Let your mouth speak archive

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New Jersey's decision to allow online gambling is an alarming development for compulsive bettors, says Arnie Wexler, a certified compulsive-gambling counselor.

"If you’re an addicted gambler or have the possibility of becoming an addicted gambler, you very easily in the middle of the night . . . get an urge, a flash, a feeling, a thought, and then you're in action," Wexler told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.

"You don't have to put gasoline in your car, you don't have to drive to a casino or a racetrack, you don't have to go anyplace,” he said Monday. “You just get up, and it could be . . . in your birthday suit."

Online gambling in New Jersey is set to launch in November, making the state the third state to approve of it, after Nevada and Delaware.

Gov. Chris Christie signed the bill in February after pressuring the legislature to make changes he wanted. The changes included setting a 10-year trial period for online betting, and raising the taxes on the Atlantic City casinos’ online winnings to 15 percent, from 10 percent.

Online gaming is expected to bring about the largest expansion of legalized gambling in New Jersey since the first casino began operating in Atlantic City in 1978.

Wexler, former executive director of the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey, is concerned that young people are susceptible.

"I don't really know how they're going to control the underage gamblers . . . Those are the people that really know the computer inside out. On my 888-LAST-BET hotline . . . one-third of all the calls we've gotten probably in the last five years are from kids, or the parents of the kids between ages 12 and 25, who think they're professional poker players," Wexler said.

"The fact is . . . addicted gamblers are going to destroy their lives and everybody else they come in contact with. "

Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax-com Expert Warns NJ About Online Gambling
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Online poker rooms, Internet casinos and sportsbooks in Costa Rica are part of an industry that began in the late 20th century and saw its heyday circa 2006. This multimillion dollar industry lives partially in the shadows for various reasons; the most important being the constant pressure applied by law enforcement and prosecutors from the United States. After more than a decade of lucrative turbulence, however, the online gambling industry in Costa Rica is starting to show signs of strain.

Author’s Note: A lot of the information on this article was gathered via online chats with online gambling insiders on the I2P anonymous network. In light of recent law enforcement actions against sports wagering and gaming in our country, the Costa Rica Star is heeding the requests of two insiders to not mention any brands or names in this article.

As recently discussed in the Costa Rica Star, the film Runner Runner -starting Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake, is being co-opted by the American Gaming Association (AGA) as part of their efforts to discredit online poker in Costa Rica by portraying the industry in a very negative light. The intent of the AGA is to adopt Runner Runner as a sort of boogeyman to help them legalize online poker in the United States. The AGA’s motive is clearly monetary, and it undermines the efforts of entrepreneurs in Costa Rica who developed an industry that produces billions of dollars each year.

Internet casinos and other online gambling outfits arrived in Costa Rica and just before the turn of the century. Costa Rica is not a pioneer in this regard. The Caribbean island nation of Antigua was the first to pass legislation that granted licenses to online casinos back in 1994. By 1999, there were a couple of hundred online gambling operations generating nearly a billion dollars in annual revenue, and the U.S. quickly moved to pass the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act. At this point, entrepreneurs from the U.S., the United Kingdom, Canada, and Israel turned their attention to Costa Rica.

The History: Neither Legal nor Illegal

Many online gambling operations are still based in Antigua, but entrepreneurs became interested in Costa Rica despite the lack of laws allowing Internet games of chance. Close ties with the U.S. had already facilitated a burgeoning call center and outsourcing industry in Costa Rica, which proved very valuable to the establishment of online casinos and sportsbooks. From a legal standpoint, entrepreneurs did not find barriers; plus, they had the added advantage of being able to move their proceeds to overseas accounts and thus avoid taxes in Costa Rica.

The early years of the 21st century were essentially the golden age of online gambling in Costa Rica. Sports bookies and poker entrepreneurs from the U.S. were delighted to be able to operate in relative freedom and in a cultural ambiance that was not that far removed from their country. Even though Antigua is home to nearly 5,000 U.S. citizens who appreciate the island’s adoption of English as its official language, online gambling pioneers felt more comfortable in Costa Rica.

