NCAA President Mark Emmert.(Photo: Bob Donnan, USA TODAY Sports)

On the heels of a federal judge issuing an injunction on March 7, 2013, that barred New Jersey from allowing sports betting in the midst of an ongoing legal battle between the state and five sports organizations, the NCAA affirmed its stance that the spread of gambling is a threat to the integrity of athletic competition and student-athlete well-being.

A lot has changed since then.

Las Vegas has become the de facto hub of college basketball in the week before the NCAA tournament, with four conference tournaments held there (plus another in Reno). The NHL has expanded there. The NFL is on the way.

And now, in perhaps the most interesting stress test for the NCAAs ban on holding events in states where sports betting is legal, the Supreme Court announced Tuesday it will hear a case that could determine whether the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act is legal.

Supreme Court's decision could spur action in Congress, sports leagues on gambling

NCAA women's basketball needs Sweet 16 to Vegas idea

If New Jersey wins and the federal law is ruled unconstitutional, states could be able to determine for themselves whether to allow sports betting. Which could put the NCAA in an interesting situation.

Its hard to say how many states would legalize sports betting immediately. If New Jersey and a handful of others opened betting parlors, the NCAA could certainly go on about its business without much interruption as silly as that might be.

But over time, this is a losing issue for the NCAA, as the NHL and NFL have now tacitly admitted by moving into Las Vegas after going out of their way for years to avoid it. The reality is a large percentage of people who watch sports like to wager on sports and will find ways to do so whether its in a casino, online or with their local bookie.

New Jersey isn't much of a loss for the NCAA. Its a state with one FBS university (Rutgers) and one facility (the Prudential Center in Newark) that is equipped to host an NCAA basketball tournament. Even at that, the NCAA would rather play in Brooklyn or Manhattan anyway.

But if Florida or Texas or California legalized sports gambling, does it stand to reason that the NCAA would pull its events and ignore those states?

Again, its difficult to handicap how the Supreme Court is going to rule on this. Maybe status quo wins out, but on a common-sense level its getting more difficult every year to justify the NCAAs stance on sports betting.

While protecting college athletes from some seedier elements of sports gambling remains a crucial part of its mission the NCAA conducts a study on the topic every four years to guide its educational efforts much of the negative perception of Las Vegas is rooted in a different time and place. The famous photograph of UNLV players in a hot tub with Richard The Fixer Perry in the early 1990s still resonates.

Still, its difficult to reconcile a hard-line stance against holding an NCAA tournament game at the new T-Mobile Arena on The Strip when the Pac-12 holds its tournament there without incident one week earlier. And it's certainly hard to justify pulling a women's soccer tournament or an NCAA track and field event out of New Jersey because of some existential gambling threat.

Even NCAA President Mark Emmert hinted at a possible softening of the policy during his annual news conference at the Final Four in April when asked if Las Vegas would be considered for the next round of bidding for the basketball tournament.

The board has been having active discussions about that issue, Emmert said. They have not changed the policy yet. And they won't be able to do so for this round of bidding. And I've communicated this to some of the leadership in Las Vegas. They will not be eligible for this round. Whether or not the board changes its mind before the next round, I can't say. Obviously there's a lot of collegiate athletic events going on in Nevada, both regular season and tournament events. And the board's acutely aware of that, and they'll be considering it.

The NCAA didnt immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. But ultimately, the Supreme Court could be what ends up forcing its hand.

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Supreme Court decision to take on sports gambling issue might force NCAA to accept Las Vegas - USA TODAY

Gambling, though widespread in the United States, is subject to legislation at both the state and federal level that bans it from certain areas, limits the means and types of gambling, and otherwise regulates the activity.

Congress has used its power under the Commerce Clause to regulate interstate gambling, international gambling, and relations between the United States and Native American territories. For example, it has passed laws prohibiting the unauthorized transportation of lottery tickets between states, outlawing sports betting with certain exceptions, and regulating the extent to which gambling may exist on Native American land.

Each state determines what kind of gambling it allows within its borders, where the gambling can be located, and who may gamble. Each state has enacted different laws pertaining to these topics. The states also have differing legal gambling ages, with some states requiring the same minimum age for all types of gambling, while for others, it depends on the activity. For example, in New Jersey, an 18-year-old can buy a lottery ticket or bet on a horse race, but cannot enter a casino until age 21. Presumably, the age 21 restriction is due to the sale of alcohol in that location.

A standard strategy for avoiding laws that prohibit, constrain, or aggressively tax gambling is to locate the activity just outside the jurisdiction that enforces them, in a more "gambling friendly" legal environment. Gambling establishments often exist near state borders and on ships that cruise outside territorial waters. Gambling activity has also exploded in recent years in Native American territory. Internet-based gambling takes this strategy and extends it to a new level of penetration, for it threatens to bring gambling directly into homes and businesses in localities where a physical gambling establishment could not conduct the same activity.

In the 1990s, when the World Wide Web was growing rapidly in popularity, online gambling appeared to represent an end-run around government control and prohibition. A site operator needed only to establish the business in a friendly offshore jurisdiction such as the Bahamas and begin taking bets. Anyone with access to a web browser could find the site and place wagers by credit card. Confronted with this blatant challenge to American policies, the Department of Justice and Congress explored the applicability of current law and the desirability of new regulation for online gambling.

In exploring whether an offshore Internet gambling business taking bets from Americans violated federal law, attention was focused on the Wire Act, 18 U.S.C. 1084 (2000). The operator of a wagering business is at risk of being fined and imprisoned under the Wire Act if the operator knowingly uses a "wire communication facility" to transmit information related to wagering on "any sporting event or contest." 18 U.S.C. 1084(a). An exception exists if that act is legal in both the source and destination locations of the transmission. 1084(b). The Wire Acts definition of wire communication facility appears to embrace the nation's entire telecommunications infrastructure, and therefore probably applies to online gambling. See 1081.

The Department of Justice maintains that, under the Wire Act, all Internet gambling by bettors in the United States is illegal. U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary Hearing on Establishing Consistent Enforcement Policies in the Context of Online Wagers, 110th Cong., Nov. 14, 2007 (testimony of Catherine Hanaway, U.S. Attorney (E.D. Mo.), Dept. of Justice). The Fifth Circuit disagreed, ruling that the Wire Act applies only to sports betting, not other types of gambling. In re MasterCard Intl Inc., 313 F.3d 257 (5th Cir. 2002).

In 2006, Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which made it illegal for wagering businesses to knowingly accept payment in connection with unlawful Internet gambling (though it does not itself make Internet gambling illegal). 109 Pub. L. 109-347, Title VIII (Oct. 13, 2006) (codified at 31 U.S.C. 5301, 536167). It also authorizes the Federal Reserve System to create regulations that prohibit financial transaction providers (banks, credit card companies, etc.) from accepting those payments. See 31 U.S.C. 5363(4). This Act, along with threats of prosecution under the Wire Act from the Department of Justice, has caused several Internet gambling businesses to withdraw from the U.S. market.

In response, House Representatives introduced multiple bills in 2007 to soften federal Internet gambling law. If passed, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act and the Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act would license, regulate, and tax Internet gambling businesses rather than prohibit them from taking bets from the United States. Alternatively, the Skill Game Protection Act would clarify the Wire Act to exempt certain games such as poker and chess.

In addition to federal measures, some states have enacted legislation to prohibit some types of Internet gambling. In 2006, Washington State amended its Code to make knowingly transmitting or receiving gambling information over the Internet a felony. See Wash. Rev. Code 9.46.240 (2006). Other states with similar prohibitions have made it a misdemeanor instead. See e.g., 720 ILCS 5/28-1 (2007).

States have not been particularly active in enforcing these laws, possibly due to a conflict with the dormant Commerce Clause doctrine. That doctrine theorizes that state law applying to commerce outside the states borders is unconstitutional because that power lies with federal, not state, government. In particular, federal preemption has obstructed states attempts to regulate gambling activity on Indian reservations within state borders. See Missouri ex rel. Nixon v. Coeur DAlene Tribe, 164 F.3d 1102 (8th Cir. 1999). The federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, 25 U.S.C. 29 (2000), governs gambling activity on Indian reservations, but the extent to which it and other federal gambling laws preempt state action in the Internet arena is uncertain.

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Gambling | Wex Legal Dictionary / Encyclopedia | LII / Legal ...

After you complete the Take Back the Sea side quest (which is as simple as just killing a bunch of bokoblins on a nearby beach) and restore Lurelin Village, youll find a house in the northeast of the town where you can gamble your rupees for a quick buck.

Travel to the Yah Rin shrine and head down into Lurelin Village. Keep heading roughly northeast as you follow the paths through town. Youre looking for a house with the door open you can see it when you look northeast from the Lurelin Village inn.

