Euro Millions jackpot reaches record

UNITED KINGDOM, Winning the lottery may not be a guarantee but nobody knows until they actually play. The premiere jackpot took place on Friday 13th February, 1994. This was for the amount of 15 million Euros.
The highest amount was over €115,000,000. It was presented by Camelot in the United Kingdom, Francaise des Jeux in France and the Loterias y Apuestas des Estad in Spain.
Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Austria, Belgium, France, and the United Kingdom are the 9 countries involved in Euro Millions. Euro Millions is currently one of the largest lotteries ever.
Euro Millions hints European lottery is scheduled for every Friday evening. Now, the national lottery is not limited to residents of a country. It is possible to play it online, from every country in the world, and receive the prizes by regular mail. When other countries are involved this automatically makes the prizes much larger than in the national lotteries.
This is how the process works: Some weeks there are several winners offered by Euro Millions and other weeks the monies are rolled over and no jackpot winner is selected. This can result in winnings higher than normal. Many lottery players look forward to roll-overs because they could possibly be the winner.
Euro Millions is a weekly lottery which combines the stakes of 9 European countries - France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Austria, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom and Switzerland. By combining stakes, the jackpot is usually worth at least 15 million Euros.
There are thousands of people who look forward to playing the lottery in hopes to win. Even when they loose, most lottery players look forward to their next play. Unlike most games, the lottery is definitely not a fad and will more than likely be around for many years to come.

Arrest, bill won't deter online gambling

The recent arrest of a high-profile online gambling executive and a federal bill outlawing virtual wagers are generating headlines but will do little to curb the multibillion-dollar industry, gaming experts say.
Former BetOnSports.com CEO David Carruthers is scheduled to appear in a St. Louis federal court Monday. He and his company are charged with mail and wire fraud and money laundering. His arrest in Dallas last month initially drove down shares of offshore operations such as PartyGaming and Sportingbet. It follows an indictment of another gambling executive and an anti-online gambling bill in Congress. Gaming experts say it does not signal a crackdown, as more sites emerge for poker players and sports fans, and online gambling stocks creep back up.

"One down, another 2,299 (gaming) sites to go," says Joseph Kelly, an online gaming expert who is a professor at SUNY College Buffalo.

BetOnSports, which was delisted from the London Stock Exchange, has fired Carruthers and vowed to press on outside the USA.
The Wire Act of 1961 makes it illegal to bet online. But the law is nearly impossible to enforce, and nearly 80 countries allow wagers online. The $12 billion industry is expected to soar to $24.5 billion by 2010, says researcher Christiansen Capital Advisors.
Because BetOnSports is a regulated UK firm, the U.S. government can do little, says Ken Dreifach, an Internet lawyer who once worked for New York state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

The Justice Department is "as vigilant as ever," spokeswoman Jackie Lesch says.

Yet arrests are rare. The only person convicted on federal charges of running an illegal offshore Internet gambling operation was Jay Cohen of World Sports Exchange. He served more than a year in a federal prison. The company is still in business. William Scott, operator of Worldwide Telesports, was indicted on money-laundering charges in May but has not been caught. Carruthers became a target for several reasons. BetOnSports advertised on billboards in the USA — a violation of federal law. He often traveled in the USA. And his former employer took bets on an 800-number from Americans, say Dreifach and Kelly. The outspoken Carruthers is out on bail — $1 million in cash — and living in St. Louis, says his lawyer, Scott Rosenblum.
When government officials pursue cases, it is invariably against sports sites. Sports bets are specifically barred by the 1961 law. The only American convicted of gambling online, Jeffrey Trauman, of North Dakota, paid a $500 fine.
Still, some gambling experts, such as Michael Tew, a principal at consultant CapitalHQ, say Carruthers' arrest underscores a systematic U.S. crackdown. The House recently passed a bill that would restrict the ability of U.S. financial institutions to process wagers.

