Las Vegas Pictures

Take a look at these amazing pictures from Las Vegas

Trump Hotels creditors agree to recapitalization

Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc. said it struck a deal with shareholders who had objected to the company's recapitalization plan. Under the agreement, the company would make a $17.5 million cash payment to common stockholders (other than Mr. Trump), and stockholders would receive options to purchase up to 5.3% of the company.

Equity holders had blasted Trump's recapitalization plan as a sweetheart deal for the developer, whose casino company filed for bankruptcy protection in November.

Under the agreement, the World's Fair site would be sold at auction once the company's recapitalization proceedings are completed, with the net proceeds going to the common stockholders.

The U.S. Office of the Trustee says the firm used a financial adviser, UBS Securities, that has a conflict of interest: It is reportedly the former employer of Trump Hotels President Scott Butera.

In addition, DLJ Merchant Banking objects to the plan, claiming that it overlooks a $25 million breakup fee it is owed.

Related Links:
http://www.online-casino-blog.com/2005/03/trump-casinos-renovated-to-overcome.html

New Poker Product EnglishHarbourPoker.com

English Harbour New Ventures Inc, a leading provider of online gaming services, today announced the launch of the company’s new online poker product, English Harbour Poker. One of the most respected names in the Internet gaming industry now enters the burgeoning poker market adding EnglishHarbourPoker.com to the company’s already impressive portfolio of managed casino properties.

Partnering with premier software developer Las Vegas From Home Inc., English Harbour has produced an authentic multiplayer experience for poker players of all levels. Free to download, the suite of software boasts an impressive complement of poker’s most popular games including: Texas Hold’em, Omaha, 7 Card Stud, Survivor Guts Poker and Chinese Poker. EnglishHarbourPoker.com also offers players daily tournaments including the opportunity to play satellites for seats on the World Poker Tour and the World Series of Poker.

“Our new poker product is the perfect complement to our portfolio of established online casino properties and clearly demonstrates our company’s ability to adapt with the marketplace,” said Paul Sudolski, Managing Director of English Harbour New Ventures. “We’re thrilled to offer our customers a poker product featuring realistic game play, nonstop tournament action, rewarding promotions and robust technology from a company they trust.”

EnglishHarbourPoker.com incorporates the latest in 128-bit SSL encryption while utilizing anti-hacking and anti-collusion technology to ensure the software is among the most secure in the industry. Adhering with the highest standards of game play integrity, EnglishHarbourPoker.com employs a cutting-edge random number generator.

For additional information, please visit www.EnglishHarbourPoker.com

Woman sells her name to Golden Palace

A mother of five put her name up for bid on eBay and got an offer. Terri Iligan, 33, sold her name to Internet site Golden Palace Casino, and she will officially be named goldenpalace.com once the legal work is complete.

The casino paid $15,199 for the name.

Iligan said she got the idea when she found out how much it would cost to send one of her children, ages 4 to 10, to a golf school Tiger Woods attended.

"To my kids and to my husband, I will always be Terri. My husband is real supportive," she told WATE-TV in Knoxville. "He thinks it's funny. As long as they get to call me mom, they don't care."

Related links:
http://www.online-casino-blog.com/2005/03/body-billboard-babe.html
http://www.online-casino-blog.com/2005/03/golden-palace-buys-69-hh-strippers.html

5 Brand New Games by Microgaming

Microgaming has just released five new casino games for its clients

Aces & Eights Video Poker - With pin sharp, brightly coloured graphics allied to fast and smooth gameplay and generous pay tables, it is likely that the single deck, 52 card game will feature high on the play lists for most VP fans.

Mermaids Millions Video Slot - rides on the amazing success of Tomb Raider. This Video Slot and is sure to be as successful, with its great combination of American and Aussie game functionality including a 2nd screen Bonus Game and a Free Spins feature.

Vegas Craps - Craps is the fastest and most thrilling table game in the casino. Vegas Craps captures all of this excitement with a full range of bets and very attractive odds. The Field bet pays double on a 2 and triple on a 12. Buy and Lay bets pay true odds less a 5% commission on winnings only. And you can take 3x odds on the Pass Line, Don't Pass Line, Come and Don't Come bets.

Cabin Fever Video Slot - is a 5 reel, 20 payline, 10 coin game, with a Wild and a Scatter symbol, and a Free Spin Bonus Feature, and a Gamble feature. With winter in full cry, this new video slot will help while away the freezing nights with indoors fun and profit...it's online now, and it's called Cabin Fever.

Frost Bite Reel Slot - As the name suggests, this straightforward 3 reel, 1 payline, two coins per bet slot has a modern cool and blue winter theme, but delivers plenty of hot action when the Wild feature kicks in to double or quadruple winning combinations.

Click HERE for a list of Microgaming powered Casinos

Casino Review - Vegas Red Online Casino

VegasRed.com is a brand new online casino, powered by the latest version of the PlayTech software (our favorite Casino games!). You can get a total of $888 Free on your first four deposits - the initial signup bonus is 200%. Make sure you read all the details on the Vegas Red website to calculate exactly which bonus offer is righr for you. You earn points automatically as you play, and you can then redeem your points for CASH and they count towards raising your VIP level. Deposit using FirePay, NETeller, Citadel, 900 Pay or Wire Transfer and get an Extra 10% (up to $250 per month).
Sign-up bonus: 200% Bonus up to $200 Free (there are more free bonuses for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th deposits)
Games: 61 casino games
Progressives: 9 progressive games
Download: Yes
Play for Fun: Yes
Gaming Software: Play Tech

1 Million No-Limit Hold'em Poker Event by Party Poker

Party Poker proudly announces that on April 23rd a no-limit texas hold'em poker tournament will be held featuring a prize pool that is guaranteed to be in excess of $1 Million.

News and updates, found at PartyPoker.com will be available until the day of the tournament.

Entries for this potentially life-changing poker event are limited, so players are encouraged to sign up while space is still available.

Multi-table qualifying tournaments with entry fees of just $11, $22 and $35 will be offered as well as single table qualifying tournaments with entry fees of only $70.

Even a mere $8 can gain entry into the tournament when players participate in sub-qualifying tournaments.

Party Poker is continually offering new special events for the benefit of their users. Players can feel safe and secure that games are conducted in an honest manner. Party Poker also takes a zero tolerance stance on fraud and collusion among players to ensure that games are fair.

iGGBA Terminates Gambling Federation

E-gaming trade association iGGBA crossed the Gambling Federation (GFED) of its list of members after conducting an investigation into the company's alleged use of malware in its online casino software. The investigation returned findings that GFED indeed did incorporate malware in its online casino software, knowingly and intentionally.

iGGBA cited GFED's actions as running contrary to the association's Code of Conduct, thus warranting the terminated membership. Termination of GFED's membership to the iGGBA is effective immediately. iGGBA joins a number of industry organizations who spoke out against the scandal earlier this month, among them, eCOGRA and the IGC, the latter of which also terminated GFED's membership.

Related Links:
IGC Terminates Gambling Federation
eCOGRA Addresses Gambling Federation Malware Issue
Malware Scandal hits GFED

Casino Rewards takes over Integrity Casinos

PRESS RELEASE:

Casino Rewards Group, operators of leading casinos including Blackjack
Ballroom and Golden Tiger, and Integrity Casinos Limited, operators
of the long established Captain Cooks Casino, today announced that
the companies have reached an agreement under which Casino Rewards
will acquire all Integrity gaming entities.