Bear in mind that this is by no means a get rich quick scheme. When you walk into the house, talk to Cloyne. Hell explain the rules of the game to you you pay 10, 50 or 100 rupees for a one-in-three chance to win money. Buying in at 10 or 50 rupees gives you the chance to double your money. Paying 100 rupees, on the other hand, will triple it.

After you buy in, all you have to do is go pick a treasure chest. Theres no way to game the system here youre just at the mercy of chance. Two of the chests contain a single rupee, and the third has either double or triple what you paid in.

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Zelda Breath of the Wild guide: Gambling - Polygon

Gambling: 'My wife found out we'd no money in the bank and my Da called me for a showdown - on way to the house I stopped to do a bet'

BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

He's a straight-talking and committed ambulance officer who's dedicated the last 14 years of his career to trying to save members of the public, but John McPoland has admitted that his own life was almost shattered by a gambling addiction that started with a schoolboy bet on the Grand National and almost ended in a family meltdown.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/gambling-my-wife-found-out-wed-no-money-in-the-bank-and-my-da-called-me-for-a-showdown-on-way-to-the-house-i-stopped-to-do-a-bet-35868615.html

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/article35868614.ece/72fe4/AUTOCROP/h342/2017-06-27_new_32372690_I3.JPG

He's a straight-talking and committed ambulance officer who's dedicated the last 14 years of his career to trying to save members of the public, but John McPoland has admitted that his own life was almost shattered by a gambling addiction that started with a schoolboy bet on the Grand National and almost ended in a family meltdown.

John, who's the high-profile media and communications manager for the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, opened his heart last night about his obsession in a frank, no-holds-barred interview with BBC Radio Ulster presenter Vinny Hurrell.

For John, who's used to talking to the media about accidents and modern-day crises faced by the Ambulance Service, it was a sometimes painful reflection on the darker days in his own past.

And he said that without the intervention of his parents, his wife and close friends, his life could have completely fallen apart.

John said he discovered gambling at the age of 16, adding: "I placed my first bet on the Grand National in 1974 or 1975. It was 2/6 or twelve-and-a-half pence. And it won. I can't deny that I idolised money and I thought this was a dead easy way to get money. I went down every Saturday to the bookies and then it was every day.

"In school I became a bookie. I remember when the FA Cup Final was on me and this other boy couldn't see Man United losing against Southampton."

So confident were the two boys, that he offered generous odds against a Southampton win, but John's pal took cold feet and pulled out of the betting partnership.

John said: "Southampton beat United 1-0 and I didn't have a penny to pay anyone. I owed 13.50."

His answer - perhaps inevitably - was to go to the bookies and a bet won him 26, which allowed him to settle his debts.

"I thought I was king for the day," said John. The next day he was taking more bets from his schoolmates.

John said he "scraped through" his examinations at school without working too hard and gained a place at St Joseph's Training College.

But that's where things started to go from bad to worse. "I met boys from the country who loved their oul drink and gambling," said John. He was soon joining card schools and he started missing classes before "his day of reckoning" came after gambling "took over too much" of his life.

He failed his exams and was told he would have to leave college. Which he knew would disappoint his parents.

John explained: "People said I was my father's blue-eye, but I don't really accept that because there were nine of us and I was in the middle. But I could see the hurt in his eyes."

John took a job as a bricklayer on a building site before he got a job in an office in the Housing Executive in 1979 where he stayed for 11 years - "the worst years of my life".

The problems revolved around John's workload - there was too little of it, he said, adding: "After three days my line manager came to me and said: 'Slow down; you have just done a month's work'."

John said he had to learn how to spread out a few days' work over a month. "And I became conditioned like everyone else to doing that."

But John, who was in his 20s, said that his idle hands made for the devil's work - his gambling.

He went into work in the mornings and got the newspaper to decide on his horse racing bets for the day.

"At lunchtime I went round to the bookies and I couldn't wait to go back round there. It impacted on everything in my life, including my sport and my work as a youth leader."

Ironically, he was also volunteering with the Samaritans, but he was unable to help himself.

"Gambling was a bit like a cancer. It eats into every aspect of your life. But I couldn't see it," said John, who'd got married but was struggling to pay off his mortgage.

He tried to keep his gambling problems from his wife, but he said she eventually discovered the truth.

"It all blew up. She found out we didn't have the money in the bank that we were supposed to have and she went and told my Da.

"He summoned me up to the house and on the way I stopped off at the bookies to have a bet."

John tried to soft-soap his father by saying that he didn't have a problem and that he only liked "a wee bet".

But he said that in reality there were nights he couldn't sleep, thinking about what he had done to people close to him and to others from whom he was borrowing money.

"It was a nightmare. The only way out for me, as a gambler, was to gamble sensibly and win," he said, acknowledging that was what all gamblers told themselves about the "elusive win". However, John's father finally told him that he wasn't going to let him destroy his wife's life, and his son vowed to do something about his gambling.

He told Hurrell: "I thought that would be the end of it, but he was too wise. He had already made contact with a group and he put me in touch with them.

"I had to go in to phone the guy there and then.

"He was waiting for the call and that was the first night that I sat talking to someone who knew what I was going through.

"I'm not ashamed to admit it - I cried like a baby."

And that was the beginning of the end of John's gambling.

"It was 1987 when I got married. It was 1988 when I had my last bet," said John, who added that he still lived with the problem every day.

He also said he was deeply concerned about the high numbers of young people who are taking their own lives here.

"Down through the years I have listened to people who have come to our group and they talk about how close they were to suicide and everything else.

"They need to know there are people there to help them."

In his own youth, sport was important to John, who played Gaelic football in west Belfast and was once on the bench for the Antrim county side in a game against Cavan at Breffni Park, where he thought he was about to hit the big time.

"The manager said 'John get stripped' and I got up, but there was another John who got stripped and he got playing," added John, who was mercilessly ribbed by his colleagues among the substitutes, including his own brother.

His late father Hugh was once a referee and chairman of the GAA in Antrim and John's proudest moment came when his father presented him with clubman and player of the year awards for his club.

John said: "They're the only trophies I have from my Gaelic football career that I still have and they are very dear to me because my father is no longer with us and he was a massive influence on my life.

"He instilled in us a lot of values and it broke my heart sometimes, the way I let him down." Long after John had beaten his gambling demons and when his father was dying in 2004, he asked him quietly: "Daddy you know the way you've always looked after me here, promise me you'll look after me when you're up there."

The response wasn't what John had been expecting.

"He just turned his head round and he said to me: 'What the f*** have you done now?'"

Belfast Telegraph

Continued here:

Gambling: 'My wife found out we'd no money in the bank and my Da called me for a showdown - on way to the house I ... - Belfast Telegraph

A Shanghai court on Monday sentenced Jason O'Connor, the head of Crown Resorts' international unit for high-rolling gamblers, to 10 months in prison on gambling charges, the company said.

The outcome ends months of uncertainty for the big Australian casino operator. Chinese authorities detained the group of Crown employees last October in a major roundup that spooked Asia's gambling industry.

Wealthy Chinese gamblers have proved highly lucrative for Crown and other operators in the region, which have sought to lure them to their overseas destinations. But that approach appears to have fallen foul of President Xi Jinping's sweeping clampdown on corruption, which has targeted gambling as a way for corrupt officials to launder money.

Related: China has a worrying habit of making business leaders disappear

O'Connor was among a group of 19 current or former Crown employees who were convicted in court on Monday. Sixteen of them received prison sentences similar to O'Connor's, according to a company statement. They were also fined a total of 8.62 million yuan ($1.26 million), which Crown said it would pay for them.

The prison sentences are backdated, which means O'Connor and the others have already served more than eight months.

Gambling is illegal in China, except in the territory of Macau. Promoting gambling in mainland China is not allowed, but foreign casinos can promote their resorts in a more general way.

Related: Japan opens door to potential $30 billion casino industry

Chinese "VIP" gamblers brought in big bucks for Crown. More than a third of revenue generated by the company's Australian resorts for the year ended June 2016 came from international visitors, most of them from mainland China, according to the company's latest annual report.

But it reported a decline in sales and profit in the second half of last year due to a 45% plunge in revenue from high-rolling gamers.

The detentions prompted Crown to rethink its business. Since October, it has closed several offices across Asia and offloaded its stake in a Macau casino operator.

CNNMoney (Hong Kong) First published June 26, 2017: 5:47 AM ET

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China jails top casino exec over gambling crimes - CNNMoney

Austin police is expected Tuesday afternoon tobrief the public on an illegal gambling operation that happened earlier this year.

