The Gambling Guru

Is smoking a right in Michigan casinos? Some folks think it is. I believe it is an either or option, with the smart casinos pushing for smoking sections within casinos, think a Smoking Blackjack Lounge, or a section specialy designated for smokers. But that is just my take.

Tribal casinos in Michigan would suffer no such ban, and would draw large numbers of patrons put off by smoking laws affecting Detroit casinos.

Online Casino Advisory has taken the position that smokers deserve the same libertarian rights that gamblers do. Now, news from across the country shows that in a more practical and less philosophical sense, smoking bans have become problematic.

First, the Las Vegas Review-Journal pointed out in a recent editorial the revenue lost to casinos as smoking bans have been imposed. In Illinois, for instance, income is off by better than ten percent since casinos were forced into a no-smoking policy.

This interesting news came from over there in Good Ol England.

A man who gambled away his parents’ £20,000 savings, then robbed a bookies to try to get it back, was jailed for three years yesterday.

Nayden Zhelyazkov hid in the toilet of a Ladbrokes until closing time. He burst in wearing a mask made from a bin liner with eye slits cut out and brandishing a toy gun.

First offender Zhelyazkov, a Bulgarian, threatened staff and escaped with £6000, including specially marked notes.

Don´t worry folks the Governor of County is smoking marijuana, atleast that is my take on this whole issue. I seriously think he will have a hard time actually seizing any of these foreign owned domains and some of these US based domains might just file a massive lawsuit saying this is unconstitutional and they would probably win.

Poker players and those involved in the online poker industry were absolutely flabbergasted this morning when browsing the online poker news headlines, their email boxes, and poker forums, they found that a court judge in Kentucky, USA, has ordered the seizure of 141 online poker and gambling domains, to be transferred to ownership of the plaintiff – the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Among the 141 online gambling domains to be seized are some of the biggest players in the industry – PokerStars.com, FullTiltPoker.com, DoylesRoom.com, AbsolutePoker.com, Bodoglife.com, CakePoker.com and even the leading online gambling software developer, Microgaming.com.

I cannot fathom how the Governor of Kentucky, Steve Beshear – who instigated the whole thing – got the idea that he can take control of domain names belonging to small companies outside of the US, but according to the Franklin Circuit Court of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, he can.

One of the worlds foremost elite gamblers has been cleared in an investigation that wanted to find out if he was involved in illegal betting patterns.

Nikolay Davydenko, ranked No. 6 in the world, was cleared in an investigation into betting patterns on a match in which he lost to a lower-ranked opponent.

The ATP started its investigation after Davydenko lost to Martin Vassallo Arguello, who was ranked 87th at the time, on Aug. 2, 2007. Vassallo Arguello was ahead 2-6, 6-3, 2-1 when Davydenko retired from the match, saying he had an injured foot.

An online gambling site said some $7 million was bet on the match, with most of the bets on Vassallo Arguello even after Davydenko won the first set. The gambling site said the amount was about 10 times the usual wagered on such a match.

ATP officials on Friday said they found no evidence of wrongdoing by Davydenko or anyone else involved in the match. They said the investigation was closed.

The ATP has threatened a lifetime ban on players found to have fixed a match on the tour.

Banking and Gambling just doesnt mix. One Greek banker found out the hard way by gambling away his clients money and we are talking a lot of money.

Seriously arent there checks and balances for this type of things in Greece.

Greek police arrested a bank manager from the small Aegean island of Leros on Friday after he gambled away in casinos more than 1 million euros (790,000 pounds) embezzled from his clients’ savings and bank bonds.

Police said the 58-year-old man ran the local branch of the National Bank of Greece, the country’s largest lender, on the remote island of fewer than 10,000 inhabitants. He had travelled to casinos across Greece for four months to bet the stolen money.

“He was always losing,” said a police official, who asked not to be identified. “Every time he played a small amount of money to break even, he lost it, so the next time he had to take a little bit more.”

When savers asked to withdraw their money, the bank manager told them it was locked in long-term deposits and could not be withdrawn immediately, police said.

His activities were uncovered when clients presented a court case, prompting investigators to review the bank’s accounts.

