no less good at. Ivey has managed to earn millions playing this game over the years and is the world’s sixth highest winner in terms of money earned in the game.

Ivey claimed in his statement that when he completed his two day punto banco session at Crockfords, the casino refused to pay him out. By the end of his first night of play, he was up GBP 2.3 million and by the second night, he was due $7.3 million in winnings.

Instead, the Malaysian Genting owned casino embarked on an investigation process where it saw security experts flown out from Kuala Lampur and staff interviewed at length. At the end, Crockfords said that it would not pay out the GBP 7.3 million owed to Ivey and were willing to give their reasons in court.

“Over the years, I have won and lost substantial amounts at Crockfords,” said a “saddened” Ivey, ” and I have always honored my commitments.”

“At the time, I was given a receipt for my winnings but Crockfords subsequently withheld payment. I therefore feel I have no alternative but to take legal action.”

Genting also commented on the lawsuit served against the casino, which was established in 1828, saying: “In this rare instance we are able to confirm that our position, which is supported by strong legal advice, has been made very clear to Mr Ivey’s solicitors from the start. We shall be filing our defence shortly.”



Phil Ivey Online Poker Pro Sues London Casino
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Hip-hop star will.i.am has donated $100,000 to help low-decile Auckland schools provide information technology to students.

The US singer, songwriter and producer who rose to fame as a member of the Black Eyed Peas, was brought to New Zealand for a private show last night.

The star made a surprise appearance at Point England Primary School in east Auckland this afternoon where he presented a $100,000 cheque to digital literacy charity the Manaiakalani Education Trust.

Its executive officer, Jenny Oxley, said will.i.am's philanthropic work in the US corresponded closely with what the trust was trying to achieve here, in providing children in low socioeconomic areas with the means to participate in the digital age.

"He has his own charity in the States that encourages digital literacy, particularly in low socioeconomic communities, and as part of his visit here he came across information about Manaiakalani and made this wonderful gesture to us.''

The children were extremely excited to see the star in person.

"It was all pretty top secret until today and so the kids didn't know who was coming, they just knew it was an important celebrity, but they were over the moon,'' Ms Oxley said.

The money would go towards the trust's programmes of providing netbooks to students and their families, building its own wireless network for students, and supporting e-learning for teachers and parents.

The singer, whose real name is William Adams, talked to students about his modest beginnings in a Los Angeles ghetto, how he never knew his father and was driven by a desire to provide for his mother.

"He's clearly a very humble guy, very bright guy and it was great seeing him in person,'' Ms Oxley said.

The 38-year-old was brought to New Zealand to attend Hallensteins' Ultimate After Party at Studio on K Rd where he performed songs from his new album at the private show last night.

He said he was looking forward to exploring New Zealand.

"After tonight's party I'm looking forward to chalking up some new memories, so when I get back I can have something good to tell the folks back in America.''

He hoped to secure some tour dates later in the year in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, "and put on a proper show in this country''.




Will.i.am donates $100k to low-decile NZ schools - Entertainment - NZ Herald News
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Manne wrote: Online poker pro, Phil Ivey has issued a writ against the oldest casino in Britain, Crockfords in Mayfair, for millions he claims is due to him in punto banco payouts. Ivey said that he visited the London casino in August last year and enjoyed a winning spree on the card game, punto banco, which he is no less good at. Ivey has managed to earn millions playing this game over the years and is the world’s sixth highest winner in terms of money earned in the game.

Ivey claimed in his statement that when he completed his two day punto banco session at Crockfords, the casino refused to pay him out. By the end of his first night of play, he was up GBP 2.3 million and by the second night, he was due $7.3 million in winnings.

Instead, the Malaysian Genting owned casino embarked on an investigation process where it saw security experts flown out from Kuala Lampur and staff interviewed at length. At the end, Crockfords said that it would not pay out the GBP 7.3 million owed to Ivey and were willing to give their reasons in court.

“Over the years, I have won and lost substantial amounts at Crockfords,” said a “saddened” Ivey, ” and I have always honored my commitments.”

“At the time, I was given a receipt for my winnings but Crockfords subsequently withheld payment. I therefore feel I have no alternative but to take legal action.”

Genting also commented on the lawsuit served against the casino, which was established in 1828, saying: “In this rare instance we are able to confirm that our position, which is supported by strong legal advice, has been made very clear to Mr Ivey’s solicitors from the start. We shall be filing our defence shortly.”



