The following from Gaming Intelligence:

With just days to go to the conclusion of his three year ordeal in the United States on charges of racketeering, former BetonSports CEO David Carruthers has unexpectedly withdrawn his guilty plea.

At a hearing Tuesday in the Eastern District Court of Missouri, Judge Carol E. Jackson accepted a motion to set aside the guilty plea of Carruthers, setting a date of October 14th for a change of plea hearing at which Carruthers is expected to plead not guilty to charges of racketeering.

The former chief executive of BetonSports plc, a UK citizen, is charged with conducting an illegal enterprise through a pattern of racketeering acts, including repeated mail fraud, Wire Wager Act violations, operation of an illegal gambling business and money laundering.

The company has already admitted to its involvement in racketeering as part of a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri in May 2007. Under the terms of the plea agreement, BetonSports agreed to supply evidence and witnesses in the cases against Carruthers and the company’s founder, Gary Kaplan, in exchange for which the company was released from the threat of criminal prosecution.

It is unclear at this time why Carruthers decided to change his plea. He had been scheduled to appear before the court on Friday to face sentencing, at which point he was expected to be allowed to return to the UK having already been in U.S. custody for more than three years.

Tags: BetonSports, Carruthers

IVO Bank seemse to be on the way to closing its doors with the following on the front page:

IVO Down

Interesting to watch this – they pitched as the gambling bank – now I wonder…

“Following a recent strategic review by its shareholder, Ivobank regrets to announce that with effect from Monday 7th September 2009 that it will no longer accept new retail or corporate customers.

Tags: IVO Bank, Payments

Check out this cool video flying on the US Blackjack site:

Tags: Blackjack, US Blacjack

LONDON, July 29 — Having conquered Europe with their innovative new online supercasino, the boys at Buzzluck.com set their eyes on a new heavenly body to make their mark on: Mars. Kindly, the boffins at NASA offered to take Buzzluck’s registered trademark and “Never Bored” tagline on the Mars Science Laboratory rover heading to Mars in 2011. Back on Earth, Buzzluck.com is launching their “Mission to Entertain” with the debut of a live DJ spinning in the Live Lounge starting Friday.

There are little ways and big ways to make your mark on history. Build the world’s first online supercasino is an exciting but expensive way; add your name to a chip that’ll be on NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory rover is a little way. Buzzluck.com is excited to play a pioneering part in both the Internet-bound “Mission to Entertain,” with their new Live DJ show debuting this Friday, and participating in a tiny way with the Mars-bound Mars Science Laboratory rover program.

Participation, being part of something bigger than yourself, is what Web 2.0 is all about. NASA invites you to participate by adding your name to a chip on the Mars Science Laboratory rover; Buzzluck.com invites you to join the live party at the world’s first online supercasino.

“An online supercasino, on any planet exists, for one reason,” Alex Czajkowski, Buzzluck.com’s founder, says, “to entertain its players. While plenty of sites can give you classic casino games to play, only Buzzluck.com adds live entertainment with audience participation to the mix. It is this component of the world’s most expensive online casino website that separates the old from the new, the 1.0 from the 2.0, the casino from the supercasino.”

Buzzluck.com’s “Live Lounge” is host to the first weekly online casino party, with live video streaming of a comedian host and amusing programs and live participation from the audience every weekend. While the Live Lounge guys are now spending August recuperating from their 50-plus debut season shows and prepping for September’s new series of live online interactive parties, Buzzluck.com is launching their new “Mission to Entertain,” the world’s first online, interactive, live-streamed DJ.

“Mission to Entertain” is driven by players’ suggestions: in Buzzluck.com’s on-going surveys of players and prospects, half of the respondents thought having a Live DJ or music and bands live, online, is what a supercasino should have for live entertainment. “So a live, interactive DJ was the natural next step for the Live Lounge and to launch our ‘Mission to Entertain,’” Czajkowski explains. “Finding the right DJ was the next step.”

Enter DJ Graham Charles, aka Charlie. Having worked alongside BBC Radio 1 DJs, hosted for BBC Radio London, DJ’ed on Kiss FM and played clubs from the Ministry of Sound in London to the Limelight in New York, Charlie is known for hosting “radio parties” worldwide and jumped at the chance to bring his format online. Commenting on the show on Buzzluck.com, Charlie says “going live online is one small step for a DJ; one giant leap for an online casino.”

Tags: Buxxluck, casino

Winning on Video poker?  I certainly never have! Seems fate favoured player Bryan on US-Blackjack when he lined up 5 in a row, all hearts from the 10 to land the $20,000 jackpot on US-Blackjack’s “Jacks or Better” video poker game.  Not bad for $25!

