Let your mouth speak archive

Select winners from the 56th annual Grammy Awards

Album of the year: Random Access Memories, Daft Punk.
Record of the year: Get Lucky, Daft Punk with Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers.
Song of the year: Royals, Lorde.
New artist: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.
Pop solo performance: Royals, Lorde.
Pop vocal album: Unorthodox Jukebox, Bruno Mars
Pop/duo group performance: Get Lucky, Daft Punk with Pharrell and Nile Rodgers.
Rap/sung collaboration: Holy Grail, Jay Z with Justin Timberlake.
Rock song: Cut Me Some Slack, Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear.
Country album: Same Trailer Different Park, Kacey Musgraves.
Traditional pop vocal album: To Be Loved, Michael Buble.
Rap performance: Thrift Shop, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Wanz.
Rap song: Thrift Shop, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Wanz.
Rap album: The Heist, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.
R&B performance: Something, Snarky Puppy with Lalah Hathaway.
Traditional R&B performance: Please Come Home, Gary Clark Jr.
R&B song: Pusher Love Girl, James Fauntleroy, Jerome Harmon, Timothy Mosley and Justin Timberlake.
R&B album: Girl on Fire, Alicia Keys.
Urban contemporary album: Unapologetic, Rihanna.
Rock performance: Radioactive, Imagine Dragons.
Rock album: Celebration Day, Led Zeppelin.
Hard rock/metal performance: God is Dead, Black Sabbath.
Alternative music album: Modern Vampires of the City, Vampire Weekend.
Dance recording: Clarity, Zedd featuring Foxes.
Dance/electronica album: Random Access Memories, Daft Punk.
Producer of the year, non-classical: Pharrell Williams.
Latin pop album: Vida, Draco Rosa
Latin rock, urban or alternative album: Treinta Dias, La Santa Cecilia.
Latin jazz album: Song for Maura, Paquito D'Rivera and Trio Corrente.
Tropical Latin album: Pacific Mambo Orchestra, Pacific Mambo Orchestra.
Country solo performance: Wagon Wheel, Darius Rucker.
Country duo/group performance: From This Valley, The Civil Wars.
Country song: Merry Go `Round, Kacey Musgraves, Shane McAnally and Josh Osbourne.
Gospel song: If He Did It Before ... Same God (Live), Tye Tribbett
Gospel album: Greater Than (Live), Tye Tribbett.
Blues album: Get Up!, Ben Harper with Charlie Musselwhite.
Folk album: My Favorite Picture of You, Guy Clark.
Americana album: Old Yellow Moon, Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell.
Bluegrass album: The Streets of Baltimore, Del McCoury Band.
Reggae album: Ziggy Marley in Concert, Ziggy Marley.
World music album: Live: Singing for Peace Around the World, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and Savor Flamenco, Gypsy Kings (tie).
Children's album: Throw a Penny in the Wishing Well, Jennifer Gasoi.
Spoken word album: America Again: Re-Becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't, Stephen Colbert.
Comedy album: Calm Down Gurrl, Kathy Griffin.
New age album: Love's River, Laura Sullivan.
Jazz vocal album: Liquid Spirit, Gregory Porter.
Jazz instrumental album: Money Jungle: Provocative in Blue, Terri Lyne Carrington.
Large jazz ensemble album: Night in Calisia, Randy Brecker, Wlodek Pawlik Trio and Kalisz Philharmonic.
Pop instrumental album: Steppin' Out, Herb Alpert.
Compilation soundtrack album: Sound City: Real to Reel, Dave Grohl and various artists, Butch Vig.
Score soundtrack album: Skyfall, Thomas Newman, composer.
Song written for visual media: Skyfall, Adele and Paul Epworth.
Musical theater album: Kinky Boots, Cyndi Lauper, Billy Porter, Stark Sands, Sammy James Jr., Stephen Oremus and William Wittman.
Producer of the year, classical: David Frost.
Instrumental composition: Pensamientos for Solo Alto Saxophone and Chamber Orechestra, Clare Fischer.
Orchestral performance: Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 4, Osmo Vanska, conductor.
Opera recording: Ades: The Tempest, Thomas Ades, Simon Keenlyside, Isabel Leonard, Audrey Luna, Alan Oke, Jay David Saks.
Choral performance: Part: Adam's Lament, Tonu Kaljuste, conductor.
Short-form music video: Suit & Tie, Justin Timberlake featuring Jay Z, David Fincher, Timory King.
Long-form music video: Live Kisses, Paul McCartney, Jonas Akerlund, Violaine Etienne, Aron Levin and Scott Rodger.
Historical album: The Complete Sussex and Columbia Albums of Bill Withers, Leo Sacks, Joseph M. Palmaccio, Tom Ruff and Mark Wilder, and Charlie is My Darling, Teri Landi, Andrew Loog Oldham, Steve Rosenthal and Bob Ludwig.


Grammys 2014: winners of the 56th annual music awards - Arts & Entertainment - CBC News

“...but it certainly has the potential to change the way we pay for online gambling…” And it actually did changed the world of online casino positively, which the gamblers are now enjoying. Nothing is better than having a fastest payout transaction because this way you can instantly feel your winnings without any hassle.