In January, Austin police began an investigation into several illegal gambling operations throughout the Austin area, according to a news release. Austin police have identified 53-year-old Chong Pak as their primary suspect in the case, who they believe was the owner ofthe illegal game room operation, the release said.

After police maintained surveillance on Pak and his associates for three months, they conducted a search of Paks home at the 1200 block of Augusta Bend in Hutto, police said.

In the home, police said they found:

Pak was arrestedand charged with money laundering and engaging in organized crime, the release said. If convicted, Pak could face up to life in prison and a $10,000 fine, the release said.

The case remains open, police said.

Austin police will provide more information at a news briefing today at 3 p.m. Check back on this story for more details.

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JUST IN: Austin police offer new details in illegal gambling case - Austin American-Statesman

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Roemer has a gift for me he really does that's that's is give your all losers for wired is a great quote I did say on the idea is right into the camera Ural loser for watching him they watched it live I still. I feel that 6177797937. Phone number text as well. You're annoyance with my weightlifting socket 37937. As for a quick a Red Sox thought we even talked Red Sox I don't. Why the Red Sox not putting him there Ramirez on the DL and saying. Come back when you are gonna complain about shoulders or knees or. Anything else seems like even a waste of time they already have you know Josh rightly it's grannies on the DO Devin Marie aero you Marty gets down. Just bottom of the barrel often suppliers in your pocket right now him Ramirez John is a bottom of the barrel offensive player. He has been. All average is here he doesn't wanna play first base he's not a very good offensive player you've she's on the backs up close and personal ads and that'll interest did. In make music that serious for saudis the royals last week laughing with seller operates in a two run game late awful if he was hand there are mirrors of last year. Both final eighty some odd games where he played an IE it was I'll pull the numbers here a second but it was 300 batting average. I double as your home runs. Over OPS of a thousand he was awesome in the final eighty gains of the last half last year he was awesome he sucks right now. So this idea that you need is that middle lineup he's not producing anyway I would take Sam Travis or pick your other first baseman in there. Award at DH Ing day in and day out when he's giving you nothing annie's ease bang out of games last minute anyway. Why not just call one is bull crap and say okay gold rest your shoulders go rest your knees and come back pretty healthy so we ought last minute bailouts the lineup how does that make sense. Yeah I mean if if if it. Becomes more of a pattern because he played three or four straight games before last night right yes so. If this happens when you start Friday's obviously if this if this keeps happening OK am with you there but. He's always been a better second half player's career and first not a lot of guys are considered about but he's one. You. Have just. Holes opened an airline accurately do for a team that's in first place they're not consistent offensively at all so like much like we said about Pablo. Where well you got to him audience is yet no alternatives that's kinda where you are with him. 24 it was batting average ten home runs 29 RBIs. Oh on base of 341. What does he slugging your arm and it just that that the totals well. Finally so oral sex doesn't fit. So it's pretty sad and yes slightly below average of the the guy was supposed to replace David Ortiz he's not coming clothes do not replacing David or tee and and I thought John Farrell had an interesting quote last night about Mitch Moreland thesis I did yes yes there's gonna get to the net more of a god you have yes so. Just the good message that he seems to be sending it certainly sounded to me like this was meant. As a message for hand. You know because. The quote was basically he showed his teammates need you the quote. I ordered a second is that something to the effect you know Mitch while is playing there injury which we know. And because here's the quote. He the way he's the way he's gone about it and sizzle fizzle condition he's in. Is a strong message the remainder of the team Ferrell set on Monday night yet that is clearly. A shot at him Ramirez who at times is at one and one or two cases. Back out some shoulder late. Last night was because of the neat he got hit by a pitch in the neat he stayed in the game. So yeah ice down to come back the next day you're playing its first place Minnesota Twins team you were located go up to the game and then a right prior to game time was like 530 S Olazabal for 430 yesterday. He bags out for the third time league this year in the hours prior to game time says he can't play. More on this plane three broken tail. He is showing more power numbers then. Him Ramirez has. With a broken toe and he keeps playing for broken toe and John Ferrell lauded his first baseman last night. I think the way he's going about it given the physical condition reason is that there's a strong message for the remainder of this team. Yeah exactly and the what I don't get. Given the way he's hitting right now is why you don't call handling on his bull crap because the longer you let him play through this and he's an air quotes here in studio. These injuries job. You are just. Belonging the fact these wanna take advantage of that this is what kids do when you give a kid any sort of leeway. They take advantage of that and this is Tammy right now because they don't call monitor because he knows John Ferrell is not gonna rip him publicly because John probably does think. But the shoulders might be an issue okay goal wrest the new school better second half player you got two weeks or so until a week or sort of the all star break. Goal at fifty Ted Kennedy aide radio right now and come back after the break go get healthy come back and go back got a games last minute. A real would have hurt the team that's picked when he has helped the team because you sent a message to handle it okay your hurt. Go get yourself a couple of weeks when you come back we expect he'd be in the lineup every single day. And it there's one thing about the culture of baseball that is. Not forget that's too strong word but if there's something that in baseball is not appreciated is the last minute scratch you know we saw this. Last year were the rod got a game in Detroit where he pulled himself. Not nearly giving the team enough time to get Henry Owens up and all that. I we've seen Carl Everett and Darren Lewis were gone back now fifteen years but they got basically into a brawl in the clubhouse before a game over that over somebody beside me couldn't play was a J. D. Drew wood on day of gains be a last minute scratch my head was I don't that's the yeah I mean JD was more likely to be scratches brother there was their eyes I thought it was JD who who would just give the manager fits because there was ease couldn't play. Last minute I think yes he Daschle ever like he'd you know his his hamstring so open and so. He would be a last minute thing coaches and managers hate that because. Especially the Red Sox since Francona they've always had this thing they like to tell guys the night before a year get in and day out tomorrow hey you're gonna plated mark Macon prepare for it. And that's something that Farrell has carried over. And when him lead pulls stuff like this now you're sort of you're asking someone who wasn't prepared to play to suddenly step and I. Understand it's not fair but I understand having separate rules for certain players right the guy got to manage but he's also producing David okay you deal with the excellent point John. Hanley is not producing. And whether whether it's the bad it is against the royals were laughing with sour president to run game late was on the swings this guy takes I was there Sunday. And it's not the first time this year he swings at a first pitch of Wales and a page doesn't look close doesn't seem. Locked in the way nannies be locked in having a big god Bobble head night for Manny to say which one about Manny. Manny Ramirez in the back in the batter's box up against that one a bank it's rare. You know he he was locked in as anybody. Or tees if he's bitching about his contract the complaining about an injury or manager he was locked into the batter's box. Hanley doesn't look like he gives a crap at times yet that. The message you are sending is we're OK with this behavior. Odd people on about it for gusting to 41 slugging 747. That makes cents. Yes OPS percent and yet the that's my thing with Hanley is he's trying to short circuit the process of being David Ortiz like he. Knew that David Ortiz is gone after replace him and you know what his numbers last year were not quite Ortiz leveled a close enough where he did that again you can total of attack. The problem is. The numbers came first court season and all the other stuff the personality of the smile the big pot be the persona. All of that stuff back came second. And Haley seems to be trying to put all that first some going to be the guy who laughs and jokes and everybody in the middle of the game because my stature in baseball I can get away with back. And you you cite no. No you know as one of his former teammates it's a no no no pot but there are allowing him right now to get away yet made by not putting on the DL on San okay. Fix whatever shoulder it's hurt or goal restaurant TLC after the all star break we saying his world came with his behavior and John Farrell can. Alluded to last night by getting its willing credit. But you're not really doing Hanley careless. We get called out by his manager. I've been reading he's being did talk to behind the scenes maybe you know they need to do lynch him on a day when he's healthy say you know what now where we're good we're gonna go to guys that we have you know that would send a strong message to me. Dan. TO or whatever setting. Long term the use the shoulders all year both he both he and they have been since or is now and he's not. Really hurt you know now I feel good physically keeps on Bradford goes good physically. I think he does do you wanna play first base he wants to decide when and where he's going to play. And keep letting the guys not performing do that I don't understand what kind of message we're sending to your team. I'm speaking of the Boston Red Sox begin rob Bradford just posts a story on the Red Sox target. I've heard this name brought up but I'm sure we're there yet with the Red Sox and where they are for giving up big prospects for this player will get that push your phone calls. But it's a mossy and for Kirk injure. Scourge and Callahan with Kirk made ahead and Gerry Callahan won Sports Radio WEEI. Yeah of the do do bird these are more. It is there's. I just there's no improvement third. Well we're really. Tall burden is there. He considered the greatest ever. 100%. I mean it. You know you've always got two sides' arguments usually when when people are talking Marbury this is out tomorrow. How good are you would your stats. You know. That would you look I don't own film and then there is that people who always when a validated by wins and championships. When he's got both. And there I don't I don't think you can argue who you can compared to say you're not the best volatile. Thought I was his former teammate Darrelle Revis talking about Tom Brady last night on the NFL's top 100 players in 2017. Coming in at number one once again. Tom Brady Revis talking about him and certainly earned it office play last year meeting get the MVP because in play enough I understand Matt Ryan. I did plenty things Atlanta guard of the MVP but I think it's pretty clear that Tom Brady was the best player. In the league last year from the rankings NFL I'd dot com NFL network. They go with your guy TV twelve who might be here next year at least some people right now is number one player in the national football what's amazing to me it's. He's been the best quarterback and a thoughts out of your use her for the last ten years you know I mean that. 08 team obviously will dollar or seventeen