Let your mouth speak archive

Gaming specialist Bally Technologies (NYSE: BYI ) has teamed up with U.K.-based payment processor Optimal Payments to offer online gamblers payment options and related services.

Under the terms of the agreement, Bally will integrate Optimal's NETBANX payment platform into its solution for operators in the regulated U.S. gaming market. Bally's customers will be able to use the NETBANX payment gateway for services including credit card, debit card, and electronic check processing and risk management for the U.S. gaming market.

Bally VP of business development John Connelly said: "A key part of our strategy is to partner with best-of-breed providers, and we have done that with Optimal Payments to secure access to their extensive expertise in payment processing and risk management services for the regulated U.S. gaming market."

Before the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in 2006, Optimal Payments was formerly known as Neovia Financial until it acquired the former in 2011. It funded the accounts of gamblers with its Neteller platform, but after the UIGEA went into effect, it ended up having to pay a $136 million fine to the Justice Department to settle charges of money laundering.

In addition to reel-spinning slot machines, video slots, wide-area progressives, interactive and mobile applications, and Class II, lottery, and central-determination games and platforms, Bally also offers various casino management, slot accounting, bonusing, cashless, and table management services.

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Bally Tech to Offer Payment Options for Online Gambling (BYI)

According to a recent article in the Isle of Man Today the minister responsible for gambling in the jurisdiction has a plan that includes a five-year online gaming strategy.

Prompted by the proposed changes in the United Kingdom’s taxation and change of policies regarding internet wagering this is a pro active approach by the government of the Isle of Man.

The change in the U.K.’s regulatory structure is proposed to take effect in December of 2014 based on a point of consumption formula.
John Shimmin the Isle of Man’s Economic Development Minister told Zac Hall from Onchan that his department is aware of the proposed changes in legislation and their potential impact for island-based licensed operators. Mr. Shimmin commented that there were ‘constructive’ discussions between the Gambling Supervision Commission on the Isle of Man and the U.K.’s Gambling Commission so that the Isle of Man’s regulator can ‘fully understand the implications for the island’s regulatory regime’.

The Minister went on to explain, “My department is continuing to support existing e-gaming businesses, while seeking to also attract new licensable and non-licensable businesses to the sector, thus we hope bringing both balance and, crucially, diversity to the portfolio of businesses that make up the Isle of Man’s successful e-Gaming sector.”
Shimmin continued, ‘It should also be noted that the U.K. is only one of a number of markets for our e-Gaming companies and that the impact of the change in the U.K. may well affect some of our competitive jurisdictions to a greater degree than the Isle of Man. It is recognized that the UK’s plans to regulate at the point of consumption will affect all operators with customers in the UK market, regardless of the jurisdiction from which they operate.”

The five-year e-Gaming strategy has now been developed in conjunction with the internet gambling industry on the Isle of Man with the focus on business diversification within the Island’s e-gaming sector.




Isle of Man Gearing Up for U.K. Online Gambling Changes

Ou better not pout — Trailer Park Boys are coming to town.

TV funsters Ricky, Julian and Bubbles are bringing their Christmas-themed tour to Centennial Hall on Nov. 27 at 8 p.m.

This time, Bubbles tries to spread the true meaning of Christmas to the world, while Julian wants to cash in on Yuletide and Ricky is determined to meet the real Santa. Also on hand are their fictional foes from the hit TV series, Jim Lahey and his sidekick, Randy. Tickets for the live comedy show go on sale Friday.

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Here for a Ducky cause

Reality TV star Jase Robertson is coming north of the border this fall for a good cause.

One of the stars on Louisiana-based A&E hit Duck Dynasty, Robertson is one of the sons of family patriarch Phil Robertson and also steeped in duck-hunting expertise.

His appearance at an Oct. 12 fundraiser at Budweiser Gardens benefits Elgin County’s Farmtown Canada’s Funny Farm Ministries, a family-based Christian charity supporting marginalized school-aged children and youth. “It’ll be fundraising night about a lil’ huntin’, a lil’ preachin’, a lil’ music and a lil’ storytellin’. This event will benefit both Farmtown Canada’s family counselling, youth support programs and Funny Farm Kids Camps,” an organizer says.

The fundraiser goes at 7 p.m. Tickets, at $58.25 plus applicable charges, go on sale Friday.

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Indigo Girls fall for Centennial Hall

Amy Ray and Emily Saliers have set their musical compass for Two North. The American singer-songwriters who comprise Indigo Girls are making a rare London stop on Oct. 19 at Centennial Hall as part of this fall’s tour. The Two North tour takes the duo across Canada for what’s billed as the first time.

“I can’t wait to play more shows in the land of the greats: Joni (Mitchell), Neil (Young), k.d. (lang), Jane Siberry, The Tragically Hip and more,” Saliers said in media material announcing the tour.

The duo rose to stardom during the 1980s. Indigo Girls are touring to support their recent album Beauty Queen Sister.

Optimal Payments, an online payment provider which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, has entered the regulated US gambling market by signing with US gaming supplier Bally Technologies.

