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There is news in both North Carolina and Massachusetts right now regarding sweepstakes machines. North Carolina kinda-sorta banned them on December 1 and Massachusetts is getting some more of them.

On December 1, North Carolina passed a ban of sweepstakes machines, though interestingly the state will continue to offer a lottery. The ban was then challenged and received conflicting rulings in court. Two different judges gave different interpretations of the ban, with one even saying that the machines are illegal if they are not “dependent on the skill or dexterity of the player.” Of course, sweepstakes are by definition games of chance that do not depend on player skill.

North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper sent a letter to law enforcement telling them that most of the ban reminds intact and that they can shut down machines that do not require skill. That would, of course, be all of them. So far, for the safety of players, the attorney general has yet to confiscate lottery tickets from convenience stories and raid the state lottery office.

In Massachusetts, it’s a completely different story. The Internet Sweepstakes Network (ISN) has announced that they will begin opening online sweepstakes cafes in the state. In the announcement to investors, the company said that they are offering investment opportunities for prices lower than the market value. In return, they ask that investors donate 10% of their net profits to a charity set up by the ISN, called SweepstakesCharity.org.

The contrary news coming from two different states serves as a microcosm of gambling in the United States. Some states are cracking down on sweepstakes machines, while others are installing more. Some states want to allow table games in full-fledged casinos while others want nothing to do with the casino industry. Some want to gamble online while others passed a ban of the activity. The variety in state laws and policies is one of the things that makes America great, but it can also be frustrating.

Tags: sweepstakes machines, U.S. online gambling

In a sequel to Thursday’s reports that a Lazio administrative court had overruled a Microgame objection to new Italian regulations allowing online poker cash and casino games, the network has confirmed that it will not appeal the finding.

The decision clears the way for the promulgation of this further liberalisation of the market by Italian regulator AAMS, with an anticipated effective date in the first quarter of 2011.

In a statement late Friday, Microgame chief executive Fabrizio D’Aloia, said: “For Microgame the matter is closed. Now we are looking with trust to the work being done by AAMS, and we are confident that the requests and needs of major gaming operators, which have already been expressed on the occasion of the first decree, will be taken into consideration.

“Microgame intends doing business and being at the forefront of the market from the very beginning. We are hopeful that the certification process and start-up is being rationalised in order to make it shorter and less onerous for all parties.”

Online gambling is all the rage in Canada. British Columbia and Quebec have already launched their own government-run online casinos. Ontario plans to have an internet casino up and running by 2012. It seems that every other province has weighed in one way or the other on the subject. Now the government agency that oversees tribal gaming in Saskatchewan wants a study on the subject.

The Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA), which owns six First Nations casinos in Saskatchewan, has announced an intention to study the prospects of bringing online gambling to the nation. The company, which employs more than 2,000 people (mostly First Nations people), has released a “request for information on the products offered by suppliers that could assist SIGA in conducting research on Internet gambling.”

Though the Saskatchewan government is working with the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority, SIGA is being given the freedom to conduct its own initial research. Current estimates are that online gambling in the province is an industry worth $30-$40 million. The group wants to find out how much of that money can be a revenue source for SIGA.

The Saskatchewan government, of course, wants to know how much money they stand to benefit from online gambling as well. Currently SIGA and the government have not discussed revenue sharing for the potential new market. In their current agreement, AIGA gives 50% of their profits to the First Nations Trust – which is distributed to the people of the Saskatchewan First Nations, 25% of the revenue goes to the provincial government, and 25% goes to the Community Development Corporations.

Since SIGA is only now beginning to study online gambling, it is unlikely that anything will happen soon, but the hope is that within a few years, the First Nations will be able to offer online casino versions of their tribal casinos for Saskatchewan gamblers.

Tags: Canada online gambling, Saskatchewan online gambling, tribal casinos

November 26 – The playoff race is hotting up and NFL Football betting fans are gearing up for Thanksgiving Weekend. It has been a rollercoaster week in Minnesota with the firing of head coach Brad Childress.

BetUS.com posted updated odds on the NFL.

