Gambling News by House of Odds

A national gambling watchdog group has raised new concerns about lottery
scratch cards sold in Ontario, charging that current practices are unfair
and misleading to the consumer. The Gambling Watch Network filed a letter
with Ontario's ombudsman complaining that scratch tickets are sold even
after the top prizes have been won. Brian Yealland, the group's spokesman,
said retailers should stop selling tickets if the buyer has no chance of
winning the jackpot. (CBC) "People go on purchasing those tickets although
they have no chance of winning, and it seems to us that this is a breach of
the understanding one has in buying a ticket," Yealland said. This practice
has been the subject of scrutiny and lawsuits in the United States, causing
some state lotteries to include disclaimers on the tickets explaining that
some prizes may already be won. In Iowa, instant win tickets are pulled from
stores once the grand prizes have been claimed, said Tina Potthoff, a
spokeswoman for the Iowa State Lottery. "We want to make sure our players
have a chance to win the top prize every time they purchase a ticket,"
Potthoff said. "If by chance a top prize is missing and they only have a
second- or third-tier prize, we feel that's false advertising." A spokesman
for the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation said players can call a
toll-free number printed on the back of each scratch and win ticket to find
out which prizes are still available to be won.

Slot-machine casinos are opening in Pennsylvania even though the state does
not have a gambling-addiction program in place to handle an expected rise in
compulsive gamblers seeking treatment. Although the slots parlors are
required to advertise the existence of such services, the state has not set
up a compulsive gambling hotline or a procedure to subsidize treatment
services for gambling addiction. Both are months away, said Gene Boyle, who
directs the state Health Department's Bureau of Drug and Alcohol Programs.
In the meantime, the state will lean on existing providers, such as the
Council on Compulsive Gambling of Pennsylvania, based in Philadelphia. "I
believe the infrastructure that's already in place, that's already working
for people who have had addiction over the years, will carry through until
we formalize the public system," Boyle said. Pennsylvania's 2004 law that
legalized up to 14 slots casinos earmarked at least $1.5 million a year for
treatment of compulsive-gambling problems. Last week, Gov. Rendell
authorized the money from a state fund that is fed by slot-machine gambling
revenues and slots licensing fees. The department can use that money to
reimburse public or private treatment agencies for gambling-addiction
services. The state is looking at hiring a company that will manage the
authorization of and reimbursement for gambling-addiction services, as
opposed to managing the process itself, Boyle said. In the next several
months, the Health Department hopes to set up an official toll-free hotline,
as required by the slots law, to answer questions about gambling addiction
and provide treatment referrals.
Yesterday, a second resort in southwestern Pennsylvania pulled its
application for a slot-machine-gambling license, the third slots applicant
to drop its plans in the last two months.

The withdrawal of Nemacolin Woodlands Resort leaves no applicants for the
two slots licenses state gambling regulators are authorized to award to
established resorts. It also means the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board
will be able to issue 11 of the state's 14 total slots licenses when it
meets to vote on the applicants Dec. 20.

Nemacolin said it withdrew its application for a Wild West-themed slots
casino because gaming board officials said the resort's patrons would have
to spend $25 on nongaming purchases each visit before playing the slot
machines.

Operators offering online gambling and those who indulge in it face fines of
up to R10 million and/or 10 years in prison following a landmark ruling in
the Pretoria High Court. At present the court ruling was applicable only to
"casino-style gambling", said Gauteng Gambling Board legal manager Edward
Lalumbe. "We have not ruled out the possibility of going after other
operators, including those offering access to Lotto in other countries."
South Africa does not issue licences for online casinos, and it was this
that finally brought the provincial gambling authority along with the
National Gambling Board and the Minister of Trade and Industry to court. It
was maintained that Swaziland-registered Piggs Peak Casino could not offer
online gambling to punters in SA. This is because SA does not have the
necessary legislation to issue online gambling licences. "A gambling
operator offering online gambling needs to have a licence issued for this
purpose in SA, and even though the owners of the Swaziland casino have an
Internet licence, it is valid only for that country." The court's decision
confirms that Internet operators offering online gambling to South Africans,
and players/punters taking part, are doing so illegally. Internet service
providers, financial service providers, TV stations and the print media were
named in court as facilitating online gambling, also deemed illegal by the
decision. "Our overall motivation for taking the matter to court was it was
facilitating illegal activity," Lalumbe said, adding law-enforcement
agencies including the Asset Forfeiture Unit and financial institutions had
been consulted prior to the decision to go to court.

Slot-machine casinos are opening in Pennsylvania despite the fact that the
state does not have a gambling-addiction program in place to handle an
expected rise in compulsive gamblers seeking treatment. Although the slots
parlors are required to advertise the existence of such services, the state
has not set up a compulsive-gambling hot line or a procedure to subsidize
gambling-addiction treatment services. Gene Boyle, who directs the state
Health Department's Bureau of Drug and Alcohol Programs, says both are
months away. In the meantime, he says the state will lean on existing
providers, such as the Philadelphia-based Council on Compulsive Gambling of
Pennsylvania. The state's first slots parlor opened November 14th at the
Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs racetrack in northeastern Pennsylvania, and
three more slots parlors are expected to open at racetracks in the next
three months.

The U.K. Gambling Commission said Monday that it has launched its new
conditions under which licences are granted to gambling operators and staff,
and new codes of practice, which all operators in the gambling industry must
follow if they want to run a gambling business in Britain next year. The
Commission said it will have significant new legal powers to monitor the
industry and to prosecute illegal gambling. It will also advise central and
local government on issues related to gambling. Set up in October 2005, the
Commission's remit is to regulate the gambling industry in the public
interest. The new regulations will be summed up in licence conditions and
codes for the industry, the regulator said. Peter Dean, the Commission's
chairman. "Britain's gambling laws are undergoing wholesale reform and from
September next year all operators must be licensed by the Gambling
Commission". "The conditions and codes set out the rules which operators
must observe to meet our three licensing objectives of keeping crime out of
gambling, ensuring that gambling is fair and open, and protecting children
and other vulnerable people", Dean said. The Commission has powers to
prosecute operators who fail to maintain standards and can impose unlimited
fines on operators that breach their licence conditions.

A contingent of nearly a dozen New York City police offers arrived in Miami
Beach Monday morning to transfer several defendants being held in an "online
gambling" bust back to New York for a Tuesday arraignment. The sophisticated
Internet-based gambling scheme took in $3.3 billion in cash wagers from
40,000 bettors nationwide since 2004, authorities said. They announced
charges against James Giordano, 26 other defendants and three companies,
including one in Hollywood and another in Davie. ''This is the largest
illegal gambling operation we have ever encountered,'' said New York Police
Commissioner Raymond Kelly two weeks ago when the indictment was made
public. ``It rivals casinos for the amount of betting.'' Armed with arrest
and search warrants, law enforcement climbed over Giordano's four-foot wall
and knocked on his front door. They arrested him and he remained in a Miami
prison awaiting transport to New York.
Gambling911.com sources located the plain clothed New York City police
officers at Miami Beach's famed Clevelander bar at around 1:30 pm Monday
afternoon. One of the officers was seen scaring off a Boston Red Sox fan
and the poor misguided sap's girlfriend. At the bar, officers met up with a
female FBI agent based out of Miami. She was not involved in the case. "The
Clevelander was like CSI New York Meets CSI Miami...but the officers brought
with them bad weather from the Northeast. The forecast called for clear
skies Monday but it rained the entire time the NYPD was at the Clevelander,"
our source disclosed.

Gov. Ed Rendell is considering a measure to allow slot-machine parlors in
Pennsylvania to serve patrons unlimited free drinks. Are we the only ones
who think this sounds like a really bad idea? Apparently, many of our state
legislators don't. The measure passed the Senate, 27-22, and the House,
112-75, and now awaits the governor's signature to become law. Currently,
horse tracks are not permitted to serve any free drinks. Other licensed
establishments, including bars and restaurants, can provide one free drink
per patron. If Rendell follows along with the General Assembly, the new
measure would permit 14 slots parlors, including those at racetracks, to
serve free drinks from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. The state Senate also discussed
extending hours that alcohol could be served, but did not act on that before
its session ended. Senate Democratic leader Robert J. Mellow of Lacka-wanna
County was among those arguing for the concept of unlimited free drinks.
Mellow and others say Pennsylvania's gambling parlors need to be able to
serve unlimited free drinks to stay competitive with parlors in neighboring
states, which already offer unlimited free drinks."It's that way in all the
states that have gambling," Mellow said. Then by all means we should do
that, too, right? If your friend jumps off a cliff ... Let's park people in
front of slots machines and let them drink all day. Nothing bad could ever
come from that. Opponents of the free-drinks plan said it would give slots
parlors an unfair advantage over bars and clubs that sell their drinks. We
suppose that would be one reason the governor should veto this plan. Another
might be that it would be bad for the people of Pennsylvania, especially
those betting their life's savings on the next pull of a mechanical arm.

