Churches in Australia joined forces and formed the Australian Churches Gambling Taskforce to address problem gambling, according to the latest research more than 90,000 problem gamblers lose on average $21,000 per annum. The churches have also called upon the Australian government to impose sterner measures that will protect gamblers from being over exploited by casinos.

Key members from the following churches; Catholic, Baptist and Anglican, the Salvation Army and church-based social service institutions met in Canberra to start a campaign on gambling reform.

Reverend Alistair Macrae President of the Uniting Church says thousands of children suffer as a result of parents who have a history of problem gambling. A staggering $12 billion has been spent by Australians on poker machines or pokies. Macrae believes the amount of money spent by Australians on gambling has become an area of great concern.

Reverend Macrae states that on a weekly basis 600,000 Australians …

The Cyprus government’s recent backlash on internet gambling might give the Greek state company OPAP a monopoly, many island politicians said this week. Cyprus hosts a large number of internet casinos, asa result of its politicians’ strong stance toward internet gambling might favour the Greek company handsomely.

Rikkos Erotokritou from Euroko Party said OPAP, which manages Joker, Proto, Kino and Lotto and other online gambling operators would reap the benefits from the implementation of this bill’s requirements”, which could result in absolute control.

Nicholas Papadopoulos DIKO’s representative said, the bill would “benefit and legalise gambling for one internet casino only resulting in a monopoly.” He also stated that in 2009 OPAP generated 70 million Euros, of which one million Euros went to the state in taxes; it could be a very lucrative arrangement for the internet casino’s ventures in Cyprus.

On the flip side of the coin, OPAP’s response to recent …

A twenty-nine year old British male Ashley Mitchell who stole $12 million in virtual chips was sentenced by the Exeter Crown Court recently. Mitchell also sullied the Computer Misuse Act; as a result of this little stint he received a two years prison sentence. He also received a 10 month suspended sentence in 2008 for hacking into a local government network. Mitchell finds himself in hot water now because of the Zynga hacking incident and received an extra 30 weeks in jail; since he breached the original terms of his sentence.

Mitchell succeeded by hacking into Zynga’s servers and snatched 400 billion virtual poker chips, according to Zynga these chips have a net worth of $12 million. A Zynga spokesperson said these virtual chips are worthless, unless Mitchell sold these chips to other Zynga players on the black market. However, Mitchell managed to sell $86,000 worth of his booty well …

In Costa Rica there’s approximately 500 online gambling sites. It is the third largest gaming market in Latin America which yields a profit of $14.5 billion. The country attracts many operators and software providers since the Costa Rican government is rather lax when it comes to enforcing its policies. Regular commercial licences that are applicable to all industries are employed to regulate and tax online betting companies.

Recently a report released by The Research and Markets (R&M) Organization on the country titled “Costa Rica Gaming and Gambling 2011”. The report gives a brief overview of Costa Rica delineating the country’s main resources, politics, gambling sector and its citizens.

The report also touches upon land-based gambling and mentions infrastructure which tourists can make use of. However, the gist of the report focuses mainly on Costa Rica’s gambling industry. Discussed in detail are casinos, lotteries, bingo, betting and internet gambling. Advertising regulations that …

Foreign operators yield in excess one billion dollars per annum from Australian gamblers.

It is estimated that Australians spend close to a billion dollars per year on internet casinos based outside Australia. It’s about time that the Australian government starts taking steps to legalize internet gambling in the country. Wagering is not prohibited in Australia; however, the provision of sites to Australian punters is illegal according to the Interactive Gambling Act established in 2001.

Many Australians are lobbying for  sites based in Malta, Gibraltar and Canada to provide their services to the Australian market They also urge the federal government to offer an ISP blocking initiative which will target ‘rogue operators. Unfortunately this idea came under fire from the international community as an example of Web restriction and a solution that does not offer much.

