While one anonymous online slots fan is rejoicing, thousands of others were dejected to log onto their favorite onlne casino to see that the record jackpot at Beach Life slots had been hit over the weekend to the tune of $8,211,488. Beach Life had soared past its previous record high of $4.8 million (which was hit in July 2007) and cracked the $8 million mark for the first time before the jackpot was hit on Sunday, February 12. The winner’s details have yet to be revealed, including which casino powered by Playtech software they were playing at; popular casinos using the [ Read More ]
Groupe Bernard Tapie is still trying to complete its planned purchase of online poker site Full Tilt Poker, with lingering financial issues holding up the sale and eventual return of money owed to former US and international customers of the site. A few weeks back stories surfaced that one roadblock to a completion of a deal was a claim by Chris Ferguson that he was owed millions by Full Tilt due to loaning the company funds from a personal account of Ferguson’s that was used for operating expenses in the wake of Black Friday. More recent stories have emerged that [ Read More ]
Last year, the online gambling world, especially American gamblers, celebrated. The District of Columbia, the capitol of the United States, passed regulation for the online gambling industry. Though it was only going to allow intra-district gambling, it was still the first of its kind in America, and was seen as a stepping stone for larger regulation. Now that regulation is no more. After mounting controversy over the regulation, Washington, D.C. decided to look more closely at the matter. This afternoon, the D.C. Council voted 10-2 to repeal the law regulation online gambling in the district. Michael Brown, who sponsored and [ Read More ]
The official 2012 WSOP schedule has been announced, which will see a record 61 bracelet events held as well as the addition of a new event with a huge $1 million buy-in. While some were expecting more significant changes — including ditching the controversial November Nine format that sees the conclusion of the WSOP Main Event delayed a few months — the final schedule for 2012 WSOP events included only a few relatively minor changes. The November Nine format will return but the final table of nine players will pause on July 16 and resume in late October this year [ Read More ]
Stories surfaced over the weekend that one of the last obstacles in the sale of online poker site Full Tilt Poker to Groupe Bernard Tapie involves millions of dollars that Chris “Jesus” Ferguson held in personal accounts that were used for corporate purposes. Groupe Bernard Tapie agreed to acquire the troubled company on November 17th in a deal struck with the permission of the US Department of Justice and that would ultimately see Full Tilt’s assets sold to GBT for $80 million. The complicated deal included the US government taking responsibility for repaying an estimated $150 million owed to former [ Read More ]
Connecticut is the latest state to eye the possibility of offering online gambling for state residents, with the Mohegan Tribe (which operates the states two brick-and-mortar casinos) exploring the possibility of offering online casino and poker sites. State officials and casino executives in the state are monitoring developments in other US states as interest has been renewed in online gambling in the wake of a US Department of Justice ruling that narrowed the scope of the Wire Act. The Wire Act became law in 1961 and was originally designed to target illegal sportsbets made over the telephone but in recent [ Read More ]
Opponents of online gambling have long said that the activity is dangerous because it can be addictive. Players who are addicted to online gambling can blow all of their money and ruin their lives. While that is true, it accounts for a small percentage of players and it ignores the fact that many things can be addictive but are available to people. Alcohol and cigarettes are the two most obvious examples, but what about the Internet. A recent study out of China suggests that people can become addicted to the Internet. Recent studies have shown that those who have an [ Read More ]
GamblingPlanet visitors will have the chance to cash in on an exclusive slots tournament running at Europa Casino from January 23-26, with €1,000 in free prizes handed out to the top finishers. Competing in the contest couldn’t be easier, as you simply have to sign up and deposit at Europa and then play any of its hundreds of slots games — including the Beach Life slots progressive with a jackpot of $7.2 million — and you’ll accumulate leaderboard points based on your play for the tournament standings. Leaderboard standings will be published and updated so you can see exactly where [ Read More ]
Social games developer Zynga has made an about-face in regards to moving into the real money online gambling market, announcing last week that it was in fact seeking out partners to offer online poker or casino games for real money. As recently as a few months ago the company had stated that it had no plans whatsoever to dabble in the real money gambling market, content to use its tried-and-true business model of monetizing its games by selling advertising and offering players the chance to buy additional add-ons and items within its games. The company released the following statement about [ Read More ]
Several US states are taking a hard look at legalizing online poker and casino sites for residents but the potential profit involved may be underwhelming when compared to the shortfalls faced in many state budgets. The District of Columbia has already passed legislation that could allow it to offer online casino and poker sites and New Jersey, California, and Nevada are all considering passing their own laws that could pave the way to offering their own intra-state online poker sites. The primary driver for many states is a simple one: the lure of cold, hard cash. With the lingering recession [ Read More ]
