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Betfair, sponsor of the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE), is the latest party attempting to lure 14-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer Michael Phelps out of the pool and onto the poker tables. The UK-based bookmaker has made a special invitation to Phelps to compete for his ninth major victory of the year - continuing on from his record-breaking eight gold medals at last month's Beijing Olympic Games. To encourage him, Betfair has offered to cover the 10,000 British pounds sign-up fee for the event, which takes place from September 19 - October 2 at London's Empire Casino, and attracts the world's top poker players. Phelps is reportedly a keen poker player, having been sighted in the lead-up to the Olympics playing Texas Holdem at the Caesars Windsor in Ontario, just across the US-Canadian border from his training base in Ann Arbor, Michigan. British newspaper The Sun captured photos of Phelps leaving the Ambassadors Casino in London's Mayfair district last week, following his Olympic success. The inaugural WSOPE featured 623 entrants in 2007, competing for over 1.3 million British pounds ($2.6 million). With ESPN and Sky Sports set to broadcast this year's series, the prospect of Phelps competing is sure to boost viewer ratings.
Sylvia P. of somewhere in Canada tried to win a progressive jackpot and she did it! Sylvia won $4,188,719 after playing for less than 3 weeks at Joyland Casino where she sat on the Beach Life Progressive Jackpot slot machine before her prayers were answered. Says Sylvia: "I was speaking on the phone with my brother, and I shouted... 'Oh my god, Oh my god, Henry, I won, I won!'" He said, 'what did you win?' I gave him the amount..., He said, 'Calm down. You mean 4 thousand? Say it again?' 'No, no!' I read out the amount. He said, "Calm down, which casino?" I said, "I will go and see." "Ok, you're right now. Calm down. Are you okay? Breathe Sis," he said, laughing. Sylvia was a new player at Joyland Casino. She used her free sign-up bonus to play and won the stratospheric jackpot. Her huge win is also likely to be tax free as Sylvia was playing in Canada. The management at Joyland Casino is delighted with Sylvia's win. "This has been a record week for the number of players in our online casino." The big question, however, is can the jackpot strike twice in the same place?
With the 2008 US presidential election heading into the home stretch following the Democratic Party convention in Denver and the selection of vice-presidential candidates, the Obama-Biden ticket is firming in odds favoritism. Barack Obama is a 1/2 favorite at UK bookmaker Ladbrokes to become the first black man to make it to the White House. The ticket of John McCain and Sarah Palin is 6/4 to make it 12 years of unbroken Republican rule at the executive level. Obama enjoyed a boost on the back of the party's convention in Denver last week, with two separate opinion polls recorded Monday showing he has a healthy lead over his rival. A US Today poll gave Obama 50% support among registered voters, compared to 43% for McCain. A CBS poll had Obama at 48%, up against his opponent's 40%. But McCain can enjoy his own "bounce" in the polls if the Republican national convention, which began Monday in Minneapolis-St. Paul, is successful. Betting for the 2012 presidential election is also open at several bookmakers, with odds on offer for three candidates at Ladbrokes, headed by the two most prominent females in U.S. politics. Hillary Clinton is 10/1 to take over her husband Bill's old job in four years time, while current Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin is 16/1. Current Democratic VP candidate Joe Biden is 33/1 to assume the presidency in 2012.
Casinos along the USA's gulf coast were set to reopen Wednesday after being ordered to close due to the threat posed by Hurricane Gustav. 11 Mississippi casinos were ordered shut on Sunday for safety reasons, but the Mississippi Gaming Commission approved the reopening if the casinos completed the checklists given to them. No damage was reported at any of the casinos. Progress has been a little slower in neighboring Louisiana, where two of Pinnacle Entertainment's three Louisiana casinos: Boomtown New Orleans and L'Auberge du Lac - reported minor exterior damage, and both closed on the weekend. Gulf coast casinos were hit hard by Hurricane Katrina, which devastated Mississippi and Louisiana in 2005. More than a dozen casinos in Mississippi were destroyed by Katrina, while the state's largest hotel-casino - Beau Rivage was closed for a year. Likewise, not much survived in New Orleans, Louisiana, the cultural and entertainment capital of the south, that was particularly devastated by the hurricane. In positive news for casino operators, shares rose overall on Tuesday as the threat of Hurricane Gustav passed. Casinos have been operating along the US gulf coast since the 1990s, when state gaming commissions were established to regulate the industry in Mississippi and Louisiana.
