The internet gambling company announced this morning it had secured commitments for up to $600 million of cash through the sale of exchangeable bonds. The bonds must be exchanged into common stock of one of the company’s subsidiaries pending a successful online bonuses and initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Las Vegas Sands has said proceeds from an IPO in Asia would be used to resume construction on hotel-casino developments in Macau, which were halted 10 months ago when the company ran into financial trouble and credit markets dried up.

“The completion of this financing, which we expect to occur in a matter of days, will enhance our current liquidity position and further our efforts toward reaching long-term financial stability,” Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson said in a statement.

Las Vegas Sands President Michael Leven said this pre-IPO financing is another component of the company’s current efforts to strengthen its financial position.

All Slots Casino Gets the Scoop

With an original bonus concept, Scoop the Cash Video Slot features a second screen game triggered by the Roll the Dice symbol for the chance to win additional prizes. The player may roll the three dice two, three or four times based on the number of scatter symbols that appeared. The results of the bonus game are saved and if a player eventually collects all six “three of a kind” combinations, he’ll win a bonus payout worth 100x his total bet.

New Games Prize Patrol Returns to All Slots Casino

With the success of the new games promotion in August, All Slots will repeat the New Games Prize Patrol, running through September 7th. The promotion will surprise lucky participants playing the new games with a share of $10,000 in prizes.

David Brickman, the Jackpot Factory’s Vice President of Player Affairs, said, “All Slots Casino continues to live up to its name with the most exciting new slot games the industry has to offer. We look forward to seeing some big winners on these games!”

Other releases this September include Jewels of the Orient Video Slot, Lumber Cat Video Slot and Double Joker Level-Up Video Poker.

These informative discussions will exclusively focus on new casino games and opportunities in a number of up and coming markets, giving operators and affiliates vital information and data essential to effective market penetration and expansion. Titled the ‘New Opportunities in International Markets’, there will be five sessions in total each dedicated to one of the following territories; Hungary, France, Spain, Netherlands and the German speaking market.

“Following feedback from previous events and the success of Everest’s ‘Fast Track’ sessions at CAP Barcelona, we’re seeing increasing demand for information regarding specific markets as both affiliates and operators alike attempt to get ahead in this competitive industry,” commented Kiera Goymour, iGB Affiliate Conference Manager. “With huge growth in all these markets, particularly Hungary, I hope these sessions will reveal all there is to know to further explore and profit from the new opportunities they can provide”.

Each session will highlight the opportunities for poker and casino, as well as niche verticals for each of the specific markets. Commencing with a short introductory presentation, and then followed by an open discussion and Q&A led by the audience, each 45-minute International Market Session will provide moderated discussions with local experts to provide up-to-date market information and forecasts, as well as player preferences and strategies for successful market penetration.

With the support of Everest Affiliates, who bring the expertise of their local affiliate and country managers, the panellists will include leading local affiliates, niche consultants, legal experts and additional bingo, sports betting and skill gaming specialists.

“The International Markets stream at BAC serves as a great opportunity for any affiliate to gain insight in new markets, explore growth opportunities and interact with local experts”, explains Dorrit Borensztajn, Director of Affiliate Marketing, Everest Affiliates. “I believe that by attending these sessions, affiliates will not only gain up-to-date market information, but also learn about approaches for successful market penetration and expansion from our team of Affiliate Managers. The International Market stream will serve as an opportunity to discuss any market specific question or concern with local experts”.

So, if you’re desperate to find out how to take advantage of the wealth of exciting new developments in a range of emerging markets, come armed with your questions and find out!

The gambling portal points to official notices from the US Justice Department inviting disadvantaged players to file a written petition with the federal court in St Louis.

The court has been dealing with BetonSports founder Gary Kaplan, who earlier this week pleaded guilty to racketeering and other charges and deposited a forfeited amount of $43.65 million into a Justice Department account (see previous InfoPowa reports).

The forfeited monies are the proceeds obtained by Kaplan during his running of the billion dollar BoS online gambling business in Costa Rica.

Eye on Gambling founder, Kenneth Weitzner says he expects to see a lot of fraudulent allegations of people being owed money by BetonSports.

The official notice from the DOJ reads:

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI, EASTERN DIVISION
COURT CASE NUMBER: S5-4:06CR337 CEJ; NOTICE OF FORFEITURE

Notice is hereby given that on August 14, 2009, in the case of U.S. v. Gary Stephen Kaplan, Court Case Number S5-4:06CR337 CEJ, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri entered an Order condemning and forfeiting the following property to the United States of America:
Approximately $43,650,000.00 in U.S. Currency presently held by the United States District Court, Eastern District of Missouri, in Bank of America account number XXXXX5233 which was transferred on or about July 31, 2009, from Leecroft Investments Group’s Swiss bank account at Banque Privee Edmond de Rothschild S.A., Account number XXXXX0347 (09-IRS-000847).

