In line with a video report on Sportsbookreview, the Russian punter claimed a withdrawal of $3.5 million in February. Over the past five months he has got $600,000, but the process pay-outs could take about two years due to limitations stated for financial transactions. A delegate from Betfair reported that sound laws restrict transactions not more than $20,000 US a week. In concordance with this term their online casino has been paying $10 – $20,000 each week through bank wire. They are also trying to transfer greater enlargements in the near future. Besides of it they give him cash. Sports Book Review corroborated that the dissatisfaction is reasonable in general, but Beftair answered that it has paid the prize to a payment processor, whose identity was withheld.

The whole video message concerning this discontent could be seen. No subsequent commentaries from Betfair were received regarding this problem. The online casino itself and its payment processor also have not responded to demands to find a wise decision to this punter’s occasion.

There are a couple of tips the player should know before he picks a strategy to follow. Let’s start with the obvious; the regular 52 card deck has 16 cards with a ten point value. That’s closely 30% of all the deck. Blackjack, in casinos, is played with 8 of those 52 card decks, which means that the probability to obtain a ten card is higher. As a matter of fact, there are 128 cards with a ten value inside the 8 decks. If you compare these cards to the rest, you’ll see it’s not much. Now, if we also add the 8’s and 9’s there’s approximately 46% of getting a card with high value. The better you can do is to check the hand you got, and after that think about the dealer’s hand. Probably the dealer will have at least one card valued eight, nine or ten, pretty much. Then, look at the card facing up. If that card has a value of ten, the chances that the second card has a value of nine or eight are pretty good. If you are using a strategy, you cannot discard the probability that the up card might be a six. In that case, there’s a 50% probability of the dealer having a combination of 14, 15 or 16 points. It is very important when playing blackjack to have a plan b depending on the dealer’s next card.

Okay, so, what to do if you got a 13. What will be the right call? A ten value card busts you. If the dealer’s facing up card is a six, the probabilities he’ll bust are approached to 42%. If the rules of the casino you are playing in, allow standing if you’ve got less than 16, then stand. Some casinos force you to hit if you have 15 or less. The dealer might bust if you don’t have to hit.

Many people have tried to predict the possibility of a card coming out next, and also many of them created card counting strategies. Indeed, math can help to win, and that’s because the edge is taken down to 1% if you play with a math strategy. If you look lower you can see a box based on a multiple deck game, that box might help you decide hitting or standing in different situations. In other articles you’ll be able to find other strategies for doubling or splitting your bet.

Online poker players can now get the qualify for Europe’s largest poker tournament every day at 20:15 BST for just EUR22 with a host of feeder satellites for these daily freezeout tournaments available from EUR3.30.
Additionally all Boylepoker.com IPO online qualifiers before the 20th of September will be eligible to play in an exclusive freeroll which will play down to a final table of eight online. The game will be stopped for some time and after that the final table will resume with chips stacks the same as when play was suspended at the Regency Hotel that is situated in Dublin on October 15, 2010 at 8 pm

Player winning the first place will receive from the organizers of the tournament $ 5,000 sponsorship package in remuneration for the victory and the runner up will receive a Boylepoker.com IPO in 2011 ticket. All finalists of the tournament will receive free accommodation in the hotel on the 15th of October.

The EUR180 EUR20 buy-in IPO is a no-limit hold’emfreezeout which will be held from October 15 to 17, 2010 at the Regency Hotel, Dublin. It will have an estimated prize pool of EUR250, 000 including EUR20, 000 added by Boylepoker.

The registration is quite easy. Please download the Boylepoker.com software, then you should open the Poker Lobby, go to ‘Boylepoker Exclusives’ and choose your preferred start date.

Players must register as early as possible to escape disappointment as last year’s event sold out long before. At that time 1,440 runners from 18 different countries were involved in the competition and it has been won by German Markus Sippe. He took home prize of $ 62,250 for topping the field.

The River Belle Group’s Jackpot City Casino, which is powered by Microgaming and boasting eCOGRA’s “Safe and Fair” Seal of Approval, recently announced they are giving away fifteen free Euros to all French players, just for signing up. Of course, just like any no-deposit bonus, there are terms and conditions governing the withdrawal of such free money. Yet, along with Jackpot City’s host of other promotions, the offer should be tempting.

Some French players are planning to hold out longer, for the French-only bonuses and promotions are expected to get even better as more online casinos come round to the French market and stake a share at the prodigious amount of traffic generated from the nation who lives passionately and invented the phrase C’est la vie (say la vee), That’s Life.

