The beginning of the month isn’t always a good thing. For me, it’s that time when my landlord expects me to hand over a check. Not exactly something to look forward to, but if I work a few side jobs and donate bone marrow, I can usually come up with enough money for that. Lucky Red Casino is trying to make up for that, though, by offering several good promotions starting tomorrow.

From Friday, October 1 to Monday, October 4, Lucky Red Casino is offering what they call Frenzy Prize Giveaways. I guess that sounded better than A Whole Bunch of Seemingly Unrelated But Still Cool Bonuses promotion.

The first part of the bonus promotion is the Slots Challenge Weekend. As part of this promotion, players who deposit $100 will receive $250 as a bonus. Even if you suck at math, you probably know that is an unheard of 250% match bonus.

In addition, prize money will be awarded to the players who wager the most money during the promotion period. The player who wagers the most will receive $125. The second-place finisher will win $100. The player who finishes third will win $75. The player who wagers the fourth-most amount of money will win $50. For the players who finish in fifth through tenth place, $25 will be awarded. The coupon for that part of the promotion is TOURNEY. This bonus and deposit must be wagered at least 30 times before a withdrawal is allowed. Only wagers on slots count for the tournament.

The other two parts of the promotion are deposit match bonuses. Players who play online slots, keno and scratch cards can receive a 60% match bonus, with an upper limit of $1,000. The coupon code for that bonus is GRAB60. The deposit and bonus must be wagered at least 25 times before a cashout is permitted.

For players of online blackjack, video poker and other table games, the online casino is offering a 45% match bonus, with a maximum bonus amount of $1,000. The coupon code is MOTOROO45. For this bonus, players must wager the deposit and bonus at least 50 times before a withdrawal is allowed.

To take part in the casino promotion and take advantage of all of the bonuses available, visit Lucky Red Casino.

There is troubling news coming out of Washington, D.C. right now. Though the plan has not been confirmed, there is a rumor that the U.S. Treasury Department plans to implement new rules that would give them unprecedented access to the monitoring of financial transactions. Such rules could make it much more difficult, or even impossible, for Americans to gamble online.

Under current federal law, all banks are required to report international money transfers of $10,000 or higher to the Treasury Department. That is done to combat money laundering, the financing of terrorism and more. However, the current plan is rumored to be a rule requiring banks to report all international money transfers, regardless of the amount. That could have a serious impact on U.S. members of overseas online casinos.

Currently there is no federal law in the United States banning online gambling. However, the passage of UIGEA in 2006 allows the federal government to go after banks and other financial institutions that transfer funds from unlawful Internet gambling, though which forms are unlawful was never defined. As a result, most U.S. credit cards will no longer process transactions involving online gambling websites.

Because of that, most U.S. online gamblers have to use third-parties, such as e-wallets, to transfer funds to the casinos. Under the proposed new rules, though, all of those transactions would have to be reported to the federal government. Though the U.S. player isn’t doing anything illegal, there is a lot of confusion on Capitol Hill and in the courtrooms about the legal status of online gambling. Players may be at risk of being found guilty of a crime, even though no such crime exists.

More bad news is that such a change would not have to be passed as a new law or an amendment to current law. Congress would not have to vote on this change. The Treasury Department has been given the authority to simply make regulations like this, without the approval of the People.

It’s not often that someone asks to be arrested, but that is what is happening in the U.S. state of Alabama. In the state of Alabama, bingo is legal but slot machines are not. Some legal bingo halls in the state have been raided by Governor Riley’s Task Force on Illegal Gambling due to the presence of electronic bingo machines.

One such example is a bingo hall called Country Crossing. The bingo hall has been raided more than once. According to the Task Force, the electronic bingo machines too closely resemble slot machines, and are therefore banned by state law. At risk of the machines being seized or arrests being made, owner Ronnie Gilley decided to shut down Country Crossing, at least temporarily.

Now Gilley has offered to turn himself in and be arrested by authorities. His plan is to take the matter to court, where the authorities would have to prove in a court of law that the electronic bingo machines are banned by the law, something that Gilley disputes. Of course, if it backfires Gilley could find himself in jail. Still, Gilley considers this his only chance of being able to re-open the bingo hall without the risk of further raids. If the courts rule that his electronic bingo machines are legal, he won’t have to worry about the raids anymore.

Aside from a possible court battle, Gilley has another opportunity. Governor Riley will leave office in November and his successor may not carry the same opinion regarding the bingo machines. A more sympathetic governor may have the same result as a courtroom victory.

It seems like I don’t write about Rushmore Casino very often. It’s nothing personal. They’re a good online casino. It’s just that they aren’t very good at marketing themselves, so I don’t often hear about their promotions, tournaments and any other deals they have going on. I can tell you about their weekly bonuses, though, because those are ongoing.