I

n November, George Soros, John Paulson and Leon Cooperman, three of the most successful hedge fund managers ever, quietly participated in a rights offering and became major shareholders in Caesars Acquisition Co, a spinoff from casino company Caesars En-tertainment that has ownership in Caesars’ online gambling assets.

Their stakes—previously unreported—are all part of an unprecedented bet on the future of the $60 billion casino business in America, as states from New Jersey to Delaware and Nevada legalise a practice that the Department of Justice said was illegal just two years ago. They were joined by billionaire private equity managers Leon Black, David Bonder- man, Marc Rowan and Joshua Harris, whose two respective buyout firms are the biggest shareholders in Caesars Entertainment and doubled down by investing a combined $484 million in Caesars’ online gambling vehicle.

Already a roster of billionaires, from brothers Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, who control the Ultimate Fighting Championship, to MGM Resorts’ biggest shareholder, billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, are betting big on online gambling ’s comeback.

There’s just one problem with all of this: Sheldon Adelson. The very week that Caesars’ online gambling play started trading on the Nasdaq, Adelson, the nation’s fifth-richest man—and one of the country’s biggest political donors—thanks to his vast casino holdings, unleashed an army of lawyers and lobbyists on Washington and state capitals, telling Forbes he will “spend whatever it takes” to stop online gambling in America.

His advocacy group—the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling—is working to get state attorneys general to sign a petition against online gambling. He’s hired former New York governor George Pataki, together with former Arkansas senator Blanche Lincoln and former Denver mayor Wellington Webb, to lead the lobbying effort. “There is no reason to put a casino on everybody’s kitchen table, in the bed of every young person, whether they are underage or of age, or on mobile phones,” says Adelson. “I don’t want people to get addicted.”

So far, the markets are betting he’ll lose. Shares of Caesars’ online gambling spinoff are up more than 30 percent from their rights offering price. But while Adelson’s moralistic stance may be laughable to opponents, given the potential long-term threat a shift to online gambling poses to his industry, they still take it seriously. His Las Vegas Sands, with a recent stock market valuation of $60 billion, is worth more than all the other US casino companies combined. Adelson spent some $100 million unsuccessfully trying to get a Republican into the White House in 2012. “What I have heard Adelson say is, ‘I am very rich, and I don’t like internet gaming,’ and those things are true,” says Mitch Garber, CEO of Caesars Acquisition Co. But, “Sheldon’s eyes are closed to the fact that all goods and services are ultimately going to be purchased on the internet”.

For years, online gambling in America belonged to offshore companies willing to take on the federal government, which declared all online gambling to be illegal. In 2003, online poker took off when Christopher Moneymaker, an unknown accountant from Tennessee, qualified in an online tournament for the main event at the World Series of Poker and won poker’s top prize. Online poker companies became big sponsors of poker programming on cable outlets. By 2005, the company that ruled the US online poker market, Gibraltar-based PartyGaming, conducted an IPO on the London Stock Exchange that made its American founder, Ruth Parasol, the nation’s richest self-made woman.

But, in the fall of 2006, Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), strengthening the justice department’s tools to go after online gambling firms operating in the US. Some companies quickly ceased their US operations, leaving the then $1.4 billion US online poker market dominated by two offshore companies, PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, which profited immensely because of the high-margin nature of the business. But federal prosecutors and agents kept investigating the companies, seizing their funds and eventually in 2011 shutting down the websites of the major online poker companies that cater to the US and indicting their founders. In the weeks that followed, Full Tilt collapsed amid accusations made by the US attorney in Manhattan that it was operating a Ponzi scheme. PokerStars settled the civil charges the government filed against it by paying $731 million, but its founder, Isai Scheinberg, who is not a US citizen, has not come to the US to face criminal charges. The government also indicted Ayre, a Canadian who has also not returned to the US.

Not long after shutting down the offshore operators, the Department of Justice reversed its long-held opinion that all forms of online gambling are illegal, unleashing states that wanted to regulate and tax online gambling except sports betting. Sensing profits, the billionaires followed.

Why the turnaround? Expensive lobbyists and lawyers are a big part of the answer. Since 2007, for instance, former New York senator Alfonse D’Amato has been paid to be chairman of the Poker Players Alliance. That Washington lobby group received funding from the Interactive Gaming Council, a Vancouver group backed by firms including Full Tilt Poker. The American Gaming Association, the casino industry’s powerful lobby, is now backing online gambling.

The stakes are huge: Private equity firms Apollo Global Management and TPG are still trying to salvage their 2006 LBO of the company that left it saddled with $28 billion in debt. They see online gambling as a way to make up for Caesars’ missing out on Macau.

So while Adelson’s limitless money may slow the momentum for online gambling by blocking its spread into big states like California and Florida, the odds of him stopping it or bullying his rivals

In 2013, regulators in Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey made it legal for casinos to operate online gaming websites. Industry analysts and casino operators projected a lucrative start, but due to potential players' difficulty funding their accounts with their credit cards, among other reasons like population size, actual revenue from Internet gambling has paled in comparison, particularly in Delaware.

