Two online sports gambling rings, one believed to be centred on the Jazz Sports website, are alleged to have taken in nearly $178 million in bets around the country in less than three years, prosecutors charged Wednesday after arresting 38 persons on enterprise corruption charges.

Suspected money collectors, agents and bookies were arrested in Nevada, Louisiana, Florida, New York and Arizona after a three-year investigation led by the New York Police Department’s organised crime division. Those arrested include three New York City employees: a firefighter, sanitation worker and a highway repairman.

Six people from Louisiana, including William Bryant III, the premium sales manager for the NBA’s New Orleans Hornets, were also arrested, although it is understood from team spokesmen that he was acting independently and for his own account.

Charges assembled by the prosecutorial team include money laundering, promoting gambling and conspiracy.

Brown told media reporters that the suspects operated two nationwide rings using sports betting Web sites filtered through Costa Rica. They took bets on professional and college football and basketball, as well as professional baseball and hockey games.

Brown named Robert Baselice and Charles Cicalo, both from Staten Island, as bookmakers on Crownsports.com and Jazzsports.com, employing agents and other people to collect and disburse money.

A second indictment charges Robert Ackrish, a sanitation worker, and his father, Lewis, both from New York, with running a second ring that also used some of the same Web sites. All suspects are awaiting arraignment, and no lawyer information was available.

Cash and millions of dollars in property were seized after more than a dozen search warrants were executed in New York, Florida, Michigan, Nevada and Louisiana.

“Such computerized wire rooms operate around the clock and can handle a large volume of bettors at any one time, thus allowing the organizers to increase their illicit profits without having to bother with the time-consuming, record-keeping aspects of a more traditional, paper-based bookmaking operation,” Brown said. “Unfortunately for the defendants, the law enforcement community is just as adept in using new technology to stop those involved in such criminal pursuits.”

In addition to Bryant (39) the other Louisiana suspects are: Ashley Perry (33); Shane Muscarello (37); Craig Goodwin (49); David Theriot (45); and David Carazo (40). The government charged all six with operation of an illegal gambling business, which employed the use of an offshore betting service based in Costa Rica.

The 5 reel progressive disgorged one of its biggest yet jackpots, worth $1 261 887 to an online player who has yet to be identified.

Stay tuned for more details as soon as these become available.

A company spokesman said this week: “With this novel concept, casino game developers and manufacturers who have been hard pressed to re-design, integrate and innovate their current products for networked technology will now be able to take full advantage of the new structure coming to casinos as gaming operations convert from running stand-alone slot machines to streaming games on central server systems.

Peter Shoebridge, CEO and one of the three co-founders of the company, added: “Our goal was to provide a platform to those who want to integrate onto these new networks but have not been able to access the technology of networked gaming on their own or in a timely matter.

“With our GameEdge platform, we unlock the ins and outs of the new gaming networks for those whose expertise, creativity and insights are best focused on innovating the casino and player experience.”

The Blue Yonder platform makes available a server based gaming system to deploy and run a secure scalable solution for operating games and slot machines. With a robust development kit and a suite of APIs, it provides easy integration of existing game content and sets the stage for open development and innovation.

Casino operators are already planning for networked gaming, envisioning an environment based on open standards and interoperability to allow products from different sources to seamlessly operate and co-operate throughout their properties, said Shoebridge. With the complete gaming platform infrastructure changing and new communication protocols requiring system and code modifications, current content providers and manufacturers are challenged to either develop their own solution, wait for the top-tiered system suppliers to open their platforms or be left behind in the transition to server-based gaming.

Blue Yonder’s GameEdge is designed to shortcut the process of implementing networked gaming and to allow content providers to focus on the game, not the infrastructure. For many users, this will start with moving their current games to the platform, allowing them to seamlessly integrate with all the various new ecosystems of networks and third-party applications heading for the casino floor. Once existing content has been moved to the networked platform, content developers can start to innovate and incorporate advanced new networked features in their next generation offerings.