I should say about the records for get hurt no way. And it's taken so long for the public at large to recognize which is a strange to me I mean it's. Objectively so obvious. That he has been the best player in football for a long long time and only now at age forty I mean tell me another athlete of the outside of Barry Bonds. Tell me another athlete who is the best in his sport at age forty. I'm not sure mean Lance Armstrong I don't what how old now is it like he was we asked all his adult stuff we know that right now but he's doping stuff that was well before Ford doesn't exist and it's why Brady's is seen towards that women wanna heavyweight title fight forty Sammy and it's just. Is there's nobody made you Ortiz last it was close he's probably the best he might have been the best as the eight hitter in the Jan. But it's just amazing in that sport where. You know kickers can barely hold on into their forties and here you go with the quarterback. Who's not only still playing but he is the best player in the league that is unprecedented in the history that only showed the forty year old quarterback's right they sure far be sure warn. Mood a couple of their guys and their numbers are just it's it it's a it's like as a down stock it's like one of the stock chart you look at just going down down down. Whereas Brady is coming off a huge Capote with. Any of these years and for his age. I think that's. That's part of the reason why is not been. Given the credit I think that the credit is not come from. The fact the patriots dislike number one Johnny said why's he not gotten credit being the best quarterback only people at the patriots that's really helps. I do think there was this Peyton Manning mystique. In the league it wasn't until. Hey you know the numbers then and actually got an hours ago with them. But it wasn't until Kerry Byrne a cold hard football facts really sort of pointing out okay look at Brady's doing. Vs Manning in categories OK besides winning. Anyway go look at the on completion perceive that it did touchdown interception ratio is look at all these different numbers in the numbers started to advance in football. That was a big part of it but up until then. It was on management and Brady Brady's game manager John for the first person is Greg issue could say he has but he's. He's really changed his career from the game manager two with three or she said dial as the numbers and that plays into the people slow to react to Brady is well lease on a national debt and what was interesting about me. Ending from the opposite perspective was he goes out at the end of his career and finally becomes a guy. Whose teams win you know like it by the end of his career he's beating Brady regularly in the playoffs he wins the Super Bowl he gets another symbol gets crushed but at least gets there. And so Manning sort of reversed that narrative on him but he wasn't a winning player he became that by the end of his career. And Brady has done the same thing while continuing to win the whole way. Now you have to recognize the greatness of is he the most accurate passer in NFL history and I don't mean completion percentage is I don't know he could he's going to be up higher malice anyway but in terms of watching him. Is there a more accurate especially intermediate passer. Ever in the most insane stat along those lines he has 300 or more touchdowns than interceptions in his career. Yeah and that's what organize and raise him from a guy like Manning I'm sure Manning's numbers probably. 150 short that yeah me. Any smarter this year and it it's as the league has gotten. Let's call more hip to the dance numbers and that touchdown interception ratio is more important than just the overall touched on number Manning is being lauded for these huge touchdown numbers. He also a big numbers depict Brett Favre same way. Brady then came along you didn't have Blake 39 touchdown for receptions he's so he's out of touch on numbers and he wasn't turning the ball over yet so it Brady's 304 what's Manning Chris we have that. What is number 280. You were so now that can't be right. No I I I I would guess that Manning had a lot more interceptions Brady meets him actually honestly feel like time line at about ten Oreo total interceptions of Manning has 251. Tom Brady has 152 visions of that's the hundred now Manning had so many touchdowns again that. But a hundred more interceptions. Tells embraced us to war we think at least high level years and although you know again. All this will ratchet up at some point this summer the future of Tom Brady which is taken a slight pay it is here on sports talk radio that is coming because it's the drop will thing. Eagle on LA times soon and your guy Brady just got named the best. Player in the league at the this age of 39 month and pick the guy he replaced entitlement touchdowns interceptions I loved watching Bledsoe from and we all pre season. But back foot he had an arrow slither on in 9000 miles an hour. But I've got his numbers 251 touchdowns 206 interceptions scorers there's barely won one. And that's the the complete opposite of any unit with a million different coordinators in a million different set of offensive skill set players and better as he's gotten. Older his career were for a long time in it was far away. That Manning had the better players than Brady. When it came to the surrounding cast. Cola causes players so Marvin Harrison or Reggie Wayne I mean Brady didn't have anybody like that and preaching Ozzie also played inside vs Brady play out Dallas Clark and and we look those debates are over I mean unless you are trade wing goal or Greg Doyle. You're no longer advocating for Peyton Manning being the best quarterback of all time that's out the window favre's out the window. It is Tom Brady the question is how one goes at this level and you mentioned the age thing going for and it's one of the reasons why. There is at least say a some portion of patriot fans who after next year. If he has that quality what what did I don't like down here for Brady's at this point at her I mean I think I literally think the only thing that will stop in his injury being that. That because grapples waiting behind him as good as Brady's been. There's some portion of fans who are. Seen this is Brady's last season getting sick in the call you we take an MB here on the bishop and a bad or fatal. One or ten more years of rating and that's it you can't plan on him being here it's at least fifty you you can't any of but you also given what heed the season has had. I don't I go boy has a year like this next year already handed the keys to Jimmy gee I guess we can't. We gotta get this guy twenty million die I don't pay a rumpled more than Brady we got to keep these guys around a year from new paper Timor's socket. Just give Brady's money you're thrust your top and this is I admittedly do not watch as one of these events last night that I knew was happening. Thank them because of Twitter I knew of our balls on wrestling yeah last night apparently in the mellow yelled something and Alitalia something races and Alonso got booed thank you Twitter. Hoping to get to the entire show radio station in the country and play that census. That supposedly. The let me open doesn't count. You had an NBA three on three last night which I watched a lot more than I care to admit I'm going to be in two if they ever forgot racial lines that tape delayed I was gallon. I get this cal game I've watched almost two full gains when I was watching a Kwame Brown a and the 33. Headed monster that team come back to win I saw Ricky Davis Ricky Davis and Rashard Lewis or arbitrary date they were good back and forward Jason Williams blew out his knee and fortunately I think CD's of the non contact injury out of and they cities might be your case play well open looked off it did look jump obligates shop but it's all these. It's like it's. It's great pick Earl mid two thousands NBA guys Mike Beebe and Mike James there was guys Celtic point guard edit a cup of coffee was pretty good. On the announcing crew was pretty good I'd I was. I was in the three and three NB a that I'll watch it. But I'd at these these prolific than to cause a Twitter this and other wanted to watch it live at Newbury was ranked number one here's your top ten. But at the top 100 players 2017 Brady one Von Miller to. Julio Jones three Antonio Brown for clue Mac five air Roger six. As he Hugh Elliot seven O'Dell Beckham junior eight. Levy on bell mine and and Matt Ryan whose name quarterback. He get a good number ten in the rankings does that Lauder died as a little. Six. Yeah I'd I was surprised Roger had an out right to be honest with you mean Bryant had a predict here for a winner last year. And why and how about Roger Warren is out what didn't and while they they got there. I was surprised that he was below but this is. It's a good sign for Brady turns forty in August being the top player in the league is all you need Lenovo Brady when it goes it's gonna go like. That's what happened all. OK Max Kellerman the clippers coming it is I'm I don't know honestly a year that's what I'm telling you is Brady will not have a slow decline you'll have an immediate it'll be over what. Niece Katie avocado ice cream and there's he's going to be pliable yeah it was a decline completely said he thought yet. He's not getting any tomatoes that sticky so we'll come back get your break in the mid day guys are here they are pumped up big ol' Lou and Christian your W media. Which occurred minutes. Jerry Kelly fox Sports Radio WEEI. Call it what day this is not going to be for those of us who. What data is already those of us wanna gamble on things legal. John I have long had his conversations with. You're real friend my only what you stand Barbary she wrote the great pulled tooling with kings got. About fan you'll draft kings and not gambling not not gambling but it leads to conversations of gambling and why can't we is. Red blooded Americans in 2017. Why can't we gamble leak what we have to go to offshore web sites in places like Antigua and the Caribbean and have to wait six weeks for your pay out liking you walk in what you can over in London. Now lab broke through William Hill. Walking off the street place a bet get a plight. And enjoy your games well. We might be a step closer to that while we were talking the US Supreme Court which have been busy these last couple days. Are they gave the thumbs up at least initially to New Jersey sports betting they grant the New Jersey a petition middle aside the case on merits they've bought this thing for you. Long long long long. Long time it's not over yet does give you merits briefs there's going to be the whole. Out as if the amicus briefs I think it is Amadeus advocates priest read all about through to flee Gately. Things the league's response brief the new Jersey's ever response in October. But it now goes from a certification stage two we merits stage. New round of briefing to get to argue in front the Supreme Court Supreme Court is going to hear the argument from New Jersey that they wanna be able to have sports betting. There at Monmouth park in William Hill. And we want this for a long long time guys like me John this is a good day when it comes to legalizing gambling in this country now can you sum up the arguments for and against what is the argument not ninety seconds now the argument against is that the league. The NFL. They can't find a way to make money on yet so they are saying no no no there's no stopping those Little League is so I didn't even know the league's gonna fight against the league is the one fighting humanity ingredients and up behind a well. Details now finds an NFL is really play the NBA you know Adam silver wants it carried that they don't want it better for the NHL. It's the NCAA it's the NFL those humanities don't want this they say biggest fights there. We don't want any world but it's a step in the right direction. For guys like me degenerate gambling and again it's like Revere that's I got I hope so we got to go. Thoughts to Kirk's family. Going through. A tough couple years and a tough couple of days here with the passing. Of his dad six weeks ago and his mom last Thursday or thoughts and prayers out to Kirk. And his entire family we are back to Margaret tomorrow I back to zero Jerry's back tomorrow as well and made big guys are next year Sports Radio W media it's four and you know it was.