After its November launch, Internet gaming in New Jersey generated $8.4 million within five weeks, the Division of Gaming Enforcement announced this month. But that number is significantly lagging for the state's forecast of copy.2 billion total by the end of its fiscal year in June, reported The Wall Street Journal.

Delaware online gaming brought in just $253,000 during November and December—well behind pace for its goal to generate $5 million in revenue during the first year, reported DelawareOnline-com. Delaware officials are confident though that marketing and promotion over the next few months will attract more players and boost revenue, said Vernon Kirk, director of the Delaware Lottery, which oversees gaming in the state. The State of Delaware collects 100 percent of the first $3.75 million of online rvenue in a given year, so casinos have yet to see a profit from Internet gaming.

Currently just two poker websites exist in Nevada, UltimatePoker-com and WSOP-com, and the state's gaming control board won’t release Internet gaming revenues until a third site is operating.

A primary culprit for the low take in New Jersey and Delaware has been poor credit card cooperation, especially Visa. Only 20 percent of Visa transactions have processed, while about 80 percent of MasterCard payments have gone through. Many banks and credit card processors turn down online gaming transactions, but people in the industry are confident banks will re-examine their policies concerning Internet gaming in the future.

The current alternatives to fund gaming accounts are more time-consuming or inconvenient: mailing in personal checks, bank transfers and ACH withdrawals. Another popular route for casino operators has been creating a prepaid card that customers can load with their credit or debit card. Winnings are also credited back to the card. "There is a massive financial incentive for casinos to find ways to get money into an online account with relatively little friction," Chris Grove, editor of the industry publication Online Poker Report, told FoxBusiness-com.




Read more at Online Gaming in Delaware, New Jersey Off to a Weak Start - ICTMN-com

The inaugural iGaming Legislative Symposium, which will be held February 27, 2014, at the Sheraton Grand Sacramento Hotel in Sacramento, CA, will identify the critical issues regarding the legalization of online gaming in California, and explore possible solutions and success scenarios that are applicable to jurisdictions nationwide.

The Symposium will examine the key policy decisions that will be considered in California in 2014 regarding the launch, regulation, and taxation of online gaming will determine the success of Internet poker in California as well as influence the advancement of Internet gaming in other states.

Industry experts such as Geoff Freeman, President and CEO, American Gaming Association; Mark Macarro, Chairman, Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians; and Richard Schuetz, Commissioner, California Gambling Control Commission, will discuss topics such as:

What can California legislators, regulators, and operators expect with the pending legalization of online gambling?
What are the political pitfalls and opportunities for making iGaming a reality in California?
Who are the stakeholders that will participate in operating California iGaming?
What are the potential regulatory options and how are effective regulatory regimes developed?
How should California structure its iGaming tax policy and what is the most effective policy?

As of January 26, 2014, confirmed speakers include Salim Adatia, CEO, GLI Canada; Chad Beynon, Analyst, Macquarie Securities; Gideon Bierer, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Partis Solutions; Melissa Blau, Director, iGaming Capital; Steve Bodmer, Deputy General Counsel, Pechanga Development Corporation; Roger Gros, Publisher, Global Gaming Business; Lauren Hammond, Commissioner, California Gambling Control Commission; Robert Jacobson, Executive Director, California Council on Problem Gambling; Gene Johnson, Senior Vice President for Market Research and Online Studies, Spectrum Gaming Group; Haig Kelegian, Former Managing Partner and CEO, Bicycle Casino; Michael Lombardi, Consultant, Lombardi Co.; Bo Mazzetti, Chairman, Rincon Band of Luiseño Indian; Jon Porter, CEO, Porter Gordon Silver; Dr. Aftab Rizvi, Principal Consultant and Director, Gaming Associates Pty Ltd; Victor Rocha, Owner, Pechanga-net; John Roberts, Attorney; Keith Sharp , Member, Falk & Sharp; Joe Weinert, Executive Vice President, Spectrum Gaming Group.

Early bird registration rates are available through February 7, 2014, so register now for savings. Our hotel block at the Sheraton Grand Sacramento Hotel is filling up quickly – conference rates are available until January 28, 2014. For the complete agenda, sponsorship opportunities, hotel reservations, and to register, visit iGaming Legislative Symposium ~ Home. Please email [email]events@igamingsymposium-com[/email] to be added to the mailing list for updates.

The Symposium is jointly organized and produced by Victor Rocha, the owner of Pechanga-net, a leading news aggregator for the gaming industry for over 14 years, and Spectrum Gaming Group, the world's leading gaming research and professional services firm. Attendees will include state legislators, gaming regulators, tribal and commercial gaming operators, and Internet gaming experts from around the world.



LEGALIZATION OF ONLINE GAMING IN CALIFORNIA ADDRESSED AT THE INAUGURAL iGAMING LEGISLATIVE SYMPOSIUM

President of the T&T Bookmakers Association Peter George says the combination of online gambling, underground gambling, casinos and the ten per cent tax on horse racing bets is having negative impact on local betting shops. Speaking to the T&T Guardian from his office at the recently closed Fair Chance Racing Service, on Queen Street, George said eight betting shops have shut down indefinitely in peaceful and silent protest to bring the issue to the attention of the Government so that it might be resolved. He said approximately 400 workers have been affected by the closure of the betting shops.





