Magna Entertainment Corp. (“MEC”), based out of Canada, has grown to be the largest racetrack owner in North America. Although it has reached this stature it has not become immune to decreasing economy and the woes faced by many casino owners.

Recently this simulcast race track owner and operator has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In order to protect themselves they are also withdrawing from their shares being traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange in New York.

Currently an MEC owns and manages seven thoroughbred racetracks. They include Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park, Pimlico Race Course, Laurel Park, Golden Gate Fields, Thistledown, and Portland Meadows. Complete the 10 venues they also own to racetracks which run thoroughbred and standardbred meets. These are the Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie and Remington Park. Lastly, they have one standardbred harness racing track: the Meadows.

Aside from these venues are also offer one of the largest simulcast wagering venues, as well as three casinos operated within three of the racetracks.

Magna also has a large off-track betting facility as well its own wagering business XpressBet™. This system allows customers to place phone bets in online bets throughout the 100 North American racetracks, and the world. To reach expands throughout the world including Australia, South Africa and Dubai. With the growing European market, have also created a wagering account called Magnabet™. By expanding throughout the world this has made them one of the largest owner operators for horse racing.

Gambling continues to be a growing concern in the United States, as well as the rest of the world. The reputation that follows this type of activity is usually not one that carries with it a positive experience.

In a time where lawmakers are trying to decide whether or not they should legalize land-based and online casino gambling, any negative stories that enter into the fold could cause great harm towards overturning the ban to prevent this type of gambling.

According to Gloucester County Times, in Atlantic City, “The NJ and Philadelphia Divisions of the FBI announced today the Atlantic City arrest of a 39-year-old New York man in connection to 17 bank robberies throughout the region.”

Although the arrest did not have a direct tie to land-based or casino gambling, “Assisted by New Jersey State troopers form the Division of Gaming Enforcement, the FBI arrested Anthony Boyd, of Jamaica, Queens, on a United States Marshals Service warrant as he came out of the elevator of the Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa, where he’d checked in earlier that night.”

Even better was that he can sometimes still be better to keep companies in the limelight. With any luck the casinos will not be associated with criminal activities.

According to the Times, “Boyd stands accused of escaping from a halfway house in December and returning to a life of crime, allegedly robbing a Citizens Bank located on 1701 JFK Boulevard on February 26, 2009 and another at 2001 Market Street on March 14, 2009 in the Philadelphia area, a Metropolitan National Bank on 40th Street in Manhattan on March 11, 2009 and Metropolitan National Bank on 46th Street in Manhattan on March 24, 2009.”

Weysan Dun, a special agent on the case, threw in his own jabs at Boyd: “I guess you could say Mr. Boyd rolled the dice and lost.” He continued by saying, “The odds are always in favor of the house, and in this case, the house is the justice system…”

In an attempt to stay up with competitors many sports betting networks trying to offer a variety of gambling sports to the public. By expanding their quantity of games they can then draw in a larger audience. One specific company International All Sports or (IAS) has recently completed an agreement that will partner them with the Australian Grand Prix Corporation.

This partnership will be a two-year sponsorship in which IASBet.com will be the online dating partner for the Australian Grand Prix. Specifically it will be partnered with the ING Formula One in preparation for a main race that happens this Sunday in Melbourne Australia. This partnership also include the Australian motorcycle Grand Prix will appear in October of this year.

Mark Read, Managing Director for IAS, and establishing creator since 1996 recently revealed: “IASBet.com is proud to partner with the Australian Grand Prix Corporation.”
In strengthening their forces in online gaming provider, Read , with over 30 years of wagering experience also stated: “The deal is a milestone for the company and signifies our commitment and strategy to support Australian sport and racing through the establishment of niche alliances. It also reaffirms our presence as a leader in Australian wagering.”

The Formula One Australian Grand Prix will be featured as one of the many events that IAS will be handling for online wagering. IAS is more commonly known for its thoroughbred racing wagering. Through IASBet.com you can also have 24 seven access to Internet and telephone betting.

As IAS continues to grow and maintain a high level of customer service around the clock as well as many multilingual speaking operators they will continue to be substantial force in the online wagering market.

Drew Ward, CEO for the Australian Grand Prix appear to be excited about the new partnership. “We welcome IASBet.com in joining the growing list of sponsors for this year’s Grand Prix, which is shaping up to be a truly fantastic four-day event,” said Ward.

Alderney Gambling Control Commission has granted an electronic gaming license to Eurosport, a European sports entertainment group. Eurosport announced this week that it plans to start an online betting service. The site will be a collaboration between Serendipity, a French investment fund, and Eurosport. Its launch is scheduled for later this year and will be available at EurosportBet.co.uk.

Robin Le Provost, Head of E-Commerce Development for Alderney Gambling Control Commission said, “We believe that Alderney is the home of eGambling and we are absolutely thrilled to welcome Eurosport to our growing list of licensees.”

He went on to add, “Its name adds to an already stellar line-up of some of the most prestigious names in the industry. SPS having chosen to base its new online business in Alderney speaks volumes about our regime, capabilities and serious business approach and we are very pleased to have been chosen.”

