Yale University and the University of Minnesota were recently named as the centers of excellence in gambling research. This title was given to the two stages colleges by the National Center for Responsible Gaming which formed in 1996 in Washington DC. Since its inception the center has granted over $7 million. Like the Yale and University of Minnesota, hailing from Connecticut and Minnesota respectively were granted the ability to continue their research involving gambling and casinos.

A recent press release stated that these two universities, “will employ a long-term, institutional approach to conducting innovative and multidisciplinary research and education programs about gambling disorders.”

The executive director for the Institute for research on Gambling Disorders, Christine Reilly presented the two universities with the funding for their centers. The reasoning for choosing these two schools was explained as such :“We sent the proposals to an independent committee that looked at scientific merits of each location’s study. The leaders at Yale and the University of Minnesota are two of the most successful researchers in the field, so it wasn’t a surprise,” said Reilly.

According to Reilly, “Both of these Centers are working with human subjects. It takes a while to find participants, collect data, and publish data. In general, it’s a slow process and we need to be supportive of them.”

Due to this complicated process and the challenges within the gambling industry, both schools will be given grants in the amount of $400,000. Each school has a designated faculty had that will oversee the projects. Yale University headed by Dr. Marc Potenza, and University of Minnesota research projects on gambling will be headed by Dr. Jon Grant.

“In 1996, the NCRG launched the first competitive grants program in the U.S. to fund research into gambling disorders, so the creation of the new Centers of Excellence is consistent with the organization’s pioneering legacy of supporting the highest-quality research in this field,” said Chairman of the NCRG, Glenn Christenson.

South Carolina is now breaking through a long history of anti-gambling in order to begin paving the way for a new future. Recently the Southern state of South Carolina has taken two giant leaps that will inspire a new vote to come about.

The South Carolina Judiciary Committee ratified a Senate Bill that will place the gambling bill in front of the full Senate by next year. The two bills were 535 and 628 and they passed by a vote of 12 to 8.

With the passage of Bill 535 non-profit organizations can participate in gambling by obtaining a license as long as ninety percent of the profits go to a charity.

The Bills have come about in order to overturn a law that launches in 1802 thereby prohibiting any games that included dice or cards. Under this law board games such as Monopoly would therefore be considered illegal.

Poker players were able to escape the gambling charge as Poker was deemed to be a game of skill, not of luck, therefore letting the five men charged with playing a home game go.

Due to recent economic decline, William Hill has now begun a “gradual withdrawl” from Victoria Apuestas. Based out of the United Kingdom, William Hill has joined with Codere gaming machine operator in order to open the Victoria Apuestas but now will be pulling out. William Hill has decided that Codere will be able to manage the venture from their homeland, while William Hill will continue to manage their own accounts closer to home.

Based out of Madrid, Victoria Apuestas first launched in April of 2008 and was the first company in Madrid to allow sportsbetting. As the partnership began, Ralph Topping, CEO of William Hill, commented, “Our development into Spain, in partnership with Codere, offers a natural expansion of our business and an opportunity to utilise our expertise in sports betting within new markets.”

Since January of 2008, many companies have been vying for the interest of a casino to be constructed in Wyandotte County, Kansas.Among them were Kansas City-based RED Development LLC, Connecticut-based Mohegan Sun and Las Vegas-based Olympia Gaming LLC; Las Vegas-based Pinnacle Entertainment Inc., Las Vegas Sands Corp., Kansas Speedway and The Cordish Co., and finally Las Vegas-based Golden Gaming Inc.

Recently reported in The Chieftan, “Golden Heartland, one of three applicants seeking to manage a state-owned casino in Wyandotte County, has withdrawn from the competition.”

“Officials in Edwardsville, the proposed location of the Golden Gaming casino, said the application was withdrawn because of financing difficulties related to the current economy.”

The bid for the casino that was proposed by Golden Gaming amounted to $600 million according to Keith Kocher, director of Kansas Lottery facilities.

“Given the ongoing turmoil in the financial markets, we feel it is prudent to preserve liquidity for other opportunities that may arise in the future,” said Rod Atamian, Golden Gaming Executive VP. “While we believe in the long-term viability and appeal of our site and project, we are not confident in making such a commitment on our own in the current environment.”

“‘While we are disappointed by Golden’s decision, we look forward to working with the Unified Government in ensuring a successful casino project is developed that benefits all the citizens of Wyandotte County,’ Edwardsville Mayor John McTaggart said in a statement. ‘There are many opportunities along the I-70 corridor and we believe a first-class entertainment and gaming destination in western Wyandotte County will spark continued interest in surrounding cities.”

