Gaming News Archives » 2006 » October

According to a report commissioned by the Racecourse Holdings Trust, British horse-racing will attract £300 million in investments over the next five years. This will make it the country's second most popular sports investment sector following football.

The World Series of Poker is gearing up towards the next tournament in 2007. Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. has announced that the 38^th annual WSOP will start on June 1, 2007. The tournament will be held at the Rio All-Suite Hotel ad Casino in Las Vegas, of course.

A Chinese government official is suspected to have gambled away $11.25 million of public funds in casinos abroad. Li Weimin, a township head in the city of Dongguan, Guangdong Province, allegedly lost more than $10 million in overseas casinos between 2001 and 2004. He also lost $500,000 in a casino in Macau in one night.

The recent poll conducted by the Internet's leading gambling guide, 777.com, set out to learn the seniority of online gamblers as reflected in the site's gambling community. The online gambling industry, only a decade in existence, has been growing and expanding ever since. The poll shows surprising results regarding the seniority of online gamblers.

Tessa Jowell, UK's culture secretary, will urge 32 countries to support a code of principles on online gambling this week. This is the first major effort on behalf of the international community to regulate the industry after the recent U.S. law regarding online gambling.

Almost 3,000 people had their first glance this Sunday at the new French Lick Springs Resort Casino, in French Lick, Indiana, U.S. The $382 million casino hosted an open house on Sunday, but the hotel is sold out Friday and Saturday for the official grand opening.

A new research by St. Mary's University in Halifax, Canada, suggests that the $10 billion-a-year online gambling industry is often extorted by sophisticated hackers and organized criminals. The findings of the study that has been conducted over the last five years in the field of what the researcher calls "Cyber Extortion" show that these sites are targeted at peak times, such as before the Super Bowl or other major sporting events that give rise to betting and gambling.

888 Holdings and Party Gaming, two of the biggest online casino and online poker operators are reported to have discussed a possible merger between them. The merger, if implemented, would create a $3 billion company, the biggest online gambling company in the world.

Titan Poker, one of the fastest growing online poker rooms, announced that Jordi Bonell, a father of two from Spain, is the fifth player to have qualified for The Tournament Titan.

Performing in Hollywood is nothing new for world famous jazz legend Pete Fountain, who made more television appearances on Johnny Carson than any other entertainer.

Tessa Jowell, the culture secretary, attacked the US government yesterday over its crackdown on online gambling and warned that the policy could become a modern-day version of prohibition.

Bodog.com, an online gambling site and on of the few who still accept U.S. residents' bets despite the new law, is now offering online gamblers a unique chance of betting on PlayStation 3. The site offers several possible bets regarding the newest Sony game.

Casino tycoons Donald Trump and Steve Wynn plan to build together one of the biggest casino and hotel towers in the world, on the Atlantic City boardwalk. Trump's veteran Trump Plaza, that was built in 1984, will be replaced with a $3 billion tower complex of over 50 stories. The tower, which is envisioned as one of the tallest structures along the Eastern Seaboard, would contain penthouses and terraced condos with panoramic views.

Gambling industry insiders say the recent U.S. law that bans gambling online could reduce the number of entrants to the biggest poker (or any other card game) tournament in the world - the World Series of Poker.

In February of 2006, a four-month undercover police investigation called "Operation Slap Shot" revealed that James Harney, a New Jersey state trooper organized a gambling operation with NHL's Phoenix Coyotes assistant coach Rick Tocchet. Harney admitted to charges of conspiracy. There is evidence of $1.7 million in illegal bets that were made over a 40 day period.

Martin Campbell, director of the new James Bond movie "Casino Royale," has admitted that British actor Ewan McGregor was his first choice to play James Bond.

Campbell said that the movies executives approached the 35-year-old Scottish actor to take on the role of the world's top spy and superb card player, but were eventually had to go with actor Daniel Craig when McGregor turned down the offer.

According to a local newspaper report, more than 260 government workers in Chuzhou city, located in east China's Anhui province, were given disciplinary warnings or even fired for playing poker during office hours.

Betcorp Ltd., an australian online gambling company, said it is planning to sell its operations in Canada and Antigua to the Costa-Rica-based Bodog Entertainment Group, for $11 million.

The Powerball jackpot is on the move. No one hit the jackpot Saturday, but 559,109 players across the nation won a total of more than $5.4 million in prizes in America's favorite Game.

Bodog.com Entertainment Group announced today its aggressive plans to build upon its current growth and expand its entertainment product channels into Europe, Asia and other markets around the world.

