Casino Hangout

Finnish minister talks about Slot Machine Association’s future plans.

Finland’s Slot Machine Association or RAY (Raha-automaattiyhdistys) is contemplating going into online casino very soon, that is according to Minister for Sports and Culture Stefan Wallin.

Quoted by the daily Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat last weekend, Wallin was confident that the on-line poker site could be launched before year end. He further revealed that all the technical systems to launch the service have already been tested. But before it can enter into the on-line poker environment, additional legislation is needed to allow it Internet gambling.

(Read the full post about ‘Finland’s RAY Contemplating Poker Site’…)

30-year-old software engineer Tony Veckey from Chicago came to Vegas this year to take his first crack at a major live tournament, and it paid off bigtime as he won his first winner’s bracelet and the main prize of $673,279 for his $1,500 buy-in to Event 54 - the No-Limit Hold’em competition.

With an entry field of 2,818 and a prize pool of $3,846,570, the event took four days to unfold, with the final table paying out as follows:

Tony Veckey - $673,2762. Jason Wheeler - $418,1223. Joseph Chaplin - $ 276,0294. Sergey Konkin - $195,2135. Andrew Malott - $147,1316. Christopher Bonita - $117,3587. Christopher DeMaci - $98,9338. David Jaoui - $87,8559.

(Read the full post about ‘WSOP: Software engineer wins in his first major tournament’…)

A 20 hour final table of 492 hands, culminating in a 7 hour heads up endurance test. Surely this is the stuff of World Series of Poker records? 10am Vegas time Wednesday morning finally saw 37-year-old former professional bowler from Georgia, David Bach, victorious in Event 49 - the $50,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. competition - one of the most respected bracelets in the business.

In the marathon heads up, Bach faced New Yorker John Hanson (44) in a see-saw battle for supremacy that saw millions of chips in play as the lead changed and changed again.

(Read the full post about ‘20 hour final table in WSOP 50k HORSE event’…)

The payout odds should Team USA win Sunday’s 2009 Confederations Cup against mighty Brazil would be $600 for every $100 bet at Bookmaker.com.

While many believe USA is up against an impossible feat, this is the same team that beat Spain as a +900 underdog just the other day.

And most gamblers in the US are betting their team.  It’s the most bet on side of any sport Sunday, including baseball.

United States scored their greatest win for almost 60 years by beating European champions Spain 2-0 on Wednesday to reach the final of the Confederations Cup.<

(Read the full post about ‘USA Confederations Cup Payout Odds Would Be Extraordinary’…)

The "magician" Antonio Esfandiari has been up to a few tricks, but not up his sleeve as he indulges in some topless partying. One lucky snapper caught him baring his chest and a funky looking dog-tag as he embraced a girl in a Vegas night club.

Antonio, who recently appeared on GSN’s High Stakes Poker and did remarkably little apart from perform a few press ups and have the whole of security scour for a $50K chip card (when he’d carelessly left it at the bottom of his bag), was looking a bit worst for wear.

Antonio’s close pal Phil Laak, whom he stars in a prop bet show with called ‘I bet you’, has meanwhile been notable in his absence from the 2009 WSOP. Y

(Read the full post about ‘Antonio Esfandiari Goes Topless at Vegas Party’…)

The online gambling debate may be a hotly contested one in the US government. The state of California, however, is taking a proactive approach to leading the country into the future of legalized Internet gambling.

The California Online Poker Law Enforcement Compliance and Consumer Protection Act has been devised in rough draft form and there is major support in the state legislature for the Bill.

The Bill would call for regulations and an intrastate online poker network. Many of the details of the Bill have to be worked out by lawmakers, but just the thought of open online gambling is exciting some members of the community.

(Read the full post about ‘California Pushes The Envelope With Online Gambling Poker Bill’…)

2009 Wimbledon betting odds have been posted at Sportingbet.com.

Not surprisingly, Roger Federer has been made the favorite to win the 2009 Men’s Wimbledon following his victory at the French Open a few weeks ago.

On the ladies side, the Williams sisters - Venus and Serena - were both favored at +260 and +270, respectively, for a payout potential close to US$300 on every US$100 bet.

"The 2009 French Open taught us here at Gambling911.com that betting on tennis is really starting to grow in popularity," commented Payton O’Brien, Senior Editor of the website.

(Read the full post about ‘2009 Wimbledon Betting Odds’…)

The million member plus Poker Players Alliance announced Tuesday its intention to "pursue every legal course available to ensure that poker players’ funds are not seized and their right to play poker online is protected".

That response comes following news that the US Attorney out of New York State froze some $30 million of monies from the two largest online poker rooms, PokerStars and Full Tilt.

But the PPA itself would not be able to represent either room in a court of law should the US Government decide it wants to file criminal actions against either poker room entities.  The Poker Players Alliance lacks "standing" to do so. 

(Read the full post about ‘Poker Players Alliance Lacks Standing to Defend Online Poker Rooms’…)

Syndicated national radio talk show host and 2008 Libertarian Vice Presidential Nominee Wayne Allyn Root will appear on "Your World with Neil Cavuto" today at 4:30 PM EST/1:30 PM PST on FOX News Channel.  Root is a special contributor to the Gambling911.com website as well. 

His appearance comes on heels of speaking on the "The Jerry Doyle Show", which is the #7 rated radio talk show in USA with just under 4 million listeners. Root was also a guest last week on "The Glenn Beck Program," "Freedom Watch with Judge Andrew Napolitano," and "FOX & Friends.&q

(Read the full post about ‘Wayne Root on Neil Cavuto’…)

Leading online poker sites UltimateBet and Absolute Poker today revealed a  revamped Tournament Leaderboard competition for 2009, raising the stakes to give online poker players at both sites a million reasons to keep on coming back.

This year’s Tournament Leaderboard competitions combines both online poker sites on the CEREUS Poker Network  to create an even more lucrative yearly prizepool  of over $1 Million, and is guaranteed to give players  the benefit of more prize money on the table in the weekly, monthly and yearly leaderboard competitions at UltimateBet and Absolute Poker.

(Read the full post about ‘Revamped 2009 Poker Tournament Leaderboard Competition Pays $1 Mil’…)