George said there were 28 betting shops operating in the country in 1993 but a decade later, by December 2013 that number had dwindled to 14. With the closure of Bob’s Racing Service in San Juan and Ascot Racing Service in Marabella at the end of the year, only 12 betting shops remain. He said betting shops have suffered a big drop in business over the last four years because of a ten per cent tax imposed on every bet placed on a horse race. “Online betting, illegal gambling and casinos have been making inroads into betting shops’ profits,” George said. “That has reduced our viability in our businesses in the last few years and now it doesn't make sense to operate anymore.” He said punters are turning to online gambling because they don’t have to pay taxes and many are being drawn to the casinos and slot machines because of the entertainment, free food and drinks.



George wants the Government do away with the “punitive” ten per cent tax which he described as a severe burden to punters as well as betting shop owners who are not making any money and, in some cases, losing money. He said there was a misconception that betting shops make a lot of money. He explained that they dealt with percentages of sales and even if they managed to get a 12 to 15 per cent profit, expenses were 15 per cent and higher. He said the perception that betting shops were lucrative ventures was wrong because if they were, why would they be reduced from a high of 28 betting shops to 12 in 2014. George said he was hoping the Government and the Betting Levy Board came up with solutions so the betting shops could be viable once more.



Betting shops losing customers to casinos, online gambling | The Trinidad Guardian Newspaper

With Pennsylvania, like so many other states, looking to plug holes in the current state budget, some lawmakers are eyeing the possibility of legalizing online gaming, just as it has been done in the nearby states of New Jersey and Delaware.

It was expected the Senate Finance Committee will hear testimony this week on the possibility of introducing keno to the Pennsylvania Lottery’s gaming menu. The issue, thus far, has failed to generate much controversy. However, going beyond, especially into the area of online gambling, would probably bring out the naysayers, say officials.

A report on Internet gambling, being prepared by a legislative committee is expected to be returned by May 1.



Penn. eyeing possibility of legalizing online gambling :: GamingToday-com

There are some signs we might be getting near the bottom of the great big awful barrel of food television. I spotted a couple of them on Saturday night on TV3 - both disturbing, though in different ways.

First, at 7.30, came Hotel GB, a bizarre new British concoction that certainly looks a bit like the last mad food series you'd make before you turned off the light and left the room forever.

Hotel GB is simply - and I do mean simply - a big and expensive game of "let's play hotel" involving almost everyone in British reality TV, from Gordon Ramsay, the sweary chef, through Gok Wan, the campy fashionista, to the earnest presenting pair from Location Location.

Ramsay poses as co-manager of the pretend hotel along with "customer service guru" Mary Portas, while Gok plays at being the bar manager, Phil Spencer (Location Location) the maitre'd and a horrifying flirty old trout called Kim Woodham ("the queen of clean") is in charge of housekeeping.

And, just to make things as hazardous as these sorts of shows apparently need to be, the staff is made up of variously hapless members of the great army of young English unemployed.

As one of them, a gormless would-be receptionist called Tom, wisely observed in Saturday's first episode, "If everything went right, something would be wrong."

And if all that doesn't appear daft enough, various scary guests are thrown at the blundering staff, including the remains of the novelist Jackie Collins, who must be well into her 100s.

It was entirely stupid stuff and not in an entirely good way. A two-star hotel at best.

For another sort of mad food show altogether, I caught the first episode of Hannibal (TV3, Saturday, 9.30pm), the flash new American series based on the early adventures of Dr Hannibal Lecter, the fictional cannibal made famous by the hit movie Silence of the Lambs, with Anthony Hopkins in the starring role.

In Hannibal, the Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen takes the toothsome lead and his sheer physical presence - impossible cheekbones, pitiless eyes - makes him seem perfect, if slightly incomprehensible, thanks to the accent.

The show's accent is on violence - of the extreme, sudden, throat-slashing variety. Mercilessly, it sets new standards, with blood spattered everywhere, long before even the first ad break.

It is brilliantly made and disturbingly deviant, best watched well away from dinnertime, if you have the grit to watch it at all, as it plays wicked games with the relationship between Lecter, the liver and lung-gobbling forensic scientist, and a troubled autistic FBI criminal profiler chasing a serial killer (guess who?).

There was one scene on Saturday I might never forget - a cut (forgive me) from the discovery that the latest victim is missing her lungs to those very organs being lovingly laid out, sliced and diced, cooked and eaten by Lecter, with a hint of a smile on his dreadful face. I imagine there will be a recipe book at some point.

Meantime, we have Hannibal, the 13-part TV series, with a second series already on the way. It's quite astonishing stuff and certainly a breakthrough into a new world of nerve-wrenching home entertainment.

I'm hooked.




Colin Hogg: From the ridiculous to the sublime - Entertainment - NZ Herald News

Online gambling is not legal in a majority of the states in the U.S. However, few are easing their regulations to allow it to take place. Nonetheless, the business continues to thrive in Europe and other parts of the world as the shift to mobility makes it easier for players to place their bets on the go. According to reports, the online betting industry, excluding the U.S. will grow to about EUR 12.9B or $17.7B worth of gross gaming revenues by 2015. This represents nearly 23% growth rate from the EUR 10.5B or $14.4B worth as of December 2012. Therefore, the compounded annual growth rate "CAGR" stands at about 7.1%, and is expected to continue in the foreseeable future.