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K&C - Hanley Ramirez keeps bailing; sports gambling may become legal 6-27-17 - WEEI.com

But the accusations against Crown drew the industrys attention and were closely watched for a sense of how other operators should run their businesses. It is unusual for a high-ranking foreign executive to be prosecuted in China, but the law mandates a maximum sentence of as many as three years for organizing gambling sessions or trying to profit from the business.

The uncertainty was stifling for a lot of casino operators because they didnt exactly know how this was going to pan out and what the exact objections were because not much was made public, said Sudhir Kal, the founder of GamePlan Consultants, a gambling consultancy based in Australia that has advised Crown in the past.

Most operators will also learn that, every now and then, the government does become very serious about implementing the laws in the strictest sense of the word, and therefore they will be a lot more subtle in terms of promoting their properties to the mainland Chinese market, he said.

The detentions followed a crackdown on South Korean casino chains in 2015, when the authorities arrested more than a dozen employees accused of luring Chinese tourists with free accommodations and prostitutes. They also come on the heels of President Xi Jinpings crackdown on corruption, in which he warned against ostentatious displays of wealth, and at a time when the government is struggling to stem capital flight.

Australia has watched the case closely, and its prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has expressed concern. A spokeswoman for Australias Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said that consular officials would continue to aid the Australians and their families until they were released.

The detentions have also caught the attention of other foreign companies operating in China, where fears of increased government scrutiny are growing. Still, the sentences were lighter than the penalties meted out to some others that have come under the cross hairs of the Chinese government. In 2010, a senior executive at Rio Tinto, a mining giant, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in a case involving bribery and theft of commercial secrets.

Chen Zhao, deputy director of Fudan Universitys China Center for Economic Studies in Shanghai, said he did not believe the Crown case meant that the government was putting foreign companies in its sights. I believe that the Chinese government itself is very welcoming of all kinds of legitimate and reasonable investment, so I think this action isnt targeting a specific company, foreign investor or country, he said.

Crown said 16 of the 19 defendants were fined a total of $1.3 million, which the company paid.

It is unclear what the case would mean for Crowns growth prospects in China. On its website, the company lists Hong Kong, another special administrative region governed by its own laws, as its only international representative office. In May, Crown sold its remaining stake in the Macau casino operator Melco Resorts & Entertainment for about $1.2 billion.

Although Macau, the worlds largest gambling market, has been hurt by the campaign against graft, it has rebounded in recent months as new resorts have opened.

Jacqueline Williams contributed reporting from Sydney, Australia. Zhang Tiantian contributed research from Beijing.

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China Jails Workers From Crown Resorts of Australia in Message to Casinos - New York Times

ALBANY Has New York hit a saturation point when it comes to venues for gambling?

That question has surfaced at the statehouse where some lawmakers are pushing to legalize online poker.

Meanwhile, Jeff Gural, operator of Vernon Downs racino in Oneida County, says he fears he will have to close his operations and lay off hundreds of workers to stem mounting financial losses.

CASINO EXPANSIONS

The discussion over the state's gaming policy is heating up less than a year after three full-service casinos opened in upstate New York.

They joined nine racinos, including Vernon Downs, as well as 11 venues operated by Native American tribes:Akwesasne Mohawk Casino and Mohawk Bingo Palace and Casino, both in Franklin County, andthe Seneca Nation casinos in Niagara Falls, Irving, Cuba and Salamanca.

Gaming expansion has also happened throughout the Northeast and eastern Canada, a region home to more than three times the number of casinos it hosted in 2002, said Phil Pantano, spokesman for the Seneca Nation.

"Of course there has been an impact on existing properties," Pantano said.

New York's three new non-Indian casinos in Schenectady, the Finger Lakes and Tioga Downs were opened after voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2013 that ended a ban on non-Indian gambling halls.

GAMBLING OPTIONS

The menu of options was sweetened last year when lawmakers allowed betting on fantasy sports after a lobbying campaign that included Buffalo Bills Hall of Famer Jim Kelly advocating for the special interests plugging the new form of wagering.

Meanwhile, state-regulated lottery games scratch-off tickets, Powerball and Quick Draw have grown steadily since being introduced in 1967.

The state's four thoroughbred race tracks and eight harness tracks have been around even longer.

CLOSURE THREAT

Among those arguing that it's time for state policymakers to hit the brakes on further expansion of gaming is Gary Greenberg, a minority investor in Vernon Downs and long-time follower of the industry.

"There is plenty of gambling already in the state, Greenberg said. We don't need any more."

Gural said Vernon Downs is losing about $150,000 each month. He plans to close the operation, located just several miles from the Turning Stone casino run by the Oneida Indian Nation, unless the Assembly boosts the percentage of revenue from video lottery terminals that the gaming hall can keep.

He said he is prepared to close the track, racino, restaurants and a hotel on the complex.

The chairman of the Assembly Gaming Committee, Assemblyman Gary Pretlow (D-Westchester), said the lower chamber can't agree with Gural's proposal to let Vernon keep more gaming revenue because it would crimp the amount of aid sent to public schools.

But he said he hopes Gural reacts favorably to a counterproposal that would result in a reduction of administrative fees imposed on the facility.

Pretlow also said that while most of the state has not experienced gaming saturation, the congestion of venues running from Oneida County to the Rochester region has hurt the profitability of gaming halls in that vicinity.

The troubles that have befallen Vernon Downs mainly relate to its proximity to the much larger Turning Stone, said Bennett Liebman, who retired from state government in 2014 as Gov. Andrew Cuomo's top adviser on gaming matters.

"Vernon has always been in a difficult position because it is so close to the Oneidas," who run Turning Stone as well as the smaller Yellow Brick Road casino in Chittenango, Liebman said.

Liebman said discerning whether New York is headed for a decline in action at gambling halls because of increasing competition is not easy to fathom.

He said he doesn't take any projections of a gaming glut or market expansion very seriously.

"Nobody really knows what is going to happen," he said.

COMPETITION

Meanwhile, a large casino is scheduled to open next year in Springfield, Mass., about an hour's drive from the Albany region.

Liebman said that venue will likely be a greater threat to two Native American casinos in Connecticut than to the racino in Saratoga or the new casino in Schenectady.

Lee Park, spokesman for the state Gaming Commission, said his agency, given its role as a regulator that does not offer policy opinions, would not weigh in on whether the state has too much gaming.

But he did note: "The Gaming Facility Location Board closely studied the matter and determined that the market can and will support competition among appropriately scoped and appropriately financed gaming operations."

ONLINE POKER

Meanwhile, the proposal that would allow online poker, meanwhile, has gained traction in the Assembly, where it is backed by Pretlow's committee.

The bill, authored by Sen. John Bonacic (R-Orange County), would allow such interactive online games as Texas hold 'em. The senator has said the measure would protect consumers who now play unregulated games, while boosting revenue for state education programs.