Slot-machine casinos are opening in Pennsylvania despite the fact that the
state does not have a gambling addiction program in place to handle an
expected rise in compulsive gamblers seeking treatment. Although the slots
parlors are required to advertise the existence of such services, the state
has not set up a compulsive gambling hot line or a procedure to subsidize
gambling addiction treatment services.

One of the great unexplained mysteries of our age is New Labour's obsessive
love affair with gambling. First, ministers press ahead with supercasinos,
schmoozing up to some deeply unsavoury characters. Then they insist the UK
should become a 'world leader' in Internet betting. Now they are at it
again, lifting restrictions on playing pub poker for cash. Why? Don't we
have quite enough social problems, without adding to them? In defiance of
expert advice, ministers assure us that legalising small-stakes betting in
pubs will 'civilise' gambling. Oh yes? Isn't that almost exactly what they
told us about 24-hour alcohol licensing? Wasn't that supposed to put an end
to binge-drinking and foster a civilised 'continental cafe society'? Try
telling that, a year on, to the police and paramedics who pick up the pieces
on our vomit-spattered streets - as so graphically illustrated in this paper
today. Showing characteristic detachment from reality, ministers say they
will cap pub-goers' gambling losses at about £10 a night. Do they honestly
expect busy bar staff to keep tabs on their customers? No. There could be no
surer recipe than mixing gambling with alcohol for encouraging all-night
poker sessions, addiction, crippling debt and crime. As usual, of course, it
will be the poorest and most vulnerable in our society who suffer most.
Aren't these the very people whose interests the Labour Party was founded to
protect? For 300 years, the Union of England and Scotland has been a
relationship based not only on mutual advantage but on genuine affection and
a feeling of common purpose.

How bitterly sad, therefore, that Labour's inequitable and cynical
devolution settlement, reached to buy off Scottish Nationalist votes, is
breeding ill-feeling on both sides of the border.

According to a weekend poll, a hefty 68 per cent of English voters now want
their own separate parliament, while 52 per cent of Scots want full
independence.

England's growing resentment is hardly surprising at a time when Scotland
enjoys benefits worth an extra £1,050 per head every year, denied to the
English taxpayers who subsidise them: university tuition fees, nursing care
for the elderly, new drugs on the NHS to alleviate Alzheimer's and other
diseases.

Over the weekend, Scottish members of the Westminster Cabinet launched a
series of attacks on the separatists. Are they at last waking up to the
damage that they themselves have caused?

What a tragedy it will be for the English and Scots alike if Tony Blair's
most lasting legacy turns out to be the destruction of one of the most
successful international marriages in history.

A new gambling tax proposal would be better for local gambling businesses,
city officials said. The proposal is for a lower tax on area businesses -
the Highway 9 Casino and some restaurants and taverns - than the one they
currently pay to Snohomish County. "This would be considerably less than
they are used to paying the county," Mayor Vern Little said. Snohomish
County taxes gambling businesses on their gross earnings. But come Dec. 20,
the Frontier Village area on the west side of the lake is scheduled to
become part of Lake Stevens. The city is in the process of annexing the
708-acre area. Now, the city is debating the best way to implement a
gambling tax that is fair to local businesses, the mayor said. The city
doesn't have a gambling tax on its books, but now is proposing one on the
businesses' net earnings. A gambling tax would help pay for police services,
Chief Randy Celori said. Word of the proposal prompted an outcry from area
gambling businesses last month. Fearful that a tax might cost too much and
force them to close, business owners and employees implored city leaders to
consider a lower tax than the one Snohomish County imposes. They asked for a
tax on net earnings instead of gross earnings. Under a gross tax, a customer
could spend $100 and win that money back, but the business still would be
taxed on the $100 in revenue. A net tax would tap into only the business'
actual proceeds. How those net earnings would be determined is unclear,
Little said.

Highway 9 Casino General Manager Carol Henry said she'd prefer to have the
city come in and audit her books to determine net earnings. The alternative
is to rely on the numbers filed with the Washington State Gaming Commission.
Those numbers are too high, she said.

Henry said she's willing to pay a tax.

"We're just hoping that they'll do some sort of a fair tax for us," she
said.

Under the city's proposal, the tax would be phased in over three years,
Celori said.

The City Council is scheduled to hold two more public hearings before voting
on the issue. The first of those hearings is scheduled for tonight.

In the meantime, Little, who became mayor on Nov. 6, said he's met with
businesses and is working to come up with an equitable plan.

"We want to do the right thing," he said. "This isn't about just collecting
the tax. We want to do the right thing by everybody."

An online gambling site called Gambling Portal recently published a press
release claiming their site was responsible for saving a couple's marriage.
The couple, "Debora and Mike from LA", according to the report, had no
common interests after 17 years of marriage. After Debora stumbled across
Gambling Portal and started playing online poker, she introduced it to her
husband, and the two became hooked. Taking pro lessons in poker, they even
play with their sons once a week, who are aged 12 and 7. Both parents hope
to play in the WSOP one day.

The Gambling Bill President Vladimir V. Putin proposed in October, with
plans to set up four gambling zones in Russia, has been approved at its
first reading by the Duma last week by a vote of 440-0 and one abstention.
The president had proposed the bill after the Interior Ministry launched an
operation to check the financial, tax and sanitary-epidemiological documents
of a variety of gambling establishments in the capital allegedly linked to
the Georgian mafia. The bill will tighten control on gambling and ultimately
ban gambling except in four special zones beginning 2009. The four special
zones are to be located in unpopulated regions: two in European Russia, one
in Siberia and one in the Far East. Federal authorities will grant five-year
licenses for operation inside the zones. Putin warned United Russia leaders
to resist lobbying attempts to increase the number of gaming zones beyond
the four he specified. Putin said, "I am calling on United Russia not to
concede to such lobbying." In response, the Duma's speaker and United Russia
leader Boris Gryzlov asked Putin to give Duma the responsibility to select
where the gambling zones will be located, versus the government. The
president has not given a response yet.The first zone will be created in
July 2007, Putin's representative to the Duma, Alexander Kosopkin, said
during his presentation of the bill. About 3 percent of Russians gamble at
least once per month, according to a survey by the independent Levada Center
in October. Most people who gamble are under 40, it said. Moscow does not
plan to apply for the status of a gambling zone, a Moscow deputy mayor,
Iosif Ordzhonikidze said last month. This means that the 537 gaming
establishments that are licensed to operate in Moscow would need to close or
relocate to a special zone by 2009.

Also under the bill, slot-machine halls smaller than 100 square meters and
casinos smaller than 800 square meters, and gambling businesses with net
assets below 600 million rubles would be shut down by July 2007. And a
minimum gambling age of 18 will come into effect. Duma deputies stressed the
need for national gambling regulations, but said the bill must clarify how
the four gambling zones would be set up, and are doubtful the zones could be
set up as quickly as planned.
The mechanism for creating the zones is a key to the legislation's success,
according to United Russia Deputy Igor Dines. The current version also does
not outline if any or how the zones might be established inside residential
areas.

Besides lack of specifics, the legislation has also been criticized for
prohibiting activities such as betting on friendly card games in private
homes, and for restrictions
on online activities.Because of these issues, many observers expect the bill
to undergo dramatic changes before it will pass a second reading, likely
later this year.

"There is no doubt the bill will change beyond recognition," said Yevgeny
Kovtun, a spokesman for the Gaming Business Association, whose members have
been operating in Russia for the past decade. Gambling is a hot topic
because of upcoming elections. Duma elections are scheduled for December
next year and the presidential vote is scheduled for 2008. "The reason we
are discussing this bill is clear. It is elections," Liberal Democratic
Party of Russia leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky said.

The Association for the Development of the Gaming Business predicted that
the national gambling industry, whose revenues surpassed $5 billion per
year, could shrink by at least 70 percent by July 2007 if the bill is
implemented. So gambling businesses in Russia are pushing to soften the
bill's provisions and extend
the gambling ban beyond 2009. Gambling businessmen met in the Trade and
Industry Chamber on Nov 17 to discuss amendments they have drafted.