In December 2005 Greg Hogan, Jr. was arrested after he was caught holding up a Wachovia Bank in Allentown. He told the teller he was holding a gun and she promptly handed over $2,871. Hogan told the police that he needed the money to pay off gambling debts and to finance his growing online poker addiction. Hogan was released from a Pennsylvania state prison last week after serving 22 months for armed robbery. He is a former brother of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and would have graduated last May. He was also a talented musician who played at Carnegie Hall as a teenager. On his release he said: "My sick mind led me to believe that robbing the bank would solve my problems. I apologise to the bank teller I robbed, to the school and to my family and friends." He will now be on probation until the year 2016 and until then has no chance of entering a casino. Online gambling websites have also been warned to keep an eye open for Hogan and not allow him to open an account. Hogan probably was probably cured of his poker habit while he was behind bars but online poker sites have been warned about him as well. Hogan's father is the Rev. Gregory Hogan Sr. who spoke passionately about the dangers of internet gambling to the Financial Services Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives last summer. He delivered his speech after his son had already been convicted and labeled it "I am just a Dad, but I want to tell you ..." Hogan Sr.'s comments, however, have enraged the poker community. The general feeling is that the Reverend should refrain from placing the blame on a recreational activity that millions of Americans, as well as players all over the world, enjoy without breaking the law or causing harm to others.
A close look at midyear financial reports from PartyGaming PLC, the lengths online casinos go to to keep minors away and one of the highest jackpots ever won. PartyGaming reports success, but sales are slow We understand that PartyGaming suffered from the passing of the UIGEA two years ago. But can we take their first half financial reports at face value while their Party Poker site has been performing "slightly softer" than the expected? We quote the firm's management on this one. Keeping minors away from gambling Most casino sites require users be of age, but it seems they are not able to keep the youth away. Studies show that 68 percent of Americans 14 to 21 years old has gambled in the last year. Lucky giant jackpot winner Lastly, we are happy to report on this giant jackpot winner Sylvia P. of Canada took her free sign up bonus at Joyland casino and less than three weeks after joining, won over four million dollars. The big hit came on the Beach Life Progressive Jackpot slot machine.
The surprise news that the 17-year-old daughter of Sarah Palin is pregnant has prompted bookmakers to offer options on whether the Alaska governor will be replaced as the Republican vice presidential candidate before the November 4th presidential election. Ladbrokes is calling it the "Sarah Palin Special", installing her at odds of 1/16 not to be replaced, but enticing punters to entertain the possibility of such an event occurring, at 8/1. No odds are being offered yet on who that replacement might be, although one would assume Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty, the two favorites prior to McCain's surprise selection of Palin, would be the frontrunners. Election odds The Obama-Biden Democratic ticket continues to firm, having eased into 4/9 favoritism to make it to the White House, against McCain-Palin, 13/8. Betting is also available on the states that will make or break this election. The Republicans have never won a US presidential election without carrying the key battleground state of Ohio, and it looks like the Midwestern state will once again go down to the wire, with McCain and Palin tipped to miss out, at 11/10, against the Democrats, 4/6. The Republicans aren't favored to have many successes in the swing states, going in as favorites only in Nevada (4/7) and the state that ultimately decided the 2000 presidential election in favor of George W. Bush - Florida (4/9). If all the current states go to the favorite, Barack Obama will win the presidency in a landslide, having assumed slight favoritism in Colorado (8/11) and New Hampshire (8/13), and looking unbeatable in Michigan (1/2), New Mexico (1/3) and the populous state of Pennsylvania (1/4). McCain and Obama are dead even at 5/6 each in Virginia, which offers a total of 13 of the 538 electoral college votes on offer. The odds could alter slightly after the impact of the Republican National Convention, which finishes Thursday, is properly assessed by bookmakers and punters.