Phil Ivey Online Poker Pro Sues London Casino
He have money enough....maybe he's just a clown!!
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The Government is studying measures to curb online gambling by restricting access to online gambling websites.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has embarked on research with industry experts to study the issue and learn from the experience of other countries.

Speaking at the Casino Regulatory Authority's (CRA) annual workplan seminar on Friday, Minister at the Prime Minister's Office S Iswaran said that the Government shares the concerns within the community over the social risks associated with online gambling, which is highly accessible.

"Online gambling is a new and potentially more addictive form of gambling, with greater access to the young and vulnerable," said Mr Iswaran, who is also Second Minister for Home Affairs. "These risks will likely be magnified as the technology supporting online gambling further evolves."





Government studying measures to restrict access to online gambling
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On April 30, 2013, the poker world saw the launch of the United States' first legal online poker site, Ultimate Poker. But Ultimate Poker has one significant limit: it is only legal within the boundaries of Nevada. As more sites come online under similar state schemes—New Jersey and Delaware are likely next—online gambling in the United States may be poised for an explosion.

It wasn't always this way. Among online poker players, Black Friday refers to the infamous day in April 2011 when the United States brought federal criminal charges against the founders of three major overseas online poker companies: PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Cereus (under the brand name Absolute Poker). The move targeted companies accused of illegally catering to US players, and it shut down easy access to real-money online poker for American players.

Federal prosecutors alleged that the 11 defendants violated the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006 and conducted notable bank fraud between financial institutions, poker companies, and players. In parallel, a civil case sought the forfeiture of $3 billion worth of company assets, many of which were overseas.

Eight of the 11 named were out of the country when the indictments came down, but the others either pled guilty, settled with the government, served time, or experienced some combination of it all. The UIGEA (PDF) summary, as written by the United States Treasury Department, specifically "prohibits gambling businesses from knowingly accepting payments in connection with the participation of another person in a bet or wager that involves the use of the Internet and that is unlawful under any federal or state law."

One of those convicted as part of the Black Friday roundup was John Campos. He pleaded guilty to one count of "dealing in bets used as a means for participating in a lottery by a state nonmember insured bank" and served three months in federal prison. Campos remains on probation until November 2013.

The government accused Campos, then-vice chairman of the board of directors at SunFirst Bank in St. George, Utah, of agreeing to process gambling transactions in exchange for a sizable investment in the bank from these poker companies. In a sentencing memorandum (PDF), the prosecuting United States Attorney, Preet Bharara, wrote that SunFirst Bank processed more than $200 million in payments from November 2009 to November 2010.

"My perspective on it is that [the law for online gambling] is still not clear," Campos told Ars by phone. "Until some of the states start to actually pass the laws and the banks start processing, it's still pretty nebulous. I think there are still some questions as to implementations. I'm afraid to do anything in that area, because the federal government is scary."

Major poker sites will no longer do business with American residents for fear of running afoul of federal law.

"Everybody hates [the United States government]. You know why? We're like the sovereign of the world. [Internet poker] has come out and we're seizing people's money in France!" Jeff Ifrah, an attorney who represents PokerStars, told Ars recently over coffee in San Francisco. "Half the money [seized on Black Friday] was in France, Spain, and Italy. Players don't want to deal with US law enforcement [and risk] their accounts being seized or extraditions."

Players who had money on one of the targeted sites have largely had their assets frozen—the US is still trying to repatriate the money.

"I had about $12,000 on [Full] Tilt, so I still haven't seen that money and am hoping to get it back from the Department of Justice in the next year or two, if I'm lucky," Matthew Stout, one of the world's top poker players, told Ars. As a result of Black Friday, Stout decided to employ the services of PokerRefugees.com and relocated to Costa Rica, and later to the Netherlands, where he can play 15 to 20 tables at once online, all day long. (Stout noted that he still files taxes with the Internal Revenue Service.)

Now two years after Black Friday, the outlook for online gambling has changed dramatically. Collectively, the American market for online casinos and poker could be worth as much as $12 billion, according to a 2009 estimate by Goldman Sachs. At present, "traditional" (that is, offline) gambling revenues in the US total $35 billion annually, roughly the size of all foreign online gambling sites. With depressed economies nationwide, state governments increasingly want a piece of that revenue—and they are willing to license online gambling to get it.

