Dr. Mark Griffiths, a professor at Nottingham Trent University said that his research project “The internet gambling: A secondary analysis of findings from the 2007 British Gambling Prevalence Survey” was based on data from the current British Gambling Prevalence Survey. He claimed that this showed that the level of problem gambling among those who had used the internet to gamble, some 5 percent of those surveyed, was ten times higher than that among those who did not.

“This study’s findings suggest that the medium of the internet may be more likely to contribute to problem gambling than gambling in offline environments,” Professor Griffiths observed. “It is clear that gaming companies need to acknowledge they will need to provide even better social responsibility infrastructures online than offline to minimise the harm to problem gamblers.”

The British Gambling Prevalence Survey study on which Griffiths based his findings used data from a survey of 9 003 adults aged 16 years and over who had gambled online and/or used a betting exchange in the last 12 months. The research was done in collaboration with the National Centre for Social Research and Professor Jim Orford of the University of Birmingham, and was funded by the UK Gambling Commission.

Griffiths touched on finding solutions for problem gamblers, saying: “There is also the issue of how internet problem gamblers can be helped. Recent research suggests that online problem gamblers appear to prefer to seek help online, therefore online help, guidance and treatment may be a potential way forward to help those who may feel too stigmatised to seek traditional face-to-face help for their gambling problems.”

The United Games deal is Bwin’s first venture into the MMOG market, and it gives the Austrian casino gambling group access to a UG playerbase of over 17 million players in 178 countries.

“UnitedGames brings a lot of interesting technology and know-how to the relationship and we look forward to taking online gaming to the next stage of evolution,” said Bwin co-chief executive Manfred Bodner this week.

United Games was founded in 2007 in the Netherlands, and provides localisation for its games including marketing, translations and community support.

“Bwin and UnitedGames are extraordinary partners and this combination will have a huge impact on the online gaming market,” UnitedGames chief executive Marijn Harinck commented.

Giggle Bingo players will have the option of playing in both fully networked and private bingo rooms, offering classic 90-ball and 75-ball Bingo, as well as slots, scratchcards and casino games, to maximise player entertainment.

Uniquely, the site offers the opportunity to interact on Giggle Bingo’s player community platform, comprising of several chat rooms, moderated by chat hosts all day and every day to facilitate a safe, fun and social bingo experience. New players to online bingo are also offered information about chat phrases and bingo etiquette to help them feel truly part of the interactive gaming experience from day one.

The marketing manager at Giggle Bingo comments: “As a new operator launching in the dynamic online Bingo sector, it was vital that our selected software partner embodied the creativity and ambition that lies at the heart of Giggle Bingo. Microgaming were the obvious software provider of choice in every respect, and we are delighted with the results of our partnership in bringing this new and compelling Bingo site to market. With Microgaming’s innovative software capability complimenting the site’s unrivalled new offers, promotions and social environment, we are confident that Giggle Bingo provides players with the ultimate Bingo experience.”

This year’s main casino event saw an increase in the HK $ 34 400 buy-in entrance field for the main event to 326 players (2008: 257 registrations), prompting APT CEO Chris Parker to comment: “One year ago we projected that we would get 300 runners for the Main Event so we are delighted with the turnout, especially in the current economic climate. It vindicates our decision to transform The Asian Poker Tour Macau into a 12 day festival.

“What is hugely encouraging is the growth of Asian players in the field, which bodes very well for the future. For example, on Day 1A just over 50 percent of the field was from Asia. We have also significantly increased the online qualifier contingent in comparison to 2008.”

The final table looked like this when the action started this weekend:

Seat 1: Casey Kastle (130,000)
Seat 2: Winfred Yu (61,000)
Seat 3: David Steicke (876,000)
Seat 4: J.C. Tran (444,000)
Seat 5: Adrien Allain (482,000)
Seat 6: Michael Woo (64,000)
Seat 7: Inwook Choi (934,000)
Seat 8: Chris Chau (143,000)
Seat 9: Crister Hallbrook (132,000)

As the low man on the chip counts, it was perhaps not surprising that Kastle was the first to head railwards after only ten minutes of play, earning $16 966 for his efforts. Within minutes, he was followed by Winfred Yu, eliminated in 8th for $26 112 by chip leader Inwook Choi.

