Online Casino Edition – Casino News News about online casinos and gambling

September 9, 2011

Tactical Victory For Las Vegas Sands Shareholders

Filed under: Casino — Tags: , , — OCE News @ 12:00 am

A tactical victory was won by Las Vegas Sands Corp shareholders, when most of the complaints concerning the near-collapse of their stock were dismissed. However, U.S. District Judge Kent Dawson was also unsure that the shareholders could win their case against the large U.S. casino owner.

The Suits

Two suits were filed in 2010, which have since been combined, stating that Las Vegas Sands put forward incorrect predictions as to its prospects. The suits accuse the company of inflating the stock price just before it dropped.

The stock price fell from $144 in 2007 to $1.38 in early-2009, due to the fact that Las Vegas Sands had to deal with a liquidity crunch. This left shareholders with massive losses.

Information Withheld

The case against Las Vegas Sands states that it withheld certain information regarding its situation. For example, in 2007 and 2008, the company failed to admit that it was “facing a severe liquidity crisis that threatened to bring down the company because it lacked the cash and funding sources that would enable it to continue most of its multi-billion dollar ongoing or planned construction projects in the United States, Singapore and Macau.”

Instead of making shareholders aware of how serious the liquidity crisis was and tell the market that it would have to put a stop to many development projects ongoing in the United States and Macau, Las Vegas Sands gave an impression that everything was running smoothly and that funding was available for the ongoing construction, with no issues concerning future financing.

However, it then turned out that for a number of months Las Vegas Sands had been dealing with a liquidity crisis due to the fact that it had run out of money, which forced it to put a stop to many of the construction projects. In fact, to avoid complete bankruptcy it would require an emergency money infusion.

Situation of Shares

In its defense, Las Vegas Sands stated that it was the global credit crunch that started in 2007 that was responsible for the share price drop.

Thanks to the financial support from Adelson as well as good business in Singapore and Macau, shares have now risen to $43. Las Vegas Sands also reported that in the second quarter of 2011, it earned a profit of $367.6 million on net revenue of $2.35 billion, a 47 percent revenue increase from the 2010 quarter figure.

Although Dawson has expressed doubts, he is still allowing the charge to continue. “While the court has doubts about the ultimate viability of the allegations in the amended complaint, for the purposes of this motion to dismiss, the amended complaint sufficiently alleges false statements of material fact, or omissions of material fact that render other statements misleading,’’ he wrote in the order.

The majority of the case is still being upheld against Las Vegas Sands, and Dawson’s ruling puts the case on track for the discovery process. The shareholders’ attorney Spencer Burkholz explained that he was looking forward to presenting their case in the court.

September 7, 2011

“Biker Bandit” To Serve At Least Nine-Year Sentence

Filed under: Casino — Tags: , , — OCE News @ 12:00 am

The “biker bandit” Anthony Carleo is to serve nine to 27 years in prison. He was caught for robbing the Suncoast and Bellagio casinos in December last year.

“I’m completely ashamed of myself. I’m not a lost cause, though,” Carleo stated before his sentencing. “I know I can turn my life around.”

The Sentences

For the Suncoast robbery, District Judge Michael Villani sentenced Carleo to six to 16 years. Carleo was also sentenced to three to 11 years for the Bellagio robbery. Although William Terry, Carleo’s attorney, asked that the sentences run concurrently, these appeals were disregarded by Villani.

In addition, for the money stolen from a cashier cage at the Suncoast Casino, Carleo will need to pay $18,945. Financial restitution for the Bellagio robbery is yet to be determined. In this robbery, Carleo stole about $1.5 million in casino chips from a craps table at gunpoint. He then escaped through the casino, wearing a full-faced motorcycle helmet and drove off on a motorcycle.

The police have still not managed to recover all the stolen chips that amount to about $793,000. However, as Terry put forward in his case, these were no longer of any value because as soon as they were stolen, the casino created a network to monitor any stolen chips.

Terry stated, “That was one of the major problems that Mr. Carleo had, which was, it’s one thing to take something, it’s another thing to get rid.”

Drug Addiction

Before sentencing Carleo, Villani told him that he had received a number of character references from advocates of Carleo, including his mother, his father, who was former Las Vegas Municipal Judge George Assad, teachers, principals, and a former Colorado sheriff.

