The Alabama Supreme Court was asked to reconsider a July 30th judgment that gave the Governor’s Task Force on Illegal Gambling the right to operate within Macon County.

Unfortunately for the Macon County officials that had made the request, the Alabama Supreme Court has unanimously decided to reject the officials’ request. This could open the doors of VictoryLand, one of the largest bingo halls in the state, to a raid by the Task Force.

All that had been preventing the Task Force from receiving their warrant and entering the premises was the adjudication over the Macon County request. VictoryLand had also closed its doors in order to protect itself from the raid.

Since the Task Force considers the bingo machines to be slot machines, they could be declared illegal under Alabama law.

With only a few months until the gubernatorial election, the time in which the Governor’s Task Force can operate may soon come to an end. With some of the candidates running on a platform of legalizing gambling, it is likely that the Task Force will be dissolved. How much damage they could do before this dissolution is unknown.

The USA online gambling options operating in Alabama are not likely to be regulated in the event that the federal government allows online casinos.

News of a cricket betting scandal involving the touring Pakistani team broke over the weekend and has topped most British, Australian and Pakistani headlines. British police detained bookie Mazhar Majeed, interviewed four players including captain Salman Butt, and confiscated cell phones for further examination.

The ‘News of the World’ newspaper, which carried out a sting editorial operation, claims that two Pakistani players deliberately cheated at pre-arranged moments in the match by overstepping the ‘no ball’ line.

Bowlers Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Asif and wicket keeper Kamran Akmal were all interviewed by police investigators.

The News of the World reported that it’s under cover reporters, posing as Far Eastern businessmen, paid a middleman £150,000 (€182,000) and in return were told exact details relating to play during the following day.

The reporting team claims it was told exactly when three no balls would be bowled during the current test against England.

On Sunday evening Majeed was bailed pending further enquiries.

The allegations are the latest in a string of match-fixing accusations that have dogged the team since the 1990s. In May this year, the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption unit looked at the team’s poor performance after being heavily beaten by Australia during a tour of the country.

England won the Test at Lord’s by an innings and 225 runs – Pakistan’s heaviest Test defeat – securing a 3-1 series victory. Team officials said that Pakistan will complete their England cricket tour, which includes seven one-day internationals, starting next Sunday.

August 23 – Play the new Pink Panther and Rocky Slots at Noble Casino.

Rocky: A 5-reel 25-line video slot game that promises to knock out players with loads of extra features. The game is based on the legendary blockbuster and features reel symbols such as Rocky Balboa, the Rocky logo, various movie characters and more.

The Pink Panther: A 5-Reel, 40-Line video slot packed with lots of excitement and bonus rounds. Based on the classic Pink Panther movie, the video slot uses reel symbols such as the Pink Panther, the Pink Panther logo, Inspector Clouseau, Pink Panther footsteps, magnifying glasses, bombs and paint buckets.

In other news, Noble Casino is running a slots tournament promotions. The Splash-4-Cash Summer tournament where during each week you could win one cashable real-money prizes:

• 1st Place: €/$ 1,000
• 2nd Place: €/$ 500
• 3rd Place: €/$ 250

In addition, two lucky players will be randomly selected to receive added cash prizes of €/$ 200 each.

Noble Casino is one of the best Playtech casinos and it offers new players a massive $4000 signup bonus, split into four bonuses of 100% up to $1000.

Everyone looks forward to the weekend because, for most, it means a short break from work or school and a time to relax. In the online casino world, though, it also means tournaments. Online casinos tend to hold tournaments on the weekends as a way to combat the otherwise slow attendance of their websites during that time. This weekend Online Vegas Casino has some good online tournament action.

From Friday, August 20 to Tuesday, August 24, the online casino is running the $30,000 Guaranteed Weekend Madness tournament. It is played on the Vampire Vixen game, a clever online slot based on a vampire temptress that is quite fitting considering pop culture’s current obsession with vampires. The Weekend Madness tournament has a $10 entry fee, which earns you 325 credits to start with. If you run out of credits and want to buy some more, you can re-buy for the same amount. Players compete for a guaranteed prize pool of $30,000.