Americans Want Online Gambling Legalized

CNBC has released the results of a poll that should send a strong message to the U.S. Senate as it considers the online gambling Goodlatte bill. The CNBC poll asked this question: Should all online gambling be legalized in the United States? (2,532 votes) showed a very conclusive result: Yes - 91 percent, No - 9 percent
The CNBC poll is the latest in a series of online gambling polls that have sent a strong very message to legislators that the American public wants the online casino industry regulated instead of prohibited. The Wall Street Journal conducted a big poll earlier this year with similar results where 85% said they dont want a ban.
Some industry trade groups and other critics say the House bill, which passed 317-93 in March, is hypocritical and very unfair because of exemptions for horse racing and state-operated lotteries. "It is senseless that these legislators and their staffs are wasting Congress' time trying to develop prohibitory bills that satisfy various vested interest groups," said Keith Furlong, deputy director of the Internet Gaming Council, a trade association for the online gaming industry, which opposes the legislation.
The proposed Goodlatte's and Senator Jon Kyl bill to the Senate the online gambling anti-internet gaming (bill H.R. 4411), leaves out horse racing, and lotteries so the H.R. 4411 will that way be supporting online horse racing, and lotteries - so it would be okay to gamble online on horse racing but online poker will get banned - what an insane bill!
If these politicians really cared about gambling addictions and about minors gambling online, they would work on ways to regulate this form of gambling, just as real world gambling is regulated," Furlong said.
More and more countries are opening up to controlled regulated online gambling.YES OVER 80 countries worldwide including the UK, are right now starting to legalized and regulated online gambling and online poker gambling.

Schwarzenegger, Palm Springs tribe reach casino deal

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and one of the state's richest Indian tribes are expected to announce a deal Tuesday that would send nearly $2 billion in casino earnings over the next two decades to the state's general fund, much the way taxes are collected on other industries. In exchange for giving up a previous deal that did not require the tribe to feed California's coffers, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians would be allowed to increase from 2,000 to 5,000 the number of slot machines it operates, as well as open a third Palm Springs-area casino. The tribe would pay the state 15 percent of its net earnings from the new machines and an increased share of revenue from its existing slots, said the Agua Caliente's press secretary, Nancy Conrad.
"This is a deal that the tribe is very happy with, that all sides will be very happy with," she said. "Look at how much is paid out in business tax by others — it's about 8.3 percent. This is well above that. The tribe is paying more than its fair share."
A deal with the Agua Caliente tribe could allow Schwarzenegger to pacify another deep-pocketed political enemy in advance of his November re-election bid. The tribe spent nearly $14 million two years ago supporting a proposition that Schwarzenegger opposed — a ballot initiative that would have allowed unlimited gambling for the next century on the tribe's land. Schwarzenegger has maintained since his campaign during the 2003 recall election that the state's tribes should pay their "fair share" in taxes. In recent months, Schwarzenegger has struck deals with the state teachers union and others who opposed his special-election efforts last year. The framework of the Agua Caliente compact likely represents the best deal both sides could have hoped for, said I. Nelson Rose, a law professor at Whittier College of Law and a nationally recognized expert on gambling.
"The tribes didn't have to negotiate; their compacts were rock solid," Rose said, referring to compacts the state's tribes signed with former Gov. Gray Davis.
Those agreements allowed each one to have up to 2,000 slots and only required them to pay a small amount to two state funds — one to help cover local costs such as law enforcement around the casinos and the other to support tribes that did not have casinos. Under the re-negotiated compact, Agua Caliente will continue to pay into the fund to help other tribes but will not pay into the fund for local governments. The tribe will be responsible for negotiating directly with neighboring communities to offset the cost of needed police patrols, traffic improvements and other infrastructure projects.
"Schwarzenegger probably got the best deal he could unless he was going to stand tough and tell them they weren't going to get anything," Rose said.
The incentive for the Agua Caliente tribe was the opportunity to install more slot machines. An administration official who asked not to be identified because the compact had not yet been signed said the Agua Caliente compact would last until 2030 and bring in as much as $1.8 billion to the state. Annually, the tribe would be required to increase its payments to the state from $11.9 million to $23.4 million on its existing 2,000 slots. The tribe also would pay the state 15 percent of net earnings, or up to $58.5 million, annually from the new slots. Combined, the yearly payments to the state's general fund could total $81.9 million.
The official said the deal also could make it harder for casino workers to unionize. In general, the administration official said the deal achieved the governor's three goals: maximizing the monetary benefit to the state; ensuring protections to local governments, including environmental concerns regarding new casino construction; and giving workers more protections, including in workers compensation claims. If signed, the deal would have to be approved by a majority in the state Legislature, which has held up the past four compacts Schwarzenegger's office has negotiated. At least one of those could be passed before the end of the legislative session later this month. Rose said that if the Legislature agrees, the new compact could prompt other tribes seeking expansion of casinos in urban areas to re-negotiate with the state. Smaller tribes that couldn't support larger casinos probably would opt to continue operating under the deals signed with Davis, he said. Despite the new profits for the state, Rose noted the tribes still make out better in California than almost anywhere else. In Connecticut, for example, two large casinos pay almost $400 million annually to the state.
"It would be spread out over three casinos, but 5,000 slots would dwarf the largest Las Vegas casino. MGM Grand has about 3,000," Rose said. "The tribe's got to feel good."

