Monthly Archives: February 2015

Opponents of off-reservation casino measure far outspent supporters

Elaine Bethel Fink, center, chairwoman of the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians, stands with tribe secretary Katrina Lewis, left, and treasurer Maryann McGovran in a field near Madera where they had supported construction of a casino. Elaine Bethel Fink, center, chairwoman of the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians, stands with tribe secretary Katrina Lewis, left, and treasurer Maryann McGovran in a field near Madera where they had supported construction of a casino.

University of Wyoming Student's Death is Still a Mystery

The Laramie Police Department is continuing its investigation into the death of 18-year-old University of Wyoming Student, Triston Harvey of Gillette, Wyoming. Laramie Police Officers responded to the 1700 block of Person for the report of a male subject not breathing on January 31, 2015 at approximately 4:45 am.

Caesars asks judge to ‘suspend’ Delaware bankruptcy filing, hires new AML chief

Casino operator Caesars Entertainment has asked an Illinois judge to “suspend” an involuntary bankruptcy petition filed by disgruntled junior creditors. Caesars is attempting to thwart these creditors from disrupting the planned reorganization of its heavily indebted main unit, Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. (CEOC).

The junior creditors filed in Delaware on Jan. 12 and Caesars made its own bankruptcy filing in Chicago three days later. Last week, US Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross ruled that Chicago was the appropriate venue to handle the proceedings. However, Gross declined to rule on the official start date of the bankruptcy, which has ramifications for whether junior creditors can challenge certain financial sweeteners Caesars offered senior creditors for signing on to its reorganization plan.

CEOC is struggling under the weight of around $18.4b in debt incurred when Caesars’ hedge fund owners took the company private in 2008. Caesars has proposed reforming CEOC as a real estate investment trust, a plan that has won the approval of a majority of senior creditors. US Bankruptcy Judge A. Benjamin Goldgar in Chicago has set a Feb. 11 hearing to consider Caesars’ request to suspend the Delaware filing.

Caesars also announced it had “potentially” agreed to allow an independent examiner to consider the legality of Caesars’ controversial pre-bankruptcy asset transfers. Junior creditors have accused Caesars of ‘looting’ CEOC of most of its value by transferring profitable assets – including the company’s interactive division – to other Caesars’ spinoffs (and out of creditors’ reach). Last month, a federal judge described these transfers as an “impermissible” violation of the federal Trust Indenture Act of 1939.

In a filing on Monday, Caesars claimed that any examination of its asset transfers would determine that they were fairly done. However, Caesars said the asset transfers would first be thoroughly investigated by the official creditors’ committee. As such, Caesars asked the court to give CEOC and creditors the opportunity to structure the scope of such an examination.

CAESARS HIRE NEW ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING WATCHDOG

Finally, Casears announced it had hired a new anti-money laundering (AML) compliance chief. In a statement to Reuters, Caesars announced it had hired Benjamin Floyd as its new senior VP for AML compliance. Floyd, who began his new job in January, formerly held a similar position with Wal-Mart.

WSOP 2015 Event Schedule Unveiled as World Series of Poker Takes Live Reporting In-House

WSOP 2015 may be less than four months away, but it’s light years from where it used to be, metaphorically speaking. Hoping to attract fresh blood and more amateur poker players, the event series has announced quite a few changes in events and structures, as well as a new way of delivering live reporting throughout. […]

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Cash 5 ticket worth $600K sold at business in Lower Swatara Twp., lottery officials say

A Cash 5 ticket worth $600,000 was recently sold at a business in Lower Swatara Township, the Pennsylvania Lottery announced Tuesday. A ticket that had the winning numbers for the $600,000 jackpot in Monday night’s Cash 5 drawing was recently sold at a business in Lower Swatara Township, the Pennsylvania Lottery announced Tuesday.