Crister Hallbrook lasted a little longer before being busted out by Internet pro Adrien Allain in the seventh spot for $39 167, to be followed quickly by sixth-placed Michael Woo, who collected $52 223 from the cashier after being taken out - again by a rampant Allain.

Chris Chau went out in fifth place following a combination of hits from Allain and Inwook Choi, taking home $65 279 for his time and trouble.

After some exciting confrontations with J.C. Tran, David Steicke finally reached the end of the road in a clash with Choi which sent him to the rail in fourth place with a cheque for $91 378, leaving a threesome of Allain, Choi and JC Tran battling for superiority as went to press.

It was an exciting run, with Lykov generally mastering the field from Day 2 and online casinos dominating much of the action through to the brief heads up. The win brings the young Russian’s career winnings up to Euro 600 000.

Lykov intends entering many more EPT events with his expanded bankroll, providing more talent and daring for the railbirds in future events.

In a tournament that exhibited plenty of Slavic audacity and frequent all-ins, Vadim Markushevski from Belarus was the first casualty about an hour into the hectic action, bundled out by Dovzhenko. About half-an-hour later he was followed by German player Torsten Tent, who was sent home in 7th place with Euro 45 000 for his time and trouble after tangling with Lykov.

Lykov went on to take out Dutchman Ad Schaap, who’s sixth placing was worth Euro 60 000. Play settled down for several hours before the next elimination, that of Lucasz Plichta of Poland, who was busted out by Vitaly Tolokonnikov in fifth place for Euro 80 000. Fourth place elimination was Arthur Simonyan - another victim of Dovzhenko who picked up a Euro 100 000 cheque for the 4th spot.

Following the dinner break the three handed action really fired up, with Tolokonnikov taken out by Lykov for a third place reward of Euro 140 000, clearing the way to the Lykov vs. Dovzhenko heads up, with Lykov holding a 2 to 1 chip advantage.

That chip stack superiority and a bold, aggressive style of play overwhelmed Dovzhenko despite a determined resistance, giving the title, an entry into the Grand Final in Monte Carlo, the trophy and the Euro 330 000 to Lykov, and leaving his Ukrainian opponent with a second placing.

The agreement will see Netplay launch a new set of live betting products designed for land-based operations, with Stanleybet becoming the first retail distribution partner for the interactive company. The plan is to introduce the retail products initially in a hundred of Stanleybet’s 1 400 shops, where customers will be able to enjoy NetPlay’s classic branded live table games, such as Live Roulette, on dedicated terminals.

Netplay’s new B2B division headed by Guy Templer will handle the Stanleybet contract. Most of Stanleybet International’s outlets are in Italy, although the company also operates in Poland, Belgium and Germany.

“Over the past two and half years we have worked hard to perfect our live interactive casino gaming offering. Customers are now demanding more from their gaming experience and we are uniquely positioned to deliver the customer exactly what he or she needs,” said Martin Higginson, CEO of NetPlay TV plc.

“Our live interactive TV products beat their equivalent online games by a factor of more than six to one in revenue terms and generate player session lengths of over 90 minutes. This new deal with Stanleybet International is a significant milestone for the group. The move into supplying retail operators is a first for the company and opens up new global opportunities,” he said.

407 survivors from Day 4 started playing at noon Sunday with an average chip stack of 475 000, and a structure that called for five levels or no further than the elimination of 232 players. The action was immediately fast and furious, and five hours into the tournament well over fifty percent of the field had been eliminated. An hour later, after six hours of what had been anticipated would be a 10 hour day, Tournament Director Jack Effel decided that at 185 players and three levels, it was time to call it an early day.

Incidents of note were Phil Ivey’s precipitous decline down to only 220 000, and his equally remarkable come-back to end the day around 46th position with 1 380 000. He had to contend with some tough encounters with Elad Magidov, who finished in 26th place on 1 762 000.