eCOGRA Reaches 100 Casino Milestone

Online gaming body eCOGRA (eCommerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance) has announced it has successfully accredited over 100 online casinos. The online standards and player protection body set itself the target back in May this year when 76 sites were accredited, and had hoped to reach 100 by December. However, in just over three months it has already surpassed the target, awarding its seal of approval to 107 online casinos and poker rooms.
Andrew Beveridge, CEO of eCOGRA, said of the news: "Not only is this a major milestone for eCOGRA, these 107 seals signify a major change in the industry in which players are consistently seeking out the 'Play It Safe' seal, and there is a real desire and ability for the industry to self-regulate."
"To all online operators, if you're ready to meet the 21st century challenges facing the industry, we invite you to commit to our standards and join the ranks of some of the most successful online gambling sites in the world," he added.
To be awarded the seal of approval a gambling site is repeatedly checked by a prominent accounting firm to ensure responsible behaviour by the site's operator. In the event of a problem at an approved site, eCOGRA will work to resolve any problem on the customer's behalf, free of charge.

Attack of the Casino Bots

Once upon a time people played casino games aboard steam ships and in elegant poker saloons. But all that is in the past. In 2006 the majority of gambling enthusiasts find everything they need at their favorite online casinos. The technology behind the internet is integral to the story of the online casino which is only about 10 years old. But not only has the casino gone digital, it seems that the player is also starting to lose his human edge.
The release of poker bots, essentially software that is designed to play on behalf of a real live player, is no longer a thing of the past and some of the online casino operators are taking it seriously. It may seem like a strange concept, virtual players playing at virtual casinos, but in 2006 it has become our reality.
Not only did the online casino replace the land based casino as the most popular place to gamble for many enthusiasts, but the human player is slowly being replaced by the computerized player. A new software casino bot is designed to win games for you without you having to make any important decisions. By applying mathematical strategy, the bot is supposed to come up with the best possible play given all the options and choices while playing poker at an online casino.
The question is not necessarily whether the online casino bots will do a better job than a real player but rather to what end? If you play at the online casinos for fun then surely setting one software in motion to go up against another type of software and then going out for a 2 hour stroll in the park is not exactly what most would classify as high speed gambling fun. So if you want to let the computer do all the work, then check out casino bots.

Look Out! Sticky Bonus!!!

Often seen at Internet casinos a Sticky Bonus is a bonus which may never be cashed out. It is called a sticky bonus because it always sticks to the player until lost gambling. A good strategy to get rid of a sticky bonus is to withdraw all cashable money in the account, leaving on the sticky bonus. Then gamble with the sticky bonus with the goal of either doubling your balance or go bust trying. If you double then cash out the winnings and play the sticky bonus again. Keep repeating until you lose. The value of a sticky bonus is almost 100% of face value, just deduct two times the house edge of the game you are playing.

Online Casino Players Enjoy Christmas Rush

The busiest time of the year is here and fans of the online casinos are taking full advantage of some of the great offers and bonus promotions being given out this holiday season. Christmas is a time when people spend and stores put their merchandise on sale -the online casino is no exception to this rule. Many of the top online casino operators are featuring limited time offer bonus giveaways as well as special games that are only available once a year and online for a short period of time. This holiday season be sure to check out your favorite online casino to see what offers and seasonal games are being offered to the players.

This time of year is always a favorite for online casino players. That´s because there is a lot to offer and a lot to take into account. For starters many of the top online casinos offer the player special bonus promotions that are only available for a short period of time during the holidays. Also, in addition to big jackpots and money giveaways, online casino operators are also awarding vacations and other big prizes to contestants. Look for gambling raffles and frequent player points from some of the best online casinos on the web.

Make sure to cash in on these great prize giveaways from the online casino before they are gone. If it´s fun casino games with a Christmas twist, you´ll find many like Santa´s Slots and others that are only around for a short period of time and then they are gone until next holiday season. Check Online Casino Reports to learn more about where you can find the best online casino bonus this holiday.