The gamblers suggest putting off the deadline for leaving cities to 2011.
Experts say that two years is not enough to create proper infrastructure and
attract people to the zones. "What stance the presidential administration
takes on this situation is important," said Duma Deputy Alexander Lebedev,
an outspoken gambling critic.

Vladimir Putin has urged the deputies to adopt the law without change or
amendments by the end of the year. The Duma speaker has promised this.

Police are gearing up for a much-anticipated comeback of underground lottery
betting after the government suspended two draws of the two-digit and
three-digit lottery. Pol Lt-Gen Chongrak Chutanont, national assistant
police chief, said police have been told to strictly enforce the
anti-gambling law especially during the suspension. An extended
investigation is also required in cases where the value of seized wagers
exceeds 200,000 baht, he said. Police would face tough disciplinary action
if found to be involved in illegal betting, or turning a blind eye. The
digit lottery, suspended pending a legal amendment by the National
Legislative Assembly (NLA), would resume on Dec 30. Housing changes urged
URBAN POOR :A panel on housing rights under the National Human Rights
Commission yesterday proposed amendments to two laws in a bid to better
tackle housing problems for the urban poor. Panel head Aporn Wongsang told a
forum on housing problems that the law authorising forced evictions and the
Building Control Code pose obstacles. The forced evictions law allowed the
state and private property owners to relocate buildings and materials from
their property at will. Nationality questions PEOPLE'S ASSEMBLY :Fifty-six
people nominated to sit on the 2,000-member National People's Assembly have
nationality problems, according to a panel examining the qualifications.
Amara Pongsapit, head of the panel, said the individuals need to submit
documents to prove that they hold Thai citizenship as their parents are
immigrants. She said the required documents are papers stating that they
were born on Thai soil and their parents are legal immigrants. The deadline
is Tuesday. Lecturer jailed SHOOTING :A Chulalongkorn University lecturer
was sentenced to 13 years and six days in prison for the murder of a vendor
who urinated in public.
The Criminal Court found Santilak Thanyaharn, of the engineering faculty,
guilty of premeditated murder of Suthan Itthisurasing, 45, who was shot in
the chest.

On March 30, 2005, Suthan dropped by at a birthday party of a niece who
lived next to the defendant's Mister Stamp Building in Bang Sue district.

He was emptying his bladder in front of the building when the defendant
fired two warning shots, the court was told. A heated row followed and
friends of the victim intervened. Santilak fired a shot at Suthan and killed
him.

Fishermen get life

TOURIST MURDER :The Court of Appeals has commuted a death sentence to life
imprisonment on two members of a fishing crew convicted of murdering Welsh
student Katherine Horton who was on holiday on the tourist island of Samui,
said their lawyer Prompatchara Namuang,

Mr Prompatchara said the court granted leniency to the defendants, Bualoi
Phothisit and Wichai Somkhaoyai, after they confessed. The pair attacked the
victim who was holidaying on Samui island early this year. She was knocked
unconscious, raped, thrown into the sea and left to drown.

No DNA match

JUSTICE :None of the three human bones recovered from a dump site in
Ratchaburi matched the DNA of missing lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit, said
Central Institute of Forensic Science acting director Porntip Rojanasunan.

A new study of the Spanish gambling market, undertaken by consulting firm
MECN, has promoted Spain as a potential key region for future growth for
both the online and land based gambling industry. The report highlights the
potential for imminent growth over the coming years particularly within the
retail betting sector and online gambling, as companies eagerly search for
new markets following the collapse of online enterprise in the US. UK based
betting firm William Hill has already begun its expansion into Spain, whilst
Ladbrokes is reportedly working on a market entry strategy that could see it
join its British counterpart in the near future. Spanish football has also
seen a number of its major teams sign sponsorship deals with online gambling
companies as online operators look to less restrictive regions. Martin
Oelbermann, co-author of the study, explained, 'In nearly all of our surveys
and interviews the operators mentioned Spain as a particularly attractive
jurisdiction for future expansion.' So why Spain? The report highlights a
number of factors as to why the Spanish market would appeal to foreign
online operations, not least because major players such as William Hill
already have joint venture agreements in place. However, one of the
country's
primary attractions is that many of its regions are currently working
towards the liberalisation of its gambling market which is expected to grow
to around ?39 billion by 2010.

A former township chief in south China has been sentenced to 20 years in
jail after gambling away more than 110 million U.S. dollars of public funds
in Macao and Hong Kong. Li Weimin, 43, former head of Tangxia Township in
Dongguan City, a major manufacturing center in south China's Guangdong
Province, was convicted of embezzling more than 110 million yuan (13.9
million U.S. dollars) from public coffers, Dongguan Intermediate People's
Court heard.
Li lost more than 90 million yuan (11.4 million U.S. dollars) during 257
gambling trips to Macao and Hong Kong from 2000 to 2004. Li, who was
arrested in 2005, said he became addicted to gambling after business trips
to Macao in 1996. He admitted diverting public money from several collective
firms where he worked as manager. About half of the public funds had not
been repaid, the court heard. He was also convicted of receiving bribes
valued at 1.71 million yuan (216,000 U.S. dollars). The prison term was
handed down for embezzlement and corruption. Li's personal property was also
confiscated. Tangxia is one of China's richest towns in terms of gross
domestic product in 2005. Cases of government officials who gamble with
public funds have given rise to public concerns and complaints. The
government has conducted a nationwide crackdown since 2004 to punish civil
servants who squander public funds in gambling trips abroad.

The online casino industry has been faced with difficult decisions,
especially those catering to customers in the United States, since the
passing of the Unlawful Online Gambling Act. Although it has been a rough
ride for some, a report by the European Commission suggests that online
gambling, online casino business is still booming in Europe despite the
losses by their US-facing counterparts. Some of the particulars of the
report show that gambling amounts to 3 percent of the total EU GDP, and is
also set to rise even further as the US operators focus solely on European
opportunities. As well, the report suggested that following 2003, when more
than 51 Billion Euros was generated through gambling (45 percent lotteries,
and 17 percent betting), the European mobile gaming industry will be
exploding in 2007. CEO of Chartwell Games, Lee Richardson, said, "The
current drive towards licensing in Italy will offer new international
operators substantial retail and online betting and gaming opportunities in
a strong growth market; we are very excited by the new possibilities in what
has always been a key area of growth for Chartwell's clients." The European
market is ready to explode, and the new leading European online casino
firm's Cryptologic (CRYP), 888.com and partygaming can now focus on the
positives of the industry- It looks like it might be a very good time to buy
online gambling stocks.

The big story last week was probably the largest gambling bust ever made by
New York police, which involved the arrest of over 20 people including a
well known poker pro and a one time sports talent scout, and the
confiscation of some $500 million of property and equipment. In a sequel
this week, the suspected Las Vegas moneyman for the multibillion-dollar
gambling ring was identified as posting a million dollar bail after being
extradited from Las Vegas. Monte Weiner, 56, was extradited from Sin City
and stood briefly before Queens Supreme Court Justice Stephen Knopf
yesterday (Thursday). He was arraigned on enterprise corruption, promoting
gambling, money laundering and other charges. Last week, Queens District
Attorney Richard Brown and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly announced a
33-count indictment against 27 individuals and three corporations all
connected with the global gambling ring. Using the Web site Playwithal.com
and toll-free numbers, more than $3.3 billion in wagers on football,
baseball, hockey, horse racing, golf and other sports were collected over a
28-month period. Weiner's 27-year-old son Eric was also arrested last week
and faces the same charges. He, too, posted $1 million bail. Both are facing
up to 25 years in prison.

When most people think of the World Series of Poker, they think of
gambling - at least in the form of poker - but many may not realize the
gambling begins well before the first cards hit the air in Las Vegas. With
the passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and Harrah's
Entertainment - the owner of the WSOP brand - refusing online qualifiers for
the 2007 WSOP, the question on everyone's mind is "how many players will
make the Main Event next year?" Enter the online sportsbooks and bookies.
Paddypower.com is the first, but likely not the last, to offer betting on
such items as "how many" will play and "how much" will the top prize go for.

Investigators confiscated gambling equipment from a professional card
player's home at Ripon the day after he was charged with killing his wife.A
search warrant shows that Ripon police took a slot machine, ledgers, hidden
cameras and other items from the home of 44-year-old Kevin Moore. Moore has
been charged with first-degree intentional homicide in the death of his
43-year-old wife, Dawn. Her body was found November 13th in a pool of blood
near the garage of the couple's Ripon home. Fond du Lac County District
Attorney Tom Storm has said she died of a blunt force trauma to the head,
and a cinder block was found next to her body. The search warrant says Kevin
Moore told police before he was arrested that he had ten thousand dollars
hidden in the slot machine in his game room. He told police he thought
whoever killed Dawn Moore wanted the money. The warrant says Kevin Moore
told police he made his living playing Blackjack and then poker and he now
only plays poker online in some tournaments.

