


Internet gaming firms said on Monday that they have been in talks with the Spanish tax authorities in recent weeks over the payment of retrospective taxes for January 2009 to May 2011, a period in which they were in the market without a clear legal framework.
Read More: Spain moves to claw back taxes from gaming firms | Reuters

According to U.S. Internet Gambling Regulatory Tracker, nine other states are reviewing legislation dealing with Internet poker and online casino gambling.
That’s up from seven states in 2011, and the number could grow, the tracking service noted in an advisory issued last week.
“With 19 state legislatures and Congress still in session, this calendar year — during which more states have considered Internet gambling legislation than any other in history — could yield even more legislative activity,” noted Chris Krafcik, research director for GamblingCompliance, which operates the tracking service.
The growing number of states hoping to reap the potential billions of dollars from online gambling is one reason Senate President John Cullerton is urging quick action by the legislature on a plan he unveiled last Monday.
Read More: Cullerton puts a push on gambling : Herald & Review | Local news from Decatur, Macon County and Central Illinois

Video footage obtained by TMZ.com appears to show the teenager hitting the slot machines with her boyfriend - even though, at 19, she's too young to gamble in Sin City.
The website posted the video online on Monday morning - hours after Bobbi Kristina had accepted her late mother's Millennium Award at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
TMZ.com reports officials at the Nevada Gaming Commission have also launched their own investigation into the footage.
Underage gambling is a misdemeanour in Nevada, punishable by up to six months in jail or a US$1,000 fine.

Illinois is not alone in the rush to expand legalized gambling to the Internet.
According to U.S. Internet Gambling Regulatory Tracker, nine other states are reviewing legislation dealing with Internet poker and online casino gambling.
That’s up from seven states in 2011, and the number could grow, the tracking service noted in an advisory issued last week.
“With 19 state legislatures and Congress still in session, this calendar year — during which more states have considered Internet gambling legislation than any other in history — could yield even more legislative activity,” noted Chris Krafcik, research director for GamblingCompliance, which operates the tracking service.
The growing number of states hoping to reap the potential billions of dollars from online gambling is one reason Senate President John Cullerton is urging quick action by the legislature on a plan he unveiled last Monday.
Read More: Cullerton puts a push on gambling : Herald & Review | Local news from Decatur, Macon County and Central Illinois

US President Barack Obama took a calculated gamble and stepped into the political unknown with his firm public backing for gay marriage, after a long period of personal soul-searching.
Mr Obama’s move, in an interview with ABC News, sent seismic waves through pre-election politics and sparked immediate speculation as to whether he has hindered his chances of winning a second term in November.
But it also led his election foe Mitt Romney and his Republicans on to tricky ground, as the party’s social conservative base opposes same sex marriage, even as it becomes quickly more accepted across the broader political spectrum.
“I’ve just concluded, for me, personally, it is important to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married,” Mr Obama said, unveiling his bombshell.
Read More: Obama is gambling on gays - timesofmalta-com

Read More: RocketFrog wants to revolutionize online gambling with real-world prizes | VentureBeat

Read More: Bwin.Party To PayTaxes to Secure Spanish Online Gambling License

Read More: State of the Gambling Union : ADI News

According to the Metro daily newspaper a UK court has thrown out a spread betting firm's case, ruling that the company's 49-page terms and conditions were an "unfair contract". The means that the punter is no longer liable for the losses accrued.
Colin Cochrane claims that he had left his computer on, with his Spreadex account live and his 5-year-old son had played games on the computer during which he lost £50,000 on the spread betting site.
Read More: www-bingosupermarket-com/bingo-news-articles/2238-uk-court-rules-against-online-betting-tacs-html

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It’s now confirmed that Lovato will be a judge on The X Factor, which will help Cowell bring in a younger demographic as Spears will likely draw her longtime fans who are now in their late-20s or early-30s. Lovato, who will turn 20 years old in August, made her name on the Disney channel and has since began a music and film career. She’s popular among teenagers and Cowell is hoping to draw those fans to his show. His major competition, American Idol (where Cowell made his name to American viewers) has Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler, while The Voice features Christina Aguilera, Cee-Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton, and he realizes that big-name judges are the best way to bring in a crowd.
X Factor USA - Season 2 - Who will win?
Male +120
Female EVEN
Group +400
Lovato won’t be making the same type of money that Spears is as the “Hit Me Baby One More Time” singer will cash in to the tune of $15 million while Lovato clocks in at a cool million but the experience and the exposure to a new audience should pay off for her in the long run. Now, Cowell just needs to find a new host to replace Steve Jones and The X Factor will be off and running.

