by Kevin Smith -
Poker is one of the hottest things going for America's youth.
No longer does the green felt of the table and pocket aces appeal only to senior citizens and hardcore card players. Home games are sprouting up all over with junior high, high school, college students and young professionals all getting into the mix.
But does the poker revolution come at a steep price?
WINNIPEG - The Manitoba Lotteries Corporation is putting $10 million toward research and programs for problem gamblers.
"We're not going to get rid of the machines. We're not going to get rid of gaming in Manitoba," says Gaming Minister Scott Smith.
"What we are going to do is we're going to take issues head-on. I'm going to find out where those issues are, what problems there are out there, and address the issues."
By Robin Langford -
Online gambling giant PartyGaming is mulling the possibility of a flotation on the London Stock Exchange that could value the company at more than £3bn.
The Gibraltar-based firm, considered to be the largest online poker firm in the world, is expected to announce the appointment of advisers to a possible flotation today.
By Tim Beyers -
Is there a big idea Sir Richard Branson, serial entrepreneur and founder of Virgin Atlantic Airways, doesn't like? Shortly after the rollout of the new superjumbo Airbus A380, Virgin Atlantic put in an order for six of the jets. And shortly after that, Branson told The New York Times in referring to his plans for an onboard casino and cabins with double beds in first class: "You'll have two ways to get lucky on a Virgin flight."
By Scott Blake -
PORT CANAVERAL -- Small fortunes are won and lost based on the little numbers that Eliot Spencer writes on his betting board.
Spencer is the manager at Port Canaveral for International Sports Link, or ISL, a sports-betting firm that runs a 4-month-old bookmaking business on SunCruz Casinos' gambling ship.
It's the first time sports betting has been available on a gambling ship based at Port Canaveral, and ISL is one of the few operations of its kind in the country.
By Michael Myser -
As Super Bowl weekend approaches, Mickey Richardson, general manager of BetCRIS, an online gambling site based in Costa Rica, readies himself for the action. But there's also a cloud hanging over his, and other gambling sites' profitable Feb. 6 weekend.
An e-mail could come at any moment threatening to take down the site unless $40,000 or more is paid to an anonymous account.
Press Trust of India -
China has smashed a major clandestine online gambling company, arrested 597 suspects nation-wide and seized $2.8 million in cash, the Ministry of Public Security has announced.
Police have seized 23 million yuan ($2.8 million) of gambling money and 597 suspects from 22 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, it said.
St. John"s, Antigua (PRWEB) January 19, 2005 -- Online gaming pioneer WWTS (World Wide Tele-Sports) today announced that the company"s sports betting site BetsWWTS.com was voted the top sportsbook of 2004 by the readers of Gambling Online Magazine (GOM).
The Readers" Choice Award is the top attainable honor for an online sportsbook and was determined by polling over 35,000 online gamblers from around the world. In addition to collecting the Readers" Choice Award, BetsWWTS.com also received the prestigious Editor"s Pick as the top sportsbook in 2004 from the publication. BetsWWTS.com collected four Honorable Mentions in the 2004 GOM Awards including: Quickest Payouts, Top Sportsbook Reputation, Top Sportsbook Customer Service and Top Sportsbook Software.
by Owen Wood -
Gambling, the wagering of money on games of chance, is a popular form of recreation throughout the world. Places such as Las Vegas and Atlantic City have boasted legendary betting venues for much of the last century. Stories, legends, films and fantasies have been built and lost with cards and dice. But, casinos are no longer the only place to "up the ante."
In Canada, gambling is a growing industry. Casinos have sprouted up across the country. Online gaming and video lottery terminals (VLTs) have also allowed for explosive growth in the industry. In the decade since 1992, the net revenue from government-run lotteries, VLTs and casinos has risen from $2.7 billion to $11.3 billion.
By Matt Richtel -
The Isle of Man, a British crown dependency in the Irish Sea, is reversing a four-year-old policy that has deterred Internet casinos based there from accepting bets from United States residents.
The policy change, while affecting only a handful of Internet casinos, adds a wrinkle to an emerging trade battle between the United States and many other countries over Internet gambling.
By Matthew Garrahan -
The value of bets placed in betting shops has risen more than fourfold since the tax paid by punters was scrapped in 2001, according to a new report.
With the government removing the tax obligation from punters and moving to a tax on the gross profits of bookmakers, the popularity of a flutter has soared, with the total value of stakes rising from £7.1bn in 2000-01 to £32.2bn in 2003-04.
U.S. agents accuse the pair of running a loan-sharking and bookmaking racket.
BROOKSVILLE -- Two retirees are facing federal loan sharking and bookmaking indictments after authorities said they charged gamblers hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in interest and threatened violence to those who didn't pay.
In a federal indictment handed down last week, Raymond Krisa, 70, known to friends as "Toothpick Ray," was charged with loan sharking. Another federal indictment charged Gerald Private, 64, with bookmaking.
By Louisa Lim -
China's authorities have announced a campaign to stop rampant gambling, especially among government officials.
When the communists took over in 1949 they branded gambling "a paramount evil" and banned it.
Although it is still illegal, it has been making a comeback in various forms.
By Mark Balestra -
What a year it was for the interactive gambling industry. This is the sixth edition of IGN's "Year in Review" feature, and I can't remember the last time the outlook for I-gaming was so positive.
It was a year of many very significant developments--both positive and negative--but all accounts of 2004 begin and end with poker.
Stateline.org - Even wholesome, conservative Middle America is a mecca for slots and poker fanatics. Forty riverboat and dockside casinos lure gamblers to gangplanks in Illinois, Iowa, Indiana and Missouri. More than 400 Native American-run casinos operate in 23 states, from Connecticut to California. And lotteries, once an oddity found in just seven states, are now the norm in 41 states, with Oklahoma the latest to catch Lotto fever.
Cash-strapped states are pulling in billions of dollars in revenue from all the gambling and state-sponsored lotteries.
Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. appealed a World Trade Organization ruling that American legislation criminalizing online betting violates its own commitments to the WTO in a case that may shake up a global industry worth $6 billion.
Antigua, a Caribbean island nation of 67,800, won its WTO case against the U.S. in November. Internet companies in Antigua, which developed online gambling to boost a tourism-dependent economy rebuilding after a series of hurricanes, handle a quarter of online bets in the global industry.
TALLAHASSEE, Florida (AP) -- It took Robert G. Swofford Jr. more than a month to come forward and claim his $60 million Lotto prize, but he had to take care of some unfinished business -- divorcing his wife.
Swofford, a postal worker from Seminole County, claimed his prize Tuesday in a $34.7 million lump sum payout, ending weeks of mystery about who won the November 24 drawing.
Swofford, 53, and his wife separated three years ago. But two weeks after the winning numbers were announced, Ann Swofford served him with divorce papers and claimed a share of the prize.
By David Winning -
Gaming group Stanley Leisure today said a winning streak by a “major player” at its casinos had dented its profits.
Stanley, which has 41 casinos, did not disclose how much the high-roller had won but said it amounted to “material losses”.
It came as the group suffered further setbacks from unpaid debts at its casinos and a string of adverse sporting results at its chain of 600 bookmakers.
By Michael Cousineau -
MANCHESTER — If the New England Patriots make it to the Super Bowl, a Portsmouth woman will reap $728.31. If the Patriots win their third Super Bowl in four years, she will earn another $836.24.
The woman didn't place a bet with her neighborhood bookie or at an Internet gambling site. She went to the Northeast Credit Union yesterday and plunked down $150,000 in a savings certificate of deposit that can earn bonus interest if her team succeeds in the upcoming National Football League playoffs.