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Alright. We report that the person behind the Bodog empire, Calvin Ayre is quitting. Then we raise the possibility, on our Weekly Edition that this might be the end of Bodog altogether. But from reading the news across the web, including such announcements that read "Bodog Casino Rocks!" you would wonder whether we know what we are talking about. Well, talk on message boards is definitely alive, and the APCW seem to be as convinced as we are, namely that not all is kosher behind Bodog's latest moves. It will be nice if we see an official announcement from Bodog that would explain the situation, clarify the rumors and the uncertainty as they do. In the meantime, the only thing we stand behind is the question mark in the title. Is business as usual at Casino Bodog?
Macau casino mogul, Stanley Ho, at age 86 is watching the gambling wave unfurling on his home ground and he doesn't like it. For years he has been the king of the "Monte Carlo of the Orient," happily operating the Lisboa Casino. He built the 12-storey hotel in 1970 with partners. They added rooms in 1991 and again in 2006. The company opened its all-new Grand Lisboa, an egg-shaped casino and a hotel tower resembling a golden lotus, across the street from the old Lisboa in February 2007. Competition mounds But Stanley Ho has his finger on the pulse and is warily watching the competition and has decided that his best defense is to go on the offensive. Last month, Ho announced that he plans to spend HK$12 billion ($1.54 billion US) building a new complex. Building a successor to the old Lisboa is Mr. Ho's biggest gamble. Proposals from architectural firms are due in September. Demolitions are set for next year, and the new-generation Lisboa will open in 2012. It's not all desperate news for SJM and Ho. SJM already owns 19 of Macau's 29 casinos and gets 29% of the market's gambling revenues. His biggest competitor is Sheldon Adelson's Las Vegas Sands, which owns 2 casinos, is close behind with 21%, and gaining. Someone change the rules? Mr. Ho has been uncontested casino king of Macau for 40 years and has amassed billions of dollars in profit from the gambling tables he controls in the Chinese enclave. According to Forbes magazine, Mr. Ho, an accomplished ballroom dancer, is the wealthiest person in Macau and one of the wealthiest in Asia. He tied for 104th rank among the world's richest people in 2007, with an estimated net worth of $7 billion. Macau's favorite son The income generated by Ho's businesses constitutes about one-third of the gross domestic product of Macau. The taxes on them brought in about 30% of the Macau government's revenue in 2003 and they are the largest employer in Macau, with more than ten thousand employees. Ho's personal life is as colorful as his business life. Ho has publicly acknowledged that he has four wives who gave birth to 17 children. Some of them are famous in their own right. His grandchildren are considered socialites by the media and are a favorite subject of local social columns.
Well, the numbers are in, and it's official: 2007 was the biggest year on record for Indian casinos. Tribal gambling revenues hit $26 billion (yes, that's billion), which was a 5% increase from the year before. And they did it despite the economy's general weakness. National perspective Indian casinos operate in 28 states; 225 tribes operate more than 400 tribal gambling venues; the state of Oklahoma has the largest portion of this pie, with over 100 gambling establishments and 20% growth in 2007. Nationwide, Indian casinos have become major players in their local economies, providing much needed jobs and tax revenue on the reservations. The tribes have succeeded by exploiting both a niche and a loophole. The niche, of course, is the gambling industry. When the first tribal casino opened, in 1979, most states (except for Nevada and New Jersey) had bans on casino gambling. The tribal governments could see the profits being made in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, however, and knew that casinos could help break the long-standing poverty of the reservations. They wanted that niche. They got it through a loophole. The American Indian reservations were formed by treaties, between the various tribes and the federal government, during the 19th and early 20th Centuries. Due to the formality of the treaty process, the tribal authorities have always been, technically, sovereign entities, and not fully bound by state or federal laws. This meant that, even though most states had banned gambling at the time, it was still legal to gamble on the reservations. Taking advantage of this, many tribes started opening casinos and casino-resorts during the 1980s. Indian Gaming Regulatory Act In 1987, the US Supreme Court upheld the tribes' theory behind the casinos' legality, and in 1988, the US Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act which permitted federally recognized tribes to operate and regulate the tribal gambling venues on their reservations. The Act also defined the limits of tribes' regulation authority, and their relation to the individual states. Bigger and bigger In the two decades since the IGRA went into effect, Indian casinos have taken off. Indian gambling revenues grew from $200 million in 1988, to $11 billion in 2000, to last year's record profit of $26 billion. The tribal gambling establishments have developed sophisticated marketing efforts, and worked hard to make their casinos into first-class destinations, with hotels, restaurants, spas, and big-name entertainers to augment the gambling operations and attract more visitors. The numbers show that their effort has been successful.
