If you thought RAWA was dead, think again! Sheldon Adelson has some politicians in his pocket more than happy to sell their integrity to do his bidding. Also, mergers in the U.K. could spell more trouble for William Hill. Links to the stories from the show are listed below:

RAWA Still Raging: http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blo…
New Jersey Online Profits: http://www.igamingbusiness.com/news/n…
Pennsylvania Online Bill: http://www.onlinepokerreport.com/2075…
Fantasy Hearings: http://online.casinocity.com/article/…
Ladbrokes / Gala Coral Merger: http://www.igamingbusiness.com/news/l…
Full Tilt Merger and Affiliates: http://www.gpwa.org/forum/full-tilt-m…

As New Jersey prepares for its next court hearing on Wednesday over its efforts to legalize sports betting, gaming officials in Canada are urging lawmakers to vote on a bill legalizing Las Vegas-style sports books.

A bill introduced almost two years ago would allow Canadians to wager on a single sporting event at a time. It’s also seen as way to draw U.S. gamblers to casinos just across the border from cities such as Detroit or Niagara Falls, N.Y.

Canada offers a sports lottery in which bettors can parlay three or more games, but single-game betting is illegal under the Canadian criminal code.

“We are like Delaware, which offers parlay cards for sports betting,” Paul Burns, vice president of public affairs with the Toronto-based Canadian Gaming Association, said in a phone interview. “Every sports bettor knows it’s not a great bet.”

Burns said legalizing sports betting would discourage Canadian bettors from wagering on National Hockey League or National Football League games offshore or with illegal bookmakers.

More…

Online sports books and betting exchanges have been among the leading beneficiaries from the rise in popularity of smartphones and tablet computers among consumers, a report released Monday found.

The Juniper Research report finds more than $13 billion in bets, including more than $3 billion in the United Kingdom, were placed via mobile devices worldwide in 2011, a figure expected to reach $45 billion by 2017.

The report, “Mobile Gaming: Casinos, Lotteries & Betting 2012-2017,” notes that most leading sports books last year experienced a dramatic increase in the volume of bets from European, primarily U.K. customers. Nevada is the only state in the United States with legalized mobile and tablet sports wagering.

“Companies such as Ladbrokes, William Hill and Paddy Power are all seeing 40 percent or more of online sports book customers placing bets via a mobile or tablet, with the result that those devices already account for around 20 percent of bets placed,” said Windsor Holden, the report’s author.

All three bookmakers are expanding into Nevada.

More…

Industry headlines this week include issues at Ladbrokes, plus an update on several US states where online gambling has been on the agenda. We also have information on new APCW audits, and a look around the iGaming Super Show in Dublin.

Slip off your coat and make your way into my small corner of Pokerati — a newly built alcove in Dan’s diamond-encrusted virtual mansion where I’ll bring you a weekly caché of poker and gambling news that the American-centric poker media may have overlooked. So put down your rodeos and pretend football as we give the poker globe a spin to discover piquant revelations and heart-warming tales of human endeavour from elsewhere around the world.

Dodgy Maths at the AGCC #

The Alderney Gambling Control Commission fell under the terrifying gaze of Subject Poker this week. The Commission’s report on their Full Tilt Poker hearing claimed that US Department of Justice had seized $331 million worth of FT cash. The real figure is closer to $159 million, argues the Subject reporter, with the larger number including money lost over and above Black Friday seizures. Either way, more numbers for Full Tilt and Alderney that don’t add up as they’ve been presented. [Subject Poker]

Mass Walkout at William Hill’s Israeli Office #

British bookmakers William Hill are at panic stations after a large chunk of their customer support staff enacted an impromptu strike last Sunday. The staff were upset at rumoured plans to move the office outside Israel. Will Hill Online deny they have any plans to relocate, but for a while it seemed like the civil unrest might spread, with offices in Bulgaria and the Philippines laying down their telephones in solidarity? [Telegraph.co.uk]

Turkey and Sportingbet Go to War #

Sportingbet have been fluttering their eyelashes at Ladbrokes for the past few weeks in vain hope of encouraging an acquisition. Any deal would’ve been conditional, however, on Sportingbet’s withdrawal from the volatile Turkish market; and although negotiations with Ladbrokes have broken down, Sportingbet were hours away from selling ‘Superbahis.com’ to GVC Holdings PLC. That was until the local government suddenly blocked the website. [The Guardian]

Denmark Unveils Plans to Regulate Online Gambling #

The European Commission are so happy with new Danish gaming regulations that they are recommending them as a model for all other EU nations to follow. But the new rules controversially require lower taxes from online gambling companies than those paid by existing land-based casinos. [Financial Times]

Apparently at Pokerati we’re supposed to take pride in any appearance of not working, so I’m off to the rainswept British coast for a week of holiday, but will be back to let my distinguished American cohorts know what they missed while I was gone and they were sleeping.

