Success once the show is over has nothing to do with a gambler and his bets. American Idol winners have made gamblers thousands of dollars, and then gone on to have sub par careers when it comes to making music after the show.

The Bachelor has produced some of the biggest online gambling winners, and when Jake Pavelka chose Vienna Girardi on last years show, bettors that wagered on Girardi rejoiced. Now, sources have revealed that the couple has broken off their engagement.

In a sporting event, it is rare that a ruling is made after the game is played that determines the outcome. In those cases, Las Vegas sports books usually stick with their initial ruling. The same can be said for this break up. Although the couple is no longer together, the fact that Girardi won the competition has not changed.

Reality shows can offer gamblers high rewards if they can correctly pick the winner from the beginning of the competition. Two seasons ago on American Idol, Kris Allen had odds of sixty to one early in the live shows. Allen went on to win, and returned sixty dollars for every one bet to gamblers.

Dancing with the Stars is a little easier for odds makers to handicap. The majority of winners on DWTS have been athletes. After several seasons, sports books have adjusted their odds and are now making athletes the favorites.

Paddy Power has begun to take bets on which species will be eliminated from the BP disaster. While some critics believe that Paddy Power is exploiting a tough situation, the company is sticking to its guns of being out in front on the gambling front.

“We hope this betting will highlight the environmental catastrophe unfolding right now as a result of the BP oil spill,” said Paddy Power, in a press release. “It’s a sure bet we’ll lose some marine species, the only question is, which ones?”

The Kemp’s Riley Turtle is tops on the betting list. The species is already endangered and migrates to the Gulf this time of year. Anyone wishing to bet on these turtles will receive odds of 4/5.

The Bluefin Tuna is second on the list with odds of 6/4. Three different species qualify for the long shots at 20/1. The Gulf Sturgeon, Smalltooth Sawfish, and Elkhorn Coral all offer gamblers a chance to return $20 for every $1 wagered.

The BP oils spill species proposition has only been up for a short period of time, but dozens of bets have already come in. Below is a full list of species and their odds of extinction at Paddy Power.

Kemp’s Ridley Turtle 4/5
Bluefin Tuna 6/4
Leatherback Sea Turtle 8/1
Brown Pelicans 8/1
Loggerhead Turtle 12/1
Sperm Whale 16/1
Blue Whale 16/1
gulf Sturgeon 20/1
Smalltooth Sawfish 20/1
Elkhorn coral 20/1

Think Las Vegas, Atlantic City and Macau get all the casino high rollers and VIP’s?  Think again, enter James Packer’s Crown Casino, which is about to further live up to its ‘World Of Entertainment’ tag, thanks to a new Gulfstream jet and massive casino makeover, VIP style.

Media Man and Gambling911 investigate…

Crown Casino in the beautiful city of Melbourne, Australia, will soon purchase a $30 million new Gulfstream jet and greatly expand its VIP gambling areas in a move to counter competition from luxury casinos opening in the greater Asia Pacific region.

We reckon he’s been speaking to aviation and lifestyle king of the world Richard Branson, who caught up with "Our James" last year at the Australian Grand Prix.

We understand Bodog’s Calvin Ayre has been trying to give Packer and Branson a bit of a run for their money, but "C" seems too busy with online ventures, race tracks, coffee and babes, than to be a serious threat, and long time Packer family connection Damian Aspinall, has been very quite of late, no longer doing the social rounds with Australia’s Elle "The Body" MacPherson.

Down to business…

The Crown $212 million upgrade will include the transformation of the ‘presidential villa’ on level 39 of Crown Towers into a VIP gambling area. Crown’s Mahogany Room will also be expanded by 50 per cent, with 16 additional gaming tables.  This is some of the action anti gambling campaigners were making all the fuss about last year including "sweetheart deal" allegations, and all sorts of innuendo.

The extra greens are legally permitted under an official deal the Victorian government inked with Crown last year, allowing Crown an extra 150 gambling tables in exchange for much needs extra tax revenue.  The money’s got to come from somewhere!

The CEO of Crown, David Courtney, advised press under the refurbishment there would be no increase in the smoking area at Crown, which just happens to have a lock on being the only licensed venue in Victoria where smoking indoors is permitted. We learned that no gambling facilities at Crown’s new Metropol hotel, to be opened in April.

