Business & Financial

Maryland Live! Opens New Poker Room to Full House

HANOVER, Md. (AP) - The 52-table poker room at Maryland's largest casino opened Wednesday.

Dealers began shuffling cards at Maryland Live! Casino in Hanover at noon. A grand opening ceremony was held at 11 a.m.

Some people got in line early, waiting over five hours to play their first hand.

Submitted by Associated Press on, Aug/28/2013

888 Plans Online Gambling Expansion Into California, Florida, New York

With online gambling already legalized in Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware, 888 Holdings has its eyes on bigger fish, some of the most populous states in the US.

888 boss Brian Mattingley signaled moves into potential emerging online gambling markets like California, New York and Florida.

 “There are now nine more states considering [legalising online poker]. California is beyond doubt the biggest prize, and between California, New York, New Jersey and Florida that’s 50pc of the potential market,” Mattingley said.

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Aug/28/2013

US Government to Get $47.4 Mil From Sheldon Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands Corp

LOS ANGELES (Associated Press) — Casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp. has agreed to pay $47.4 million after failing to flag millions of dollars in money transfers made by a gambler linked to drug trafficking.

In return, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles will not seek an indictment against the casino operator, prosecutors said Tuesday.

The deal, finalized late Monday, also brings the government's criminal investigation to a close, but requires Las Vegas Sands to boost its efforts to monitor suspicious financial transactions for the next two years.

Submitted by Associated Press on, Aug/28/2013

Delaware Rolls Out Online Gambling

The US state of Delaware rolled out its free online casino gaming platform Wednesday ahead of its planned October launch of real money online gambling.

"This first phase will allow us to really get the players acclimated to the virtual world in a legalized environment," said Tom Cook, Delaware's secretary of finance.

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Aug/28/2013

Scores Strip Club Opening Inside Atlantic City Taj Mahal Casino

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – (Associated Press) - What if, after seven years of plunging casino revenues and fleeing customers, Atlantic City's real problem was this: People are wearing too much clothing?

Scores, the famous New York strip club, will open a satellite establishment inside the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort next month -- the first strip club inside an Atlantic City casino in the 35 years of legal gambling here.

Submitted by Associated Press on, Aug/26/2013

CNBC: ‘Seismic Shift’ Coming for UK Bookmakers as Government Imposes Tax

CNBC on Monday reported that UK-based bookmakers and other online gambling websites will be scrambling to move into the Asian and Australian markets following news that Great Britain plans to impose a 15 per cent levy on remote betting firms. 

This will hit major U.K. bookmakers like William Hill and Ladbrokes, which operate from Gibraltar, where taxes are currently levied at 1 per cent and capped at £425,000, CNBC notes.

Smaller bookmakers are likely to be forced out of the market.

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Aug/26/2013

Online Gambling Accounts for More Than Half of Bitcoin Transactions

Bitcoin is becoming big business in the world of online gambling.  Earlier in the month, Gambling911.com reported that one of its ad sponsors, SportsBettingOnline.com, had become the first online sportsbook that was not bitcoin exclusive to begin offering the anonymous digital currency. 

Submitted by Alejandro Botticelli on, Aug/25/2013

Pay Per Head Service for $5 Per Month

PayPerHead.com is offering a price per player for $5 per month to qualified bookies.  This is a basic package that is a perfect fit for the guy with just a few clients. 

What you get with the $5 package is 24/7/365 online wagering, betting available on 80+ leagues and exceptional online support.

In order to get call center support, bookies will need to upgrade to the $10 per month package.

Submitted by C Costigan on, Aug/24/2013

Still The Only US-Based Regulated Online Poker Room: Ultimate Poker Upgrades

LAS VEGAS – Taking full advantage of having just completed field trial, UltimatePoker.com wastes no time getting new features to market.  The software upgrade includes table, lobby and tournament enhancements along with Color UP a new VIP Rewards program and online merchandise store.

