Gambling

The Lefty Rosenthal Watch is Being Auctioned Off

If they could auction off John Lennon’s rotten tooth, why not Lefty Rosenthal’s gold watch?  The current bid on the watch was just over $4000 with the starting bid actually set at $1.

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Nov/10/2011

Betfair Poaches Paddy Power Second-in-Command

The world’s largest betting exchange announced Thursday it has hired away Breon Corcoran from rival Paddy Power to become its new CEO.  Corcoran replaces David Yu.

The Financial Times of London reported that Corcoran’s Paddy Power contract was understood to have had a six-month notice period, with a non-compete clause for two-and-a-half months.  As such, Corcoran is said to be on “gardening leave” until August. 

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Nov/10/2011

What if the NFL, DOJ Back Down Concerning New Jersey Sports Betting

As Gambling911.com was among the first to report, on Tuesday voters in New Jersey overwhelmingly voted for a referendum favoring sports betting in the state by a margin of 65 percent to 35 percent.

If you were thinking about betting on some College Football games this weekend in Atlantic City, that won’t happen.

Submitted by C Costigan on, Nov/09/2011

New Jersey Elections Will Have Impact as Sports Betting on Way to Becoming Legal

History was made in New Jersey on Election Day, November 9, 2011 as voters overwhelmingly cast their ballots in favor of legalized sports betting in the Garden State.

Submitted by C Costigan on, Nov/09/2011

Breaking News: New Jersey Sports Betting Referendum Passes by Whopping 65 Percent

A Election Day referendum to allow sports betting in the state of New Jersey has passed by a two to one margin, Gambling911.com can report late Tuesday.

The results will pave way for legalized sports wagering in Atlantic City and at state racetracks, boosting the local and state economy.

New Jersey would become only the second state in the US to allow legalized sports betting. 

Submitted by C Costigan on, Nov/08/2011

Sports Betting Referendum in New Jersey Could be on its Way to Approval

There’s early indications that the statewide referendum on sports betting is on its way to approval.

William J. Pascrell III, campaign director for Vote YES on Sports Wagering and a partner at Princeton Public Affairs Group Inc., said, “At this stage so far, the absentee (vote by mail) ballots we’ve been monitoring in northern New Jersey are running 2-to-1 for approval.’’

Submitted by Guest on, Nov/08/2011

Election Day in New Jersey 2011: The Economy and Sports Betting

Chances are most of the 55 percent of New Jersey registered voters who realize Election Day is tomorrow (November 8) will cast their votes based on economic concerns and which of the 120 state representatives, if any, can actually provide some glimmer of hope to revitalize a stagnant state economy.

Ironically, one of the referendums on the November 8 ballot could actually help boost the state’s ailing economy without the assistance of any elected officials.

It’s legalized sports betting in Atlantic City!

Submitted by C Costigan on, Nov/07/2011

Bettors Find Loophole in Delaware Sports Betting Rules

Who says you can't make a single-game NFL bet in Delaware?

You actually can.

And many are.

Technically, you can't walk up to the windows of Delaware's three racetracks that offer NFL betting and bet on a lone NFL game.

You can't even bet a two-game parlay.

Under state law, the minimum number of NFL games you must bet at once is three.

In other words, you must bet a three-game parlay, and you have to win all three games in the parlay to win money.

Submitted by Thomas Somach on, Nov/07/2011

Several Big Name Denver Businesses, Individuals Tied to Sports Betting Bust

Charlie Brown’s Bar and Grill maintained a $290,000 limit account there while Sports Column and Blake Street Tavern also placed their bets with what the Colorado Bureau of Investigation is calling the biggest bookmaking operation in the state.

Daniel Dinner and Michael Elick were arrested after investigators seized more than $1 million in cash from their homes in July.  Now court documents have revealed some of their alleged big name clients.

Submitted by Jagajeet Chiba on, Nov/06/2011

Clown Robs Chilean Casino at Gunpoint

A man dressed as a clown robbed the Casino Monticello in the Chilean capital of Santiago at gunpoint Halloween night stealing $12,000 in cash.

Most of the money was snatched from a single patron.  The clown entered through a side door, shooting his pistol several times into the air. 

Police believe this was an “inside job’, detaining one of the casino security guards, Cristian Poblete. 

The robbery occurred around 5 am. 

Casino Monticello is the largest shareholder is the France-based International Group of Gaming & Resorts.