If the measure is approved, it could face legal challenges from gambling foes questioning Bonacic's assertion that online poker is a game of skill, not a game of chance.

Email Joe Mahoney:

jmahoney@cnhi.com

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Lawmakers may add online poker to state's gambling options - Plattsburgh Press Republican

DAllesandro has spent the past two decades fronting the effort for New Hampshire to build massive slot machine casinos, but has suddenly become concerned about the potential side effects of expanding gambling.

Yet DAllesandros hypocrisy does not wash away the costs of gambling. And this Legislature has quietly expanded gambling across New Hampshire.

Keno supporters finally got their new game authorized by using it to fund increased state aid for full-day kindergarten. How this will actually work has been pushed off to rulemaking.

The budget trailer bill, HB 517, authorizes the Lottery Commission to start selling online scratch tickets. Again, the details havent been decided.

New Hampshire has been selling lottery tickets to raise money for schools for decades. And for many people, playing the games is harmless entertainment. But gambling comes with real costs, for those who become addicted and for the communities in which they live.

Lawmakers this year placed hasty bets on expanded gambling without carefully considering the consequences of their actions.

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Bad bets: Recklessly expanding gambling - The Union Leader

Kenyas government has introduced a five-fold tax hike on online betting in a bid to discourage minors from gambling, and to raise funds that would support sports and cultural activities. On June 21, president Uhuru Kenyatta signed the Finance Bill 2017, which increased tax rates for betting, lotteries, and gambling from the current rate of 7.5% to 35%.

Betting firms in Kenya are now saying the punitive tax measures will not only dent their returns, but also affect jobs in the industry, lead to the defunding of corporate social activities, and discourage investment in an emerging sector.

SportPesa, the leading Kenyan online sports betting platform, said it will withdraw sponsorship from local sports clubs in Jan. 2018when the new bill will come into effect. The company has grown rapidly in recent years and is major sports sponsor at home where it backs the Kenyan Premier League, as well as two of the leagues leading clubs, Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards. The betting company also splashed out on a costly sponsorship both Everton and Hull City in the English League.

Ronald Karauri, the chief executive of SportPesa, said on Twitter that the tax amendments will greatly affect their operations and that their partners should plan accordingly before they withdraw support. Notably, Karauri said the cuts will not affect sponsorships of teams outside Kenya.

The taxing hike augurs how African governments will deal with sports betting and gambling as it grows into a multimillion dollar industry across the continent. Behind South Africa and Nigeria, Kenya is home to the third-largest gambling market in Africa. The betting boom has also caught on in countries like Uganda where the expansion of satellite TV and the creation of a national lottery lured many jobless Ugandans into betting. In Nigeria, 60 million people between the ages of 18 and 40 years spend up to 2 billion naira ($6.2 million) on sports betting daily.

The growing adoption of smartphones has also increased the time people spend gambling in Kenya, with many of them spending hours researching teams, reviewing scores, or learning betting tactics. Authorities say they imposed the hefty taxes in order to deter minors from betting. Local media have reported stories of people committing suicide after losing bets or falling into debt.

The initial proposal from Kenyas Treasury was to actually increase the tax to 50%, but after stakeholder meetings, the rate for all betting, lotteries, and raffle competitions was amended to a uniform 35%.

Karauri says gaming operators in Kenya will barely be able to sustain their businesses come 2018. The expected financial project will force closure of firms and that theres no company in the country which has the capacity of complying to the tax, he told The Star newspaper.

Sign up for the Quartz Africa Weekly Brief the most important and interesting news from across the continent, in your inbox.

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Kenya thinks a five-fold tax hike on its betting sector can deter child gambling - Quartz

BBC News

Watchdog clamps down on online gambling BBC News The competition regulator is to take action against some online gambling companies which it suspects of breaking consumer law. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said some punters did not get the deal they expected from sign-up promotions ... Gambling companies probed for 'unfairly holding onto people's money'Business Insider Online gambling firms face clampdown after watchdog's probeThe Guardian Gambling industry scores another own goal as CMA strikers threaten penalty areaThe Independent Telegraph.co.uk -Financial Times -The Times (subscription) all 44 news articles »

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Watchdog clamps down on online gambling - BBC News

SHANGHAI Australian and Chinese employees of a casino company on Monday pleaded guilty to charges relating to gambling and the three Australians were sentenced to nine or 10 months' imprisonment, an Australian official said.

The 19 defendants, including three Australians from the sales and marketing team of Australia's Crown Resorts Ltd., appeared at a court in Shanghai. Casino gambling, the marketing of casinos and organizing overseas gambling trips involving 10 or more people are illegal in China.

"The three Australians and the other defendants pleaded guilty," the Australian Consul General in Shanghai, Graeme Meehan, said outside the Baoshan District People's Court.

Jason O'Connor, the head of Crown Resorts international VIP programs was sentenced to 10 months in prison, and Australian-Chinese dual nationals Jerry Xuan and Jenny Pan received sentences of nine months' imprisonment, Meehan said.

Their sentences start from the date they were detained, which was Oct. 14, he added.

At least half of the 19 had been on bail awaiting trial, according to an officer from the court's propaganda office who only gave his surname, Li.

Crown's vice-president in China, Malaysian Alfread Gomez, was also among the defendants.

Casino gambling and the promoting of gambling are illegal in mainland China and agents are banned from organizing groups of more than 10 Chinese citizens to gamble abroad. According to Chinese law, anyone who "runs a gambling house or makes gambling his profession" can face up to three years in prison.

However, gambling is allowed in the Chinese enclave of Macau Asia's gambling center and Chinese are often coveted by foreign casinos.

The industry has been known to skirt China's ban by touting destination packages rather than gambling, particularly as Chinese President Xi Jinping's ongoing corruption crackdown has deterred some gamblers from Macau.

___

Watt reported from Beijing. AP researcher Fu Ting contributed to this report.

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China tries Crown Resorts employees on gambling charges - Fox News

Nico Salvatori, Erie Times-News, Pa. (TNS)

Pennsylvania lawmakers have roughly a week to agree on a state budget for the 2017-18 fiscal year, which starts Saturday, and so far no consensus on how to do that is in sight.

That is not unusual for the Pennsylvania legislature, but this year lawmakers are grappling with the state's biggest cash shortfall since the 2008 recession.

House and Senate Republican majority leaders were expected to meet over the weekend for budget talks before the full legislature reconvenes Monday.

"We are scheduled to be in session all week and probably up until we have something in place," state Rep. Pat Harkins said recently. "I'm looking forward to a very busy and productive week."

Harkins, of Erie, D-1st Dist., said a slew of proposals are on the table to try to raise more than $2 billion in new revenue that would balance a proposed spending plan and close the deficit. They include expanding gambling in the state, cutting costs and borrowing against future state revenue.

The extent to which gambling should be expanded has already been a point of contention between the House and Senate. Video gambling in thousands of bars, truck stops and elsewhere passed the House earlier this month with bipartisan support, and House Republican leaders have brought it to budget negotiations.

But the Senate has not shown that it would support such a large gambling expansion. Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, a Republican from Centre County, on Wednesday said such a move could be bigger than Pennsylvania's 2004 legalization of up to 14 commercial casinos, and he was "a little nervous about the size and scope" of it.

Many Erie County lawmakers are concerned that legalizing video gaming terminals and regulating them could pull revenue away from brick-and-mortar licensed casinos, which provide a percentage of funds to the communities that host them every year.

"I know the House members that don't have casinos are pushing pretty hard for VGTs because they want some gaming money in their districts," said state Sen. Dan Laughlin, of Millcreek Township, R-49th Dist. "That's going to be part of this conversation."

Gov. Tom Wolf, whose own budget proposal relies on $250 million of new gaming revenue, voiced concerns in recent days about the effect VGTs could have not only on licensed casinos, but on the Pennsylvania Lottery as well.

"I want real revenue, and I want net revenue," Wolf said. "I don't want anything that we do in gaming or gambling to interfere with the revenues that are already in place. If it just cannibalizes and takes from one bucket called gambling to another, the commonwealth isn't doing anything more than it has in the past."

Another option under consideration would borrow from Pennsylvania's annual share of the 1998 multistate settlement with major tobacco companies. The idea has traction among Senate Republicans and would largely fund a $31.5 billion House Republican spending plan.

State Rep. Ryan Bizzarro, of Millcreek, D-3rd Dist., said the idea comes with too many risks.

"We cannot continue to rely on tobacco to fill our deficits," Bizzarro said, referring to a hike in the state's cigarette tax enacted last year as part of the 2016-17 budget.

As opposed to borrowing, Wolf would prefer proposals he outlined in his February budget address, which called for imposing a tax on Marcellus Shale natural gas production, closing corporate loopholes and charging municipalities for state police coverage.