It was in Costa Rica that the hedonistic lifestyle portrayed in the film Runner Runner was developed and marketed as a brand: Drugs, girls, parties, expensive cars and yachts, beachfront or mountainside mansions, and piles of money. Some insiders in Costa Rica blame the marketing and notoriety of this lifestyle as prompting what came next.

The U.S. Crackdown

Underground sports wagering and backroom poker games have always kept law enforcement officials and prosecutors in the U.S. busy. To a certain extent, online gambling entrepreneurs knew that surveillance of their activities would continue in Costa Rica, but they never expected that enforcement of the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act of 1999 would follow them here.

From 2000 to 2004, U.S. federal law enforcement agents executed arrest warrants in Costa Rica of individuals allegedly involved in online sportsbook operations. In some cases, law enforcement officers waited for some individuals to land in a U.S. airport as they made money runs; but, in other occasions they were arrested in Costa Rica and quickly extradited. Online gambling entrepreneurs were deeply disappointed to learn that U.S. agents could so easily trample the sovereignty of this country.

In 2005 and 2006, two of the biggest global brands in online gambling and lifestyle were subject to spectacular raids by U.S. law enforcement in Costa Rica. Never mind that these brands did not operate in the U.S., and that their principals were not U.S. citizens: They were accused of money laundering and violations of that country’s Wire Act.

These billionaire brands decided that Costa Rica’s unwillingness to exercise her sovereignty against the U.S. was detrimental to their business, and thus they left our country for European jurisdictions where they have remained ever since. The departure of these two brands was immediately felt as hundreds of Ticos lost their jobs and supporting businesses closed.

To make matters worse, the administration of President George W. Bush signed into law an even more restrictive law: the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA). Shareholders of brands that remained in Costa Rica reacted negatively to the passing of UIGEA with a massive stock sell-off. By 2009, the U.S. Department of Justice was targeting individual players by freezing accounts and filing money laundering charges. In 2011, the Black Friday raids on the remaining online poker brands in Costa Rica were the last straw for many players in insiders.

Runner Runner and The End of the Affair

More than two years have passed since Black Friday, and the online gambling industry in Costa Rica has shrunk considerably. In the sportsbook world, the proliferation of Pay-Per-Head (PPH) business models has consolidated sports wagering down to just a few call centers. Bookies with U.

The rise of online gaming via MMORPGs, Facebook and video game consoles could be putting kids’ brain development at risk and may also be causing serious social disorders, according to new scientific research. At a recent Australian Science Media Centre briefing, child psychiatrist Dr. Philip Tam explained the chief causes of so-called “Internet gaming disorder” along with the warning signs that parents should look out for.

Philip Tam is a Sydney-based child and adolescent psychiatrist who specialises in internet- and gaming-addiction in young people. Tam said that around 10 percent of youths are at risk of developing online gaming addiction, while some 2-4 percent already fulfill the criteria. The condition can lead youths to become socially withdrawn and frequently irritable, with school attendance and performance both suffering significantly.

According to Tam, online gaming can be especially addictive to teenagers. This is because video game mechanics tap into the needs and wants of the “generation wired” mindset which has been partially shaped by the commercial priming they have grown up with:

Teenagers have sized on [online gaming] because it gives them a sense of connection to other people, a sense of agency and a sense of reward. There is no other technology I can think of in human society where the effort-to-reward ratio is so low…It also gives them instant feedback; they get congratulations and they know that other people are paying attention.

The positive emotions associated with being “in the zone” and overcoming obstacles can also contribute to gaming addiction, Tam claimed. The adrenaline-fueled frustration or “fun failure” of near-misses also plays a role in gaming addiction that is similar to gambling.

“These are the kind of things that brain studies have shown to be immensely rewarding and pleasurable to the brain.”

According to Tam, there are a variety of early warning signs that parents can look out for which indicate when a teen has moved from “normal gaming” to a clinical disorder. This can include becoming socially withdrawn (to the point of not coming down to dinner), a drop in school grades and increased irritability — especially when being told to get off the console/computer.