The weekly bonuses at Rushmore Casino are a good way of replenishing your account and rewarding you for making another deposit and continuing to be a loyal customer. The casino offers you up to ten bonuses totaling up to $5,000 in bonus money throughout the week. Those bonuses are split up on two days, Tuesday and Thursday.

On each day, you can receive a 50% match on your first five deposits. The deposit has to be a minimum of $25 and a maximum of $1,000 to qualify. That gives you up to $2,500 on each Tuesday and again on each Thursday. The bonus is for wagering purposes only and cannot be withdrawn, but you can withdraw any winnings that result from playing with the bonuses. To do so, you must first wager the bonus and deposit amounts at least 20 times.

Rushmore’s weekly bonus money is to be used on online slots, blackjack, keno, scratch cards and video poker. They cannot be used on any other games. To receive the bonus, you must enter the correct coupon code. The code is different depending on your payment method. For example, there is a different code if you pay using a credit card than if you pay using eWalletXpress. For all of the coupon codes, see the promotions page.

To take advantage of the weekly bonus and receive up to $5,000 in bonus money every week, visit Rushmore Casino.

Denmark has delayed implementation of their new online gambling laws. On June of this year, the Danish parliament passed new laws allowing a more free market for online gambling after the European Court of Justice rule against their current laws. Denmark had been running a monopoly that excluded foreign competition, something that is against EU rules. The new gambling laws would allow overseas online gambling operators to receive licenses from the Danish government.

Denmark has planned to implement the new laws in January 2011, but they have decided that they won’t meet that target. The country is used to only dealing with their one monopoly, so they are being overwhelmed with requests. As an executive with Ladbrokes said, “there will be a lot of due diligence work and legal requirements. It is unlikely that we could make it before Christmas.”

Another issue is the taxation rate. Original plans were to tax online gambling at 20% while land-based casinos would be taxed between 45% and 75%. As you can imagine, the land-based casinos aren’t happy with that. The government now plans to return to the European Commission to discuss the taxation and other rules and reach an agreement between each involved party.

Upon the completion of a new gambling agreement, there will only be a small change in the short term. Denmark will only give out two licenses for overseas online casinos in 2011. However, in the long term, Denmark could become a thriving market for online casinos thanks to a new free market that allows more competition.

Whenever I write about casino tournaments, I tend to focus on slot tournaments. It’s understandable, because slot tournaments are the most popular. Many online casinos don’t hold tournaments for games other than slots. However, to leave out blackjack tournaments, such as the good offerings at Millionaire Casino, would be a mistake.

Blackjack is one of the most popular casino games and probably the most iconic card game. Sure, poker is huge right now, but it is a game equally associated with your dining room or country club as with a casino. Blackjack is pretty much found only in a casino or at an online casino. While the regular game is fun, pitting each player against the dealer in the perfect mix of chance and strategy, a tournament is a good way of shaking things up.

With blackjack tournaments, instead of betting your own money on each hand, you pay an entry fee and then use money credited to you. Instead of playing for cash on each hand, you play for points and at the end of the tournament, you have a chance to win prizes. At Millionaire Casino, there are two types of blackjack tournaments: Blackjack Classic and Head2Head.

The Blackjack Classic tournaments work the same as the standard game. Each player competes against the dealer. You earn or lose points instead of money on each hand and at the end of the tournament, the players with the most points win prizes. In that way, it is still you against the dealer and the only way you are competing with other players is the comparison of your scores.

With Head2head blackjack, you are playing directly against another player, rather than against the dealer. The bets on each hand will go to the winner and at the end of the tournament, the players who won the most money win prizes.

If you’re a fan of blackjack, tournament action is a good way to experience the game you love in a new way. There is less risk and a uniquely competitive aspect to blackjack tournaments. To take part in either a Blackjack Classic tournament or a Head2Head tournament, visit Millionaire Casino.

Gambling is a thriving business in Cyprus, both online and offline. Some of the gambling profits go toward legal, regulated casinos and book makers and some go to illegal, unlicensed entities. Now the legislature is attempting to take greater control over the industry, citing their concern with loan sharks.

While gambling in the country is thriving, so is the illegal practice of loan sharking. Racketeering has become a problem, particularly illegal activities by loan sharks, and it is related to the gambling market. In many cases, people are borrowing money to gamble, losing it and then facing threats, blackmail, intimidation and exorbitant interest rates.

The most obvious remedy for that problem is to not bet with borrowed money. Whether you’re playing online or at a land-based casino, you should never gamble with money you can’t afford to lose, especially with money you don’t even have. It’s also a bad idea to place a bet with a book maker with money you don’t currently have, assuming that you will win. Punters often don’t have to show the money up front, making betting on borrowed money more likely. If you lose one of those bets, you then have a problem of owing money to a book maker and if they are a loan shark, that’s when the real problems begin.

To combat this problem, the Cypriot government plans to crack down on person-to-person lending. A new bill in the House would place strict limits on what types of non-bank loans can be made and how they can be made. There would also be strict limits on the interest rate the lender can charge, which would eliminate extortionate rates.