Jamie Taylor from Casino Rewards stated, "The Casino
Rewards Group and ICL are both Microgaming
powered groups and share complementary business models, which will
allow easy integration of ICL’s product offerings and most
importantly uninterrupted provision of service for all ICL players.

This acquisition is an exciting opportunity that will make Casino
Rewards a stronger company with increased opportunities for growth
and greater resources to offer clients. ICL brings a suite of long
standing and well respected brands, which really made the acquisition
an easy decision, we can’t wait to get the operational ball
rolling, and put an end to the unfounded speculation regarding delayed
payments”.

Casino Rewards has emphasized that all players and affiliates will
incur no intended disruption to business at ICL, with all player
and affiliate accounts to continue and be paid as per standard trading
terms.

Related Links:
Visit Casino Rewards
Visit Integrity Casinos

Paris Casino in Vegas

Some gorgeous pictures of the Paris Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas!

Playtech Releases 4 New Games

Online casino software developer Playtech adds four new games to its online casino software portfolio.

The new offerings, Blackjack Surrender, Derby Day, 'Jacks or Better' 10-Line Video Poker and 'Aces and Faces' 25-Line Video Poker, can now be accessed at online casino sites boasting Playtech software.

Black Jack Surrender is founded on the traditional single-deck blackjack already offered by Playtech-powered online casinos.

The two online poker games were added to satisfy the burgeoning demand for more varied video poker options.

Click here to see a list of Playtech Casinos

Trump - Jackson story continues

By The Associated Press

NEW YORK- Donald Trump might not want Michael Jackson to perform in Las Vegas after all.

Us Weekly magazine said Wednesday that Trump and Phil Ruffin, his partner in the Trump International Hotel & Tower, had talked with Jackson's representatives about the King of Pop doing a long-term residency at Ruffin's New Frontier Hotel and Casino.

"It's an interesting idea, but I don't think he'd show up half the time," Trump told syndicated entertainment show "The Insider."

"I can't imagine what the insurance policy would be like," he added.

A phone call by The Associated Press to Trump wasn't immediately returned.

Jackson, 46, is on trial in Santa Maria, Calif. He is accused of molesting a boy, now 15, at his Neverland ranch, giving him alcohol and conspiring to hold the boy's family captive in 2003.

Related Links:
http://www.online-casino-blog.com/2005/03/michael-jackson-in-vegas.html

Vegas at Night

A beautiful picture of the Las Vegas city submited by Jon.

Casino Review - Swiss Casino

After having some legal problems because of the name-domain SwissCasino.com (Swiss Casinos Holding AG is one of the biggest land based casino groups), Swiss Casino is coming back better than ever with new website and games. Swiss Casino has always been one of my favorites and I'm sure it will be yours too.

The website has nice blue colors and is very clean and functional. You can get up to $400 free on your first four deposits at Swiss Casino (100% up to $100 for each deposit). There is a $225 Free High Rollers Bonus (deposit $500 or more), 10% and 15% extra for alternative purchase methods, Comps program, Birthday Bonus and a lot more.

The casino was downloaded very fast - around 2 minutes on my cable connection. Not all games are immediately available to play, but the software is being downloaded in the background: I started writing the review and I had left the casino open. When I checked after a while to start playing all the games where already there!

I'm a big fan of the PlayTech software so Swiss Casino is no exception. Its not just the quality of the games, but all the extra options that you get inside the casino itself. I think the table games are amazing - for sure the strongest point in Swiss Casino, but also the slot machines are very nice too.

Swiss Casino software contains 61 games: Baccarat, Blackjack, Caribbean Poker, Pai Gow Poker, Video Poker, Deuces Wild, Craps, 3-reel and 5-reel Slots, Magic Slots, Progressive Slots, Roulette and Keno. All games except Slots, Keno and Video Poker have multiplayer support and chat feature. You can also create Private Groups and play with your friends.

Bets start as low as 1c for slots, 5c for Video Poker and $1 for table games.

If you have never played at Swiss Casino I highly recommend you try it. It is a very classy and elegant casino, guaranteed to keep you company for a long time. One of our all-time favorites.

Error Makes Money machine give $100 Bills

When casino customers find out that a machine is paying off, they'll keep playing it.

But it was no gamble recently at Bluffs Run casino in Council Bluffs when a bill changer began spitting out $100 bills instead of 20s. Customers walked away with almost $47,000 extra.

State officials say an employee at the casino in Council Bluffs mistakenly placed $100 bills in one of the bill changers at 5 a.m.Dec. 18. Customers who wanted five $20s for a $100 bill instead got five $100 bills in change.No one reported the mistake to casino managers and a $46,640 shortage wasn't discovered until the machine was shutdown.

'It went on for about six hours,' Janae Sternberg, the casino's finance director, told the Des Moines Register.'You know, some of the guests had figured out that there was a malfunction and they went back -- over and over and over.'

Surveillance videotapes were of little help in identifying those who helped themselves to extra cash.The employee who made the mistake was fired but an administrative hearing ruled she was entitled to full unemployment benefits.

Michael Jackson in Vegas?

Donald Trump is hoping to give troubled pop star Michael Jackson a new job - as a resident performer in Las Vegas.

The establishment's owner Phil Ruffin and partner Jack Wishna have already spoken to the star's representatives about a long-term gig.

Trump and Ruffin are partners in Trump International Hotel & Tower, which is being built behind the New Frontier.

Wishna continues, "There'd be moral clauses in the contract," adding that Jackson would draw more than the $80 million Celine Dion grossed in 2004.

Online Casinos Ranking System by Mpthrill.com

Mpthrill.com Have announced production stage for their Online Casinos Ranking System (Linux Powered).

"The demo website that we we're running a month ago was a big success!, we saw online gamblers that used our service to determine the best of the online casinos for them using our resources" mentioned Mike Reegs, V.P Engineering of the Online Casinos Ranking system, "The use experience in online gambling is about to change, now that we are going to deliver our software for free" commented Reegs.

The system is Linux based, it uses MySQL Backend for traffic and Payout ranks And will be available for private gamblers for free as a complete software for ranking online casinos, the demo took small amount of online casinos and analyzed where is the best place to bet on currently using statistics algorithms.

With the production system more online casinos will be added and a client software for the private gamblers will be available, monitoring all available online casinos 24H a day, checking for payouts and bonuses available.

"Using our probability algorithms, we can know for 99% sure where and when you'll earn, and it's just amazing seeing the users that used it so far and won" Said John Glenn, Manager of Mpthrill.com Online Casinos ranking system.

"We have received emails from all over the world thanking us for this calculation demonstation I myself started to use the system off-work, and it's truely amazing, the best part is that our users of the demo will receive it for free not to mention a Bonus alerting software."

"i can definitely say that the gamblers took the advantage of this system to understand where and when is the best online casinos for them." commented Glenn "We wish our users with Good Luck and waiting for more feedbacks"

Online Skill Game from BetCRIS

Highlighting the recent growth of skill-gaming's popularity on the online gambling front, BetCRIS, the Costa Rica-based sports betting company has expanded its offering with a new live skill-gaming site.

New games such as Mahjong, solitaire and rummy constitute a broader effort to diversify BetCRIS' expertise into other areas of gambling.

