Using a 1961 federal law designed to stop illegal gambling, the state has directed 11 telephone and Internet service providers to block nearly 200 gambling Web sites.

The state Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division says it expects responses from AT&T Internet Services, Charter Communications, Comcast Cable and the other providers within two or three weeks.

AT&T, Charter and Comcast representatives didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

“We are putting site operators and Minnesota online gamblers on notice and in advance,” says John Willems, director of AGED. “Disruption of these sites’ cash flow will negatively impact their business models. State residents with online escrow accounts should be aware that access to their accounts may be jeopardized and their funds in peril.”

CLUBS and pubs with poker machines should not be allowed to offer free child care, the Productivity Commission gambling inquiry has been told.
A submission from the St Vincent de Paul Society of Queensland warns current proposals to reduce problem gambling do not go far enough.

It recommends reducing drinking hours in hotels, forcing gamblers to take regular breaks from poker machines and removing creches from all gaming venues, The Courier-Mail reports.

“It seems that free child care is available at many venues,” the submission says. “We believe that casinos and other gambling venues are not suitable places for children.”

The St Vincent de Paul Society submission comes on the heels of a campaign by anti-pokies activist Paul Bendat to keep kids away from gambling venues.

Although children under 18 are not allowed into gaming areas, Mr Bendat said youngsters in adjacent dining areas often had a full view of the pokies “light-and-sound show”.
The Lutheran Church’s committee for social and bioethical questions also has weighed into the debate, raising concerns about the “grooming” of a new generation of gamblers.

Its submission to the Productivity Commission says children are being enticed into game parlours with “jackpot” signs and games mimicking poker machines.

It says television game shows and primetime lottery promotions also help normalise gambling for children.

“In child protection terms, this would be called grooming,” the Lutheran submission says.

But Clubs Queensland spokeswoman Rebecca Grisman said child care facilities in clubs were always “completely removed” from gaming areas and strictly supervised.

And she warned closing down free childcare within clubs would disadvantage many families who used their local club to have an affordable dinner out or night of entertainment.

“You’d be cutting off the socialising opportunities, in a safe environment, in a family friendly environment, for a lot of parents,” she said.

Queensland Hotels Association president Tom McGuire said he was not aware of any pubs offering supervised child care and any play areas for children were well away from gambling areas.

Latest figures from Queensland’s Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing show gamblers playing the pokies in the State’s clubs and pubs lost a combined $150 million in March.

That was up from total player losses of $133 million in February.

French on-line gambler Mr. Alain M. can hardly believe his incredible luck and is in the cloud these days. He is definitely riding high after hitting Playtech’s Beach Life progressive slots jackpot for a very cool 1,812,394 euros. What was even more unbelievable was that he was just 20 minutes into the playing session when he hit the jackpot.
In an exclusive interview with casino management, Alain recalled how shocked he was when he saw the reels and even up to now, he still cannot believe the big sum he won. He said he loves on-line gambling which is certainly better than land-based casinos. Playing at his home computer certainly allows him to smoke or drink anytime he wants to which is all the more convenient. He notes that land-based casinos no longer allow smoking or drinking anymore due to new regulations. All the more reason that he plays on-line everyday of the week, he says.
This extremely lucky player went to say that other players should just keep on playing and never stop since they will never know when Lady Luck smiles on them. But when they win, they will win BIG!
As of now, Alain is extremely busy planning his world cruise or travel around Asia using part of his huge windfall from the 5-reel 20-payline Beach Life Progressive Slots.

A few lucky players at a popular online casino will become very rich in a matter of seconds, after the jackpots at the casino crossed over the $2 million mark. The famous online casino Golden Casino reported today that the total amount of the jackpots offered at this Vegas Tech platform gambling website have reached and passed the $2 million dollar mark, a first for this online casino and a milestone for all Vegas Tech powered internet casinos. Slots at the casino, such as Red White and Win, Pay Dirt and Treasure Trail, are only a few of the games which are part of the huge jackpot number at this online casino and players could also try their luck at the progressive blackjack and Caribbean Stud games.

