Recently, a 23-year-old university student from Sydney, Australia, became a multi-millionaire literally overnight after a shock win at one of the world's biggest poker tournaments. Tyron Krost came from nowhere to knock out 746 other players and win Crown Casino's 2010 Aussie Millions Poker Championship, pocketing the $2 million prize.

Playmate at World Poker Tour
The lovely Jayde Nicole was among several stars that converged on the Commerce Casino in the City of Commerce, California on Saturday, February 20. Posing for pictures in a curve-complimenting black dress, the former Playmate of the Year was on hand for the 8th Annual World Poker Tour Celebrity Invitational Poker Tournament. Tweeting ahead of the evening’s gaming agenda, Jayde wrote to her fans and followers, “On my way to the WSOP Celebrity Poker Tournament at Commerce Casino, barely alive and on no sleep! Should be interesting!”

Hollywood Stars Flock to Charity Poker
It appears Hollywood's poker community is as strong – and as generous – as it’s ever been. Last month, Christian Slater, Jason Alexander, Slash, and T-Pain rocked the Pokerstars.Net NAPT Venetian Charity Tournament in Las Vegas with the Team PokerStars Pros, raising more than $42,000 for Southern Nevada's Three Square food bank.
The World Poker Tour’s Celebrity Invitational also drew a list of stars to its Commerce Casino in Los Angeles. This time around the charity was Chrysalis, a non-profit organization helping people find employment. In addition to the aforementioned Jayde Nicole, Emmy nominated actress Teri Hatcher, Entourage star Jerry Ferrara, and Sam Levine from Quentin Tarantino's Academy Award nominated film Inglourious Basterds were just a few of the famous faces seen in Los Angles.
The WPT Celebrity Invitational will return March 3 for the televised final table with a $100,000 first-place prize on the line.

Dallas' Richest Man Liked To Gamble
With a net worth of $4.5 billion, Andy Beal is the richest man in Dallas. The 57-year-old started off studying math at Michigan State before dropping out to pursue interests like racecar driving. He also had an entrepreneurial spirit. As a kid, he mowed lawns, charged other kids to throw darts at balloons, and repaired and sold televisions. He later managed about a dozen rental properties.
After turning 21, he made money playing at Las Vegas blackjack tables, and his card-counting skills eventually got him kicked out of many casinos.
He then went on to made his money in real estate deals. In 1985 got into banking and challenged NASA with his Beal Aerospace company. He spent an estimated $200 million planning to launch rockets from the Caribbean.
Beal returned to Las Vegas between 2001 and 2004 to challenge some of the world's best poker players to high-stakes games. He lost as much as $9.3 million in a day and won as much as $11.7 million in a day.
Currently Beal and legendary investor Carl Icahn are facing off against Beal's old friend Donald Trump for control of three bankrupt Atlantic City casinos.

Mississippi: No Divorces for Excessive Gambling
Is your husband out at the blackjack table every night? Is your wife rapidly depleting the family savings because of her love of the slot machines? Well, too bad. You’re just going to have to suck it up if you live in Mississippi. Recently, hotly contested House Bill 412, which proposed that compulsive gambling be named the thirteenth grounds for divorce in the state, was defeated by a vote of 40 in favor and 74 against.

Judge Rules on Joint Jackpot Winners
     We reported on this case in January. Well the judge made a decision. Last March, Marie-Helene Jarguel walked off with over 2 million Euros ($2.91 million) after a bet of 50 Euros on a one-armed bandit in a Montpellier, France casino. However, her gambling partner for the day, Francis Sune, contested Jarguel’s winnings based on the fact that he was the one who pushed the button on the machine.
So off to court they went. Because French gambling laws have no clear precedent for situations like this, the judge's decision was basely solely on what she thought was “fair.”  Because Jarguel spent her own money, it was decided that her contribution to the win was greater, and she was awarded 80 percent of the jackpot, while Sune happily received 20 percent.

100 Year Old Lady Never Misses Poker Night
Could it be that gambling is the secret to a long life? Or maybe just to Mary Dattilo’s? This Charleston woman, who just turned 100, is a regular at a Saturday night Poker game, at which the average age of the players is more than 90. Sure the stakes aren’t all that high (the winnings rarely top a couple dollars), but both the play and the company is lively and interesting.

Bad News for Record Lottery Winner
Recently, 52-year-old Stanley Philander, a deaf-mute South African hardware store janitor, was besieged by begging relatives after a newspaper reported he had won a $13.2 million PowerBall jackpot. Then, with little fanfare, he was told that a mistake had been made. He was not the winner. The distinction went instead to an unnamed 43-year-old woman
Philander had no idea how the mix up had occurred. Only that it had caused a big upset in his life as he, his wife of 12 years, Diana, and their two children had been moved from their home in a pitiable Cape Town neighborhood to an undisclosed location after they had their pictures splashed across various publications displaying their “winning ticket” - which had the winning numbers but was bought the day after the PowerBall jackpot drawing.

