Gaming News Archives » 2006 » November

Two philanthropists from Melbourne, Australia, had $1.7 million swindled out of them by their long time accountant, who needed the money to fund her escalating gambling addiction.

A senior Pennsylvania state Democrat announced that he will introduce a legislation at the beginning of 2007 that would legalize table games, such as blackjack, poker and other games, in the state's recently opened casino and other planned casinos for early next year.

Harrah's Entertainment, the biggest casino operator in the world, which has already received a $15.5 billion buyout offer a month ago, has received a second offer, this time by Penn National Gaming and D.E. Shaw and others.

The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe in northern New York has revealed plans to expand the current casino it operates into an entertainment resort. The new project includes building a 400-room hotel and an 850-seat multi-purpose room. In addition to this, the tribe will relocate the Mohawk Bingo Palace to the new resort as well.

On Wednesday, at about 4 a.m. two armed, masked robbers burst into the Thornhill Club in Toronto, Canada, while a third robber waited in a van outside the club. They proceeded to take cash and valuables from the players and the table.

Walker Digital Gaming, a company owned by inventor Jay Walker, that owns several hundred casino-related patents, has come up with a revolutionary video poker machine. The new game allows the player to buy a certain amount of poker hands he can play for a set cost.

Eighth Wonder, a Las Vegas-based resort developing company led by gaming and entertainment industry pioneer Mark Advent, plans to net Singapore's second casino license, with the help of soccer legend, Pele.

A senior official in the western Canadian province of Alberta is accused of stealing more than $600,000 from his employer to sustain his own gambling habit. On Friday, Alberta Auditor General Fred Dunn reported that Lloyd Carr, who ran the tobacco-reduction unit of the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission, had used five false contracts to embezzle funds from the government agency.

Dozens of people gathered on Friday outside Wynn Las Vegas to protest the casino's new tips distribution policy. About 80 protestors carried signs in support of dealers in the resort that are forced to share their tips with their supervisors.

The consulting firm MECN's new study "The Spanish Gambling Market - Key region for future growth" analyses the Spanish gambling market in detail.

Pachinko World, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: PCHW), an owner and operator of stores in Japan offering pachinko gaming entertainment, announced today that it intends to file a Form 15 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on or about December 22, 2006 to voluntarily deregister its common stock and suspend its reporting obligations under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act").

Powerball will reach an estimated $64 million jackpot for Saturday night's draw as the grand prize was not hit Wednesday evening. Even though the jackpot was not hit, one lucky ticket from South Carolina won $1 million cash with the Power Play option!

Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian, the sole owner of Tracinda Corp. which owns 56.3 percent of MGM Mirage, the second largest casino operators in the world after Harrah's Entertainment Inc., plans to purchase 15 million stocks of the company for $825 million.

A rather simple and yet clever casino scam in Australia earned the fraudulent group several years in prison. An Australian citizen and four Chinese nationals stole a legitimate playing card from Jupiter's Casino in Gold Coast and used it to manipulate games of Mini-Baccarat in the casino's high rollers room.

Three illegal gambling operations were raided by the Dallas SWAT team over the weekend. The raids occurred simultaneously and were one of the largest crackdowns on illegal gambling in Texas.

The Pennsylvania state Senate has approved on Tuesday, just before the state legislature adjourned for the year, a bill that will allow slot machine parlors and the planned casinos in Pennsylvania to serve unlimited free alcohol, pending approval by the state's Governor Edward G. Rendell and the House.

Phil Hellmuth, one of the best poker players in the world and winner of 10 WSOP bracelets, will host this year's TASER Foundation's poker tournament for charity, which will take place on Saturday, December 9, at the Fort McDowell Casino in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Craig Neilsen, chief executive officer of Ameristar Casinos Inc., one of the biggest gaming companies in the United States, passed away on Sunday at the age of 65.  Neilsen, who is Ameristar's majority shareholder, unexpectedly died in his sleep early in the morning.

The French government announced on Thursday that it will ban smoking in most public places from February 1, 2007, with the ban becoming total 11 months later. Casinos, however, will be exempt from this ban until January 1, 2008.

On Saturday morning, four armed men wearing ski masks burst into a poker tournament at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post in Franklin Square, Long Island, NY, and robbed cash and cell phones from 80 players.

WMS, an American slot machine manufacturer, is trying to recover from its 2001 debacle which caused its stocks to crash when software glitches made it possible for players to pile up credits without paying for them. The company has unveiled several new slot machine concepts in last week’s gaming industry convention in Las Vegas, Global Gaming Expo.

The British government is now considering permitting poker games in pubs, starting next year. In order to keep the games at low stakes the government proposed that the daily (or nightly) limit will be about £10, which will keep the game at a friendly level.

As much as 12 casinos might be up and running in 3 years in Texas cities and the islands along the Gulf Coast, after Tuesday's proposal, that was filed  before the legislative session that will open in January.

The New York Police department arrested more than 20 people on Tuesday, who According to the charges brought against them, were involved in operating a billion-dollar-a- year illegal betting and gambling site.

Kazakhstan is now following Russia's footsteps and aims to limit gambling in the country. As of January 1, 2007, only two towns in the country will offer legal gambling. This follows neighboring Russia's latest decision to restrict gambling to only four unpopulated areas.

On Tuesday, a panel of experts that gathered at the Global Gaming Expo, held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, told a gambling conference that smoking bans are considerably hurting casinos revenue, but increasing marketing and investments can lure the customers back.

