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Malaysia The Home Ministry in Malaysia believes that online gambling has become a problem, and they are leading the fight against the form of entertainment. Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein is taking his battle against online casinos worldwide.

“This operation will be led by me personally because this involves many agencies such as the police, Bank Negara, and embassies of other countries,” said Hishammudindin at a press conference in Parliament, “We are looking at tackling crime overall, and an operation like this can at once cover four or five issues.”

Some of the things that he is attempting to curb are illegal money laundering and organized crime. They are both areas of crime that have been linked with unregulated online gambling.

“Like many world leaders, including the US, countries believe that making online gambling illegal is a step towards less crime,” said observer Larry Trells, “but in reality, it is the countries where online casinos are legal and regulated where crime is at its lowest percentage.”

The police in Malaysia have already been hard at work cracking down on illegal gambling. Over 2,900 raids have been made between January and May, and those raids netted over 2,600 arrests.

Hishammuddin believes he needs the help of many leaders around the world to tackle the online gambling problem, but he may have a hard time finding allies. Many countries have been moving towards legalizing online casinos rather than outlawing them.

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The tiny Caribbean online gambling domicile of Antigua and Barbuda have been hit hard these past few months by allegations that Texas billionaire Allen Stanford ran a "massive Ponzi scheme" from that island nation.   Antigua’s top financial regulator has also been implicated.  As a result, Antigua and its Gaming Directorate remain on media lockdown.

"They won’t talk to anybody," said a reporter for Gambling911.com who attempted to visit their offices this week while in Antigua.

The situation has given the country a black eye.

Reports surfaced in early February 2009 that the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Florida Office of Financial Regulation, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, a major U.S. private-sector oversight body, were investigating Stanford’s company Stanford Financial Group, questioning the means by which Stanford International Bank manages consistently to make higher-than-market returns to its depositors. The FBI raided three of Stanford’s offices in Houston, Memphis, and Tupelo, Mississippi.  On February 27, 2009, the SEC amended its complaint to describe the alleged fraud as a "massive Ponzi scheme.  He was arrested by the FBI on June 18, 2009. Stanford ran one of the biggest banks in Antigua.

Leroy King, 63, the former head of Antigua’s financial services regulatory commission, was also charged for allegedly taking bribes from Stanford. He was subsequently fired from his post.

Antigua was one of the first nations to legalize, license and regulate online gaming.  In recent years, the island nation has been at odds with the United States over the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act, whereby the U.S. prohibits most forms of online gambling.  Antigua filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization. 

In 2007, a WTO panel found that the U.S. had failed to comply with its 2005 ruling that required it to either shut down remote gaming within in the United States or open its market to Antigua.

Since this time, Antigua has been in negotiations with the U.S. but it is unclear how the Stanford matter will impact future talks.

Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher

Busy With The Economy The economic crisis has taken top priority in the US and it is unfortunate for the online gaming community that their chief ally in Congress is the head of the US House Financial Services Committee.

The Committee head, Representative Barney Frank, introduced legislation that would have put an end to the Unlawful Internet gambling Enforcement Act. The bill, HR 2267, also would have laid the groundwork for legalized and regulated Internet gambling in the US.

That legislation has now been delayed thanks to the more pressing issues the Committee is dealing with. It appears now, according to the Poker Players Alliance, that the Bill will not be discussed until September at the earliest.

This is bad news for online casinos that have been positioning themselves to make a move back into the US market. Several big gaming companies have settled cases with the US in hopes of returning once the current laws are changed.

Rep. Frank has received growing support for his online gambling legislation. To date, he has thirty-five co-sponsors for the Bill. The remarkable part of the co-sponsors is that they are from both sides of the aisle.

Lawmakers are understanding that the public wants the right to gamble online. Many of these lawmakers have swapped positions since they voted the UIGEA into law, while others who had a minimal opinion now believe legalized online gambling is necessary in the US.

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As we all know, Congressman Barney Frank of the House Financial Services Committee introduced a bill to overturn the anti-gambling law, the UIGEA, unfortunately the economic crisis has thrown a monkey in the works, because the voting for the law is delayed.

The Bill, HR2267, the Internet Gambling Regulation & Consumer Protection Enforcement Act (IGRCPEA), will license and regulate online casino gambling in the US. Since the bill was introduced in May, the legislation has gathered support from various politicians, Barney Frank now has 35 co-sponsors for his proposal to regulate online gambling. The online casino industry had high hopes for the bill, but now disappointment kicks in, as voting for the bill was postponed until September 2009. A spokesperson for Barney Frank said the hearing for the bill is delayed until the autumn because of excessive workload on legislation urgently needed to address the economic crisis and the administration’s measures to correct it. It seems unlikely the bill will be voted on before September. That does not mean however, that the fight to overturn the unfair anti-gambling UIGEA is over, another fighter against the law is the iMEGA, on July the 7th they have a court case against the UIGEA with the Court of Appeals. iMEGA’s point of view in the case, is mainly concerned around the unconstitutionality of the UIGEA and the vagueness of the rules of UIGEA for the people to understand. If this case will not hold up in court, the wait for the battle to continue will be until September.