“In some extreme cases of full blown addiction, there’s a decline in major functioning: they’re coming to school late of not going to school at all,” Tam said. “Some of these teenagers have dropped out of school and have a completely reversed wake cycle; it’s 5am by the time they finish gaming.”

One of Tam’s patients claimed that he gamed non-stop for over 60 hours.

Tam said that some preventative measures parents could take include signing up a contract of agreed playtime and avoiding the habit of becoming an “enabler” (e.g. — buying the latest games and imposing no ground rules.)

So should parents be worried about their kids’ gaming habits? That all depends on how seriously you take the fledgling research on the topic. By Tam’s own admission, Internet gaming disorder is still in the “research category”, which means it is not yet recognised as a genuine mental health disorder.

“There a lot of different treatments coming out [but] this is a very new area — a lot of what I’m saying today might well be outdated in five or ten year’s time.”

Tam also acknowledged that it was usually an end-point behavior when there are a lot of other underlying problems, such as anxiety, depression and ADHD.



Should Parents Be Worried About 'Internet Gaming Disorder'? | Lifehacker Australia

Costa Rica in Central America has an economy that includes an online gambling industry. According to an article in the Costa Rica Star the multimillion dollar industry lives partially in the shadows for a number of reasons but mostly because of the constant pressure applied by law enforcement and prosecutors from the United States.
The online gambling industry in Costa Rica is starting to show signs of strain as the situation in Costa Rica become embroiled in controversy. The entrepreneurs in Costa Rica who developed an industry that produces billions of dollars each year are under threat from sources such as the American Gaming Association which has bought advertizing slamming the industry in Costa Rica portraying it in a negative light.

The early years of the 21st century were essentially the golden age of online gambling in Costa Rica. Sports bookies and poker entrepreneurs from the U.S.A. were happy to be able to operate in relative freedom. From 2000 to 2004, federal law enforcement agents from the USA executed arrest warrants in Costa Rica of individuals allegedly involved in online sports book operations. Then in 2005 and 2006, two of the biggest global brands in online gambling were subject to raids by U.S. law enforcement officers in Costa Rica with the accusation that these people were involved in money laundering operations violating America’s Wire Act.

Since the various attacks on the industry from the US legal teams, many online gambling firms have found other more secure environments in Europe to offer their services and conduct their business without fear of arrest or prosecution.

Costa Rica is changing fast with the proliferation of fast food chains, the presence of American law enforcement in the country, and increased inflation and budget deficits. Internet gambling in Costa Rica has had its day with its negative image enshrined by the Hollywood characterization in the recent film ‘Runner Runner’.


Costa Rican Online Gambling Industry Decline

From music shows, talent hunts to game shows you have covered a wide gambit as a host. What appealed to you about Sab Khelo Sab Jeeto?
The show has an old-world charm to it. First of all, it brings families together to play simple fun games like bursting maximum balloons in one minute — the kind we played in our childhood. So, there is a bit of nostalgia there. I think a large part of the world is going back to the old school. Whether it’s music or films, people have had a crazy overdose of loud drama and action. They want gentility.
Also, with phone, internet, etc, pervading our daily lives, we don’t have the time to sit together with our friends or family. This show helps do that. Also, it’s not about winning or losing, it’s about letting your hair down. Actually, it’s like being on a picnic. I have shot for one episode and coordinating with the six families is quite taxing, but fun. It will be visually funny too.

Of the shows that you have done on TV, which has been your favourite?
I really enjoyed playing offbeat characters. I used to do a show called Kickass Mornings in which I played over 25 characters. My favourite was Paromita — an attractive woman, she had come to India to become an actress. She was also an offbeat musician who had cut an album on diseases. I also loved playing the child’s character in Bechaare Zameen Par (a spoof on Taare Zameen Par).
However, my best character was the one I played in the film Delhi 6. I got to essay a sleazy photographer, Suresh. I guess I have this creepy look so it fit well!