Super Bowl XLV Winner
Pittsburgh Steelers 9/1
New England Patriots 7/1
Dallas Cowboys 150/1
New York Giants 14/1
Indianapolis Colts 14/1
San Diego Chargers 10/1
Baltimore Ravens 8/1
Philadelphia Eagles 7/1
New Orleans Saints 10/1
Minnesota Vikings 200/1
Tennessee Titans 50/1
Atlanta Falcons 8/1
Green Bay Packers 7/1
Denver Broncos 500/1
Jacksonville Jaguars 90/1
Arizona Cardinals 750/1
New York Jets 8/1
Miami Dolphins 125/1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 65/1
Chicago Bears 30/1
Washington Redskins 125/1
Seattle Seahawks 125/1
Houston Texans 250/1
San Francisco 49ers 125/1
Cleveland Browns 500/1
Oakland Raiders 125/1
St Louis Rams 125/1
Kansas City Chiefs 65/1

SB MVP Winner
Aaron Rodgers 2/1
Adrian Peterson 12/1
Chris Johnson 10/1
Drew Brees 20/1
Eli Manning 6/1
Mark Sanchez 4/1
Michael Vick 3/1
Peyton Manning 4/1
Philip Rivers 3/1
Tom Brady 5/1
Next NFL coach fired
Chan Gailey 3/1
Eric Mangini 10/1
Jack Del Rio 8/1
Jim Schwartz 8/1
John Fox 3/1
Marvin Lewis 5/2
Mike Singletary 2/1
Norv Turner 8/1
Josh McDaniels 6/5
Ken Whisenhunt 5/1
Jeff Fisher 2/1

Read our BetUS.com review.

The Institute for Policy and Governance in Spain recently spent a lot of money to conduct a study I could have told them for free: Online gamblers underestimate the amount of money they spend on games. According to the study, the average gambler who believes that he has bet €22 per month has actually spent €40 – almost double.

I think that has less to do with gambling perceptions as it does with spending in general. In general, people underestimate the amount of money they spend, which is why it’s often a shock when the cashier tells you the total. Or when the credit card bill comes, how often are you shocked by the amount of money you spent during the month?

Still, whether the study reflects gambling habits or spending habits in general, it is still important. The fact is that the average gambler spends almost twice as much money online as he thinks. That doesn’t mean he spends almost twice as much as he intended (an important distinction to make), but it is still relevant.

If the amount of money you find you have spent at gambling websites worries you, then you need to do something about it. I suggest you listen to this Chinese proverb. It says “If you must play, decide on three things at the start: the rules of the game, the stakes, and the quitting time.”

That is great advice for online gambling, but I want to make one clarification. Quitting time shouldn’t actually be a time of day or a number of hours or minutes played. Instead, it should be an amount of money. It is quitting time after you have spent X amount of money at the casino.

Before you ever enter a casino, online or on land, you should set aside a specific amount of money to wager. If you don’t wager all of it, that’s fine, but whatever happens, do not wager more than that amount. If at the end of the month you decide that you have spent too much money, decrease the amount of money you allow yourself to spend on each casino session. As long as you follow those rules and practice smart money management, you should find yourself spending a much more comfortable amount on casino games.

Tags: gambling habits, money management, online gambling

November 15th – All Tower Gaming players are eligible for a speedy $50 Casino Bonus by emailing pitboss [at] towergaming.com this week.

The first 20 players that email Tony Moretti, Tower Gaming Casino Manager, will receive $50 Free to play on any Casino Game they like. The money comes in the form of a Casino Bonus. “Answer the question, get paid!” said Tony Moretti. “It’s as simple as that.”

The question is “Polar Bears are Native to Which Region of the Earth?” The competition begins on Wednesday, November 17th. Only emails received after that date will be considered for the Prizes. Tower Gaming are expecting a massive response from current and new players, so all those thinking of participating should prepare their emails clients to send the answer in as soon as they can on November 17th!

Tower Gaming has been in operation since 2005 and offers Casino Gaming, Online Poker and Sports Betting on their website. The company offers a number of payment processing types, the latest in security measures and offers customer support through email and live chat, in multiple languages.

All players at Tower Casino are eligible to participate in the promotion. The only stipulation is that they be a player for real money at the Tower Gaming Casino.

Too often, when people talk about casino tournaments they only focus on the slot tournaments. It’s true that slots are the most popular and lucrative tournaments, but some people are more into table games like blackjack and poker. Those games require strategy and are a lot more fun to people who enjoy that challenge. For that reason, today I want to draw your attention to the non-slot tournaments at Go Casino.

It’s true that Go Casino has a lot of slot tournaments, including the upcoming Weekend Madness. However, there are a lot of options out there for fans of blackjack and video poker. For blackjack fans, there are tournaments run on two different games, Vegas Strip Blackjack and Perfect Pair Blackjack. The former is the more traditional game while the latter has the popular side bet that pays out extra for certain pairs.

Throughout the month, on every given day there is a blackjack tournament on one of the two games. Today, November 10, the tournament is being played on Vegas Strip Blackjack. Each blackjack tournament has an entry fee of only $0.99, which gives you 50 credits to use. If you run out and want more, you can re-buy for $2.49. Each of the blackjack tournaments lasts 24 hours, beginning at 8:00 PM on one day and ending at the same time the next. Players compete for a share of the pot, with the top 41 players in the tournament earning prizes.

