Gambling News
888 Poker Cam Ad Banned for Displaying Bikini Clad Female
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in Great Britain is at it again, this time condemning 888 Poker Cam for featuring an ad with a bikini-clad woman.
The ASA calls the ad “suggestive” with the implied message being “gambling linked to seduction results in sexual success in bed”.
Memo to Calvin Ayre: Head for Hong Kong…or Zimbabwe!
They say Laos is lovely this time of year.
So are Qatar, Angola and Nepal.
Vietnam gets a little hot, however, as does Cambodia and Indonesia.
And of course Libya, Tunisia and Syria are hot spots right now too, but in a different way.
For Canadian billionaire and Bodog.com founder Calvin Ayre, however, these Third-World hell-holes might be looking like islands of paradise right about now.
Poker Player Who Murdered Parents Ernie Scherer to be Profiled on 48 Hours Mystery
Gambling911.com was the first site to break the news that Ernie Scherer III, a poker player who killed both his parents in cold blood, would be profiled on the CBS news magazine “48 Hours Mystery”. Saturday, March 3 at 10 pm EST, you can finally watch the segment.
The Scherer story was already profiled on NBC’s “Dateline”, delivering significant traffic to the Gambling911.com website.
Largest Poker Room in Florida Opens: Best Bet at Regency in Jacksonville
March 1, 2012 marked the opening of Florida’s largest poker room, the Best Bet at the Regency in Jacksonville.
News 4 Jacksonville reported there was a line outside the door.
Pirates Come to Ayre’s Defense
The Pirate Party of Canada has lashed out at the US Government’s indictment of native son and Bodog founder, Calvin Ayre.
Doyle Brunson: ‘Full Tilt Poker Deal Likely to Fall Apart’
Though Full Tilt Poker’s French suitors attorneys continue to insist the deal to acquire the troubled company is still in, Texas Dolly and poker icon Doyle Brunson agrees with a number of other pros who have come forward to express their concerns, suggesting the deal is likely to fall apart.
98-Year-Old Woman, 40 Other Seniors Charged in Poker Raid
A 98-year-old woman and 40 other female senior citizens have been charged in Cyprus after a raid on their weekly poker party. (woman shown in photo is not individual charged)
Zynga May Partner in Online Gambling Venture
SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones)--Zynga Inc. (ZNGA) Chief Executive Mark Pincus said Wednesday he sees "mind blowing" possibilities for weaving real-money gambling into social games pending regulatory changes in the U.S., and suggested the company may partner with a traditional casino company before the end of this year.
Pincus, speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference, said his San Francisco-based company sees a great deal of opportunity "to start to bring this gambling element into more than just casino games."
Epic Failure: Epic Poker League Files for Chapter 11 Protection
There is no easy way to say this, but, at the end of the day yesterday, Federated Sports + Gaming filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Our company needs a new start.
Think the US is Bad When it Comes to Online Gambling: The Dutch are Far Worse
When one thinks of the Netherlands, the first thing that typically pops into their mind is the European nation’s liberal stance on just about everything from smoking pot to legalized prostitution. When it comes to online gambling, however, Holland’s approach has become even more hard line than that of the United States.
The Dutch Supreme Court this week ordered Internet gambling firms that operate outside the country to install blocking software to prevent its citizens from gaining access to said sites.
Say what?
Poker Maximus 2012: Prepare to Conquer
Many online poker players are talking about the upcoming Poker Maximus 2012, being promoted throughout the Merge Network including our friends at CarbonPoker.ag.
Phil Hellmuth First Poker Tournament Win in Nearly 5 Years
After finishing in 2nd place in three of last year’s World Series of Poker tournaments, Phil Hellmuth has finally actually won a tournament, his first in five years.
Hellmuth won the 2012 LA Poker Classic $2080 Buy-In 8-Game Mixed Tournament early Wednesday morning.