The United States hereby gives notice of its intent to dispose of the forfeited property in such manner as the United States Attorney General may direct. Any person, other than the defendant(s) in this case, claiming interest in the forfeited property must file a Petition within 60 days of the first date of publication (August 18, 2009) of this Notice on this official government internet web site, pursuant to Rule 32.2 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and 21 U.S.C. § 853(n)(1). The petition must be filed with the Clerk of the Court, 111 South 10th St., Suite 3.300, St. Louis, MO 63102, and a copy served upon Assistant United States Attorney Charles S. Birmingham, Thomas F. Eagleton Courthouse, 111 South Tenth Street, 20th Floor, St. Louis, MO 63102.

The petition shall be signed by the petitioner under penalty of perjury and shall set forth the nature and extent of the petitioner’s right, title or interest in the forfeited property, the time and circumstances of the petitioner’s acquisition of the right, title and interest in the forfeited property and any additional facts supporting the petitioner’s claim and the relief sought.

Affiliate Guard Dog, an independent gambling website that monitors the T&Cs of affiliate programs, announced that Sophie Guedon, affiliate manager of Roxy Affiliates, had reviewed the program’s new high roller policy and had reversed retroactive elements contained therein where these applied to existing affiliates.

Guedon advised affiliates:

“We would like to thank all affiliates that have contributed their feedback and constructive comments on the various forums regarding the recently introduced high roller policy on Roxy Affiliates.

“We have reviewed the high roller policy and have indeed taken the decision NOT to apply it retroactively.

“Roxy Affiliates has built up 7 years of trust and professional business standards by working together with our affiliates in achieving revenue for the brands that we promote and for our affiliates, and we will continue to maintain this integrity in the future.

“The high roller policy was introduced in conjunction with the increase of casino bet limits which were originally requested by some of our affiliates as a way of increasing revenue from high rollers.

“The increased bet limits may create volatility in revenue due to the fact that players can win or lose higher amounts and this can take place across more than one calendar month.

“We are of the understanding that affiliates are in favour of the high roller policy and its application, however they are not in favour of it being retroactive.

“As mentioned earlier, the high roller policy will only apply to new affiliates who have registered at Roxy Affiliates after the 1st of July 2009 (the date in our terms are being updated). The high roller policy has not been applied to any affiliates’ earnings to date this policy is currently being updated on our systems.

“We hope this will show our continuous commitment to our affiliates.”

Arbitrary and at times even unannounced changes to affiliate program Terms and Conditions – the contract programs agree with affiliate marketers – has been under the microscope for some time now as various issues involving retroactive changes have surfaced, igniting fierce opposition from affiliates, who claim that in most cases they are disadvantaged by unilateral changes to their working conditions.

It has been repeatedly stressed that the affiliate – affiliate program relationship should be one defined by the concept of partnership, with consultation and transparency as cornerstones of the agreement.

A Broward judge handed down 54-year-old Jeanne Shahan’s sentence Monday. She had pleaded guilty to felony child abuse, misdemeanor contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and misdemeanor leaving a child unattended in a vehicle.

Authorities say Shahan left the children unattended inside a car parked outside Mardi Gras Gaming in August 2008. A witness saw the 2-year-old girl and 14-year-old boy in the car and told the casinos security.

As with all internet gambling regulatory bills, the first step to regulate poker in Florida will be to undertake an exhaustive study of the current poker activity taking place with Florida’s borders. This will likely also include an examination of the regulatory efforts being pursued in other similar markets, such as that of the United Kingdom, which passed legislation in 2005.

In the case of California, where poker studies have already been undertaken, a proposal written up by former Assemblyman, Lloyd Levine (who supposedly has found a loophole around the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act), is receiving major support from legislators and top leaders in the California Assembly and Senate. With a looming $25 billion budget deficit, not to mention a strong demand for poker, the popular “game of skill” could very well be the cure for California’s financial woes.

The Florida online poker industry could serve the same purpose for the Sunshine State, where a growing deficit doesn’t quite compare to that of California, but nonetheless is drawing warranted concern. Just recently, the Superintendent of Brevard County Florida Schools was forced to cut funding to a Summer school program said to benefit over 14,000 children. So, now that these kids have nothing to do over the Summer, perhaps they’ll start playing online poker. In that case, poker regulation in Florida better be on the way!

The Florida online poker bill sets forth comprehensive study and follow-up report guidelines, and was first passed by the State legislature in May. With Governor Charlie Grist’s signature on the bill, the legislature now moves forward to the State Senate, scheduled for debate and a vote in December 2009. Not only will the Senate look at assessing the impact of online poker in Florida, it will also consider statutory framework that would efficiently regulated the Florida online poker industry and make it safe for State residents. If all goes well, that could mean Florida residents might be playing at “legal” online poker rooms as early as 2010.

