Single mother from England wins 90,000 pounds in Gala Bingo
A very lucky woman from Dartford, England has won 90,000 pounds after only betting 5 pounds on galabingo.com.
The woman, whose real has not yet been disclosed, said that she was back in the kitchen when it was announced that she won the “Cash Climber” jackpot. She goes by the username “theberry” on the online bingo site. She is a single mother at 50 years old.
When she saw that she was being congratulated by people in Gala Bingo’s online chat room, she initially thought it was just a prank set up by one of her friends. She called Gala Bingo and she was able to confirm that she indeed won the jackpot for 90,595 pounds.
According to “theberry”, this seemed to have changed her luck. Just last year, she broke her back, her bag got stolen, and she crashed he car.
When asked about her plan for the money, “theberry” just said she and her family are still thinking about it although she has already given her children some treats.
Rivers Casino fined $16,000 for underage gambling
The casino industry in Pennsylvania is getting more and more progressive as it has overtaken Atlantic City’s revenue last month. With a goal to become a leader in Northeast casinos, lawmakers do not have any issue expanding their state’s gambling laws. However, the legal gambling age has not been changed.
The Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh has been fined $16,000 after two minors were caught playing slot machines in two separate incidents last year – first in October and another in December.
The Rivers Casino has just opened in August 2009. Just five months into its operation, its staff members received a heavy scolding from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board which told the casino on Wednesday that they would have to pay if they do not follow rules.
The allowable age for a player to play slots is 21 and to step on a Pennsylvania casino floor, one has at least to be 18. The teen caught in October was just 14 years old and he was four minutes into his game. The girl caught in December was 15 years and she had been playing the slots for 17 minutes before she was caught.
The management of Rivers Casino took note of their mistake and the fine was actually an agreement between the state’s Gaming Board and Holding Acquisition Co. LP, the casino’s owner.
Pennsylvania lawmakers have just legalized the use of table games in casinos. They also assured the public that the Gaming Board will closely monitor the casinos to avoid any underage gambling.
Cake Poker to return poker bracelet to Cloutier
On Wednesday, Cake Poker announced on its website that it has gotten hold of the World Series of Poker bracelet that T.J. Cloutier won in 2005. Cloutier won the bracelet in the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em five years ago.
Cake Poker said on its site that it has acquired the bracelet from Cloutier for a selling price of $4,000. The poker pro won $657,100 along with the bracelet after defeating Steven Zoine in the final table which also saw other poker pros including John Hennigan, Dustin Woolf, and Todd Brunson.
However, quickly after its acquisition of the bracelet, the online poker network has again announced that it was returning the WSOP keepsake to the 70-year-old Cloutier “just as soon as we’re done having fun with it”.
When Cloutier was asked what could have driven him to sell his 2005 memorabilia, he only said the he “was short”. He also briefly stated that he attempted to get it back, but he was just too late. He refused to give further explanation.
Cloutier apparently also pawned another bracelet he won. The Plano Pawn Shop now has Cloutier’s 2007 Poker Challenge IV bracelet after he took down Scotty Nguyen. He reportedly sold it for $2,500 and experts estimate the bracelet to be worth around $2,350.
32Red purchases NedPlay.com
The ailing NedPlay.com has been saved from total downfall after being bought by 32Red, an online casino company based in Gibraltar which operates leading sites like 32Red.com and DashCasino.com.
32Red has stated that its purchase of NedPlay.com include the intellectual property and database of players. It further said that support and promotions will be similar to those of their two sites.
However, for the meantime, NedPlay.com will continue operating as it is while the bosses discuss the future of the domain in the coming days. Players with pending withdrawals and disputes will be duly compensated, adds 32Red CEO Ed Ware.
32Red.com has just been awarded the Casino of the Decade honor after six years of being in operation by Casinomeister, an online casino watchdog and a player advocacy website.
Betting odds may favor the Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers are getting steam this season as the betting odds may sway to their side.
The Cavaliers’ management was trying to search for people who could surround Lebron James and make good play. They made a gamble with Shaquille O’Neal and that seems to have paid off.
It did not start out right for the Cavaliers. The Los Angeles Lakers were making heads spin off by taking the early lead after winning the NBA championship last year.
However, the tides seemed to have changed during the past month as Lebron’s team are gearing up for their best season ever. They just passed Lakers’ best record last Sunday.
Kobe Bryant may still have the upper hand when it comes to good players around him, but Lebron looks more dominant this season than ever before. Take note that Bryant just had injuries.
Some teams still have the stake to become winners in this year’s NBA championship. These teams include Boston, Dallas, Denver, Orlando, and San Antonio. Among them, the Spurs and the Nuggets have the biggest chance to beat the Lakers in the West.
Cleveland though is going through an easy path as the Boston Celtics are a little bit weary during their past games and the Orlando Magic seems to have a similar play.
Pennsylvania scores higher than Atlantic City in slot revenue
Pennsylvania has long wanted to beat Atlantic City as the gambling mecca of the East. That dream has finally come true in December when Pennsylvania’s slot revenue scored higher than that of New Jersey.