You are also popular with kids...
Yes, they are my loyal fan base. I hosted 350 episodes of this Japanese show Hole In The Wall. It’s amazing how much pleasure kids get from seeing adults fail.

On the other hand, they accept defeat far more easily and have no preconceived notions. I think at some level I connect with them. I go back to my childhood when my sister, who is 10 years older to me, would treat me like a stuffed experiment. When she and her friends wanted to play, they would leave me on top of the cupboard so that I wouldn’t mess around. But, even after they finished the game, they would leave me there because they would just forget about me!

You have played several funny characters. What makes you laugh?
Humour is subjective. I can laugh at the dumbest jokes. These days politics makes me laugh a lot. Even common people unintentionally can have me in splits. However, on TV anyone remotely funny deserves an award because there can be a lot of hits and misses. I remember Bakra was a hit because it was quite crazy and new. Also, the spoofs that I did like The Simi Girebal Show and Piddhu The Great were novel then.

What next?
I have formed a production company Humble Pie with Rhea Kapoor, which will make content exclusively for the internet. We are ready with our first crazy show — we think it’s funny — and will soon be streamed. It’s a fair bit of hard work.

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The tiny British territory of Gibraltar is bidding to snap up a giant slice of the nascent US online gaming market as states gradually begin to relax a ban on Internet betting.

Some 60 percent of all global business via online casinos and gaming currently flows through Gibraltar, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo, the head of the territory's government, said Tuesday.

"Gibraltar is the largest jurisdiction in the world, the most successful jurisdiction in the world in the provision of online gaming," he argued.

"Online gaming is a burgeoning part of e-commerce and Gibraltar is at the forefront of that," he said during a trip to the Washington.

Gibraltar has 26 registered online casinos and gaming operators, including such giants as British bookmakers Ladbrokes, many of which were attracted to the rocky outcrop on the southern tip of the Iberian peninsula by low tax rates, and other economic advantages such as no value-added tax.

But Picardo stressed "they are the 26 biggest operators in the world, 26 most reputable operators in the world and subject to the most stringent regulations in the world."

Gibraltar had put in place strict rules to try to stop underage gambling, as well as to mitigate against any online addiction, he said.

And it had insisted as part of its licensing agreements, that all companies must steer clear of transactions from the US where online gambling remains banned in most states.

But after a recent US legal opinion suggesting that the 1961 Federal Wire Act does not ban interstate online gambling, some states are now moving to open up their market.

"We believe that Gibraltar's in pole position to demonstrate to each of the states of the United States that we have been respectful of its laws and that this demonstrates how regulated the industry is in Gibraltar," Picardo said.

The Gibraltar-based 888 Holdings—which runs gaming sites in 19 languages in more than 150 countries—last month reached a deal with Wynn Interactive, a subsidiary of the gaming giant Wynn Resorts, to develop Wynn's online gaming offering as New Jersey and Nevada open up for business.

Telecommunications, e-commerce and e-gaming account for about 15 percent of the territory's $1.9 billion economy, according to CIA statistics.

Reports suggest that some 2,500 people out of the 30,000 residents are also employed in the industry.


Read more at: Gibraltar betting on US online gaming

It’s time for the gaming industry to go on offense in Washington, the new chief of the American Gaming Association (AGA) said on Tuesday.

Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the casino lobby, said the AGA is strong as any trade association when it comes defending against policies that could restrict gaming. But where the group needs to improve is telling how the industry creates business and jobs, he said.

“It's time for us to make that transition from being more of a defensive organization to being one that is trying to put some goals up on the board,” Freeman told The Hill. “The next-generation association is trying to figure out how do we help make the industry grow? How do we advance our agenda, not just defend or protect the status quo?”

Freeman was in Barcelona on Tuesday, where he gave the keynote speech to the European iGaming Congress. The AGA billed the address as his first major speech as head of the trade group, and Freeman made clear he intends to chart a new course.

