Despite having first hand knowledge that Net Games Inc owners Shai and Idan Raviv had operated from Belize in 2000, MajorWager’s editor was told by a government official that the microgaming casino was not currently licensed by that jurisdiction. And officials had earlier told a local television station that they did not know the Raviv brothers.

In a telephone conversation with Lincoln Blake, an official of the Ministry of Economic Development, Major Wager was told:

“No it’s the first time I hear about that company. It’s not licensed under the laws of Belize.

“The Government of Belize recently discovered that several online gaming websites are claiming to have licenses in Belize. We want to advise the Internet community and the general public that there are only two with license to operate from Belize. These are Fulton Data Processing Limited and Sports Offshore Limited.

“Any other company that claims to have such a licence from Belize is clandestine. We ask all Internet users to refrain from doing business with these.

“All online gaming businesses in Belize are required under the Gaming Control Act and its online gaming regulations, to apply for a license. They must follow strict requirements and they must have a proven track record in gaming.”

1×2.com certainly had a track record in online gambling, but it was not always the sort that appeals to gamblers, being besmirched by allegations of spamming, slow and no pay.

MajorWager comments that 1×2.com may not be licensed in Belize now, but most certainly at one point the Raviv brothers were welcomed with open arms by the Belize Government. And he should know - whilst visiting the central American country in 2000, a representative of the trade enclave actually introduced him to the brothers, and apparently Idan operated from that location for a number of years thereafter.

The annual fireworks show will return to the rooftops of seven hotels along the three-mile stretch of the Strip that is the focus of online gambling visitors to the area and television specials around the world that night, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and co-sponsor Las Vegas Events announced Friday.

“What we demonstrated by putting it on the ground last year is how bad a show it is on the ground and how great a show it is on the rooftops,” said Pat Chrisenson of Las Vegas Events. “There’s no comparison.”

The fireworks show was launched from resort parking lots and garages last year when new Clark County fire and safety online casinos rules tightened regarding rooftop fireworks following the Monte Carlo fire in January 2008.

The lower launch point caused the fireworks to not be viewable for many of the 250,000 visitors to the Strip, Christenson said, as well as being out of view from many vantage points around the valley.

“Where a lot of people are used to seeing it, we used to have 400,000 different views depending where you are in the valley,” Christenson said. “Last year we didn’t have any. We had none.”

The fireworks will be launched from the top of MGM Grand, Planet Hollywood Resort, Caesars Palace, Treasure Island, The Venetian, Stratosphere and the new Aria at CityCenter. An official from MGM Mirage, which owns the Monte Carlo, MGM Grand and Aria, said the company understands better than anybody the need for caution, but is glad the show is returning to the rooftops.

“It was a universal opinion that shooting these fireworks is a far superior experience to last year’s performance,” MGM Mirage spokesman Gordon Absher said.

The company believes the event planners and county officials have taken the steps necessary to prevent any problems.

Fireworks had been launched from the top of Strip hotels since Dec. 31, 2000.

Michael Green, a history professor at the College of Southern Nevada, said New Year’s Eve fireworks high above the Strip have become part of the fabric of Las Vegas.

“Once upon a time, the week between Christmas and New Year’s was one of the worst weeks for tourism,” Green said. “Las Vegas managed to turn that into a big week. Part of it is the idea of the blowout on New Year’s Eve.”

Last year’s New Year’s Eve drew nearly 291,000 visitors to the area, include nearly 30,000 downtown, for an nongaming economic impact of $188 million, according the visitors authority.

After the Monte Carlo fire, which was sparked by a welder’s torch, the Clark County Fire Department and Building Services wanted a structural and fire safety study prior to allowing any fireworks displays from building tops.

To complete the study in time for last year’s event would have been too-time consuming and cost-prohibitive to produce, Christenson said.

Since January, New York-based Fireworks by Grucci, who produces the pyrotechnics, worked on the study for Las Vegas Events to enable the show’s to return to the rooftops.

“For us to put together a study that the fire department was comfortable with just didn’t work last year,” said Christenson, whose nonprofit group paid for the study.

The final step for county approval is inspections of the launch sites closer to the event date.

“At this time, they have not completed the permitting process for the proposed show,” county spokesman Dan Kulin said, conceding there is still plenty of time to do so. “We fully expect they will.”

The fireworks show was removed from the roofs in the months after a three-alarm at the Monte Carlo hotel-casino.

No one was seriously hurt, but guests and employees had to evacuate the property and 17 people were treated for minor injuries and smoke inhalation while the exterior facade of the casino burned. The property was closed for three weeks.

The budget for this year’s show, which is funded by the state’s room tax, increased by $50,000 to $550,000, Christenson said.

The individual properties were supportive and cooperated when needed for the study, Christenson said.

This year’s theme and music will be announced during a press conference a few weeks before New Year’s Eve, Christenson said.

Fireworks by Grucci has produced numerous shows in Las Vegas for New Year’s Eve and the Fourth of July. The company has also done shows for numerous area event including the implosions of the New Frontier and the Stardust.