Terry, who blames Carleo’s actions on his need to take the pain medication Oxycodone after a car accident, said, “You’ve got the All-American boy here. So what goes wrong?”

Terry explained that Carleo became addicted to the drug and blames this and his addiction to gambling as leading him to commit these crimes.

Terry said, “This was a downward spiral that occurred within a short period of time.”

Since being held in Clark County Detention Center, Carleo no longer has any drug issues.

No Excuses

Despite the letters which, Villani said, made Carleo sound like “someone you might want as your neighbor,” the judge still saw the robberies as planned and not simply an impulsive decision. Villani was confused that the parole and probation department recommended Carleo be granted a minimum two-year sentence.

He said, “This isn’t the same as grabbing a purse from someone in a parking lot. I can imagine how the cashier felt and the manager felt when he pointed a gun at them.”

Villani sentenced Carleo to a minimum of 54 months and a maximum of 144 months for the Suncoast Casino robbery. For using a weapon, a consecutive term of 18 to 48 months was added. This equates the term to that of six to 16 years. The 18 to 60-month term for his second felony charge will run concurrently.

September 5, 2011

First $1 Million Won By David “Chino” Rheem In Epic Poker League

Filed under: Casino — Tags: , , — OCE News @ 12:00 am

David “Chino” Rheem was the first player to win $1 million at the Champions Ring, which took place at the Epic Poker League Main Event at the Palms. It took four tournament days, 35 hours, and 212 hands. Chino was able to win against some of the top tournament professionals in the world.

“I’m proud to be the first Epic Poker League Main Event champion. This league is setting a new standard for poker players, and I’m committed to using this win as an opportunity for a fresh start,” Chino said. So far, Chino, who is based in LA, has amounted lifetime earnings of $4,710,297.

Other players at the final table were poker professionals Erik Seidel, Gavin Smith, Jason Mercier, Huck Seed, and Hasan Habib.

Although Seidel pushed all-in with his A-Q, Chino managed to call and secure the win with his A-K. All the action from the Inaugural Main Event will be aired on Discovery Communications’ Velocity and CBS this fall.

Seidel views the Epic Poker League Main Event as good for poker, because it puts the players first. He sees it as worthy of support from the whole of the poker community.

“It was a real thrill to participate in the final table of the first-ever Epic Poker League Main Event. It was one of the more exciting final tables I have ever played,” Seidel explained. “What’s special about this league is that the best players in the world compete against each other and ensure that fans will see high-level play across the board.”

Seidel, along with Chino, has now managed to get a place in the $1 million Epic Poker League Championship Freeroll, which takes place at the end of the season. The top 27 players with the highest amount of earnings in the four Epic Poker League Main Events will be eligible to play. Chino has an earning of $1 million, whereas Seidel has $604,330.

Commissioner of the Epic Poker League, Annie Duke, explained, “Crowning our first Main Event champion was so exciting. The final table of this event featured some of the most skilled and most recognizable live tournament players in the world.”

Duke said that the week was pioneering for the Epic Poker League and was grateful to all the players who took part in the event at the Palms.

Owner of the Palms, George Maloof, was also pleased with the event: “We congratulate David and know poker fans and aspiring enthusiasts around the world will be impressed with the Epic Poker League broadcasts later this fall.”

There will be three more rake-free $20,000 Main Events in the Epic League inaugural season, which will take place in the Palms. Each will include $400,000 in additional money and the top 27 players will get a $1 million freeroll championship event within the league on 6th September, 14th December, and 9th February. The final championship will take place on 13th February. A charity event will precede each main event.

September 3, 2011

Online Gaming Regulations Drawn Up By Nevada

Filed under: Casino — Tags: , , — OCE News @ 12:00 am

The Nevada Gaming Control Board has created the first draft of a bill, setting out regulations that would control intrastate interactive gaming. This announcement comes after California’s move to leave its intrastate bill until 2012 and Phil Hellmouth’s comments concerning district-only online gaming as put forward by Washington D.C.

The Bill

The New Regulation 5A framework focuses on issues concerning licensing, internal controls, application requirements, rules for self-exclusion, dispute resolution, and registration layout. Other amendments have been made, but these were only due to the need to add language that was specific to Internet gambling.