“Our story has not been well-told. Perceptions of the industry are quite dated,” Freeman said. “I look at this industry as providing extraordinary value in local communities, the jobs that have been created, the spending that's been generated, the local businesses that have benefited. Those are the stories we have to tell to reposition how the industry is understood.”

Freeman said the AGA needs “to help policymakers see the industry as the economic engine that it can be.”

Freeman, the former chief operating officer for the U.S. Travel Association, took the helm of the AGA on July 1. He replaced Frank Fahrenkopf, a former Republican National Committee chairman who had led the trade group since its creation in 1995.

One area of expansion for gambling is the Internet. States have rushed to legalize online gaming after a 2011 Justice Department ruling found that the Wire Act only banned online betting on sports.

This year, Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) has introduced legislation to set up a federal regulatory regime for online gambling, while Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) has offered a bill to license and regulate online poker.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) have also been working on legislation regarding online poker after Reid’s effort with former Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) failed to move last year.

Freeman said the AGA isn’t ready to back those bills yet when it comes to online gaming.

“What we have seen is good things in a lot of different bills. When we get to the point it's about supporting one specific bill, we'll get there. We are not at that point yet. There needs to be a critical mass of support for doing this. We don't yet have that critical mass of support,” Freeman said.

There is some discord within the casino industry when it comes to online gambling. Sheldon Adelson, chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp., as well as a Republican super-donor, has come out hard against legalizing online gaming.

The trade group is interested in the federal government helping to set up minimum standards to root out bad actors and protect consumers. Freeman argues that Internet gambling is already happening and needs to be regulated.

“I know the industry writ large supports a regulated framework for online gaming,” Freeman said. “It's here. Online gaming is here. It's not a matter of should we do or not do it. Americans are doing it. Now are we going to regulate it, or we are going to let the black market thrive?”

Read more: Casino lobbyist: Time to go on offense - The Hill's Hillicon Valley
Follow us: @thehill on Twitter | TheHill on Facebook

Each of South Africa's nine provinces has a gambling and racing board. To offer online betting bookies must be licensed by one of these boards and currently the Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board is largest provider of online bookmaker licenses. This board licenses 32 online bookmakers. South African residents can use these online betting sites legally. For bets involving horse racing 6% is deducted from winning to cover a Value Added Tax and as of May 2012, no additional tax is charged to recreational punters, and recreational gambling winnings are not considered income for income tax purposes.
The online gambling industry will be the focus of The Big Africa Summit 2013, is scheduled to take place November 4-6, 2013 in Johannesburg, South Africa, and it will be one of the biggest events of the year.
The main thrust of the event will be the technological aspect and its various applications. Looking at the industry with a five year prospectus the Summit will be able to address the many issues facing the online gambling industry in South Africa. The advent of social online gambling will be on the agenda as well as the changes in the methods employed for payment.

The National Gambling Act 2004 prohibited both offering interactive gambling services and engaging in interactive games (games on the Internet). The National Gambling Amendment Act of 2008 that was published in July 2008 was meant to be an attempt to legalise interactive gambling in the country and make provisions for the regulation of this market.
The Amendment Act was aggressively confronted by interested parties such as land-based gambling houses and anti-money laundering authorities. For this reason, the Act hasn't been enacted as yet. On 20 August 2010 even online gambling offered through servers located outside the country was banned in South Africa. This was the result of the North Gauteng High Court judgement on the jurisdiction of online gambling transactions in the country. Consequently, both offering gambling services online and gambling online became illegal. The only exceptions are province licensed horse racing and online sports betting.


Big Africa Summit's Online Gambling Focus

History was made in New Jersey today when the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa was awarded New Jersey's first online gambling permit.

David Rebuck, director of the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE), ceremoniously handed the permit to Borgata President and Chief Operating Officer Tom Ballance, AP reported. The permit issuance marks another new chapter in regulated Internet gambling in the U.S.

"It's always nice to be first in the queue," Balance said. But unlike Nevada, the Borgata won't necessarily get a jump on the other casinos in the state. The first batch of sites to go live is scheduled for November 26, preceded by an invite-only testing period that will commence five days earlier.

