Issue 331
January 16 - January 22, 2007
Volume 7
page 2
 

Pinnacle Sports stops taking U.S. bets
By Aaron Todd


The world's largest online sportsbook just got a lot smaller.

Pinnacle Sports, which was founded in 1998, announced this morning that it is no longer accepting bets from customers located in the United States. Approximately 60-65 percent of Pinnacle's business has come from the U.S., according to Eye On Gambling.

The decision comes three months after President Bush signed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

"If (Internet gambling sites) have any kind of exposure in the United States, or if any of their executives are traveling in the United States, certainly they risk arrest and prosecution for violating the law," said David G. Schwartz, Director of the UNLV Center for Gaming Research.

Pinnacle gained enormous popularity among sports bettors by offering lines with reduced juice and $1 minimum wagers. The site also boasts to have "the highest maximum limits on the Web."

Since the UIGEA became law, the online sportsbook industry has been in flux. While publicly owned Internet sportsbooks such as Sportingbet, William Hill and Ladbrokes haven't taken U.S. bets since the bill was passed, most privately owned companies have continued to accept U.S. play.

Many of those privately held companies, however, have been involved in a series of buyouts and takeovers.

Sportsbook.com, formerly Sportingbet's U.S. facing sportsbook, was sold for $1 when President Bush signed the UIGEA and continues to accept U.S. customers. Bodog, which also continues to accept U.S. players, bought Betcorp and moved its offices to Antigua.

Despite all these shifts, Schwartz says the UIGEA hasn't had much impact on how much people gamble online. This decision by Pinnacle, however, will most likely have ripple effects on the Internet sports betting industry.

"It could either signal the departure of other firms, creating a chilling effect, or it could open the door for other people to come in and take the business that had been theirs," said Schwartz.

Schwartz, however, doesn't think that the move will decrease overall Internet gambling, nor will it affect the sports betting industry in Las Vegas.

"A lot of the people who come to Vegas recreationally aren't necessarily the serious sports bettors who are betting online," Schwartz said. "A pretty big percentage of them are people who are just coming in and placing futures bets for the Cubs to win the World Series or something like that; or, they just happen to be in Vegas for the weekend and they're betting. I think most of the people who are betting online are fairly serious about it."

 

 

 

 

 



Smoking bans costly for casinos
As reported by The Press of Atlantic City

ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey - As reported by The Press of Atlantic City: "At Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, fresh air is pulled in three times an hour by the building's massive ventilation system.

"…Borgata and other casinos in town have spent millions of dollars on high-tech ventilation systems and fancy 'smokeless' gaming tables and ashtrays to protect their customers and employees from harmful smoke.

"Now they are facing the possibility that much of the money will have been wasted — and the special equipment will be unneeded — when Atlantic City's proposed casino smoking ban takes effect in April.

" …'Obviously, they're going to have to take a look at things that will make smoking less intrusive than it was, which includes a simple inventory of ashtrays. One thing to be answered is whether casinos will continue to sell cigarettes and other tobacco products,' said Harvey Perkins of Spectrum Gaming Group.

"…Casinos oppose a smoking ban. They have repeatedly pointed to a study, commissioned by the Casino Association of New Jersey, that estimates gaming revenue will plummet 20 percent and 3,400 jobs will be lost in Atlantic City because smokers will flee to other gaming markets where they are not outlawed.

"…Most if not all of Atlantic City's 11 casinos voluntarily set aside nonsmoking areas on their gaming floors years ago. Borgata, for instance, says a little more than half of its casino floor is smokefree…"

S.C. lawmaker prooses legalizing poker
As reported by The South Carolina Star News

SOUTH CAROLINA – As reported by the South Carolina Star News: "A state lawmaker wants to revamp South Carolina's gambling laws to legalize in-house poker games.

"Rep. Wallace Scarborough, R-Charleston, is drafting legislation to permit the games as long as they are done under the heading of 'recreational activity.'

"The bill, still in the early stages of development, would be part of an overall effort to update the state's 200-year-old gaming laws, which some say technically prohibits card and dice games and even some common board games like Monopoly.

"…The proposal comes after a raid last in Mount Pleasant that ended with a 28-year-old man being charged with operating a gambling establishment. Nathan Stallings pleaded guilty Friday in a deal that cost him $747 in fines and court costs, but lets him avoid jail time…"

 

 

Brooks & Dunn

Mohegan Sun : Brooks & Dunn have been a major force in country music since their breakthrough album Brand New Man appeared in 1991, and gave them five singles that went all the way to the top of the charts. Inside of four years it gained quintuple-platinum status. Their most recent album released in 2005 Hillbilly Deluxe generated hit singles such as “Play Something Country” and “Believe.” The success and accolades for this group just keep coming. Brooks and Dunn are the best-selling duo in country music today, and the second best-selling duo of all time after Simon and Garfunkel. In more than a decade of sustained popularity, the duo has captured a long string of awards from every major country music organization, winning the “Duo of the Year” award from both the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music in 2006.

Fantasiaid rise to fame came when she emerged as the winner of American Idol’s third season in 2004 with her stirring, soulful voice. Her debut album, Free Yourself, was a smash, and her eagerly-anticipated new album Dates: Saturday, Jan. 27, 2007
Time: 8:00 p.m.
Ticket Prices: $55 and $45
For more information: Official Web site

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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