Some of the items are:

• The age at which an individual can legally gamble online is to be 21.
• In order to pay for compliance investigations, licensees will need to maintain a $20,000 revolving fund.
• At a given operator, a player can only use one account and has to use his or her real name.
• To deposit funds, a player may use a credit card.
• Players are not allowed to take part in inter-account transfers.
• The operator is bound to keep hand histories for five years.
• Operators are expected to put measures in place to prevent bots from being used in games.

Although no provision has been put in the regulations, which says that online gambling would only be confined within Nevada, it can be assumed that this is the situation. However, this would not be the case if the federal government puts out a legislation stating that Internet gambling is legal throughout the nation.

On 26th September, a regulatory workshop will take place that will be open to the public. In this workshop, people will be able to put forward their own revisions.

Current Support

“The technology supporting (Internet poker), while not perfect, has improved dramatically since its introduction,” Mark Lipparelii, the Gaming Control Board Chairman, said. “Similar to our land-based requirements, Nevada will establish high standards, giving players as much confidence as possible in the entities and technologies that might eventually gain approval.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee in Nevada passed Assembly Bill 258 in May, which meant that the Nevada Gaming Commission was able to develop an online gaming regulatory framework. A follow-up to this can be seen in the New Regulation 5A.

Intrastate Regulations

A number of states, which includes California, have been working to draw up bills for intrastate Internet gaming. This has been done to ensure that their state governments receive an influx of revenue. Although the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act 2006 was aimed at stopping money moving between the United States and online poker rooms based abroad, thereby slowing down online gambling, the legislation does provide a state the option to legalize and draw up regulations for online gambling within their own borders.

However, Phil Hellmouth saw this as a major issue regarding intra-district plans drawn up by Washington D.C., concerning Internet gaming. He put forward that due to the fact there will not be enough people available to play, many tables will be left empty.

September 1, 2011

New Coalition In Support Of Legalizing Online Poker

Filed under: Casino — Tags: , , — OCE News @ 12:00 am

A new support group has now joined the campaign to legalize online poker: FairPlay USA. It was set up with the aim to persuade the Congress that a regulatory structure should be created, which will allow U.S. citizens to bet legally on online poker games. The group also seeks more clarification on what is legal and what is not for players.

The new coalition, which is based in Washington DC, has managed to attract a number of important advisers, including Tom Ridge who was a former Pennsylvania Governor as well as Homeland Security chief.

The Petition

Marisa McNee, FairPlay’s Executive Director, said “We are not doing lobbying of any kind; we are doing outreach trying to educate the public and Congress on the need to reform federal Internet gambling laws.”

The petition featured on the group’s website asks for issues concerning offshore Internet gambling to be looked into, establishment of an appropriate regulatory system, and better law enforcement tools to gain control over illegal sites.

Past Attempts

A Republican-sponsored bill, known as the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act, was passed by the Congress in 2006 in an attempt to take control over U.S. Internet gambling. It did so by preventing payment processors, for example, PayPal and credit card companies, from dealing with payments from online bets. However, it appears that this has had little impact on the problem. It also puts American citizens in the danger of fraud, as most gambling sites are based abroad.

A federal crackdown ensued on 15th April in which indictments were released against a number of online companies, including Absolute Poker, PokerStars and FullTilt Poker. On 24th May, 10 poker sites were closed down and 11 bank accounts seized in Baltimore.

However, despite this, online poker games are still readily available for American gamblers. PokerScout.com keeps track of 49 of the top poker sites and reported that nine of the websites allow U.S. citizens to sign up.

The Barton Bill

A bill has been introduced by U.S. Republican Joe Barton. The bill calls for the legalization of online gambling, but only in states that allow it. It also encourages the U.S. Department of Commerce to put together licensing and agencies, which would offer consumer protection.

McNee explained that FairPlay does not have a position concerning the Barton bill. It supports the legalization of online poker, but has not considered other types of online gaming.

Current Support

Although McNee was unwilling to provide information on donations from Las Vegas gaming companies, she did state that FairPlay had received funding from Caesars Entertainment Corp and MGM Resorts.

Senior Vice President of Public Affairs at MGM Resorts, Alan Feldman, said, “There is a need for advocates from varied points of view. We are certainly supportive of their efforts to bring in law enforcement and Internet security experts.”

He added that MGM Resorts would prefer a federal legislation: “A state-by-state solution is chock-full of problems. It’s not what is needed now. A state-by-state solution calls out more for a federal response to the issue.”

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