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State Lottery officials asked lawmakers Tuesday to pass legislation enabling the agency to experiment with online gaming operations and to withhold payments from people suspected of cashing tickets for scofflaws.

“We are not proposing to offer these games to our players with an actual cash transaction, nor are we seeking any appropriation to fund such operations,” Lottery Assistant Executive Director Beth Bresnahan told the Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure. “Rather in the interests of preserving and protecting the Lottery, we simply want to ensure that we have a solid understanding of the technology and logistics of online gaming should this market space become more competitive. Existing law does not permit us to conduct such experimentation.”

Bresnahan told the News Service the current law prohibits online games even when no money is exchanged and the Lottery’s foremost goal would be to experiment online and build an infrastructure to support an online platform where actual gaming could occur.

“We’re not there yet,” said Bresnahan.

Noting the number of weekly bingo games has fallen from 280 to under 100, she said, “If we do not start to prepare for the future generation of lottery players we’ll find ourselves with a smaller player base.”

Policymakers and Lottery supporters in recent years have been bracing for an expected reduction in the agency’s receipts due to the advent of casino gambling in Massachusetts. Online gaming could eventually provide a new revenue base for the Lottery, which cities and towns depend on to deliver funds that pay for municipal services. Online gaming is also seen as a potential threat to casino operators.

Bresnahan also said the 7,400 retailers who sell Lottery products and the interests of the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling are “major areas of concern” as the Lottery considers its next steps.

A bill (S 101) filed by Sen. Jennifer Flanagan, a Leominster Democrat, would allow the Lottery to conduct an online lottery. Bresnahan said the bill would legalize online lottery games, including games where money could be wagered.

“Why try to fix something that isn’t broken?” said Joseph Green, senior division manager of Tedeschi Food Shops, who opposed the bill. He said the loss of revenue from Lottery players could cost jobs and said the bill would authorize the use of credit cards for lottery products, which could contribute to problem gambling.

The hearing occurred a little over a year after Treasurer Steven Grossman’s Online Products Task Force recommended entry onto the Internet, new frontier opened up by a 2011 Department of Justice ruling. Grossman oversees the Massachusetts Lottery.

“We’re proud of our role in making this the most successful lottery in the country,” said Stephen Ryan, executive director of the New England Convenience Store Association, which opposes the move. He said an online venture by the lottery in Illinois “hasn’t come close to meeting the expectations of its proponents.”

Bresnahan said “a deliberative step is necessary” and said there is a potential for a change in federal law that would only allow for existing online lotteries to be able to continue their online business.

“The Task Force recommends immediate implementation of a strategy that permits the Lottery to take interim steps to enhance its online and mobile presence, while studying and testing its business model further,” the group wrote in its Dec. 13, 2012 report.

The Lottery also sought legislation (H 25) to tamp down on “ten percenters” who cash winning tickets for people who owe back taxes or child support. Child support and tax scofflaws are on a Department of Revenue list, and the Lottery takes out the owed money from the scofflaws’ prizes. The “ten percenters” are generally compensated with 10 percent of the winnings for helping the scofflaws skirt the restriction, Bresnahan said.

While the Lottery files monthly reports with the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, IRS, state auditor and attorney general of the people who cash at least 20 prizes of $1,000 or more annually, the agency cannot withhold winnings from people suspected of being a “ten percenter.”

“Legally the Lottery does not have the right to withhold payment to an individual because he or she is suspected of being a ten percenter,” Bresnahan said. “This legislation provides the Lottery the ability, with the Department of Revenue’s assistance, to withhold payment in cases that the person is shown to be ten percenter.”


Lottery wants okay to experiment with online gaming | WWLP

The Republic of Macedonia has revealed it plans to establish a state-controlled monopoly to oversee the country’s gaming industry.

Casinos Austria has joined with the government to launch a new company that will offer online casino games and state lottery, as well as internet betting and poker, reports Pokernews.

It is expected the new sites will be launched in the first half of the year and the government will take steps to limit access from with the country to any other online gaming operators.

However, Macedonia has been hoping to join the European Union since 2004 and this latest step could conflict with European treaties on the free movement of services.

In 2011, annual revenues from gambling with the European Union equalled around €84.9 billion, with online gambling show the fastest rate of growth.

It is expected annual revenues from interest gambling in 2015 will be €13 billion, compared to €9.3 billion in 2011.ADNFCR-16001162-ID-801687488-ADNFCR



Tue, 01/28/2014 - 18:14 - Macedonia considers online gambling | 777-com

Ken Kutaragi, a former Sony Computer Entertainment CEO who lead the development of the first PlayStation console, will be honoured with a lifetime achievement award at the Game Developers Choice Awards in March.

Kutaragi's early work was with Nintendo, developing the sound chip for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, while his work with Sony eventually saw him become the honorary chairman of the company.

The award will be presented by Mark Cerny, lead architect of the PlayStation 4 console, at the GDC Awards on March 19. The event will be hosted by Respawn Entertainment's Abbie Heppe, and will be streamed via GameSpot.