Key functions of GameEdge include: downloadable on-demand content; central administration and configuration; extendable meter support; full play history (including screenshots); a high-performance and highly-scalable server architecture; support for existing casino peripherals and protocols; open client architecture to allow easy integration with existing content, compatibility with .NET applications, Adobe Flash, Java and C++ based technologies; and support for Microsoft SQL Server and PostgreSQL database back-ends.

The 18 year tenure of RAY chairman and former Centre Party MP, Jukka Vihriälä ended when he resigned Tuesday following the news that the Youth Foundation, which benefits from RAY funding, had purchased art to support Vihriälä’s campaign supporters’ association.

“When it has come to light that campaign funds obtained by my supporters’ association were not appropriate, I felt it was best that I step down from RAY,” he said. ”I should have understood that as chair of the association, I could not accept campaign contributions that came from RAY funding.”

Vihriälä is a former MP and the current deputy speaker of the Seinäjoki city council. He served as the head of RAY for 18 years. Deputy chair Juha Eskelinen is to take over as acting chair.

The RAY chairman’s departure was quickly followed by the resignation of Centre Parliamentarian Antti Kaikkonen, who was chair of the Youth Foundation.

Kaikkonen said he recently learned the scale of which the Youth Foundation, under the direction of former managing director Jorma Heikkinen, had supported the election campaign of RAY chairman Jukka Vihriälä.

Heikkinen also resigned from the Youth Foundation’s board.

Kaikkonen said Heikkinen should have considered the implications of the campaign financing more carefully, and admitted that as chair, he should have done a better job monitoring the foundation. He added he was unaware of how much funding had been provided.

The Youth Foundation is expected to select a new chair in the near future.

Many operators expect a boost for their business from the opening of the French online gambling market scheduled for 2010, and a MECN spokesman said this week that the optimism seems to be justified now that the draft of the legal bill opening up France’s online betting and poker market is approaching adoption.

The online gambling market is expected to grow to Euro 1.7 billion (gross revenues) by 2015, and MECN has compiled a new landmark report that offers an unprecedented in-depth analysis of the French gambling market.

One of the key aspects of the planned liberalisation, which will probably take effect in summer 2010, will be the opening of the interactive/online sports and horse race betting markets as well as of online poker.

According to MECN`s new research around 80 percent of the gambling operators and experts surveyed consider the French market relevant for their future business. The focus is on online sports betting and poker - more than two thirds of operators surveyed want to obtain an online poker license under the new and more enlightened dispensation.

The survey found that operators will focus on online poker and sports betting because they expect the French market to outstrip even the success story of the Italian online poker and betting market.

Despite the many unresolved issues of the upcoming liberalisation, 77 percent of the operators surveyed in MECN`s study are looking to obtain a French online poker license.

MECN expects that gross revenues (sales/turnover less payout of prizes and winnings) in the French interactive/online gambling market will grow by a factor of nearly six from currently around Euro 300 million to approximately Euro 1.7 billion by 2015.

Martin Oelbermann, director of MECN, opines: “The French market will give the global online gambling market a new push and develop into one of the key markets worldwide with online poker paving the way”.

“Gambling revenue took a hit again last month. This seaside resort’s 11 casinos pulled in $383 million in July, a 12.7 percent decline from a year ago, and just slightly better than June’s nearly 14 percent drop.

“Slots revenue declined 12.4 percent, and table-games revenue fell 13.4 percent.

“‘July was a continuation of what we’ve seen all year,’ said Dan Nita, Mid-Atlantic president for Harrah’s Entertainment Inc., which owns Caesars, Bally’s, Showboat, and Harrah’s Resorts casinos. ‘The struggle, obviously, is the combination of day-trip business is not as robust as it once was, and folks that are here are spending less.’

“With the exception of Trump Taj Mahal, which was up 8.7 percent last month, the casinos all reported revenue declines…”

The check-in lobby inside the boutique-size nongaming hotel is on the building’s 23rd floor, offering customers a panoramic view of the Strip and the rest of the $8.5 billion CityCenter through floor-to-ceiling windows inside the property’s Sky Lobby.