Mr Courtney said it was vital that Crown provide a premium attraction for its VIP gamblers, including free tickets to big events, high-quality food and accommodation. He said Crown’s international business contributed $400 million, or 30 per cent of the casino’s revenue. It’s estimated that last years Tiger Woods visit alone brought in at least $10 million

"Over the past 18 months we have grown our international business by over 50 per cent. Competition for the high-end gaming customer is intense. To protect our existing business and to position us for growth, Crown will embark on a $212 million upgrade of its premium facilities" Mr Courtney emphasised.

"As part of this program, Crown will acquire a long range G5 Gulfstream jet. It is being custom-fitted out at the moment to the highest standards and will sleep nine people.

"That brings our total jets owned by Crown to three. (A jet) is now an expectation of the very top end customers, and so we do need to satisfy the demand of those customers.".

Packer’s national competition on the Gold Coast, Conrad Jupiters, has recently upgraded their poker room in somewhat of a counter strategy in a "art of war’ type maneuver, but we reckon nothing beats the strategic alliances and friendships that the Packer empire has built over the years. From Macau to the land down under, James Packer’s Billionaire Inc has all the action covered.

We wish management and punters good luck at the casino, and above all else, keep it fun.

*Greg Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911

*The writer owns shares in Crown Limited

*Media Man is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company, covering over a dozen industry sectors, gaming included

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – (Associated Press) – The governor of this Bible Belt state is waging a one-man crusade against gambling – and stirring racial tensions in the process – by sending state troopers on late-night raids to shut down electronic bingo parlors.

Republican Bob Riley, a lifelong opponent of gambling, contends the electronic devices are essentially slot machines, which are plainly illegal in Alabama. He formed a task force a year ago to halt their spread.

He has forced the shutdown of more than 30 gambling halls – ranging from modest storefront operations to big, glamorous Vegas-style palaces – and idled more than 2,000 workers. Many of the bingo parlors are in poor, black areas.

Black leaders have complained that their communities are being deprived of vital jobs and tax revenue.

"Fifty years ago, George Wallace sent state troopers to Macon County to prevent the desegregation of our schools," said former state Sen. George Clay, who is black, referring to the segregationist governor. "Here we are again with state troopers sent back to Macon County to shut down our economic engine."

Task force commander John Tyson said this is not a replay of the 1960s but a case of illegal casinos preying on people. He observed dryly: "I doubt this is what Dr. Martin Luther King had on his mind when putting his life on the line for equal rights in America."

However, some of the same people who stood with King, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, are planning a march Saturday in Montgomery to support laid-off casino workers and encourage the Legislature to hold a statewide referendum on reopening the bingo parlors.

"This march is about jobs, justice and the opportunity to vote," civil rights veteran Johnny Ford said.

In pursuing his crackdown, Riley bypassed his hand-picked attorney general, who contended the machines were legal, and some county prosecutors who did nothing about the rapidly growing phenomenon. The governor, who is in his second and final term, has pledged to keep up the fight until he leaves office in January.

"That was a pretty easy call because when I put my hand on the Bible and swore we would uphold the laws, I think everybody in Alabama took it seriously," he said.

The bingo furor has become all-consuming in Alabama, with the candidates who are vying to succeed Riley in the fall election complaining that it is taking away attention from economic issues such as jobs, declining tax revenue and an 11 percent unemployment rate – the highest in 26 years.

Alabama voters overwhelmingly rejected a lottery in 1999. But electronic bingo arrived in the ’90s and proliferated over the past several years, first with the opening of modest, cinderblock casinos, then with the rise of glittering gambling halls at luxury hotels and spas. Casino operators invested more than $500 million last year to develop tourist destinations.

VictoryLand near Tuskegee has 6,400 machines, making it the biggest casino in Alabama. Country Crossing at Dothan has 1,700 machines and the backing of such country music stars as George Jones and Lorrie Morgan. Both places closed indefinitely after more than 100 troopers massed at each location for raids.

The jackpots vary at the casinos, though one has advertised several winners of more than $100,000 on its billboards.

Bingo played on paper cards has been legal in Alabama for many years, and the casinos say bingo machines are just electronic versions of that. But the governor contends they fall under the law that bans slot machines. Casino operators are battling in court to reopen, but Riley recently won a decision from the Alabama Supreme Court saying one county’s machines were illegal.