Another reason why some players are holding out – that is, opening new accounts on top of existing accounts, is because of a clause in the gambling legislation amendment that says once the new internet gambling laws go into effect, all online casinos with French players will be required to close their accounts and be given the opportunity to re-register, but without any added incentives.

The idea is to “spread the wealth” so to speak, although many analysts think it is a measure more designed to protect and ensure the future of the French gambling monopoly’s, Francaise des Jeux and Par Mutuel, who you can rest assured will be offering incentives since they will be one of the new players in the French market. If you hadn’t heard already, a recent ECJ ruling gives betting monopolies the right to offer services online if the government deems it to be in the best interests of its citizens. The new legislation is scheduled to go into effect in 2010.

A MGC investigator testified that he caught six underage players entering the Ameristar Kansas City casino after a security guard allowed them onto the gaming floor. The commission reported that part of the problem comes from a recent referendum that passed a vote in November that repealed the US$500 per day loss limit. The same proposition also repealed the requirement that new customers must sign up for a casino identification card.

MGC Chairman James Matthewson said that the state’s casinos should implement uniform procedures for verifying a player’s identification. Currently, each casino has different processes for checking a player’s age and eligibility to play. MGC Executive Director Gene McNary said that, since the casinos wanted the referendum passed, they should shoulder the responsibility of insuring that underage players do not step on the casino floor.

Michael Winter, executive director of the state’s casino association, said that the underage offenders in Kansas City were quickly caught by on-site security and escorted off the premises. He also said that, of the nineteen million players who have visited Missouri casinos since the passage of the referendum, less than forty players have been cited for being underage.

In the case of each fine, the commission stiffened the penalty over what investigators recommended. With the violations at Pinnacle’s Lumiere Place, investigators recommended a fine of US$25,000, but commissioners increased the severity to US$60,000. In the case of Ameristar Kansas City’s violations, the staff recommended a fine of US$10,000, but the commission upped it to $US25,000.

A spokesman for the Ameristar group stated that the fines were “excessive” and that “mistakes happen”. He also said that the security guard who failed to verify the underage player’s identification was summarily fired

Mr. Shorr also saw some of the signs of addiction in himself when he first started playing as a college freshman. He would spend almost forty hours a week playing online poker and lost thousands of dollars before he backed off, studied the game, and went on to his current successful run. He understands how college students, with lots of pressure and little money, can be lured into such compulsive behavior.

With the growth in land-based casinos, state lotteries, and online gaming, many students are tempted by the idea of ignoring the schoolbooks in favor of quick cash at the blackjack table, the online slot machine or the local bookie. A new task force formed by the National Center for Responsible Gaming has compiled a list of recommendations for college officials to stem the rising tide of illicit gambling on their campuses.

The Task Force on College Gambling Policies was formed last year in cooperation with the Cambridge Health Alliance, a department of the world-famous Harvard Medical School. According to one report, up to half of American university students have placed a bet and more than ten percent show signs of compulsive gambling. Moreover, unlike drug and alcohol addictions, schools are not providing adequate support to students who are gambling addicts.

Another reason that students with gambling addictions do not get the help they need is that compulsive gambling often does not carry many of the physical scars that frequently accompany drug and alcohol abuse. A major effort of this new task force is to help addicts and their peers recognize the signs of a gambling addiction. An aggressive program is already underway in Missouri to educate students about such dangers

Sea The Stars’ 2009 season began six months ago with an April victory at the 2000 Guineas Stakes. Every month since has seen Sea The Stars take another major race: the Epsom Derby, the Eclipse Stakes, the International Stakes, the Irish Champion Stakes, and most recently the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. He is the first horse in 20 years to win the first three titles, and the only horse ever that has won all six.

Traditionally, the next step for a colt of this caliber would be the breeding shed, but Sea The Stars’ trainer, John Oxx, has hinted that there may be one more race in his horse. The entry deadline for the $5 million Breeders Cup Classic is only two weeks away, but Oxx hasn’t ruled it out. Americans may still see a legend hit their turf in 2009.

On the world gambling scene, Macao is now claiming the lion’s share of Asian and European gambling tourists. In the U.S., aggressive gambling expansion in a number of states has made traveling to Las Vegas less appealing when players can visit local casinos for a fraction of the cost and effort, and online gambling is the new venue of choice for poker players.

The steep decline in gambling profits has also meant a steep decline in the city’s employment rates, which has meant the end of the city’s rapid residential growth. It’s a double whammy for the city’s casinos who are now losing both their tourist customers and their loyal locals. Though the Las Vegas Strip has long been characterized by change, a recent article by the Wall Street Journal revealed that most of the city’s largest operators have no plans to expand within the next decade. Once the MGM Mirage’s City Center project is completed this winter, it could be the last new addition to the Vegas skyline for a long time to come.