"That's what I'm looking for, something that is recurring revenue, not another one-time fix, not another thing that just kicks the budget problem, the deficit problem down the road for another year or two," Wolf said.

Lawmakers are bracing for a busy week in the state Capitol.

"We are hoping to get it done," Laughlin said. "It seems like everything is going to come down to the last minute."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Nico Salvatori can be reached at 870-1714 or by email. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNsalvatori.

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Pa. lawmakers eye gambling revenue, borrowing to balance budget - Pocono Record

HUNTINGTON - In order to help more clients, the Huntington Comprehensive Treatment Center has added the expertise of two gambling addiction counselors to the resources that they offer.

Kayla Harless and Samantha Page recently completed the 30-hour training needed to join the treatment network, and are both in the process of obtaining their Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counseling certificates. Both counselors' goals are to help others and provide nonjudgmental support for them.

Harless, who hails from Cabell County, attended Marshall University and has been working at the Huntington Treatment Center since completing her master's degree in counseling. Page, a Huntington native, also attended Marshall University and has been working for the Huntington Treatment Center for four years.

The treatment center provides counseling and treatment for individuals with drug or alcohol addiction. However, Harless and Page will also screen clients for gambling addiction.

The reason for this crossover is due to the significant correlation between gambling and drug or alcohol addiction. Those who have one type of addiction are more likely to suffer from the other. A Kansas State University article mentions a study that found "44 percent of those with disordered gambling behavior also report a lifetime history of alcoholism."

"There is a high co-morbidity between gambling and addiction, because they both trigger the same area in your brain, where it releases the dopamine, and that affects the emotions and behaviors," Page said.

By placing gambling treatment counselors in the treatment center, those who have both types of addiction can be helped more effectively.

"Treatment techniques are very unique to this disorder because of the psychological factors involved in the compulsion to continue gambling," communications director Shelia Moran said. Therefore, the additional training Harless and Page received will allow them to better assist those with a gambling addiction.

The 1-800-GAMBLER helpline, which is run by the Problem Gamblers Help Network of West Virginia, has taken nearly 700 calls from Cabell County. Callers receive crisis intervention and an appointment with Harless, Page or another nearby counselor. In addition to group and individual counseling, the organization pays for continued treatment for those without insurance to cover it, can refer them to other programs, and does long-term follow-ups to track clients' progress. These follow-ups indicate that the majority of callers are able to stop gambling within six months of entering treatment. Harless said that gamblers typically recover more quickly than those with another type of addiction.

"We're a big support system," Harless said. "You don't just come to one person. You can come to everyone here; whereas in some places you only have the one person to rely on, you have the whole place here."

More information is available by calling 1-800-GAMBLER or visiting http://www.1800gambler.net. The Huntington Comprehensive Treatment Center can be reached by calling 844-818-1031 or by visiting http://www.swvirginiactc.com.

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Center adds two gambling addiction counselors - Huntington Herald Dispatch

News Gaming Business Kenya Ups Its Gambling Tax Rate as Online Betting Booms Across Africa

In an attempt to corral the growth of an industry that has in recent years taken a country by storm, Kenya has imposed a major tax hike on betting companies.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta approved a huge increase to gambling taxes this week, hoping to slow the growth of what politicians believe is an undertaxed online gambling boom. (Image: HapaKenya)

On Wednesday, PresidentUhuru Kenyatta signed a finance bill into law that will levy a 35 percent tax rate on all gambling revenue for bookmakers, casinos, lotteries, and any other business involved in wagers. (Thats in addition to a 30 percent corporate income tax that all companies pay in Kenya.)

The potentially prohibitive tax increase will apply to all forms of gambling, including online gambling, whichaccounts for most of the gambling currently taking place in Kenya. Previously Kenya taxed bookmakers at 7.5 percent, casino gambling at 12 percent, raffles and competitions at 15 percent, and lotteries at 5 percent.

Supporters of the tax and members of President Uhurus Jubilee party said it was time to contain the growth of gambling that is being facilitated by technology but otherwise is going unchecked.

We were very concerned about betting among school-goers so we made it difficult for people to bet, President Uhuru said during an online town hall in April. We want people who bet to have their money go to constructive projects through tax.

Kenyas Treasury Secretary Henry Rotich believes the rapid growth of online gamblinghas been driven by the proliferation of smartphones and improved mobile internet speeds, and creates a danger to the young and vulnerable. Therefore he wants to stunt the industry.

Kenya is currently the third-largest gambling market in Africa, behind South Africa and Nigeria. Online sports betting in particular has thrived in the past few years, in cyber cafes and via mobile phones.

According to recent analysis, the second-most visited website in Kenya is SportsPesa, which happens to be the countrys most popular sports betting platform. The only website that gets more traffic in Kenya is Google.

(SportsPesa is fixed on global expansion and recently made inroads into the UK by becoming a shirt sponsor for Premier League soccer team Everton. )

Currently licensed operators in Kenya have balked that the new tax is unworkable, saying it will drive them out of the market while deterring international operators from setting up shop in Kenya.

I know there is a big cry in the gaming industry because of the 50 percent tax,Uhuru had said during the April town hall, but we can sit down and engage with the affected parties.

But Uhuru would find that lowering the tax to 35 percent did not appease detractors of the new rate.

Wanja Gikonyo, head ofBetways Kenya division, told the local Star newspaper that the impact of this tax increase will stretch beyond current gaming providers and will discourage investors from considering Kenya, shifting their focus instead to countries such as Uganda, Ghana, and Zambia, which offer less punitive taxation.

From a regional point of view, if as a country we end up being the highest taxed it would affect potential investors coming in, Gikonyo said. If they look at the environment vis-a-vis countries next to us, they might go there because (they have) a more favorable tax environment.

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Kenya Ups Its Gambling Tax Rate as Online Betting Booms Across Africa - Casino.Org News

The Appanoose County Community Fund awarded 29 applicants from around the county in May. A total of $113,000 was given for projects inside the county.

The organization receives funds from state gambling revenues each year. The structure was developed in 2004 by the Iowa Legislature to spread gambling funds to counties in Iowa, whether they have a casino or not. The Appanoose County Community Fund was set up in 2005.

Over the last decade, funds have went to various causes. From updating the the 4-H stand at the Appanoose County Fairgrounds to buying new helmets for Moravia firefighters.

The following local organizations received funding this year:

Appanoose County Baseball

Appanoose County Girls Softball

Appanoose County Historical Society

Appanoose Family Alliance

Boy Scout Troup 33

Camp Appanoose

Centerville Band Boosters

Centerville Garden Club

Cincinnati Fire Department

Eagles Club

Friends of Appanoose County Historical Society

Friends of Oakland Cemetery

Garrett Memorial Library

Grow Centerville & Centerville Main Street

Historic Preservation Corp

Indian Hills Community College

Kid's World

Moravia Betterment

Moravia Community Schools

Moravia Historical Society

Moulton Historical Museum

Moulton Pulliam Park

Moulton Udell A Club

Mystic Community Center

Mystic Fire Department

New Hope Ministry

Rathbun City Park

Rathbun Lake YMCA

Walldog Public Art

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Grants from gambling funds given - Centerville Daily Iowegian

Nagpur: Coming to the rescue of an Amravati businessman, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court quashed a charge sheet against him while holding that the playing rummy can't be brought under the definition of gambling.

"Petitioner is one of the members of the recreational club and it's his contention that they were playing rummy. Game of rummy is not gambling," a division bench comprising Prasanna Varale and Murlidhar Giratkar ruled, while citing earlier Supreme Court verdicts.

Gajendra Kedia, a reputed businessman running an ice factory, moved the court for quashing and setting aside the charge sheet filed at Rajapeth Police Station on June 14 last year.

He rented out his premises in December 2015 to the Shivleela Sporting and Social Club at Saturna in Amravati with a view to promote social and recreational activities, including sporting games such as carom, chess, hockey, football, cricket, card games and rummy. It was one of the well-known clubs of the area having about 70 members, including the petitioner, who are over 45 years.

The club sought permission from the Amravati commissioner of police for running indoor entertaining games of like card room, table tennis and rummy on its premises on January 15 last year.

On May 23, 2016, when the members were engaged in playing game of skill rummy with false table counters, at about 5.30pm, police officials raided the club without any permission. They seized the entire possessions of the club including the membership cards, false table counters, tables and chairs.

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HC rules game of rummy is not gambling - Times of India

Money talks, and when those who handle the money talk, casino leaders listen.

Such was the case earlier this month when four experts gave Wall Streets perspective of the gaming market during GameOn, a two-day conference for casino gaming operations executives across the country, presented by AGS at the MGM National Harbor near Washington, D.C.