Riley’s critics say the late-night standoffs with law enforcement are unseemly and legally questionable. In some cases, law officers ushered out the gamblers, backed moving vans up to the front door, and loaded them up with hundreds of machines. No arrests have been made.

Attorney General Troy King, who has had a falling-out with the governor over gambling, said he has "never seen a more ill-advised and reckless approach to a legal issue."

One casino Riley has not tried to raid is in predominantly black Greene County, where the sheriff said he will block any attempt to seize bingo machines without a warrant, and state Sen. Bobby Singleton warned: "You will see a bloody day in Greene County."

Nothing like that has happened yet, though tensions are high. Last week, laid-off casino workers drowned out the heavily guarded governor with their shouting as he tried to speak to religious groups opposed to casinos.

Riley, 65, spent much of his two terms focused on economic development, winning large investments by foreign companies. Unlike past Alabama governors, some of whom campaigned for segregation or school prayer, he has had no signature issue – until now.

"He wants his legacy to be that he shut down illegal gambling in Alabama," said William Stewart, former chairman of political science at the University of Alabama.

Natalie Davis, a political scientist at Birmingham-Southern College, said the governor may win the legal fight, "but people will remember that he upset the lives of a lot of people and created a mess."

Regional public health officials had earlier claimed that research elsewhere indicated that there could be problems, and called for a 12 month moratorium on the Internet project until:

• Independent research had reported on the problem gambling dangers
• The formation of a National Assembly and Parliament Committee social ethics sub-committee.
• If these measures indicated a safe forward passage, a further two year transitional period during which Internet gambling licensed in the province was closely and independently monitored for adverse social effects, after which a further assessment would be made.

Health officials based their arguments on data from Sweden which they said illustrated that 52% of new online players at state-owned operator Svenska Spel had “never played on other sites before”, and that 20% of players on the site were said to be problem gamblers.

Loto-Quebec came out fighting with a public statement in which it said the conclusions drawn from a study conducted by Dr. Mark Griffiths – professor at Nottingham Trent University – are not even supported by the author of the research.

“Indeed, Dr. Griffiths acknowledges that the 2,500 participants in the study are not a reflection of Svenska Spel’s entire clientele and, therefore, that the results of his study may not be used to draw conclusions regarding either the percentage of players who play only on Svenska Spel’s site or the percentage of new players,” the Loto-Quebec statement claimed.

“It is therefore incorrect to assume that 52% of Svenska Spel players who play only on that Swedish site are new players.

“In addition, Dr. Griffiths believes that a linear relationship cannot necessarily be established between accessibility, increased numbers of players and the increase in problem gamblers. The framework for social responsibility measures implemented when gaming is introduced must be taken into account,” the statement notes.

“Sweden is a good example, where the prevalence rate remained stable, before and after the introduction of online poker, at about 0.6%,” the statement adds.

Loto-Québec pointed to a Swedish commission created in 2008 that conducted a study of 2,000 poker players (regardless of the Internet sites on which they played, which were determined in the study). The results of the study showed that the percentage of problem gamblers who played “other sites” is almost four times higher compared to those who played on the Swedish state’s site (3% vs. 11%), and almost three times higher than that of players who played both on Svenska Spel’s site and on an illegal site (3% vs. 9%).

“It is surprising that this information was not cited by the regional public health spokespersons at the various media events in which they have recently participated. Public health officials appear to rely on the analysis of only a selection of available literature,” the Loto-Quebec statement claims.

The state-owned gambling company went on to deplore the tone used by regional public health officials “all too often”, and their alarmist scenarios (that) end up never materialising, citing the example of the notice they had issued before gaming halls were implemented in 2007.

“Regardless of what the regional public health officials say, it should be noted that Quebeckers currently have access to over 2,000 illegal and unregulated gaming sites that are of dubious integrity,” the rather sweeping statement alleges. “Loto-Québec wants to channel the gaming offer in a controlled, safe environment with irreproachable integrity.”

The company went on to give the assurance that it would use its internationally recognised expertise in responsible gaming and implement a number of control and prevention measures, particularly with regard to player age verification, establishing weekly deposit limits, as well as offering players the opportunity to exclude themselves.

In addition, before putting its online gambling offerings online, Loto-Quebec would be “submitted to a review of its internationally recognised responsible gaming measures,” and would be monitored in terms of a February 3rd decision by the provincial Quebec government.

