1st US Online Casino

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’…)

Super Slots Casino Mardi Gras officially began on Tuesday in New Orleans, but it began two days earlier for Super Slots Casino. The online casino began a Mardi Gras slot tournament on Sunday that will last for one week.

The event is not what players have come to expect at Super Slots. There is no large guaranteed prize fund, but there is currently over $5,000 in play. The entry fee for the tournament is only $5.

So far, in the two days the tournament has been running, over 400 players have tried their luck. The starting balance for the event is $75, and re-buys are available. (Read the full post about ‘Mardi Gras Brings Slot Tournament To Super Slots Online Casino’…)

Reports emanating from Italy indicate that online bingo operators, licensed only last December as the country liberalised its bingo laws, may have to take a break whilst what has been described as “legal procedural defects” surrounding the licensing decree are sorted out.

Initial Italian consumer interest in online bingo was reportedly strong, and a hiatus which could enable more competition to enter the market will be galling for those operators who have already secured licenses but now have to sit back and await a resolution of the irregularities.

The action appears to be taking place in the administrative courts of the Lazio region, where the judiciary has found that approval of the decrees regulating online bingo was not compliant with the formalities required by Italian law.

(Read the full post about ‘Recently legalised online bingo runs into Italian complications’…)

Bet365 have introduced a major change to their opening casino bonus, giving players the chance to choose from three bonus offers. With the Standard Opening Bonus players can load their account with a 100% bonus, up to £100, on their first deposit of £10 or more.

If that is not enough, then the VIP Opening Bonus might be more to their tastes. With this offer, players can receive a 100% bonus up to a £500. They need to make their first deposit £200 or more to enjoy this very special bonus, which provides the opportunity to start enjoying the online casino at bet365 with a big chunk of extra funds.

Bet365′s range of slot games are hugely popular – as such, they are also offering casino players a slots only opening bonus. (Read the full post about ‘Bet365 Online Casino Lets Players Choose from Three Opening Bonuses’…)

The Grand Jury enquiries into online gambling and arrests in Kansas last year resurfaced this week with the news that a Kansas City man has pleaded guilty to running a sports bookmaking business. The Kansas City Star reports that Michael V. Badalucco (26) admitted that he and others provided bettors with a toll-free telephone number or access to a website – Best24b – both of which routed from Missouri through Arizona to a company in Costa Rica.

Badalucco agreed that on February 17, 2009, he called the offshore company, identified himself as “George” and canceled bets for one of his customers.

According to court records, he paid out winnings and collected cash in person from bettors, usually on a weekly basis.

In pleading guilty, Badalucco waived his right to have a grand jury review the government’s evidence and agreed to plead guilty immediately.

In return, prosecutors agreed not to call him as a witness in the prosecution of anyone else in the illegal gambling business.

Badalucco faces a maximum of two years in prison.

(Read the full post about ‘Guilty plea in Kansas sports gambling case’…)

Gary Craig – Staff writer, RocNow.com

Local News – February 7, 2010 – 5:00am

BetOnline.com, a Panama-based online wagering site, is one of an untold number that will be accepting bets today on a premier gambling event – the Super Bowl.

Meanwhile, Joseph J. Fafone, an Ontario County man who helped build BetOnline.com, is awaiting trial on charges that he was a ringleader in a massive gambling enterprise that made millions of dollars on Internet wagering.

Fafone, 48, of Farmington, was among 30 people arrested in October on bookmaking charges stemming from involvement with offshore, Internet-based gambling sites.

(Read the full post about ‘Rochester Region at Center of Online Gambling Arrests’…)

By Jennifer Davies, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 12:04 a.m.

Pete Townshend and The Who will perform at halftime.

The Super Bowl is tomorrow, and while our beloved Bolts aren’t in the big game, we can’t just ignore the whole thing now, can we? Beyond the X’s and O’s, here are some other things to watch for:

Odds. The Colts are favored by anywhere from 4 1/2 to 6 points. The wide range in point spreads means Las Vegas isn’t quite sure how this Super Bowl will go down, says Christopher Costigan, founder of gambling911.com, which tracks the industry. Of course, oddsmakers are hardly infallible.

(Read the full post about ‘San Diego Union Tribune: 5 Things to Know About The Super Bowl’…)

The Dow Jones news service reports that a federal appeals court on Monday upheld a contempt order for refusing to comply with a grand-jury subpoena against two companies owned by a Canadian man accused of processing more than $350 million in payments for Internet gambling companies.

In an order Monday, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments that two companies owned by Douglas Rennick can refuse to comply with a subpoena on grounds that it would violate Rennick’s Fifth Amendment right.

Rennick, who lives in Canada, is the sole shareholder, officer and employee of Account Services Corp.

(Read the full post about ‘Rennick, accused of processing over $350M for internet gambling companies, held in contempt’…)