Chief Executive Officer for SPS (the umbrella name for the new online gambling site), Olivier Ou Ramdane, responded by saying, “Being granted a full eGaming license in Alderney represents a significant step to us as we move forward with our project to launch EurosportBet.co.uk in the UK within the first half of 2009.”

Sebastien Bougon, Deputy Managing Director for Serendipity stated, “We strongly believe that Alderney’s regulatory environment meets the highest international standards in terms of connectivity and security for our future customers. These elements are crucial for our group and motivated our choice to base our new online sportsbetting site in Alderney.”

And Heather Bowler, Global Communications Director for Eurosport, further elaborated by saying, “Obtaining the license to operate in Alderney is the first step in building our new pan-European online sportsbetting platform on solid ground and to offering fans yet another engaging way to enjoy sports.”

As mentioned, the online casino site will specialize in sports betting and the launch is planned for sometime later this year.

A report has just been released in Ireland that online gamblers risk the possibility of being denied a mortgage because they are seen as a high risk. This report came from the Independent Mortgage Advisors Federation also known as IMAF, and was released to the Irish Times newspaper and the BBC. Spokesperson, Michael Dowling, spoke on the idea that banks have a negative perception of gamblers.

Due to the economic crisis that all countries are facing, banks are forced to be more stringent and suspect a person looking for loans. With that in mind, these high risk takers pose a threat to the banks as the appearance of such gambling may cause banks to fear nonpayment of the mortgages. Dowling spoke on the subject and remarked that just because someone engages in this high-risk hobby is not guarantee that they will be disqualified for a loan.

“The banks will never admit it, but it is . . . being discussed,” said Dowling, as he also spoke about “they are looking for any excuses” in terms of rejecting applications.

Dowling continued by saying, “I don’t think online gambling is to be encouraged if people are making a mortgage application in particular if there are regular amounts going out. In a market where money is tight and the availability of credit is limited, banks are cherry-picking the type of customers they want to lend money to. If you are gambling online on a regular basis, say for example you have €150 per month, the bank will take that amount of money from your gross income and it does reduce the amount of money you can borrow. Banks are paying a lot more attention to bank statements now and if they see even €150 going into an online gambling account each month they frown on it.”

As things begin to go the extra mile to search for reasons to reject mortgage loans, online gamblers will be forced to find new and creative ways to appease the banks.

With just four months of being on the stand, Financial Betting for Dummies has recently announced the sale of 10,000th copy. This free copy of the book has been made available online from the popular site BetsForTraders.com, which is the host bookmaker for this product.

A financial journalist who goes by the name of Douglas Gallagher has created the book of Financial Betting for Dummies in order to expose the world to the simplicity of financial betting.

But for traders.com has made this book available with the hopes that even a beginner will be able to pick up the book and learn how simple but until betting is. It is Gallagher’s belief that the processor financial betting is truly not complicated, as he strives to educate people about the process.

As with the entire For Dummies series is written in a very simplistic manner, with the intention of being lighthearted and unassuming. By taking subjects that are hindering to common people, the For Dummies series creates an approachable atmosphere where readers feel invited and capable of learning new material. These books are meant to be reference books which give an overview to the reader is supposed to manner. Is the hope that with this book readers will become more knowledgeable players increase their odds at winning in financial betting situations.
“There has never been a more exciting time to get involved in financial betting,” said Ryan Kneale, Market Analyst for BetsForTraders.com. Kneale continues to encourage readers by stating , “With the markets fluctuating wildly at the moment, there are windfall profits to be made. Our clients come from all walks of life with many having previously known nothing about the markets or financial trading.”

In a time of cynicism where everyone is looking to make a buck, and reject any sense of compassion towards other human beings, it is nice to know that someone out there is creating a system of security as well as educating those who are currently in the know. Due to this type of mentality BetsForTraders.com has increased the traffic by over 48% as well as creating a 26% growth in new accounts.

As the economy continues to decline some of the online gambling casinos are focusing their attention on streamlining their sites. Industry leading process some companies are cutting back on numerous services for different areas of the market. These type of cutbacks currently are not affecting the larger online casino companies as they continue to expand in every aspect of the market. However, smaller companies such as BetBull Holding a pulling away from other betting prospects and focusing their attention solely on sports betting and online casinos.

Recently Betbull has resigned to closing down all of the other operations within the week. In fact, as of February 28, 2009 all betting sites that were released under the Betbull name have closed down.

Although it causes concern with online players who are continuing to place wagers taken remain confident that Betbull will continue to reimburse their accounts in full. In addition Betbull will transfer their account details and balances to other companies who are continuing to handle betting that lies outside of the sports betting arena.
Since Betbull will continue to handle sports betting they cannot afford to lose confidence in current players who continue to work hard to bring repeat players back to the table.

By taking this position that Paul has decided to run with the one arena that remains the most consistent and lucrative portion of their business. Therefore rather than maintaining multiple sites with varying levels of success, Betbull has decided to trim down to one arena and maximize its potential. The German and Spanish online sports betting markets will remain intact and Betbull will continue to strive to strengthen these markets in effort to continue their growing reputation.

As the smaller companies continue to struggle, will most likely see more casinos trim back to just the core elements in effort to survive the economic crunch.