Considering he opened as a near even underdog, Shane Mosley has lost tremendous value in recent weeks in his upcoming bout with Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

Mosley would pay out $260 for every $100 bet at SBG Global.  Mayweather, Jr. is a big -350 favorite.

"This is not going to be personal for me, this is going to be fun for me," Mosley said Tuesday over lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. "This is like when I fought Oscar (De La Hoya) the first time. People told me, ‘Oh, you’re going to be afraid. Are you scared?’ No, no, this is what I want.

"It’s not going to be personal, I’m not going to be upset," Mosley said. "I’m going to have fun. I’m going to have fun beating Mayweather."

The fight goes off May 1, the same day as the Kentucky Derby, and online bookmakers are already licking their chops in anticipation of this huge pay day.

"It’s going to be one of the biggest betting days on record for the online gambling websites," predicts Payton O’Brien of Gambling911.com. 

The Kentucky Derby regularly edges out the previous Super Bowl in terms of overall traffic at the Gambling911.com website.

"And that traffic converts into gamblers," O’Brien says, noting last year the conversion rate was "astronomical"

"Boxing is a ‘betting’ sport much like the Kentucky Derby," states Don Shapiro of Gambling911.  "Just as people think of placing bets at Churchill Downs for the Derby, big draw boxing matches are often equated with Las Vegas sportsbooks."

Especially this one, which will take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs) is a three-division champion who has faced big name fighters before and has longed to fight Mayweather.

"It won’t be the fight of my life, but I just want to make a point that I’m the best fighter," Mosley said. "There’s not a welterweight out there who can beat me. I don’t just want to talk about, I want to do it."

Tyrone Black, Gambling911.com

(Associated Press) – Pennsylvania legalized poker, blackjack and other table games at slots casinos Thursday, upping the ante in the increasingly fierce competition among states for gamblers’ money.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa., Thursday, Jan. 7, 2010. Rendell has signed a bill in private legalizing table games at the state’s slots casinos.

Gov. Ed Rendell, whose signature was the last step in the protracted process of passing the law, said he had misgivings about expanded gambling, partly because not all of the 14 casinos authorized by the 2004 law that legalized slot machine gambling are up and running.

He described the bill as "laden with WAMs and pork," a reference to the "walking-around money" grants that lawmakers direct toward favored projects.

"That’s not a good way to run a railroad," Rendell said.

It may be more than six months before the first cards are dealt, but millions in license fees are expected to begin pouring into the state treasury much sooner.

The table games bill was a critical component of the October deal that ended Pennsylvania’s 101-day budget stalemate, and came about largely because other means of raising tax revenues proved politically unpalatable.

The new law is the latest attempt by recession-slammed state governments to fill budgetary holes with gambling revenue.

Indiana is considering allowing riverboat casinos on Lake Michigan and the Ohio River. In November, Ohio voters passed a ballot measure to put casinos in four cities. Kentucky’s governor wants slots or table games at racetracks and Chicago plans a new casino.

Closer to Pennsylvania, Delaware recently began allowing parlay betting on sports at its racetrack casinos, and a new report says it may have to add two casinos to keep pace with neighboring states.

Last month, voters approved table games for a horse track in Charles Town, W.Va.

And Maryland voters have approved up to 15,000 slot machines in five areas, although progress on implementing gambling there has so far been slow.

"I see it as a border war more than a national picture," said University of Nevada-Las Vegas professor Bill Thompson, an expert on the gambling industry. "It is the gambling war of today – three years from now it might be something else."

The larger Pennsylvania casinos will qualify for up to 250 tables, while the two smaller resorts casinos will be limited to 50. A third resort can be added in 2017.

"I don’t know that it’s keeping up with the Joneses, but it’s important to have choices," said Rep. Dante Santoni of Berks County, the Democrats’ leading slots supporter in the state House. "If you look at the demographics of people who play table games, it’s a little bit different than those who play slots."

Doug Harbach, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, said casino companies will likely expand their non-gambling offerings – hotels, restaurants and entertainment – to capitalize on the additional foot traffic that table games will attract.

"Pennsylvania’s going to keep a significant amount of revenue in the state that was escaping," he said.

The table-game tax rate will be 16 percent of gross revenue, with 2 percentage points going to local counties and municipalities, and the overall rate will fall to 14 percent after two years. The licensing fee will be $16.5 million for the larger casinos and $7.5 million for the resorts, a figure that will increase after June 1.