Every Olympics, a champion fulfills our predictions and rises to greatness. Two athletes became legends at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Olympic greats American swimmer Michael Phelps began the Olympics a 2/1 chance at Ladbrokes to break compatriot and fellow swimmer Mark Spitz's longstanding record of seven golds at one Games. Phelps reached the mark by a fingertip - the one hundredth of a second that separated himself and Serbian Milorad Cavic in the 100m butterfly - giving Phelps his seventh gold medal of the Games. He then entered the record books when he and his teammates won the 4 x 100m medley relay. Usain Bolt also fulfilled the predictions made about him before the Olympics, but with a surprise - nobody really expected him to break world records in the process. Bolt won the 100m sprint with ease in a record time of 9.69 seconds after going in an 11/8 favorite. Such was his dominance that he entered the 200m final as 1/100 favorite, but again nobody quite expected him to break Michael Johnson's 12-year-old world record in the process, in a time of 19.3 seconds. Bolt and his teammates then broke another world record in the 4 x 100m relay. Biggest surprises From an odds perspective, nobody surprised more than Tia Hellebaut in the women's high jump. The Belgian entered the final at odds of between 25/1 and 40/1 with most bookmakers, well behind the odds-on favorite and world champion Blanka Vlasic of Croatia. Hellebaut surprisingly matched Vlasic to 2.05 meters, winning the gold on count back. The expected continuation of the rivalry of easily the world's two best tennis players - Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal - didn't eventuate, as Federer crashed out in a shock quarter-final loss to American James Blake. Spaniard Nadal, second-favorite for the tournament, defeated Chilean Fernando Gonzalez to win the gold. Medal tally There were no surprises at the top of the medal tally, with the USA winning more medals (110) than China (100), as expected, but China winning the overall battle by virtue of winning more golds, also as predicted. China was odds-on favorite from the beginning of the Olympics to replace the USA at the head of the medal standings. The biggest surprise of the 2008 Olympics was the sporting resurgence of the United Kingdom, finishing fourth - just behind Russia - with 19 gold medals and 47 overall. On the back of a host of cycling, sailing and rowing golds, the British overtook their more highly-fancied rivals Germany, Australia, South Korea and Japan to leap from 10th in the medal tally at Athens 2004, and set themselves up for a shot at the top three on home soil in London in 2012.
An independent study sponsored by PayPoint.net and executed by Dynamic Markets has shown figures that point to many online gamblers worrying about their safety and security online. General concerns 2,000 UK adults were interviewed over the phone; out of that number, only 945 were found to be relevant to the studies objective for online gambling. The survey was held in June, 2008. 81% of gamblers worry about the security risks they are taking by gambling online, while 61% worry about what to do if a problem occurs while playing, either legally or illegally. Facts and answers To help you on this end, we here at Online Casino Reports have a handy chart that breaks down country by country, just where exactly the legalities lay. Also, check out the Responsible Gambling section to take care of yourself before anything goes over your head - remember: sharing is caring. Secure transactions Many players (41%) worry about how payments are taken and winnings are rewarded to them, which prompts many companies to step up their game in reassuring players their personal and especially their banking information is secure. Larger companies have an inherent trust built in already, which means smaller startup companies have a long uphill road to travel to build that same clientele trust their competition has. More resources Playing with a reputable website is the first step and checking out the reviews by players just like you, as well as professionals, should be number one on your list of things to do. Check out our online casinos directory where we did all the work for you. When you decide which casino is right for you, a direct link will take you there. It's a jungle out there... Concerned players such as those UK players surveyed are advised to look us up. We test the waters before you ever have to.