Submitted by Press Release on, Aug/24/2013

Arsenal Now Paddy Power Betting Partner Despite Arshavin ‘Toilet Cleaning’ Billboard

Premier League football club Arsenal have announced a partnership arrangement with the betting firm Paddy Power.  The marriage comes as quite a surprise after Paddy recently erected a billboard suggesting former Arsenal footballer, Andrey Arshavin, should be cleaning toilets.  In fact, Arsenal has bore the brunt of many Paddy Power’s humorous billboards over the past year.

Submitted by Alistair Prescott on, Aug/22/2013

Wynn Resorts Applies for Online Gambling License in New Jersey

(Reuters) - Wynn Resorts Ltd said on Thursday it filed an application with New Jersey gaming regulators for an Internet gambling license.

Wynn's application follows dozens of companies that have submitted applications with the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement for Internet gambling licenses ahead of a targeted launch date in late November.

Wynn Resorts operates casinos in Las Vegas and China's Macau, but has no casino operations in Atlantic City.

Submitted by Reuters on, Aug/22/2013

European Poker Tour Partners With Duracell Powermat

ONCHAN, Isle of Man – The European Poker Tour will become the first live poker tour to offer players free wireless mobile device charging, as part of a  deal struck with Duracell Powermat for EPT Season 10.

Submitted by Press Release on, Aug/22/2013

PerHead.co Blames Affiliate for Scam

PerHead.co has released a statement in response to the report featured on the Gambling911.com website citing a scam being perpetrated by someone with ties to that pay per head company.

Submitted by C Costigan on, Aug/21/2013

Wynn Wants In: New Jersey Online Gambling

Las Vegas Casino mogul Steve Wynn wants a part of New Jersey’s developing online gambling industry, the Press of Atlantic City is reporting.

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Aug/21/2013

Pay Per Head Scammers Have Industry on Edge: Leads Investigated

Nearly everyone in the pay per head industry, most of which is based in Costa Rica, are outraged by a group of scammers that have inundated the Net with emails suggesting they have a direct relationship with the likes of respected PPH companies like WagerHome.com and Perhead.com.

Submitted by C Costigan on, Aug/21/2013

BetOnline Introduces Strip Sports Betting (Video)

If you are going to lose money betting sports, you might as well watch hot women lose their clothes at the same time.   We suppose that is the concept behind StripSportsBetting.com, a product of Gambling911.com sponsor BetOnline.ag. 

Submitted by Jagajeet Chiba on, Aug/20/2013

Ladbrokes Luck About to Change: Deutsche Bank Upgrades Shares to ‘Buy’

Ladbrokes, the UK bookmaking behemoth, has endured a rough ride in recent months but Deutsche Bank sees things changing for the better.

Bookmaker-2500-091412A.jpg

Analyst Richard Carter upgraded the share price of Ladbrokes from ‘hold’ to ‘buy’, believing that the stock is worth 232p and noting that the ‘headwinds’ affecting the group’s recent performance are now factored into the bookmaker’s valuation. 

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Aug/20/2013

Fashion Empire Versace Enters Macau Gambling Industry

One doesn’t typically associate the name Versace with casino gambling, but the fashion house has announced its plans to build a luxury hotel at a casino resort in the Asian gambling Mecca of Macau.

In a joint statement with local casinos operator SJM Holdings Ltd, Versace said the five-star Palazzo Versace hotel will be part of a resort SJM is building in the former Portuguese colony's Las Vegas-style Cotai strip.

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Aug/20/2013

Bahrain-Based Investcorp Sells Majority Share in Online Payment Processing Co Skrill

(Reuters) - Bahrain-based Investcorp said on Monday it agreed to sell a majority stake in British online payments services firm Skrill Group to private equity group CVC Capital Partners for 600 million euros ($800 million).As part of the deal Investcorp will keep an approximate 25 percent stake in the company, sources said. It will also retain a seat on Skrill's board, the company said in a statement.

Submitted by Reuters on, Aug/20/2013

Fake Affiliate Impersonating WagerHome.com, TheRx.com

Beware pay per head agents!  Gambling911.com has been informed that a fake affiliate with no relationship to pay per head site WagerHome.com is emailing agents pretending to represent this company. 