“So far the internet gambling ban has not been very successful,” Sally Gainsbury, of Southern Cross University’s …

Unibet responded to a ruling from the Brussels correctional court, which imposed a suspended fine of €75,000 against the operator for breaching certain advertising regulations. The Swedish operator expressed its shock at the ruling. It understood that the judge would simply be ruling on the admissibility of the case rather than acting before Unibet made its plea. According to Belgian news website RTLinfo.be, Unibet’s attorney Axel Clerens will receive a copy of the ruling and will respond accordingly.

Just in time for St Patrick’s Day and the Cheltenham Festival on Thursday, Barcrest supplied Ladbrokes with an Irish-themed version of its Rainbow Riches slots game. At this stage the IGT subsidiary supplies Ladbrokes with a scratchcard game under the Rainbow Riches banner, after they concluded a business venture in January.

As of Thursday Net Entertainment’s share price dropped by 9%. These figures were released by Stockholm’s Stock Exchange subsequent the announcement from the Swedish …

Thirty Six year old Bryan Taylor suspected foal play when three of his opponents at an internet poker site were winning consistently.

Taylor started playing professional poker in 2008, suspected he was playing against computers. In particular bots or short for robots programmed to play poker and to beat the odds. His suspicions turned out to be right. He immediately launched an investigation against PokerStars and found out that his “opponents” were computers masked as humans and closed them down.

Poker bots are rather common but they aren’t that good. Humans are better at playing poker, for instance at bluffing and could beat machines regularly. However, artificial intelligence (AI) improved significantly the last couple of years, so good in fact that poker bots can now win thousands of dollars at premier poker sites.

The bots identified by Taylor in July on PokerStars were shut down. In October, one more poker site, Full Tilt …

Playtech just purchased founder Teddy Sagi’s PT Turnkey Services (PTTS), the holding company for Europartners, arguably one of the premier affiliate programmes in the internet casino business today, the software business disclosed in its yearly results.

In a recent statement to the stock exchange, Playtech confirmed the purchase of PTTS, including Europartners with its 50,000 registered players for the amount of €140m (£120m). This purchase price could increase to as much as €280m by 2014 all depending on the performance of PTTS.

In a recent interview with Cassaon-casino just after Playtech’s annual results presentation, Mor Weizer chief executive said this business venture enables Playtech “direct contact with internet casinos and its players for the first time”. On the flip side, Weizer denied that today’s acquisition would propel the business into a higher tax bracket in different markets.

PTTS yielded profits in excess of €90m in 2010 with more than 50,000 …

In the United States Caesars Entertainment led from the front when it came to internet gambling. An amalgamation with giant 888 Holdings confirmed that the company is preparing for U.S regulations. The business partnership’s received the thumbs up from the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

Caesars amalgamated with Fordart Ltd. and Cassava Enterprises Ltd. These operators are subsidiaries of 888 Holdings, will aid Caesars to expand their World Series of Poker brand and will also enable Caesars to operate within the United Kingdom.

However, the amalgamation did not come as a surprise to one Gaming Control Board member, after the three person board suggested approval from the Nevada Gaming Commission.

“Basically this joint venture will permit Caesars to offer internet gambling in the UK,” said Board member A.G. Burnett. “The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act is ambiguous to say the least and it compelled 888 Holdings in 2006 to exit the …

Singapore’s gaming proceeds from its two casinos might outpace the Las Vegas Strip casinos in terms of revenue within the next two years. However, experts believe that these newcomers might face some stern competition from other major players within the region.

Gaming proceeds from Singapore increased to approximately US$4 billion (S$5.07 billion) in 2010 and will in all likelihood hit the US$5 billion in the next year or two, according to analysts. A total of US$6 billion in revenue by casinos situated on the Las Vegas was yielded last year.

One of the main reasons why Asian casinos are experiencing such a surge in its profits is because of the budding wealth of the Asian middle-class. Some market analysts even predict a top-line growth of 25 per cent in Singapore before this year is out. On the opposite of end of the spectrum are the U.S casinos where growth is …