The Pennsylvania supreme court has struck down a blanket ban on political contributions by casino owners and executives.

Pennsylvania’s high court says that the state legislature went too far in creating a total ban on political contributions, by completely eliminating a protected form of political expression and association.

The court says lawmakers could have chosen, instead, to limit the size of contributions, rather than banning them entirely, in an effort to eliminate the appearance of influence by the gaming industry.

The ruling comes as lawmakers are considering a number of bills likely to be of concern to the casino industry, including measures that would reform gaming regulation in the state, and the governor’s proposal to legalize video poker in bars and clubs.

1. It’s a night of mayhem in Mt. Lookout courtesy of Derf Magazine’s Happy Hour. Singer-songwriter Kristen Key provides the music. And, if the usual drink specials weren’t enough, there’s a Halfway to Halloween afterparty with its own specials.

2. Get in the mood for the Kentucky Derby by checking out live horse racing at River Downs, which offers free admission and free general parking every day it’s open. Then head to the Lodge Bar’s Talk Derby to Me party, where you can win tickets to Saturday’s big race.

3. Alternative pop-rock band July for Kings is performing at the Mad Frog.

4. Collect your poker hand at Mt. Adams Bar and Grill, then Longworth’s, Alive One, Crowley’s, and Pavilion during the Uno de Mayo Poker Run.

5. “Cincinnati Taps: 15th Annual National Tap Dance Day Celebration” features Chicago Tap Theatre and local tap groups, including Broadway Bound Dance Academy, Fabulous Talent Center for Dance, Miracle Dance Theatre, the Tina Marie School of Dance, Women of Sole and more.
A few more ideas…

• Head to the movies to see “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” the most anticipated of all the new releases at the movies today.

• The Newport Family Spring Carnival features 30 carnival rides, games, food and drinks along Newport’s Riverfront.

• Don’t Make Me Pull This Show Over: Dispatches From the Frontlines of Parenting” continues its run at Ensemble Theatre.

Money was tight for David Kiss, so the 48-year-old Hopkins resident traveled to Indiana last weekend to play in a Heartland Poker Tour tournament.

Lack of money no longer is a problem for Kiss, who pocketed $128,614 for winning the event at Majestic Star Casino in Gary.

He also won a spot in the Heartland Poker Tour Championship Open on Nov. 12-23 at Soaring Eagle Casino in Mount Pleasant.

Kiss qualified for the main event through a $250 satellite, and outlasted a field of 453 players.

“I play at a lot of local places like Westgate and Woody’s, but I haven’t been playing a lot of poker because, financially, I didn’t want to waste any money when I didn’t have it,” Kiss said. “I needed to get lucky, so I took a chance and played in a qualifier. I still can’t believe that I won.”

Kiss, who became interested in poker three years ago after playing in a charity event, had played in two previous HPT events but had failed to cash.

He works in the concrete business and had a remodeling job in Vernon Hills, Ill., the same weekend as the event.

“I was out there so I thought that I need to at least try and make it to the qualifier because I didn’t have the money to pay the entry fee,” Kiss said.

He played in a 90-person qualifier last Friday and earned a spot in the main event by finishing in the top 18.

Kiss returned to play Saturday night but didn’t accumulate many chips early on. He had a 15,000 starting chip stack and ended the night with 14,500.

“I had a pretty low chip stack at that point,” Kiss said.

Kiss’ fortunes changed dramatically the next day after he scored an early double up to get up to 30,000. The next hand he had pocket aces and went all-in against pocket kings. He ended up with quad aces.

Within the next two hours, his chip stack ballooned to 1 million. And, with 30 people left, he was up to 2 million.

“It was before we colored up chips, so I had a ton of chips in front of me and people were freaking out,” Kiss said. “People were coming up to me and taking pictures of my chip stack. It was pretty cool.”

He was the chip leader at 1.7 million when play was reduced down to a six-person televised final table.

“I was pretty excited because I already was guaranteed $21,436 and I needed that money,” Kiss said. “I called all my friends, and they were very supportive. They couldn’t believe that I was at that point (in the tournament). I was praying it would work out right.”

At the final table, Kiss maintained his chip lead and knocked out four of the other five players. He went heads-up with software engineer Brian Brenneke of Fort Wayne, Ind., for the title, and won when his pocket deuces held up against A-9.

“After that last card was flipped, I yelled something out and stood up,” Kiss said. “I was pumped. I was getting high-fives from everyone. It was pretty crazy.”

As for the money, Kiss, a single father, said he would pay off bills and take care of financial problems with his home. He recently took his 13-year-old daughter, Selina, shopping.

Muskegon’s Thomas James Faino finished in sixth place and banked $21,436. The 21-year-old went all in with A-K against A-Q but was beat after a queen appeared on the turn.