Currently the Lottery will investigate proposals until June 30^th when the final decision on the casinos will be finalized. After the proposal is accepted it will then have to pass through the Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board and the Kansas Racing & Gaming Commission for approval.

As the laws slowly begin to shift in the United States, casino companies are looking back towards the online gaming market in this country in an attempt to bring new players to the tables.

Intertops.com is leading the charge by marketing to The United States its RED casino. Recently Intertops has paired up with Realtime Gaming (RTG) and has begun to offer a wide assortment of online casino games to the US players.

“We chose to take this step in order to serve new American players, as well as those who have been so loyal over the years – including, of course, affiliates,” said Michl Posch of Intertops.

By opening the playing field to US players, Intertops will expose them to some of the most popular and highest paying online casino games on the web. According to a press release, these games include: “The $1.3 million Jackpot Pinatas slot machine is the absolute biggest jackpot available to American players, with the popular Aztec’s Millions not far behind at over $1.1 million and Shopping Spree which is approaching $1 million.

In order to further entice the American players, Intertops.com has created a May special where any online players logged in the month of May will automatically be added into the “$30,000 Wheel of Fortune” drawing. A $50 prize will be awarded to 20 randomly selected players who were entered into the drawing.

Intertops.com is based out of St. John’s, Antigua and has continued its expansion by securing online licenses through the authorities in Antigua and Barbuda, and in Kahnawake/Quebec.

According to the Interlot website, “Intertops.com accepted the world’s first ever online sports bet and is still one of the globe’s largest sites for sports betting, casino, poker and games. The website offers over 4,000 daily wagers for fans of every type of sport and boasts satisfied customers in over 180 countries. “

“Over the last three years Intertops.com has paid out over 500 million dollars in winnings to its customers around the world. The company offers the smallest minimum stakes on the Internet and has built a reputation as a dependable and serious partner for all types of wagering enthusiasts.”

Sporting Index, sports spread betting company has recently relaunched sportingIndex.com. The online sports betting site has undergone major reconstruction in the last year with beta testing and customer feedback. In order to provide for the demand of the customers, SportingIndex relied heavily on client feedback.

“We wanted to deliver the best sports spreadbetting experience for our clients,” said Mark Maydon, Commercial Director for Sporting Index.

“So, we started by asking what they wanted out of the new site, built a prototype and then gave it to the clients to get their further feedback and suggestions.”

“Today’s website, from the design to the functionality, is, therefore, very much their creation. We’ve been really encouraged by the sheer amount of feedback we’ve received.”

SportingIndex began in 1992 with a mere five staff members and 50 clients. This UK based company has since expanded to over 45,000 spread bettors worldwide and online team of 150 assist with the gambling process.

One of the key features of the newly designed site was to update the scores at a more rapid pace, therefore the online gamblers can quickly place and change their bets as needed in an efficient manner.

By involving the clients and the customers, the feedback to the online casino site has caused Sportingindex to recalculate the positioning of a box that shows an in play menu. In the course of their reports they discovered that over 50% of their bets were placed while the players were in action. This new inclusion allows players to be hands on while the online action is happening. It also offers shortcuts to help the players access the live action much faster.

As of May 25^th, the Gala Bingo Hall in Cambridge, England was officially closed. This Hobson Street location has seen dwindling numbers amongst the gamblers playing there ever since the smoking ban took effect.

Another factor to the contributing of the hall could have possibly been the increase in tax on Bingo gambling that was initiated in 2009 in the UK.

Many outspoken Bingo players spoke out to the Cambridge News: “‘Bingo has kept me going for almost 40 years’, said 93-year-old Mary Brown as she took her seat at Cambridge’s last bingo hall for the final time last night.”

“Mary was one of the first six people into the Hobson Street club when it opened in 1972 and scarcely a week has passed without her enjoying an afternoon or evening there.”

Now there are no casinos or bingo halls within the area for players to enjoy their hobby and they are forced into surrounding areas such as Peterborough, Harlow, Bradford or Bury St Edmonds

“…Ruby Davis, who has visited the club for 15 years, agreed. ‘It’s a real shame to see it close because it’s great entertainment for women. It was never about the bingo for me. It was about the people you meet and the staff, who were lovely.”

“Felicia Favarvia, 72, who won the club’s first £55,000 jackpot in 1987, added: ‘It’s awful – I’ve come here every day since 1978.”

“Most of the 400 people who packed the gaudy bingo hall for its farewell night were similarly upset to see the club close down.”