Optimal's NETBANX payments solution will be integrated onto Bally Technologies' platform, allowing the latter's customers to use the payment gateway in multiple ways, including debit cards, credit cards and electronic cheques.
Solution for US Gambling Market

The President and Chief Executive Officer of Optimal Payments, Joel Leonoff said that the partnership was part of the group's ongoing strategy to build a complete solution for the regulated US gaming market that will "enable operators to bridge the land based with online worlds." "Bally is a recognised leader in platform and content for both land based and increasingly online gaming," he said. "We are pleased to be working with Bally and its customers, and this agreement demonstrates our ability to provide real value to both technology providers and gaming operators alike."

Adding his comments was the Vice President of Business Development for Bally Technologies, John Connelly, who said that he was excited to partner with Optimal Payments to bring an integrated gaming and payments solution to the group's online gaming customers in the United States.

"A key part of our strategy is to partner with best of breed providers and we have done that with Optimal Payments to secure access to their extensive expertise in payment processing and risk management services for the regulated US gaming market," he added.

Optimal Payments Strengthens Team

With Optimal Payments' US gambling expansion, the group has needed to expand its sales team as well. As such, the group appointed three new members to its executive team.

Both Doug Lewin, the group's new executive vice president of partnerships and development, and Ben Dalfen, the new executive vice president of sales, joined Optimal Payments from Caesars Interactive Entertainment.

Lewin, who was previously president of the original Optimal Payments group, focused on new business development during his years with Caesars, while Dalfen was vice president of gaming partnerships and development at Caesars.

Neil Erlick is the new Executive Vice President of Business Development, having previously held the role of senior VP of business development with responsibilities mainly over Optimal Payments' activities in regulated European gambling markets. Erlick has been with the company for over twelve years.




Optimal Payments Expands in US Gambling Market - GamblingKingz-com

States are still betting big on gambling. New York and Massachusetts are eyeing new, flashy resort-style casinos. The owner of one of the largest casinos in the country, Maryland Live! Casino, is among those vying for the final gambling license in Philadelphia and hopes to build a new $425 million casino there.

But in nearby Delaware, lawmakers are considering the unusual step of giving $8 million to the state's three struggling racetrack casinos.

Crucial questions face states after years of gambling fever. Can they still enter the gambling fray and claim a hefty chunk of revenue? Or does that region, or the country for that matter, already have too many casinos? Is the jackpot running empty?

"The Mid-Atlantic states — Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and soon New York — have reached saturation," said Clyde Barrow, director of the Center for Policy Analysis at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, meaning the amount of slots and other games available meets the demand.

Are tax rates too high?

Delaware follows only New Jersey with the biggest drop in casino tax revenue last year. Delaware saw its take from gambling drop to $217 million in 2012, a 5.5 percent decrease from $230 million the previous year, according to data from the American Gaming Association. New Jersey saw the steepest tax revenue drop last year at 8.2 percent — collecting $255 million, down from $278 million in 2011. Neighboring Pennsylvania raked in the most state tax revenue at $1.4 billion.




Does the country have too many casinos?

Paris Jackson’s cousin has claimed that the daughter of the ‘King of Pop’ tried to kill herself because she hates living with her oppressive grandmother.

Tanay Jackson said that Paris, 15, took the unfortunate step following her rows with 83-year-old Katherine over her Jehovah’s Witness beliefs and strict rules, the Sun reported.

Her cousin spoke out after Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff ruled out the possibilities of changes to her guardianship and stated that Katherine would retain it.

Paris has been in hospital since her suicide attempt two weeks ago.

Have you ever wondered why new technology tends to be exploited in the adult entertainment and online gambling industries first? An ultra-competitive market environment and a willingness to try anything in the quest for traffic and profits has made these two industries technology’s early adopters. Typically, innovations that start in these fields go on to become core features in more mainstream commercial applications.

From brave use of multimedia, new scripting languages, and yes even payment technologies, adult entertainment and gaming have led the way. Now, a new digital currency threatens to disrupt the old payments paradigm and it’s no surprise that it is gaining traction in the the online gaming world. Bitcoin payments could quickly become the preferred competitive wedge in online gaming.

After attending the Gaming in Holland conference and iGaming Super Show in Amsterdam this month, it became clear that bitcoin is indeed picking up momentum in online gaming. However, the early adopters probably won’t be the larger established brands. In sidebar conversations with the leading mega-brands, they confessed to me that, although they appreciate Bitcoin technology, the two primary reasons for holding back on adoption are the additional unwanted scrutiny from gaming regulators and the fact that players aren’t demanding it. The young industry upstarts do not feel plagued by those concerns. In the regulated gaming jurisdictions, player identity is already a requirement so the money laundering concerns are the same across payment types. Bitcoin enhances the privacy on the customer-facing side only. Regarding player demand, the new and smaller gaming outfits view bitcoin as a way to radically differentiate themselves while also tapping into the growing universe of bitcoin users.