Singapore blocks hundreds of online gambling sites; IBCBet rebrands as MAXBET

As promised, Singapore began blocking unauthorized online gambling sites on Monday (2) in keeping with the restrictions of its new Remote Gambling Act (RGA). On Tuesday, a spokesperson from Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs told Agence France Press that the city-state’s digital guardians had succeeded in blocking “several hundred” online gambling sites from accessing their Singapore customers.

In addition to blocked sites, Singapore’s financial institutions have begun blocking money transfers to and from unauthorized sites. The Monetary Association of Singapore has ordered the Association of Banks in Singapore to ensure compliance with the RGA, which was approved by legislators in October. The RGA mandates harsh penalties for anyone caught flouting its restrictions, be they operators, gamblers or middlemen.

The RGA allows exemptions for certain local online operators who make significant contributions to local charitable/social causes. Lottery/betting operator Singapore Pools and race betting operator Turf Club have each previously indicated that they will apply for exemptions within the designated six-month window.

The list of blocked websites will be continually updated but not made public. Among the sites currently being blocked is IBCBet, which had already begun purging its Singaporean customers just days after the RGA’s passage. Other Asian online betting giants like SBObet are also confirmed to be on the naughty list.

Meanwhile, IBCBet has informed all its customers that it will soon be operating under the new MAXBET brand. A notice posted to the IBCBet site this weekend announced the launch of Maxbet.com, which “will soon replace www.ibcbet.com.” The notice said IBCBet will remain functional “for now” and login details remain the same for the new MAXBET site. Customers were told to expect emails detailing the change.

The Philippines-licensed IBCBet is considered one of the biggest Asian-facing online betting sites with a high brand profile, so the desire to rebrand is puzzling. However, the company garnered a lot of unwanted publicity via the arrest of Paul Phua last July in Las Vegas on charges of illegal online sports betting. Prosecutors claimed that Phua’s son Darren told them his father was a majority owner of IBCBet, although other reports have indicated that Phua sold the majority of his stake in the company years ago.

$3 Million More in U.S. Full Tilt Payments Expected in March

BIG:A;bout 3,500 U.S. online poker players are expected to receive roughly $3 million by the end of next month in the ongoing Full Tilt remission process.

Approximately 3,100 of those players previously provided inaccurate information to claims administrator Garden City Group (GCG), according to a 2 + 2 post by Poker Players Alliance executive director John Pappas. The remaining 400 will be the first wave of players to receive reimbursement from the “disputed balances” category.

That’s only about 1/4 of the players whose balances did not jibe with the GCG and DOJ, leaving roughly 1,200 more to wait for the next wave of payments, whenever that may be. The 400 “disputed balances” players set to be reunited with their cash next month are those whose conflicts consisted of lesser amounts – under $500, or disputes that amounted to 20% or less of the total balances.

Apparently, the GCG still need to review the majority of disputed claims, likely a tedious task considering the phantom deposits and mismanagement discovered at Full Tilt.

Judge Says Evidence "Tainted" in Paul Phua Illegal Gambling Case

Whilst I doubt Paul Phua and son Darren Phua will walk away from U.S soil scot-free, their punishment is set to be a lot less painful than was first originally thought after a U.S. Judge ruled that the bulk of the evidence used against them was inadmissible.

In a ruling that stretched 32 pages long, U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Leen said that FBI agents used false and misleading information to obtain the search warrants that eventually led to the arrests of eight people in connection with an illegal sports betting ring said to have focused on the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Q:The investigators’ suspicions that Phua was engaged in illegal sports betting at Caesars Palace may be borne out by the evidence recovered in the execution of the warrant, “ Leen said in a non-binding recommendation to a District Judge.” However, a search warrant is never validated by what its execution recovers.”;

It’s believed the FBI agents’ post-arrest reports failed to include the quite important point that the agents themselves deliberately sabotaged Internet access in the Caesars Palace villas before entering the premises dressed as Cable Guys full of covert surveillance equipment.

Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2014 Results

Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. , the first gaming-focused REIT in North America, today announced results for the quarter and full year ended December 31, 2014. The guidance figures in the tables above present the guidance provided on October 28, 2014, for the three months and year ended December 31, 2014.