Given that the former is already massive business (It’s no accident that Zynga accounts for 12% of Facebook’s revenue) it’s hardly surprising that the latter is set to follow suit.
In fact, tech analysis company Juniper Research reckons that social gambling could be a US$100-billion industry by 2017. It says the surge in social gambling activity is being driven, at least in part, by the introduction of intrastate casino and lottery services in the US.
Hardly surprising then that Zynga itself want in on the action. According to Juniper Research’s Dr Windsor Holden:
“Social gaming companies such as Zynga are seeking to move from play-for-fun casino games into real money gambling, while pureplay mobile casinos including Probability have begun to integrate with the Facebook mobile platform. In this way, consumers will be able to use their social networks to register for casino games, substantially increasing both the reach and engagement of such services.”
At the moment, social gambling is dominated by sports betting, although that looks set to be overhauled by casino gaming within five years.
Juniper Research also reckons that mobile will become an increasingly important platform for gambling, particularly with the emergence of mobile wallets.

According to the Herald Sun, the Federal Government is considering legalising the banned practices as it tries to combat unregulated gaming on overseas-based sites.
Local gaming sites could run trials of both forms of gambling within one year, the report says.
Live betting, which currently can only be accessed by telephone and in person, could be worth $300 million a year online, according to the Herald Sun.

The Government is currently reviewing interactive gambling laws and is talking with key stakeholders about possible changes.
Currently, punters can only bet on sporting events as they happen in person or over the phone.
But Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has flagged a possible change to allow people to bet online during live events like last night's State of Origin clash.
"While the State of Origin was on last night, you can pick up a phone and make a bet, [but] you can't go online and make a bet," he told Channel Nine.
"So you've got a situation where if you make the phone call it's legal, if you try and do it online it's illegal.
Read More: Government may legalise live online gambling - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

The Herald Sun reveal that "gaming sites could run trials of both forms of betting within a year as the Federal Government tries to combat unregulated overseas gaming sites".
Gambling experts have said that the possible changes would prove lucrative for the online industry but would make gambling more accessible to problem punters.
Read More: Possible changes to online gambling | 3AW Mornings | Neil Mitchell |

Senator Xenophon made the announcement after media reports on Thursday said the federal government briefed the gaming industry about plans to allow "in-play" online betting.
"It seems after its betrayal of its deal with (independent MP) Andrew Wilkie for real poker machine reform, the government is on a roll," he said in a statement.
"We now know the government has been engaged in secret talks with the online gambling industry to enable them to diversify their addictive product to suck in more Australians."
Read More: news-ninemsn-com-au/national/8472586/govt-gambling-industry-in-talks-xenophon

Gaming companies are scrambling to pay off their liabilities in time to qualify for online licences the Spanish authorities are due to award on June 1.
Betfair said it expected to be awarded a licence covering its sportsbook next month and some casino products and plans to apply for a poker licence shortly afterwards.
The company this month won one of the first online gambling licences issued in Germany.
Read More: Betfair joins gaming companies settling with Spain - Latest sport news

This event will bring together key industry captains from all corners of the of online gaming industry. There will be persons responsible for regulatory decisions, as well as those from the media and sports. Software providers and those people from security, accounting and game development, will also be in attendance to share their knowledge and expertise. Noted speakers include Morten Ronde, Chief Executive Officer for the Danish Online Gambling Association and Policy Action Denmark’s Alan Littler.
Read More: First E-Gaming in Holland Conference June 5th Amsterdam

Speaking at the East Coast Gaming Congress, casino and political leaders predicted online gambling will become a reality on a state-by-state basis. New Jersey hopes to become the "Silicon Valley of Internet gambling," and its legislature is working on a bill to legalize it.
Read More: Panel: States approval of Internet gambling likely - BusinessWeek

That scenario played out last year, when lawmakers approved a similar gambling measure at the urging of Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Quinn eventually said he'd veto it.
What's different this time is that pro-gambling forces are much closer to amassing enough support to make Quinn irrelevant. The House voted 69-47 in favor of gambling expansion. That's just two votes shy of the 71 needed to override a governor's veto.
Read More: Illinois House approves major gambling expansion - chicagotribune-com
With Ron Paul announcing he is no longer officially running, Mitt Romney is the Republican candidate for the 2012 elections. If regulated gambling is on a list of election issues, many gamblers are still somewhat confused who to vote for. The online gambling community had hoped that Barack Obama would be gambling friendly and that the UIGEA would be overthrown or amended in his first term in office but was disappointed. Instead they witnessed the Democratic government seize offshore betting sites on Black Friday and no movement was ever made to legalize the product federally. Thus, one has to wonder if Barack Obama, a self-proclaimed poker player, is truly the best option for Internet bettors. Mitt Romney, on the other hand,
Read More: Republicans vs. Democrats ? A Chronology of Online Gambling Decisions Part 1