Submitted by C Costigan on, Aug/19/2013

InsuredPlay.com to Shut Down

An all-in equity insurance product for online cash games, InsuredPlay.com, will no longer be available as the site is slated to shut down after only 16 months in business.

All player balances remain safe, and everyone will be repaid their balances in full, the company assures but withdrawal requests must take place by September 30.

A statement from the site claimed that “a number of difficulties that we have not been able to overcome” have led to the shutdown.  

Submitted by Patrick Flanigan on, Aug/19/2013

Pay Per Head Plus Local Bookie Translates Into Higher Profit

For the local bookie utilizing pay per head outfits located outside the United States, the increased profit should be realized almost immediately.

Pay per heads the likes of Wagerhome.com do all the so-called “dirty work”.  They provide the technologies, the management of accounts, software (online websites) and, in the case of Wagerhome.com at least, LIVE BETTING.

Submitted by C Costigan on, Aug/17/2013

Head Count Services for 2013 NFL, College Football: Live Betting

A head count service is a company that manages bookmaking businesses and charges based on the number of players (i.e. heads) that are placing bets.

These services are cropping up left and right as the 2013 NFL and College Football seasons are upon us. This makes perfect since such businesses are in high demand.

Submitted by C Costigan on, Aug/15/2013

Arsenal FC Partners With Online Gambling Site Bodog

Following a successful 2013 pre-season tour to Indonesia, Vietnam and Japan Arsenal today welcomes Bodog as its Official Asian Betting Partner in a three year, multi-million pound deal.

BetOnline

Submitted by Press Release on, Aug/15/2013

New Online Poker Site LiveAce.com Enters US Market: Will Pay Out Via Auctions

A new membership based online poker site, LiveAce.com, entered the US market Wednesday.  The site has discovered what they believe to be a legal way for players to win real money and claim their cashouts without the hassle of using third party processors that are regularly seen as skirting US law.

The browser-based online poker site will allow customers to cash in chips through unique daily auctions whereby cash redemptions are processed quickly via payment solutions company Dwolla or check. 

Submitted by Patrick Flanigan on, Aug/14/2013

New York, US Open Investigations Into Bitcoin as Senate Asks for Guidance

New York State and federal law enforcement agencies are beginning to investigate the shortcomings of the virtual currency bitcoin just as it is on the verge of becoming more popular in the mainstream market.

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Aug/14/2013

Call Center Outsourcing for Bookies Reaches Fever Pitch

There have never before been this many call center outsourcing companies available for bookies and the number of such companies continues to grow it seems.

IDSCA is one of the more prominent in this field.

In addition to this group’s great software product, they also offer a full service call center.

Submitted by C Costigan on, Aug/14/2013

Sands Head Sheldon Adelson Furious With MGM, Caesar’s Driving Vegas Room Rates Down

During a quarterly earnings conference call this week, Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson blasted MGM and Caesar's Entertainment for driving down hotel room rates on the Strip and, thus, cutting into his own company's profit margins.

Adelson accused both casinos of conducting business out of desperation due to some excessive debt. 

Caesars owes some $23.7 billion while MGM Resorts is in a $13.1 billion hole.

Submitted by Gilbert Horowitz on, Aug/14/2013

Beyonce, Rihanna, Others to be Held Hostage by Online Gambling Trade Dispute

The tiny Caribbean island of Antigua is looking to be compensated by the US as part of its $3.4 billion World Trade Organization victory.  The two nations have been immersed in a decade-long dispute over Internet gambling.

Submitted by C Costigan on, Aug/14/2013

Huge Traffic Increases Continue at Americas Cardroom After ‘Beast’ Promo

San Jose, Costa Rica –As The Beast Anniversary celebration continues this month at Americas Cardroom with daily $1,000 leaderboard competitions and three more weekly leaderboards worth $5,000 a piece, poker players from all over the US are signing up to take advantage of the cash giveaway in record numbers. Earlier this week, Americas Cardroom became one of the big three online poker sites in the US.

Submitted by Press Release on, Aug/13/2013

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