The company will also do the fireworks for the $8.5 billion CityCenter grand opening Dec. 16.

Although last year’s move from the roof to the ground was about safety, Green said it seemed to symbolize the economic downturn the region was sliding into.

“That isn’t the attitude you want to convey on New Year’s Eve,” he said. “Even if it’s the reality. Granting that Las Vegas is still in a lot of economic hurt, the signs are pointing the right way. So maybe the fireworks will give us something to look forward to and up to.”

“The arc of my entire career has always been to move on to something different every four or five years, so the time seemed right for me to make this move.” the 45-year-old Pollack told Casino City on Friday, a few hours after he made his resignation official by posting on his Twitter account, “Thank you for allowing me to be part of the WSOP these last few years. I will always be a fan and friend to the online poker community….”
Pollack said the he first started thinking seriously about stepping down over the last few casino gambling weeks. He said that had never even heard of the World Series of Poker five years when he was offered a marketing job with the WSOP, which ended up creating the position of commissioner for him in January of 2006. But since that time the WSOP has made tremendous strides.

In fact, despite the implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in 2006, participation in the WSOP has increased by more than 300% in the last six years, going from 13,036 player registrations in 2004 to 60,875 this year, which was an all-time high. This year the total WSOP prize pool exceeded $155 million for the fourth straight year – compared with a total of $354 million in prize money awarded during the WSOP’s first 36 years.

“I’m proud because I think I accomplished all of the things that I set out to do as commissioner,” Pollack said. “I stepped into the job as a novice to poker, but now the game holds a very special place in my heart. The poker community gave me a chance. They accepted my ideas and while I’ve had my share of detractors, everyone has always been gracious and honest and with me. I’ve really come to love this game and the people who are involved with it.”

Pollack said he is most proud of the increased participation in WSOP events during his tenure, not only by the number of people who played but the fact that 115 different countries were represented this year.

“We really put the ‘world’ in the World Series of Poker,” he said.

In addition, Pollack said he’s proud of the increased exposure women have received in the game and the success of the World Series of Poker Europe, which completed its third year in London in September.

But the one thing Pollack may be most remembered for is the decision two years ago to delay the final table of the Main Event. The move to create the November Nine was made in order for the final table to gain more exposure and have the ESPN broadcasts lead into the day when the Main Event champion would be crowned, rather than already having the winner decided. Despite some resistance from the poker community, the move has done what the WSOP hoped it would accomplish, judging from TV ratings and the live gate for the final table, which was moved to the Penn & Teller Theater at the Rio.

“I ultimately made the decision to green light the November Nine, but the idea was generated by a lot of different folks, including ESPN, the Player’s Advisory Council and Harrah’s, so they all deserve the credit,” he said. “It was a calculated risk. But in my career I have never been afraid to experiment or try different things if I thought they would be beneficial in the long run.”

Pollack also said it wasn’t unusual for him to not know much about poker before taking a job with the WSOP.

“When I started Sports Business Daily 15 years ago, I didn’t know anything about publishing or the sports media in general, but I liked the concept and just this year they celebrated their 15th year of existence,” he said. “When I went into NASCAR (as Managing Director of Broadcasting and New Media for NASCAR Digital Entertainment) I had never watched a NASCAR race from start to finish and when I started to work with the NBA on their Collective Bargaining Agreement, I didn’t know much about it. So I knew I could be successful as the WSOP Commissioner, even though I didn’t know much at all about tournament poker.”

The WSOP issued a statement via e-mail on Friday saying, “there is no intention at this time to replace the Commissioner role.”

“We appreciate Jeffrey’s contributions over the past four years and wish him the best in the future,” the statement read. “The World Series of Poker remains the market leader with this year’s tournament exceeding all expectations, and we are well positioned for the future.”

Two of the biggest names in poker lamented the loss of Pollack via their Twitter accounts.

Phil Hellmuth posted, “Jeffrey Pollack was a terrific WSOP Commissioner, and he is a fair and reasonable man!” Annie Duke wrote on her Twitter account, “I don’t think people know how much Jeffrey Pollack has done for the players. Our biggest defender and protector is gone from WSOP.”

Pollack, a native of New York, said he was looking forward to flying to his home in Los Angeles to spend some time with his wife before plotting his next step.

“My trade is with sports, media, marketing and poker,” he said. “If there’s someway that I can stay on that track, I’d like to do so. But no matter where I end up I will always be appreciate to Harrah’s and Gary Loveman for the opportunity they afforded me the last 4 and half years. I was given the chance to be part of a very special brand and I will always be thankful for that. Gary had a vision for the WSOP and he deserves as much credit as anyone for its success.”

The telecast earned a 1.8 household coverage rating in an average of 1,806,113 households, a slight decrease from the 1.9 rating earned for the 2008 online casino finale.

ESPN’s 15-week schedule of World Series of Poker coverage in 2009 included 31 telecasts averaging a 1.0 rating, even with last year. However, averages for households (1,024,901) and viewership (1,228,008) increased nine and seven percent, respectively, from 2008, and the important Male 25-54 demographic saw a 13 percent jump from online casinos 2008.

