To date, Paul the Octopus has only made predictions on major football matches.  His World Cup picks were perfect including a selection of Spain to win outright in Sunday’s final.  So will Paul make his picks for the 2010 Open Championship this week?

Paul did veer off course a bit with a pick on a game that did not feature Germany.  All other picks prior to Sunday were games that featured the German side.

(Read the full post about ‘Paul The Octopus: How About An Open Championship Pick?’…)

Macau gambling revenue surged 57% in Q1/2010 to about 41 billion patacas as China’s economic growth accelerated to 11.9%, the fastest pace in almost three years.

(Read the full post about ‘Casino revenues soar as Macau shakes off global recession’…)

The Morongo, in concert with Californian commercial poker rooms, had hoped to marshall tribal support to halt the Frank bill, clearing the way for it to set up an exclusive legalised Internet poker system within California.

Reporting on the proceedings of the National Indian Gaming Association conference this week, the publication Indian Country Today said that the divisive debate on Internet gambling closed with an anti-climatic vote to delay action on the Morongo resolution opposing the Frank bill.

“Tribal members of the National Indian Gaming Association voted 27-6 with one abstention to table what was intended as a compromise resolution in response to proposed bills by Rep.

(Read the full post about ‘Indian casinos against internet gambling bill defeated’…)

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’…)

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’…)

Company founder Gary Kaplan was sentenced last month to 51 months in prison forfeiture of $43.65 million after pleading guilty to conspiracy, racketeering conspiracy and violating the Wire Wager Act. The company’s erstwhile CEO David Carruthers remains untried and under house arrest in St Louis after several years in limbo.

Associated Press reports indicate that in the latest development a federal judge placed BetOnSports on probation for five years and issued the fine.

(Read the full post about ‘Bankrupt BetonSports sentenced to $28m fine’…)

By Frank Fitzpatrick, Philly Inquirer Staff Writer

Tim Donaghy will be released from federal prison Wednesday, according to consultants the ex-NBA referee has hired to ease his post-prison transition.

Donaghy, a Havertown native who lost his job and was sentenced to 15 months for providing inside information to gamblers, hopes to find a job in sales or marketing, according to a press release issued last night by Executive Prison Consultants.

"Other than the injured condition of his knee, Donaghy is in good health and is excited about reuniting with his four daughters and family," the release read.

Calls to the federal prison camp in Pensacola, Fla., where Donaghy served most of his sentence were not immediately returned.

In August, Donaghy, who had been transferred to a halfway house in Tampa two months earlier, was sent back to the Pensacola facility after he made an unauthorized trip that his wife said was for treatment of his injured knee.

Donaghy told prison officials he’d been struck in the knee by a prisoner associated with the New York mob.

Donaghy, the release noted, plans to live in the Sarasota area and continue treatment for his gambling addiction.

(Read the full post about ‘Disgraced Ex-NBA Referee Tim Donaghy to be Released’…)

The Nevada Gaming Control Board reported Thursday that monthly revenue for the first two months of the fiscal year that began in July fell nearly 11% compared with a year ago.

The latest statistics show that the decline is now in its 20th consecutive month as the recession discourages gamblers from travelling to gamble.

Looking for the positive in the latest numbers, the Board’s top analyst Frank Streshley pointed out that August marked the first single-digit decline since May.

(Read the full post about ‘Nevada August gambling revenues down 9% on last year’…)

By ALEXANDRA BERZON, The Wall Street Journal

Though he was a Las Vegas impresario and master of publicity ploys, Bob Stupak never saw some of his grandest visions come true, such as constructing a giant King Kong on the side of a tower, or building a casino in the shape of the sinking Titanic. Expensive efforts to achieve political office also faltered.

But the casino operator and fixture in the local media did realize his dream of building the Stratosphere tower as a giant monument to himself and to the city that at once embraced and derided him. Mr. Stupak died Sept. 25 after struggling with leukemia. H

(Read the full post about ‘Las Vegas Legend Bob Stupak Passes Away’…)