Intertops announced today that they remain open for business and will accept all bets and process all payments from American citizens.

Following in the footsteps of a United States crackdown on online gambling, the Canadian province of Ontario introduced legislation today that would ban advertisements from gambling websites.

Online money transfer firm Neteller announced today that it would abide by gaming legislation passed in the United States that prohibits online gambling sites from taking money from US residents.

Travel destination web site pioneer and innovator Marty Mizrahi launches LasVegas.Net. LasVegas.Net has more than 120,000 pages of Las Vegas content.

TruePoker.com released a statement for its US-based players on Friday, October 13th, addressing the UIGE Act signed by President Bush. The statement contains a list of States where it may be illegal for players to play online poker.

888.com, the world’s premiere online casino and poker room, has wrapped up Surprising September, one of the online casino’s biggest giveaways ever.

Kerzner International, a Bahamas-based casino operator, plans the world's biggest aquarium, stocked with beluga whales and manta rays, as part of its $3.33 billion bid to build Singapore's second casino resort.

The second-largest casino company in the world, MGM Grand, plans to sell two of its casinos in the Colorado River resort town of Laughlin, about 160 kilometers south of Las Vegas, to a private investment group for $200 million.

Vasilios and Chryso Dalamangas, whose son, Pangiotis Dalamangas died on January 1998 at the age of 23, after he was held on the ground during a dispute with the security staff at Star City casino in Sydney, Australia. They are suing the casino for an undisclosed amount of damages for breaching its duty of care, according to couple's lawyer, Phillip Mahony.

Online gambling in the United States has recently suffered a major blow with the new law passed by U.S. congress that does not allow banks and credit card companies to process transactions between them and U.S. residents. All this does not stop offshore online gambling companies from advertising heavily in the United States, in spite of repeated warnings from law enforcement officials.

Sportingbet, one of the largest online gambling companies in the world is selling its U.S. division to Jazette Enterprises for exactly $1.

There is a catch, of course. This is done to offload the company's $13.3 million debt. Sportingbet's shares have dropped, like many other online gambling companies due to the recent bill against online gambling that President Bush turned to law last Friday.

On Friday, President Bush signed the new bill that virtually bans online gambling in the United States, making it an official law in the country.

The bill, which was initiated by the Senate and attached to an unrelated bill, the Ports Security Bill, at the last minute, aims to make online gambling inaccessible to U.S. citizens by making it illegal for banks and credit cards companies to process money from them. The new law does not however make online gambling illegal. U.S. gamblers may continue to play online casino and online poker with companies who use 3^rd-party payment institutions like NETeller.

President Casinos, Inc. today announced that President and its subsidiary, President Riverboat Casino-Missouri, Inc. ("PRC-MO"), have entered into a Settlement Agreement with Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. and the Official Committee of Equity Security Holders (the "Official Equity Committee") of President which resolves the dispute between the competing alternative bankruptcy reorganization plans which have been filed in PRC-MO's Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings pending in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. Under the Settlement Agreement, the alternative reorganization plan proposed by the Official Equity Committee will be withdrawn, and the parties will implement various amendments to the existing reorganization plan filed by PRC-MO and the purchase agreement for Pinnacle's pending purchase of PRC-MO.

Nevada Gold & Casinos, Inc. today announced that Robert B. Sturges has been appointed Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Mr. Sturges was retained as a special consultant to the company in June, 2006. H. Thomas Winn, who previously served as Chairman and CEO, will remain Chairman of the company.

NBC announced that its new poker show, Poker After Dark, will air in the United States on January 2^nd at 2 a.m. ET, according to Marc Graboff, President of NBC Universal Television.

The hour-long show will be hosted by model and poker host Shana Hiatt. Hiatt hosted the World Poker Tour (WPT) from 2003 to 2005 and has also appeared in the movies Grandma's Boy and Must Love Dogs.

Nothing stopped the inauguration of Israel's first horse racetrack, not even rabbis and other angry protestors, as thousands of fans attended the new racetrack in the Gilboa region of northern Israel.

A total of $110,000 in fines was levied by Colorado regulators against five casinos for operating illegal or defective slot machines. This is the first time such state penalties were used for these kinds of violations.

MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) announced today that it has entered into the Fifth Amended and Restated Loan Agreement (the "Fifth Loan Agreement") by and among the Company, MGM Grand Detroit, LLC, as initial co-borrower, and the lenders named therein.

