1st US Online Casino

Berlin police have released a suspect they believed to have been involved in a much publicized poker robbery last Saturday.  They initially believed he and three other men stormed the European Poker Tour Berlin tournament held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, making off with 240,000 euros. 

A spokeswoman for Berlin police – who did not give her name in keeping with department policy – said the suspect had been set free due to a lack of evidence. T

(Read the full post about ‘Berlin Poker Robbery Suspect Released’…)

Champions League 2010 betting odds were available at NordicBet.com (see website here)

Barcelona at 3.50 odds was the favorite.  They begin a big week attempting to defend its Spanish and Champions League titles. Barcelona failed to earn three points for just the sixth time in 25 matches in Spain after a 2-2 draw with Almeria, and Real edged Sevilla 3-2 to climb level on points.

"We are now in the run-in and every game is vital, but Valencia are a strong side and we know that they have great players. This is a key game," Barcelona defender Rafael Marquez said on the team’s website.

"We have to go from game-to-game and continue doing well.

(Read the full post about ‘Champions League 2010 Betting Odds’…)

The possibility of an online gambling-friendly change in Australian federal gambling laws is creating ripples of interest among analysts and potential buyers alike, reports The Australian newspaper.

(Read the full post about ‘Plenty of interest from Brit buyers for Aussie online gambling firm, Centrebet’…)

The Italian Internet bingo scene is looking decidedly brighter this week following a positive Administrative Court of Appeal decision which overturned a lower court’s suspension of the laws backing regulation of the game.

Last month a regional court in the Lazio area upset Italy’s newly launched bingo regulatory regime and threw the local industry into reverse when it ruled that approval of the decrees regulating online bingo lacked compliancy with the formalities required by Italian law, effectively making the regulation of the game illegal.

The Administrative Court of Appeal decision now suspends the Lazio ruling, taking the issue back to operational legality.

(Read the full post about ‘Overturned court decision brings a brighter prospect for Italian online bingo’…)

An Oscars 2010 betting prop that has caught our eye here at Gambling911.com is the odds being offered on acceptance speeches.  Yes, you can actually bet on the over/under number of minutes for an acceptance speech and who a winner might thank first at BetUS.com (see odds here)

The Oscars 2010 betting prop for acceptance speech timing is interesting in that one can actually handicap based on past history and allotted speech time.  YouTube.com offers some great tools for study.  The OVER/UNDER is 45 seconds.  Assuming a win by Meryl Streep in the Best Actress category, there are plenty of past speeches to review from her. 

The Best Actor and Best Actress would pay out $11.50 for every $10 bet should they thank anyone other than God, Family or the Academy first.  Perhaps they will thank a fellow co-star or close friend or they will not thank anyone (might be worth a bet in other words)

Another very popular Oscar prop this year is the color of the Best Actress’ dress with Black the favorite and paying out $20 for every $10 should it come to fruition.

(Read the full post about ‘Oscars 2010 Betting Prop: Acceptance Speeches’…)

Casino players can experience the atmosphere of a real-life casino environment with bet365’s range of Live Dealer games. On Saturday 6th March the bookmaker is hosting its Live Games Giveaway tournament, giving everyone the chance to win a cash prize by playing on these games.

A total of £5,000 is up for grabs during the Live Games Giveaway tournament, with 200 players winning a share of the prize-pool. The top player will walk away with a cash prize of £500.

Bet365’s helpful Leaderboard allows to keep a check on a player’s progress throughout the day, giving the opportunity to see just how close one is to scooping the top prize. (Read the full post about ‘UK Online Casino Features Live Dealer Games Giveaway and Cash Prizes’…)

The Virgin Group continues to expand on the online gambling front as they seek investors to help the company move into newly open markets, according to a report filed by eGamingReview Magazine.

One of the more intriguing markets is the United States.  Should this occur, Virgin would be the first European-based online gambling company to accept US gamblers since passage of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in 2006.

That law makes it illegal for banking institutions to knowingly allow transactions for certain Internet gambling such as poker, sports betting and online casino games.

(Read the full post about ‘Virgin Group May Move Into US Online Gambling Market’…)

Several bills which would legalize online poker and other forms of online gambling in the USA are currently languishing in the U.S. Congress.

One or more of those bills could become law soon.

Or maybe not so soon.

Or maybe never.

In the meantime, however, several online poker rooms are already operating from the USA and they claim to be legal.

And they are thriving.

The largest of these so-called legal Internet poker rooms is Pure Play (www.pureplay.com), which is based in San Francisco, California, USA.

Pure Play gets around U.S. law

(Read the full post about ‘Legal Online Poker Rooms Thriving in the United States’…)

(Read the full post about ‘Tournament: Lichtenberger leads NAPT Venetian Day 2′…)

MasterCard was the first of the major credit card companies to pull the plug on transactions to and from online gaming companies when it switched off the service last January.

Under the terms of the UIGEA, there is no need to turn off the service until June this year. However, it would appear that both MasterCard and Visa are keen to have a dry run.  Fortunately, for casino fans, the trial period might be short-lived, if Congressman Barney Frank gets his way.

The UIGEA act was tagged onto the Safe Port Act in 2006 at the very last minute. The Safe Port Act was critical and had to be passed. As a result, the UIGEA slipped through without anyone having a vote on whether or not is was a fair piece of legislation.

(Read the full post about ‘Visa Blocks US Casino Transactions Ahead of Legislation’…)