BetonSports founder Gary Kaplan has already served most of his sentence and, as such, will only be incarcerated for another year and couple of months.

U.S. District Judge Carol Jackson gave Kaplan the maximum sentence allowable under the terms of a pre-arranged plea agreement. Prosecutors also dropped 14 other charges under the agreement.

The news about Kaplan comes on a day when the gambling world also learned that New Jersey’s Governor, no matter who it might be following Tuesday’s elections, will be able to join in a suit to legalize sports betting in that state.  New Jersey would like to follow in the footsteps of BetonSports by setting up an online sports betting platform.

The Department of Justice had asked the court to block Governor Corzine from the sports betting challenge.

"The constitutional claims that the Governor seeks to advance do not belong to him; they belong, instead, to the State of New Jersey," read the brief submitted by the DOJ, in opposition to Gov. Corzine’s own motion to intervene in the suit, brought by the Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (iMEGA), NJ State Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), and the state’s horse racing associations.

As for Gary Kaplan, Gambling911.com’s Jenny Woo had sat down with his wife almost precisely one year to the day to discuss her husband’s case.  Gary had not yet entered into a plea deal.

"Gary’s lawyers who practice all over the country, and even the world, agree that they have never seen an alleged white-collar criminal be treated the way my husband is being treated," Holly Kaplan said at the time.  "Well over a year ago, Gary’s legal team moved to have him released on bond and the Court denied that motion on the grounds that he was a flight risk. We’re not the only defendants in the country with financial means and the ability to travel."

The real victims are the children, Holly told Woo.  The couple have two young one’s.

"The real tragedy in this situation is the impact that it is having on our children. My children and I moved to St. Louis from Costa Rica in order to be by his side and support him through these events. They are now enrolled in school here and participate in extra curricular activities."

Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher

The Maryland-based federal task group pursuing cash processors suspected of facilitating online gambling transactions has struck again, according to the Baltimore City Paper.

The newspaper is closely monitoring the task force’s activities, especially in regards to seizure warrants applied for through the courts and appearing on court records.

In the latest discover, the newspaper reports that the seizure of $365,366.69 from two bank accounts in the name of Atrium Financial Group (AFG) is the latest move by enforcement officials.

According to a court affidavit published by the newspaper, Delaware-based AFG is alleged to disburse money to online gamblers, including those using Golden Casino.

Unlike earlier seizures, the Atrium Financial action is supported by an affidavit that was not sealed. The 13-page sworn statement by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agent Augusta Ferenec, who is based in New Orleans, La., was signed on September 4 by U.S. District Court magistrate judge Beth Gesner, with the warrant filed in court records on October 22.

Ferenec’s affidavit, claims the investigation leading to the AFG seizures dates back to July 14, 2008, when Louisiana State Police officers opened an “undercover gambling account” with Golden Casino, gambled online and later requested a payout.

The first check-from a Canadian company called Interco Finance Corporation (IFC) – bounced. Eventually, a second check came, this one from AFG. Thus, the investigation claimed to have established that Golden Casino was using both IFC and AFG as payment processors for its online gambling patrons.

Ferenec explains in the affidavit that a fourth business – Con-Tex Converters in Canada – entered the picture as investigators followed the global money trail.

For instance, an AFG account with Mercantile Bank received wire transfers between December 2008 and January 2009 amounting to more than $1.5 million. The money came from a Con-Tex bank account in Cyprus and a combined Con-Tex/IFC bank account in Canada.

During the same timeframe, Ferenec’s affidavit continues, AFG cut 1,473 checks from that account, at least two of which went to people in Maryland. In August 2009, investigators talked to one of the Maryland recipients, who admitted the proceeds had come from online gambling.

In all, Ferenec’s affidavit maps out a total of nearly $6.3 million wired internationally by either Con-Tex or IFC to AFG bank accounts in the U.S. The AFG accounts, which the affidavit says have all been closed by the banks due to suspicions that the money was tied to illegal gambling, were held with Mercantile, Sovereign Bank, Wachovia Bank, National City Bank, and TD Bank North.

The international wire transfers from Con-Tex and IFC were the sole sources of funds in the AFG accounts, the affidavit explains.

The two AFG bank accounts targeted for seizure are with Fifth Third Bank and Wilmington Savings Fund Society.

The Fifth Third account, from which $124,028.88 was seized, received about $3.3 million in wire transfers from Con-Tex and IFC between December 2008 and June 2009, the affidavit explains. Nearly 4,000 checks were cut from the account, totaling about $3.1 million disbursed to people in the U.S.

During July and August 2009, 35 of those checks were issued to Maryland residents. The amount of money entering AFG’s Wilmington Savings account is not specified in the affidavit, which explains that about 575 checks were cut from the account, one of which was mailed to a Texan who “confirmed to the bank that the check was the proceeds of online gambling.”