Submitted by Jagajeet Chiba on, Nov/03/2011

Bernie Madoff and Ken “The Shrink” Weitzner: Birds of a Feather

American TV show "60 Minutes" ran a segment on convicted ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff on Sunday, and revealed how he and his wife unsuccessfully tried to commit suicide after he was exposed as a con man and arrested.

The story had an eerie similarity to the tale of Ken "The Shrink" Weitzner, the sleazy Internet entrepreneur who created a pair of websites devoted to gambling and who took his own life last year.

Many of the details of both men's controversial lives are coincidentally alike.

Such as:

*Both men were middle-aged Jews from New York.

Submitted by Thomas Somach on, Nov/02/2011

Chris Christie Finally Backs Sports Betting in New Jersey: Voters Get Their Ballots

After initially supporting sports betting in the state then seemingly backing down, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie came forward Wednesday to offer his full support for the referendum appearing on next week’s ballot.

As Gambling911.com reported earlier in the day, a number of state residents have been notifying us of the referendum appearing on the ballot that would allow NJ voters to get sports betting legalized in the state.

According to recent polls, voters overwhelmingly support legalized sports wagering in the state. 

Submitted by C Costigan on, Nov/02/2011

Sports Betting on New Jersey Election Ballot

A number of people from the state of New Jersey have advised Gambling911.com they were excited to see legalized sports betting on the ballot for next week’s elections in that state. 

The Waltonian’s Raechel Jones notes that each voter will be given the option to either vote for or against this referendum. If the majority favors this referendum, the process towards making sports betting legal in Atlantic City will begin.

Jones added

Submitted by C Costigan on, Nov/02/2011

888 Holdings Sees Record Quarterly Rise

Publicly traded 888 Holdings, which runs the 4th biggest online poker room in the world, has reported a record quarterly high.

888 climbed as much as 5.3 percent, the most since August 30, before trading 2.3 percent higher at 33.75 pence as of 9:10 a.m. in London, according to Bloomberg News Tuesday. This gives the Gibraltar-based company a market value of 117.1 million pounds ($187 million).

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Nov/01/2011

Billionaires Bet on Internet Gambling: Say it Will be a Marathon, Not a Sprint

Forbes.com featured a piece Monday on how billionaires are looking to back the likelihood of Internet gambling getting regulated in the United States.

The likes of Steven Roth, chairman of Vornado Realty Trust, and shopping mall magnate Herbert Simon, the owner of the Indiana Pacers, have invested in a firm that provides software and advertising services to potential online gambling licensees in the US, including the Vegas casinos. 

Submitted by C Costigan on, Oct/31/2011

Germany Liberalises Sports Betting Market: Still Banning Online Poker Games

15 Prime Ministers in Germany overwhelmingly approved a measure that will liberalise the gaming market in that nation.  Most advantageous to betting shop businesses will be the concession fee reduced from 17 to 5 percent. 

Still, Germany will not concede when it comes to restricting licensed operators to 20 while continuing to ban online poker and casino games. 

JAXX SE, a financial holding company with holdings in international companies in the gaming industry, believes the German restrictions will not fly with the European Commission. 

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Oct/28/2011

“Shrink” Book Can’t Find Publisher Stepson Tells Gambling911

A controversial biography on the life and times of late gambler and Internet entrepreneur Ken "The Shrink" Weitzner continues to be written by Weitzner's step-son, Jerry Lee Donahue, but the project has hit a snag, Donahue tells Gambling911.com in an exclusive interview.

The problem?

A year into the project, the author still hasn't found a publisher to publish the book.

Submitted by Thomas Somach on, Oct/27/2011

Fertitta Interactive Positioning Itself for Legalized Internet Poker

Fertitta Interactive, owned by brothers Frank Fertitta III and Lorenzo Fertitta, announced the purchase of California online gambling company CyberArts Licensing LLC Wednesday. 

The brothers, who also own Stations Casinos and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), are hoping to get a jump start should the US legalize online gambling, specifically Internet poker. 

Submitted by C Costigan on, Oct/26/2011

Clive Archer Has Left The Building

BetOnline, the fastest growing sportsbook in the US, today announced the departure of Clive Archer.  During his tenure within the organization, Clive held various roles including Director of Business Development and Chief Executive Officer.  The parting was by mutual agreement.        

“Clive very successfully helped us re-position the organization for growth and brought many in the industry to the BetOnline table,” said a BetOnline spokesperson. “We wish him only the best with all future endeavors.” 