“…The future use of the club is unknown, but there are rumours the prime city centre spot has been bought by a property developer and could become student flats, a nightclub or a casino…”

Now with the closing down of casinos and bingo halls players will be forced to find other methods of gambling entertainment. The latest trend is to turn to online casino gambling and online bingo. This will allow the players to smoke or do whatever they wish within their own environment and still enjoy playing bingo.

Many bingo players have stated that it is not the actual game that draws but the people that they enjoy the casino game with. Online casinos and online bingo halls have not found a way to combine these aspects that you enjoy and bring about an interactive game of bingo similar to the style and the bingo halls.

Two online gaming giants have recently severed their relationship lasted almost 11 years. Intertops and Microgaming have recently stated that a partnership between the has now come to an end.

Many factors have gone into the breakup of these online casino companies, mostly surrounding the complications in dealing with US players. Due to the filings in the court in Kentucky, as of last November, Microgaming had ceased all dealings with the United States.

Their former partner Intertops had remained outside the United States as well until last week joined Real-Time Gaming (RTG).Real-Time Gaming is known for being US-friendly and has recently began a venture into the US by Partnering with Intertops in order to open the new RED Casino.

In an effort to shift customers to the new partnership of the RED Casino, Intertops sent an e-mail last week stating that they will no longer be signing up new players for their GREEN Casino therefore pushing off their affiliates into their newest US venture.

“Microgaming has powered the well established online casino for over a decade, and has enjoyed a successful relationship with it,” the press release said.

“We chose to take this step in order to serve new American players, as well as those who have been so loyal over the years – including, of course, affiliates,” said Michl Posch of Intertops.

“Intertops Casino is proud to have been powered by such a reputable, market-leading, gaming software provider [such as Microgaming] over the past decade. The assistance that Microgaming has provided in the change process has been extremely helpful,” Posch stated in the Microgaming press release.

Florida has recently made great strides in an attempt to bring online poker into the state. Florida lawmakers have recently released a regulatory bill pushing for the legalization of online poker in a southernmost state. In the event that the bill passes, floral beaded first to legalize online poker within the United States.

In order for the legalization of online poker is necessary to pass the Florida legislature on Bill 425. This bill contains a mandatory research study that will analyze the effects that online poker will have against its competitors of the brick-and-mortar poker rooms.

December 1, 2009 is the deadline for the policy arm to report “regarding the enactment of laws to provide for protection and remedies from existing and unregulated online poker activities.”

American Poker Ventures is the organization that is currently pushing for the bill. Jim Tabilio , a political consultant based out of California will be leading the charge. Currently, Tabilio is the president of Poker Voters of America whose purpose is to protect poker players rights and keeping elected officials and media well-informed about laws concerning poker players in the United States.

By introducing Bill 425, it hopes to gain similar interest as the 2008 California bill AB2026 which attempted to bring online poker legally into the United States.

Poker Voters of America are trying to raise awareness within the country that online casinos and online poker playing is exactly as it is in the brick and mortar institution. There may be fear out in the legislature that feel that this type of activity will cause them to lose control over the gambling in the country, however this activity will reside in the homes of the online poker players as opposed to public venues.

Through his powers of observation Chappell discovered that again that he Christian had created a numerous positive aspects to it that are not found in traditional casino craps.

Some of the more positive aspects included two dealers versus the traditional for employees who hold positions of box man, stick man as well as two based dealers. Another positive point to the opportunity to sit down for a more social environment. The design of the table also played a role in that it was slightly larger than a blackjack table but about half the size of the casino craps table.

Once the studies were completed chapel and Christian decided it was time to take their game to gaming laboratories international where the mathematics involved in the casino game would verify the odds for winning. Once they were approved in 2008, they began their field test.

Chappell used an old radio connection that allowed them their test run at Eureka in Mesquite and the Rampart in Las Vegas’ Summerlin community.

“When we showed the game to some dealers, it only took them about 13 seconds to catch on and they were ready to play,” Christian said.

The team tested well in the casinos and had begun making more money than originally anticipated. The initial impact for the development of the game was in the neighborhood of $450,000. This money could easily be refunded depending on how well the game does and how many casinos choose to take it on.

The game officially premiered on May 1 at The Viejas Casino near San Diego.

“I’ve had people say to me, ‘Gee, you must be on Cloud 9 after getting your game approved,’?” Chappell said. “And I usually say, ‘Yeah, and the view is great. But I can also see a lot of work from up here.’?”

“But once we get to about 150, we’ll have some decisions to make,” Chappell said. “We’ll have to decide about hiring people and determining where this will go next.” Currently over 100 tables have been ordered for casinos and more will be produced based on demand .