In a further effort to make its products more attractive to consumers, BetCRIS has entered into an agreement with mobile technology company Phantom Fiber to provide wireless betting services to its customers.

New Casino Pictures

very nice pictures, the Taj Mahal one is my favorite!

Internet poker regulation not happening

The Legislature's dalliance with Internet poker regulation ended abruptly Monday, when a bill to make North Dakota the first state to license cyberspace poker tables got only three votes supporting it.

"This is just another vehicle for more gambling in North Dakota, and I'm not sure that we want it," said Sen. David Nething, R-Jamestown.

The measure lost in the Senate, 44-3, after a brief debate Monday. It squeaked through the House last month, 49-43, and its sponsor, Rep. Jim Kasper, R-Fargo, has been lobbying senators on the measure's behalf.

Other critics of the bill said they were wary of the U.S. Justice Department's stand that Internet gambling in general is illegal. North Dakota's attorney general, Wayne Stenehjem, and Gov. John Hoeven have declined to endorse the legislation.

Nevada and the U.S. Virgin Islands have approved measures that would authorize state regulation of Internet casinos, but they have been reluctant to move forward given the opposition of federal prosecutors.

The bill number is HB1509

States legalizing online gambling?

Undeterred by murky federal law and emboldened by a trade ruling, at least three states are edging toward legalizing online gambling, and the United Kingdom is on the verge of permitting its land-based casinos to take bets online from U.S. citizens.

Those are the latest assaults on the federal Wire Act of 1961, which bans use of telephones to place sports bets.

U.S. lawmakers have struggled for a decade to update the law, hoping to restrain the fast-growing, $10 billion-a-year Internet gambling industry.

Legal experts say the act is narrow and hard to enforce, and that it does not specifically ban casino games.

The vague law has prompted online gaming overtures from: States Lawmakers say they are confident proposed legislation will not violate federal law, and they are willing to defend themselves in court.

This is a legitimate revenue maker," says Republican North Dakota state Rep. Jim Kasper of Fargo.

He introduced legislation that would allow Internet poker sites to operate inside the state.

The state attorney general's office, which would regulate sites, last week received a letter from the Justice Department reiterating the federal ban on all Internet gambling.

North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem has forwarded the letter to the state Senate Judiciary Committee, which is reviewing the bills.

Illinois' legislature is considering a bill to allow the sale of lottery tickets online to state residents 18 and older.

A move by such a key trading partner could undercut efforts by U.S. officials to snuff Internet gambling, says Joseph Kelly, a Buffalo State College professor who researches online gambling.

All this comes against the backdrop of a closely watched World Trade Organization gaming decision.

The United States is appealing a WTO ruling that it violates international trade rules by allowing credit cards to be used for domestic gambling but not online bets.

Montreal Casino by Night

Just beautiful!! Thanks to Adrian for sending these!

Getminted steals one from 888.com

Getminted.com, who offer the top casino experience online has added Italian born Pasquale De Lucia from 888.com, where he worked for over three years, in the last year and half as their High Roller manager.

Pasquale plans to launch a new High Roller scheme to ensure big players receive advantages for choosing the most reputable casino online. Pasquale commented: “Getminted.com gives its players access to exclusive Vegas brands like Ten Play Poker, Three Card Poker and The Wheel of Fortune. These are all directly licensed just as they would be in a Vegas Casino on the strip – the intellectual property available on the site sets it above other online casino experiences. My job is simple - to ensure high rollers are managed as they would be in an offline casino with healthy bonus structures and comps”.

The opportunity to become a high roller is open to everyone who plays for big money and the program is designed to reward players for their loyalty to the site. There are three tiers to the scheme (Silver, Gold and Platinum) and the offers will be further differentiated by offering a personal service with large regular cash comps to players who qualify. Further details can be found at:

http://www.getmintedcasino.com/playersclub/getminted/vip-club.php

Online Kerry Packer style casino players now have a new home. A place where they can play the most exciting casino licensed formats around from the comfort of their home or office.

Getminted is owned by Cashcade Ltd, the UK's best online game destination. Cashcade also operate: www.betplayandwin.com, www.getmintedbingo.com and www.getmintedpoker.com. Cashcade pays out over £15 million in prizes every month to users of its sites.

Downtown Vegas gets a makeover

The president of Barrick Gaming Corp. has ambitious plans to revive the fortunes of downtown Las Vegas, a gritty area that has long foundered in the shadow of the more prosperous Strip.

While powerful gambling companies shun investing in downtown --- once written off as dead --- Barrick is investing heavily.

The company has staked its fortune there, snapping up large swaths of land valued at more than $200 million.

Six casinos So far, Barrick has bought six casinos and several smaller properties on about 30 acres.

The assets give Barrick a 40 percent stake in the downtown gambling market and about a third of the area's property, company officials said.

Barrick executives are clear about their company's strategy: They're making a real estate play, not one solely based on topsy-turvy gambling revenues that are primarily generated by tourists.

The acquisitions have made Barrick one of the largest landholders in downtown Las Vegas along with Boyd Gaming, whose hotel-casinos include the California, Main Street Station and Fremont.
An acre of real estate along the Strip, one of the most famous boulevards in the world, has been estimated by gambling analysts to cost from $15 million to $25 million.

For a young company, buying downtown at a fraction of that cost seemed like a prudent alternative.

"For a pittance for what this would cost on the Strip, you can be a market leader," said Crystal, 39, a lawyer, Dartmouth College graduate and former New Hampshire legislator.

Much of the company's success depends on Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, the city's biggest cheerleader and a pivotal player in the area's revitalization efforts.

Las Vegas officials have hired renowned architect Frank Gehry to design a medical research facility on the parcel, and the mayor thinks the vacant property would be a suitable site for a major league baseball stadium or basketball arena.

The center is being built in seven phases and eventually will have 7.5 million square feet of space for furniture companies to display their wares to retailers.

The 2.5 million-square-foot first phase opens in July.
He wants to turn the rundown Western hotel-casino into a Latino-themed property to cater to the city's growing Hispanic population.

"I think the overall escalation of the land values in Las Vegas gives great hope for a major turnaround in downtown Las Vegas," Zarnett said.

Frank Streshley, a research analyst with the state Gaming Control Board, said in the first six months of 2004, downtown gambling revenue was down 1.

New Concept - Live Dealer Casino

The site, LondonsCasino , is one of the first in the market to exclusively offer a state of the art, live dealer casino. It will take advantage of speedier broadband connections and stream enhanced video and audio over the internet from a live supervised gaming floor. Site members are able to log in and play with live dealers, real cards and real tables. The move will mark a significant shift away from the use of RNG software.

Set to challenge the larger gaming sites, Londonscasino will use CWC Gaming’s proprietary Flash based software – a second generation live gaming platform - throughout its whole site, offering a superior user experience. The new and improved flash software is the only of its kind to boast audio capabilities and its flash based content means that players do not have to download a set of controls before they start playing.

The gaming floor of Londonscasino is located in Costa Rica, one of the worlds leading gaming locations, and is supervised 24-7 by CWC Gaming’s professional pit bosses, all with many years experience in land based casino operations.

Adam Anhang, CEO of CWC Gaming, explains why the launch of Londonscasino and the swapping of computer generated results for a state of the art, live dealer casino online is so significant:

“Over the last couple of years, players have naturally become cynical of results created by RNG software, results that are invariably stacked in the favour of the house. Londonscasino will put an end to this by providing the same fairness and integrity that is associated with regulated land based gaming.”