Cheated Lottery Winner Awarded $395,000 in Recovered Winnings
Last month, justice was finally served in the case of Willis Willis, a $1 million lottery winner whose winning ticket was stolen by a fugitive store clerk. Although the clerk has spent or hidden most of the money, officials were able to recover $365,000 from U.S. bank accounts. Another $30,000 was returned by two people who may be relatives of the clerk, said Travis County Assistant District Attorney, Patricia Robertson.
The two, who had been given the money by the clerk and returned it when asked, do not face any charges, she said. The jackpot was worth $750,006 after taxes.

Casino Allowed to Refuse Gambler $10,000
In 2006, Troy Blackford won $9,387 at Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino. When he attempted to collect the money, Prairie Meadows officials noted that Blackford had been banned from the facility since 1996 and refused to allow him to collect. Blackford sued, lost in a Polk County courtroom, and presented an appeal to the Iowa Court of Appeals, which overturned the Polk County decision. The state persisted, taking the case all the way to the Iowa Supreme Court, which upheld the original ruling. Supreme Justice David Baker explained the ruling by stating that while a traditional contract exists between the casino and its patrons, in this case no contract existed because the player had been banned from the casino. Therefore Prairie Meadows had every right to refuse Blackford his winnings.

Cries For Justice At Shakespeare’s Funeral
Last month we told you about 42-year-old Florida lottery winner Abraham Shakespeare, whose disappearance in April 2009 was baffling the Polk County Sheriff’s office. Just after we went to press, his remains were found beneath a slab of concrete in Plant City. Although the people leading Shakespeare's funeral at the New Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church remembered Shakespeare fondly as a kind and generous man, they were not yet ready to show compassion toward those responsible for his killing.
“Whoever was involved,” Shakespeare's friend Eddie Dixon said, "they need the electric chair."
So far, only one person has been charged in connection with the former day laborer's death. Dorice "DeeDee" Moore – a Plant City native with a history of dishonesty who befriended Shakespeare after he hit the jackpot – was arrested on February 2 on a charge of accessory after the fact to first-degree murder.
Stay tuned for further developments.

Phil Ivey, the world’s best poker player, has moved into first position on poker’s All-Time Money List, which is based on tournament winnings in live events. Ivey banked $600,000 for his second-place finish at the 2010 Aussie Millions $100K Challenge tournament, boosting his career tournament earnings to $12,802,783. This places him ahead of previous leader, Daniel Negreanu, by approximately $400,000.

Foxwoods Hires Bernard Lee as Official Poker Spokesman
According to the Boston Herald: Foxwoods Resort Casino has signed professional card player Bernard Lee to be its “official poker spokesman.”
The Connecticut casino is the first major U.S. casino to sponsor a professional poker player. Lee, who writes a weekly column for the Herald on poker, will be the official spokesman for the “World Poker Tour-branded Poker Room.”
Lee has won more than $1.35 million and three titles on the tournament circuit since becoming a professional poker player three years ago. He’s a Harvard University and Babson College graduate and formerly worked as a senior marketing and new business development manager.

Daughter of Poker Legend Doyle Brunson to Manage Doyles Room
GamblingOnLineMagazine.com reports that Pam Brunson, daughter of the legendary poker icon Doyle Brunson, has joined the family-owned Website DoylesRoom.com as the new manager of an elite team of young poker players dubbed the “Brunson 10.” The popular poker room announced earlier this week than Pam will now organize and advise the Brunson 10 – a team which currently consists of Zach Clark, Amit Makhija, Chris Moorman, and Dani Stern – as well as handling all their PR requests.

MasterCard Blocks Online Gambling Deposits
Online Poker.net reports that the United State’s government’s constant battle to control online gambling has filtered through to credit card transactions. MasterCard now blocks any deposits made by U.S. citizens linked to poker sites and online casinos.
The move by MasterCard is likely related to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). Introduced to the States in 2006, the act “prohibits the transfer of funds from a financial institution to an illegal Internet gambling site.”
The latest news is that VISA is taking similar steps.