It only took one year for the record for youngest winner to be broken. Denmark’s Peter Eastgate was 22 when he captured the 2008 crown.

In Germany, the hanseatic city of Bremen has declared war on the city’s sports shops for selling football shirts featuring the logos of main sponsor Bwin, the Austrian bookmaker. The city state is attempting to fine stores €1000 for each shirt sold featuring the offending logo, which was prominently displayed on local team Werder Bremen’s shirts during 2006 until new state regulations forced them to search for alternative sponsorship for casino slot machines.

The blog also tells the story of the Dutch Subaru employee who embezzled millions of Euros from his employer in order to gamble at the country’s state-owned casino chain Holland Casino, where he was treated like royalty for his custom. In any commercial casino, the volume of his custom would have immediately raised suspicions of criminal activity, thanks to strict limits and regulations on customers’ funds.

Meanwhile, Right2bet’s ‘betting challenge’, in which the campaign places a winning bet with several state owned and commercial operators, continues this week. Last Sunday, a Chelsea win earned cash for the kitty.

“Casino officials are confident that table games will be legalized by the Legislature and will be very popular with a younger crowd. The only table games currently at the online casino are the virtual kind.

“It takes more people to operate a table game, according to Hollywood Casino General Manager Frank Quigley. ‘A craps table for instance, you need four dealers and two supervisors for the day,’ he said.

“Quigley said the jobs require several weeks of training and pay up to $40,000 a year. The casino expects to operate 40 table games - including blackjack, craps, roulette and baccarat - in addition to 10 to 15 poker tables…”

“…Conducted by Sarasota, Fla.-based Polling and Strategic Design, the poll shows that among 800 likely Ohio voters, 48 percent supported the proposal to build internet casinos in four cities, while 44 percent opposed the effort. The margin of error for the poll, conducted Oct. 7-11, was 3.5 percentage points.

“The poll was commissioned by TruthPAC, a political action committee and Issue 3 foe financed in part by Ohio’s horse-racing industry, and released by the Mahoning County Democratic Party. The Youngstown-area Dems group is fighting the casino proposal chiefly because the city isn’t a proposed site.

“A closely watched poll of more than 1,000 likely voters conducted by Quinnipiac University and released a month ago showed 58 percent support for the casinos, down slightly from 61 percent in July…”

I2 md Andreas Papoulias said this week that the move into Cyberarts not only expanded his company’s online gambling capabilities, but could be useful positioning in the event of a liberalisation of both the European and US markets.

It is understood that Intralot coughed up some $12 million for the stake in Cyberarts.

In it’s battle to compete with the rival state of Tasmania for online bookie business - reportedly worth $1.5 billion competitively attracted from Victoria and New South Wales alone - the NT government has scrapped existing taxes and replaced these with a 10 percent gross margin tax, payable on all casinos events conducted under the NT wagering licence and capped at A$250 000.

Sportsbet chief executive Matthew Tripp said the changes would save his company about $2 million a year after tax. “I certainly didn’t put a gun to the head of the territory, but I pointed out the fact that I’m in a portable business and I have to do what’s right by the business, and I appealed to them to review the taxation regime,” Tripp told The Age.

“I think it was too big a carrot for them to pass up, so they got their heads together and thought that they should put an offer together similar to that of Tasmania to ensure that everyone stayed.”

Tripp added that he had told Northern Territory officials that Tasmania, which is home to Sportsbet competitor Betfair, was trying to position itself as the ”hub of wagering in the country”.

Centrebet chief executive Con Kafataris said that the change would save his company A$700 000 a year after tax. “The reduced tax rates are a welcome move which make it economic for us to maintain our presence in the territory and will assist the Northern Territory government in protecting jobs in the state,” he noted.

“Centrebet has been licensed in the NT for 17 years and has built a strong and productive working relationship with the NT government, which we look forward to maintaining.”

Unibet’s online activities attract 3.6 million players to its popular websites.

The CryptoLogic games have been made available to Unibet through Gaming Technology Solutions plc (GTS), which provides the platform for many of the world’s largest Internet gaming sites. Cryptologic will earn recurring revenue based on a share of wagers placed by players. The deal takes the total number of licensees signed by the company to 29.

“When we signed our strategic partnership with GTS, Cryptologic gained a powerful new channel to take our games to the many top gaming sites that run on GTS technology,” said Brian Hadfield, Cryptologic’s President and CEO. “Unibet is one of the best of the best, with more than 3.6 million customers in more than 100 countries. The revenue potential for Cryptologic is significant as so many new players can now experience our extraordinary e-gaming innovation.”

Unibet is one of the largest operators in the European market, offering sports betting, live betting, casino, poker, lotteries, bingo and soft games through its website, Unibet.com.

Petter Nylander, CEO of Unibet said: “Unibet’s players demand excitement, and Cryptologic has some of the most dynamic and best-branded games in the business. Our customers will love the exceptional e-gaming experience Cryptologic delivers. Player satisfaction is what is most important to us, and that is what makes this deal so satisfying.”