Also unlike Nevada, a full menu of online casino games will be offered in New Jersey. Nevada chose to regulate only Internet poker thus far, a decision it may come to regret as time marches on.

The Borgata has partnered with bwin.party to bring online gambling to New Jersey's nine million residents. Since opening its doors on the Atlantic City boardwalk a decade ago, the Borgata has consistently outperformed the state's other casinos in revenue.

That overall revenue of the state's dozen casinos has been on the decline for seven years. Gamblers from Pennsylvania, Maryland and New York who used to make the trek to Atlantic City now have brick and mortar gambling options in their own backyards. New Jersey officials are banking on Internet gambling to revitalize the state's gambling industry.

Expect the issuance of gambling permits to the Garden State's other 11 casinos to follow shortly. It is unclear at this time if all 12 will be ready to launch come November 26. But the Borgata is prepared and is right on track in following its "objective of being among the first to launch online gaming in the state," Ballance said.



Borgata Claims First New Jersey Online Gambling Permit | PokerUpdate

Most businesses use market research to make a strategic plan which they use to make solid financial decisions. Good research gives an industry the tools to move forward by knowing the market trends and opportunities. The availability of the latest information regarding the online gambling industry comes to us via the numerous conferences, exhibits and events going on around the world.
The 12th European iGaming Congress and Expo conference will take place in Fira, Barcelona, from October 8-10, 2013. For its twelfth year, the event will feature a "360 degree focus" on the players and increasing their success in the online gambling industry. New features and formats are to be highlighted, and this year's event focuses on forward thinking, innovation and interaction.
EiG is an annual event that brings together more than 1500 internet gambling executives and high level professionals for lectures, discussions on various topics.
This year's event features an internet betting congress with a comprehensive guide to multi-channel verticals; special workshops, with interactive focus groups led by leading experts in their respective fields. A debate and information circle on the regulatory frameworks and relationship with the business in Europe. Tutorials on payment processing and full technical compliance including geolocation will also be available.

This year's European iGaming (EiG) Congress & Expo was opened officially by six-time Grand Slam Tennis champion, Olympic gold medalist and Youwin Brand Ambassador, Boris Becker. Kate Chambers, Portfolio Director responsible for EiG commented, "For over a decade EiG has been a source of inspiration for European iGaming businesses and we are absolutely delighted to be able to welcome such an inspirational sportsman to open EiG 2013 with its dynamic new format, powerful content and additional new features. EiG is also about leaders and the new role Boris enjoys as youwin-com's brand ambassador is a testament to his continuing high profile and his success both as a respected media personality and as an entrepreneur.”



Internet Gambling European Conference Barcelona Oct 8-10th

Rihanna has taken home a permanent reminder of her visit to New Zealand - a traditional tattoo on her right hand.

A video of the 25-year-old pop star being inked by tattoo artist Inia Taylor, with help from local musician Tiki Taane, has been posted on YouTube.

The singer from Barbados played three shows in Auckland this week as part of her Diamonds World.

The two minute video shows the singer, wearing a grey hoodie, and cringing and looking away as Taylor works, and occasionally dabbing her hand with a paper towel.

Taane holds her hand still as the tattoo is applied using a traditional technique.

The video was posted on Tiki Taane's YouTube channel on Tuesday, and has drawn positive comments from fans.

Natasha Nardella tweeted: "That video of Rihanna getting her hand tattoo actually amazes me, she's so tough. It would have absolutely killed.''

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Poker and other casino gaming are currently winning unanimous support near internet users. In Portugal, the government intends to legalize online gaming to bring additional money to the State coffers. During the three coming months, the Portuguese government will implement a commission in order to study the sector of gambling in the country and at the level of the European Union, for a better regulation of gambling, at the opening of the market. For the moment, no information about the process of files study and legalization of the market by the commission which will be implemented is not given yet, but considering the evolution of the market of online gambling on the Old Continent, Portugal should imitate countries where online gambling is already authorized; following the example of Italy, France as well as Great Britain.