Gambling911.com is monitoring 2009 Wimbledon betting odds.  Both Venus and Serena Williams are favorites to win among the ladies.  Both promise a payout around US$250 for every US$100 bet.

Venus Williams hasn’t lost in the tournament since the third round in 2006.  That loss came at the hands of one Jelena Jankovic. She will face Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland in the first round.

Venus is looking far beyond this month’s Wimbledon play towards the 2012 Olympics.

"I want to play the (2012) Olympics here," the American told reporters on Sunday, referring to the Games tennis event which will be held at Wimbledon.

"It’s really not that far off. It’s just, what, three years. So I definitely would love to be playing the Olympics here and representing, going for more golds."

Right now, Serena has the opportunity to equal Billie Jean King’s tally of six Wimbledon singles titles.  With this in mind, Wimbledon betting odds on Serena paying out US$260 for every US$100 bet at Sportingbet might very well be a bargain.

Serena, meanwhile, played Monday in the first round.  The 2002 and 2003 champion enjoyed a "not so spectacular" 6-1, 7-5 victory.

But a win is a win nonetheless.

"I thought I could have played a ton better, especially on key points," Williams said. "And I feel like hopefully, as the tournament goes on and progresses, I’ll get there."

Those residing in the US can place their bets with BetUS.com

—

Alistair Prescott

It’s been over two weeks since news first broke on the Gambling911.com website that the US Government had froze funds belonging to online poker giants:  PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.   The headaches continue for many of the two companies customers. 

We later learned that $40 million and up has been seized from payment processors dealing exclusively with PokerStars and Full Tilt.

The topic of discussion throughout this month has related to the time frame in order to get reimbursed for the initial bad checks sent out earlier.

"I withdrew money from Full tilt when all this happened and have contacted them twice about and all I get is messages saying they are looking into it. It’s BS," commented one angry Full Tilt Poker customer on the Gambling911.com website.

The nature of the indictments is not yet known since they have been sealed.  

Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher 

BANNED gambling addict Harry Kakavas told Crown casino he had information about a murder and the manufacture of counterfeit gaming chips, the Supreme Court heard.

Former Victoria Police deputy commissioner Bill Horman – Crown’s long-time community affairs officer – said Mr Kakavas raised the claims in telephone conversations and meetings in late 1998.

Mr Horman told the court he offered Mr Kakavas the name of a police detective he could speak to, but Mr Kakavas declined.

Neil Young, QC, for the casino, told Justice David Harper the conversations showed Mr Horman and Mr Kakavas discussed a range of issues before his return to the casino – but not his addiction to gambling.

Mr Kakavas was not asked about the conversations when he gave evidence last week.

Mr Horman said several meetings with Mr Kakavas were at the private offices of casino developer and Hudson Conway supremo Lloyd Williams.

It was also claimed that Mr Horman made two visits to see Mr Kakavas at the Fulham Prison, near Sale, where he was serving four months’ jail for fraud.

"He made no complaint or comment about his gambling," said Mr Horman.

Mr Kakavas, a multi-millionaire Gold Coast property developer, is suing Crown claiming they lured him back to Melbourne with cash incentives and the use of a luxury jet.

He had previously signed a self-exclusion order banning him from the Southbank venue for life.

He is seeking about $35 million in gambling losses and damages.

The civil trial before Justice Harper continues today.

Michael Warner, Herald Sun        

The eCheck option from two major online poker rooms disappeared Thursday, making deposit of funds into both sites difficult during a time when poker traffic generally heats up (with the World Series of Poker underway).

PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker both have removed the eCheck option from their respective websites.

Hello,

Thank you for contacting PokerStars.

Due to processing problems, our eCheck option is currently unavailable.

Please try using another deposit method to fund your PokerStars account. If you would like information on any of our other deposit options, please visit:

http://www.pokerstars.com/realmoney.html

We are sorry for the inconvenience this may cause you.

Thank you for playing at PokerStars.

Regards,

Travis G
PokerStars Support

From 4Flush.com:

Players are still able to play poker at both Pokerstars and Full Tilt Poker, the trouble seems to just be in moving the money. In fact, there’s more… there are reports of PokerStars checks not going through at banks, in fact, check holders that contacted stars about the problem were reportedly asked not to attempt to cash the checks again until further notice.

Advertisement:  Get a 110 percent free cash bonus when you join Doylesroom.com today. 

Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher  

Slots Extravaganza Every once in a while an online casino offers a free slot tournament. At some casinos, such as Golden Casino and Online Vegas, they offer weekly free tournaments. Golden Casino, however, is taking free slot tournaments to a new level.

In the month of June, every single tournament that is run at Golden Casino will be free to enter. If that seems crazy in this age when casinos are constantly clamoring for as much revenue as they can get their hands on, it is because it is crazy.

The casino has not scaled back their tournaments, either. There are just as many tournaments being run as in every other month, and the payouts are still grand. It is truly a promotion that people are talking about.

“I have been playing at online casinos for years, and I have never seen a casino that offers free tournaments for the entire month,” said online player Walt Bergen, “It looks like I am going to be playing a lot of slots in June.

Already the first of the free tournaments has begun, starting this past Monday. This weekend, two tournaments will begin on Friday, one that will end on Tuesday, and another that will end on Wednesday.

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