We read an article on www.suntimes.com, and we think that could help someone with gambling problems.

DEAR ELLIE: I’ve been dating my boyfriend for several months and am greatly concerned about his gambling. Whether he’s online or at the casino, gambling consumes his time.
If I call him, he doesn’t answer because he’s playing poker. Or if he neglects to call me, it’s because he’s playing poker and has forgotten all about contacting me. Even if I go over to visit his house, he is playing online poker for money.

He’s disappointed and angry that he doesn’t have the money to buy things and do things. He feels money would solve all his problems, so he tries to win more money. He gambles almost every day! I tell him he should save the money he’s gambling away, since he’s not winning. But worse, he’s talking of becoming a professional gambler.

TROUBLED

DEAR TROUBLED: It’s too early in this relationship for you to accept his problems as your own. He has a gambling addiction, and it’s fueled by a whopping fantasy of changing his life overnight with the ever-elusive Big Win. Even in that unlikely event, you have seen that he’d only gamble it away.

The proof — and the likely source of his problem — lies in his anger. It prevents him from trying to achieve success through the normal, responsible routes of work, upgrading skills and setting realistic goals. He is already letting you down through neglect and anxieties at this beginning stage, when he should be trying hardest to woo you. The best you can do to show you care about him is to insist he join Gamblers’ Anonymous to find a support network and professional help to curb his obsession.

Meantime, I advise you to end the relationship, or at least take a break, since you can’t depend on him for companionship and can’t count on his pipe dreams for the future. Explain that unless he recognizes and confronts his gambling problem, there’s nothing to hold you two together.

While in Italy people are turning the near future of the present football season over, abroad there’s who has already thought about the future. In England the Thierry Henry case holds court. The strong French forward, object of desire of many European clubs among which also the Italian ones, could leave the Arsenal football club at the end of the season.

A well-known English bookmaker decided to take odds on it. All thing considered, it’s easier that the French player could stay with the Arsenal Boss, Arsene Wenger. In fact, the possibility that Henry could start the next season with the Gunners’ team shirt, is given 1.50 whereas that of seeing him with another team shirt is given to 2.50. agicos

CryptoLogic has signed a three-year licensing agreement with Holland Casino to provide the Dutch operator with poker and casino software. The new site is to be run by Holland Casino for the Dutch government, and will launch in June 2007 serving only players in the Netherlands.

Lewis Rose, CryptoLogic president and chief executive, said in a company statement that the addition of a government-controlled casino was significant for the company and its reputation. He said: “We have an excellent template for other governments interested in realising the benefits of safe, secure and regulated internet gaming.”

Holland Casino will join other top gaming sites using CryptoLogic-developed software. These include William Hill, InterCasino, Interpoker, Playboy Gaming, ukbetting, Littlewoods Gaming, DTD Poker, Betsafe, Parbet Poker and Extreme Poker.

The feds pretend they’re pursuing criminals while prosecuting honest businessmen for providing services Americans want. The money laundering charges against Lawrence and Lefebvre — which carry prison sentences of up to 20 years, 10 times the maximum penalty for the offense they supposedly facilitated — are based on the government’s claim that Neteller transferred money into and out of the United States “with the intent to promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity.” BS!

What unlawful activity? taking online bets from Americans? Most Americans see Neteller as a legitimate business unlike certain lobbies that can’t stand the idea of somebody playing poker in his pajamas. Last year’s Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which forbids processing payments for illegal online gambling but does not say which forms of online gambling are illegal, did not clarify matters.

As far as the federal government is concerned, no matter what people involved with online gambling say about the industry’s legal status, it proves they’re guilty. It is merely acknowledging that some people entrusted with government power may abuse it in a vain attempt to police the recreational choices of their fellow citizens. We agree with Jacob Sullum of humanevents.com

The bets on the Academy Award are riding high in Italy and the preferences of the Italian betters reflect faithfully those of the foreign colleagues. A single anomaly is represented by Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happiness’ main character by the Italian director Gabriele Muccino, who competes for the Academy Award as Best actor: today Match Point has decreased its share till 8.00, whereas in England is always to 16/1.

The affection for the movie which represents Italy has been the cause of this decrease in Italy (up to some days ago its share was 15.00, thus at the same level of the British one): in fact in the last hours Italian people have bet a lot on his winning. agicos

All Jackpots Casino , one of the world’s biggest jackpot casinos, and the Jackpot Factory Group announced today the official start of its Winter Carnival, where online casino players stand to reap in cash bonuses in the tune of up to $100,000.

Every half-an-hour during the month of February, All Jackpots Casino, along with other Jackpot Factory casinos, will choose one lucky player, who is playing, and reward him or her with $50. Should the player be a VIP, then the casino will double up and splash a cool $100 bonus their way.