Covering sites that allow play in bitcoin, mem’s Bitcoin Gambling List is the definitive directory for bitcoin-based online gaming. Bet with Bitcoin provides another bitcoin gaming directory.

Online gambling news site CalvinAyre-com is an official media partner of this year’s Bitcoin London conference in Canary Wharf. Becky Liggero of CalvinAyre-com reported that Jez San, founder of online 3D poker site PKR, will be attending the conference and has attended previous Bitcoin-related events and local meetups. Also, in February, a guest author published an article on “Why Bitcoin Can No Longer Be Ignored.”

Bitcoin is the ideal digital casino chip — immediate, irreversible, and private. Here’s a sample of its extraordinary benefits to gaming companies worldwide:

1. Extend acceptance to 60+ countries not reached by Visa, MasterCard, and PayPal and to markets with weak banking penetration, because bitcoin is accessible with only an Internet connection;

2. No disallowed or blocked merchant category codes (MCCs) typically seen with centralized payment networks;

3. No possibility of a politically-motivated payments embargo or confiscation of holdings by a third-party intermediary, because bitcoin’s public ledger is decentralized;

4. Eliminate costly merchant chargebacks and fraudulent transfer reversals due to bitcoin’s payment finality;

5. Realize dramatic savings on processing fees that approach zero, because bitcoin fees are user-determined and substantially less than conventional payment methods;

6. Achieve near immediacy of payment settlement in both directions when compared to wire transfers, because bitcoin confirmations occur in about 60 minutes, more closely resembling a live casino environment.

To the extent that these features enhance the customer gaming experience and drive new traffic, net operating profitability will be impacted in a positive way. Then, the decision for management becomes: “Do we allow direct play and payouts in bitcoin or do we convert to national currency units along the way?” The related financial and gaming regulations will vary across legal jurisdictions.

If the player uses bitcoin for deposit, betting, and withdrawal, then the exchange rate risk stays with the player. If the operator converts bitcoin in to and out of national currencies, then the player essentially deploys bitcoin as a transfer mechanism only and the operator acts as a exchange. Either way, the operator maintains bitcoin gaming profits or player inventory in bitcoin with a need to determine a settlement currency. That exchange rate risk requires treasury management and hedging similar to any other multi-currency business.

Since the above decisions undoubtedly have risk management implications for both players and operators, management should consult with professional experts prior to launching their bitcoin-enabled gaming platform.

In the meantime, Becky Liggero suggests watching Bitcoin events for gambling industry attendees in order to answer the current online gambling grapevine question: “Who will be the first big operator to accept Bitcoin as a payment method?”



Bitcoin Payments Could Quickly Become Competitive Wedge In Online Gaming - Forbes

INTRALOT is a moving entity in the Latin American online gambling industry that has a presence on five continents. Publicly listed this firm is a leading supplier of transaction processing systems, innovative game content, and interactive gaming services to regulated gaming organizations including sports betting management globally. With a presence in 56 jurisdictions, it employs more than 5.500 people and revenues were €1.4 billion for 2012. Lottery, Betting, Racing & Video Lottery operations experience, its leading-edge technology, and its direct customer service gives Intralot a competitive edge over other suppliers.
The leader in the mobile field INTRALOT de Peru, INTRALOT’s subsidiary in Peru, has launched an innovative and attractive native application for the Android platform. The application offers players the opportunity to play the lottery and bet on sports games, such as Te Apuesto, Ganagol and Gana Diario, all on Android mobile devices.

Virtual Channel Manager for INTRALOT Ms. Milena Chavez Maggi, commented on the new offering, “INTRALOT takes one more step ahead, in order to provide the highest level of service and convenience to its customers in Peru. With this new offering INTRALOT de Peru clearly shows its commitment to always respond to the current market needs and the player’s new habits and preferences. We have started the development of our website and the E-commerce with the launch of our mobile web version and now we have developed a native application for Android that is attractive, functional and very user - friendly. With these platforms we provide to our customers easy access to our products with the highest level of security, always complying with the highest international standards.”

Players using the new application can register and login to their account, play games, check their balances and recharge their account by using a “Lotocard”, which is a pre-printed card available in various amounts which players can purchase in the PoS “Puntos de la Suerte” and main retailers in Peru.



Android Online Gambling App Launched in Peru

The recent legalization of online gambling in some US states (specifically in Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey) is industry changing. The current European market size of online gambling is $30/B year in 2012 and according to Juniper research mobile gambling alone is expected to reach $100m by 2017.

Until today European gaming sites thrived while American operators could not establish online gambling business. After the newly announced legalization, the established European gaming sites are targeting the American market with full force.

One Hour Translation, the largest professional translation service online, is witnessing a sharp rise in demand for localization of gaming sites and platforms to American English in the past 8 weeks. "We work with many European and Asian gaming sites," says Yaron Kaufman, VP Marketing of One Hour Translation, "in the past 8 weeks 80% of them started projects aimed at localizing their sites to accommodate American users".