There's just one problem: how do website users prove—really prove—that they are physically located in states like Nevada?
Welcome to Nevada

The big question for the new online gaming companies is exactly how are they going to limit online gambling on a geographic basis. The Internet is by nature borderless, though some applications do enforce IP geoblocking to limit the consumption of various forms of intellectual property (Hulu uses this). But to anyone who knows how to use a virtual private network (VPN), such blocks are trivial obstacles.

Under Nevada's new regulations, players using a Nevada-based poker website need to be physically present within the Silver State while playing, but they do not need to reside there nor have financial assets there. They simply need to prove that they are located within the state's geographic boundaries.

Nevada has not said precisely how it will determine a poker player's geographic location, but it does make clear that simply checking the IP address isn't going to cut it. "People do use IP geolocation, but it could not be a sole qualifier," Jim Barbee, the chief of the technology division at Nevada's State Gaming Control Board, told Ars.

If a company came to the board trying to get its poker product certified and was only using IP-based geolocation, Barbee said he would respond this way: "Why are you wasting our time?
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The Isle of Man is a small but very distinct part of the online gambling industry with their licensing commission and regulatory framework the Isle of Man is recognized as a secure and trusted environment. The Isle of Man has pointed out its determination to keep pace with evolving international standards by consolidating its codes of practice relating to money laundering and terrorist financing.
To do this the government’s Department of Home Affairs has unified money laundering and terrorist financing codes. These specific codes for the main financial services sector and online gambling provide legal guidance. In order to help businesses comply with the requirements in place that combats the financing of terrorism, and a illegal money processing through measures including due diligence, monitoring, record keeping and staff experience.

Juan Watterson the Home Affairs Minister commented, ‘International standards are continually evolving with regard to preventing and reporting money laundering and terrorist financing. As a responsible nation the Isle of Man is committed to playing a leading role in the fight against illicit finance. The simple improvements we have implemented will result in a reduction from the current four codes to a single code each for the main regulated sector and online gambling.’ Watterson continued to add, ‘The nature of this fast moving environment means that further revisions will be required in future, and we will continue to consult with representatives of the financial services industry to ensure the Island remains at the forefront of global standards.’
In 2005 PokerStars, one of the world's largest online poker sites, relocated its headquarters to the Isle of Man. In 2006, RNG Gaming a large gaming software developer of P2P tournaments and Get21 a multiplayer online blackjack site, based their corporate offices on the island.
The island is the only jurisdiction outside the United Kingdom where it is possible to play the UK National Lottery. The Isle of Man is a low tax economy with no capital gains tax, wealth tax, stamp duty, death duty or inheritance tax and income tax rates of 10% and 20%; corporation tax is at 0%.




Isle of Man Online Gambling Global Standards Security
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Instinct for a good business deal is something like learning a new language you have to study hard and watch for the signs. Any analyst worth their salt reads a million reports and makes progress charts as the strategy of the firm unfolds. The stock market is full of choices but there are those which look much better than others. The interesting thing is when a stock starts to surge everyone is suddenly in a buying mood creating a buzz which has its own fallout.
One stock and rightfully so has benefited from interest is Amaya Gaming Group whose shares have surged 65 per cent over the past year. The diversity the company is displayed by its acquiring of properties to expand on access to the global gambling market, including online poker and actual gaming machines with the purchase of Cadillac Jack Inc., a manufacturer of slot machines.
The Montreal Canada based firm bought online casino games developer Cryptologic Ltd. giving it the capability that at one time rivaled most of the giants as a game developer of some note. Software provider Chartwell Technology Inc. also added to the range and scope of offerings Amaya has in the online gambling industry. The possible opening up of internet wagering and the expanding terrestrial gambling market in the USA and elsewhere is giving speculators of Amaya stock the courage to invest. Amaya’s stock hit a 52-week high earlier this week with the posting of better-than-expected fourth-quarter returns.
Amaya is able to offer one-stop shopping for a terrestrial casino and also can outfit any virtual online casino with ease. As more American states develop their own internet policies and bring internet poker to a network of legal jurisdiction the market for what Amaya has to offer will only become stronger. There are many firms competing for the privilege of serving these new venues so there is still some risk for Amaya but researching how the firm has grown, those risks are looked at as relatively low.


Amaya Gaming Group Online Gambling Strategy
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A heavy metal singer gave an envelope containing $1,000 in cash to an undercover agent with instructions on how to kill his estranged wife along with her photograph, address, security gate code and dates he would be with their children to give him an alibi, a prosecutor said.