“The position of the Mandarin Oriental, literally at the entrance of CityCenter, allowed our architects to capitalize on a broad canvas and take advantage of our spectacular views,” said Rajesh Jhingon, the property’s general manager.

“The Sky Lobby has worked well for us in New York and Tokyo and allows us to offer our guests two dramatic moments; once when they are greeted and escorted up to the lobby and the second when they get off the elevator and are enthralled by the view,” Jhingon said.

After years of planning, Hong Kong-based Mandarin Oriental is removing the wrapping from the company’s first luxury resort in Las Vegas. The company operates 41 hotels in 25 countries. In the United States, Mandarin Oriental has hotels in New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Miami and San Francisco.

The 47-story Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas has 392 rooms and suites, ranging in size from 600 square feet to 3,000 square feet. The building also has 227 residences, which will be accessed by a separate entrance and elevator from the hotel side.

Hotel rooms will offer numerous technological enhancements including keyless door locks and automated control panels that allow guests to manage the lighting, room temperature and entertainment systems. Mandarin Oriental will have a 27,000-square-foot spa and fitness center and several restaurants and bars.

“Owners and residents can enjoy all our amenities,” Jhingon said.

The Sky Lobby serves as a sort of buffer zone. The floors beneath the lobby are for hotel guests and the 24 floors above house the residential units. The 23rd floor is also home to The Mandarin Bar, the Tea Lounge, and the property’s signature restaurant, the first U.S. offering from celebrity chef Pierre Gagnaire.

One thing Mandarin Oriental lacks is a casino.

Gaming at CityCenter will be exclusive to Aria, the centerpiece 4,004-room hotel-casino operated by MGM Mirage. That shouldn’t concern Mandarin Oriental’s guests, said Jhingon, who spent five years as the general manager of the Mandarin Oriental in Singapore.

“We’re in walking distance to all the activities at CityCenter,” he said. “Our guests come here for our personalized service and experience.”

The Mandarin Oriental is scheduled to open Dec. 4. The property will begin accepting hotel room reservations on Aug. 17. Room rates have yet to be established, but Jhingon said the luxury property will set prices at levels that will be considered reasonable in a market that has seen hotel room prices decline to their lowest levels in over two decades because of the sour economy.

“I believe it’s the perfect time for us to open,” Jhingon said. “We’re a boutique hotel by Las Vegas standards and we’re very visible. I believe we will be a choice for a lot of people from Day One.”.

McFadden arrived at the tournament two hours late and lasted just two hands before being bundled out of the game.

“We won’t let one setback discourage us,” said Gary Stopyra as the group tallied up the take from the second annual motorcycle event.

By the time the last rider had returned to the M&S Harley-Davidson dealership on Falling Spring Road at 1:30 p.m., it was already apparent that expenses for the event were going to exceed donations.

Still, Stopyra said the event was a success in that about 50 disabled veterans were able to get help from DAV’s National Service office during the event.

Supervisor Robert McClellan and an assistant, Jeff Petherbridge, set up a table under a tent in the M&S parking lot and talked to veterans, discussing their problems and helping them figure out how to get the benefits due them because of their service-related disabilities.

“That’s what it’s all about,” Stopyra said. “The purpose of the poker run was to help our disabled veterans, and even though we didn’t come out with extra funds for that purpose, we still accomplished our goal.”

It took past DAV state commander Lawrence Kelly three hours to get to Chapter 78’s Second Annual Poker Run, but he said just knowing that his participation in the event would help disabled veterans was worth the ride, plus the extra time he spent on the bike making the round trip from Chambersburg to Greencastle, Waynesboro, Rouzerville, South Mountain and back to Chambersburg.

He said he was eager to leave his home outside of Hazelton early Saturday morning to participate in the Chambersburg event.

“It’s for a good cause,” he said. He also participated in last year’s run.

Twenty-five riders participated in this year’s Poker Run, compared to 57 last year.

Stopyra said he thought the fact that there were other biker events in the area Saturday probably contributed to the low attendance this year.

He promised another Poker Run next year, bigger and better.

“We will stick with it,” he said. “It can only grow from here and next year we are gonna knock ‘em dead.”

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