The online gaming industry relies heavily on localization services. Many companies in that industry have their own in-house localization departments. Others work extensively with companies like One Hour Translation to localize their content on a regular basis. Research shows that users in that industry are much more likely to gamble online with real money if the site is properly localized to their native language.

Established gaming sites can typically adjust their site to American English within less than a week. The improved conversion outweighs the costs. Most gaming sites use their own localization infrastructure while others use WeST the website localization solution from One Hour Translation. WeST substantially reduces the overhead associated with creating a local version of any website. To learn more about localization services from One Hour Translation, please visit Expand your website's reach beyond your native language | One Hour Translation

About One Hour Translation

One Hour Translation is the web's leading Professional Translation Service, offering professional translation services to thousands of business customers worldwide, 24/7 - thanks to a community of over 15,000 certified translators. One Hour Translation provides translation services for 60 languages - a translation process supported by robust technology to assure top quality and speed. One Hour Translation also provides email translation services, professional human translation API, CMS translation plug-ins, e-commerce translation and more. In addition to its translation services, One Hour Translation provides medical and legal transcription services.

Read more here: NEW YORK, June 27, 2013: European Gaming Sites Targeting US Gamblers | PRNewswire | Rock Hill Herald Online

Paula Deen appeared on TV this morning to assure fans that she is not a racist, but two more companies still decided to sever ties with the embattled TV chef.

Wal-Mart and Caesars Entertainment are the latest companies to drop Paula Deen after she admitted to using a racial slur in the past. Previously, the Food Network announced that her contract would not be renewed, and Smithfield Foods, a pork producer who services Deen’s restaurants, followed suit a few days later.)

“We are ending our relationship with Paula Deen Enterprises and we will not place new orders beyond those already committed,” a Wal-Mart spokesperson told ABC News. “We will work with suppliers to address existing inventories and agreements.” The world’s largest retailer began carrying Paula Deen-branded items in its U.S. stores in 2011.

Caesars Entertainment, which operates the celebrity chef’s restaurants in four locations, has also ended its relationship with Deen. The company plans to re-brand those restaurants in the near future.

“While we appreciate Paula’s sincere apologies for statements she made in her past that she recently disclosed during a deposition given in response to a lawsuit, after thoughtful consideration of their impact, we have mutually decided that it is in the best interests of both parties to part ways at this time,” a representative for Caesars Entertainment told ABC News Radio.

Walmart and Caesars Entertainment joined Smithfield, a food company specializing in pork products, which dropped Deen on Monday. The Food Network also decided not to renew Deen’s contract after her remarks.

QVC told TMZ.com it was “closely monitoring these events and we are reviewing our business relationship with Ms. Deen. In the meantime, we have no immediate plans to have her appear on QVC.”

A spokesperson for Random House, which is publishing Deen’s upcoming book, “Paula Deen’s New Testament: 250 Favorite Recipes, All Lightened Up,” similarly told People magazine it is “monitoring the situation closely.” The book is scheduled to come out in October.

Watch Paula Deen “beg for your forgiveness.”

Deen clarified her usage of the N-word on TV Wednesday, denying that she ever used it outside of an instance when she was held at gunpoint.

“I is what I is, and I’m not changing,” she said between sobs. “If there’s anyone out there that has never said something that they wish they could take back, if you’re out there, please pick up that stone and throw it so hard at my head that it kills me. Please, I want to meet you. I want to meet you.”

The controversy was sparked by a lawsuit filed by a former employee at Deen’s Savannah, Ga., restaurants, who claimed racial and sexual harassment by Deen and her brother, Bubba Hier, while working for them.

Deen’s attorney denied the claims, but in a suit-related deposition last month, Deen responded, “I’m sure I have,” when asked if she’d used the N-word since being robbed, adding, “but it’s been a very long time.”

Business has been on the decline in Atlantic City casinos for six years and running. To stop the bleeding, casinos are betting big on online gaming—an option that, of course, gives gamblers an easy way to avoid Atlantic City entirely.

If people can gamble legally online, it seems like a fair assumption that they’ll have less need to hit the casinos. Hence, the physical casino business would take a hit. It’d be logical, then, that casino interests would be opposed to legalized online gambling. And indeed, some casino honchos have come out against it. “As an industry leader, and more importantly as a father, grandfather, citizen and patriot of this great country, I am adamantly opposed to the legalization and proliferation of online casino gaming,” Sheldon Adelson, the CEO of the Las Vegas Sands wrote in Forbes recently.

Adelson’s editorial was prompted by the passing of laws making online gaming legal in Delaware, Nevada, and New Jersey, and similar measures under consideration in Pennsylvania and California. He referred to online gambling “a societal train wreck waiting to happen,” and said he worries about the possibility of children gambling via the Web. “When gambling is available in every bedroom, every dorm room and every office space, there will be no way to fully determine that each wager has been placed in a rational and consensual manner.”

He swears that he’s not concerned at all about his own business interests, which should be fine with or without competition from online gaming, but is worried about other land-based casinos, and the people they employ. “While the impact on my company’s business would be limited,” he wrote, “the hit on other commercial casinos, Native American casinos, and racetrack-casinos across the land could be substantial and even lead to their eventual demise.”

