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Internet gambling bills being considered in the US

20 May

It was argued before a congressional panel this week that Internet gambling should be legalized and taxed in the United States to raise $42 billion in the period of ten years and declare lawful gamers who bet online.

“We are talking about a decision by adults to do what they want to do with their own money,” said Democrat Representative Barney Frank, who sponsors a bill to legalize online gaming, citing John Stuart Mill’s essay “On Liberty” to bring across his perspective. The House of Representatives is considering two Internet gambling bills. One would legalize it. The other would require people to declare winnings from online gambling to U.S. tax authorities and set a 0.25 percent tax on wagers of all federally licensed bets.

The UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Act) has been signed into law on the 13th of October, 2006. The UIGEA objective was to stop the transfer of funds from any USA financial institution to online gambling websites, excluding USA based websites for lotteries and horse racing.

If all states took part, taxing online gambling could raise about $42 billion over a decade, according to the joint congressigambling-usonal tax committee. Washington Democrat Jim McDermott sponsors the tax bill, but not all Democrats back it. Some Republicans favour it, but others are against it due to moral concerns.

Privately held Harrah’s Entertainment, the biggest casino company, backs legalizing online gambling, but not the House bill on taxation. Rival MGM Mirage said it has no position on the tax bill, but supports legalization and taxation in some form.

The Obama Administration has yet to take a position on the matter.

Death of an Online Casino Exec’s Wife

11 May

Recent reports have stated that the CEO and founder of one of the internet’s gaming social networks, Mark Campbell, has been accused of the killing of his wife.

Campbell, 53, allegedly attacked his wife Olga Pleguezuelos, while she was sleeping, after reading a text message on her phone that her lover has sent.

Pleguezuelos was reported dead last year after police found her lifeless body in her London home. The trial of Campbell in the case is currently underway.

The prosecutions arguments lie with Pleguezuelos waking up in the middle of the attack and attempted to defend herself against her husband. Campbell then proceeded to stab his wife to death. Prior to calling an ambulance, Campbell has slit his own wrists.

A week prior to the murder, Pleguezuelos had reportedly told her husband that she would be leaving him and moving to Las Vegas, where with her new man and new job she would be “starting afresh”.

The prosecutor stated that there was “nothing sudden or temporarily about it; that one could see from his own writings recovered from a bin, that he has been rationalising this situation for a while”.

Proceedings in the trial continue.

Bilingual Poker Tables

11 May

After much controversy over the inadequate amount of bilingual provision with Brunswick’s latest casinos, Casino New Brunswick, the holding company has now compromised.

The New Brunswick Casino will now be offering bilingual services a two of the poker tables they offer.

They will also be implementing this change in the not too distance future, as stated by the casino manager, who said the bilingual service will also be implanted on blackjack.

Female Competitors on the Rise in Poker Tournaments

26 Apr

Liv Boeree learned to play poker four years ago and now feels she is ready to go into battle in Monte Carlo in an attempt to win £2.2m.

This 25 year old astrophysics graduate/TV presenter/model learned to play poker while she was working on the Channel 5 show Ultimate Poker Showdown and has already won £1.1m in a preliminary round in the European Poker Tournament (EPT) event and will be playing in the final on Sunday in Italy.

Boeree is the third woman to win an EPT event since the tour began in 2004.

“I went round to all the EPTs as a host but all I was thinking was, ‘I want to play’.” She said.

She is well known on the poker circuit because of her “Liv stare” poker face that her opponents claim unsettles her.

The Monte Carlo final is taking place at Le Sporting Club in Monaco until 30 April.

Arrival of Casino Baby

21 Apr

The arrival of a baby boy was made even more special as the couple met and fell in love while playing casino games online.

Douglas and Tammy Root, Munich residents, met at an online casino while playing roulette. The Two had no idea at first that they were both from the same town and had attended the same school, some fifteen years earlier.

Their chatting continued for over two months until they eventually met in person. Eleven months after their initial conversation, Douglas popped the question in the same casino room that the two had shared their original meeting.

The newest arrival to their family weighed in at a healthy 3.4 kg’s.

Al Pacino invited to play poker by Dr Death

20 Apr

With the release of Al Pacino’s new film, comes an interesting invitation. Pacino has been invited to play poker with Jack Kevorkian- the physician who was dubbed “Dr. Death” after assisting a number of suicides for terminal patients.

This invitation was extended by Kervorkian when he met Pacino at the premier of Pacino’s new film called “You Don’t Know Jack” in which Pacino is said to have transformed uncannily into the doctor without ever having met him until after the film was made.

“He’s invited me to Detroit to play poker. For Jack, I think I’ll go do it,” Al stated at the premiere of the HBO film.

When talking about his preparation for the role Pacino said: “I spent time just absorbing him,” and “It just shows you sometimes how … some people don’t understand how to be in the public eye, how to deal with media and cameras, but [in this film], with a guy like Jack, you know him longer, you get a sense of who he is. He’s totally funny and self-deprecating. Big-time smart.”

“Anybody who plays poker can’t be all bad,” Dr. Kevorkian, an avid poker player, said of Al, after it was agreed that they would be playing soon. “We will, in the future!”

