Online Casino and Gambling News: June 2011

Pokerscout releases latest lackluster poker figures

The independent online poker monitoring site Pokerscout had depressing news this week, reporting that the total worldwide online poker market has declined by 18% over the past year, and has been shaken by the events of Black Friday and Blue Monday. The monitoring site gives a few examples of the impact of this reduction and of the US enforcement moves:

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Black Friday hits Power Poker

The latest online poker operator to bar new US player signups is Power Poker, a Malta-licensed and EU-based operation on the Cake network which was founded in 2009. This week the site displayed a notice advising: "Due to recent movements by the U.S. government concerning online poker, PowerPoker is no longer accepting new U.S. players.

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Smartphone action for Icelandic lottery

The Icelandic internet gambling software provider Betware has launched a new mobile solution for Iceland’s Islensk Getspa national lottery, allowing players to participate in that nation’s Lotto and Viking Lotto games using smartphones. The Lotto and Viking Lotto games come with the same features found on those purchased through more traditional channels including quick picks and the ability to manually select numbers.

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Have the feds got the wrong man?

Among the most recent indictments unsealed by federal enforcement agencies is one naming Canadian software specialist David Parchomchuk, and it could be either a wrongful prosecution or a new direction for US law actions against online gambling.

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Jersey politicians in talks with the UK government

Relative newcomer to the roll call of online gambling jurisdictions, Jersey in the Channel Isles, has approached the British government with a request that its licensees be admitted to the UK advertising white list, enabling them to market their services in the United Kingdom, reports the BBC. Island politicians are currently engaged with their British counterparts on the application after Jersey invested millions of pounds in preparing the island for an e-gaming industry.

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Entrants will have to pony up a cool million dollars to compete in newest WSOP event

The World Series of Poker has announced plans to stage a card tournament next year at an unprecedented buy-in of $1 million. WSOP officials said Thursday that the event would have a no-limit Texas Hold ‘em format and would be branded The Big One for One Drop, a reference to the Series's charity initiative with One Drop, a non-governmental organisation in Montreal that campaigns for access to water in third world countries.

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Merge Poker Network closes doors to new American online poker players

The US-facing Merge Poker Network, which has so far continued to accept US action despite the depredations of US enforcement authorities, has reportedly halted new US player signups with effect from today (June 3).

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Tote to be awarded to Betfred?

The Guardian newspaper reports that the long-running auction for the state-owned The Tote gambling company is over at last...and online and land gambling tycoon Fred Done of Betfred is the winner. The BBC has confirmed the newspaper's reports that the UK Sports and Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, is to make an official statement Friday awarding the deal to Betfred.

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Company loses 117,000 pound due to manager's dishonesty

Samantha Grindrod, a 27-year-old finance manager for a firm in Bolton, UK, has been jailed for 16 months for misappropriating company funds which were subsequently spent on internet gambling and alcohol, the Manchester Evening News reports.

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County police department does well out of online poker site busts

Black Friday has proved profitable for county police forces assisting US federal authorities in their investigations into online gambling and subsequent cash and asset confiscations, it appears.

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