Atlantic City casinos know how difficult it can be to compete for customers when gambling options expand. The Jersey Shore casinos took in $5.2 billion in 2006. Since then, Atlantic City has had to compete with casinos that have opened in Pennsylvania. Last year, according to the Associated Press, A.C. casinos grossed a little over $3 billion, a huge decline since the mid-’00s.

And yet, Atlantic City casino companies are welcoming online gambling—because they’re partners in the e-gaming operations, rather than competitors. Through the spring and early summer, casino companies have been negotiating to partner up with online operations, many of them based overseas. Tech partners must be finalized by June 30, and applications for casinos setting up online gaming operations have a deadline of July 29.

Rather than seeing online gaming as more competition, Internet gaming should be viewed as a “lifeline” to Atlantic City casinos, Dennis Farrell Jr., a Wells Fargo analyst wrote earlier this year. He estimated that online gambling would boost casino revenues by $650 million to $850 million in the first year it’s legalized, according to the Star-Ledger.

But what about the physical casinos, as well as other businesses in Atlantic City? The law in New Jersey will allow adults to gamble online anywhere within the state. As the Las Vegas Review-Journal pointed, out, “A New York City resident, for example, can sign up for online gaming with Borgata, drive five miles via the Holland Tunnel to Hoboken, N.J., pop into a Starbucks and log into their account on a laptop.” With such possibilities, it would seem less likely that people would actually go to the Atlantic City, potentially harming restaurants and other local businesses, as well as revenues from slot machines and gaming tables.

Farrell’s report predicted that nothing of the sort will happen. “Opponents of the bill believe online gaming will lead to job losses at brick-and-mortar casinos,” he wrote. “We beg to differ, as we believe online gaming sites operated by state casino operators will lead to job creation and drive visitation to Atlantic City.”

The Asbury Park Press published a story comparing the possible fate of casinos to that of bookshops and stores selling music and movies, which have suffered greatly in the age of Amazon and Netflix. If handled artfully, however, casinos could use the online gaming options to build customer loyalty and increase visitation, one expert told the paper:

“The extent to which this behavior online will translate to people saying, ‘I like playing at XYZ’s website, I have so many points for meals and drinks,’ it can be a positive,” said Patrali Chatterjee, associate professor of marketing at Montclair State University, who has studied the potential impact of Internet gambling. “That’s the big challenge that casinos face: to what extent can they make the transition from bricks-and-mortar to online seamless?”


In light of the demise of brick-and-mortar-based businesses like Borders and Tower Records, however, it’s pretty clear that this isn’t an easy transition to make.

Read more: Atlantic City’s Next Big Bet: Legalized Online Gambling | TIME-com

The marketing of online gambling is similar to other internet related businesses in so much that there is research required to effectively target the intended market. Billions of euro and pounds are spent on marketing internet gambling operations all over the world and research plays a big part in where and how the advertizing budget is spent.
United Kingdom based Holden Research recently announced it has partnered with Dutch firm Wakoopa to launch a new service to assess the impact of multi-channel marketing.

The results of the research can be used by companies to optimize their multi-channel marketing through changes to content, design and media plans, such as online gambling operators. The service was created from a panel of 5,000 consumers who have all installed a Wakoopa application on their computers by which Holden Research can track those consumer’s internet activity and exposure to advertisements.

Co-founder David Holden of Holden Research commented, “We interview them every month to cover off all of their offline purchases and journeys. By combining the two datasets we have a 360-degree view of the dynamics and structure of the consumer market.”
In a world that is becoming more and more online, the Wakoopa tracking technology is a valuable addition to the traditional research tools that are used to get insight in the behavior of people. The software enables companies to truly fathom their target audience. This is a good partnership and will benefit those interested in building better online gambling web adverts. Mr. Holden went on to explain more, “Consumer use a mix of channels – researching online and shopping offline, and vice-versa,” adding, “Some might research in-store and online, but then transact by telephone. Our service captures all of these interactions, enabling clients to see through the complex multi-channel behaviour of their customers and competitor customers.” In an age of information overflow the issue is not how to make the measurable things important, but how to measure the important things.



Targeting Online Gambling Researchers and Trackers Team Up

Entertainment Weekly has published the list to end all lists: The 100 All-Time Greatest – movies, TV shows, albums, novels, plays, etc.

Prince’s “Purple Rain” is ranked No. 2, behind only the Beatles’ “Revolver.” Debate amongst yourselves. We’re just delivering the information. EW asks if “Purple Rain” is the “sexiest album ever”? You might ask where is “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” ? Not on the EW list.

As for other Minnesotans, Bob Dylan checks in at No. 6 with “Blood on the Tracks” and at 27 with “Highway 61 Revisited” while the Replacements’ “Let It Be” lands at No. 62.