Paul Millinder, Managing Director of Vegas Interactive, added:
“This is a very exciting time for the industry and I would encourage those with an interest in online gaming to experience the sophisticated level of service that will be provided. We are delighted to offer online gamblers a fairer and more realistic online casino that, in practice, creates the same impartial and non-manipulated outcome as a live televised horse race or football match.”

Londonscasino.com utilizes the very latest Secure Sockets Layer (“SSL”) technologies to protect data transmitted between its servers and players’ computers. The company operates to the highest standards in fraud prevention and maintains 100% of all customer balances in cash.

Body Billboard Babe

GoldenPalace.com Puts An Early End To Woman's Auction; Their Newest "Body Billboard Babe" Gets Bought After First Day On Ebay.

GoldenPalace.com has added another living ad space their Ebay shopping cart. Fitness model, Tana Gabrielle, of Charlotte N.C. will soon be donning the online casino's infamous tattoo, only this time with a unique touch. Tana's auction was just barely going into it's second day on Ebay, when GoldenPalace.com made a clean sweep with an instant buy, ending the ten day listing.
GoldenPalace.com, the online casino making headlines with their outrageous purchases on Ebay has added MuscleMag and American Curves Magazine model, Tana Gabrielle to it's bevy of advertising beauties.

This time, the online casino decided to forego the usual bidding war and instead, bellied up to the Buy It Now button to make an instant purchase. The magazine model will boldly display the infamous GoldenPalace.com tattoo on her bare skin at a price of $3,000.00 for just six days. Plans are underway now to make this advertising stint have a story all it's own. Time and place, nor exactly how the "tattoo" will be displayed have yet to be announced, but you can be sure GoldenPalace won't hesistate to pull out all the stops.

In her Ebay auction, Tana describes herself as "one eccentric, daring lady" and "the extra mile" she's willing to go for a successful advertising campaign is "tenfold." It looks as if Tana has paired up with a company that will have no problem making her live up to her claims.

Related Articles:
http://www.online-casino-blog.com/2005/03/golden-palace-buys-69-hh-strippers.html

Gambling Federation Resigns from GPWA

In a statement today, sent to John E, and Marlene Derossett, owners of Gambling Portal Webmasters Association, http://www.gpwa.net/, Talia Paschini, Public Relations Manager for Gambling Federation, http://www.gamblingfederation.com/, announced the resignation of Gambling Federation from membership of the Gambling Portal Webmasters Association, effective immediately.

"Gambling Federation has been in partnership with GPWA for sometime now, and it's sad to see them go, especially under these circumstances" stated John.
The situation being spoken of, involves the altering of the hosts file, which resides in the root directory of ones computer.

This file is loaded into memory at startup, then Windows checks the Hosts file before it queries any DNS servers, which enables it to override addresses in the DNS.
What they had hoped to achieve, was to prevent the spamming of their clients from certain other places, who allegedly had possession of the players database, which was stolen from Gambling Federation some time ago.

During talks, in which GPWA imposed sanctions upon Gambling Federation, who readily accepted these sanctions, it was agreed that Gambling Federation would pay a fine in the amount of $5,000.00 to Gambler's Anonymous.

That agreement was Reached on March 14, 2005, and Gambling Federation decided today, that they would also act on a self imposed sanction of resigning membership.
Paschini read: "We are voluntarily stepping out of GPWA forums so that GPWA can go back to normal.

"Gambling Federation has in fact, always been responsive to queries and requests in the past, and I have no doubt that they will work diligently to set things right and regain the trust that they once had and worked hard for from players and affiliates alike.
I for one, look forward to the day when this happens, and we can once again work together as we have in the past."

Source:
http://www.gpwa.net/docs/gfedregsigns.shtml

Related Links:
http://www.online-casino-blog.com/2005/03/interactive-gaming-council-terminates.html
http://www.online-casino-blog.com/2005/03/ecogra-addresses-gambling-federation.html
http://www.online-casino-blog.com/2005/03/malware-scandal-hits-gambling.html

China enforces anti-gambling laws

Reports from Beijing indicate that the National People's Congress (NPC) the country's top legislature, has been asked for a bill to prohibit gambling.

The proposal was submitted by legislator Luo Yifeng, who called for government and company chiefs to be made special targets and for heavier penalties to be introduced in any future crackdown.

"A new, special law banning gambling, with heavier penalties meted out to violators, is a lasting solution to prohibit gambling," the politician claimed.

However, China's gamb-busters and legal experts, whilst agreeing on harder strikes, say they prefer amending or changing judicial interpretations of current statutes to creating new anti-gambling legislation.

The current Criminal Law of the country, enacted in 1979 and amended since, sets a maximum punishment for gambling of three years in jail.

These penalties are seen by some as too lenient when considering that many cases involve millions of yuan and often corrupt social morals, Luo said.

Casinos and other gambling activities have caused a chain of social problems, and participation of officials and State firm executives has increased corruption and led to a loss of State assets, and it was imperative that the law be given more of a "deterrent effect," Luo said.

The anti-gambling campaign office under the Ministry of Public Security yesterday said the relevant clause of China's criminal code was too weak to deal with the situation in the country and outside its immediate borders.

Chu Huaizhi, a senior law expert at Peking University, said he has participated in a workshop sponsored recently by the Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate, which sought to make some judicial interpretations on Article 303 of China's Criminal Law.

Turkey attacks Online Gambling?

According to the Turkish daily news the burgeoning Internet gambling industry in Turkey could face legislative difficulties in the months ahead. Government ministries and other organisations are to launch a campaign to fight online gambling and betting, by blocking Web sites, following credit card transactions and introducing new taxes

The number of illegal gambling and betting sites on the Internet is increasing day by day, says the report. Committees composed of various Turkish state ministries, the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK), universities, Internet service providers and various non-governmental organisations are pursuing efforts to combat such sites, reports the Anatolia news agency.

Related units are working to fight illegal gambling and betting sites through introducing legal sanctions. In this respect, it has been decided that certain clauses would be added to a draft bill that seeks to reorganise the Turkish National Lottery Administration's (MPI) structure.

Under the bill, the MPI will be in charge of undertaking arrangements on and oversee “virtual” betting games and lottery draws. Furthermore, those violating the new decrees will face fines and imprisonment.

One of the courses of action the MPI will be responsible for, in coordination with relevant committees, is to block access to illegal gaming and betting sites over the Internet. Similarly, advertisement of such sites from other sites on the Internet will also be considered illegal, in an attempt to decrease their business.

And unspecified but *related* committees are proposing that people gambling online could be tracked through their credit card transactions. It has been determined that $2 million is spent on online gambling through credit card transactions in Turkey. Whilst some factions want criminal sanctions, banks believe that such an approach would not be in conformity with the law as it presently stands.

Turkey's General Directorate of Revenues is adding more pressure by preparing a new bill that would place taxes on online gambling and betting sites. A top official from the directorate, noting that credit cards and money orders are being used in this "illegal activity", said, “Banks and other administrative institutions will add the ‘lottery tax' to any activity related to online gambling.” The official said that although the current lottery tax is around 10 percent, the one applied on virtual games will be twice this rate.

Mobile Casino Gaming is here

Be The Dealer, a white label online casino provider says that the future of casino gaming has already become a working reality for Japan’s 7.2 million avid cell phone gamers - and it has positioned itself to get some of the action.