2006 World Series of Poker champion Jamie Gold will be the headline speaker at CAP Euro Barcelona, the fourth Casino Affiliate Programs European conference, taking place from September 25-28 in the Spanish city. In addition to delivering the keynote speech at the conference, Gold will run a coaching session for Affiliate Series of Poker qualifiers. "There's no doubt that the explosion of poker around the world is directly connected to the emergence and phenomenal success of online poker", Gold said. "As well as making the game far more accessible, it has taken poker to entirely new levels, has fueled worldwide exposure through mainstream TV sponsorship, and along the way provided tutorage of game play and strategy". "In short, it has turned the back-room game into front-room entertainment and, more importantly, a seemingly recession-proof global industry. And as the one lucky enough to receive the biggest payout in history, it would be remiss of me not to mention the dramatic effect online poker has had on building the number of major tournaments, players and, of course, prize money." The last CAP conference, held in London in January, drew 1000 visitors and 45 exhibitors, in what CAP Euro claims was the largest-ever gathering of affiliates in the iGaming sector. Online Casino Reports is media partners with CasinoAffiliatePrograms and be there in the thick of the action to bring you the latest news, videos and interviews from the conference.
Sex, drugs and alcohol shouldn't be the only topics parents and school officials should be warning their children about these days, according to a new study commissioned by the Oregon Department of Social Services. Revealing that 33% of youths between the ages of 12 and 17 (an estimated whopping 94,659 teens!) are gambling for free at one of the over 1,700 different sites for online gambling, a few key reasons are given: convenient, easy access and with little monitoring from parents, online gambling is more in reach than ever before. Officials say this is grooming these teens for future problems later on down the road. The combination of high stimulation with low physical output is also discouraging kids from seeking "healthier" activities. Plus, add in the fact that many kids spend hours upon hours online and you have a potential recipe for disaster. The percentage of 11th graders who gamble have been found to be in the majority of those who binge drink, carry handguns or pick fights, versus those who do not gamble. Is all hope lost? Granted, while this study may paint a grim picture there are some enlightening statistics. Gambling for or with money is represented by less than 1% of the age population polled and overall, gambling amongst youths has gone down in the past 10 years. So while officials are not saying not to gamble, they are asking people to recognize the risk factors and potential for addiction. Don't let the thrall of winning "big" in a free game make you feel invincible and also be aware that while it is not real money being won or lost, it does not mean that gambling cannot be harmful. Better horizons on the way Oregon is now promoting awareness programs in schools through presentations, classroom activities, and parent meetings. They hope that other states will follow their lead.
With week one of the NFL underway, the Dallas Cowboys have become the bookmakers' favorite to win Superbowl XLIII and return to the glory days of the 1990s, when they won three of their five championships. The main contenders Dallas Cowboys, 10/3 at UK bookmaker Bet365: Dallas fell over in the divisional playoffs last season after initially looking like the NFC's most likely challenger to the AFC's New England Patriots. With star quarterback Tony Romo and wide receiver Terrell Owen back in the lineup for another year, the Cowboys are the team to beat. San Diego Chargers, 8/1: Perennial contenders but never having actually won a Superbowl, the Chargers' season got off to a rocky start Sunday with a home loss to Carolina. They'll have to do better if they're to improve on last season, when they got within nine points of New England in the AFC championship match. New England Patriots, 8/1: All pre-season the Patriots have been planning to redeem their shock loss to the New York Giants in last year's Superbowl, which came after a perfect 16-0 regular season record. But those plans have been thwarted by star quarterback Tom Brady' season-ending ACL injury in Sunday's victory over Kansas City. So good are the Patriots that they still remain third in betting. But it's hard to see them scoring as freely as they did last year when they had Brady leading. Indianapolis Colts, 11/1: The Colts also got off to the worst possible start to season 2008-09, losing at home to Chicago, the team they beat in the 2006 Superbowl. They shouldn't have much trouble winning the AFC South division for a sixth season in a row, but whether they can get past San Diego and bitter rivals New England for the AFC championship is another question altogether. The dark horses Philadelphia leads the pack at 14/1, followed by defending champions the New York Giants, 16/1. Jacksonville, Pittsburgh and New Orleans are also 16/1, although it remains to be seen how the latter will be affected by the continuing threat of Hurricane Ike. The Miami Dolphins are the biggest outsider of the 32 teams, at 175/1 for the championship.
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