As many as one million individuals each year might become addicted to
gambling on the Net due to a new piece of legislation, a professional has
suggested. Professor Jim Orford, of Birmingham University, feels that the
Government is "naive" and "playing dice" with the health of some members of
the public over its proposals to change gambling laws. The Gambling Act
2005, which will completely come into effect in September 2007, liberalises
some of the laws on this pastime. Prof Orford informed the BBC's Panoroma
series:"Gradually we're going to realise it's a much bigger problem than we
thought. "More people are going to know friends and family members who've
got problems. Health authorities are going to be under pressure to provide
treatment. "We could be talking about a million people affected by it in any
one period of 12 months, and that begins to put it on a par with drug
addiction problems."

Up to one million people a year could become hooked on internet gambling
because of a new law, a Birmingham addiction expert has claimed. Professor
Jim Orford, of Birmingham University, believes the Government is being
"naive" and "playing dice" with people's health over its plans to liberalise
gambling laws. The Gambling Act 2005, which will fully come into force next
September, relaxes some laws on the activity. Prof Orford told the BBC's
Panorama programme: "Gradually we're going to realise it's a much bigger
problem than we thought. "More people are going to know friends and family
members who've got problems. Health authorities are going to be under
pressure to provide treatment. "We could be talking about a million people
affected by it in any one period of 12 months, and that begins to put it on
a par with drug addiction problems." An average of 5.8 million people a
month visited online gambling sites between April and September, according
to the programme. In May alone there were more than six million visitors to
online gambling sites, the research by internet media and marker research
company Nielsen/Net Ratings found. Independent research commissioned by the
Government claims that there are only one million regular UK online
gamblers, the programme said. Minister for Sport Richard Caborn told
Panorama: "We have, I believe, acted responsibly in bringing an Act on to
the statute book which has three basic principles on which it is based;
protecting the vulnerable, keeping it crime-free, and making sure that those
who have a bet will be paid out and it'll be a fair bet. "That is what it is
predicated on because we believe that gambling is now part of our leisure
industry."

The German online gambling market is experiencing rapid growth, with
predictions that by the year 2010 German betting revenues will have
increased by Euro 7.6 billion, additionally spurred by the imperative to
replace lost American business with European and Asian opportunities.
Cashing in on this attractive business environment, Danish Internet company
SunCore Innovation A/S has made a strategic move this (November) month to
offer German language portal services in the sector. Casinoportalen.de will
benefit from the webmastering skills and experience of Suncore, which has
been active in the market since 2001 and also runs one of the oldest and
most developed online gambling portals in the dynamic Scandinavian market.
The gambling forum is the largest of its kind with more than 100 000
subjects and commentaries, and arranges its own poker tours and a diversity
of other events related to online gambling. The new German language site is
focused strongly on players, with wide ranging reviews and gambling guides
and a wealth of information on safe online casinos and poker rooms on the
Internet to help shield online gamblers from having bad online gambling
experiences. Casinoportalen.de is all about expert first hand impressions,
balanced reportage and general information about gambling, all written and
published by its own German speaking authors. Besides reviews and
recommendations, the site provides users with news from the gambling world
in German - online and land based - and through comprehensive guides
educates new players on the best way to safely enjoy online gambling. German
players using the new portal will be offered a range of private poker
tournaments arranged by the site, winning significant prizes like tickets to
the World Series of Poker and the European Poker Tournament, cash prizes and
other incentives. Activities include competitions and social events. The
site is built and run by professionals with a clean and easy to navigate
design that is appealing to the eye, and all facilities are offered free of
charge to visitors and members alike.
With a primary strategy of penetrating the European gaming market with
quality gambling products, SunCore Innovation today operates gambling
portals in Denmark - Casinoportalen.dk, Sweden - Casinoportalen.se ,
Germany - Casinoportalen.de, Turkey - Casinoportalen.com.tr - and the United
Kingdom - Guide2casino.com - with plans for further European expansion.

A top anti-addiction official in the western Canadian province of Alberta
skimmed nearly half a million dollars from his employer to feed his own
gambling habit, the province's top auditor said on Friday. Auditor General
Fred Dunn alleged in a report that Lloyd Carr, who ran the tobacco-reduction
unit of the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission, used five false
contracts to scam C$441,298 ($390,000) from the government agency, which
funds programs and treatment services for alcohol, drug and gambling
addictions. The auditor's report said Carr, who could not be reached for
comment, had admitted to misappropriating the funds and using part of the
cash to put a downpayment on a house, pay household expenses and repay a
vehicle loan. About C$116,000 was said to have been withdrawn from automatic
teller machines in casinos.

South Korea reiterated its tough stance on the gaming industry Friday after
an audit agency held the government responsible for rampant illegal gambling
and referred a list of big names to the prosecution. Controversy over video
arcades has rocked the nation since August, leading President Roh Moo-hyun
and Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook to offer apologies. The major opposition
Grand National Party accused the government of bending the rules to feed the
gaming industry. South Korea strictly regulates gambling. It has only one
casino available for locals, while 16 others exist for foreigners. While the
government loosened rules to help boost its game industry in recent years,
its loose oversight also let illegal gambling prosper in video arcades and
Internet cafes. The arcade game industry surpassed 20 trillion won (US$20.9
billion) last year, an amount that is almost equal to the country's national
budget, with the majority of consumers being in the lower-income bracket.
Current Culture Minister Kim Myung-gon accepted the criticism and reiterated
the current stance to crack down on illegal gambling.
"As the main government branch in charge of the gaming industry, we offer an
apology to the public for causing such a big controversy," Kim said in a
press conference. The intense inspection forced nearly 9,500 game parlors
and 5,000 Internet cafes nationwide to be closed for illegal operations, he
said, and the police have arrested over 3,600 illegal operators. Also, the
ministry will abolish all gift certificates circulating in game parlors.
Gift certificates, used as cash equivalents in arcades, have fed the game
operators with vast commissions. After a months-long investigation on
Thursday, the Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea held the government
accountable for failing to curb illegal gaming. It transferred a list of
former and incumbent top officials to the prosecution on allegations of
overseeing illegal gambling or bending the rules. The list reportedly
included Chung Dong-chae, the former culture minister and lawmaker from the
Uri Party, and two former vice culture ministers, Bae Jhong-shin, who held
the post from 2002 to early 2006, and his successor Yoo Jin-ryong.

The prosecution refused to disclose the names on the list, saying the
investigation is now in its budding stage, but suggested the accused may be
summoned for questioning.

"If they were on the list, the prosecution will decide whether to summon
them after analyzing related documents," a prosecutor who asked not to be
named said, referring to Chung and two others.

The controversy centers on the "Sea Story," an arcade gambling program
released to game cafes in 2005 with government permission. When a player
inserts cash into a machine with the program, images of squids, clams,
sharks and other sea creatures spin and stop. If they form a certain
arrangement, the player hits the jackpot.

The game machines paid out larger winnings than were legally permitted,
which made the program highly addictive.

The issue has gained public and media attention after the vice culture
minister Yoo Jin-ryong, who sought to curb illegal gambling, was dismissed
just six months into his tenure in August. The Grand National Party claimed
his dismissal was a retaliatory act by the presidential office because he
allegedly clashed with aides of President Roh over administrative issues,
including his initiative to root out gambling with arcade games.