On the sidebar chart of 10 Biggest Heartbreaker songs, two were penned by Minnesotans: Dan Wilson co-wrote No. 5 “Someone Like You” with Adele, and Prince penned “Nothing Compares 2 U,” rated No. 9 as sung by Sinead O’Connor. On the 10 Greatest Dance Jam list, Prince's "Kiss" is No. 2, behind Beyonce's "Crazy in Love."

On the greatest plays of past 100 years list, August Wilson’s “Fences” rated No. 5 and his “Piano Lesson” placed 48. “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller was No. 1.

In TV, the Minneapolis-based “Mary Tyler Moore Show” shows up at No. 4, with “The Wire” topping the list.

In a list of 10 Greatest Graphic Novels, Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" ranks No. 4.

I think it’s safe to speculate that Gen X critics, for better or worse, dominated the judging.

Of course they do.

Estonia is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Lake Peipus and Russia. Across the Baltic Sea lies Sweden in the west and Finland in the north. Estonia is often described as one of the most wired countries in Europe, and is recognized as a leader in e-government.
In 2010, online gambling became legal in Estonia. The main reasons for this were the consequences of the world crisis 2008-2009. The country's economy was down, so online gambling was meant to become a new source of income. From January 2010, only local sites were allowed to offer their gambling services online. In January 2011 Estonia opened its gambling market to offshore operators, but on condition that they would get licenses from the Estonian authority. Alongside legalization of the market, Estonia started blocking unlicensed gambling sites that tried to offer their services to Estonian citizens.

Recently the Gambling authority in Estonia controlled by the Estonian Tax and Customs Board and the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission signed an agreement to cooperate and share information between the two regions. To help protect consumers and the preservation of public order, the objective of the agreement is to improve regulatory standards both in the online and terrestrial gambling divisions by exchanging knowledge, the provision of assistance and the establishment of a good working relationship among gambling authorities.

The Isle of Man is also well established as an online gambling location with a strong regulatory platform. Chief Executive of the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission, Steve Brennan, commented on the arrangement, “The agreement builds on the Isle of Man’s commitment to international cooperation and provides a strong endorsement of the excellent reputation and international standing that the Island has earned through more than a decade of sound regulation of gambling activity.”




Estonia and Isle of Man Online Gambling Cooperation

Who won video of the year again?

The BET Awards were barely about the awards as wild performances stole the night.

And Don Cheadle dedicated the night to the ailing Nelson Mandela.

“We want to take a moment and send our prayers and thoughts to a man who literally changed the world,” he said. “This evening we would like to offer prayers and support and hope to the extraordinary Nelson Mandela and his family.”

Janelle Monae ended the event with a top-notch performance of “Q.U.E.E.N.” alongside Erykah Badu, who brought a white poodle onstage. It was one of the night’s best performances, which also featured a seductive Ciara, a slick Miguel, a random — but welcomed — reggae set and a playful Justin Timberlake with an even more playful Charlie Wilson.

Timberlake took a backseat to the soul singer, joining Wilson onstage for a medley of his solo and Gap Band hits.

Stevie Wonder, Jamie Foxx, Pharrell, Snoop Dogg and India.Arie were also part of the tribute to 60-year-old Wilson, who earned the lifetime achievement award.

“Charlie Wilson is soul music. His impact colors the work of many artists, which is basically my nice way of saying I and a lot of other artists have stolen from him,” Timberlake said when presenting Wilson the award.

Wilson’s lively stage presence was arguably the night’s top moment, though others were on fire.

Ciara echoed Janet Jackson when she danced and sang her R&B hit “Body Party,” while Dawn Penn, Chaka Pliers, Beenie Man and Elephant Man electrified the audience when they gave a colorful performance of reggae classics.

Badu sang with Monae and Kendrick Lamar, who also performed with 2 Chainz. Miguel sang alone, and with Mariah Carey and J. Cole, while Minaj performed with Ciara and Chris Brown. Pharrell helped out Wilson and Robin Thicke, who excitedly performed his current No. 1 hit, “Blurred Lines.”

Drake, who didn’t attend the awards show, led with 12 nominations, though he won viewer’s choice and best collaboration for his appearance on A$AP Rocky’s “(Expletive) Problems” with Lamar and 2 Chainz. Drake had five nominations for video of the year, which had 10 nominees.

Lamar tied Drake with three wins, taking home best new artist, male hip-hop artist and collaboration.

Minaj and Brown picked up their fourth consecutive wins for best female hip-hop artist and the fandemonium award.

“Don’t read the bull in the news, I’m a real dude,” Brown told the crowd.

Brown opened the show with a medley of new songs, including one that featured vocals from late R&B singer Aaliyah and another with Minaj, who joined him onstage. BET couldn’t bleep some of the rapper’s expletives — much like the awards show last year. Expletives from Badu, Wayne Brady and the singers who performed with R. Kelly slipped, too.

Carey was angelic as she belted — or lip synched — her latest hit, “#Beautiful,” and an excited R. Kelly sang snippets of a dozen of his hits — including “Bump N Grind” and “Ignition” — as the crowd cheered on.

Rihanna won best female R&B pop artist and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis won best group.