Episode 23
The Rabbit Hunt is here, with special guest Corwin [vital]myth Cole and they’re talking about the latest WSOP-C and WPT news, Poker Hall of Fame inductees, the latest poker court cases in South Carolina and Illinois, and Ladbrokes Poker’s new anonymous tables.
[audio:http://cardrunner.securehttp.internapcdn.net/secure_cardrunner_vitalstream_com/rabbithunt102510.mp3?utm_source=pokerati&utm_campaign=pokerati?token=SJyhnWU1jQgD7k34]

Huff, Dan, Jess, BJ, and even Stapleton (with the return of the Tight Laydown?):

The Poker Beat: October 24, 2010

[audio:http://www.pokerroad.com/download/the-poker-beat:86]

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• Poker Hall of Fame inductees Harrington and Seidel, age-minimum debates, and comparisons to Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
• Anonymous tables at Ladbrokes
• Crespo’s Illinois online poker lawsuit — significant or frivolous?
• More on WSOP-C’s new power and purpose?
• WPT-Festa al Lago FT, Randall Flowers, and the Jess & BJ Show
• Phil Ivey is gay? Craps + multi-phallus fellatio promises at the Wynn

Here’s an interesting little new poker device that just might not suck! The poker controller is a vid-game-inspired joypad designed with specific online poker moves and multitabling in mind. Supposedly works with Full Tilt, PokerStars, PartyPoker, and Ladbrokes. The bet wheel seems pretty cool, and the tilt switch … well just go ahead and embed that in me now:

Each Poker Controller comes fully integrated with a pinpoint Raise-O-Meter (bet wheel), Custom Bet Buttons, Lightning Fast Table Switches, Mouse Touchpad, Fast-play Buttons to Bet, Check/Call & Fold, Table Settings & More. All designed to enable quick play at the touch of a button!

The Wireless Poker Controller can help even the most seasoned player to increase their bet speed & bet accuracy, avoid errors & play more efficiently. The Poker Controller even features an emergency ‘TILT’ switch, which can be programmed to shut you out for a cool-off period when tilt takes the better of you. Save losing $$$ from emotional and irrational play!

[via Thrillist]

Though they don’t have a point spread on the popular vote, Ladbrokes is taking bets from non-American players on the presidential election.

From Online Casino Reports:

Obama now stands at 1.07 at Ladbrokes, against McCain’s 7.5. The odds on Obama winning more than 370 of the 568 seats on offer have shortened to 2.62, with the Democrat candidate favored to win most of the battleground states.

British bookmakers are also taking bets on who’s gonna be the next Secretary of State. (Wow.) I think we should give the next president authority to take the entire national Treasury and place a wager.

It certainly seems that way … either that or they’re just going through some rocky times that the tough-do-it-my-way billionaire who built the company didn’t want to be part of. [Gambling911]

Reading this story makes a couple things “obvious” to me:

1. The US.gov is serious about the illegality of sports wagering online, as it really is the only thing clear in previous legislation.

2. Online poker sites that accept US players are having a hard time getting new players, because the American market is tapped out, and if you were a newly addicted European, why would you choose any site that runs into potential trouble from US.gov when you can play on super-legit home-continenters such as PartyPoker, Ladbrokes, 888, etc.? The exception to this, of course, are PokerStars (because they’re so damn big and have all the champions) and Full Tilt (because they have all the pros).

3. Pete Sessions’ HR 6663 really is a sensible piece of legislation in that it makes everything clear (even though it may not cow-tow to a few special-special interests): it spells out more clearly than anything else — sports betting on the internet is bad, online poker is fine, and other games need to be decided.

Some numbers coming in over the Batpod … about deals surrounding the November Nine as they made their way to the main event final table:

According to super-duper-secret well-connected, highly reliable inside sources some guy in Colorado, Peter Eastgate, the 22-year-old from Odense, Denmark, currently sitting 4th in chips was originally a Ladbrokes qualifier. Upon his making the final 72, Ladbrokes offered him $1 million to patch up. Full Tilt then came over the top with $1.75 million, and in the end, PokerStars took it down for $2 million.

(NOTE: What I’m not sure of are any “contingencies” in these deals — whether that’s $X million up front even if you finish 71st, or $Ythousand right now, and $Z million if you make the final table.)