A full list of lifetime achievement award recipients, which includes the likes of Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto and Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima, can be found at the GDC Awards website.

Read more: PlayStation creator Ken Kutaragi to receive lifetime achievement award - Story - Entertainment - 3 News

It looks like online betting may finally be hit with some kind of tax in 2014, as the Betting (Amendment) Bill 2013 continues to grind its way through the Dail with debates in recent weeks. In the spring of 2009, then justice minister Dermot Ahern began a review of gambling legislation, some of which dates from 1931.

In his very first Finance Act as Finance Minister in 2011, Michael Noonan provided for a new licensing regime and an extension of the betting tax to online gambling. It just needed a signature, but that didn't happen.

Almost five years after the gambling review, a piece of legislation is finally going through which will tax online betting. Once enacted, all online bookmakers and betting exchanges, will be subject to a new licensing regime.

Anybody taking a bet online from somebody resident in Ireland, no matter what exotic part of the world the company is operating in, will have to be licensed in Ireland.

Unfortunately, the paltry rate of just 1pc will apply. This will be welcome news for big operators like Paddy Power, which generates three-quarters of its profits online and one-third of total group profit in Ireland. It has little to fear from the 1pc betting tax.

Around €1.6bn per year is gambled here online, which suggests the Exchequer could have bagged around €48m in the last three years of delays.

Technology and gambling now go hand in hand. They also create a very mobile form of capital and jobs. If you want to know just how intricate tax arrangements for companies in this sector can be, then read the autobiography of former William Hill chairman John Brown. It is called, 'Lucky John: From teaboy to chairman of a multi-billion pound firm.'

Brown talks colourfully of how, in 1999, he set up a call centre operation in Athlone to take tax-free bets for UK residents.

British bookie Victor Chandler had moved its telephone betting operation to Gibraltar to provide UK residents with tax-free betting, instead of paying the British 9pc betting tax. Ladbroke did something similar.

Brown had a meeting with the British Treasury secretary and told her that if she didn't cut betting tax from 6.75pc to 3pc, "we would be forced to take our telephone and internet business off-shore."

If the government cut the tax it would lose revenue but create more jobs. If they didn't, they would lose revenue and jobs. The treasury secretary told him "the government didn't work like that."



Online gambling tax odds-on to be a success but collecting the winnings may prove difficult - Independent.ie

Delaware officials have announced that online gambling in the US state generated just $253,000 (€185,048) during its first two months of operations.

According to the Delaware Online news website, the figures leave Delaware well short of its goal of generating $5 million in revenue during the first year of online gambling.

The state will collect 100% of the first $3.5 million generate in online gaming revenue, meaning that casinos in Delaware are yet to receive any of the income.

Despite being only the second state in the US to legalise online gambling, Delaware is yet to attract the same levels of interest that has been recorded in fellow regulated states New Jersey and Nevada.

As of January 23, Delaware was averaging just 18 players online at any given time during the previous seven days. Popular websites in Nevada and New Jersey record an average of several hundred players.

In addition, as of the end of December 2013, only around 4,000 people had registered for online gaming in Delaware.

However, fellow regulated states have also reported that revenue is below expectations, with New Jersey recording a drop in total gaming revenue despite the introduction of online gambling, as reported by iGaming Business.

Despite the slow start, Delaware officials remain optimistic about online gambling’s potential.

“In and of itself, it’s not going to be the thing that solves everybody’s financial issues,” Delaware Lottery director Vernon Kirk said. “It’s a piece of the puzzle, and it’s got a lot of potential.”

Kirk has cited a number of reasons for the state’s slow start to online gaming, such as the refusal of some financial institutions to process online gambling transactions and ongoing issues with geolocation services.

In an attempt to combat these problems, Kirk said that the state had held “preliminary discussions” with Nevada and New Jersey about forming an interstate partnership that would allow punters to play across state lines.

Kirk also said that the state plans to expand its online gaming offering by adding craps and other games during the course of 2014.

Delaware’s gambling industry struggled in 2013 with the state experiencing its worst casino gambling revenue performance since 2000.

Casinos in the state generated $406 million in revenue during the past year, which is a significant drop on the $526 million achieved in 2012.



Slow start for online gambling in Delaware | iGaming Business

Illinois lawmakers have approved an extension of an online betting law in time to allow horse racing tracks to keep their racing schedules intact this year.

The measure passed the Senate 47-4 on Wednesday. The House voted 98-10.

The legislation allowing online betting had been set to expire Friday. Racing board officials had predicted major budget cuts without an extension. That could have limited their oversight ability and forced racetracks to cut the number of horse races.

The three-year extension includes a surcharge on wagering.

Horse racing advocates say the fix is temporary. They pin the long-term future of the industry on allowing slot machines at racetracks, in order to compete with Illinois casinos and out-of-state tracks that allow slots.


Illinois lawmakers extend online betting law

It may be that one day there will be online gambling available throughout Europe as countries such as Bulgaria and now Macedonia have decided to offer operators a chance to exploit their jurisdictions.