In Tanzania, the operator Dunia has been approved by the government. Dunia is the first online casino authorized on the African continent and will propose its offers of online poker and other casino gaming, on the platform Quickfire of the international provider of online gaming software, Microgaming. Dunia has chosen the best provider of online game as it is the first operator approved to operate online gambling in Africa, said its Director, Costa Giannakopoulos. With this new partnership agreement with Dunia, Quickfire provides gaming solutions within 24 regulated countries. The boss of Quickfire, Ashley Sandyford-Sykes, was also enthusiast following this partnership, while being proud of the position occupied by his company in providing online gaming solutions at the international scale.



Poker News - Online gambling comes in Portugal and Africa

According to recent article in PokerUpdate the Swedish government run gambling operator Svenska Spel has made the bold move to discontinue all bonus offers and discount deals from all of its gambling services.
The action was made immediately in the company’s attempt to create a more socially responsible online gambling platform. The firm is leading the way with these measures in Sweden. Chief Executive Officer for Svenska Spel, Lennart Käll commented, “We see a clear trend in the gaming market where bonuses and discounts are becoming more common and where game companies are fighting to have the most attractive deals,” Käll continued, “The risk is that it is driving increased gambling, which ultimately may include an increase in problem gambling.”

This is necessary action for the company to be proactive in preventing what the CEO sees as potential cases of problem gaming in the northern European country. Responsible gamblers will see this as positive but those looking for deals may be disappointed. This is not expected to impact the sales that Svenska Spel enjoys. Overall profits for Svenska Spel in the first half of this year increased by 4.2 per cent to $388.9 million. These numbers suggest there will be little decline in revenues resulting from the operator’s decision to remove discounts and bonuses from its site.

Svenska Spel derives most of its betting from sporting events and the lottery. Poker on the other hand may see new sign up on the decline because of the lack of bonuses and special offers.

Svenska Spel’s online poker service is currently pegged at around fourteenth in terms of world online poker traffic stats from Poker Scout with a seven-day average of 700 players. The firm’s stable online poker participation indicates there will be little attention paid to the change in Svenska Spel’s policies.




Online Gambling's Svenska Spel Removes All Bonuses

”Glee” said goodbye to Finn, its beloved singer-quarterback, while paying tribute to Cory Monteith, the late actor who had portrayed him, in a highly anticipated episode of the Fox high school musical drama that aired Thursday.

Finn’s death wasn’t dramatized, nor was his funeral on-screen. The episode picked up some weeks after he had died and focused on how his passing affected his friends. The cause of his death was not disclosed.

Just how “Glee” would handle Monteith’s death had haunted the show, and its fans, since July when the 31-year-old star was found dead in a Canadian hotel room of an accidental alcohol and drug overdose.

Monteith, a native of Canada, had waged a public battle with substance abuse for years.

“Glee” now takes a several-week break as Fox airs baseball’s World Series.

Read more: A fallen actor mourned in a ‘Glee’ tribute | Inquirer Entertainment
Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

“Yes, I’ve read that (story),” added the actress who stars with George in Alfonso Cuaron’s lavishly praised sci-fi drama.

Sandra looked fit and slim in a tight red, pink and white dress, with her long hair artfully tousled, in this interview in Toronto. “Shockingly, I think I’m one of a few people who have not dated George,” she remarked. “George and I smartly have kept it where it’s supposed to be. That’s why we like each other so much. That’s why we can still look each other in the eye.”

Of their photos together, Sandra explained, “Well, it was a Venice Film Festival movie. You have that beautiful setting, beautiful George Clooney, the dress was fabulous and I loved it. It was just all those things that make the fantasy of Hollywood so much fun when all the elements click and go together—a nice boat trip and a lifelong friendship.”

She stressed, “Not that we feel good about saying how long we’ve known each other. But we have a great level of respect and adoration for each other. We’re basically [like] siblings. That’s why we adore each other so much. We have been friends for so long and that works great.”