EVERYBODY KNOWS we have a problem-gambling problem. And everybody's got a
different take on how to address it. As solutions go, mine is quite radical.
First, bring all the parking meters in from the cold - to replace all the
VLTs that have taken up residence indoors in our province, from taverns to
pool halls and casinos. Hey, people could still park their butts in front of
them and feed money into the machines. Their odds of winning wouldn't even
change much. But as a pastime, feeding the meters - especially if there are
no bells and whistles attached - would be deadly. Which is exactly what the
doctor ordered, right? Second, put one-armed bandits out on the sidewalk
where the parking meters used to be. That way, lucky motorists could win the
jackpot when they put any amount of change in. I'm willing to bet most would
rather take their chances on the meter than on the commissionaire coming by
with pen and pad in hand. City coffers would be bulging and the
parking-ticket bureaucracy would quickly become obsolete. Of course, I'm
half-joking. Which half I'm joking about, I'm not really sure.
Thankfully, there are serious people doing serious research on societal
attitudes towards gambling and making serious recommendations (unlike me).
One such person is Christiane Poulin, an addictions expert at Dalhousie
medical school, who makes an interesting argument in the current issue of
the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Her view, in a nutshell, is that
we should learn from our successes in the cigarette wars and apply those
lessons to gambling. She advocates limiting the number of lotteries you can
play, driving up the price of lottery tickets through taxation and forcing
retailers to keep tickets behind the counter. Go with plain packaging and
addiction warning labels. Further cull the VLT herd, she says, and ban new
casinos and gambling advertising altogether. Come to think of it, her answer
sounds almost as radical as mine. But there is good reason to contemplate a
crackdown. Gambling in all its forms is growing by leaps and bounds and
there is mounting evidence that kids are getting hooked younger and harder.
Betting on sports is the "gateway" drug here. Don't take it from me. McGill
University in Montreal actually has an International Centre for Youth
Gambling Problems and High Risk Behaviours. Recently, it even set up a
website which provides teens with a forum to anonymously discuss their
gambling problems with counsellors.

An estimated 70 per cent of kids under 18 have reported participating in
some kind of gambling activity over the previous 12 months. "We found that
four to six per cent are actually experiencing severe gambling problems,
what you would call an adult pathological gambler," McGill researcher Alissa
Sklar said in a recent interview with the Canadian Press.

"These rates are roughly three times the rate for gambling disorders in the
adult population."

You may counter that it's unfair to spoil the fun of the many to stop the
foolishness of the few. Fair enough. It does seem stupid to overreact to
what remains a statistically small problem, no matter how you slice it.
(Alcohol abuse, for example, has a far more pervasive and devastating social
impact. As such, it's harder to tackle head-on. Yet that should not preclude
us from doing something about lesser plagues, and the truth is gambling
addiction is burning a hole through pockets, families and communities.)

At issue is not so much the legalization of gambling, but its normalization
over the past decade. As a society, we have gone from tolerating it, which
is the most we should do, to promoting it, which is the worst we can do.
Some people argue it's a benign social activity, if not a beneficial one.
But that's short-sighted.

"In theory, government gambling revenues benefit all of society. In reality,
since gambling revenues go into general revenue pots, individuals who do not
participate in gambling activities end up being the biggest winners because
they benefit without having invested anything," Ms. Poulin writes.
"Furthermore, a disproportionate number of individuals who participate in
certain gambling activities (e.g., video lottery terminals [VLTs]) are from
disadvantaged groups in our society.

"Decisions and policy pertaining to gambling need to be based on a full
accounting of the health, economic and social benefits and costs of
gambling, rather than on only the short-term benefits of employment and tax
revenue."

I especially agree with Ms. Poulin's proposed ban on gambling advertising,
for the simple reason that the industry gets far more than its fair share of
free publicity as it is. Have you ever come home after work, turned on the
sports channel and wondered, "When exactly did poker become a sport?"

But that's not when I had my personal epiphany. I realized the gambling
ethic had become a tad too mainstream while watching Deal or No Deal. That
game show is in a league of its own. Gone is the pretence of rewarding
contestants for their qualities, intellectual or otherwise. The only true
qualification you need on Deal or No Deal is a healthy risk-taking gene. And
it's awfully easy to forget that it's the network's money that contestants
are playing with, not their own.

Deal or No Deal is actually a luridly fascinating look at the insidiousness
of gambling. If somebody off the street handed you $5,000 just like that,
you'd be ecstatic. Every contestant could at least walk away with that much
on Howie Mandel's program. Just making it on to the show is the equivalent
of winning the lottery. But it isn't very long before these "winners" are
turning down $165,000 offers as if it were parking-meter change. Of course,
if they didn't, it would be a very dull spectacle, indeed.

Don't get me wrong. I don't believe in prohibition or censorship. But I do
believe the pendulum of social attitudes has swung too far towards
permissiveness when it comes to gambling. It's time to bring it back.

Minister of Culture and Tourism Kim Myung-gon Friday said that the
government will ban video game arcades from using gift certificates for
payouts in April next year as part of the efforts to eradicate illegal
gambling. Kim also apologized to the public in a press briefing, accepting
criticism after the Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea on Thursday held
the government accountable for the recent video gambling game scandal over
``Pada Iyagi'' or Sea Story. ``As the main government body responsible for
the gaming industry, I apologize to the public for causing such a big
controversy with addictive games,'' Kim said. ``I feel totally responsible
for the audit result and as head of the ministry, I will try to improve the
gaming licensing system,'' he said. The nation's video arcades and slot
machine parlors have been unlawfully allowing their customers to cash their
vouchers, which is considered the main culprit behind the quick spread of
illegal gambling. Kim said that the government is also planning to come up
with stricter licensing regulations for companies. The ministry first
allowed game arcades to use gift certificates as payouts in 2002. The
vouchers, dubbed ``culture gift certificates,'' were supposed to be used to
purchase items such as books, music, and tickets for movies and the theater,
but instead were exchanged for cash. The ministry has been hit hard by the
gambling scandal, which involves ministry officials who were lobbied by
businessmen for licenses to sell the game machines or issue the vouchers.
The recent gambling scandal first erupted in August when prosecutors
indicted the chief executives of the two companies that manufactured and
distributed ``Pada Iyagi,'' video slot machines. The audit board on Thursday
sent a list of 36 people, including former high-ranking ministry officials
to the prosecutor's office for criminal investigation.

With most gaming rooms unlawfully trading the vouchers for cash to lure more
customers, the country's video slot machine business grew beyond recognition
with the number of adult-only game arcades outnumbering 24-hour convenience
stores by 20,000 to 9,500.

Most of the gaming machines were illegally reprogrammed to allow higher
payouts than the legal limit of 20,000 won. Pada Iyagi was the country's
most popular slot machine game by far with more than 45,000 units sold.

Dan Gustafson, a former three-term state legislator from Haslett, has always
opposed casino gambling in Detroit. Yet for the past four years he has
served in an unlikely position: executive director of the Michigan Gaming
Control Board, the watchdog state regulatory agency that oversees the $1.2
billion casino industry in Detroit. Today, Gustafson is stepping down from
that post to become president and CEO of Health Care Association of
Michigan, a group that represents some 300 senior citizen nursing homes in
the state. Many believe Gustafson, 47, is leaving the gaming board in a
better position, with new policies and procedures in place that make the
105-member department more lean and efficient. "I think he's done a great
job," said Tom Shield, a Lansing lobbyist for MotorCity Casino who has
followed Gustafson's political career for the past 20 years. "This was a
position that was regulatory in nature but required someone to use good,
common sense. Gustafson did that. He also fine-tuned the regulations to make
them work better for everyone." Gustafson announced several months ago that
he was leaving the $113,000-a-year job, two years short of the six-year
appointment by former Gov. John Engler. Gov. Jennifer Granholm has not
announced Gustafson's replacement. Gustafson said he took the Health Care
Association job to give himself and his family job security for the first
time. "For the past 20 years, I've gone from election to election to either
hold office or be appointed to an office," he said. "I wanted something more
stable so I wasn't always looking over my shoulder to see who got elected to
determine where my next job might be." Despite his anti-gambling stance,
Gustafson said he has made significant accomplishments at the gaming board.

"The agency has matured in the past four years," he said. "We have become
much more efficient."

Gustafson said when he arrived in 2002 there was a backlog of more than
2,000 casino employees who needed extensive background checks before they
could obtain a permanent worker's license. He said the gaming board now has
a system in place in which a temporary license can be issued in three days
and a permanent license within a month. There is no longer a backlog.

He has also implemented a retraining program for all employees to keep them
abreast of new rules, regulations and procedures.

And he admitted he has mellowed his position just a bit on casino gambling.
He sees some upsides.

"Detroit casinos have created thousands of jobs and are paying hundreds of
millions of dollars in taxes to the state and city," Gustafson said. "As
long as the state can stay on top of the casinos and be very effective
keeping out organized crime and keep the games fair and honest, the casinos
are an asset at this point.