A recent article it was revealed that the State Commission on Gambling in Bulgaria legalised online betting and finalized its tax rate at 15%. Originally the cabinet proposed a much lower rate, 7%, for the online gambling operators with the assumption to attract major international bookmakers to the Bulgarian market, but finally adopted the same 15% tax rate for both traditional and online gambling which came into effect in 2013.

Bulgaria's parliament amended the Gambling Act to reduce the tax to 20% of gross monthly profits, plus a one-time license fee of approximately €51K. The new law went into effect at the beginning of 2014. Chairperson of the Budget and Finance Committee in Bulgaria, Yordan Tsonev, believes that the arrival of new operators in the market could boost tax revenues to more than million by 2015.

Now eCOGRA, an independent online gambling testing and watchdog firm has been approved as a testing laboratory for those online poker and casino operators wanting to enter Bulgaria's emerging online gambling market. eCOGRA has now completed an assessment and accreditation program administered by the Bulgarian State Gambling Commission . eCOGRA was required to comply with the SGC's strict requirements for testing laboratories and demonstrate complete independence from any potential software suppliers or operators. Tex Rees, mediator for eCOGRA said,

"Our application followed interest expressed by some of the industry's leading software suppliers and operators who are clients of eCOGRA and are now expressing interest in obtaining a Bulgarian license," Rees continued to add, "This followed the change by the Bulgarian government to a tax based on gross gaming revenue, and strict but more practical technical and other operating requirements."



www-online-casinos-com/news/12651-bulgaria-moving-forward-online-gambling

Justin Bieber has turned himself in to Toronto police for an expected assault charge.

The baby-faced 19-year-old arrived on Wednesday evening at a police station to a crush of media and screaming fans.

A police official said the charge has to do with an alleged assault on a limo driver in December. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly.

Toronto police said in late December they were looking into allegations that a member of Bieber's entourage assaulted a limo driver who was ferrying the Canadian pop star and several others. Police said at the time it was unclear whether Bieber was involved.

A spokesman for Bieber had no comment.

Bieber emerged from a black SUV wearing a winter coat and a backwards ball cap before being led through a throng of police and reporters.

Earlier Wednesday, he pleaded not guilty in Florida to charges of driving under the influence after driving nearly twice the speed limit on a Miami Beach street.

He also pleaded not guilty to resisting arrest and driving with an expired license.

The pop star lately has drawn more attention for his brushes with the law than for his music. His arrival at the Toronto police station was no different - the singer debuted a music video for his song Confident on Wednesday afternoon, just as news of his expected arrest was breaking.

Bieber remains under investigation for felony vandalism in Los Angeles County over an egg-tossing episode that damaged his neighbour's home. Detectives searched his home on January 14, and prosecutors have sought additional information before determining whether to pursue charges.

The cases have overshadowed the recent release of his latest album. Its reception has been far from the chart-topping success Bieber had after he debuted in 2009, with multiple platinum albums.

Last year, Bieber made headlines for everything from clashing with a paparazzo to fainting at a show to being photographed smoking marijuana. The paparazzo is suing Bieber for assault and battery.

German authorities charged him thousands of dollars after he abandoned a pet monkey that they seized from him for failing to have proper vaccination papers.

The singer also had to apologize to Bill Clinton after cursing the former president and spraying his photo with cleaning fluid in a New York City restaurant kitchen.

Bieber was discovered through a YouTube video of him performing, and his career has been guided by a pair of music industry heavyweights, singer Usher and manager Scooter Braun.

He has been nominated for two Grammy Awards for his 2010 full-length album debut My World 2.0, but his popularity has waned.



Justin Bieber turns himself in to police - Entertainment - NZ Herald News

The international online gambling industry is an estimated $30bn market, and growing. More importantly for Bitcoin, it’s a global market that depends on fast, irreversible payments.

Just like a ordinary casino chip in any land-based casino, digital bitcoin provides privacy, immediacy, and payment finality. Unlike most typical consumer purchases (where returns and chargebacks are usually legitimate), a wager is a one-way transaction. Of course, you may be dissatisfied with the outcome, but that does not justify a reimbursement. The online gambling industry has struggled with this fact for years.

Plagued by chargebacks and fraudulent transactions, specialized payment methods and payment companies have sprouted up around the online casino world to address the problem of payment finality.
iGaming and bitcoin

For the first time ever, the world’s largest and most comprehensive trade event in gaming, ICE Totally Gaming 2014, will feature a half-day seminar on bitcoin in the iGaming environment on 4h February. The London-based conference represents every gambling sector: betting, bingo, casino, lottery, mobile, online, and social gaming. Organized by Gran Via’s Willem van Oort, the seminar features two extraordinary panels: ‘Regulatory Aspects’ and ‘Bitcoin’s Competitive Edge’. I will also be speaking on the evolution and future of bitcoin as a new monetary unit.

Moderated by iGaming attorney David Gzesh, the regulatory panel will assess the compliance challenges in dealing with bitcoin payment processing applications, including currency conversion, reduced transaction costs, payment finality, Know Your Customer rules, and coin management techniques.

Panelists include; Stuart Hoegner, managing director at Gaming Counsel PC; Steve Beauregard, CEO and founder of GoCoin; and Michael Ellen, director of licensing and strategy at Alderney Gambling Control Commission.