Rendell said that even with the influx of gambling money, additional cuts to programs and the state work force remain a possibility for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.

Matt Villano, www.newyorktimes.com

LAS VEGAS – For decades, sports bettors in this city have queued up at sports book windows and handed over cash in exchange for paper tickets formalizing their bets. But on a recent Sunday in the sports book at the M Resort in nearby Henderson, gamblers seeking action on professional and college football games were engaging in a much different ritual: betting through hand-held devices no larger than a smartphone.

The technology, part of a new system from Cantor Gaming, a subsidiary of the financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, lets gamblers place bets on certain sporting events like football or baseball, tennis matches and horse races from anywhere in the casino and play other games like blackjack and baccarat.

Gamblers can also for the first time wager on the outcomes of events as the events transpire. When a football team lines up for a field goal, for example, bettors can bet on whether the kicker will make it or miss.

Not surprisingly, casino operators like it. They are always trying to make their books more profitable. While annual casino revenue in Nevada hovers around $10 billion, last year revenue from sports bets was only $125 million, or 1.25 percent of that amount.

"All of a sudden, these same people who were betting once or twice a game at the beginning of a sporting event can place wagers every minute if they want," says Anthony A. Marnell III, chief executive of the M Resort. "Having this technology changes the entire equation for everyone involved."

To wager, bettors still fork over cash to human ticket writers in the sports book, but those workers simply convert the money into electronic credits, which are stored in a triple-encrypted database hosted on backroom servers.

At the M Resort, gamblers have two options to use these credits: they can sit in front of touch-screen monitors in the sports book that resemble airline check-in kiosks, or they can check out location-aware wireless hand-helds, called eDecks. These devices then connect to the casino servers over a secured wireless Internet connection.

The eDecks resemble chubby iPhones, and can be taken almost anywhere in the casino – into the lounges and restaurants, for example. Bettors, however, cannot use them (or any other devices) while playing table games.

At the sports books at the Venetian and the Palazzo on the Strip, eDecks are the only option, and have been rebranded as PocketCasino.

In both introductions, the portable devices offer standard sports bets and are already loaded with software that allows supplemental wagering in the form of blackjack and baccarat games. The games include basic wagers, as well as propositional bets that dynamically calculate odds based on the cards dealt.

The betting during events option is called in-running betting, and Lee Amaitis, chief executive of Cantor Gaming, says oddsmakers have dreamed of this for decades but have lacked the number-crunching resources to hang lines at game speed.

To solve this problem, Cantor Gaming sets its in-game lines based upon algorithms from the financial services world. Mr. Amaitis says these algorithms are variations of those created by a sister company, Cantor Index, a financial spread-betting company in London that offers bets on various markets including equities, indices, bonds and commodities.

"We’ve created an environment in which we’re trading sports," Mr. Amaitis said. "With markets, realities and probabilities of future events are changing constantly. It’s no different in sports; each game has millions of permutations and potential outcomes we can offer as odds."

Despite its pedigree, Cantor Gaming’s eDeck technology had to overcome a number of challenges before it was approved by the Nevada Gaming Commission in 2008. First was the issue of security. The company requires all eDeck users to obtain a plastic card embedded with a Radio Frequency Identification chip. When bettors check out a device, ticket writers program it to work only within a few feet of that chip, so no other people can pick up the device and wager on the original user’s account.

Sunny Tara, Cantor Gaming’s chief technology officer, says that as soon as the device can no longer read the RFID chip, it prohibits any further betting before being reset.

Mr. Tara said another security precaution was to protect all monetary transactions by relegating them to back-end servers. "The portable devices are sophisticated, but they really are just tools to access the real technology, which sits on the servers," Mr. Tara said.

He added that the devices transmitted data over channels "not normally used" for mainstream Wi-Fi.

A second challenge for Cantor Gaming has been persuading old-school sports bettors to embrace the new approach.

Mark Goldman, director of race and sports for the Venetian and Palazzo Las Vegas, said his sports books were licensing 200 eDecks. Older gamblers have been slow to adopt them, he said, but younger bettors have shown interest. The overall betting has increased since October.

"Once most people know this is available, they seem pretty interested to try it out," Mr. Goldman said. "This is something we’ll probably have in our sports books for a long, long time."