Salon.com > Gambling

Software maker faces jail because his product was illegally used

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 19:00:00 +0000

A software maker who sells programs used by online casinos and bookmakers outside the U.S. (where online gambling is legal) now faces criminal charges for allegedly abetting illegal gambling, as the software has been used in New York.

Although Robert Stuart and his family-run company insist they only sold their software product to legal overseas buyers, the software maker has been charged with one felony count for promoting gambling in New York through his software firm.

“It’s overreaching where they’re going after a software developer who sells the software with a legal license, and yet we’re still being prosecuted on how it’s being used,” Stuart told Wired, noting that authorities have not told him yet whom he’s accused of aiding and abetting. According to the D.A.'s office, Stuart's software was used to make illegal bets in that state between September 2008 and June 2011.

Wired noted the considerably dangerous precedent the suit against Stuart could set:

My gambling addiction epiphany

Sun, 02 Dec 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Recently, the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry sent me a paper by a Dr. Richard Rosenthal, which contained what the author allowed was an "overwrought" scenario. A young crack addict has been given a choice. A man is holding a pipe in front of her and a gun to her head. Have a smoke, he says, and I pull the trigger. The addict responds: “Do I at least get to take a really big hit?”

The story is meant to illustrate the dissolution of willpower in addicts, a central point of the paper. The doctor goes on to remark that, "as a result of loss of control in the addicted state, people can make exceedingly bad and completely unreasonable decisions." You could take this argument further, however, and say that the woman here isn't making a bad decision at all, for the simple fact that there is no decision to be made. Sick as she is, the addict is no more able to resist her impulse than a Tourette's sufferer is able to control his tics.

You bet your life

Thu, 13 Sep 2012 17:20:00 +0000

Of all the destructive habits in the world, gambling would seem to be one of the more benign. It doesn't blow out your liver. It won’t make your nose cave in. Even after the most appalling run of bad luck, you can be reasonably sure that you won't be carted away, having expired with a mouth full of vomit. No harm done. It's only money.

You can keep telling yourself this until the moment you kick the chair out from under you.

Suicide rates among gambling addicts are staggeringly high. The National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) has estimated that one in five problem gamblers attempt to kill themselves, about twice the rate of other addictions. The reasons for this fact are both blindingly simple and impossibly complicated. And the central befuddling fact is this: Gambling kills you because it doesn't kill you.

Investigating leading GOP moneyman Sheldon Adelson

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 20:08:00 +0000

This story was co-published with PBS' "Frontline."

A decade ago gambling magnate and leading Republican donor Sheldon Adelson looked at a desolate spit of land in Macau and imagined a glittering strip of casinos, hotels and malls.

Where competitors saw obstacles, including Macau's hostility to outsiders and historic links to Chinese organized crime, Adelson envisaged a chance to make billions.

Adelson pushed his chips to the center of the table, keeping his nerve even as his company teetered on the brink of bankruptcy in late 2008.

The Macau bet paid off, propelling Adelson into the ranks of the mega-rich and underwriting his role as the largest Republican donor in the 2012 campaign, providing tens of millions of dollars to Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney and other GOP causes.

Now, some of the methods Adelson used in Macau to save his company and help build a personal fortune estimated at $25 billion have come under expanding scrutiny by federal and Nevada investigators, according to people familiar with both inquiries.

The scam economy

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 21:30:00 +0000

Anyone who says you can get rich through gambling is a fool or a knave. Multiply the size of the prize by your chance of winning it and you’ll always get a number far lower than what you put into the pot. The only sure winners are the organizers – casino owners, state lotteries and con artists of all kinds.

Organized gambling is a scam. And it particularly preys upon people with lower incomes – who assume they can’t make it big any other way, who often find it hardest to assess the odds, and whose families can least afford to lose the money.

Yet America is now opening the floodgates.

In December, Department of Justice announced it was reversing its position that all Internet gambling was illegal. That decision is about to create a boom in online gambling. Expect high-stakes poker to be available on every work desk and mobile phone.