One of the biggest online casino operators in the world, 888 Holdings, said on Tuesday that net gaming revenue at its non-U.S. operations increased by 20 percent in the third quarter of 2006.

Pennsylvania has taken its first positive step towards the gambling world. On Tuesday, the Mohegan Sun casino at Pocono Downs will open to the public. A thousand invited guests and thousands others are expected to visit Pennsylvania's first casino.

Singapore began hosting its first international poker tournament this Sunday, in cooperation with British betting exchange Betfair. Players from 32 countries, including Singapore, will compete for the $2 million prize pool.

Gambling software maker Playtech said on Monday it had agreed to aquire part of its business rival, Tribeca Tables Europe, for between $75 million and $139 million, depending on the revenues generated from the acquisition in the coming year.

The Dunedin Casino in New Zealand was closed on Monday and Tuesday after it had its license suspended for not taking adequate action over a problem gambler, who lost more than $6.6 million over a period of three years.

Pamela Anderson, the former Baywatch star, has shut down her online poker site PamelaPoker.com. The actress has decided to close it down, just four months after opening it, due to the current status of online gambling in the United States.

On Thursday, the South Dakota Supreme Court unanimously ruled that movie star Kevin Costner will not have to sell his majority stake in Deadwood casino in order to cut ties with two former business associates who were looking to cash in on his desire to become the sole owner.

The new James Bond film, Casino Royale, is set to open this week but it's already creating a buzz around the world and especially within the gambling community.
777.com is dedicating the week of the premier (on November 16) to James bond and Casino Royale and focuses on the role gambling plays in the new movie.

Next Friday, November 17, the Pure nightclub at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas will host the second Annual Comedy Cares Celebrity Poker Tournament, benefiting the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. Among the hosts of the event are comedians Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Crystal, actor Mark Wahlberg and HBO CEO Chris Albrecht.

The Silver Slipper Casino in Mississippi has opened today, and is the first land-based casino on the Gulf Coast that is built completely from scratch. The new $80 million casino features crystal chandeliers eight feet wide hanging over the table games from a ceiling detailed with gold-leaf rosettes.

Frank McFadden, who until recently was the chief operating officer of one of Las Vegas Sands' hotels in Macau, the Venetian Macau Ltd., Was hired by Sociedade Jogos de Macau S.A., a rival casino operator owned by local gambling tycoon Stanley Ho.

Carta Mundi (Latin for "cards for the world"), the veteran Belgian playing card manufacturer, has issued special two separate collectible James Bond "Casino Royale" poker chip sets, as well as playing cards. The company also supplied the cards and chips used in the new James bond movie.

Jamie gold, the 2006 World Series of Poker champion and winner of the tournament's $12 million grand prize has filed a motion to dissolve the preliminary injunction preventing him from collecting the second half of his winnings. Gold has so far received only $6 million out of the $12 million due to a law suit filed against him by Bruce Crispin Leyser shortly after the WSOP.

Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. has announced that it has acquired or received acceptances for about 83 percent of London Clubs International's ordinary shares and that the company expects to control all of the shares by the end of the year.

Besides winning money in casinos or online gambling sites it will soon be possible to win money while flying.

Ryanair, an Irish airline company, has formed a gaming partnership with online bingo group Jackpotjoy.com which will, by mid-2007, enable them to offer in-flight entertainment in the form of gambling.

The major British group Ladbrokes is showing interest in online gambling giant 888 Holdings. The two companies have held preliminary talks. According to analysts, Ladbrokes planned to enter the online gambling for a long time and the recent crash of those companies due to the recent law in the United States provided the perfect opportunity.

Vince Neil, Mötley Crüe's singer, is hosting the second annual Off the Strip Poker Tournament at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas today, Sunday, November 5.

Neils, Skylar Foundation will raise money for the T.J Martell Foundation, with many celebrities, professional poker players and erotic dancers from Las Vegas. The Foundations raise money for Aids and cancer research.

An illegal gambling den has been uncovered in Singapore. It was located, of all places, in the consulate of the West African state of Senegal. The daily stakes were reported to have reached $640,000.

Trans World Corporation, the owner and operator of casinos in Europe, today announces a net income for the quarter ended September 30, 2006 of $513,000, or $0.07 per share.

Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, two of the NFL's finest pivots to go head to head on Sunday when the Patriots meet the Colts in Foxborough.

CryptoLogic - a leading software developer to the global Internet gaming industry, reported financial results for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2006, including a 32% increase in quarterly revenue to $27.7 million, and a 47% increase in earnings per diluted share to $0.53. With record year-to-date financial results and $129 million in cash, CryptoLogic will continue to invest aggressively in the growth of its business.

MGM Mirage, one of the biggest casino operators in the world, announced its plans to sell the three casinos in Primm, a town on the border between Nevada and California. The buyer, Herbst Gaming Inc., will pay $400 million for 2,640 rooms and136,000 square feet of casino space in all three casinos: Whiskey Pete's hotel-casinos, Buffalo Bill's and Primm Valley.

A British former financial advisor, who conned clients out more than £2 million in order to fund his online gambling addiction, has been sentenced for nine years in prison for theft, forgery and money laundering.

Casinos in Arizona owned by Indian tribes continue to grow. The Arizona Department of Gaming reported on Tuesday that in the quarter that ended on September 30 they contributed more than $26.3 million to the state.