First meeting

On how they first met, Sandra recalled, “We were all friends who shifted to everyone’s house and George was always there. He was always the insanely funny one in the corner. I think I was with my boyfriend at the time.

“George is hilarious. He does imitations better than anyone I know. You get a couple of drinks in him and he will go on for hours. He’s always been that way. The same George we have now is the same George he was then except he was an out-of-work actor then. He’s still as kind, loving and supportive of his friends now except now he can buy prettier things.”

“We’ve had the same group of friends,” Sandra continued. “We’ve known each other since I think just a few years after we got out of college and we were all in LA at the same time. We’ve known each other through his (pet) pig’s life, that pig’s death. We’ve seen each other go through relationships. It’s the same group that we all know each other through then and now. The beauty about George too is that he lifts everybody up with him. When he has success, he brings everybody along. It wasn’t just him. The minute he achieved something, it was about bringing everyone else on the bandwagon. He’s just a good guy.”

Famous prankster

Has she been a victim of the famous prankster? “George did one and he’s now waiting for the retaliation,” Sandra replied. “He’s not allowed to do anything until the retaliation comes and it’s going to come. I just don’t know what year.”

“It involved a pool,” she elaborated on the prank. “I had a very expensive little new dress on. The agreement was that we were all going in and then he let go and only one of us went in. The dress disintegrated. There was humiliation but there was also fire that came alive that day that I now have to hold over his head. That’s probably why we’ve been friends for so long. It was a long time ago. He knows how to be kind to Sandy (her nickname).”

She emphasized, “George and everyone love to talk about his ‘pranking’ but he is one of the hardest working people that I know. He loves every aspect of this business. There’s never a time when he is not working and creating so if he was really ‘pranking’ as much as he said he was ‘pranking,’ he wouldn’t get anything done.” With a cool smile, Sandra dished, “But he’s vicious with his pranks. Do not cross him.”

Asked how she and her pal have matured, Sandra answered, “I’m sure tremendously but I don’t feel we’ve matured much, especially George. You get calmer about some things. I mean, I feel like George is exactly the same person I knew before except now he gets to do what he loves to do. He’s like a puppeteer. He can do anything he wants and he’s saving the world, basically. Me, I just feel like I’ve mellowed a lot. I’m not as insecure as I was. I feel like I’ve profoundly changed. George will probably say, ‘I’ve not changed at all and I am still as immature as I was.’ But I feel like we’re the same people—just older, more wrinkles.”

Space dating

In “Gravity,” Sandra portrays an engineer on her first shuttle mission while George plays a veteran astronaut who survives an accident. They must work together as they drift in space. On dating in space, Sandra quipped, “There’s no resistance in space. You hit it and everything moves together so everyone is one big cluster together. Space dating is just not conducive to a good sex life.”

Sandra said hearing George’s familiar voice was reassuring as she spent hours by herself, suspended on wires called the “light box”—a hollow cube fitted with thousands of tiny LED lights to cast the appropriate lighting for her character as she spins uncontrollably through space.

“It couldn’t have been more perfectly paired given that we spent so little time together in this film,” Sandra said. “It was mostly each other’s voices that we had. I think because of our familiarity with each other, there was comfort in that. It made it a lot easier. Having George around is like having a life force in the room that reminds you to not take everything so heavily, which worked perfectly because it was the beginning of the film.

First team up

“You need that levity and that spirit he brings. Knowing each other for so many years—it’s just nice. We never worked together and this was the first time so it was really nice. It was not long enough but the time we had was really sweet.”

She gushed about working with “Gravity” director Alfonso Cuaron for the first time. “Alfonso Cuaron is someone that I’ve admired for so long and wanted to work with. He’s the star. When you make a film with Alfonso, you are going to get an experience that is like no other experience you’ve had.”

In parting, Sandra reflected on “letting go,” one of “Gravity’s” themes, in her personal life (she’s had her share of rocky chapters in her relationships).

She said, “I