Ferenec’s affidavit says it’s likely that money will continue to enter the targeted accounts “for a period of time” after the warrants are executed, because those involved “will be unable to promptly stop the flow of funds or inform all of their contacts of this investigation.” Therefore, Ferenec requests that the warrant order the banks to allow the deposits to continue, but not any attempted debits, and that “ICE be allowed to periodically remove such funds” during a 21-day period after the warrants are executed.

CNN’s Campbell Brown reported on the White House attempt to label Fox News as some type of "bias news media".  Good for her.  So what if Fox News offers more of a "Conservative" slant and the same goes for MSNBC and their Liberal leanings.

It is absolutely insulting for the White House to try and stymie a news outlet (that just happens to get the highest prime time ratings).  It’s even worse when one considers that the White House has nothing to say in regard to MSNBC, which never has a nice thing to say about Republicans (at least when we’re watching). 

Worse still, the White House let’s the Huffington Post into the press room.  Amazing! 

Some of us who voted for Obama believe this is the single most damaging campaign his administration has entered into yet.  Think Venezuela.  Think China.

We are the site that filed a Motion to Intervene in an investigation centered around sealed warrants and the online poker industry.  A New York Circuit Court found in our favor.  There is no place in this country for Government trying to silence news media outlets, mainstream or electronic PERIOD.   Read about this our case here

Brad Templeman of the Detroit Law and Politics Examiner had this to offer:

Senior White House Adviser Valerie Jarrett, a longtime friend of President Obama, was interviewed by CNN’s Campbell Brown and demonstrated clearly how the White House has run out of gas in their battle with Fox.  She casually states that Fox News is biased, but when asked whether MSNBC is also biased, she becomes somewhat flummoxed and actually says that she doesn’t want to "generalize"  and say that all of Fox is biased.   Oh, and it’s not specifically directed at Fox.  Apparently, arguing that the liberal-leaning MSNBC is unbiased in a bridge too far (although White House officials have repeatedly gone on CNN to tell CNN how unbiased they are).

This battle between Fox News and the White House has been going on for a while, which makes it even more mystifying how a Senior White House Adviser could be so unprepared for such a basic question.  She should have easily anticipated that any professional journalist (and Campbell Brown is on CNN!) would ask about a similarly situated news network when you criticize Fox News.

Even without MSNBC’s obvious liberal slant, Fox News has every right to report what they want to report and the American people can make up their own minds as to who is biased or not.

Make no mistake about it, this isn’t a "silly Fox attempt to capitalize on ratings".  We see this as a serious threat.  It is also one of the most discussed topics among news viewers in the last week.

In response, the online bookmaker Sportsbook.com was in the process of considering offering odds on an all out Fox News banning from the White House as well as odds on when Valerie Jarrett comes out and admits MSNBC also presents news with a media bias.  Good for MSNBC.  Good for Fox.  They both enjoy strong ratings and decent programs.  But the White House doesn’t need to take sides….let alone even tread into this arena.

Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher

Super Slots It has been a month long celebration of Halloween at Super Slots Online Casino and as the holiday nears, the time is ticking for slot tournament players. Only one week remains until the conclusion of the Halloween Party slot tournament.

On the first day of October, Super Slots began their tournament. It has attracted almost 2,000 players and they are all playing for a piece of the $100,0000 prize pool. That is a generous prize pool even for Super Slots.

The online casino has been home to some of the biggest slot tournaments of the year. It is not unusual for the casino to give away at least $50,000 in prize money for these tournaments. There are also daily tournaments that are taking place.

The Halloween Party tournament is being held on the Black Magic game and will run until the last day of October. Currently there is a battle going on for the first place position between the top two players.

CASPERELA has the lead with a balance of $70,833. chingching1 is in second place, but not by much with $66,124. The thrid through fifth position players all have over a $25,000 balance.

There is still plenty of time for new players to get in on the action. The entry fee is $10, and there is an unlimited number of re-buys available. Anyone starting this week need only hit a couple of big spins to be right in the mix for the prize money.

The Australian Gambling site Australiangambling.com.au is reporting that prominent online casinos, online sports betting sites and bingo sites are selling personal data of their players as a commodity.

Nick Haslem, who wrote the article, says the site bought that personal data of players from leading online casinos and gambling businesses, including 888, William Hill, Titan Poker and Full Tilt Poker. According to Haslem strictly regulated online operators like PartyPoker and PokerStars are not involved in such activities. According to Haslem he got the details about this case in a conversation via msn. These details include the name of the person who sells the data, the person helping him, the operators involved and a sample list of personal data of 50 gamblers. The method is easy, Ryan Clegg buys this information on a regular basis with employees of online casinos, poker sites, bookmakers and bingo sites. Accordingto Haslem Clegg did not want to say whether the personal information was traded with knowledge of the online gambling operator. According to Clegg, he sells the data for some time now to the highest bidder, this happens once every two weeks or once per month. Among the data are first and last name, residential address, date of birth, email address and even credit card information and transaction records. According to Clegg a list with 40,000 names, sells just over 4.500 pounds, the list even contain names of problem gamblers who have put themselves on the exclusion list. According to the report the biggest culprits are, Casino Tropez, EuroGrand, Casinojoy, intercasino, Vegas Red, William Hill and many others. The report will horrify some people, but for many it is old news that personal data is being sold in a world where personal data can be traded for a lot of money.