Recent political polls have shown high public interest in regulating and taxing online gambling, in order to legalize online gambling in the States. However, that pesky UIGEA bill refuses to lay down to sleep like a good child. Grassroots movements have begun in full steam with Republican voters. Their ideology is that if more people let those who represent them know this is a major issue to be contended with in the upcoming election, these representatives may just garner the votes necessary to remain or be elected into office. US-based Poker Players Alliance (PPA) are encouraging members to write posts on the Republican Party's Platform online website, letting them know that loyal Republicans are very upset with the current situation. Flooding the representatives has worked before with various political agendas and the citizen's voices are loud and clear. Get the numbers straight In 2004, the Republican Party stated unfounded results regarding the number of problem gamblers in the US and supported the rejection of online gambling. The PPA hopes that by writing in their actual beliefs and correct numbers, this type of support and thinking will be eradicated when November's elections roll around. For a political party that traditionally thinks governmental power should be limited and totes the individual's rights, what are they so dead set against online gambling?
It's official - Joe Biden is Barack Obama's choice to be the Democratic vice-presidential candidate in the 2008 US Presidential Election. So what would a Democrat administration mean for the future of online gambling in the United States of America, now that Biden is on board? Biden's record Delaware Senator Joe Biden hasn't made many statements on online gambling during his 35 years as a legislator. A search of his voting record and of gambling-advocate websites does not show a man rushing to legalize online gambling. But the little evidence there is would warm the hearts of pro-gambling advocates. Biden's voting record shows that he was one of just 10 senators to vote against a 1998 Internet gambling amendment that set higher penalties for knowingly gambling over the Internet and for knowingly creating an Internet gambling business. More recently, Biden approved the Security and Accountability for Every Port Act of 2006, which included the controversial Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which effectively banned Internet gambling by outlawing the transfer of funds from a financial institution to Internet gambling sites. However, Biden was not alone - 98 senators approved the bill, with just two lone senators (one Democrat and one Republican) voting no. Ratings The website Political Base, which claims to be a resource for people wanting to make informed decisions when casting their vote, ranked all the main presidential candidates on the question of whether they support legalization of gambling. Biden was ranked as moderately pro-legalization. Barack Obama strangely does not appear on the list, while Republican presidential candidate John McCain was rated as strongly anti-legalization. McCain is set to announce his vice-presidential candidate in the next week.
Online gambling in the United States has been in limbo since the fall of 2006, when the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) went into effect. The Act banned financial institutions in, or operating in, the US, from conducting transactions between American accounts and online gambling venues. For a time, it effectively stifled the American online gambling market. The UIGEA was quickly opposed, and not just by the gambling industry or the banks. Civil libertarians viewed, in many cases, as a threat to personal privacy, and good government advocates disliked the Act's ambiguous language. Online gamers quickly found ways to circumvent the provisions of the Act, and the American Internet gambling market has been making a slow comeback. In Congress, there is currently legislation pending to repeal the controversial UIGEA. All of this is fine, but the UIGEA is still the law of the land; it still prevents in legalized gambling online in the US, and it still hobbles the industry's largest potential market. It's possible that the end is in sight, however. The biggest challenge Earlier this year, a Federal Circuit Court Judge gave the Internet Media and Gambling Association (iMEGA), a trade group of industry insiders formed to combat the UIGEA, standing to sue the government for repeal of the new law. The case, when it is filed, will go to the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, one level below the US Supreme Court in the judicial system. Receiving the standing to sue means that iMEGA is recognized as having an interest in the issue, and a potentially valid legal case. The ruling that iMEGA can initiate a court action brought with it a deadline, at the end September, by which time the organization must file a brief with the Court declaring their intent to sue. iMEGA has stated that they will do this. The next step Once intent is declared, the defendant, in this case, the Federal Government, will have an equal amount of time to prepare its own brief to the Court, outlining its defense. The Court will then review the briefs, and accept so-called amicus briefs, or evidentiary statements by other interested parties, before announcing a three judge panel that will hear the trial. iMEGA expects that this issue will not be resolved until the end of 2009, at the earliest. In cases like this, involving complex laws and potentially deep Constitutional issues (how much right do we have to privacy in online banking?), just the preliminary steps, outlined above, can take a year or more. The trial itself will take at least as long, and probably longer. A lot of eyes will be keeping a close watch on this matter as it unfolds.