A former senior bureaucrat with Alberta's anti-addictions agency created
$634,000 in ''false contracts'' to spend most of it on his own gambling,
auditor general Fred Dunn reported Thursday. Lloyd Carr, the former
executive director of the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission's
tobacco reduction unit, also kept his past criminal record from him bosses,
and falsely claimed to have a university degree, Dunn also found. The RCMP
is conducting a criminal investigation and Alberta Justice and the drug
abuse commission are considering a civil action. Carr's job was terminated
in September. The ''diverted'' funds involved four commission contracts
with Alberta Lung Association, purportedly for a school anti-smoking
program, and a smaller one with anti-tobacco lobby Action on Smoking and
Health totalling $634,250. Carr, who signed the contracts, wound up
receiving $441,298 of it himself, Dunn's report said. Of that, $116,000 was
taken from banking machines in casinos, $91,000 was used as a house
downpayment and $60,000 to repay a vehicle loan, Dunn wrote in his special
report. Carr ''told us he had a gambling problem and confirmed his
involvement in the five contracts as described in this report,'' the report
said. Dunn also found the former director was ''able to take advantage of
weaknesses and circumvent controls in AADAC's contracting system.'' There
was no evidence the commission, Alberta Lung or Action on Smoking and Health
''knowingly supported'' the fund diversions, although the two contractors
and another consultant retained ''handling fees'' of their own, Dunn said.
The auditor general also conducted five other audits of government
departments or public bodies. Among the other findings:
- Lakeland College received $215,465 in fees from a private contractor to
provide training for foreign students. But for much of that payment, ''no
training was provided to any students under these contracts,'' Dunn wrote.
The RCMP is also probing this file, which the Edmonton Journal has
previously reported involved welders brought in from Poland.

- Dunn's office has referred a file to the chief electoral officer,
following its own probe of allegations Aboriginal Affairs Minister Pearl
Calahasen received a 2004 election contribution from a Metis
Settlement-owned corporation contrary to election finance laws.

- Grant MacEwan College announced a $250,000 ''donation'' from a
construction firm that was bidding to build the Robbins Health Learning
Centre, and would later get the contract. It created a bad perception, Dunn
wrote, even though it seems the money did not affect the tendering process.
In fact, the publicly heralded contribution was not a donation but a payment
based on another building project, despite what was announced.

Opposition parties are saying this all adds up to gross mismanagement and
lack of supervision of taxpayers' money.

With operations due to commence in the third quarter of next year to give
life to Britain's liberalised gambling reforms, the Gambling Commission has
clearly been kept busy checking out the initial batch of license applicants,
reporting this week that 29 companies had been successful in clearing the
first hurdles in a thorough and probing process. Casino operators now face
the second test for their applications - gaining approval from local
authorities, which will often refuse a license if it is proved that there is
no local demand. Reuters reports that the applications constitute around
half of those submitted, the remainder still being in the initial process.
Whether any of the applicants were from Internet gaming companies was not
clear. The rush came ahead of new legislation to open up and regulate the
gambling industry from 2007, which will initially limit the number of future
new casinos to 17, including one Las Vegas-style supercasino.

Two wrongs do not make a right. Thus, the decision by the government of
Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont to continue and legalise the sale of two-
and three-digit lottery tickets is on a par with that made by the Thaksin
administration three years ago when it launched the lottery scheme,
apparently in full knowledge that this was against the law. Given the
massive underground gambling in two- and three-digit lottery numbers, which
fetched illegal bookmakers a whopping revenue of billions of baht each year,
the Thaksin government envisioned the lottery scheme as a new cash cow
through which it could make fast and easy money to fund populist projects
and enrich cronies. After all, revenues earned from the scheme by the
Government Lottery Office (GLO) did not go to the state coffers. Neither was
spending regulated by the state. The rationale cited then for the launch of
the lottery scheme was to counter massive underground lottery gambling. In
other words: Why let the illegal bookmakers have the pie all to themselves?
To justify the continuation of the two- and three-digit lottery gambling,
which was temporarily suspended after the Council of State ruled it illegal,
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Pridiyathorn Devakula reasoned
this was necessary to prevent the underground lottery business from staging
a comeback. Realising the social impact from gambling on the lottery, he
said the government would introduce measures to curb it, including a ban on
lottery advertising and the termination of live telecasts of lottery draws.
No matter the rationale cited for keeping the lottery scheme going, the
Surayud government has clearly shown it lacks the political and moral will
to right the wrong committed by its predecessor _ although this government
has a totally different view as to how revenues generated from the lottery
scheme should be spent. There is no denying that tens of thousands of people
have been making a living selling lotteries. These people would certainly be
affected if the lottery scheme were scrapped permanently. Also, it is true
that vast numbers of people, mostly in the low-income bracket, who are
hooked on gambling, would turn to the underground lottery anyway.
By legalising the lottery scheme, the government is giving a new lease of
life to the lottery vendors but, at the same time, is enabling gamblers to
continue trying their luck, albeit legally. The latest decision may also
spare the government from being confronted by possible protests from lottery
vendors _ which could be one of the chief reasons prompting the government
to quickly resume the sale of two- and three-digit lotteries.

Obviously, the government has taken the convenient way out in resolving this
problem, without proper consideration of the moral aspect and other measures
to deal with underground lottery gambling. The proper way to prevent
underground gambling from resurging is not to legalise gambling, but to make
sure the police do their job of effectively suppressing illegal gambling.

The lottery scheme is contentious and must not be rushed, even though the
government wants to see it re-launched by Dec 30. Members of the National
Legislative Assembly should be given enough time to debate the various
aspects of the issue without being pressured into meeting the tentative
deadline.

One assemblyman, Chamlong Srimuang, who opposes the lottery, has suggested
that the Assembly set up a committee to gauge public opinion on the matter.
He said the committee should be given a month to do the job.

Since the government has erred in its attempt to legalise the lottery
scheme, it must avoid making a second mistake by trying to ram its amendment
bill on this matter through the Assembly. At least, it should seriously
consider Mr Chamlong's suggestion.

The Seminole Tribe of Florida wants to upgrade to Las Vegas-style ''Class
III'' slot machines, like those now allowed at Broward parimutuels. Here's
the difference between the tribe's current Class II games and the more
desirable Class III. Class II games: bingo, poker and off-track betting, in
which gamblers play against other players. Though the machines in the
Seminole casino resemble slots, they are electronically connected to other
players. Class III games: Vegas-style gambling: slot machines, blackjack,
craps and roulette. Those are games in which a player plays against the
house.

The former mayor of Maple Park pleaded guilty Wednesday to six counts of
illegal gambling, the result of an undercover probe involving him and 12
others.
Mark Delaney agreed to serve a year of probation that prohibits him from
gambling and pay a $250 fine. "I'm just glad it's over," said Delaney on his
way out of Kane County Circuit Court. A yearlong investigation by the
Illinois State Police led to a May 2004 raid on D.J's Tavern, 221 W. Main
St., Maple Park, at a Friday night steak fry. The investigation revealed
slot machines illegally rigged to dispense cash, a spin-the-wheel lottery
and a bookmaking operation. Delaney pleaded guilty to illegal gambling, a
misdemeanor, after felony charges were dropped.

After a three-month audit, the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) on
Thursday forwarded to the prosecution a list of 36 people, including former
and incumbent government officials, who it said are involved in the video
arcade gambling machine scandal, often dubbed ``Pada Iyagi,'' or ``Sea
Story''. The 36 people include six former and incumbent officials of the
Ministry of Culture and Tourism and 13 officials of the state-funded Korea
Media Rating Board (KMRB), which is under the control of the ministry.
Between Aug. 21 and Oct. 29, the BAI dispatched some 30 officials to
government agencies and video game manufacturers as well as to voucher
distributors, who illegally allowed their customers to cash in their
vouchers, called ``Culture Gift Certificates.'' ``The ministry officials
were well aware that the video slot machines could be highly addictive and
cause serious social problems, but they neglected their duty to regulate
such illegal gambling machine parlors,'' a senior BAI official said in a
press briefing. ``The KMRB officials have also approved more than 3,500 reel
game machines since 1999, even though they knew that most of the games could
be illegally reprogrammed to allow higher jackpot winnings than the legal
limit of 20,000 won ($21) per game,'' he added. State auditors also found
out some KMRB officials manipulated documents to expedite the application
process for some 37 video game programs in September last year.

The gambling scandal erupted in August when prosecutors indicted the chief
executives of the company that manufactured and distributed the Pada Iyagi
machine. More than 45,000 units of the country's most popular video slot
machine were sold.

The Roh Moo-hyun administration has been criticized for allowing tens and
thousands of illegal gambling parlors, which have devastated the livelihood
of low income families, nationwide.