Kevorkian was also impressed by Pacino’s performance: “It’s unbelievable, I was shocked,” he said.

Public Nominations for Women in Poker Hall of Fame 2010

19 Apr

Public Nominations for Women in Poker Hall of Fame 2010

During the course of the Labour Day weekend in the US, the general poker playing public will be given their opportunity to submit their nominations in the 2010 Women in Poker Hall of Fame.

Nominations for the awards can be made up until 10 April 2010; eleven days thereafter, the announcement of the official ballot will be made.

All potential female nominees are required to be an active poker player for more than 15 years as well as contributed to the poker industry in a meaningful manner.

2010 also marks a new nominating arrangement which sees candidates having to be a proponent of the women’s game of poker. Regardless of whether the candidate players are not, she only has to show her support. This year, the general public and not only members will have the opportunity to vote.

Upon completion of the final ballot of names, the voting process will also be open to the public. Public vote will count for about half the final determination, with members of the Poker Hall of Fame and enshrined members counting for the other half.

The final winners and newest inductees into the Hall of Fame will be announced on 3 September 2010 at a popular Las Vegas casino venue. Jan Fisher will also be on hand for the grand event as the Master of Ceremonies for the night.

What’s in a name?

15 Apr

What’s in a name?

You could be in luck according to the Daily Telegraph if your name happened to be either John or Margaret.

The UK National Lottery has just release a list of all of the first names which have proven the most common lucky winning recipients of the lottery.

These results come hot off the heels of the most recent winner claiming $35 million.

The most common male names who have won more than $50k are:

  • John
  • David
  • Michael
  • Peter
  • Robert
  • James
  • Paul
  • William
  • Stephan

The most common female winners are:

  • Margaret
  • Susan
  • Patricia
  • Christine
  • Elizabeth
  • Jean
  • Janet
  • Linda
  • Karen

Death of Online Casino Owner

14 Apr

Death of Online Casino Owner

The second high profile online casino owner in the last 12 months has died.

Police are currently investigating the death of Kenneth Weitzner, the founder of ThePrescription.com (therx.com); the company he sold eight years ago for more than $2 million. This followed with the inception of the online casino portal EOG.com (Eye on Gambling) which he founded. He was also a frequent punter of big sports books within Las Vegas; he was also a good friend of one of the states betting sharks, Billy Walters.

Initial investigations have revealed that both Kenneth as well as Jackie, his wife had committed a double suicide. Police officials have however also stated that the exact cause of the deaths had not been established, with investigations into the deaths still an ongoing process.

Rumours have circulated in various casino communities that Kenneth owed many people quite a bit of cash. The cause of this debt could possibility be due to gambling, but it is still up for debate as to why Jackie would have been considered a target.

As mentioned, Kenneth is the latest casino owner to be found dead. Andreas Oscarsson, the founder of pokerlistings.com was found murdered less than a year ago. It has been noted that Andreas had received a death threat due to the testimony he gave in the trial of a man attempting to extort over $2 million from him.

The news of Kenneth’s death is set to create a lot of buzz within gambling circles, and until police finalise their investigation into the couple’s deaths, the interest in the case is sure to continue.

Londoner Wins Irish Open Poker Final

7 Apr

Londoner Wins Irish Open Poker Final

The Irish Open Poker Tournament proved a roaring success this year, and as the hotly contested final come to an end, organisers could not have been more pleased with the outcome of the tournament.

The 708-strong competitor list took their seats at the Burlington Hotel for a jam-packed poker competition.

Familiar faces from previous competitors were also present, which included last year’s winner Christer Johansson, as well as Neil Channing, Dan Harrington and Brian Townsend.

With a €600,000 first place prize up for grabs, players and spectators alike were on the edge of their seats throughout the four-day long competition to see who would walk away victorious.

The final consisted of nine finalists, and each one of them brought their individual flare to the poker table, as they vied it out for top honours. Among the nine finalists, Ben Roberts, a veteran cash game player made his mark straight away, but hot young player James Mitchell did not lag far behind.

James Mitchell, the Black Belt Poker protégé of Neil Channing, the former Irish Open champion proved to hold the superior chip lead by the start of the final table.

During the course of the heads-up battle with Paul Carr, Carr began with the upper hand forcing Mitchell to go all-in while trailing with pocket queens against A-6. Mitchell’s luck changed when and ace on the river saved him and began his turn around. Mitchell had eventually caught out the bluff of Carr and capture the title.

Mitchell was visibly overwhelmed by his win and thanked everyone in the crowd for their great support throughout the tournament. This win is Mitchell’s largest live poker win so far.

Together with Mitchell, eight other players reached the final and walked away win big cash rewards, the list of winners were as follows:

1st place: James Mitchell (€600,000)

2nd place: Paul Carr (€312,600)

3rd Place: Santeri Valikoski (€205,200)

4th place: Rob Sherwood (€163,300)

5th place: Ben Roberts (€130,600)

6th place: Edmund Sweeny (€100,800)

7th place: Declan Connolly (€75,000)

8th place: Peter Murphy (€56,300)

9th place: Yann Dion (€37,700)