Since February, Japanese owners of Docomo cell phones have been playing Java-based slots via real money casino accounts from the company's latest production and entry into the mobile gaming sector, Ark Casino.com.

BTD claims that the launch of ArkCasino’s cellular games package marks the first time that an Asian online casino has offered secure, real money wagering via cell phones. This next-generation gaming platform is the result of a joint effort between Japanese cellular programmers TBR Entertainment and established operator CV On NET, owners of the proprietary BeTheDealer Casino software.

Ark Casino is a licensed operator of BeTheDealer Casino, where Japanese players can access both the PC download casino and the new cellular casino with the same, free account. The download casino offers BTD’s full suite of 23 casino games, replete with the patented ‘Dealer’ functionalities. The cellular casino currently offers three variations of BTD’s 3-reel multi-line progressive jackpots slots, with video poker and blackjack to be released within the coming weeks.

“The technological advances in our cellular product will lead the way into a new realm of gaming and casino entertainment,” said Shmuel Ephron, CEO of BeTheDealer Casino. “While other software companies are developing and promising a dynamic cellular future, we have already delivered a higher quality product to an excited and enthusiastic audience.”

Harrah's Reveals Rhode Island Casino Plan

WEST WARWICK, Rhode Island – As reported by the Providence Journal: "Harrah's Entertainment rolled out its most detailed proposal yet for a casino in Rhode Island yesterday, displaying plans for a sleek glass-and-stone design on heavily landscaped land.

"The $650-million development, in an 85-acre industrial park, would include stately pools, a 55,000-square-foot convention center and a 1,500-seat entertainment hall.

"The plan needs legislative approval and support from voters in the host town and in a statewide referendum. Legislation for the casino has not yet been introduced…"

Source: Casino City Times

Chimera Enters Chinese Market

Chimera Technology Corp. is pleased to announce that its latest initiative, www.724Pay.com, will facilitate Chimera's access to over 80% of the Chinese population.

Chimera recently began the implementation of 724Pay.com, a payment gateway wholly owned and operated by Chimera, which will service all Chimera's current and future licensees. It is anticipated that the payment gateway will be going live within the next 30 days.

This is a very significant milestone for Chimera and its licensees, as it will provide them access to one of the largest gaming markets in the world. Currently, China is home to more than 1.5 billion people, many of whom are avid gamblers. In the past, accepting funds from the Chinese population has proven to be very difficult, and as a result, the full market potential of China has never been tapped.

Statistics indicate that 80% of the Chinese population possesses some form of debit card issued by local banks. Chimera's payment gateway will gain access to this market through 724Pay's e-wallet system. This will allow individuals to fund their account online in local currency by simply using their debit cards and without having to visit the bank or conduct a bank wire. Funds are immediately available in gaming accounts with any of Chimera's licensees. All debit cards issued by the 20 banks in China are currently accepted by Chimera's 724Pay.

One of the major advantages of fund transfers through debit cards for Chimera licensees will be the elimination of credit card chargebacks, thereby further minimizing risks to licensees.

Elsewhere in the online gaming industry, the rapid growth of the industry has drawn the interest of yet another form of gambler on the London Stock Exchange.

PartyGaming, which owns PartyPoker.com, is considering a public offering expected to value the company at 3 billion to 5 billion pounds ($5.7 billion to $9.6 billion) in what would be London's largest listing since 2001. NETeller, which handles money transfers for the industry, has seen its stock price more than triple to 622 pence ($11.87) since it went public last April, while Sportingbet.com saw its stock price shoot up more than 50 percent last October when it announced plans to buy No. 3 poker site Paradise Poker for $300 million.

But while England and other countries increasingly welcome online gambling, the U.S. Justice Department says a 1961 law that forbids interstate telephone betting also applies to the Internet.

Congress has since 1997 failed to specifically outlaw online gambling amid a thicket of competing interests.

Under pressure from the Justice Department, services like VISA and PayPal have blocked payments to gambling sites, while media outlets and search engines like Yahoo, Google, MSN operated by Microsoft have refused to run their ads.

But the U.S. residents who account for more than half of all online poker players face no penalties if they gamble online.

Analysts say the United States will eventually accept the industry.

"Somebody in Washington is going to say, 'Hey guys, we're losing a fortune by not taxing this,'" said Joseph Kelly, a professor of business law at Buffalo State University, who has helped other countries draft online gambling rules.

Sebastian Sinclair of Christiansen Capital Advisors said the United States will gradually legalize the industry after realizing that attempts to stop it are fruitless. Nevada and the U.S. Virgin Islands have already legalized online gambling for casinos and residents within their borders, and a similar bill is advancing rapidly through the North Dakota legislature.

Several U.S. courts have ruled that the 1961 Wire Act only applies to sports betting and not other forms of Internet gambling, while the World Trade Organization ruled last year that the ban on Internet gambling violates international trade agreements, a decision the United States has appealed.

With Cryptologic, World Gaming and Angel City also making huge headway on this side of the Atlantic, there is no doubt the online gaming industry will be the fruit of the investment marketplace for the years to come.

Chimera President Ken Chua stated, "This is a very significant accomplishment for Chimera and its licensees. We have received a tremendous amount of inquiries about a reliable payment gateway catering to the Chinese market and now we have one." Chua further added, "The Chinese government has recently cracked down on illegal gambling which has resulted in most operations without a proper gambling license being shut down. With the anticipated launch of our mobile gaming platform in the next 30-60 days, cellular phones manufactured by Motorola, Nokia, Research in Motion, Sony Ericsson among others, will be able to access our gaming platform via mobile Internet, this will undoubtedly result in even greater opportunities for Chimera's licensees."

Source: Casino City Times

Online casino 888.com considers UK float

Source Reuters.co.uk

Online casino 888.com is looking at joining the ranks of firms benefiting from a boom in Internet poker by listing this year with a valuation of about $1.6 billion (830 million pounds), the company's chief executive told Reuters.

Cassava Enterprises, the owner of 888.com and one of the world's biggest Internet gambling groups, has hired Credit Suisse First Boston to prepare the flotation, expected in the second half of this year.

The logic for London I think is that the business is much more institutionally accepted in the UK than anywhere else and therefore the value should be higher," he added.

London is fast becoming the de facto listing centre for Internet gambling companies, partly because online gaming is strictly regulated in the United States but welcomed in Britain, even though most players are in the States.

Anderson said he was not surprised by the level of institutional investor, shareholder and client interest in online gambling businesses.

Compared to normal businesses, I have no distribution costs, no production costs, no logistical problems, no storage costs, no stock costs.

Rapid industry expansion, helped by better broadband access and the convenience of playing at home, has fuelled revenue growth at the companies hosting the sites.

The online poker market is probably growing at over 100 percent a year," said Matthew Gerard, analyst at Investec Securities.

A recent report by Edison Investment Research and Durlacher estimated online gambling revenue -- effectively the amount lost by gamblers -- exceeded $8 billion in 2004, up 37 percent from a year earlier.

Trump casinos renovated to overcome bankruptcy

Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts, now fighting bankruptcy, have started a renovation program for two of its casino/hotel properties. The total project is reported to cost about $12 million. Trump officials announced that designers were already working at the plan.

According to The SignOnSanDiego, the Trump's amended reorganization plan is tentatively approved by a bankruptcy judge and headed to a confirmation hearing April 5.