The disclosure came moments after Tim Lambesis, 32, front man for the group As I Lay Dying, pleaded not guilty to solicitation of murder. A judge set bail at US$3 million, required him to wear a GPS monitoring device, and imposed strict travel restrictions.

During a May 7 meeting with the agent, Lambesis was recorded saying he wanted his wife killed, said Claudia Grasso, a San Diego County prosecutor.

The undercover operation was staged after the singer told a man at his gym on April 23 and again on April 24 that he wanted his wife killed, complaining that she was making it difficult for him to see their children and impossible to complete their divorce, authorities said.

Defense attorney Anthony Salerno told reporters that Lambesis did not intend to harm anybody and was apparently set up by the man at the gym.

"Law enforcement was being fed something by someone that I strongly believe was a snitch, was out to save his own skin and was trumping things up, exaggerating things," Salerno said.

The lawyer declined to address specific allegations.

Lambesis was arrested on Tuesday (Wednesday, local time) at a store in Oceanside, north of San Diego. If convicted, he could face as many as nine years in prison.

In court, Lambesis stared straight ahead from behind a glass partition while supporters packed the room.

Grasso said the singer emailed his wife while on tour in August that he didn't love her anymore, wanted to end the relationship, and no longer believed in God. Meggan Lambesis later learned her husband was having an affair and had been involved with "a string of women," the prosecutor said.

Meggan Lambesis, said in divorce papers that her husband had been falling asleep while caring for their three children near a pool and was spending endless hours at a gym and thousands of dollars on tattoos, The musician's wife also said in the court papers filed last fall that Lambesis toured six months a year and had taken two last-minute trips in a month to see a girlfriend in Florida.

She asked the court to order an expert to examine their music-related businesses and other assets. She also submitted a tax return showing the couple grossed $233,000 in 2010 but did not specify an amount she was seeking for spousal support. The couple adopted the children - ages 4, 8 and 10 - from Ethiopia, and Tim Lambesis continued to see them for about 10 hours a week when he was not on tour, even though the couple was no longer living together, according to court documents.

Meggan Lambesis said the couple would try private mediation to work out custody and visitation issues.

Tim Lambesis' comments about his Grammy-nominated band's latest album, Awakened, indicated he may have been struggling. The singer, who has a degree in religious studies, is known for his growled vocals and philosophical lyrics, which he has said are written from his perspective as a Christian.

The band's website says the album - released the same month his wife filed for divorce after eight years of marriage - is a "far darker, more pessimistic beast" than previous albums.

"On this record, I wasn't purposefully trying to be negative, but I think sometimes we have to be honest with some of the darker and more difficult times of our lives to get back to that positivity," Lambesis is quoted as saying.

A man who answered the phone at a number listed in the singer's name in Del Mar said the family was not commenting at this time.

As I Lay Dying formed in San Diego in 2000 and has released six albums, including 2007's An Ocean Between Us, which reached No. 8 on Billboard's charts. A single from the album, Nothing Left, was nominated for a Grammy for top metal performance.

The band, which plays in an aggressive style that features metal guitar riffs at the furious pace of hardcore punk, was scheduled to tour the country this summer.
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Manne wrote: On April 30, 2013, the poker world saw the launch of the United States' first legal online poker site, Ultimate Poker. But Ultimate Poker has one significant limit: it is only legal within the boundaries of Nevada. As more sites come online under similar state schemes—New Jersey and Delaware are likely next—online gambling in the United States may be poised for an explosion.

It wasn't always this way. Among online poker players, Black Friday refers to the infamous day in April 2011 when the United States brought federal criminal charges against the founders of three major overseas online poker companies: PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Cereus (under the brand name Absolute Poker). The move targeted companies accused of illegally catering to US players, and it shut down easy access to real-money online poker for American players.

Federal prosecutors alleged that the 11 defendants violated the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006 and conducted notable bank fraud between financial institutions, poker companies, and players. In parallel, a civil case sought the forfeiture of $3 billion worth of company assets, many of which were overseas.

Eight of the 11 named were out of the country when the indictments came down, but the others either pled guilty, settled with the government, served time, or experienced some combination of it all. The UIGEA (PDF) summary, as written by the United States Treasury Department, specifically "prohibits gambling businesses from knowingly accepting payments in connection with the participation of another person in a bet or wager that involves the use of the Internet and that is unlawful under any federal or state law."