Currently there are 9 casinos in Pennsylvania and there are still 3 under construction. The slot revenue coning from these 9 casinos totalled $189 million during the last month of last year. New Jersey only registered a revenue of $179 million for the same month.
Casinos in the Keystone State have come a long way. Table games have just been approved this month, but electronic table, slot machines, and horse racing were already allowed right after gambling was legalized in the state.
Gaming enthusiasts believe that the added table games will bring more prosperity to the increasingly progressive gambling industry in Pennsylvania.
Casinos in Atlantic City have experienced some decrease in their profits last year. This can turn out as good news for Pennsylvanians as lawmakers want their state to become the casino capital of the Northeast.
Analysts believe that 2010 will be the year when Pennsylvania would finally beat Atlantic City when it comes to casino revenue, although this might further hurt the now ailing gambling spots in New Jersey.
First-time player wins bingo jackpot within 40 minutes
A man from Gloucestershire, England has won the bingo jackpot and perhaps a world record 40 minutes after he registered to an online bingo site.
Darryl Howe became richer by 18,000 pounds when he scored a 15-number full house after just 23 calls in a matter of 40 minutes after opening an account with William Hill.
The possibility of getting this chance in so little time with very few calls in a 90 ball bingo game is over 90 billion to one. To be exact, it is 93,400,706,414 to 1!
According to Jennie Prest, spokeswoman for William Hill, their company have not yet had any player who had such luck. They believe that this is the first time it ever happened in any online bingo game so they are exploring the possibility of getting it into the Guinness Book of World Records.
Howe calls it beginner’s luck. He said he was so happy when he won the 18,000-pound jackpot, but became so overwhelmed when William Hill told him that his luck can be part of record books.
Taj poker tournament to raise money for murdered worker’s son
It was summer of last year when a great tragedy happened in the casino world. Ray Kot, shift manager in Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, was shot and killed by Mark Magee, a casino patron. Kot left behind his wife and son, Drew. The young Kot is now in danger of not going to college because of the absence of financial support. However, poker players and the management of Trump Taj Mahal have organized a tournament for the future of Drew.
The first poker tournament to be held annually in the Trump Taj Mahal Casino is now on the last stages of preparation. The games will start on Sunday and will fill all throughout the week. There will be 10 satellite tournaments that will go off everyday from noon all the way to midnight. The number of players in the championship will depend on how fast the satellites will be filled and how fast players will win.
The tournament was named in honor of Ray Kot. Entry to the event will only cost $25 will 100 percent of the proceeds going to Drew’s college fund. Prizes are in store to give players more motivation. First place winner will be given a trip to the Super Bowl; second place will win a flat-screen TV; and third place wins a party at the Taj.
Non-US online casino takes top spot
This week saw the release of the rankings made by the Online Casino Advisory for the top online casinos in the world. Amazingly, a casino that is not based in the US and does not accept US players bagged the number one spot.
Intercasino was ranked the top playing casino in the worldwide web. The casino is licensed under Dublin-based Cryptologic Inc., a leader in its industry, and uses their software. Intercasino is not accessible to US players.
Almost all ranking of online casino are based on the advertisements on their websites. With this said, it is unusual for a casino to be ranked number one when they do not accept US gamblers as most advertisements come from American advertisers.
Casinos that use the Vegas Technologies software took the second, fourth, fifth, and ninth spots. They are Crazy Slots, Online Vegas, Super Slots, and Go Casino, respectively. Vegas Technologies is considered to be one of the best in the market when it comes to online slots.
Real Time Gaming has Rushmore Casino in the number three and Cherry Red in the number ten spot. These casinos are known for their high progressive slot jackpot games.
Another leader in the gambling application service provider is Microgaming. It has two casinos in the top ten which are All Jackpots and All Slots at number six and number eight, respectively.
Right at number seven was the only online casino powered by Rival Gaming – Lion Slots Casino. Rival Gaming is known for having developing the i-Slots.
Kansas casinos to be exempted from smoking ban causes uproar
In 2007, the citizens of Kansas voted for the approval of four casinos in their state. Although only one has operated since, a new policy is being passed that causes uproar against the casinos.
There are two proposals currently being discussed among Kansas lawmakers. Both proposals refer to a smoking ban that would be implemented in restaurants, bars, and other public venues, but not on casinos.
Unlike most states, the four casinos that have already been approved by the public will all be run by the state. If the current proposals are going to be approved, private businesses are expected to cry afoul.
Private business owners see the proposals as unfair. However, in some other states, smoking ban exemption in casinos, where they are state-controlled or not, is customary.
One similar situation happened in Atlantic City when the smoking ban was implemented in the city’s casinos. The global recession, however, affected the owners’ revenue causing them to protest against the ban. The city government lifted the ban for the duration of the recession.
Despite Kansas voters agreed to have four casinos in their state, only the casino in Dodge City is in operation. Other casino developers backed out of the contract during the height of the financial crisis.
