1st US Online Casino

Seattle lawyer and Poker Players Alliance supporter Lee Rousso may have reached the end of the line in his litigative attempts to overturn the state of Washington’s draconian ban on Internet poker. The feisty lawyer has been battling the state, which allows almost every form of land gambling but imposes draconian penalties on anyone caught wagering on the Internet, for the last two years.

On Monday the state appeals court rejected Rousso’s arguments that a 2006 law that forbids Internet gambling in the state violates the clause of the U.S.

(Read the full post about ‘Rousso appeal against Washington state Internet poker ban fails’…)

Playtech, one of the leading online casino software developers on the market is adding sportsbetting to its list of services.

Increased Earnings
2008 was a great year for Playtech. The company released their full 2008 numbers last week and reported a huge €40.69m in profit, quite the step up from the €26.9m profit that they had in 2007.

Besides that, they’re expecting 2009 to be an even better year and this has a lot to do with the new joint venture that they have agreed upon with William Hill Casino.

A New Venture
Playtech has now followed this up by paying an undisclosed amount for sportsbetting software provider Player2Player and just like that, they have entered the sportsbetting world as well.

There’s no reason to think that Playtech’s sportsbetting venture won’t be a success.

(Read the full post about ‘Playtech To Enter Sportsbetting Arena’…)

Also using the UK Gambling Commission numbers this week was the political opposition Conservative Party, which claimed that ‘nearly a quarter of a million more’ people gambled online last year compared to 2007 when advertising was permitted for the first time.

The Gambling Commission estimates that 7.4% of online gamers go on to develop an addiction to betting, reported the Daily Telegraph, leading the Tories to suggest that there could be an additional 17,760 people with a problem.

Tory politicians criticised the Labour government for failing to crack down on Internet gambling sites based overseas, which may have fewer safeguards such as contact numbers for helplines and limits on stakes, they claimed.

(Read the full post about ‘UK conservatives call for restrictions on jurisdictional white-listings’…)

Sandra “Black Mamba” Naujoks won this year’s European Poker Tour Dortmund event Sunday, becoming the second woman behind Vicky Coren to score an EPT title. With the tournament’s $917,000 pot she also becomes the second woman to claim over $1 million in career poker winnings.

In addition to Naujoks, the $5,000 buy-in tournament’s final table consisted of Holger Kanisch, Marc Gork, Johan Storakers, Mike McDonald, Luca Pagano, William Thorson and Cengizcan Ulusu. Heads-up saw Naujoks holding A, 9 against Kanisch’s A, Q, and pulling out two pair on a flop-turn of A, 7, 2, 9o. When the river came blank Kanisch’s fate was sealed, and Naujoks found herself headed into EPT history.

Na

(Read the full post about ‘Tournament: Naujoks nails EPT Dortmund’…)

There can be few people with a track record in the hotel and casino sector to match that of Stephen Wynn the founder of Wynn Resorts. While many of the larger competitors in the sector continue to struggle, as highlighted by our post on MGM Mirage, it appears as though Wynn Resorts is in one of the strongest positions of any company in the sector. Over the last few months share issues have been regarded as desperate fundraising operations but the 9.6 million share offer, to raise $182.4 million, has been well received by holders of Wynn Resorts stock.

While it would be foolish to suggest that the company can swim against the tide forever, the $182.4 million to be raised will be used to realign the company’s debt position with speculation that some may also be put aside for small-time acquisitions. (Read the full post about ‘Wynn Resorts fares better than many in the casino and hotel industry’…)

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was put in place by the Bush Administration with the idea in mind that the government could do away with Internet gambling in the US. Now, a couple of years later it appears that the law has backfired.

That is according to Focus on the Family, who reported that online gambling is up. Revenue for Internet gambling rose to over $20 billion in 2008, showing the need for regulations within the industry.

“It’s amazing, because people are worried because the markets are doing so badly, except they put their money into something that gives even less return, things like Internet gambling…,” said Tom McClusky, Senior Vice President of the Family Research Council, as reported in Citizenlink.com.

(Read the full post about ‘Focus On The Family Proves Online Gambling Ban Is Useless In US’…)

Recently released statistics from the USA are showing a desperate need for new revenue across a number of states. This comes after recent reports that a regulated online casino industry could see the country making $52bn.

Unemployment in the United States is at nearly 15% after over 650,000 jobs were lost last week. This means that 12.5m people in the US are currently out of work and the states’ budgets are struggling to cope with welfare and benefits.

House Banking and Finance Committee Chairman Rep. Barney Frank, a tireless worker for the rights of online gamblers, recently announced that the online gambling industry could reap in $52bn for the US. (Read the full post about ‘US Need For Revenue May Overthrow UIGEA – Online Casino News’…)

MARRAKECH, Morocco – Chilipoker.com and WPT Enterprises announced today that they have finalized an exclusive partnership to launch the first ever World Poker Tour® (WPT) event to
  take place on the African continent—WPT Marrakech. The three-year deal enables the partners to create annual televised broadcasts around the events. The first WPT Main Event will take place in October while several satellite tournaments on Chilipoker and other rooms of the Ipoker network are authorized to qualify players online as soon as March.

WPT Marrakech will be held in the famous Casino de Marrakech, Morocco’s casino gem since 1952 and currently the organizer of the Marrakech Poker Open with the Es Saadi Gardens & Resort’s palace and five star hotel.

(Read the full post about ‘World Poker Tour Announces Morocco Event’…)

The Skyways Taverner hotel in Melbourne Australia has the dubious honour of being named as the state’s number one poker machine venue outside of the Crown casino. In an amazing three-year period the hotel has reaped almost $60 million from a variety of poker machines within the compounds of the hotel. This is a massive income from what many people believed to be fairly low turnover machines.

The 100 poker machines within the hotel have netted a massive $200,000 each and every year for the last three years. While the hotel in question has declined to comment on the situation the figures were released by the State government as an example of the increased spending on poker machines in Melbourne. (Read the full post about ‘Who said poker machines don’t make money!’…)

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — 7Spins.com Online Casino, A TOP Game Platform Casino, is now offering a new huge bonus of $2400 for their new members.

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"We wanted to create a huge progressive bonus to appeal new members, 300% bonus for first deposit is something we can afford rewarding our members with as we want to attract those who start their way and let them feel as if they are high-rollers from the second they landed at our casino" mentioned Casino Marketing Director, Mr.

(Read the full post about ’7Spins Huge Bonus Offered to New Casino Players’…)