Online Casino News
Microgaming Casinos Pull Out of US Market
May 12, 2011
A high number of Microgaming Casinos have decided to shut down their US facing online casino sites. This might be the shape of things to come for in what could turn out to be a large scale exodus from the US online casino market. Some of the more popular casinos leaving the space include casinos such as Jackpot City and Gaming Club. They have decided to end the practice of referring all US traffic to their sites onwards to a RTG Casino partner.
The American government has not officially made online gambling illegal, but they have made the cash movement part of it illegal. Which makes the gambling part impossible.
This leaves a sizable gap in the gaming market that some operators, such as those on Real Time Gaming, Rushmore Casino and Bodog, will still operate in the United States, leaving players with some places to continue their gaming.
On April 15, 2011 Federal authorities issued an indictment against the owners of online poker’s three biggest players. Last year the Joint Committee on Taxation found that regulating internet gaming would generate nearly $42 billion over the next 10 years.
Bellagio Casino “Biker Bandit” in Court
February 10, 2011
Anthony Michael Carleo made his first court appearance Monday since being taken into custody. He was not asked to enter pleas on six charges, including armed robbery, assault, burglary and carrying a concealed weapon. Surveillance video from the Dec. 14 heist shows a motorcycle helmet-wearing robber brandishing a gun and running from the Bellagio, in a successful heist at the casino. More on the Bellagio Biker Bandit’s crime here.
About $1.2 million of the loot has been accounted for, police said.
Carleo was arrested after an undercover police officer bought stolen chips and invited Carleo to be part of a crew that would rob Las Vegas casinos, according to the arrest report. Carleo lost about $105,000 of the money he allegedly stole gambling at the Bellagio over the next month, according to a police arrest report.
Carleo lost $73,000 gambling at the resort on New Year’s Eve, police said, and spent a week at the Bellagio casino in late January.
Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Super Bowl Casino Party
February 2, 2011
Who could possibly throw a better Super Bowl party than Hugh Hefner, the Playboy himself. The 193 room Aloft Dallas will be host to the Playboy Super Bowl XLV weekend Party. Preparations for this impossible-to-attend event included the addition of a massive tent which will accommodate the concerts, a huge casino and up to 3,500 people.
These tent areas will be transformed into current and future Playboy Club locations Las Vegas, Macau, London, South Beach and Cancun. The Vegas area, which will likely be one of the most popular and busiest locations at the party, will be home to a lavish BlackJack casino, complete with a number of casino game tables, like blackjack, roulette and craps. The South Beach area will have sexy lifeguards on duty, the Macau area will be adorned with exotic dragons (and probably more casino related fun), photo booths will be set up in converted British red phone booths, and beautiful Mayan dancers will headline the Cancun beach are of the party.
The concerts and events are split amongst five days, starting February 3rd and going until the 7th. Musical acts playing this week include The Fray, Lifehouse, Ke$ha, Nelly, Pitbull, and Dierks Bentley with Jack Ingram. The main event on Friday, Feb 4th is private/invite only and will include Snoop Dogg, Warren G, and Flo Rida.
All this revelry comes with a bitter edge. The Super Bowl on Sunday could be the last football game anyone sees this year. Players and owners are now fighting over a new labor agreement that could result in a lockout for the 2011 season. The NFLPA says a lost season could cost every NFL city $160 million in jobs and revenue.
Bellagio Casino Eliminates 25K Chips After Heist
January 12, 2011
After a daring robbery by a motorcycle helmeted bandit who escaped with approximately $1.5 million in chips, the Bellagio gave public notice that it is discontinuing use of chips valued at $25,000. The robber entered through a north entrance of the Bellagio, walked down a retail promenade of closed shops and through a nearly empty casino, then held up a craps game. He exited the building the same way he arrived. The whole event lasted just a few minutes.
Anyone who possesses one of the chips must cash it in by April 22. “The bottom line is that they’re not money,” tells David Salas, deputy enforcement chief for the Nevada Gaming Control Board to the Association Press.
Discontinuing certain denominations of chips is not unheard of in Vegas, but casino operators are required by law to serve public notice and give casino patrons enough time to cash in their chips.
The Bellagio heist was the 10th armed casino robbery last year in the Las Vegas Valley, according to the Metro Police. The Bellagio robbery suspect is still at large.
He is described as a white male standing 5’10″ to 6’0″ tall and weighing 220 pounds. The motorcycle is a 2009-2010 black sport bike and his helmet had stripes on it. He was carrying a handgun. Anyone with information is asked to call the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Robbery Section at (702) 828-3591 or Crime Stoppers at (702) 385-5555.
Gibraltar Raises Taxes on Online Casinos
January 12, 2011
Officials with the Gibraltar government recently announced that they are raising the tax rate assessed to online gaming companies from 1% to 10%.
Most businesses in the territory are taxed at the 10% tax rate, but in order to draw in gambling corporations, exemptions were made for online gaming sites, like PartyPoker and 888Poker. This made Gibralter an ideal home base for a number of gambling industry names.
Gibralter also placed a tax ceiling of US$654,450 for online gambling and poker sites. The new laws would also call for that ceiling to be removed. Gibralter officials said that the changes were made to conform more closely to the tax structures in place in other European Union member states.
Most of the gambling companies that operate out of Gibralter, have confirmed that they will remain situated on the island, as the taxes are still considerably low. Gibraltar has been providing licenses to online casinos, online betting exchanges and online bookmakers since 1998. The Gambling Act of 2005 requires that all gaming operations in Gibraltar are licensed. Remote gaming licenses are issued by the Licensing Authority. A Gambling Commissioner, the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority, is necessary under the provisions of the Gambling Act.
Gibralter is an international hotspot for gaming companies, and is host to some of the top names in online gambling. Over 10% of Gibraltar’s workforce is employed in the internet gaming sector.