For some, that $10 buy-in is too expensive, though, and they want a slot tournament that won’t hurt their wallet. For those players, I recommend the $2500 Bonus Buck Weekend Freeroll. This slot tournament takes place from Saturday, August 21 to Sunday, August 22. It is played on the Cleopatra’s Pyramid slot. This is a free slot tournament, so there is no entry fee, but if you run of out of credits, you can re-buy for $1.99.

Another inexpensive slot tournament this weekend is the Frugal Friday tournament. It is held today, August 20 and is played on the Soloman’s Mines game. There is a $1.99 entry fee and players compete for a share of a $1,500 prize pool.

The casino tournaments this weekend are not only for online slots, though. For video poker fans, there is the Video Poker $2500 Bonus Bucks tournament. There are two different tournaments this weekend, one on August 21 and one on August 22. The first tournament is played on the Mega Multi Hand Deuces Wild game and the other is played on the Multi Hand Aces and Faces game. Both video poker tournaments have entry fees of $1.99 and players compete for $2,500 in bonus bucks.

There is also an online blackjack tournament this weekend. From Friday, August 20 to Saturday, August 21, the Blackjack Pot Percentage tournament takes place. The blackjack tournament is played on the Vegas Strip Blackjack game and players compete for a share of the pot. The entry fee is $0.99.

No matter what your budget or game of choice, Online Vegas should have you covered this weekend, since the online casino has a variety of tournaments available. To take part in the tournament action, visit Online Vegas Casino.

Finnish mobile telephone manufacturer Nokia has announced that fans of online gambling will soon have another option to access their favourite websites while out and about.

The Espoo-based giant revealed that it will soon be releasing its X3 Touch And Type handset featuring Internet connectivity that owners can use to access their favourite online casinos and poker rooms.

Nokia stated that its X3 features a ‘unique combination of a touchscreen and traditional twelve-button phone keypad’ that users can also employ to place wagers on a range of sporting events.

“As Nokia’s first Touch And Type phone, the Nokia X3 allows people to tap quickly on the bright color touchscreen as well as enjoy the familiarity of the full keypad for quick fire text messages and phone calls,” read a statement from Nokia.

The X3 also features 3G, WLAN, a music player and an FM radio while photography buffs will enjoy a five-megapixel camera with a four-time digital zoom feature that can take still and video images.

“Innovation is not just a high-end game,” said Mary McDowell, Mobile Phones Executive Vice-President for Nokia.

“The Nokia X3 is a great example of bringing new consumer value to lower price points.

“With the Nokia X3, we are giving consumers the best of both worlds by combining a touchscreen and a keypad in an affordable device. We have given people a larger screen with clear icons and menus plus kept critical keys such as the send and end keys. We’ve also added dedicated function keys for important links like music and text messaging.”

The X3 is expected to go on sale in the third quarter with a retail price of approximately €125 excluding taxes and subsidies.  

Wagerworks, the online gambling software developer in the IGT UK group, is to supply seasoned British land and online bookie Betfred with online game content as part of a recently inked agreement.

Betfred will access the games via WagerWorks platform partner, Finsoft, a company statement revealed this week. The deal will make available some of WagerWorks’ most successful and popular brands, with the initial four titles to include Cleopatra, Monopoly with Pass “Go” Bonus, Cluedo and Wheel of Fortune Hollywood Edition.

Oliver Lofthouse, director and gm at WagerWorks said, “I am delighted that Betfred have chosen to include WagerWorks titles as part of their online games development strategy. As a key operator with a long established reputation for value and customer satisfaction, this agreement allows them to leverage the best games in the market and further extends our relationship with Finsoft, part of the GTechG2 group of companies. I am confident that WagerWorks games will add incremental value to Betfred and continue to give their players best of breed game content.”