Golden Casino, established just a few years ago, quickly became one of the most visited online gambling websites on the internet and the $2 million in jackpots are bound to attract horde of new players. The new customers, on the other side, will be greaten with $555 match-up bonus, which could also be used to shoot for the big jackpots. The online casino allows U.S. players, but Canadian customers are not accepted at this time. Visit the casino website for more information on the various progressive games, as well as term and condition of the bonuses offered by the Golden Casino.

As the field thinned from 469 all the way down to just 124 at the PokerStars European Poker Tour San Remo Main Event, some big names went home, some big stars made it through the day, and everybody spent the day looking up at Dragan Galic’s name atop the leader board. The Croatian chip magnet started Day 2 as the chip leader and continued to accumulate chips and notches on his gun belt as he finished Day 2 with a massive lead over his nearest competitor.

As Galic started strong, several of the shorter stacks busted right after the opening bell. Jason Mercier, last year’s champion of this event, moved the last of his stack into the middle with A-7 after an open-shove from the small blind. He found himself facing A-8, and when nothing out of the ordinary happened on the board, Mercier was done just moments into Day 2. Other early eliminations included Liam Flood, Marcel Luske, and the ebullient David Saab, who busted just before the dinner break. The early going also claimed Katja Thater and Isabelle Mercier, making the poker room just a little less lovely a place by their absence.
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Some survivors from Day 2 included Team PokerStars Pros Alex Kravchenko and Marcin Horecki, along with Bill Chen, who moved into a seat just beside Kravchenko just before the end of the day. Other notable survivors included Arnaud Mattern, Benjamin Kang and 1983 World Champion Tom McEvoy.

With so many players eliminated on Day 2, the story of the day was Dragan Galic. Coming into the day with the chip lead, Galic was a bulldozer all day long, flattening opponents as he built a huge lead going into Day 3. Just before a break, Galic sent three more unfortunate players to the rail. He got two opponents in one hand when his pocket kings held up on a queen-high flop against A-Q and A-8. Then Galic shoved all in with pocket nines and found himself racing against an opponent with K-Q. Not content to merely have his hand hold up, Galic gave up the lead in the hand when a king flopped, but then crushed his opponent’s dreams when the turn brought a nine to make his set.

Late in the day, Galic actually lost a hand when Emanuele Rugini doubled through him with {6-Diamonds}{10-Hearts} on a board of {5-Hearts}{Q-Hearts}{9-Hearts}{J-Diamonds}{K-Hearts}. Galic’s {A-Diamonds}{K-Diamonds} was no good to Rugini’s flush, and a small dent appeared in his mountain of chips. But things returned to normal on the next hand, when Rugini shoved again with A-K. Galic looked down at pocket aces, and Rugini was at risk again. The flop brought Rugini a gutshot Broadway draw, but no help came on the turn or river, and Galic claimed another victim, moving his stack over the half-million chip mark, well ahead of his nearest competitors. As the day drew to a close, the Croatian led all runners as the survivors numbered just a few off the money bubble.

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The city of Philadelphia has had enough time to get their two approved casinos up and running, that is according to several Senators. Now, the Pennsylvania state Senate is preparing to play hard ball with the city to get the casinos built.

A Senate Committee on Monday voted in favor of withholding up to $64 million a year in economic development money if the city does not stop the games and get casinos built. The Senate might also look to go after an additional $86 million in slot funded wage tax relief if the city does not pick up the pace in building the casinos.

“There is at least a perception of a lot of game playing and shenanigans to keep these casinos from getting up and running,” said Senator Jane Earll, the sponsor of the Bill that was passed in the Committee on Monday, “There will be consequences if Philadelphia doesn’t comply.”

In speaking of compliance, Earll was referring to the 2004 slots law that called for two casinos to be built in Philadelphia. Residents in Philadelphia have opposed the casinos, and they are making it difficult for the casino operators to receive the necessary permits to move along in building the casinos.