This was Hellmuth’s first victory since winning the 2007 World Series of Poker $1500 No-Limit Hold’em Event for $637,254.
After the big win, the self-proclaimed “Poker Brat” tweeted:
I win!! Feels great to win a tournament, FINALLY!!
More Cake Online Poker Client Improvements Unveiled
Popular online poker network, the Cake Network has released an update to its 2.0 poker client with improvements in speed, stability, navigation and graphics.
Online Gambling Payment Processor Facilitator Don Hellinger Pleads Guilty
Nylon Magazine Publisher and one time online gambling payment processor facilitator, Don Hellinger, has plead guilty to Count number 2 of an indictment filed against him.
Hellinger admitted to “operating an illegal money transmitting business” during a period of time in the early to mid portion of this past decade.
Techdirt.com: Federal Agents Did Not Gamble on Bodog.com
An interesting argument was raised by a colleague of Gambling911.com Tuesday following the indictment of Bodog.com and four individuals connected to the company.
The US Attorneys Office in Maryland announced the indictment Tuesday immediately following the seizure of the Bodog.com domain.
Almost Paradise: Poker Site Sees Sharp 33 Percent Decline
Paradise Poker, once among the top three largest Internet card rooms in the world, witnessed a sharp decline in revenues of 33 percent in the first 6 months of its financial year to end January 2012.
The company, which is owned by sports betting powerhouse Sportingbet Plc, called the current poker market conditions “challenging”.
Poker makes up 6.0 percent of gross gaming revenue.
Sportingbet overall recorded a loss for the period.
Kentucky, Indiana Looking at Internet Gambling Options Though Odds Against It
In a report filed by Grace Schneider of the Louisville Courier it was revealed that both Kentucky and Indiana may be interested in legalizing online gambling, albeit she notes, it won’t be any time soon.
“Our job right now is to look at what the options can be,” said Arch Gleason, the Kentucky Lottery’s president.
2012 WPT LA Poker Classic Down to 18: Noah Schwartz Leads
The 2012 WPT LA Poker Classic was down to 18 players having had 549 entrants.
Noah Schwartz leads the pack with 1,770,000 chips while Dan Kelly follows with 1,749,000. Schwartz has won close to $2 million in live poker tournaments to date.
Canadian Jason Somerville continues to go strong in 7th place heading into Wednesday.
David Sands, World Series of Poker Main Event winner Joe Hachem and Sorel Mizzi are other big names still hanging in there and looking to make the final table.
Ayre Don’t Care: Bovada, Bodog Say Business as Usual
Following an indictment against Bodog founder Calvin Ayre Tuesday after a year’s long investigation into online sports betting, Ayre told his own self-named news website his life won’t be impacted.
Black Friday Defendant Ryan Lang Pleads Guilty
(Associated Press) - NEW YORK — A Canadian citizen pleaded guilty to U.S. conspiracy charges Tuesday in connection with an investigation of Internet poker gambling that shut down the three largest online poker companies in the United States.
Ryan Lang, 37, entered the plea in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, saying he served as a middleman between poker companies and brokers who tricked banks into processing money for the gambling businesses.
Bodog, Calvin Ayre, et al. Indictment (Full Court Document)
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA :
v.
BODOG ENTERTAINMENT GROUP S.A., d/b/a BODOG.com, CALVIN AYRE, JAMES PHILIP,
DAVID FERGUSON, and DERRICK MALONEY,
Defendants.
: : CRIMINAL NO. : (Conducting gambling business, : 18 U.S.C. §1955; Money : laundering conspiracy, 18 U.S.C. : §1956(h); Aiding and : abetting, 18 U.S.C. §2; : Forfeiture, 18 U.S.C. : §§982(a)(1) and 1955(d)). :
...ooo0ooo... INDICTMENT COUNT ONE (Conducting gambling business)
Bodog Founder Calvin Ayre Indicted
Federal prosecutors in Baltimore on Tuesday unsealed an indictment against Calvin Ayre following the seizure of the Bodog.com domain name late Monday night. Ayre was profiled in the cover story of the Forbes Billionaire issue.