“Our overall aim at betfred.com is to continuously update our games portfolio in order to keep our players happy and playing for longer,” said Nick Mounteer, operations director for Betfred Online. “The decision to integrate WagerWorks games was, in that respect, an easy one. WagerWorks are widely regarded as one of the top games suppliers in the market and it makes strategic sense to utilise their availability via the Finsoft platform.”

The cheating scandal that rocked the online poker world at Absolute Poker and UltimateBet came back to the forefront of some topics this week.  The company that  purchased the sites without the knowledge that the potential for cheating software was out there, Tokwiro Enterprise, made the announcement earlier this week that they identified the main person responsible to the scandal.

In total, Tokwiro Enterprises lost more than $10 million having to pay out those who were cheated, fines, and legal fees.

“I wanted to start off by confirming that no individual who has been linked to any cheating works for Tokwiro or any of its subsidiaries,” remarked Tokwiro CEO Paul Leggett. “None of these individuals have an ownership stake in our company or any company that we have debt obligations with.”

In a blog, Leggett assured all concerned that they have the culprit and mastermind behind the cheating.

“Some people have a hard time believing that Russ was the only person involved in the cheating. The truth is that all of the data facts pointed to him. The cheating was occurring from places where Russ lived and worked, the money was being moved through accounts he controlled himself or through people who reported directly to him or his close friends. The accounts and usernames were created/adjusted by people who worked directly for him, etc.”

“It is definitely possible that Russ had other accomplices who might have helped him with the actual cheating but we have no physical evidence of it.”

Contradictory to that account however was a report issued by Wicked Chops Poker, an online poker site, said that there were likely more players involved, using the “God Mode”that Hamilton used.

“With the help of Greg Pierson’s team, and specifically a contractor who built the cheating tool that internally became known as going into “God Mode,” Russ Hamilton was now capable of stealing money from friends, business partners, and high-stakes pros on UltimateBet,” the report by Wicked Chops said.

“Ultimately, the more information that is out there, the more likely people will step forward and be forced to address how the scandal happened – and ensure nothing like it ever happens in online poker again.”

USA Online Poker and USA Online Casinos are on the top of discussions on Capitol Hill to reverse a ban by the Federal Government that prevents American Financial institutions from allowing funds and transactions from online gambling sites.

A long-term deal between the New Jersey Devils and Ilya Kovalchuck was voided by the National Hockey League in late July. An arbitrator was hired to determine the NHL’s ability to cancel the contract. It was found Monday that Kovalchuck’s $102 million contract violated league policy by circumventing the salary cap.

The 17-year deal would have been the longest in NHL history if arbiter Richard Bloch didn’t intervene. The league noticed that the back end of the deal didn’t comply with salary cap rules. The Devils’ 2010-2011 NHL odds should be more favorable with the addition of Kovalchuck.

“We want to thank arbitrator Bloch for his prompt resolution of a complex issue,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement. “His ruling is consistent with the league’s view of the manner in which the collective bargaining agreement should deal with contracts that circumvent the salary cap.”

Though the All Star is now a free agent, he has already begun to negotiate a new deal with the Devils. Kovalchuck was traded to the Devils in February 2010 because the Atlanta Thrashers failed to offer him the amount of money he desired. New Jersey president and general manager Lou Lamoriello is confident they will be able to agree to a new deal.

“While we do not currently have a contract with Ilya Kovalchuk, discussions have resumed and we are hopeful that a contract will be reached that meets with the principles in arbitrator Bloch’s award and the NHL’s approval,” Lamoriello said.

Kovalchuck has recorded an impressive 338 goals and 304 assists in 642 career games. The Devils offered him the number he was looking for, but now the two sides must reach a deal that complies with the NHL salary cap.