Host Chris Tucker sang and danced too — in tribute to Michael Jackson.

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All 12 Atlantic City casinos took the first step to secure Internet gaming permits ahead of a Sunday deadline set by New Jersey regulators, who are preparing for a projected November start to statewide online poker and other gaming.

Borgata, co-owned by Boyd Gaming and MGM Resorts, and Caesars Entertainment were among the casino operators who notified state regulators of their plans to partner with an Internet gaming provider, according to Lisa Spengler, a spokeswoman for New Jersey's Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE).

The notifications were a requirement for companies who want to begin Internet gaming as soon as it goes live in the state. Regulators have said the earliest online gaming will start in New Jersey is November 23 but it could be pushed into 2014.

"For applicants that meet this filing deadline, the Division will be in a position to determine if they can commence Internet gaming operations by the go-live date," Spengler said.

New Jersey in February became the third state after Nevada and Delaware to legalize online gambling. Big casinos see New Jersey as the most lucrative opportunity based on its size and the fact its law encompasses many forms of gambling beyond, for example, Nevada's online poker-only bill.

Analysts project Nevada's online gambling market will yield $50 million to $250 million in annual revenue, while New Jersey is pegged to generate $500 million to $1 billion yearly.

Other operators that applied to offer online gaming include the Tropicana Casino and Resort, sold in a bankruptcy sale to a group of creditors led by Carl Icahn in 2009, and The Golden Nugget, owned by Landry's Inc.

Licensure to offer Web gaming will be limited to New Jersey's 12 land-based casinos, which are partnering with online gaming companies.

The Trump Taj Mahal casino signed an agreement with Las Vegas-based Ultimate Gaming to bring Internet gambling to New Jersey, the companies said on Monday. Ultimate Gaming launched online poker in Nevada in April.

Other casinos have partnered with overseas companies. Gibralter-based Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment teamed up with Atlantic City's Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. Four Atlantic City casinos owned by Caesars Entertainment paired with European online gaming operator 888 Holdings Plc.- Reuters


Twelve Casinos Seek Online Gaming Permits In New Jersey - Business News | The Star Online

With online poker now legal in Nevada, and UltimatePoker-com currently legally able to offer the game to those within the state's borders, I predict, in the end, the big winner in the online poker bonanza will be Facebook (F😎, but for this to come to pass, poker must spread beyond just Nevada…

Why Poker Will Spread

First of all, casino gambling is legal in many states. Poker is considered a game of skill, and embraced as such even by many who might frown upon games of chance.

Poker offers politicians a new way to increase revenues without having to enforce new obligatory taxes (always unpopular). As each new state approves it in some form, it will become easier and easier for state legislatures to approve the game without putting their necks on the chopping block to their conservative constituency. "See, they did it too! We just don't want to lose the revenue and tax you more" will be their explanation.

"New Jersey, which has approved "full-blown casino gaming" legislation, is the next state on the company's (Ultimate Poker) list for expansion. Then you have Delaware that's also approved it. And there's about 10 other states that are looking at it and are very serious about the legislation."

Casinos in on the Action

Many of you owners of casino shares are right now asking, how does this affect my company?

It looks like the second gaming company (after privately owned Station Casinos and their Ultimate Poker site) to get in on the action will be Caesars (CZR). According to CNBC their "Nevada poker website will operate using technology provided by 888 Holdings Plc. The two companies already operate World Series of Poker websites in the United Kingdom, France and Italy."

Also planning to make offerings to their patrons are both MGM Resorts (MGM) and Boyd Gaming (BYD) who have both partnered with Bwin (PartyPoker) (PYGMF.PK) to provide the technology and back-end expertise for them. Both Boyd and MGM are geographically diverse, and as poker becomes legal in more and more states, this will give them an upper hand in recruiting and maintaining loyalty amongst their players, as they will be able to reward free nights lodging in any of their casinos nationwide.



More to read Online Poker- Why Facebook Will Be The Big Winner - Seeking Alpha

Like many visitors to the Casino Royale Goa on a rainy Saturday night on India’s western coast, Salim Budhwani said that he did not gamble but also had no objection to the betting at the busy tables downstairs.

Despite socially conservative India's ambivalence about gambling, consultancy firm KPMG estimated that $60 billion (R601.2bn) was wagered in the country in 2010. Much of the gambling is illegal, but attitudes are slowly changing as more Asian countries embrace gaming as a revenue generator and tourist draw.

Legal gambling in the increasingly wealthy country of 1.2 billion is limited to state lotteries, horse races and a handful of casinos. Most gambling in India, from penny-stake games at street corners and card parties in affluent homes to wagers on cricket and underground numbers games, is illicit and goes untaxed.

“People are playing on the roadside everywhere. People are playing in their houses,” said Budhwani, 33, a luggage retailer from the city of Hyderabad who had brought his family to Goa, a tourist destination and one of two Indian states with casinos.

“People are educated, they know what’s at stake.”

Gambling on cricket, India’s most popular sport, draws hundreds of millions of dollars.