Dutch player Noel Boeken had a good day, finishing 12th on 2 338 000, but the convincing chip leader at the start of Day 4, Bertrand Grospellier suffered a decline and ended the day in the 83rd spot on 973 000. British pro James Akenhead waved the flag for the UK and poker games, ending up in the top ten with 2 692 000.

Matt Affleck, the the University of Washington undergrad from Seattle who looked almost unassailable as he headed the field into Day 5, ended it in the 7th position on 2 882 000.

Actor Lou Diamond Phillips saw the end of his Main Event hopes, hanging on until the last hand of the day, when he went all in before the flop with pocket kings against two players, both with pocket aces. The board didn’t save him and he headed for the rail as the two players split the pot.

Seemingly appearing from nowhere after a disciplined and selectively aggressive performance, Warren Zackey ended Day 5 in the chip lead with 4 872 000, over 500 000 ahead of second placed surprise Kasper Cordes on 4 352 000.

Departing the Main Event on Day 5 were David Levi, Thor Hansen, Dan Harrington and Bobby Baldwin. Early knockouts included Jeff Kimber, Peter DeBaene, Thor Hansen, Sorel Mizzi, Sander Lylloff and Burt Boutin. Later eliminations included Nick Binger, Kara Scott - the only woman to cash in both the 2008 and 2009 WSOP Main Events, Dan Shak, Day 1 chipleader Amir Lehavot, Nick Schulman and Adam Sanders.

Among those who remain in the running are Phil Ivey, Ludovic Lacay, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Tom Schneider and James Akenhead. The field still has two remaining World Champions of poker – Joe Hachem and Peter Eastgate, and those reporting for duty on Day 6 will include Joe Sebok and Antonio Esfandiari.

The Top Twelve chip counts going into Day 6 are:

Warren Zackey 4,872,000
Kasper Cordes 4,352,000
Darvin Moon 3,218,000
Tom Schneider 3,168,000
Bernhard Perner 3,022,000
Miika Puumalainen 2,894,000
Matt Affleck 2,882,000
Charlie Elias 2,780,000
James Akenhead 2,692,000
Steven Begleiter 2,621,000
Eugene Katchalov 2,544,000
Noah Boeken 2,338,000

Average Stack for Day 5 action was 1,053,081.

The Post.ie reports that the case was heard in the Irish High Court last month after two Irish bookies, Seamus Mulvaney and Ellen Martin, launched libel proceedings against The Sporting Exchange Ltd, parent group of Betfair. The duo claimed that members on Betfair’s forum published defamatory comments about them.

Betfair argued that the 2003 Irish regulations implementing the 2001 European E-Commerce Directive, a law designed primarily to shield Internet Service Providers from liability arising from 3rd party content, protected it from the consequences of its forum users posting defamatory comments on its forums.

The High Court supported Betfair’s defence - and this is important - despite a clause in the directive that excluded gambling activities from protection. In noting that the message board was not part of the cpompanys core betting activities, the judge in the case, Mr Justice Frank Clarke said: “It follows that the gambling exclusion does not prevent Betfair from placing reliance on the E-Commerce Directive as a defence in these proceedings.”

The judge also found that a chat room was an ‘‘information society service’’ for the purpose of the regulations, so Betfair qualified as a ‘‘relevant service provider’’. Betfair was therefore entitled to the protection of the regulations, provided it could establish that it was unaware of the alleged defamation and took prompt action once the matter was brought to its attention.

Feidhlimidh Wrafter, one of Betfair’s legal team, said after the decision was handed down: “That’s really what the judgment’s saying, that gambling companies that operate a chatroom are now considered to be protected by the EU directive. It’s on appeal but it’s certainly a judgment that we’re very pleased with and we think it’s the right one.”

The High Court judge hearing the case found that Betfair was an intermediary service provider and therefore had limited liability because its chatroom was not core to the company’s main betting business. Betfair stored third party information on its servers and could therefore be defined as acting as a host in terms of the E-Commerce Directive, Mr Justice Frank Clarke ruled.