Leros forms part of the Dodecanese archipelago and lies off the coast of Turkey, some 320 km (200 miles) from Athens.

Greeks are a nation of enthusiastic gamblers and the national gaming monopoly OPAP is Europe’s biggest betting firm.

A New York charity says it has turned down a share of a $3 million lottery jackpot because accepting the money could send the wrong message to gambling addicts.
The Lighthouse Mission, which helps feed 3,000 hungry Long Island residents a week, had been chosen to share an anonymous donor’s jackpot last month. The donor gave the winning ticket to the True North Community Church, which said it would share the money with other charities.
The mission’s pastor, James Ryan, says he appreciates the offer but had to turn it down because his organization counsels against addictions, including gambling. He did not say what the mission’s share of the prize would have been.

Seriously I dont want to hear this church wine about funding for a long long time. What is wrong with buying a lottery ticket it is not a sign of addiction. This is truly ridiculous.

As Barney Frank prepares to once again attempt to move legislation proposing the regulation of online casinos through his Financial Services Committee, reports are coming in that Hunter Biden, son of Vice-Presidential candidate Joe Biden, will be lobbying on behalf of Internet gaming interests.

The younger Biden’s law firm, Oldaker, Biden and Belair, has filled out papers registering as hired lobbyists for PartyGaming owner Russ DeLeon. PartyGaming is based out of Gibralter.

It would sure be amazing if we got this legislation through i mean online gambling does nothing but make for a better internet economy.

Nevada University was cleared of any gambling claims according to the NCAA. Which is big news considering the type of claims that were reported.

NCAA investigators have cleared Nevada of the most serious allegations that sparked a probe of the school, including issues related to gambling, according to athletic director Cary Groth.

Groth said Tuesday the issue won’t be resolved until the NCAA’s committee on infractions acts on the investigative report. But she said investigators determined there had been no lack of institutional control and no gambling issues at the school.

Those claims were made by former women’s soccer coach Terri Patraw, who claimed she was fired in retaliation for reporting such violations. She said sports bets had been placed by Nevada men’s golf coach Rich Merritt, who since has resigned.

Just because you are a casino doesnt mean you can offer online gaming too. Atleast not in the Great Old United States even if money doesnt change hands. Huh. Ok seriously that is like telling people they cant have their own facebook application.

A North County tribe is trying to woo gamblers to its Valley Center casino by offering games online.

But state gambling regulators said they haven’t determined whether the games are legal, and a gambling watchdog group said the games are not properly licensed.

The Pauma Band of Mission Indians launched a virtual casino on its Web site last month; it offers video slot machines, table games and card games.

The first of its kind in the region, the site allows customers to play games of chance at home for fun or for credits that can be redeemed at the tribe’s casino. The Pauma tribe partnered with GameLogic, a Boston-based firm, to provide the online system.

As long as no money changes hands, it’s perfectly legal, a gambling law professor said. Federal law prohibits online gambling.

“If you can’t lose, it’s not gambling,” said professor I. Nelson Rose, who specializes in gambling law at Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa.

But state gaming officials aren’t so sure.

A spokeswoman at the California attorney general’s office, which enforces gambling regulations, said state lawyers were not aware of Pauma’s online games.

The state said it is now looking at the Web site to see if the games violate the terms of a gambling agreement signed by gaming tribes and the state. Under that agreement, tribes are not allowed to offer gambling outside their reservations.

Companies that shovel mutual fund dollars into online gambling websites should be taken out and shot. Atleast thats my ridiculous opinion. Seriously though what was this company thinking? I mean really this is outrageous and has jail time written all over it.

American Century Cos. Inc. and its directors have been sued in San Francisco by a shareholder who alleges that the company invested in illegal online gambling companies that the federal government cracked down on in 2006.

The Kansas City-based mutual fund company’s alleged investments in various online gambling Web sites and the subsequent law enforcement action taken against those sites ruined the investments and caused shareholders to lose value on their shares in the American Century Ultra Fund, according to the complaint.

None of the illegal Web sites was named in the suit, but New York lawyer Thomas Sheridan, who represents the plaintiff, New York resident and American Century Ultra Fund investor Laura Seidl, said Thursday that one of the sites was Gibraltar-based Partygaming.com.