The owners of the SugarHouse Casino are attempting to get approval for a temporary location while the battle goes on about the permanent location. Foxwoods is seeking to change the location of their casino from a site along the river to a Center City building.

While the study done by Dr, Douglas Gentile, an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Iowa State University does not clearly connect video games with online gambling, the results of his work suggest video games may be more addictive for children.

In the study, Dr. Gentile found that almost ten percent of respondents for his study have pathological addictions to video games. Gentile claims this is the first study done on the subject that represents the entire country.

Many lawmakers are fighting these days against legalized online gambling. They point to children and claim that the gambling can be addictive and destructive to the youth of the US. This study has some, however, believing video games might be worse.

“There is no doubt with the advancements in video game technology that many children in the US could become addicted to these games,” said observer Neal Miller, “the difference between video games and online gambling, however, is that the online gambling can be controlled by regulation, the video games are freely available to these children.”

Gentile provides a grim picture that the video game playing is not simply an addiction, but is hurting the productivity of our youth. The word pathological is his term for what is happening to many of these children.

“What we mean by pathological use is that something someone is doing, in this case, playing video games, is damaging to their function,” said Gentile, “It’s simply not doing it a lot. It has to harm functioning in many ways.”

The breakdown of his study are stunning at a time when children in the US are falling behind international levels in school. The people who responded and played video games were more likely to have a problem focusing in school.

They also spend twenty four hours a week playing video games. That figure is twice the amount of time non-pathological children were playing the video games. Grades were down as well among the pathological players. The pathological players also stole to support their gaming habit.

“What this study indicates is that video game playing in the US is exactly what these lawmakers are trying to stop with online gambling,” said Miller, “These politicians maybe should look at this study and say, ‘Hey, maybe we are going after the wrong form of entertainment (online gambling’.”

In the public interest, of course….!

Clubs Australia has recommended in its submission to the Productivity Commission that more attention should be focused on the “ills of Internet gambling” now that problem gambling on the pokies has decreased, reports the Canberra Times.

The Commission is studying problem gambling in its examination of Australian gambling trends and areas of concern, and the Club move is being viewed by some observers as an attempt to head off possible demands for further pokie restrictions by anti-gambling politicians such as Senator Nick Xenophon. The Productivity Commission is expected to report back to government in November 2009.

The Clubs Australia argument is that the New South Wales G-line, (for problem gamblers), received 6 595 calls last year, compared with 11 774 in 2004, providing anecdotal evidence that the demand on counselling services is declining.

Average monthly spending on gambling is $300 a person on the Internet, compared with $59.82 on non-internet gambling, the movement claims, criticising calls to ban automatic teller machines in clubs, as Victoria will do by 2012, and arguing that 25 percent of the country’s ATMs are in pubs and clubs, and that $9 billion is withdrawn from them each year.

“People who gamble are not deluded,” the Clubs Australia submission reads. “They choose to do so in knowledge of their basic odds and are content to ‘budget’ a ’spend’ amount.”

Turning on Internet gambling, the submission goes on to claim that there has been much misinformation about the dangers of pokie machines when Internet gambling and mobile phone gambling are growth industries.

“For example, Australia does not have 21 percent of the world’s gaming machines [as has been reported] but only 2.5 per cent; state and territory governments are not addicted to gambling revenue and the majority of gaming machine revenue is not derived from problem gamblers,” the submission asserts.

NSW was ranked 12th in the world in online gambling jurisdictions, the submission says.

“Internet gambling fosters people staying at home gambling on their credit card in a totally unregulated environment, away from any watchful eye, and is in our view the most significant area for the future growth of problem gambling,” the submission argues. “Australians are now able to gamble on over 1 800 websites or wherever they can take a 3G mobile telephone,” it says.

“There is evidence that the incidence of gambling abuse in Australian land-based gaming venues has declined since the release of the 1999 report.