The news was mostly good. They say casino fundamentals are strong, with a boost from table games. Some more mergers and acquisitions are forthcoming. And even though skill-based games have yet to provide a solid revenue source, investors will continue to be interested.

The past couple of years, from a gross gaming revenue standpoint, its been at GDP or just a little short, said Chad Beynon, an analyst with Macquarie Capital. The trends are pretty positive, although earlier this year there were some weather issues in certain parts of the country. But the data weve seen so far is pretty good.

Beynon said he also is encouraged by the upcoming gaming products he has viewed at shows.

Theres a lot of good stuff out there, he said, citing IGTs new products, but adds projections can be indefinite until the games are actually played.

If Whole Foods has a new lower priced concept and 1,000 units, thats a tangible number you can put into your number. That doesnt quite translate to our product.

Brad Boyer, associate VP of equity research for St. Louis-based Stifel Nicholas, said investor sentiment is also strong, with a nice tailwind behind Macau, fueled by VIP play, as well a wave of consolidation.

And he agreed with Beynon, expanding on his thoughts.

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Wall Street Likes Gambling Market Outlook - South Florida Reporter

Connecticut is poised to launch the biggest expansion in gambling in two decades: a trifecta of building a third casino, adding more off-track betting venues and laying the groundwork for online sports betting.

But those who advocate for problem and addicted gamblers and others who research the causes don't see the same kind of payoff as some Connecticut lawmakers eager to preserve state revenue and jobs.

They only see trouble ahead.

"What we've seen in many, many jurisdictions that get major introductions of gambling is a sharp uptick in problem gambling for one or two years and then a decline in prevalence," said Rachel A. Volberg, president of Gemini Research in Northhampton, Mass., who studies gambling. "But these people still remain at a greater risk, and that's more people in population with a potential problem with gambling."

The gaming expansion backed by the state legislature two weeks ago does not compare with the introduction of two southeastern Connecticut casinos Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun in the 1990s.

Even so, Volberg and others say the prospect of more access to gambling shouldn't be ignored, despite the already strong presence of the gaming in Connecticut. Hartford-area residents, for instance, can take a short drive to a casino in East Windsor rather than driving to the southeastern corner of the state.

The satellite casino in East Windsor is expected to add 2,000 slot machines and up to 150 table games.

"It's important for people not to be complacent because we've had casinos here and other forms of gambling for several decades," Marc N. Potenza, a professor of psychiatry and director of the Center of Excellence in Gambling Research at Yale University in New Haven.

Tecton Architects / HANDOUT

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy must still sign the legislation. And it could be months before ground is broken, and it could be another two years before the casino actually opens. Court challenges also loom. The Hartford-area gambling venue would be jointly run by the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes that have built vast gambling empires just outside of New London.

The East Windsor casino is intended to blunt the competitive effects of a $950 million casino and entertainment complex under construction in Springfield. The state's 25-percent share of slot revenue has been eroding as casinos in neighboring states have challenged the dominance of Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun. Gaming industry jobs also are at risk, supporters of gambling expansion argue.

But to push through legislation, the addition of OTB sites and setting up a regulatory framework of future, but not yet legal, online sports betting were both critical to gathering enough votes for casino expansion.

The state now draws revenue from OTB operations and regulating sports betting would also bring funds to state coffers, a potent lure for a state that has come to depend on gaming revenue to help balance its budget.

Cloe Poisson / Hartford Courant

Tucked into the legislation creating the third casino, the Mashantucket Pequots and Mohegans have agreed to contribute $300,000 a year for research and treatment for problem gambling.

One gap in understanding gambling problems is knowing the extent of the trouble. No statistics exist for Connecticut because a comprehensive study has gone unfunded, said Marlene Warner, acting executive director at the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling.

The council now has an annual budget of $800,000, compared with about $2.5 million for a similar council in Massachusetts, said Warner, who describes the council's budget as "woefully underfunded."

Warner said the bulk of the Connecticut council's funding, $600,000, is split evenly by Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun. Those funding levels date from when the casinos first opened, a time when the state's gambling landscape was far different from what it is today, Warner said.

The additional $300,000 for the third casino will help, but it will only go so far, Warner said.

Rep. Fred Wilms, R-Norwalk, pushed for more funding for treatment and research for problem gambling when casino expansion was considered by the House earlier this month, his voice joining others warning about the social costs of increased gaming.

Wilms proposed that the East Windsor casino deposit 5 percent of its gross gaming revenue annually into a chronic gamblers fund. The figure, he said, was drawn from statistics showing 2 percent of all adults nationwide are gambling addicts and another 3 percent are considered to be problem or chronic gamblers.

"My familiarity with this is unfortunately a family member of ours has been a gambling addict for the past 35 years," Wilms told his House colleagues. "And so, we have had to spend a lot of time in the addiction and recovery community."

Wilms said he was troubled about casino expansion when the website of state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services notes that problem gambling is twice as high for individuals who live within 50 miles of a casino.

A Google search yielded 19 towns and cities where Gamblers Anonymous meetings for scheduled for the next week. Two of the towns, Middletown and Norwich, had two meetings.

"And it goes to show it's not somebody else's town, it's not some other place far away," Wilms said. "It's pretty close to where we live."

Wilm's amendment was ultimately defeated, and he voted against the multi-pronged gambling expansion.

Cloe Poisson / Hartford Courant

'Very Few' Become Problem Gamblers

Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun downplayed the affect of casino expansion, arguing that "very, very few people become problem gamers." But the state's original agreements with the tribes that gave the state a share of slot revenue also required the tribes to financially help problem gambling support programs.

Since the casinos opened in the 1990s, Foxwoods has contributed $5.5 million and Mohegan Sun, $6.7 million to the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling.

Just to the north, in Massachusetts, the state is drawing direct links between casino expansion and problem gambling in a 21st-century environment where gambling is increasingly widespread and legal.

Legislation in 2011 allowed three commercial casinos in Massachusetts. One, Plainridge Park Casino, opened in 2015 and two others on are on the way, in Boston and Springfield.

Cloe Poisson / Hartford Courant

As part of the legislation, the casinos must pay up to a $5 million assessment, plus 5 percent of gross gaming revenues annually into a public health trust fund focused on problem gambling. Once all three casinos are open, those contributions could amount to $15-$20 million a year.

Warner, the acting director of Connecticut's problem gambling council who also serves as the executive director of the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling, said the Bay State will have the most aggressive approach to dealing with the problem gambling in the country.

Although the Connecticut problem gambling council operates on a shoestring budget, Warner did note good efforts by the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.

Connecticut benefits from $2.5 million in Connecticut Lottery Corp funding for gambling treatment and prevention, Warner said. Those services are provided through the state mental health department, she said.

More OTBs

State regulated gambling in Connecticut dates back to 1972 when the lottery sold its first ticket. The introduction led to the opening of the first OTB parlors four years later.

Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun later brought glitz to the state's gambling scene. But there have been other, more recent pushes into gaming, smaller than what is envisioned by the recent legislation.

In April of last year, the state lottery launched Keno, which brought the casino-like game to all its 2,900 retail locations in the state, including some bars and restaurants.

And more gambling now may be on the horizon.

Sportech Venues Inc., the state only licensed OTB operator, has its eye on what many experts say is the inevitable legalization of state-regulated sports betting. Sports betting has long existed in a shadowy world, much the way alcohol production and consumption did during Prohibition.

New Jersey is now leading the charge against a federal ban, and Connecticut and other states have joined a growing list of states preparing for legalization. Gamblers have online access to sports betting tied to sites some of them outside the country where they are legal.

Cloe Poisson / Hartford Courant

In recent years, Sportech has worked to remake the image of OTB, once predominantly sought out by older men.

In 2014, Sportech invested nearly $5 million at Bradley Teletheater in Windsor Locks to bring a Bobby V's Restaurant & Sports Bar to the venue. Bobby V's is intended to also attract visitors who aren't necessarily interested in gambling and a wider range of ages and families.

Ted Taylor, Sportech's president, said he sees sports betting as a logical step for the company. The legislation on Malloy's desk would increase the potential number of OTB locations to 24. Sportech now operates 16 sites, including its newest in Stamford.

"We are already licensed and regulated to manage gaming, so we could implement sports betting rapidly under a new sports betting regulatory framework," Taylor said. "If this occurs, it will strengthen our position against increasing out-of-state competition and provide much needed jobs and revenue to Connecticut."

But Taylor said Sportech also is paying attention to problem gambling.

"Sportech wants to ensue that everyone is playing responsibly," Taylor said. "However, to combat problem gambling, Sportech contributed $180,000 last year to supportive programs."

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State Poised To Launch Biggest Expansion Of Gambling In Decades, But Some See Trouble Ahead - Hartford Courant