"It is targeting the company's signature Trump Taj Mahal, a 1,250-room property with 160,000 square feet of casino space, and the Trump Marina, which has 728 rooms and 80,000 sf of casino space. The makeover at the Trump Taj Mahal will essentially maintain the property's current British colonial Indian décor. The effort at the Trump Marina is more substantial, and will take until sometime in the first quarter of 2006 to complete in two phases," a Trump official siad.

An additional plan deals with Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago, a $750 million, 90-story building that will house 758 residential and hotel condominiums, and Las Vegas 64-story tower containing 1,300 units and featuring both residential and hotel condominiums. Las Vegas building is allegedly developed in partnership with Phil Ruffin, owner of the Frontier Hotel and Casino tower in Las Vegas.

Source: Gambling Gates

Related Links:
http://www.online-casino-blog.com/2005/03/donald-trump-and-online-casinos.html

Nice Horseshoe picture

I just found this picture:



very nice!

Casino Reviews - Platinum Play Casino

Platinum Play is the latest online casino from the Fortune Lounge group of casinos. This website was advertised as 'the next big thing' in online gaming, so I had to go and check it out when it first came out.

The website is nicely designed in a format a bit different from most casinos out there. There are lots of sections with usefull information, like game rules and terms dictionary, Live Support directly on the website, and also there is an instant 'Bonus Calculator' that you can use to find out how much money you can expect when buying with different purchase methods.

The Casino is available in Download and No Download format. I played the Download version of the casino since the games are better in quality, plus not all games are available in Flash. The initial setup file is around 5MB, and not all games are installed. When you select to download a game that isn't available, you can continue playing something else until it gets installed.

When you first start the casino there is a 'Platinum Play' intro movie. The software is very nice with big buttons and lots of options. One thing I didn't like was that I could only play in Full-screen mode but I guess that's ok if you are not trying to write a review at the same time! Another nice option is that you can preview the games without entering (or downloading) them.

There is a total of over 90 games in the casino. For sure your game is one of them. The table games are ok - nothing special here. I was truly amazed by the slot machines though. Lots of different games, very nice graphics and sounds, some of them even come with a movie introduction. If slots is your game, then you should realy try Platinum Play Casino.

I liked Platinum Play a lot, especially the slot machines that I think are the best I saw so far.

Gambling Federation responds to IGC Membership Termination

This statement appeared in various message boards yesterday for the Gambling Federation people:

Gambling Federation is pleased that the IGC board supports the idea that theft and conversion of property is a reprehensible act. Unfortunately when IGC informed that there are appropriate means to deal with such cases, they failed to indicate what these means were.

Does IGC consider legally pursuing the perpetrator(s) of theft and conversion of property as appropriate means? Considering the offshore presence of the industry and considering that transfers of property do not, for the most part, leave a physical address, it is safe to say that legal actions are not effective and therefore not appropriate to solve this issue.

If an answer could be given, in a reasonable time frame, this might help to define a code of conduct for the entire industry, in the unfortunate event that an operator or software house is one day victim of theft and/or conversion of property.

If no answer is provided, it would appear that the only appropriate solution would be no action at all. If no action is the only possible answer to theft and conversion of property, then with this decision IGC is in reality, indirectly and unwillingly leaving it wide open to the ones that perpetuate theft and conversion of property and leaving its members without any possible protection.

This might discourage other operators or software houses from applying for an IGC membership.

Considering the delicacy of this issue, it is understandable if IGC would like to take the necessary time to answer. As for, Gambling Federation’s membership fee, it is strongly suggested that IGC donate the concerned sum to a charity organization of their choice.

Statement from Flaviano - CEO of Gambling Federation
Talia Paschini, Gambling Federation PR Manager

Related Links:
http://www.online-casino-blog.com/2005/03/interactive-gaming-council-terminates.html

Another nice casino pic

I thought I would share

Donald Trump and Online Casinos?

Donald Trump had a foray into the land based casino business and has recently set his sights for the online casinos it has been reported. The online casino business has been flourishing and is responsible for taking a portion of business away from Atlantic City casinos and other gambling destinations within the US. The Atlantic City casinos recently reacted against a new gambling bill that was designed to allow land based casinos to open online casinos as well. So far only the Trump Casinos in Atlantic City have taken interest in the opportunity to open online casino counterparts.

If the bill is passed it will mean that the land based casinos operating in Atlantic City will have the option to set up an online wagering system whereby players can place electronic wagers over the internet on games taking place at the land based casino. Home Network Gambling Inc. of Las Vegas conducted a private demonstration of its live remote wagering system in front of the Trump executives in order to demonstrate exactly how the system works. This system will effectively enable online casino gambling based on events happening in the land based casino.

So far there has been across the board opposition to the Internet gambling bill from most of the big backers of land based casinos. But Trump seems to be looking in the other direction and is considering the new opportunity to integrate the online casinos with the land based casinos. Mark Brown, chief operating officer of Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts had this to say: "Other online casino companies are light years ahead of us on the Internet and we're just trying to understand what's out there." He also pointed out that Harrah's Entertainment and MGM Mirage also feature gambling on the Internet.

Gamblers using the Home Gambling Network can use their telephones, the Internet or other electronic device to bet on actual, live casino table games as they are happening. The system is also set up to transmit live broadcasting of the events as they occur inside the land based casino live. Wagers would be placed through an instant online banking system that operated via the internet. It is yet to be determined whether Trump will push forward with the online casino plans.

Source: Online Casino Reports

Casino Review - Slots Royale Casino

Slots Royale – Home of the largest paying slots on the net!

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Partnered with Microgaming and now with VIPER software, you will enjoy cutting edge gaming technology where you can choose from a variety of more than 90 exciting games and all MicroGaming progressives. Committed to service excellence, Slots Royale offers efficient support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year – ensuring that you have fun while all your concerns and queries are taken care of in true Royale style!

As a new player you are automatically enrolled in Slots Royale’s Loyalty program, giving you the opportunity to earn points that can be redeemed for further casino credits. Players receive ongoing weekly promotions that include free money giveaways, awesome bonus offers, draws, trivia contests and loads more! Once accepted into the inner circle - the VIP Club, yet more privileges await players as their winnings and bonuses get paid into their NETeller / PrePaidATM accounts within 24 hours.

So why not log on, sit back and enjoy the royal treatment we know you deserve.

River Belle has given the largest number of payouts

Since January, River Belle, which forms part of the Belle Rock Gaming Group, has recorded the largest number of Progressive Jackpots. During this period, they have also paid out the highest number of big single payouts in the group. To date, they have paid out over 5 million dollars.

In February, River Belle is introducing a new promotional theme entitled "Indulgence". Top prizes include a privately chartered yacht in the Carribean or Mediterranean sea, or a luxury North American river cruise. The winner can also choose a cash prize instead.

"And that is what makes playing at our online casinos so rewarding," Tim Johnson, CEO of Belle Rock Gaming, says. "Players enjoy our casinos for the entertainment value and the promotions we offer. We do have a great number of very lucky players who win a lot of money. But players always stand to get something back, even when they don't always get that big payout."

Gambling Oscars 2005

Bluff Media's Gambling Online Magazine was busy contacting portalmasters this week in order to make available to them links to this year's Readers' Choice Awards voting.

