Monthly Archives: April 2015

How Sheldon Adelson Made Las Vegas Sands an Empire

Yet although the early 1950s era property has long since joined many of its peers in making way for more modern casino resorts on the Strip, Las Vegas Sands has prospered, and much of its progress over the past quarter-century stems from the efforts of the company’s Chairman, CEO, and major shareholder, Sheldon Adelson. Let’s take a closer look at the role that Adelson has played in turning Las Vegas Sands into a global force in the gaming industry.

Mystery Lottery Winner Bought $1 Million Powerball Ticket in Columbia

The owners of two $1 million Powerball tickets sold in Maryland remain at large nearly two months after the drawings, according to Maryland Lottery officials. Richburn Discount Liquors , at 6030 Foreland Garth in Columbia, sold a second-tier winning ticket for the drawing on Wednesday, Feb. 25. The liquor store received $2,500 for selling the winning ticket.

Photos: Hospital Home Lottery winners

Eight years after Saskatoon Light and Power first floated the notion of installing a hydroelectric generator at the weir and four years after the notion was shelved because of budget constraints, a new… Don’t expect to see oil prices climb back to the $100 per barrel range anytime soon, says BMO Private Banking’s chief investment strategist. By Kristen Odland Calgary Herald Rewind the clock a year ago, maybe two, and try to find some type of significance to Game No.

Plaintiffs Suing Texas Lottery Operator Now Number Nearly 1,000 Seeking $508 Million

The legal case against GTECH Corporation, the operator of the Texas Lottery, entered another phase on April 7 when the plaintiffs, who filed a lawsuit in December 2014, filed a second amended petition accusing the company of fraud. And now the plaintiffs, who were originally a group of 250 lottery players who alleged that GTECH duped them, has now grown to number nearly 1,000 lottery players.

Burnley – Arsenal Betting: Back Wenger's men to cruise past the Clarets

Sean Dyche’s side have stopped some of the Premier League’s big guns at Turf Moor, but our tipster is backing the Gunners to lead at both half-time and full-time on Saturday Burnley claimed a crucial point in their battle to beat the drop when they held Tottenham to a goalless draw at Turf Moor last weekend and Sean Dyche’s side face another tough assignment when they line up against Spurs’ north London rivals, Arsenal, on Saturday. Arsene Wenger’s side have won each of their last seven Premier League fixtures to move up to second in the table and, with leaders Chelsea not in action until Sunday, the Gunners have a chance to reduce the gap at the top to just four points with a win against the Clarets.

Italy’s online gambling market flat in 2014 despite World Cup, new betting options

Italy‘s online gambling market was basically flat in 2014, despite the addition of new sports betting options.

The fifth annual study of Italy’s regulated online gambling market by the Milan Polytechnic says total revenue in 2014 came to €728m, up just 0.4% from the year before. The government’s share of this bounty rose 1% to €167m. Mobile wagering accounted for 14% of total revenue, twice the figure from 2013.

Sports betting rose 11% to €214m thanks to the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the introduction of exchange betting and the ongoing expansion of other sports wagering options. The relaxation of restrictions on in-play wagers in the last quarter of 2014 is credited with boosting the year’s sports betting revenue by nearly €23m.

Online slots rose 27% to €147m while casino table games fell 10% to €110m. Online poker revenue fell 20% to €178m, the third consecutive year of declines, as cash games fell 21% to €108m and tournament revenue was down 18% to just under €70m. Other verticals ranked as follows: bingo (€27.1m), virtual betting (€10m), horseracing (€9.9m), skill games (€9.3m) and online lotteries (€5.5m)

Premium bonds: are the lottery-style bonds a good investment?

Premium bonds are one of Britain’s favourite ways to save, with more than A 52 billion currently held in the lottery-style system. “Anyone saving for less than five years should ditch ISAs, forget the stock market and just stick their cash in these 60-year-old national investments,” says The Daily Telegraph ‘s Dan Hyde.