One of those convicted as part of the Black Friday roundup was John Campos. He pleaded guilty to one count of "dealing in bets used as a means for participating in a lottery by a state nonmember insured bank" and served three months in federal prison. Campos remains on probation until November 2013.

The government accused Campos, then-vice chairman of the board of directors at SunFirst Bank in St. George, Utah, of agreeing to process gambling transactions in exchange for a sizable investment in the bank from these poker companies. In a sentencing memorandum (PDF), the prosecuting United States Attorney, Preet Bharara, wrote that SunFirst Bank processed more than $200 million in payments from November 2009 to November 2010.

"My perspective on it is that [the law for online gambling] is still not clear," Campos told Ars by phone. "Until some of the states start to actually pass the laws and the banks start processing, it's still pretty nebulous. I think there are still some questions as to implementations. I'm afraid to do anything in that area, because the federal government is scary."

Major poker sites will no longer do business with American residents for fear of running afoul of federal law.

"Everybody hates [the United States government]. You know why? We're like the sovereign of the world. [Internet poker] has come out and we're seizing people's money in France!" Jeff Ifrah, an attorney who represents PokerStars, told Ars recently over coffee in San Francisco. "Half the money [seized on Black Friday] was in France, Spain, and Italy. Players don't want to deal with US law enforcement [and risk] their accounts being seized or extraditions."

Players who had money on one of the targeted sites have largely had their assets frozen—the US is still trying to repatriate the money.

"I had about $12,000 on [Full] Tilt, so I still haven't seen that money and am hoping to get it back from the Department of Justice in the next year or two, if I'm lucky," Matthew Stout, one of the world's top poker players, told Ars. As a result of Black Friday, Stout decided to employ the services of PokerRefugees.com and relocated to Costa Rica, and later to the Netherlands, where he can play 15 to 20 tables at once online, all day long. (Stout noted that he still files taxes with the Internal Revenue Service.)

Now two years after Black Friday, the outlook for online gambling has changed dramatically. Collectively, the American market for online casinos and poker could be worth as much as $12 billion, according to a 2009 estimate by Goldman Sachs. At present, "traditional" (that is, offline) gambling revenues in the US total $35 billion annually, roughly the size of all foreign online gambling sites. With depressed economies nationwide, state governments increasingly want a piece of that revenue—and they are willing to license online gambling to get it.

There's just one problem: how do website users prove—really prove—that they are physically located in states like Nevada?
Welcome to Nevada

The big question for the new online gaming companies is exactly how are they going to limit online gambling on a geographic basis. The Internet is by nature borderless, though some applications do enforce IP geoblocking to limit the consumption of various forms of intellectual property (Hulu uses this). But to anyone who knows how to use a virtual private network (VPN), such blocks are trivial obstacles.

Under Nevada's new regulations, players using a Nevada-based poker website need to be physically present within the Silver State while playing, but they do not need to reside there nor have financial assets there. They simply need to prove that they are located within the state's geographic boundaries.

Nevada has not said precisely how it will determine a poker player's geographic location, but it does make clear that simply checking the IP address isn't going to cut it. "People do use IP geolocation, but it could not be a sole qualifier," Jim Barbee, the chief of the technology division at Nevada's State Gaming Control Board, told Ars.

If a company came to the board trying to get its poker product certified and was only using IP-based geolocation, Barbee said he would respond this way: "Why are you wasting our time?
Lots of money for the american government.
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To make extra money in my student days, I worked for Joe Coral’s, the bookmakers. I really enjoyed it. It was never very busy in the morning so I had plenty of time to study the form. In the afternoons, I would place a few bets following the outcome eagerly.

I remember being very impressed by the mathematical skills of the shop managers, who had to calculate all the winnings in their head. It was an early lesson on how thinking in probabilities and mathematics could make you money.

I don’t remember anything about the customers except for one. He came into the shop very rarely and he always placed a £10 bet on one horse. It nearly always won. He was an unmistakable figure, he could not have been even five foot tall. We figured he must be an ex-jockey with a few friends who kept him in the know. We always made a point of backing the same horse he did!