Singapore’s Tourism Board has announced that Tuesday’s deadline for submitting proposals for building and operating Singapore’s second casino resort was met by three teams. Malaysia’s Genting International PLC and Star Cruises Ltd.; Las Vegas casino resort developer Eighth Wonder Asia; and Kerzner International and Singapore’s own CapitaLand Ltd. Have all submitted their proposals for the resort on Sentosa Island.

Thomas “Amarillo Slim” Preston, the former World Series of Poker champion narrowly escaped an armed-robbery attempt on Wednesday morning.

The 2006 United States Poker Championship has ended on Saturday. The big winner was Alex Jacob, winning his first major title with $878,000 in the tournament’s $10,000 main event.

The European Commission will formally censure Italy, France and Austria this week for restrictive laws on gambling. This is the last in the ongoing confrontation between world governments and the online gambling industry.

Siegfried & Roy, among Las Vegas’s most famous entertainers have been immortalized at Las Vegas` Walk of Stars. The duo’s star was unveiled on Tuesday, which was incidentally Roy’s 62nd birthday.

According to documents released yesterday by the British government, the Labour party plans to make Britain the world center of gambling. The papers show that ministers and government officials have met online gambling top executives no less than 25 times in the last two years. It seems that the British government is attempting to warm up to Internet gambling interests as much as to casino operators to open large-scale gaming resorts in Britain.

On Friday, Playboy opened its first new Playboy club in the last twenty years, since the last one (in Lansing, Michigan) was closed in 1988. Where else could Playboy have opened its newest club if not sin city itself?

The Canadian province of Nova Scotia is pioneering new software that will stop problem gambling even before it has the chance to start, by preventing minors from surfing to gambling websites. The software is specially designed to help parents keep the children off gambling sites.

A protest against the recent Internet Gambling Prohibition Bill will be held in Washington D.C. on Monday, October 9th. The bill is expected to be signed on Friday the 13th by President Bush but the protestors, according to organizer Debbie Richardson, are asking him to reconsider and believe that this protest can change many things.

777.com has recently announced the launch of its new “Become a reporter” campaign. The gambling guide (http://www.777.com/) is currently looking for contributing reporters who are interested in submitting news reports to be published in 777.com’s gaming news portal.

GameTech International, Inc. (Nasdaq: GMTC), a leading designer, developer and marketer of electronic bingo equipment and bingo systems, today announced it received recommendations for approval from the State Gaming Control Board for Manufacturer's and Distributor's Licenses. The Company was also successful in obtaining recommendations for approval as an Operator of Interlinked Systems and as an Operator of a Mobile Gaming System in the State of Nevada.

In response to the immensely successful launch of CAP (Casino Affiliate Programs) Magazine and the industry's needs, CAP and iGaming Business would like to announce the launch of CAP Euro a landmark event, which will provide an unrivalled networking and education opportunity for affiliates in the iGaming sector.

The American horse racing industry has paid more than $3 million in political donations, to ensure that it will be exempt from the recent law against online gambling that was approved by the Senate last week.

Four founding members of PartyGaming, owner of one of the biggest online gambling websites, have watched the value of their holdings decreased by £1.8bn since Monday. The company’s biggest shareholder, Anurag Dikshit, with 29% lost £773m.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed a bill that restricts the thriving gambling industry in Russia to four sparsely populated territories. According to Duma Speaker, Boris Gryzlov, the Plans are to assign no more than four restricted territories where gambling would be totally legal.

The online gambling guide, 777.com, is planning on publicizing daily news articles on the U.S. online gambling situation. This follows a bill that was recently approved by the Senate, which makes it illegal for credit card companies and banks to accept money from U.S. citizens for online gambling and transferring money to the online gambling companies.

With just a signature by President Bush, internet gambling could change forever. The new Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act will make it illegal to pay for online gambling with credit cards or bank transfers.

Harrah's Entertainment, the largest casino operator in the United States and one of the largest in the world, said it has received a takeover offer of $15 billion, which translates to $81 per share. The offer came from private equity firms, Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group.

In Canada, the Western Hockey League players, coaches and officials were surprised to find out that an off-shore gambling website is accepting bets on their league. It seems that all is needed to bet on a WHL game’s outcome, which player will score first and other bets, is a credit card account at the Vienna based bwin.com. The Web site offers a variety of betting options on hockey from around the world.

On Friday, the U.S. Senate quietly passed a bill that forbids American credit card companies and banks from processing money and payments to online gambling companies. The bill was attached as a rider to another bill that aimed to enhance U.S. port security.