Nicknamed the 'Gambling Oscars', Gambling Online Magazine's Annual Readers Choice Awards are now widely accepted as the interactive gaming industry's most numerously voted and prestigious honors.

Its detractors don't like the voting incentives offered by certain sites, but the fact remains that the various categories are open to votes by the 250,000 readers of Gambling Online Magazine and the gambling public in general.

The awards have grown to include over 40 categories, and online gamblers have the next 8 months to make their choices known, dividing the voting into three periods separating the most popular voting categories, Casino, Sportsbook and Poker Room.

Voting will take place on the magazine's website and will be available to all visitors. At the end of each voting period, Gambling Online Magazine will announce the top 10 nominees for each category and issue each nominee with a nominee citation reflecting that site's achievement as a reader favorite. The final winners will be announced in Gambling Online Magazine's Year Book Edition.

Readers can go direct to the voting booth here

The Interactive Gaming Council terminates Gambling Federation

The Interactive Gaming Council today accepted the resignation of Flaviano Fogli from the Board of Directors. IGC Board has also terminated the membership of Gambling Federation.

According to published reports, the company had installed malicious software in their software that players downloaded so it blocks access at certain online casinos. When installed, the malware prevented the players from accessing specific casinos that had been involved in an earlier dispute with Gambling Federation. This malware code was designed to block access to the casinos that were involved with a former employee who had stolen the email database of Gambling Federation players.

After an investigation of the situation IGC took the step to terminate the membership and accept the resignation of Mr. Fogli. The actions of Gambling Federation were contrary to the best interests of the interactive gaming public and jeopardized the integrity of the entire industry.

Rick Smith, executive director of the IGC, said the organization had to take a stand when confronted with an action such as that of the Gambling Federation. Causing someone to download intrusive software onto his or her personal computer is totally unacceptable by anyone.

Gambling Federation had been a member of the IGC since March 15, 2004. The termination of its membership is effective immediately.

Grand Royal Casino closing its doors

Announcement posted on their website:

It is with great regret and a heavy heart that we announce that Grand Royal Casino will be closing on March 18, 2005.
If you are a member of our casino please either play out your balance or withdraw your balance before our closing date. Please note, if you have received a bonus, the wagering requirements are still in place for all bonuses as well as redeemed/comp points.
As a matter of goodwill, all players that are not able to playthrough their credits or cash out their withdrawable balance by March 18, 2005 will still be able to contact our customer service center for three days after the closing date to request credits to be cashed out, should they have met wager requirements. All funds remaining in casino accounts after March 22, 2005 will be retained by the casino.

Customer Service Center : Monday-Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm EST
support@grandroyalcasino.com

Canadians don't like Online Poker?

The Canadian Press bucked the trend on positive poker reportage this week with an article that claims that, according to a recent survey more than half of Canadians think playing Internet poker for cash is unacceptable.

The poll, conducted by Decima Research found that in regard to the Internet poker questions 56 percent were against the idea, 25 percent had no problem with it, and the rest fell somewhere in the middle.

The Canadian press claims that the poll is one of the most detailed snapshots to emerge of gambling attitudes, and suggests great unease about online casinos. It also reveals a spike in public concern about addiction and lax regulation in regions where video lottery terminals are widespread.

There's no shortage of foreign-based Internet commercial casino games. But such sites are illegal in Canada unless run by provincial governments. .

Turning to online gambling in general, the publication comments that gambling critics fear it's just a matter of time before government-backed virtual casinos arrive and multiply. "My concern with Internet gambling is it gives you a cloak of anonymity," says Montreal-based addiction counsellor Sol Boxenbaum. "You can get up in the middle of the night and go into the den while your spouse is asleep and gamble. And there's really no protection against underage gambling."

Decima survey director Richard Leigh-Bennett is quoted as saying, "You're seeing that half the people think (online gambling) is a problem, but then you've got almost 80 per cent of the population participating in it. If you look at (rates of) smoking and drinking, it's quite a bit lower. People are aware that there's some sort of problem, but it's something that is so ubiquitous across the country that people see it as relatively harmless entertainment."

The controlled online survey of 3,538 adults was password protected to ensure participants only responded once. It is considered accurate within 1.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. 61 percent of those surveyed said they'd gambled at a casino, while 30 per cent said they'd done so in the past year. Fewer than 1 percent said they bet at a casino once a week or more.

Casino Review - Cool Cat Casino

NOW THAT’S ONE COOL CAT!‘Cool Cat Casino is the most impressive product offering to hit the industry in years.’

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Their generous 150% welcome bonus, up to $225 is just the tip of the iceberg. Cool Cat offers the most unbelievable player rewards program that has been a key factor in their popularity among avid gamblers of all types.

Easily accessible from their website are a rich variety of bonuses that hit the online gambling market on all levels. Every month Cool Cat’s fresh and exciting Newsletter offers a wide array of bonuses, activities and even Free Chip Awards. Their Daily Specials featured on their homepage deliver 7 day casino action. Cool Cat keeps their clients winning around the clock with their unique Hourly Specials: Lucky Lunch, Happy Hour and Midnight Madness. They continuously shift odds in their player’s favor with Reload Bonuses in all deposit ranges as well as bonus match specials for individual games and/or groups of games like slots, table games, black jack and even roulette! High rollers can contact their friendly support staff for Vegas VIP style comps, service and attention.

From download to cash-out, Cool Cat offers top notch support that will convert first time visitors into loyal clients. The Cool Cat support staff has been known to encourage players to speak with them personally, promoting a warm and friendly gaming environment.
Cool Cat Casino: A reputable, forward thinking casino revolutionizing the online casino industry.

Golden Palace Buys 69-HH Stripper's Implant

MIAMI- A former stripper once cleared of battering a customer with her enormous breasts sold one of her silicone implants on eBay to GoldenPalace.com. They won the bid for the infamous implant at $16,766 on Saturday, according to the eBay Web site and the seller, known professionally as Tawny Peaks. She advertised a 69-HH bra size before her implants were removed in 1999.

There was no word yet on what the online gambling company planned to do with the implant. Peaks has retired from the entertainment business, and put one of the implants up for auction last week. She said she was overwhelmed and exhausted by the flood of e-mailed bids. "It's over and I'm happy," said Peaks, now a homemaker living in the Detroit area.

She won fame in 1998 when a patron at the Diamond Dolls nightclub in Clearwater, Florida, sued her, claiming he suffered a whiplash injury when she swung her breasts into his face. He said they were "like two cement blocks." The case went to arbitration on "The People's Court" television show and the judge, former New York City Mayor Ed Koch, ordered a female bailiff to examine Peaks in private. The bailiff found the breasts to be "soft" and to weigh about 2 pounds (0.9 kg) each. Koch ruled they were not dangerous and refused to award damages. Peaks said she has since become "kind of a recluse." "My old fans don't really know what I look like now," she said.

eCOGRA Addresses Gambling Federation Malware Issue

Andrew Beveridge, Chief Executive of the international regulatory body eCOGRA spoke out today on the recent discovery that the Gambling Federation Group software download had for some months included a covert element of malicious software (malware) designed to block users from the sites of competitors.

"eCOGRA believes it is the responsibility of every organisation that represents the interests of the online gaming industry and its players to send a strong signal that the use of this sort of tactic is unethical, dishonest and totally unacceptable to any responsible business." he said.
"Including malware in a download to a player's computer without his knowledge goes far beyond the routine inclusion of harmless advertisement tracking or log on recognition "cookies" and must be discouraged in the strongest possible terms in both the interests of the players and the poor perceptions of the industry that it creates.