A press release was expected by the US Attorney’s Office out of Maryland shortly.
Rod Rosenstein, the U.S. Attorney in Baltimore, indicted Ayre and three other men, James Philip, David Ferguson and Derrick Maloney. The company, Bodog Entertainment Group, is also under indictment and its domain name has been seized by federal prosecutors.
Defendants in Hellinger Case to Reach Plea Agreement Tuesday
Gambling911.com has learned that defendants in an online gambling case dating back to 2005 are set to enter pleas on Tuesday.
The US Attorney’s Office in Eastern Pennsylvania charged Don Hellinger and four other men with illegal distribution of over $40 million in Internet gambling winnings during the years 2005 and 2006 through a money transfer company, Payment Processing, Inc. Hellinger was also alleged to have been involved in mail fraud.
Bodog.com Domain Seizure ‘Dog’ Years in the Making
The sudden seizure of the Bodog.com domain name late Monday night was not so sudden, Gambling911.com can reveal, nor was it exactly easy to achieve.
The US Attorney’s Office in Maryland, which was responsible for a series of online gambling company domain seizures last May, had been probing Bodog and the company’s colorful founder, Calvin Ayre, since 2003.
Japan Considers Legalizing Gambling
For the first time, Japan is looking to possibly legalize gambling.
Casino gambling would "help promote tourism, encourage business, create jobs, and boost local development," Takeshi Iwaya, a lawmaker from the biggest opposition party, the Liberal Democratic Party, told the Wall Street Journal this week. "Neighboring areas are contemplating similar plans, so if we don't hurry, we may risk missing out on a big opportunity."
Maryland US Attorney Wraps Up Investigation Into Bodog.com: Seizes Domain
The Maryland US Attorney’s has concluded its years long investigation into Bodog.com with the seizure of its domain name. Rumors have been swirling for months that former executives from the company were to be indicted. A press release was expected from the agency on Tuesday.
Lucky Marine Turns a Penny Slot Into $2.8 Million Win
Cpl. Alexander Degenhardt learned he was accepted as a bone marrow donor to an anonymous patient just days before hitting a $2.8 million progressive slot machine back on February 19 at the Bellagio.
The US Marine told the Las Vegas Sun: ““They asked me if I was sure I wanted to go through with it, because it’s kind of painful, but what’s a little pain if it will save someone’s life?”
He admits the good karma may have paid off.
Poker After Dark Returning March 5
“Poker After Dark” is set to return March 5 with 24 previously unaired episodes.
Four weeks of episodes that were taped primarily in December 2010 will be shown on the new NBC Sports Network (currently Versus).
“Poker After Dark” was previously sponsored by the now defunct Full Tilt Poker.
The shows were produced by Poker PROductions, which sent out the following tweet on Monday:
PokerStars Introduces Zoom Poker to Fill Void Left by Rush Poker
Following Full Tilt Poker’s shut down last year, its Rush Poker product vanished as well. Now PokerStars is stepping up to the plate with its own fast-paced game, Zoom Poker.
Presently, the Zoom Poker product is only available for play money.
Zoom Poker player can see an average of 200 hands per hour with a “fast fold” option.
So far players have been able to join 4 playerpools at once with the average actually recorded at between 200 and 280 hands/hour.
Matt Glantz: ‘Inevitable That Bernard Tapie Will be Backing Out (of Full Tilt Poker Deal)
Poker pro Matt Glantz provided his gloomy assessment of the future of Full Tilt Poker and those supposed white knights out of France, Groupe Bernard Tapie.
“Unfortunately, I feel based on their recent actions, I believe it is inevitable that Tapie will be backing out. It looks to me that for whatever reason, they have no real interest in acquiring FTP. The reasons why they are hanging around giving the illusion that they are still interested are unclear.”