While casino operators with international holdings are now redirecting their money to the growing Asian market, domestic operators are simplifying in hopes of paying down existing debts. The city hasn’t given up on itself yet, though. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority has already revealed plans to attract and develop newer and bigger events in lieu of newer and bigger buildings.

Revenue from the gambling halls in September fell by 5.8 percent compared with a year ago, but that was far better than the more than 16 percent drop recorded in August. The casinos took in $335.4 million last month, and four casinos actually saw revenues increase.

The gambling halls won $231.8 million at the slot machines, down 5.2 percent from a year ago, and $103.5 million at table games, down 6.9 percent.

“I hope we’re seeing signs that things are starting to stabilize,” said Mark Juliano, CEO of Trump Entertainment Resorts, which owns three casinos here. “Perhaps the double-digit (declines) might be behind us. The real question is how long until we get back to the results we saw in past years, which is the question everyone in every business has.”

Don Marrandino, eastern division president of Harrah’s Entertainment Inc., said the while the results were helped by a Labor Day weekend that fell entirely within September this year as opposed to last year, it still felt better to see a smaller decline.
“You look for the silver lining,” he said. “My gut is it’s way too early to say. The game’s not over yet, that’s for sure.”

The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa returned to its customary place as the industry leader in September, posting a 6 percent increase. Other gainers included Resorts Atlantic City (up 3.9 percent); Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City (up 3.1 percent); and the Tropicana Casino and Resort (up 1 percent.)

Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino posted the biggest decline in September, down 16.5 percent, followed closely by the Atlantic City Hilton Casino resort (down 16.3 percent). Trump Marina Hotel casino was down 14.2 percent, the Showboat Casino Hotel was down 13.6 percent, Bally’s Atlantic City was down 13.3 percent, the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort was down 12.4 percent, and Caesars Atlantic City was down 6.3 percent.

For the first nine months of the year, Atlantic City’s casino revenues are down 14.2 percent.

Atlantic City is in its third straight year of revenue declines that started when slots parlors started opening in Pennsylvania in 2006.

“It’s an adrenaline rush,” said the 19-year-old sophomore at Northwestern University, who risks hundreds of dollars a month.

Steve isn’t alone. Recent research shows gambling is becoming a college pastime for young men — a trend fueled by high-stakes televised poker matches, more casinos nationwide and easy wagering opportunities on the Internet.

One in four college men gamble on sports on a monthly basis, while more than one in two take part in any form of gambling — including card-playing or going to casinos — according to surveys by Don Romer, who has researched high school and college gambling rates for the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

“Gambling among college students has proliferated over the last 20 years,” he said.

In fact, problem gambling has become such a concern that the national Task Force on College Gambling Policies last month issued a report saying universities should campaign against it to the same degree they fight drug and alcohol use. Only 22 percent of colleges have written gambling policies, the task force said, and very few have outreach programs.

The prevalence but lack of discussion about the issue has led some experts to call gambling a “silent addiction” that hits college students disproportionately.

Nationally, Romer’s surveys found most gambling among college students peaked in 2005 and has since leveled off. But problem gambling went from 6.1 percent of students in 2007 to 7.8 percent last year.

At three schools in the Midwest, one researcher found, college students and athletes are three times more likely than adults in the general population to become problem gamblers.

“College students — particularly college athletes — are among the most vulnerable groups to develop gambling problems or pathology,” said Cindy Kerber, an assistant nursing professor at Illinois State University.

Nearly 15 percent of 636 college athletes Kerber surveyed — including one in five males but only one in 20 females — are problem or pathological gamblers.

About a third of the athletes had never gambled more than $100 in one day, but 16 had bet more than $1,000 in one day.

The debts can get even higher, thanks to the ease of the Internet and proliferation of credit cards among college students, said Scott Damiani, executive director of the Outreach Foundation for Problem and Compulsive Gamblers in Downers Grove.

He recently counseled a local parent whose son — a sophomore at an Illinois public university — racked up $30,000 in gambling debts on a credit card.

Damiani agrees colleges should do more outreach on the problem. A former addict himself, he has lectured on the potential downside of betting at the College of DuPage, Aurora University and Northern Illinois University, among other schools.

But while many schools require athletes to attend sessions on gambling, even the state’s biggest schools don’t run prevention programs for the general student body.

Schools said they would like to ramp up their efforts but don’t have the resources.

“Colleges would like to address [gambling] more,” said Eric Davidson, associate director of the Eastern Illinois University Health Service. “However, with the current economic concerns that many institutions are experiencing … addressing it in a fashion that would meet the approval of many is a challenge.”