Apparently Bryan is happy to have assistance dealing with the tax bill that also hit this month. I bet he is…

Tags: Blackjack, us-blackjack.com, Video Poker

Buzzluck.com is the first online casino providing on-site entertainment above and beyond the casino games themselves. The first online casino with an interactive video hostess, an interactive video 3D lobby and a live video Live Lounge, as well as all the casino games you’d expect, Buzzluck.com is the first online casino that warrants the title “online supercasino.”

First stop, the Doom-style, first-person shooter perspective lobby of the Buzzluck.com casino. Just like a busy casino or hotel lobby, you never know who you’re going to see or meet. The Buzzluck.com lobby constantly changes, as interactive video avatars come and go; some bearing gifts of bonuses and cash, others simply amusing. Or not.

Enter the casino itself, and you’ll see dozens of familiar flash-based, instant-play casino games, from blackjack tables to slots to video poker, all provided by the industry proven, and TST-tested and certified Real Time Gaming.

Take a break from the tables or your favourite machine and enjoy the Live Lounge. Fronted by Irish stand-up comedian and self-confessed net-geek, Ian O chats live with visitors while throwing up videos he and his team have uncovered in an interactive talk show/clip show unique to the web.

Just as Steve Wynn’s Mirage changes Vegas from a gambling capital to an entertainment capital, Buzzluck.com is the first online casino to bring something to the table other than simply new games. The games you know and love are there, it’s when you look up from the table or step away from the slots that you are engaged in another compelling experience. Buzzluck. Never Bored.

Tags: 3d casino, casino, Gambling, games

Devilfish Poker – home of the Devilfish himself Dave Ulliot – has just released its new website.  That’s not all – a new casino is also on the way.

This is without doubt one of the best “smaller” rooms on the net – well worth a visit.

Tags: Dave "Devilfish" Ulliot, Dave Ulliot, devilfish, Poker

US Blackjack has launched its afffiliate program.  Full details and registration can be found at affiliates.us-blackjack.com.  From their announcement:

“Our success is your success.

We are pleased to announce the launch of the US-Blackjack affiliate system.

Earn money by referring players to US-Blackjack! Simply register as an affiliate and then choose your promotional creative from our extensive resource library.  Our software allows you to create tracking links so you can monitor the effectiveness of every banner independently.

Your earnings will be settled every month by the 15th of the month for the preceding month.  You are one step away from changing your life! ”

More information on the website ….

We started with the gaming software.  Selecting Top Game to power our casino gave us access to an alternative and better experience for the player.  With the unique “tabbed” interface (you can have many games open at the same time) and an impressive array of slots and other games, this software is industry leading in the US online gaming marketplace.

Add to that effective, friendly and super fast customer support, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, available on email or in a chat window within the gaming software.  With our aggressive and player-friendly bonussing and retention system we work to maximise player values.  All this backed up by an effective and secure payments and risk management system.

So – the software produces the numbers.  Now we need to get them to you – the affiliate.  Use our extensive resource center to create tracking codes.  Contact your personal account manager to negotiate the best rewards plan for your needs.  Ask about personal bonus codes with tracking, offline mailings, super affiliate deals and more – we are here to talk to you!

US Blackjack is marketed by industry veterans, and player and affiliate payouts are guaranteed. For more information on this please contact us or arrange to meet at any of the industry events.

Tags: affiliates, Blackjack, casino affiliates, us blackjack

It seems that Blackjack.com no longer takes US players, referring them instead to us-blackjack.com. Using completely different software from Top Gaming, this all new site seems to have been established to fill the niche that was occupied by Blackjack.com.

The Top Gaming software is actually quite nice.  It has two varieties of Blackjack and also some great slots and Video Poker.  Well worth a look-see.

Tags: Blackjack, Blackjack.com, us-blackjack.com

A fitting culmination for the outright theft of 141 gambling domain names yesterday when the Kentucky court of Appeal ruled that the seizure by the state was illegal as the names are not gaming devices.

Among the sites targeted by Kentucky were PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker, Bodog, Microgaming and Slotocash.

I rather liked the comment by Judge Michelle Keller:

“It stretches credulity to conclude that a series of numbers, or Internet addresses, can be said to constitute a ‘machine or any mechanical or other device…designed and manufactured primarily for use in connection with gambling.”

“We are thus convinced that the trial court clearly erred in concluding that the domain names can be construed to be gambling devices subject to forfeiture.”

From the PPA:

“This is a tremendous victory for Internet freedom and the rights of Kentucky residents who enjoy playing online poker,” said John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance, in response to the decision. “We are pleased that the appeals court has forcefully reversed Judge Wingate’s earlier ruling and confirmed many of the arguments that have been raised in opposition to the seizure effort.”

Tags: Gambling Domains, Kentucky Domain Name Seizure