“Carnivals are tons of fun, because of the excitement and prospects of winning big. We’re recreating this atmosphere amongst our players with our very own winter wonderland. Most of all, since it is random, new players have the same opportunity to win as our seasoned VIPs,” said David Brickman, Spokesperson for the Jackpot Factory, in a joint statement with All Jackpots Casino.

When a player wins, the casino automatically credits the player’s account with the bonus and then sends an email to the player confirming their bonus win.

Last year the Unlawful online gambling Bill seemed to make it illegal for US Citizens to gamble online, including games like poker and at online casinos. However, almost 4 months since the bill was passed there are still poker rooms and casinos allowing US players to play at their sites.

Riders of the Unibet.com cycling team had to start yesterday’s GP d’Ouverture La Marseillaise in France with their sponsor’s name replaced by a large question mark on their jerseys. This follows weeks of debate over the issue of sponsorship between Unibet, race organisers Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) and international body Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), which issued Unibet with the Pro Tour licence that will enable it to enter major races such as the Tour de France.

A new global initiative and international code of conduct to address responsible online gambling procedures is under discussion by the industry following a top-level roundtable discussion held at a recent London trade show. The roundtable, convened by top software developer microgaming, discussed the need to review what is currently being done by the industry and how a single common code might be created and implemented globally. The resulting draft code of practice is likely to cover individual operating sites as well as software providers.

The Inter effect lands in Great Britain. The decision of Snai, in order to pay in advance the bets on the Inter club, seems in fact to proselytize. A British bookmaker has decided to pay in advance the football winning of Manchester, because people don’t believe that Chelsea can regain the difference in points from the championship leader. agicos

Super Bowl Sunday is a good time to examine the federal government’s hypocritical relationship with gambling. Betting at Native American casinos on federal land is fine. Wagering in Nevada and New Jersey is OK, too. State lotteries are great.

As long as the government is in on the action (taxes), placing a C-note on the Bears or the Colts is as moral as eating apple pie. But don’t dare use your BlackBerry or laptop to visit an offshore gaming Web site. If you do that, you lock the Internal Revenue Service out of the take and offend the “legitimate gaming” lobby. We could not agree more with the Daily Breeze.

People clearly want to bet on sports, and they are increasingly using computers to direct their money to where they want it to go, the right of anyone in a free society. Gambling is a form of speculating, and if someone thinks he can get a greater return on the Super Bowl than he can on Ford stock, why not let him?

The best bet would be for the government to lift the online gaming ban and instead license, regulate and tax Web sites that seek American bettors. Read more

For the second consecutive year, CryptoLogic Inc. has captured Gambling Online Magazine’s Top Casino Software Award. The award, based on the votes of readers, players and website visitors, is widely recognized as the industry’s top honour.

At CryptoLogic, we know what players want, and transform those desires into the ultimate online entertainment experience,” said Lewis Rose, CryptoLogic’s President and CEO. Internet casino software continues to be CryptoLogic’s core business, accounting for almost 60% of the company’s revenue in the first three quarters of 2006. CryptoLogic continues to benefit from its significant investments in player research, competitive benchmarking and exclusive partnerships with top entertainment brands including Bejeweled and Cubis.

CryptoLogic offers a superior gaming experience with more excitement, more innovation and more chances to win,” said Justin Thouin, CryptoLogic’s Vice President, Casino.CryptoLogic also offers the industry’s best jackpot offering, including its patented Millionaires Club® which boasts the highest jackpot in online history, and its Rapid Fire slot games which continues to pay out more often than any other online slot. (cnnmatthews)

Gambling software developer and turnkey providerPlaytech suddenly announced that it was in negotiations with “…a pure Asian-facing gaming business” regarding the award of a new licensing agreement.

Betfair spokesmen reacted with disappointment to the news this week that the Western Australia state government is to prosecute gamblers in the state’s jurisdiction for wagering on betting exchanges.In terms of new laws that came into force this week, such gamblers could face fines of A$10 000 or up to 2 years in jail. “The legislation effectively prevents Western Australian residents placing bets with Betfair, and prevents betting exchanges operating in Western Australia,” said Twaits Director of corporate and business affairs.

online gambling companies based outside Europe and Gibraltar will have to apply to the government if they want to advertise their products in the UK when the activity is legalised on September 1, reports the Financial Times. Quoting Tessa Jowell, culture secretary in the British Cabinet, the newspaper said a ban on websites run by companies with poor regulation would protect online gamblers from crime and exploitation.

Gaming VC released its key performance indicators. Customer registrations increased by 91% to 28,704 in Q4 2006, compared with 14,996 in Q4 2005, with 10,672 new depositing customers recorded in the quarter, compared with 7,452 in 2005. Revenues in the quarter were €9.8m (US$12.7m), up 1% on the previous year.