Poker Payment Processor Held
Recently, compatiblepoker.com reported that Douglas Rennick, the Canadian citizen who is accused of processing payments for online poker rooms and casino rooms – an act currently deemed illegal under the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act – has been held in contempt of court for refusing to comply with a grand jury subpoena.
Rennick’s Account Services Corp and KJB Financial Corp, of which he is sole shareholder, officer and employee, have been tirelessly probed by US authorities as online payment processors.
Rennick was caught by the authorities and charged under three accounts: Conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling company, conspiracy to engage in money laundering, and conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
The contempt of court charge came after Rennick would not agree to comply with the subpoena issued by the grand jury. His attorneys argued that this would violate their client’s rights under the Fifth Amendment, which protects him against self incrimination.

Movie Tells Story of Life after Lottery
It may not be Hollywood, but the Sundance Film Festival is prestigious enough to garner the attention of Tinsel Town’s biggest players. Which could be good news for Lucky, a documentary film that premiered at Sundance this past January. The movie chronicles the adventures of lottery winners from around the country, including 60-year-old Quang Dao, a native of Vietnam, who four years ago shared a record $365 million jackpot with seven co-workers at a ConAgra plant in Lincoln, Nebraska. Lucky’s director, Jeffrey Blitz, says of his movie, “Everyone dreams of winning the lottery. Lucky is a documentary about what actually happens if you do.”

Biggest Poker Tournament in Texas History Also Dallas Cowboys Fundraiser
It was all for a good cause when nearly 1,000 players gathered in South Dallas last month, just a few blocks from Dallas Police Headquarters, to compete for a WSOP main event seat in what was advertised as the biggest “True Free Roll Texas Hold ’em Poker Tournament” in history. The event was also a charity fundraiser for the much respected DallasCAN! Academies. No word at press time as to how much money was actually raised.

Mohegan Sun to Create 500 Jobs and Open a Dealer School
According to the Times Tribune, the Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs in Pennsylvania expects to increase employment by 50 percent by adding over 60 table games to its casino floor by this summer. Currently, the casino supports nearly 2,500 slot machines and employs around 1,000 people. An additional 500 people will be hired to support not only the table games themselves, but to also cover positions in food and beverage, valet services, security, cashiering, and slots. The Mohegan Sun also introduced a dealer school last month with a two to four month card games training program. Plans are also in the works to a build nine-story hotel with 300-plus rooms.

Canada to Get Regulated Online Poker
Raymond Bachand, the finance minster of Quebec, announced plans to introduce online poker to the province by September. The move is part of Loto Quebec’s intentions to offer an online gambling service, beginning with poker games and sports betting. The state could easily make around $50 million in the first three years and eventually grab a much larger part of the $675 million online gambling market in Canada. Croupiers working for Loto Quebec offline casinos have also been critical of the move, stating it will be detrimental to existing casinos.

Russian Casino Opens Under New Laws
The setting couldn’t have been any less festive: A large, shed-like building in the middle of a snow-covered field 60 miles from the nearest city. Still, more than 500 gambling fans were more than happy to make the trek to the grand opening of Orakul Casino, which represents a fresh start for a Russian gambling industry that was almost obliterated by a government law last July banning it to four remote regions in the vast back country. The casino owners remain upbeat, saying they are convinced there's a market and they plan to start building a four-star hotel for gamblers this summer.  

Police Battle Illegal Russian Gamblers
Illegal gambling has spread rapidly across Russia since a new law came into force last July banning casinos. Russian police colonel Oleg Bolderov said they had carried out thousands of raids over the past eight months.
“ We have closed down 70 casinos and 4,000 slot-machine arcades . . . and have brought 600 criminal cases,” he said.
Despite the crackdown, underground gambling dens continue to flourish in the capital, Moscow, and in St Petersburg. Corruption is rife and some senior police officers are actively protecting illegal casinos in return for huge pay-offs – as much as $400,000 per month to stay open.

Singapore Approves First Casino
Looks like Singapore has been given the okay to enter the gaming industry. Resorts World Sentosa was issued a license last month to operate as that country’s first casino, a $5 billion dollar gaming paradise located on an island a quarter of a mile off Singapore's coast. Rival Las Vegas Sands expects to open its $5.5 billion Marina Bay Sands casino-resort in Singapore in May. The government expects the two to increase the country's gross domestic product growth by up to 1 percentage point, boost tourism, and add 35,000 jobs.

Rodent Takes Out the Palace Casino
Talk about smelling a rat. Two hours before Super Bowl XLIV kicked off in Miami, an electrical short at the Palace Casino in Biloxi killed the power, forcing an evacuation of the property. Guests in over 100 rooms were quickly and calmly evacuated while Biloxi Police and Fire arrived on the scene to secure the site. Officials couldn’t find any evidence of nefarious doings, figuring the most likely culprit to be a rodent. Repairs were completed in time to open the casino the next evening.