Police from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia raided an apartment block in the city one Saturday afternoon. 25 people, including the tournament organizer and some college students who are allegedly part of organizing an illegal poker tournament were arrested, New Strait Times reported. Suspects aged 18 to 30 and two were foreigners, an Indonesian student and 57-year-old Italian national who is already permanent residing in the city. They seized cash, laptops, poker tables, briefcases filled with casino chips and decks of playing cards from the place of incident.
Police spokesman Asst Comm Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Khalid said during press conference at police headquarters last Monday that the illegal poker tournament was organized through a website. Time and venue where it will be held is also detailed in the website. Participants can register online and a fee is required for deposit to be able to participate in the tournament. It is being believed that although this tournament was organized locally, there are foreign gambling syndicates that are also connected in this.

As reported by The News Journal: “Removing the threat of new casinos and betting parlors isn’t enough to win their support of the governor’s gambling proposal, representatives of the state’s three existing racinos say.

“They want the state to leave their share of gambling revenue alone while authorizing sports betting — contrary to House Bill 100, which proposes raising state revenue not only with a sports lottery but also by increasing the state’s share of the racinos’ video-lottery proceeds.

“Denis McGlynn, chairman of Dover Downs, on Tuesday told the House Gaming and Parimutuels Committee the proposed increase in the state’s share of gambling revenues — from 37 percent to 45 percent — would drive all three casinos out of business within a year.

“His colleagues elaborated, saying the changes would bring an end to horse racing, be detrimental to agriculture and hurt the state economy…”

Everest Poker will match the WSOP Main Event winnings of their qualified players up to $1,000,000…and share it with all those qualified…even if you busted out in the first hour! Based on last year’s figures that would mean all 62 Everest Poker players – regardless of how quickly they were kicked out – would have netted $20,000 EACH!

There are many ways you can qualify for the biggest prize in world sport (over $9,000,000 last year) but only with official WSOP sponsors, Everest Poker, could you go home richer even if you lose.

Ed Pownall, Everest Poker PR Manager, commented: “Our aim last year, our first as sponsor, was to encourage more European players than ever before to go to the WSOP which we did. This year we want to reward that loyalty by offering a knock-out reason to qualify with us. This bonus gives everybody hope of winning something even of they are out early on and it will also give an added sense of camaraderie to all those qualified with us.”

Daily Mail, a UK newspaper which is well known for its sensationalized opposition on online gambling sported a headline this week that “there is nearly 200,000 people that are hooked on online gambling”. They pointed that it is the Labour government’s too lax gaming laws that causes to create nearly 15000 new gambling addicts in one year alone.
This was concluded when the newspaper took a survey numbers from the Gambling Commission that shows around 5.6 percent from over 16s had participated in remote gambling in 2008, which is noted higher than in 2007 which is only 5.2 percent. These percentages were applied against the total population of UK with 2.7million online gamblers. This is an increase of 198,000 from the previous year.
An unidentified expert claimed that 7.4 percent of these players will be problem gamblers which mean an increase from the Daily Mail newspaper’s perspective of 14,700 over from last year.
Daily Mail failed to mention that remote gambling per se has a low percentage increase. The biggest increase in gambling must pertain to punters that go to National Lottery. This is the fact pointed during the debate by Britain’s Sport Minister Gerry Scutcliffe. The newspaper also failed to mention that there are different meanings of addictive gambling or “possibly problem gambling behavior”. Definitions to it are notoriously imprecise and inconsistent. People who bet more than twice a week can already be classified “at risk”. An increase in the number of people gambling online does not necessarily mean a significant increase also of addicted compulsive gamblers if calculated against the entire population of Great Britain.
It is also suggest by the Daily Mail reports that an average amount of debt for every problem gambler can be amounted to GBP 17,500. The newspaper also noted that online poker and bingo has increasingly become popular especially among women.

As reported by Gaming Intelligence: “Continuing his efforts to dismantle the anti-online gambling legislation passed by the Bush Administration, Congressman Barney Frank will introduce a bill which would establish a licensing and regulatory framework for online gambling operators before the end of April as a standalone bill.

“Barney Frank, Chairman of the US House Financial Services Committee, told The Hill congressional newspaper last week that the bill, Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act (H.R. 2046), would be a standalone bill despite the fact that Republicans added the legislation on the back of a vital port security bill in the 109th Congress.

“Commentators have suggested that the decision to introduce the bill as a standalone bill would make it even more difficult for it to pass through Congress. Congressman Frank said however that it would be ‘inappropriate’ to follow the Republicans’ path. “That is not my intention. It would be a mistake. I want to do this with hearings, discussions and votes,” Frank told The Hill.

“…Jeffrey Sandman, spokesman for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative which backs Frank’s bill, told The Hill: ‘We welcome a standalone bill, which would allow for a thorough discussion of all the issues relating to regulations and consumer protections.

“‘The excitement over Congressman Frank’s bill is that it would create an environment that would protect American consumers and include safeguards against underage gambling and compulsive gambling, which don’t exist right now,’ said Sandman…”

As reported by the Dayton Daily News: “Backers of expanded gambling now are placing their bets on at least three separate proposals for Ohio.

“State Reps. Todd Book, D-McDermott, and Louis Blessing, R-Cincinnati, said on Tuesday, April 7, that they’re drafting legislation based largely on an Ohio Racing Commission plan to put 14,000 slot machines at Ohio’s seven racetracks without a vote of the people.

“They’re gathering cosponsors and hope to introduce the bill next week, Book and Blessing said.

“Separately, Philip Craig, executive director of the Ohio Licensed Beverage Association, said he is gathering legislative support for a plan to permit slot machines at bars and restaurants, also without the vote of the people.

“…Work on both proposals comes with the Ohio Ballot Board scheduled to meet on Monday, April 13, to consider a petition from backers of a proposal for casinos in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo. The board must give its OK before supporters can begin to gather the 402,275 signatures needed to put the proposal on the Nov. 3 ballot…”