Meanwhile, states are increasingly dependent on revenues from casinos, lotteries and the “Mega Millions” game (in which 42 states pool their grand prize) to partly refill state coffers.

Given who plays, this is one of the most regressive taxes in the nation. In the most recent Mega Millions game – whose winning tickets were drawn last week and whose jackpot rose to $640 million – lottery ticket buyers shelled out some $1.5 billion, most of which went to state governments.

Casino capitalism: As gambling spreads, metaphor becomes reality

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 18:30:00 +0000

Though Wall Street's brand of “casino capitalism” crashed the American economy in 2008, American capitalists are making a growing profit from real-life casino gambling: commercial (or non-Indian) casinos have generated nearly $98 billion since 2008, including $34.6 billion in gross revenues in 2010 (the last year for which data is available), up from $20 billion in 1998. That's more than three times the sum Americans spend on movie tickets. And only $5.7 billion was generated in Las Vegas. The fantastical upside-down world of American commerce long confined to Nevada and Atlantic City, N.J., is now ubiquitous.

The billions of new dollars spent at casinos represent a net transfer of wealth to big business and to pay workers whose labor is not as productive as, say, repairing the nation's crumbling infrastructure. Casino capitalism is an apt metaphor exactly because — whatever one might think about legalized gambling — it is not generally perceived as a sound operating principle for the entire economy. Yet the steady march of casino gambling now sketches an eerie facsimile of our political economy writ large. In fact, casinos thrive amid economic misery.

WikiLeaks sheds light on Adelson’s Asia business

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0000

We've learned this election cycle that casino magnate Sheldon Adelson isn't afraid to throw around vast sums of money to get what he wants -- he and his family have given at least $11 million to help the Newt Gingrich campaign.

It hasn't gotten any notice since Adelson became a player in presidential politics, but it turns out that the trove of diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks contains an interesting anecdote about how Adelson aggressively promoted his casino and hotel business in the Chinese territory of Macau -- and a run-in he had with the central government in Beijing.

First, some context. The news broke last March that Adelson's Las Vegas Sands Corp. is under federal investigation into whether it has complied with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The act makes it illegal to bribe foreign officials to obtain business deals.

Gambling mogul Steve Wynn’s “epic” anti-Obama rant

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 17:11:00 +0000

On Monday, in the middle of an otherwise routine conference call discussing the second quarter earnings of casino operator Wynn Resorts, CEO Steve Wynn launched into an impassioned diatribe against Barack Obama. Wynn, who more than any other man is responsible for the modern transformation of Las Vegas into the glitz-and-glam capital of the global gambling-entertainment industry, was responding to a question about whether he was considering new developments in Nevada.

What our gambling problem is really costing us

Sat, 16 Jul 2011 20:01:00 +0000

I started gambling seriously in 2000, the year I moved to Seattle for a newspaper job. By 2001, I was hooked. I've been grappling with a poker addiction ever since.

While I've had some happier times at the poker tables recently, during the past decade gambling has often wreaked havoc with my life. I don't know if I've "hit bottom" -- a term many in the recovery community rightly detest -- because I don't know what, for me, bottom is.

There are things I've never done because of my habit. I've never borrowed from a loan shark or bet with a bookie. I've never stolen anything to raise gambling funds. I've never been kicked out of my apartment because I couldn't pay the rent. I've never let work slide so badly that it caused me to be fired.

But there are lots of ways in which my gambling affected me for the worse during my six years in Seattle and more recently in Las Vegas: I've left bills unpaid, sometimes for weeks, months, or years. I've borrowed incessantly, both to raise poker funds and to pay bills.

Several times when the losses mounted and funds were especially tight, I've survived for days on end on boxes of store-brand mac and cheese, ramen noodles, saltines, and seltzer water.

What my father lost gambling

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 22:01:00 +0000

I never really understood my father.

Daddy was a "professional gambler," if betting daily on greyhounds and thoroughbreds could be considered a profession rather than an addiction. His mornings were spent at the desk in my brother's room, hunched over the Racing Form in his robe. And most of his days and nights would be at Hialeah or Gulfstream or the Miami Beach Kennel Club, doing mysterious things that seemed to pass for his life's work.