Romania lottery, Intralot subsidiary under investigation over illegal slots

Romania’s national lottery is bracing for a potential scandal that could ensnare a local subsidiary of Greek gaming technology firm Intralot.

On Wednesday, Reuters reported that Romanian prosecutors had launched an investigation of Loteria Romana CNLR and Intralot subsidiary Lotrom SA. The investigation is focusing on the use of 6,264 slot machines prosecutors believe were operating without license or authorization between 2006 and 2014.

Prosecutors have suggested the illegal slots could have deprived the state of 463.4m lei (US $111m) in tax revenue during that time span, although they cautioned that the sum was a “preliminary” number. Prosecutors have yet to publicly reveal the names of any individuals deemed to be persons of interest in the investigation.

Prosecutors claimed to have frozen the bank accounts of the two companies under investigation. Neither company has made a public statement on the investigation but Loteria Romania told Reuters its financial accounts hadn’t been blocked.

Dan Bilzerian to Host Poker Event Featuring Giraffes 

Poker bad boy Dan Bilzerian who’s recent BLM public service announcement effort seemed to come across as underwhelming for audiences everywhere is now looking to give something back. Later this month he plans to host a charity tournament in his luxury Hollywood Hills mansion. Announced earlier this week, the charity poker tournament will be part of a […]

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8 Legal Challenges Of Major League Baseball’s New ‘Daily Fantasy Sports’ Partnership With DraftKings

8 Legal Challenges Of Major League Baseball’s New ‘Daily Fantasy Sports’ Partnership With DraftKings

Forbes: By Mark Edelman

Last Friday, Major League Baseball announced that it has become an investor in the “daily fantasy sports” website DraftKings — ending a nearly a 95 year period during which Major League Baseball opposed anything even roughly associated with sports gambling. It is now rumored by the Wall Street Journal that Walt Disney DIS +0.17% may join Major League Baseball as an equity investor in DraftKings as early as this Friday.

For Major League Baseball, its newest investment in “daily fantasy sports” provides a desirable opportunity to potentially profit from a rapidly emerging marketplace. Nevertheless, this investment is also fraught with eight legal challenges that Major League Baseball should address upon taking this new equity stake:

1. Does DraftKings operate in any states where all of its contests are illegal? Currently, DraftKings disallows participants from entering its games in five states where it perceives the gambling law risks as most elevated: Arizona, Louisiana, Iowa, Montana, and Washington. However, there are other states where operating “daily fantasy sports” seems to be a very high risk activity. For example, statutory law in the State of Tennessee seems to disallow contests that involve any chance whatsoever. The same may be true under Arkansas common law. Nevertheless, DraftKings (much like its rival, FanDuel) still operates in both of these states.

2. Does DraftKings do enough to block users in these impermissible states? The publicly traded sportsbook, the William Hill Co. recognizes that it is so critical that those based on U.S. soil not access their website that they use Internet Protocol Tracking Technology to prevent those based in America from even getting to the website’s front page. To ensure legal compliance in the states that clearly disallow play-for-cash fantasy sports, DraftKings may wish to implement Internet Protocol Tracking Technology to block the entirety of its website from users – thus preventing any mistake or confusion about legality of accepting money from such states.

3. Does DraftKings operate any contests that are illegal in their entirety? DraftKings currently offers ”daily fantasy sports” contests in individual sports such as golf even though these contests are based in their entirety on player performance within a single tournament. The decision to offer daily fantasy golf seems imprudent because even the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act’s narrow carve-out for “fantasy or simulation sports” requires that the contest results emerge from accumulated player statistics in “multiple real-world sporting or other events.” A single golf tournament reasonably may not constitute a multiple events under this definition, and thus DraftKings’s version of fantasy golf should face a heightened risk of criminal challenge. (Note: as I recently told Golf.com, this problem could easily be fixed by combining two golf tournaments; however, DraftKings has simply failed to do this).

 

Full credit to Forbes.com – seen here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/marcedelman/2015/04/08/8-legal-challenges-of-major-league-baseballs-new-daily-fantasy-sports-partnership/