The German state of Schleswig-Holstein could be about to break step with the 15 other German states with whom it signed the German Interstate Treaty on Gambling last year.

At the time, it was reported that fiscal imperatives were behind the Schleswig-Holstein decision to join the other states in the ban, despite its previous preference for a wider licensing system.

The initial signs of a possible break occurred last week following political moves that saw agreement between the ruling coalition Christian-Democratic Party (CDU) and the Liberal Party (FDP) in the region, and a statement calling for an end to the Treaty in favour of a regulatory regime more in keeping with European Union requirements for the free movement of goods and services.

Although this is unlikely to go down well due to the state-monopolised nature of the German gambling market, it would relieve determined pressure from the European Commission and trade bodies like EGBA as well as online gambling companies that see the German exclusionary policy as contrary to the principles of the European Union.

Jürgen Koppelin, the leader of the Schleswig-Holstein coalition, made a not-so-veiled threat that if the other parties to the German Treaty found that agreement on switching to a new regulatory system was impossible, the coalition would move toward a change that would see an intrastate licensing system.

Despite being currently in the minority, the Schleswig-Holstein development, which has the potential to liberate both land and online gambling from monopolistic dominance, will concern other signatories to the Treaty. The arrangement is due to expire in January 2012, and in the absence of full compliance by all 16 states, a renewal could be in jeopardy.

The bookmakers enjoyed a winning weekend in the NFL with the 6th week of regular season games. 

Upsets by the Oakland Raiders against the Philadelphia Eagles, a huge win by the New Orleans Saints against the New York Giants and Baltimore just managing to cover against Minnesota helped boost profits

"There were a lot of people on the Vikings but Baltimore just managed to cover the +2 ½ line," said Don Shapiro of Gambling911.com. 

The Steelers also witnessed significant volume and missed covering by a single point.

For gamblers, Kansas City and Atlanta provided wins.

The bookmakers have enjoyed huge success for several weeks since the start of September mostly in College Football.

Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher 

After signing a two-year deal in July to serve as the shirt sponsor for British Championship soccer side Swansea City, online casino 32Red.com has awarded one lucky fan with his very own spot on the team.

Swansea City fan Ross Mitchell entered a recent competition on the football club’s website and was rewarded with the honour of being named as the team’s official number 32.

A fan of blackjack, Mitchell will now feature in official club photos and has been included in the official match day programme line-up.

“Most fans have dreamed of seeing their name in the matchday programme and, given my lack of footballing ability, this is the only way I could have got to do it,” said Mitchell.

“The entire competition is a terrific idea and I hope others get a chance to experience what I have. Thank you Swansea City and thank you 32Red.com.”

He was awarded his official jersey by Paulo Souza, Manager for Swansea City and a former Portuguese international, before the team’s home match against Sheffield United on September 26.

“This is the first of a number of initiatives we will be working on with our new sponsor 32Red.com this season,” said Leigh Dineen, Vice-Chairman for Swansea City.

“It has given us fantastic support so far and I know that they want to involve the fans as much as possible. We have a whole lot more planned this season and next, so check back often to see what you could win. We’ll also keep you posted on Ross’ time with the club.”  

Poker’s biggest legend now has over 41,000 followers on social networking site, more than Phil Hellmuth, Jr. and Daniel Negreanu

Las Vegas, Nevada – October 8, 2009 – He may be one of the biggest legends to ever play the game and he appears larger than life on the surface to most poker players, but Doyle Brunson is connecting with more poker fans than ever on a personal level through Twitter. Brunson, widely considered the Babe Ruth of Poker, currently has over 41,000 followers on Twitter, a popular social networking site used by poker players, celebrities, news outlets and common folk to connect with the people and the things that matter most to them. As of Thursday, Doyle Brunson had over 41,628 followers. Just a week ago, that number was about 16,000. Doyle credits his performance in major tournaments include the World Series of Poker Europe as well as his appearance at a major affiliate convention last month in Budapest for the spike. With over 41,000 followers, Doyle is a leader among the professional poker playing community in terms of social networking fans. Brunson currently has more followers than both Phil Hellmuth, Jr. and Daniel Negreanu, two poker pros who have followers that number in the tens of thousands. To follow Doyle Brunson on Twitter, head to www.Twitter.com/TexDolly