The only legitimate thing Daddy ever did to earn money was invest in a plot of land on nearby Di Lido Island, so when someone asked us what Daddy did for a living we were able to say he was in "real estate." In fact, I was so prepped by Mom to say those two words that when the teacher asked my name in kindergarten, I proudly blurted "Real Estate."

I noticed a curious thing about gamblers from an early age: Daddy didn't get excited when he won at the track. No, the adrenaline would be flowing, the monologue would be deafening and he'd come roaring into the house, pacing up and down and yelling -- when he'd almost won. And he'd be cursing when he lost.

So when he was quiet, I figured he'd won some money. He wasn't often quiet.

Japan gripped by sumo match-fixing scandal

Thu, 03 Feb 2011 13:10:00 +0000

Japan's latest sumo scandal widened Thursday as two wrestlers and a coach admitted fixing bouts, broadcasters pulled their support from telecasts and the nation's prime minister accused the ancient sport of betraying the public's trust.

Media reports said police are also now investigating whether active wrestlers bet on the outcome of bouts, deepening concerns that gangsters -- who allegedly played a role in an earlier gambling scandal -- may again be involved.

The widening scandal has become a national embarrassment to Japan, where the sport is followed by millions of fans and considered an important part of the country's cultural heritage.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan told parliament he felt betrayed and angered by the scandal.

"If it is true, it is a very serious betrayal of the people," he said.

Sports minister Yoshiaki Takaki told a parliamentary panel on Thursday the Japan Sumo Association had confirmed wrestler Chiyohakuho and sumo coach Takenawa admitted to bout fixing after police found suspicious text messages on their cell phones.

Lower-ranked wrestler Enatsukasa also admitted to fixing matches.

Wagering on a royal wedding? Britons say you bet

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 12:05:00 +0000

Two of the favorite pastimes in Britain -- royal-watching and betting -- are morphing into one raucous market centered on the royal wedding.

Prince William and Kate Middleton aren't even married yet -- that will take place April 29 -- but some Britons are already betting they will end up getting divorced.

The odds are unlikely, the topic is disrespectful but when two people disagree on a subject, it's time to lay some money down.

"There's a real tradition of betting on what the royals will do next," said Darren Haines, a spokesman for bookmaker Paddy Power. "The U.K. has a strange fascination with the royals."

One of the most popular wagers for the past several years has been on if, when and where Kate and Wills would marry. After news of their engagement broke in November, the when -- as in, what month -- brought in 30,000 pounds ($48,000) worth of bets for Ladbrokes, spokesman Alex Donohue said. The where -- now confirmed as Westminster Abbey -- drew about 15,000 pounds ($24,000) worth of wagers for the betting firm.

With those questions answered, bookmakers are looking to capitalize on the royal wedding mania by adding novelty bets before more details emerge. The market is small now, but expected to swell as the big day draws near.

Bellagio discontinues $25,000 chip after robbery

Wed, 29 Dec 2010 23:40:00 +0000

Las Vegas casino bosses are serving notice to the bandit who made off with $1.5 million in chips from the Bellagio: Try to redeem those worth $25,000 soon or they'll become worthless.

Bellagio owner MGM Resorts International is giving public notice that it's discontinuing its standard chip valued at $25,000 and calling for all gamblers holding the chips to redeem them by April 22.

After that, gambling regulators say each red chip with a gray inlay won't be worth more than the plastic it's cast from.

"The bottom line is that they're not money," said David Salas, deputy enforcement chief for the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

MGM Resorts first posted notice of the redemption last week in the classifieds of the Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper. That's one week after a robber wearing a motorcycle helmet held up a craps table at gunpoint and made off with a bag of chips of varying denominations.

Police and casino officials have been working since the Dec. 14 heist to try to locate the bandit and keep watch on anyone trying to cash in the chips, which ranged in denomination from $100 to $25,000.

A police spokeswoman said Wednesday there have been no significant developments in the case since then.