Such small insights can made a difference in gambling. I met a guy who made a living playing online poker. The secret, he told me, was to stay stone-cold sober on a Friday night and then play against competitors who had just returned from the pub. But the best way to make money out of the gambling business is to be calling the odds, dealing the cards or running the house. This simple fact has not been lost on the thousands of enterprises that have set up online gambling sites.
The £2bn market is showing no signs of slowing

This is a huge growth industry. One estimate has put the growth of the rather shady global online gambling industry at over 20% per year for the last decade and a recent report said that the UK’s online gambling industry was worth over £2bn last year – 80% ahead of 2008. One factor above all is responsible for this explosive growth - readily available internet access.

It is hard to think of an industry that has benefited more from the instant availability of digital information, from the ability to communicate with people all around the world and to send money at the touch of a button. Gambling always used to require premises – the betting shop, the bingo hall, the casino. No more. Now the roulette table comes to your TV screen, your poker opponents are waiting online and sporting odds are flashed to your mobile device. Make something possible and people will do it. That underlies many successful businesses, including share dealing. Not so long ago you could only buy shares by going to your bank or ringing your stockbroker, assuming you had one. Now share dealing is available instantly from any connected device and stock market traders have lost no time in availing themselves of the opportunity.

The same is being seen in gambling, of which there are a number of types. There is the sports sector which, with ‘in-play’ betting, is gradually becoming more sophisticated. There are online casinos, a straight transfer of a familiar game from the casino hall to the digital universe. Online poker is popular, as is bingo, while the industry also encompasses the new world of online games, many of which have some gambling element.
This attracts a wide clientele

The availability and the choice of games have attracted new users. The fastest growing category has been women who, according to one report "choose simpler games, such as lotteries and slot machines". For them "gambling usually provides relaxation rather than thrills".

For men, however the motivation is slightly different. Young men are particularly prone to gambling and go for "casino games and skills-demanding games that are traditionally associated with the male identity."

Whatever the motivation, online gambling is growing fast and showing no signs of stopping. Arguably it is not, as Lord Turner said of the City, "socially useful". But governments seem less concerned about its addictive qualities than the loss of tax revenue.

While companies such as William Hill and Ladbrokes, with their high-street presence, are clearly taxable UK businesses, the online operators choose tax-free domains like Gibraltar and Costa Rica, and although governments would like to find a way of taxing this activity, it is hard to see what they can do. In the USA, three states, Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware have now legalised online gambling. So, with a growing audience of players and revenues beyond the clutches of the tax man, the operators are having a good time.

Two small UK players are Webis Holdings (WE😎 and 32Red (TTR), but there is one company in particular that has really caught my eye…



The Penny Sleuth: How gambling has transformed since my bookie days - MoneyWeek
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Briefing notes for the Queen's Speech held this week mentioned the new Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Bill, which will see a number of changes in the licensing regime for online gambling operators that target the UK.

The new bill claims to protect consumers who wager online at casino and poker websites that are operated by companies based outside the United Kingdom.

At present, only those operators based in the country are required to hold a license issued by the UK Gambling Commission. Offshore operators are licensed by the jurisdictions out of which they operate, and can market to the UK as long as they appear on the Gambling Commission's White List. Examples of these jurisdictions include Alderney, Gibraltar and the Isle of Man.

The new Gambling Bill, which appeared in the Queen's Speech, will now require all operators who market their products or provide service to UK gamblers - whether based in the country or abroad - to apply for a license from the Gambling Commission.
Bill Designed to Protect UK Gamblers

Ministers pushing the new bill say that the changes will bring greater protection to UK gamblers. Internet gambling operators would, according to the bill, be subject to "robust and consistent regulation." Overseas operators would need to inform the UK Gambling Commission if they come across any suspicious betting patterns where British consumers are involved. At present, only UK based operators are required by law to do this; however all reputable off-shore based groups servicing the UK market have a policy where they inform local authorities about illegal activity and corruption in sport, whether or not they are required to do so by law.

Another requirement noted in the law is that all UK licensed operators will need to contribute to research, education and treatment of British problem gambling.

In short, say lawmakers, the UK online gambling bill will "level the regulatory field" for operators and allow them to "compete on an equal footing."
Multiple Bills Mentioned in Queen's Speech

A large number of bills were mentioned in the Queen's Speech or as part of briefing notes attached to the speech line "other measures will be laid before you".

These include the Immigration Bill which will make it easier to deport people who don't have a right to remain in the UK, the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill which aims to tackle anti-social behaviour such as illegal firearms and forced marriage, and the Care Bill which will introduce a cap on the cost of social care.





Online Gambling Mentioned In Queen's Speech - GamblingKingz-com
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