Gambling on football on Thanksgiving Day is almost as traditional as eating
turkey and yams. Thanksgiving Day sees more betting action on singular games
than any other day of the regular football season, and it also kicks off the
general happy and joyful mood that pushes the high season of gambling in the
United States.
Thanksgiving is also the day when people give thanks for living in a country
where freedom is cherished, and Ameicans seem to love to head to their local
casino to celebrate that sense of freedom. It is college students' time to
take a break from their studies and many of those students head to Las Vegas
or Atlantic City to release and relieve some of their schoolbook stress.
Other students head home to find that while they were gone slot parlors were
approved and new casinos were open up, such as in Hollwood, Florida and
Pennsylvania. "I feel so good this time of the year, everyone feels so good
and is in such a good mood," says Frank Taylor, a Hard Rock casino visitor
in Hollywood. "Thanksgiving Day is for the family," Frank said, "but the
rest of the weekend is for partying." Thanksgiving also kicks off the season
of spending money. People enjoy buying gifts for others to celebrate their
religious beliefs and in that same sense of giving they head to the casino
to try to find some loose slots. Even online casinos see a rise in bets and
total wagers through the end of the year. "This is typically our busiest
time of the year," says one Internet casino manager. "I don't know why
people love to gamble during the holidays... but it is something real and it
happens every year." However, gambling during the holidays could be more of
a problem for addicted gamblers than at other times of the year. Nancy
Petry, Ph.D professor of psychiatry and director of the Gambling Research
and Treatment Center at UConn Health Center agrees that problem gamblers
face a harder time during the holidays.

"Family-related stress can send problem gamblers to the casinos for an
escape during the holiday," Petry said. "Many people gamble because they are
lonely, bored or stressed. These moods can be more common during the holiday
season."

Petry is quick to point out that you should never bet more than you feel
comfortable losing, never wager with borrowed money, and she suggests that a
problem gambler find something else to do besides gamble during the
holidays.

Whatever your reason for gambling may be, be sure to be responsible to
yourself and to your close ones, and remember that gambling is only a form
of entertainment and should never be taken more seriously than such.

The son of a deceased West Virginia mobster has been charged in connection
with a multimillion-dollar bookmaking ring. Christopher Hankish, who is from
suburban Pittsburgh, is charged with gambling conspiracy. He is the son of
Paul "No Legs" Hankish, a Wheeling, W.Va., native who died in prison in 1998
while serving time for a racketeering and gambling conviction.Christopher
Hankish was charged Friday. He declined comment. Investigators with the
Pennsylvania State Police and the state Attorney General's Office came
across Hankish while looking into gambling activity involving former video
poker kingpin John "Duffy" Conley. Conley has not been charged, but was
sentenced in May to four years in federal prison for violating his probation
by placing millions of dollars in sports bets over the phone last year. He
was released in January 2004 after serving nine years in prison on a
gambling conviction.

Investors recently doubled down on gambling stocks despite a yearlong
winning streak, wagering that expansion will spur growth and bettors will
keep spending even as the economy softens. The Dow Jones U.S. Gambling Index
has surged more than 35 percent since the start of the year, easily
outpacing the broader market as represented by the Standard & Poor's 500
index, which has added about 12 percent. The gambling index, comprising 67
stocks weighted primarily toward large hotel-casino operators such as
Harrah's Entertainment and MGM Mirage, has generally tracked sentiment about
the overall economy. After rising through April, the index gave back most of
the gain amid worries consumers would be cash-strapped as oil prices climbed
steadily ahead of the summer months. "Those concerns didn't come to
fruition," said Robert LaFleur, a gaming, lodging and leisure industry
analyst with Susquehanna Financial Group. "Expectations were that higher gas
prices and a softening housing market would pressure the industry, but
visitation has remained strong." Part of the reason is that casino
performance does not necessarily track consumer spending, despite investor
reaction. "The Las Vegas strip market is driven more by overall economic
growth," said Morningstar equities analyst Sumit Desai. "The stocks are more
cyclical than the underlying business," he said. And gamblers don't
necessarily curb spending in economic slowdowns, anyhow. "The high-roller
business is always going to be strong because these guys don't worry about
short-term factors," LaFleur said.

Either way, there was more good news Monday when a leading economic
indicator edged higher, suggesting the recent housing slump was not enough
to offset lower gas prices and a rising stock market.

Another boost for the sector, said Frank Fahrenkopf, head of industry trade
group American Gaming Association, is casino operators' expansion into other
businesses.

"The industry has moved to the total entertainment package," he said.
"People come to destination resorts _ they come to shop, to see shows and to
play golf."

That trend in Las Vegas, which attracts more families and couples to what
was long considered a bachelor's paradise, has turned off some of the city's
more committed gamblers, but it has benefited the operators.

"It used to be that a casino's bottom line was about 65 percent gaming
revenue," Fahrenkopf said. That's down to around 40 percent now at some
companies, even as gaming revenue surged past $30 billion for the first time
last year, according to the AGA.

And casino operators are boosting investment into additional entertainment
venues. There are $20 billion worth of projects in Las Vegas alone that will
be completed by 2010, said Desai.

"They want to offer a resort experience instead of just gambling," he said.

The danger is that new casinos and hotels could lead to excess supply. "That
could be a hiccup for the industry, especially if it coincides with an
economic slowdown," he said. "But generally the industry does a great job at
managing growth."

Driving that growth _ in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, N.J., and also in the
numerous other states that license American Indian casinos _ is increased
social acceptance of gambling, Fahrenkopf said. The lobbyist traced the
start of public softening toward gambling back to the reintroduction of
lotteries in 1963 in New Hampshire. Now 48 states have some form of
legalized gambling, from lotteries to horse racing to casinos.

But the surge that benefited casinos most came as poker soared in
popularity, first through Internet sites and then, starting in 2002,
televised tournaments. The Poker Players Alliance, a player-based lobbying
group, estimates there are more than 70 million Americans who play poker.
The number of poker tables in Las Vegas has risen to 405 in 2005 from 142 in
2003.

"Poker clearly helps," said LaFleur. "It's a tough game for casinos to make
money on, but it attracts gamblers."

Harrah's, the country's largest casino operator, has turned the game's
popularity into a major revenue source with its annual World Series of
Poker. The company is currently being courted by private-equity groups with
a $15 billion buyout offer, excluding debt assumption.

The offer, which would be about a 25 percent premium, helped bolster the
sector, LaFleur said, because it sets a mark by which to determine the value
of other companies in the sector. "The stocks often trade up in anticipation
of other deals," he said.

The news helped Harrah's stock recover after it stumbled earlier this year
on investor concerns about its lack of a presence in Asia.

Las Vegas Sands Corp., run by billionaire Sheldon Adelson, and Wynn Resorts
Ltd., run by Steve Wynn, have licenses to operate in Macau, China _ the
former Portuguese colony on the Chinese mainland that is now considered the
next gambling paradise.

The expansion overseas marks the first time U.S. casinos have ventured
abroad, lured by a strong gambling culture in Asia and the Chinese
government's desire to attract foreign direct investment.

"The market trends are very strong in Asia and there are no indigenous
companies with the experience to operate on the scale they want in Macau,"
LaFleur said, adding that Singapore is also a growing market for U.S.
casinos.

The attraction of new markets is clear, but Desai warns that intense capital
spending could hamstring some companies. "A lot of times investors think you
can't lose with these stocks, but Trump went bankrupt two years ago.

"The problem is they require a lot of investment to keep them fresh and new
and they have a ton of debt on the balance sheets. They are inherently risky
investments," he said.

The world of gambling has come a long way since its early days. It is
unnecessary to describe today's gambling world, with land based casinos
hosting the best entertainment and most luxurious hotels, and online casinos
offering an equally terrific, virtual form of entertainment. But that is a
look at the present and future of gambling. A look back in time would take
us to a different place altogether. Long ago and far away.Casino dice games
have their origins based in Egypt. Archaeological evidence of dice games
have been excavated in Egypt, and date back 2600 years to 600 BC. Modern day
craps, at the core of many casinos and online casinos, are therefore
indebted to the ancient Egyptians. This history sheds new light on the Luxor
hotel and casino in Las Vegas, where dice games are popular and played by
gamblers who accept their presence with little or no afterthought. The Luxor
hotel casino, a stunning building designed like an ancient pyramid and
hosting the latest and most contemporary in hotel amenities in situated on
the Strip. A walk on the Strip - or more classy a limo ride - will lead you
from all the great casino hotels such as New York New York and Bally's, to
name a couple. Besides the Luxor Casino, the hotel also hosts the latest in
entertainment shows, including a full screen IMAX theatre. Dice games, too,
can be found at the Luxor.