"Trade organisations have been rightly criticised by the player community for their lack of action resulting from the GFED debacle. At eCOGRA, we're already vigilant in ensuring that this sort of practice does not happen at any of our sealed casinos".

Beveridge emphasised that in the case of an eCOGRA Seal casino, there is little likelihood of this kind of situation arising due to enforced policies on management and financial probity verification, in-depth inspection of all operational aspects of an applicant, subsequent ongoing monitoring and review and detailed and specific regulations with which eCOGRA Seal casinos are required to comply.

"In the event that an operator is found to be in contravention of any of the eGAP requirements, this is reported to the compliance committee." Beveridge revealed. "If there are no relevant mitigating circumstances, the committee should not hesitate to withdraw the Seal. eCOGRA's structure, staffing and policies and procedures has been very carefully constituted to provide for effective self-regulation. Any member or approved operator that does not comply with the organisation's detailed standards effectively undermines the core values and purpose of the initiative, and simply cannot be tolerated," he said.

"It is to be regretted that silence and apparent lack of action from industry representative bodies on this issue could result in all being labelled as ineffectual by both outsiders and the playing community. If industry codes and rules already in place are not enforced and supported, it seriously damages the credibility of the organisations concerned," he concluded.

Source: http://www.winneronline.com/

ESPN going into Online Poker

Sports channel ESPN is going into the poker business in a big way, judging by a long and unwieldy press release doing the rounds this week. The channel will be offering free online poker play through Micropower software on a site that will provide information ranging from a poker book, through wireless poker play and DVDs to a range of poker consumer products. And backing it up is an 11 week All-In Poker Challenge online tournament culminating in a free seat at the Harrah's 2005 World Series of Poker.

The multi-faceted poker initiative will reach across many divisions including ESPN.com, ESPN Wireless, ESPN Books and ESPN Enterprises, the company's brand extension and new business development arm. The new ESPN Poker Club launched this week on ESPN.com, and includes the site's new free online poker game.

The deal could shake up the industry as this effectively floats a business model that gives US-based blue chip companies the opportunity to legally capitalise on the popularity of poker and more importantly, capture a revenue stream from playmoney play.

We're told that so far the launch has been pretty smooth - after one day, ESPN is already running around 20 live ring tables and another 30 STTs. Today ESPN will link the download to the main page which means ESPN.com will be channeling some 10 million daily uniques to the game environment, soon to be followed by ESPN TV hitting the market with 'play poker at ESPN.com' running in their sportsticker - ever 15 minutes, nation-wide.

The first 11 weeks of play on ESPN.com will be exclusively devoted to the Degree All-In Poker Challenge, with the tournament winner earning a seat in the Harrah's 2005 World Series of Poker courtesy of Degree. In coming months the initiative will also launch a wireless poker game; a poker-related book from ESPN Books by syndicated poker columnist Steve Rosenbloom; DVD's of the 2004 World Series of Poker and the ESPN Original Entertainment series TILT; and a line of high-end poker-related consumer products.

Created by game developer Micropower, the on-site game allows poker aficionados of every skill level to choose from six different games: Texas Hold'Em, 7 Card Stud, 7 Card Hi/Lo, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo and 5 Card Stud. After an initial software download, ESPN.com users can compete against other ESPN Poker Club players at online poker tables in single- and multi-table tournaments.

Extensive editorial content including "How To Play" information is available on each of the games offered, tips for playing winning poker, answers to frequently asked poker questions, and exclusive columns from ESPN's "Jackpot" Jay Lovinger, poker guru Phil Gordon and more.

On the tournament front, each Sunday at 2 p.m. ET for 10 weeks, ESPN.com will hold a Sunday Qualifying Tournament for the Degree All-In Poker Challenge that will include all players that qualified in the week prior. The top 50 players each Sunday will earn a seat in the Finals tournament beginning May 15 at 2 p.m. ET. The winner of the Finals tournament will earn the seat in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas in June.

Each week, players will have four ways to earn a spot into the weekly Sunday Qualifying tournament:


Play 750 hands during the week from any combination of the games offered;
Win five single-table tournaments (10 players, available at any time)
Win one multi-table tournament (30 players, start every 20 minutes)
Finish high enough in the rankings of a Big Play tournament (one per day, 8 p.m. ET )*
For every 40 players, one top-ranked player qualifies. Example: if 200 people play in the tournament, the top five players qualify. If there are 320 players, the top eight players qualify.

Late March 2005 will see the advent of Poker Hold'em Tournament. The single-player wireless game will give players an opportunity to play against up to nine computer opponents in a no-limit Hold'Em tournament. Players will not play for real money and will be able to choose from a number of different avatars, with each computer opponent having their own unique and consistent style of play, leaving it up to the player to learn to "read" their opponents. The game will be available via several major mobile service providers between its March launch and early summer.

In addition to ESPN Poker Club, ESPN's television networks will bring poker fans 38 original hours of professional poker beginning with the U.S. Poker Championships on March 24 and 26 on ESPN (six hours total), and continuing with 32 hours of exclusive coverage of the 2005 Harrah's World Series of Poker from July through November on ESPN and ESPN2.

Malware Scandal hits Gambling Federation

With the week coming to a close, a major scandal started hitting the headlines after players discovered a trojan virus in proprietary gambling software downloaded from a number of Gambling Federation online casinos.

The trojan was discovered after players found that they were unable to access certain other gambling sites once they had played on GF casinos....and there are many GF-powered casinos.

IT specialists then found that the installation process from G-FED casinos modifies 7 files,one called "hosts" located at C:windowssystem32driversetchosts. The file had been altered by the addition of malware that short circuited any subsequent attempt to visit specific online casinos such as Royal Dutch Casino, The Blackjack Table and Casinoxo. Other operations may also be suffering loss of business as a result.
Once the malware has been identified and removed, access to the affected sites is returned.

Indignant players pointed out that the covert insertion of this sort of material on their computers was a gross invasion of privacy, and the potential damage to business at the targeted sites can only be imagined.

There is potential for major embarrassment, too. The Canada-based GF CEO Flaviano Fogli is a board member of the Interactive Gaming Council, a trade association for online gaming operators and he has recently taken his group into the iGGBA, too. Both organisations will look askance at any suggestion of software irregularities.
Late yesterday, a luckless Gambling Federation PR person appeared on the message boards with an astonishing, and highly unlikely explanation - GF had knowingly included the trojan in their software download as an "anti-spam measure."
IT specialists in the gaming community immediately debunked and ridiculed the excuse, which was accompanied by an apology and an assurance that the trojan would be removed from the GF download immediately.

In one of the most bizarre incidents yet involving an industry company, this incident would appear to still have a way to run, and the consequences of Gambling Federation's covert trojan blunder are likely to be serious.

Related Links:
http://www.casinomeister.com/rogue/gamblingfederation.html
http://www.casinomeister.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7345&page=1&pp=10
http://mb.winneronline.com/showthread.html?t=18871
http://www.gamblingfederation.com/~145137vzA/P/

Welcome to my Casino Blog

My name is Dina and everyday I will post here news and information from the exciting world of Online Casinos!

So if you like to gamble online, play poker with friends and take regular trips to Las Vegas, stay tuned!!

Thank you,
Dina