If Kovalchuck is with the team when the Devils take the ice in 2011, BoDog Sportsbook will surely have the odds in their favor.

Bloch also ruled that the two sides acted in good faith, meaning they did not mean to break NHL rules. That finding may help in preventing the possibility of a fine by the league. NHL spokesman Frank Brown said the NHL has not decided on whether or not to take punitive action against the Devils.

The old deal had Kovalchuck making just $550,000 in each of the last five seasons of the contract. With 41 goals and 44 assists last season, the left-winger is the highest sought after player this summer.

Those setting NHL future odds have set the Devils among the favorites to win the 2011 Stanley Cup at +1600.

Washington Redskins’ Albert Haynesworth has finally passed the team’s conditioning test. On Saturday morning he conquered the 300-yard shuttle run and was finally allowed to suit up and practice. Head coach Mike Shanahan had kept him from practicing with the team until he passed the test and stood true to his word that made Haynesworth, a two-time All-Pro with a $100 million contract, the storyline of the Redkins’ camp.

“He probably doesn’t like me very much right now,” Shanahan said, “but I’m not here to be liked. I’m here to get him to play, and hopefully he’ll play at a very high level.”

It appears as though all the attempts to pass the test took its toll on Haynesworth because he could not make it through the entire practice. After only completing some defensive drills, he found himself as a spectator with a huge wrap on his sore left knee. The knee problem has been aggravating Haynesworth for several years now and doesn’t appear to be going away any time soon. The Redskins will take Sunday off and when they return on Monday, coaches say they expect him to make through the entire practice.

“Last year he said he was having problems every third or fourth day with the knee, so there is a problem there,” Shanahan said. “That’s why we’re going to make sure that he gets treatment.”

The soreness in his knee kept him from trying to complete the tests for four straight days. Bu now, he has done what was asked and coaches and players are relieved that they will not be answering the distracting questions regarding Haynesworth any longer.

“Today’s the first day I saw him dig down deep and go get it,”defensive coordinator Jim Haslett said. “He was going to make that test one way or another, or him and I might have been fighting on the field today. He was going to make the test. I said ‘I’m sick of seeing you at 4 o’clock in the morning.’ I’d wake up and see his face on TV. You see him on TV all the time.”

Haynesworth had been staying away from reporters throughout training camp before he passed the test but he did have this to say on Saturday.

“The test is over, and now it’s back to playing football,” he said. “I want to thank all the fans for coming out and still supporting me and still wearing [No.] 92 jerseys and still believing in me, so y’all have a good day.”

Now, he must focus on learning the team’s new 3-4 defense, one that he did not want. More importantly, he is far behind in grasping the new defense and has a lot of catching up to do. The Redskins open up the 2010 NFL season against the Dallas Cowboys on September 12. They have their odds set at 25/1 to win Super Bowl XLV according to NFL sportsbooks.

Pennsylvania is a prime example of how legalizing casinos can bring money into the state. For years now, state officials have been fighting to legalize gambling in certain areas claiming some states could benefit from the money coming in. Government officials argue that there would be lack of control over the gambling industry and fail to even consider the proposal of having it regulated and taxed. Online gambling is another issue that continues to be debated among law makers. While some states continue to argue the gambling laws, others are seeing first hand just how beneficial gambling can be.

Casinos in Pennsylvania alone, were able to generate $116 million in slots machine tax revenue during the month of July, 2010. Comparing the numbers from July of 2009 has shown an increase of 17.81 %, which is certainly something for the state to be excited about. Table game play at the casinos certainly has contributed to the increase, bringing more people to the casinos over all.

“It is too early to gauge a trend, but Pennsylvania casinos have indicated they have experienced a significant increase in the number of visitors since table games were rolled out in mid-July,” says Kevin O’Toole, Executive Director of Gaming Control Board.

There are nine casinos in Pennsylvania, all of which introduced table games in July of this year. The revenue figures for the table games will not be available until later this month.