The £25,000 a week West Ham goalie reportedly starting drinking heavily
after his gambling debts spiralled out of control. According to the Sun, at
first Carroll attempted to win the money needed to pay off debts to a fellow
West Ham player, when that idea failed he drowned his sorrows in a bottle of
Bacardi. Carroll is now in the care of a consultant psychiatrist and is
attending group therapy sessions and taking anti-depressants. A source said:
"Roy's hit the bottom of a very deep pit. It started when his gambling went
out of control and word is he's lost £50,000 in card games with pals." West
Ham boss Alan Pardew added: "We fully support Roy. He has gone about
tackling his issues in the right way."

A top March 8 politician recently told Walid Jumblatt, "the Syrians don't
want to hear about the [Hariri] tribunal." Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel
is the latest victim of an effort to ensure that that command is respected.
It would be irresponsible for Hizbullah to carry through on its threat to
take to the streets. A government of national unity cannot be imposed
through measures certain to heighten national discord. But worse, Hizbullah,
through its alliance with Syria and its repeated efforts to neutralize the
Hariri tribunal, is risking its own future as an accepted Lebanese party.
The tribunal is Syria's Achilles heel. Even if a mid-level intelligence
operative is accused, the centralized nature of the Syrian system is such
that prosecutors will soon end up at the peak of the security apparatus,
perhaps reaching into President Bashar Assad's inner sanctum. The fight over
the future of the Syrian regime is taking place now, and the only option
Assad might be left with if the process goes through is to rid himself of
essential pillars of support. This could be as damaging to him as being held
personally responsible for ordering the Hariri hit. Hizbullah's anxieties
are understandable. If Syrians are fingered by United Nations investigator
Serge Brammertz, Assad is unlikely to comply with a request to send them
before the mixed tribunal. The president has said several times that Syrian
suspects would be tried before Syrian courts. If that happens there could be
a showdown between Damascus and the international community, putting
Hizbullah in a tight spot. Not only might the party find that weapons
transfers from Syria and other forms of cooperation would come under greater
international scrutiny, it would be ever more difficult for Sayyed Hassan
Nasrallah to play up his support for Assad without risking an angry Lebanese
Sunni backlash. Syrian haste is pushing Nasrallah, but also his chief ally,
Michel Aoun, into a potentially perilous venture. No one doubts that
Hizbullah can mobilize a large number of supporters. The party's clients in
the various ministries might cease working, gumming up the country's
administrative system. There is a possibility that access to the airport
will be cut, as it was last summer when the party faithful protested against
a satirical show that dared poke fun at Nasrallah. Hizbullah doesn't need to
break heads or burn property to make things very difficult for the majority.

However, the party should be careful. First of all, even if the
demonstrations are non-violent, they will be perceived as acts of
intimidation. Intimidation in Lebanon usually has the opposite effect to
what its practitioners intend. On March 8, 2005, Nasrallah hoped to
intimidate those demanding a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon; instead he
produced March 14. The confessional system is a fine-tuned Maserati, not a
Trabant. You cannot bludgeon your adversaries into bowing to your priorities
if it means that theirs are disregarded. That's not how this society works.

A second reason is more prosaic: After taking Lebanon into a devastating war
last summer, Hizbullah now threatens to carry it into a domestic crisis with
prohibitively high economic costs. This will eliminate what little
confidence the country managed to salvage after the end of fighting in
August. If the airport is made inaccessible, if ministries are prevented
from functioning, if stores and offices are forced to close down because of
protracted actions by Hizbullah and its comrades, everyone will lose, at a
time when the country is in the delicate process of rebuilding.

The gambling industry is on the search for new growth regions - With an
anticipated size of ca. Euro 39 billion by 2010, Spain is expected to be a
key future market
New report about the Spanish gambling market analyses one of the most
promising online and land-based gambling markets London/Munich, November 22,
2006: The consulting firm MECN's new study "The Spanish Gambling Market -
Key region for future growth" analyses the Spanish gambling market in
detail. The expected growth drivers for the next years are above all the
retail betting sector and Internet gambling. William Hill has already
started its expansion into Spain, Ladbrokes is currently
working on a market entry strategy, more and more Spanish soccer teams are
sponsored by online gambling companies, . - these are just a few of many
clear signs that the gambling industry is starting to focus on Spain for
future growth. After the recent legal conflicts in traditional gambling
markets, an obvious key strategic option is expansion into less restrictive
jurisdictions or into regions where an increased liberalisation might be
possible in the short term. Martin Oelbermann, co-author of the study,
explains: "In nearly all of our surveys and interviews the operators
mentioned Spain as a particularly attractive jurisdiction for future
expansion."

Why is Spain so attractive?
The following are some of the reasons why Spain is perceived as so
attractive:
- Increasing liberalisation - Many autonomous regions in Spain are working
toward a liberalisation of the market, and particularly the betting sector
as well as interactive
gambling could benefit from that.
- William Hill and other big players are already poised for expansion into
Spain - Many international companies, such as William Hill or Betbull/BWin,
already have joint
venture agreements in place and are poised to take advantage of the market
in Spain.
- Growth potential, especially for retail betting and interactive gambling -
Overall, Spain's gambling market is expected to grow to Euro 39 billion by
2010. By 2010 the
retail betting market is expected to grow to ca. Euro 4.5 billion, which is
more than 750% larger than its current size (CAGR of 71%). The other growth
driver will be
interactive gambling, which is expected to reach ca. Euro 4.2 billion by
2010, a growth of ca. 240% (CAGR of 36%) over the current level.
- Lotto craziness - Spain's lottery market is one of the largest in the
world and can boast impressive per-capita sales.

Four former employees of an affiliate of Yamato Transport Co., a major
delivery company, have been arrested on suspicion of gambling on
professional baseball games at their offices, police said. According to the
police, on-duty drivers from the Kyoto and Osaka branches of Kyoto Yamato
Unyu delivery company placed bets via cell phone e-mail. The betting system
was started by another employee about a decade ago. More than 100 million
yen in bets has been collected annually in recent years. Part of the money
financed further gambling outside the company. Prosecutors received papers
on nine other employees who were also involved. The nine comprise a
50-year-old former manager of the company's Osaka branch and company
drivers. The four have been under arrest since mid-October and were
dismissed by the company along with the Osaka branch manager. Of the four,
Yoshinori Kato, 61, a former deputy manager of the company's Osaka branch;
Tadashi Kato, 33, Yoshinori's third son and a former section chief of the
branch's sales department; and Shinichi Ogawa, 50, a former section chief of
the Kyoto branch's sales department, have already been indicted.

The recent Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas saw a marked absence of
online gaming companies and executives discouraged from travel to the USA by
the recent passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, but
the industry nevertheless generated an abundance of media comment. Aside
from the widely reported comments of top land gaming executives like Terri
Lanni of MGM Mirage and Frank Fahrenkopf of the AGA who now favour a study
of online gambling's impact in the USA, other personalities were giving
their views on everything from the unorthodox manner in which the UIGEA was
rammed through Congress to the likely efficacy in the enforcement of the
legislation. Describing the Act as "cumbersome, confusing and potentially
ineffective," the Las Vegas Sun newspaper opined that while the bill is
unlikely to curb the public's appetite for online gambling, the legislation
will make it more difficult for Americans to find reputable sites that will
accept their money. The real purpose of the bill, convention goers said, was
to pander to religious conservatives. The House had earlier passed
legislation authored by Rep. Jim Leach, but passage of a Senate compromise
Leach-Goodlatte bill had appeared unlikely after senators objected to a move
by anti-gambling advocate Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., to fast-track the Leach bill to
a floor vote in the Senate. That led to the involvement of Majority Leader
Sen Bill Frist and the deployment of political manouevres that involved a
late-night, last minute attachment to an unrelated "must pass" security
Bill. "No meeting, no reading, no debate - no problem. Many members of the
Homeland Security Committee - not to mention most senators - hadn't read the
bill," the Vegas newspaper reported.

Hopeful views that a change in political power in Washington could bring
about a reversal of the UIGEA inevitably resulted in contrary opinions,
notably from one David Stewart, a legal eagle who counsels the American
Gaming Association. He felt that it could be many years before there was a
legislative change.

The Sun reported that Stewart said: "If it comes up again, they're going to
say, 'We've already dealt with that issue.' They were exhausted by this
latest effort."

The newspaper claims that although the association's two largest members,
Harrah's Entertainment and MGM Mirage, want to legalise Internet gambling in
the USA, other members may not be as comfortable with the idea. The group
expects to decide at a board meeting next month whether to push for
legislation that would study legalising Internet gambling. Rep. Jon Porter,
R-Nev., introduced such a bill in th