The second panel of the day focuses on the competitive advantages offered by bitcoin in the iGaming industry and will explore potential for new games, new jurisdictional regions, and unique investment opportunities on the horizon.

Stellar panelists include; Esteban van Goor, indirect tax lawyer at PwC; Ivan Montik, CEO and founder of Softswiss; Erik Voorhees, founder of SatoshiDice; Brock Pierce, managing director at Clearstone Global Gaming Fund; Jiten Melwani, founder of Bitgame Labs; and Gabriel Sukenik, director at Coinapult.

Into the mainstream

We are now witnessing the long-awaited arrival of mainstream online casinos and betting establishments into the bitcoin universe. This is the beginning of the second-generation bitcoin gambling sites – the first generation exemplified by sites like SatoshiDice, BitZino, and Seals With Clubs.

CoinDesk reported on Wednesday that Malta-registered casino Vera&John has become the first of the major licensed and regulated online casinos to accept bitcoin deposits. The gaming operator accepts inbound customer payments which are then processed and converted into euros via Panama-based Coinapult service.

Following a trend common among existing online poker sites like WinPoker, Vera&John will only permit wagering in national currency units. The strategy of utilizing bitcoin only as a customer payment transfer mechanism eliminates the exchange rate risk for the operator and the player.

Alternatively, if the player uses bitcoin for deposit, betting, and withdrawal, then the exchange rate risk stays with the player. Examples of that approach include CloudBet and CoinBet. Sports betting site Cloudbet claims to have revolutionized the online betting experience by introducing the world’s most advanced bitcoin betting platform accessible from desktop and mobile devices. Users can browse an intuitive, elegant site to place immediate and discreet bets on any world event – at zero fees.

CloudBet currently deploys 100% offline cold storage for all bitcoin assets and the site has received excellent reviews.

In addition, Costa Rica-registered CoinBet offers casino gaming, poker, and sports betting all under a simple email registration with password. CoinBet claims to be the first legitimate, licensed entity to re-enter the real money online gambling space since Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars, and Absolute Poker all had their sites shut down by the US Department of Justice in April 2011. However, that particular claim may actually go to Costa Rica-registered Infiniti Poker.

Unlike other regulated gambling jurisdictions issuing licenses, Costa Rica does not require operators to obtain and verify the identity of its players. On the policy of accepting US players, John Bauer, senior vice president of gaming at CoinBet, proudly emphasized:

“Look, to take away a person’s fundamental right to spend their money on whatever they choose is wrong, unconstitutional, and without question, an un-American thing to do.”

He continued: “We are not here to engage in a legal debate, we are here to serve up the very first legitimate workaround to the complex online gambling laws in this US market. We are returning to Americans their freedom to choose and giving them their power back!”

Internet gambling in the US operates in a legal grey area. Other gaming operators in the near future may come to appreciate Bauer’s statement because the US jurisdiction has yet to see a clarifying test case in the matter of bitcoin-only wagering without conversion.


Legal Online Gambling is Next Major Bitcoin Market

Russia is plagued with a number of issues not the least of which is the Russian penchant for gambling. The news recently in Russia has been pointing out the fact that the country has tried and failed to put down gambling there by banning casinos and other forms of betting except for regions that for the most part are too far away from anything to be easily accessed.

In 2009 gambling was banned in Russia and since then as many as sixty one thousand illegal gambling venues have been closed down by authorities in the country. It has been suggested that this is just a fraction of what is still happening in the country and that even as the casinos are being closed and equipment confiscated they are being replaced and reopened. Recently it was reported that the Russian Interior Ministry took down a network of ten illegal gambling venues with a daily income of $3 thousand USD. Approximately three hundred computers and slot machines were removed along with $150,000 in cash. It was concluded that the operation was being run from afar by foreigners.

There is no real connection between the arrest of deputy head of a police district in Moscow who is suspect in a case involving the covering up of alleged illegal gambling operations there. There has been a serious rift in the government ranks regarding gambling issues which has resulted in the Supreme Court dismissing all charges and starting over.

The Prosecutor General’s Office issued a statement recently claiming the confiscations and shutting down of illegal casinos have garnered the State $17.1 million dollars in fines. The 796 thousand slot machines are also a great scoop the authorities claim. These machines are in all probability being replaced by newer ones that are operating in some other part of Russia. There is little said about the online gambling taking place on Russian soil which is difficult for authorities to detect and destroy.


Russia Still Trying to Ban Gambling | Online-Casinos-com

Days before her 60th birthday, supermodel Christie Brinkley opened up her home in the Hamptons to Entertainment Tonight's Nancy O'Dell, and revealed the troubles she faces in her love life.

Namely, she has a hard time finding men her age to date.

"It seems like during this period that most of the guys are like 38, 39, 42, like that sort of age group," Brinkley told Nancy. "It’s funny because I think that at that age they have nothing to prove. They’re very confident and do they just what they want to do."[With] men my age I feel quite invisible to them," Brinkley added.

Brinkley turns 60 on February 2, and is still modeling, showing off her stunning swimsuit body on the February cover of People magazine.

However, when it comes to dating younger guys, Brinkley says she still has some limitations on how much younger the man can be.

"I think a ten year span is fine," Brinkley said.