The country was transfixed last month by a scandal in which several players were accused of taking bribes from bookies, spurring calls for legalising and regulating sports betting from the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, a powerful business lobby, and others.

Legislation proposed after the cricket scandal is aimed at making cheating in sports a crime although it does not address regulating or legalising betting.

“It looks like the government has at least become amenable to this discussion, which is important,” said Vidushpat Singhania, a lawyer who helped draft the match-fixing legislation and favours legalising gambling.

Despite the allure of India for global operators, Indian law forbids foreign direct investment in casinos, meaning companies like Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts can only tap the market by targeting Indians going overseas.

Many wealthy Indian families hold wedding parties in Macau, the world’s largest gaming destination, bringing affluent guests for the festivities and the gambling.

In recent years, major awards ceremonies for the massive Bollywood film industry have been staged in Singapore's Marina Bay Sands, Malaysia's Genting Highlands, Macau and South Africa's Sun City, all gambling venues.

Besides drawing thousands of visitors from India's well-heeled glitterati, some of the highest-stakes games around these events involve film stars and producers, insiders say.

For many Indians, gambling is considered propitious around the Diwali festival in October/November, with tens of millions of rupees won or lost during illicit night-long sessions of teen patti or flash, a three-card poker game.

“Indians are prone to gambling as much as the Chinese,” said Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, a billionaire investor who with his wife holds a nearly 7 percent stake in Delta Corporation, owner of the Casino Royale Goa.

Inspired by Singapore's two thriving casino resorts, which opened only in 2010 but are among the most lucrative in the world, Asian countries from South Korea and the Philippines to Sri Lanka are developing similar gambling projects.

Macau is adding at least six casino resorts in the next three years at a cost of $20bn. The Philippines is building four, while Japan is mulling gaming legislation and Taiwan is in the process of allowing casinos on offshore islands.

In Sri Lanka, Australian billionaire James Packer's Crown is close to agreement with authorities to build a $350 million casino resort, which could be a significant draw for visitors from nearby India.

In India, gaming regulation is fragmented and sometimes contradictory, with some laws dating to the 1800s. Casinos fall under the purview of provincial governments, and just two out of 35 states and other territories have them.

Online gaming is a grey area. While it is forbidden under information technology law, it is not clear whether that applies to betting on games of skill. Many Indians bet on cricket and other sports at offshore websites, although remittances from such activity violate Indian foreign exchange rules.

Given the regulatory thicket and slow pace of policymaking in India, many industry-watchers say it will be years before gambling in India becomes a major, mainstream proposition, although a pragmatic acceptance is growing.

Michael Lobo, a hotel owner and state legislator from the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party that rules Goa, said that he personally opposed gaming but acknowledged it helped tourism and believed it should be limited to holiday destinations and needed stronger regulation.

“In the larger interest of Goa, where tourism is concerned, we have to allow casinos,” said Lobo, who favours banning Goans from casinos and earlier this year threatened a hunger strike to block the opening of India's first Playboy Club in Goa.

Jhunjhunwala said that it could take some 15 years for casino gaming to go from niche to mainstream in India and said that opposition to gaming was part of the democratic process.

At the Casino Royale Goa, there is as much action on the entertainment and dining floor as at the tables. When a Russian dancer takes the stage, dozens of customers crowd forward to record her performance on cellphone cameras.

Where in most places entry to casinos is free, those in Goa have a cover charge. At the Casino Royale Goa, which floats on the Mandovi river, the Saturday night entry fee is 2 000 rupees (R331), a hefty sum for India that deters the merely curious.

Once inside the casino, food and drinks are free, including for patrons who are not placing bets. – Reuters




[url=www-iol-co-za/business/international/legal-or-not-gambling-is-big-business-in-india-1-1540196#-UdK

We already knew that Christian Bale probably wasn’t going to show up as Batman in the upcoming Justice League movie, the Avengers-style supergroup of DC heroes. First, Bale said that he wouldn’t do another Batman movie unless Nolan opted for a fourth Dark Knight chapter, which Nolan says isn’t happening. Then Man of Steel and Dark Knight screenwriter David S. Goyer confirmed that the Justice League’s Batman would be a rebooted character. So that pretty much closed the book.

Still, with news like this, sometimes you just have to hear it from the man himself.

“We were incredibly fortunate to get to make three [Batman films]. That’s enough. Let’s not get greedy,” says Bale, who called EW to promote his upcoming revenge drama Out of the Furnace (in theaters Nov. 27). “Chris [Nolan] always said he wanted to make it one film at a time. And we ended up sitting there looking at each other, saying ‘We’re about to make the third.’ We never really knew if we were going to get to be there, but if that was how it was going to be, this was where it should end as well.”

The actor says he hasn’t even been involved in official talks about a Justice League movie. ”I have no information, no knowledge about anything. I’ve literally not had a conversation with a living soul. I understand that they may be making a Justice League movie, that’s it.” But he says he’s not sad to pass Batman’s cowl into new hands: “It’s a torch that should be handed from one actor to another. So I enjoy looking forward to what somebody else will come up with.”