“The simple truth is that the vast majority of gamblers enjoy gambling as a form of entertainment, like any other. As with any form of consumption or pastime - food, alcohol, even shopping or exercise - there is, of course, such a thing as ‘too much’, but there is nothing inherently wrong with gambling as an activity or with the people who participate in it.

“This view of gambling is prevalent among anti-gambling campaigners driven by religious conviction and the firmly held belief that gambling is sinful.”

The acting chief executive of Clubs Australia, Anthony Ball, said: “The election of Nick Xenophon to the Senate created a platform for an array of exaggerated claims and half truths about problem gambling to be aired in the media.”

From a spinning roulette wheel to felt-covered blackjack tables and official chips and playing cards, an entertainment gambling lab at UW-Stout is designed to teach students about managing and operating a casino.

The lab, in the home economics building, is part of the hospitality and tourism department. The university offers a certificate program in gaming management and a minor in gaming entertainment management.

“This is all authentic,” Sharon Giroux, professor of hospitality and tourism and the gaming management adviser, said while standing in the lab as students dealt blackjack around the room.

“We’re not here to teach the students to gamble. They are going into management-level positions at casinos. They will be ready to go to work once they finish.”

The lab is decorated to mimic a real casino, with low lighting, mirrors and soft colors. It has seven gambling tables, two of which came from Treasure Island Resort and Casino outside Welch, Minn.

Students are taught the etiquette of operating the tables, including proper shuffling and how to place cards when dealing blackjack. Dealers never are supposed to turn their backs on players and must use proper techniques so cameras can see chip payouts.

“They learn the correct techniques so when they are supervisors they will know if something is wrong,” Giroux said.

Classes include management, casino operations, casino tourism, including the economics of how casinos have helped lift people out of poverty, and the psychological issues of gambling, including addiction.

The lab, which opened in fall 2007, is a response to a need for employees in the entertainment industry, Giroux said, noting most casinos are becoming resorts with golf courses and other recreational activities.

“Sixty percent of the money spent in casinos is on sports entertainment, foods, shows - anything but the casinos,” Giroux said. “It is entertainment, which fits into hospitality and tourism.”

With about 570 casinos across the country, there are opportunities for graduates to find work, she said.

The commercial gambling industry provides more then 350,000 jobs in the U.S., with wages and benefits totaling $11 billion. An estimated 400,000 additional jobs are supported by casino industry spending, according to americangaming.org.

Taylor Kwas, a 20-year-old junior business administration major from Menasha, is minoring in gaming entertainment management.

“I had never visited a casino, and my freshman year I went to Treasure Island Casino with a friend. It was one of the coolest experiences,” Kwas said, noting he loved the lights and watching people enjoy themselves. “The atmosphere is something I want to work in.”

Being in the lab prepares him to work at a casino, he said. “The tinted glass gives us the feel, and it’s a real table we are practicing at.”

Giroux requires students to dress in white shirts and leave soda and backpacks outside the lab, just as if they were working there. They must count their tills before starting and count out when they end.

“It is real-world knowledge that we are taught - how to work and act at a casino,” Kwas said.

Recently Kwas dealt blackjack to several other students in the class. “Way to start,” he said as he laid down an ace.

“I see a 20, another 20 and a 14,” he added, as he announced the number in each player’s hand and laid down another card.

Announcing the cards is part of the etiquette students learn.

Students also have to keep track of their tips and the payouts in the till at their table.

At another table students were learning to play craps. They were told about the rules of the payout and what each roll of the dice meant.

Carey Cappuccio, 20, a junior hospitality and tourism major from La Crosse who is minoring in gaming entertainment management, said she went to Las Vegas a couple of years ago and enjoyed it.

“There are not a lot of women in gaming management, so I thought there would be more opportunities for work,” she said. “I am learning a lot. I had never played roulette before. I’d like to work in Vegas, and I hope this will make me ready for that.”

UW-Stout is just starting surveys of casino employers to see if there is support and a need for a four-year degree in gaming entertainment management. Such a degree is not offered now in the state.

The degree would mix with event and convention planning as well as golf management, another major at Stout, Giroux said.