The plaintiffs are taking the case on appeal, and the ruling must therefore be regarded as a preliminary measure that simply confirms that the E-Commerce directive is an acceptable defence. Betfair will still have to show that it was unaware of the chatroom comments, and that it acted with reasonable alacrity in removing the defamatory material as soon as it became aware of its existence.

The case is likely to run on for over a year, given the full rolls in the Supreme Court where the appeal has been lodged.

The suspended official is Leroy King, head of the Antigua and Barbuda Financial Services Regulatory Commission to which the island’s Internet gambling regulators also report, and the damaging issue under consideration is an alleged pyramid banking scheme run by the larger-than-life Texas financier R. Allen Stanford (59).

Stanford gave himself up to US federal investigators Thursday, and an indictment unsealed on his arrest claims that he paid King more than $100 000 to conceal an elaborate Ponzi scheme that lured about 30 000 investors, according to reports in the Los Angeles Times. Stanford is being held in custody pending a hearing in Houston, Tx.

Federal prosecutors said the alleged bribes helped Stanford and colleagues conceal the scheme that pulled in many American investors and enabled Stanford to live the high life, sponsoring grandiose sports events and jetting around the world.

Stanford, three executives of his firm and King, are named in the indictment and accused of fraud and obstruction charges.

The indictment alleges that in 2005 the Securities and Exchange Commission began investigating Stanford Financial Group and making inquiries with Antigua’s financial regulators. The indictment alleges that King showed Stanford the SEC’s inquiries and once responded to the agency with material prepared by Stanford.

King, a dual citizen of Antigua and Barbuda and the U.S., has been suspended from his post. The U.S. is seeking his extradition from Antigua.

Also named in the 21-count indictment are Laura Pendergest-Holt, Stanford Financial’s chief investment officer; Gilberto Lopez, its chief accounting officer; and Mark Kuhrt, global controller of an affiliate.

James Davis, Stanford International Bank Ltd.’s chief financial officer, was charged in a separate fraud indictment.

Prosecutors said Stanford enticed about 30 000 investors, many in the U.S., with promises of unusually high interest on bank certificates, but in fact ran a scheme in which new investor money, instead of being invested as promised, was used to pay “profits” to earlier clients.

In February, the SEC filed a civil fraud complaint against Stanford, Davis and Pendergest-Holt. Stanford has denied any wrongdoing.

The Attorney General for Antigua, Justin Simon, has disclosed that the island government’s Cabinet will meet in the coming week to decide King’s future.

“Antigua and Barbuda’s offshore business activities (are) once again placed under intense international scrutiny, and this will clearly have adverse effects on the economy and raise questions about our regulatory legal framework,” Simon said, assuring the international community that an extensive internal investigation of King and the systems involved is already underway.

Moran notes that the majority of Americans gamble, most without doing harm to themselves, their families or their communities….but unfortunately, for approximately 3-4 percent of American adults, recreational gambling can become a problem.

The politician says that as state governments look for ways to boost revenues in these tough economic times, many are turning to legal gaming operations to expand the tax base.

“Based solely on the law of averages, this will in turn increase the number Americans struggling with gambling addiction,” Moran opines, adding that he has therefore introduced legislation titled the “Comprehensive Problem Gambling Act,” (HR 2906) which for the first time would devote federal resources to the research and treatment of problem gambling.

“The bill, supported by the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG), represents a long overdue federal commitment to address gambling addiction, whose social repercussions add up to more than $7 billion each year,” claims Moran.

Under the legislation the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) would be the lead agency tackling problem gambling. SAMSHA would conduct research, develop guidelines for effective prevention and treatment programs, and provide assistance to community-based gambling addiction services. In addition, the bill would establish a grant program to assist states and localities in administering prevention and treatment programs, to fund research efforts to better understand problem gambling, to develop effective treatment programs, and to support a national public awareness campaign.

“With the expansion of gambling operations, problem gambling will grow,” Moran concludes. “But, if at the same time, we ramp up local, state and federal commitments to combat this disease, we have an opportunity to keep it from getting out of hand.”