Mitt Romney has firmed to 8/11 at British bookmaker Ladbrokes to be chosen as the Republican Party vice-presidential candidate for the 2008 US Presidential Election. There are four clear choices in the betting - Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Sarah Palin and Joe Lieberman. VP odds Mitt Romney, 8/11: The Governor of Massachusetts lost out to McCain in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, but now looks set to get a second chance at reaching the White House. A practising Mormon, Romney would bring a more conservative approach to a Republican administration. Tim Pawlenty, 4/1: The Governor of Minnesota has risen rapidly to second-favoritism, and would also likely bring a similar conservative approach to a Republican federal administration as he has to his government in Minnesota. Sarah Palin, 8/1: The popular Governor of Alaska would become the first female to run as either president or vice-president, after Hillary Clinton was knocked back by Barack Obama for the Democratic VP position. At 44, she is also relatively young, while holding similar positions on the key issues to Romney and Pawlenty. Joe Lieberman, 10/1: The same guy who ran for Vice-President as a Democrat in 2000, you ask? In truth, Senator Lieberman's political transformation has not been so surprising - his position on certain issues such as foreign policy has always seen him somewhat popular with Republicans. Lieberman reclaimed his seat as Connecticut's Senate representative as an independent after getting the boot from the Democrats. His nomination could capture the votes of some undecided voters who wouldn't otherwise vote Republican. Other notable contenders for the Republican VP position include: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, 25/1, former New York Mayor and ousted presidential contender Rudolph Giuliani, 50/1, current New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, 100/1, and former Secretary of State Colin Powell - who was given odds to be VP candidate on both sides of politics - 100/1. Road to the White House With Joe Biden already selected as the Democratic Party VP nominee, the Democrats are ready for battle. Campaigning heads into the home stretch after the Democratic National Convention concludes in Denver, followed by the Republican convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul on September 1-4. We'll bring you all the odds on the race to the White House later in the campaign.
Following on the recent reports on Casino Bodog, namely that it has hurt from the US authorities' investigation, has halted payouts, and even laid-off a couple hundreds of its workers, we have received the following response from the Bodog Affiliate Team. US operations intact Alwyn Morris, CEO of Morris Mohawk Gaming Group., has addressed the reports in an email yesterday, August 25, 2008 on behalf of Casino Bodog. This is what Mr. Morris had to tell us with regard to rumors of Bodog shutting down its US operations: "In regards to accepting US players, Bodog has not and is not planning to close its doors to any market." Payouts With regards to the processing of payments, Bodog's response is as follows: "The Forbes.com article that was released a few weeks ago has created several misimpressions about Bodog. "As most of our players already know, all operators outsource payment processing functions to third parties and these payment processors are subject to regulatory constraints wherever they operate, and, occasionally in the US, are subject to legal action because of the uncertain legal environment there. Bodog processes all payout requests within 24-48 hours, the delays lie within these third party payment service providers; however, Bodog always has and always will pay out its players. All player funds are safe and we're working tirelessly to find and implement measures to reduce wait times. "The seizure of funds from these US payment processors was mischaracterized in the article, which refers to two specific legal cases against US processors. Rightly or wrongly, the article does not make a clear distinction between these cases, which, as a result, paints a misleading picture. "The facts are these: the first of these cases - relating to a seizure of funds from a processor known as JBL Services - happened some time ago and has absolutely nothing to do with the current payment processing challenges being experienced in the US. The constraints being experienced by payment processors in the US are universal in that region and not specific to any particular processor or site. Also, note that not one single player failed to get paid when this processor was disrupted. "The second case refers to a payment processor known as Zippayments.com and seizure of funds from this processor's bank accounts in Nevada. The article falsely implies - but notably does not go so far as to state - that $9.9M seized from Zippayment's Nevada bank accounts were funds on account for "Bodog". This is simply false. Summary Bodog wishes to get its response to players, and we are glad to report it. Be informed. It's the best advice we can offer. And we promise to keep our finger on the pulse and report any developments if they should occur.
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