Recently in world affairs Category
When gambling advertising was allowed on British television from September 1st 2007 one broadcaster in particular had cause to celebrate.
For ITV this was a highly significant ruling as it gave them a revenue stream which other channels would not benefit from in the same way and the BBC couldn't tap into because of its public service mandate.
As the largest privately owned television station in the UK ITV with it's recently formed extra channels sat back and watched the gambling adds and millions of pounds in extra advertising revenue roll in.
Of course ITV is the
However in recent years the channel has stumbled from one controversy to another as it has tried to introduce more gaming and quiz TV.
In the past Getminted.com has reported on a long running bid by poker enthusiasts to have poker incorporated into the Olympic games for 2012 and beyond.
On December 27th, the
However a close look at the online petition which has been set up for players around the world to sign shows interest in the bid is minimal in the extreme.
Since November 2007 only 195 people have added their name to the petition on www.poker2012.org with just five doing so in 2009. Of these five two were Swedish, one was Canadian, there was one American and one Portuguese gentleman showing that British backing for the suggestion to incorporate poker into London 2012 is virtually non existent
The idea by CircusCasino.com to try and push for poker to be recognised came after an announcement in September by the U.K. Advertising Standards Authority that poker could be advertised as a sport. Peter Nolan at CircusCasino.com said, "Poker's appeal is global. It transcends gender and age and is the fastest-growing sport in the world. It's ripe for Olympic recognition."
When Hugh Hefner is forced to close down his online casino business you know the economic turn down is hitting hard.
It was revealed in the last few days that Playboy Casino and Playboy Poker sites will close for business on the 29th of January.
The announcement, which suprised those in the industry, has not yet been made official but it appears that a client e-mailed the company directly, after rumours started to appear on the internet, and received a reply suggesting that both sites will close for business at the end of the month.
The e-mail read, in part "In response to your e-mail, I can confirm that Playboy Gaming will no longer have a poker site and will not be moving to another network."
The Vikings meet Robin Hood in Nottingham later this year when the Norwegian poker championships are held in the Northern city.
Its the first time that the championships will be held in the UK.
The reason for the surprising relocation is that the Scandinavian nation has banned poker, terming it a "lottery".
So stringent are these regulations that poker players can face criminal proceedings - just by being found playing it.
To help transport participants, a special plane is flying direct from Oslo to Nottingham for the tournament.
We here at Getminted realise that our members are of an intellectually superior ilk and so Newton's law of motion which states "Every action has an equal and opposite reaction" will be one you understand.
Using the law though in relation to the current economic downturn in the United States we start to wonder if the recession there could spell bad news for the gambling sector on this side of the Atlantic.
According to a recent report in the US the poor economic situation is increasing the potential for negative rating actions in the American gaming sector as the negative impacts to casino gaming revenues begin to take their toll.
It states that the negative rating actions for the American gaming sector are expected to significantly exceed the positive this year with eleven US gaming issuers currently on review for possible rating downgrades with six having a negative outlook. It said that, combined, these issuers account for almost one-quarter of the total number of rated American gaming issuers.
Moody's who carried out the report said that the declining disposable income of potential customers along with increasing travel costs are lowering overall visitor numbers and spend per visit in many gaming markets.