Going after the loan sharks is only part of the government’s plan, though. They are also taking aim at the unlicensed illegal gambling activity, planning to crack down on any gambling entities that are not approved and regulated by the government. For online gambling, the government plans to use Internet filtering to sort out unlicensed online casinos.

I hate to sound like a car salesman here, but you’re running out of time to win money in the $30,000 Guaranteed Weekend Madness tournament. You probably figured that was the case. After all, the word “weekend” is in the name of the tournament, so since the weekend is over, you probably figured the tournament’s days are numbered. Well, you figured right.

Tuesday, September 28 (aka “tomorrow”) at 10:45 PM, the Weekend Madness tournament at Online Vegas comes to a close. There is $30,000 in guaranteed prize money up for grabs and still plenty of time to earn points and take a shot at the prize money. The tournament has a $10 entry fee, which is a little high for some, but not considering the prize pool. That buy-in gets you 325 credits to play with and you can rebuy for the same amount.

The Weekend Madness tournament is played on the Bangkok Nights slot, which is an online slot with a theme of nightlife in Thailand’s capital. If that tournament is a little too expensive for you or if you think it’s too late to earn enough points to win any prizes, there are smaller tournaments available as well. For example, every Monday through Thursday, the online casino holds a 24-hour slot tournament called the $8888 Guaranteed tournament. In that tournament, $4,444 is in casino credits and the other half is in bonus bucks. The tournament has an entry fee of $6.99 and a re-buy for the same amount.

Today’s $8888 Guaranteed tournament is played on the Big Foot slot and tomorrow it is on Dynasty. To take part in either tournament or any of the other tournaments that are regularly going on at the casino, visit Online Vegas Casino.

With the weekend here, it’s time to look at the weekend casino bonus promotions at Lucky Red Casino. After all, weekends are all about bonuses. You get your paycheck, two-for-one drinks during Happy Hour and if you’re female maybe enjoy Ladies’ Night after. Weekends are a time of receiving nice gifts and Lucky Red seems to understand that.

With the Supersize Me bonus, players will receive a 60% match bonus if they deposit $200 or less. However, if they deposit more than $200, their bonus is super-sized. They receive a 60% match bonus for the first $200 but the rest of the deposit is matched $100. The coupon code for that bonus is SUPERSIZE. The coupon can be redeemed up to five times and the deposit and bonus must be wagered at least 25 times before a withdrawal can be made.

In addition to the Supersize Me bonus, Lucky Red is offering up to 60 bonus worth up to $60,000. As is often the case at Lucky Red, you get a slightly different bonus depending on the game you play. This is done to compensate for games with a high house edge. For example, since slots have a higher house edge than blackjack, a slots bonus is going to be a little better to compensate for that.

For players of online slots, keno and scratch cards, Lucky Red is offering a 60% match bonus with a maximum value of $1,000. The coupon code for that bonus is CELEBRATIONS60. Since it can be redeemed up to 30 times, that gives you the opportunity for a free $30,000 in bonus money. This deposit and bonus must be wagered at least 25 times before being withdrawn.

For fans of video poker and online blackjack, the casino is offering a 45% match bonus with a maximum limit of $1,000. The coupon code is FUNHOUSE45. The coupon can be redeemed 30 times, for a total of up to $30,000 in bonus money. This bonus and deposit must be wagered at least 50 times before a cashout is allowed.

To receive bonuses of up to $60,000, visit Lucky Red Casino. The promotions ends Monday, September 27.

The Washington state Supreme Court upheld a ruling banning online gambling in the state, denying a challenge by a lawyer accused of violating the law. Seattle lawyer Lee Rousso, accused of playing online poker, challenged the law, saying that it violated part of the federal commerce clause. The court disagreed in a unanimous decision.

Rousso claimed that the state law banning online gambling put an unfair burden on interstate an international commerce. According to Rousso, it discriminates against interstate and international commerce by not allowing Washington residents to gambling using websites located outside the state. According to Justice Richard Sanders, though, there is no discrimination because the law “equally prohibits internet gambling regardless of whether the person or entity hosting the game is located in Washington, another state, or another country.”

According to Sanders, no federal law, such as the Wire Act of 1961 or the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, delegates regulation of interstate gambling. Therefore, there’s no reason each state can’t pass their own laws regarding intrastate online gambling or interstate online gambling. The state of Washington did that with RCW 9.46.240 in 2006.

Critics say that the law rejects interstate commerce in favor of intrastate interests and favors brick and mortar tribal casinos in the state over online casinos. However, the state Supreme Court ruled that it did not discriminate because it does not allow anyone within the state to transmit bets electronically.

With the online gambling ban upheld, Washington residents cannot legally gambling online in the state and the only gambling available to them is the lottery and tribal casinos.