If you would rather play video poker, Go Casino has a good number of tournaments for that as well. Like with the blackjack tournaments, the video poker tournaments last 24 hours, starting at 8:00 PM one day and ending at 8:00 the next. The video poker tournaments played on four different games: 100 Hand Joker Poker, Single Hand Deuces Wild, Mega Multi Hand Deuces Wild and Multi Hand Aces and Faces. Each of the video poker tournaments has an entry fee of $1.99, which gets you 100 credits. If you desire, you can re-buy for the same price. In the video poker tournaments, players compete for a share of a $2,500 guaranteed prize pool.

If slots are your thing, there are plenty of tournaments available at Go Casino. If video poker or blackjack is your thing, there are also plenty of tournaments available at Go Casino. If keno is your thing, well, sorry…

Tags: blackjack tournament, Go Casino, video poker tournament

The dispute over a horse racing levy contribution by British gambling companies to the horse racing industry has attracted the ire of Secretary of State at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, Jeremy Hunt. The dispute has reached stalemate with the parties involved unable to come to an agreement by the deadline of October 31, leaving the Government with the unenviable task of acting as arbitrator.

A clearly annoyed Hunt quoted in UK press reports as opining:

“It’s a big disappointment that the racing and gambling industries have failed to sort this out,” he said today, “but frankly the government should never be the last resort in an essentially commercial negotiation.

“We have therefore announced our intention to remove the role of the Secretary of State from determining the levy scheme in future and I hope this time will be the very last one that I have to be involved.”

The online gambling partnership in France between UK gambling group Ladbrokes and French media group Canal+ appears to have reached its end this week with the news that the UK company has decided not to enter the French internet gambling market.

A Ladbrokes spokesman revealed that the company would be pulling out of its partnership with Canal+ and indicated that high French taxation was one of the motivations behind the decision.

Commenting on Ladbrokes’ decision Gary McIlraith, Ladbrokes managing director of digital channels, international and strategy said: “Together with our partners we have concluded that the French market is now taxed at such a prohibitive level that it does not represent an attractive investment. We will continue to monitor the French marketplace but for the time being will not progress with the launch plans.”

Ladbrokes joins Sportingbet and Paddy Power as high-profile operators who have decided against entering the market on a B2C basis, with Sportingbet also opting to cancel its B2B agreements with newspapers Le Monde and L’Express.

In related news, French media are currently reporting that internet gambling group Unibet, which had earlier voiced reservations regarding the French market, has achieved licencing status with French regulator ARJEL in respect of sports betting, poker and horse racing operations.

Unibet hopes to be operational in the French market by Q4,2010 / Q1,2011

The European television production giant Endemol, developer of blockbuster concepts like Big Brother and Deal or No Deal, has announced the formation of a new division that will bring new and fresh ideas and games to the online gambling space.

The new division, titled Endemol Games, will bring popular television formats to the gaming world, and is headed by former Endemol brands chief Jurian Van de Meer, who opined this week that the company’s major shows “seamlessly cross over in to branded gaming”. Van de Meer added that Endemol products attracted huge fan bases, and the new division will build on this, creating fresh concepts to invigorate the online gaming market.

Endemol is no stranger to gaming, with a Deal Or No Deal title already featuring in online gambling games and the XBox live and Facebook libraries. Other thematic possibilities might be concepts like Doctor Who and X-Factor.

Endemol disbanded its dedicated digital unit recently when global digital media and new business head Adam Valkin and UK digital head Peter Cowley left.

New Media Age reports that Endemol Games will specialise in licensing and monetising both its own and third-party entertainment properties in the gaming space. The publication quoted Endemol UK chief operating officer Lucas Church (to whom Van de Meer reports) as saying: “Endemol UK has already established a strong position in the gaming space and the launch of Endemol Games underlines the importance of this significant growth area to our business.”

In May this year 888.com concluded an agreement with Endemol to merge the companies’ respective strengths for the benefit of the Italian gambling public.

The deal saw 888 and Endemol co-invest in the lucrative Italian market, with Endemol providing a variety of games under its exclusive brand. Games to be provided included Deal or No Deal and Big Brother, with implementation planned to coincide with the regulatory green light for online casino operations in the Italian market.

Other Endemol deals with online gambling companies include an agreement to provide The Million Pound Drop game to Bet365.

More action for Endemol is in the pipeline, Van de Meer reports, claiming that a major announcement is imminent, and that a further five or six gaming deals are currently in the pipeline.