Submitted by C Costigan on, Oct/26/2011

William Hill Shares Up: Claims Business Back to Normal

William Hill claimed operations were “back to normal” on Tuesday following a highly publicized walkout of its entire online staff based out of Tel Aviv, Israel, last week. 

Following a drastic drop in the company’s share price and one analyst even issuing an advisory, Will Hill saw a slight increase of 0.26 percent at GBP2.285 valuing the company at GBP1.6 billion.

Its staff in Tel Aviv and two satellite offices in Manila and Bulgaria walked out following reports they would be relocated to the company’s Gibraltar headquarters.

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Oct/25/2011

Schweddy Balls a Hard Find in Vegas

Those living in Las Vegas will be hard pressed to find their favorite Ben & Jerry’s flavor ice cream, Schweddy Balls.

Named after the Alec Baldwin character, Pete Schweddy, on a classic "SNL" sketch, a number of Vegas-based grocery stores have refused to carry the ice cream flavor, claiming it might be offensive to some customers. 

Submitted by Jagajeet Chiba on, Oct/24/2011

Tel A-Heave Ho: Fish Feeder, Rabbi, Hairdresser on Books at William Hill Tel Aviv Office

The turmoil continues at William Hill following a mass exodus of employees in its Affiliates United Tel Aviv-based online support centre last week.  The company revealed on Monday that it had canned three of its managers based out of Israel. 

The support centre is 79 percent owned by Hill and 21 percent owned by its software provider, Playtech. 

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Oct/24/2011

William Hill Execs Locked Out of Their Own Office: Implosion Within, Shares Fall

The riff between William Hill and its Tel Aviv-based online support and affiliate center, Affiliates United, continued through the weekend following a mass employee walkout last Sunday.  Fewer than 20 employees reported back to work. 

The Affiliates United employees were told by a former manager of the support center that they would be relocating to William Hill’s Gibraltar base.

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Oct/23/2011

Donald Trump Could be Trump Card for New Jersey’s Chances of Legal i-Gaming

Donald Trump’s announcement that he is looking to enter the online gambling fray last week has offered hope on the state front.  New Jersey, which is home to a handful of Trump properties including the Taj Mahal, is one of the states looking to legalize Internet gambling as well as sports betting.

Submitted by C Costigan on, Oct/23/2011

How to Lock in a Six-Figure World Series Win

Submitted by Guest on, Oct/22/2011

Oklahoma Online Bookie Gets Four Years Behind Bars

An Oklahoma online bookmaker was sentenced to a four year prison sentence following a plea agreement that would require him to cooperate with prosecutors. 

David Roy Tune, 62, pleaded guilty to 20 counts of violating anti-gambling laws and one count of conspiracy.  Most of the wagers were placed online with a now defunct Costa Rica sportsbook. 

It was revealed that Tune forwarded some of the money collected from losing bettors to a man in a man in Costa Rica beginning in 2008.

Submitted by Gilbert Horowitz on, Oct/21/2011

Sopranos Actor Arrested as Part of New York Sports Betting Sting

John Marinacci, 56, was one of the individuals caught up in a New York State sports betting sting alleged to have ties with the Gambino crime family.  Marinacci appeared in two episodes of the popular HBO series “The Sopranos”.  He has also appeared on another HBO series “Boardwalk Empire”. 

Marinacci was charged this week with enterprise corruption for taking bets and collecting monies for "the Gambino Bookmaking Enterprise," court papers revealed.

The complaint alleges that the New York sports betting ring utilized an offshore wagering call center.

Submitted by C Costigan on, Oct/20/2011

Tim Trushel Abruptly Resigns from his Own Website Sports Memo

Tim Trushel, the president and owner of the Sports Memo group announced his resignation on Tuesday in a shocking development in the sports advisory business.  (see blog post here)

Submitted by Jagajeet Chiba on, Oct/20/2011

Popular APCW Video Account Suspended by YouTube.com

APCW’s slickly produced “Perspectives Weekly” online gambling industry videos may no longer be available on YouTube.com after the video uploading website apparently suspended their account on Thursday.  J. Todd runs the APCW site and is widely considered one of the industry’s leading crusaders. 

Clicking on the YouTube.com graphic on the APCW website, visitors were greeted with the following message:

Submitted by C Costigan on, Oct/20/2011

Bugging Devices and GPS Tracking Used in Illegal Sports Betting Investigation

37 individuals were arrested on Tuesday in New York and charged with running two illegal sports betting and loan-sharking operations.  Those arrested include alleged members of the Gambino crime family.

Submitted by Jagajeet Chiba on, Oct/20/2011

Breaking News