The change in tax rules could happen as early as Wednesday, when the budget is announced. If the rumoured change happens, it could force Betfair to operate offshore. Betfair currently operates from London.

One of the options being considered by the Treasury is the introduction of a gross profits tax on the winnings of those punters who use Betfair to lay bets. This would in effect treat those punter who lay odds at betting exchanges in the same way as William Hills and Ladbrokes, who pay a 15% tax on gross profits.

Mark Davies of Betfair said: ‘We argue that this is a clear tax on the punter, which is precisely what the government moved away from two years ago, when it said it would introduce gross profits tax, charging the operator and not the individual.’

The UK’s established bookmakers, such as William Hill and Ladbrokes, are losing market share to Betfair, which takes bets worth £2.5 ($3.73) billion per year and represents 90% of the betting exchange market.

William Hill and Ladbrokes argue that unlicensed bookmakers are using sites like Betfair to avoid tax, undercutting the traditional bookmakers and thereby depriving the treasury of two sources of revenue.

A source close to Ladbrokes said: ‘It’s important that there is a level playing field because at the moment the Treasury is losing millions of pounds in lost revenue because the exchanges are not paying their due.

‘At the moment, betting exchanges have a fiscal advantage which means they can offer better odds, which is eroding bookmakers’ margins. So the Treasury is losing money on two fronts.’

Nestled at $200 million a year, poker machines represent major income to government and are viewed as an luxury tax to punters.

However as taxes raise in the real world, the revenues generated by these machines for their owners dips proportionally, and there is fear that tighter machines will accompany the new tax edict. This may drive some poker machine players to the Internet where taxation is not an issue. Already, online casinos can offer better odds that Las Vegas regarding both casino and sports betting propositions, will the new poker tax cause the same situation in the pokie market.

Online experts know it will, and as governments tax players out of the doors, the modem fires up. If New Zealand really wants to get their players paying they could consider offering their own online pokie rather than sending New Zealanders to foreign sites.

The casino giants on the Vegas strip fear that SARS will deter Asian gamblers from traveling to the US and their loss is expected to effect casino revenue. Asian high rollers account for a substantial portion of Las Vegas casino revenue.

Compounding to the SARS effect is the fear of travel due to the threat of terrorism. Terror threats had substantially impacted Las Vegas following September 11th, and the repercussions of the war in Iraq are expected to instigate similar travel lulls.

Online casino gaming may be the only form of gaming to benefit from the world’s fear of travel. As players who have disposable income to spend on gambling fail to spend it in terrestrial casinos, the expectation is that the “gambling pot” will get spent online.

According to police Capt. Marlon A. Defillo, the comedian and sister, Deidra Dixon, refused to show identification when they entered Harrah’s Casino about 4 am, then argued with security guards who ordered them to leave. He said the two walked inside to a gambling table, then fought with police officers that were called to remove them. Dixon struck one officer in the face leaving the officers little chance but to use pepper spray and handcuff them.

Foxx, booked with trespassing, battery on officers and resisting arrest, was released on $1,900 bond. Dixon, of Tarzana, Calif., was booked with trespassing, simple battery on officers and resisting arrest.

Foxx, who lives in Hollywood, created and starred in The Jamie Foxx Show (1996-2001) and has appeared in other television shows and movies, including 1999′s Any Given Sunday. In fact he’s in New Orleans for the filming of the movie Unchain My Heart. The film’s publicity machine has so far refused to comment.

Dan Rosensweig, COO of Yahoo! Search & Marketplace, says the improvements will provide Web users what they ask for in a search engine.

‘In the last eight months, we have conducted extensive research to understand what our users are looking for in a search experience…The result is a more effective way for users to find what they are looking for on the Web.”

Located at http://search.yahoo.com your casinos may no longer get you in through flashy banner advertisements, but will rely more heavily on the text link format that has delineated the Google engine.

eCOGRA (e-Commerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance) is a non-profit organization backed by two of the largest operators in the online gaming space. Microgaming Software Systems Ltd, software supplier to some of largest casinos on the Internet, and Casino on Net the net’s most ubiquitous casino, are the founding members and backers of eCOGRA.

The organization has been formed with six directors voting will board level decisions. Three of the directors are complete independence, making sure that the organization is not unduly influenced by major industry players, or individuals from the gaming community with sex gendas.

Andrew Beveridge, chief executive of eCOGRA, commented “The organisation will provide online gaming software suppliers and their customers with the guidance and tools necessary to adhere to a higher level of integrity and responsibility…“eCOGRA is a long overdue initiative in an industry that has been trying to build credibility with consumers and regulators. Our mission is to prove that responsible companies are involved in online gaming and to make them readily recognisable to consumers and government officials.”

However, if you are played at a casino on the Internet with your speaker volume turned too low, you’ll know the playing without the clinkity-clink sounds of the slots simply murders the game. But that is no concern at Borgata because they thought a work around for that very problem. The Borgata has program their electronic coinless slot machines to replicate the familiar sound of a big win. As gamblers can attest, casinos are meant to fill all of the senses-and that includes familiar winning sounds.

Online casinos have known this trick for a long time, but it is taking traditional casino managers a little getting used to. Although players claim to prefer winning tickets rather than buckets of coins, the proportion of casinos that have made the switch is relatively low. Casino operators take note, on-line gaming may have its roots in traditional casino games, but you still have a lot to learn.

The mobile gambling market is currently worth an estimated annual $50 million and is expected to surge in the coming years, said Robin Bosworth, an analyst with the UK-based telecoms consultancy Schema. The gambling company and the mobile operator typically split revenues.

Text messaging is the key to the growth of m-gambling: the immediacy of texting is a natural conduit for placing real-time bets, such as in-game sports betting. Siemens has tested ‘dynamic betting’ on horse racing, ski jumping, soccer and other sports. Bettors place bets for around $3, then instantly receives a message with the new odds, which are updated every second. The player is then invited to bet yet again.

Siemens is backing a German m-gambling software startup, Scaraboo, while Orange UK gives UK betting companies access to its customer network.

M-gaming also points to a workaround for online gambling in the US: one of the concerns cited by the anti-gambling lobby in the US is that it would be impossible to authenticate where gamblers are when they visit Internet gambling sites, thereby breaching rules about interstate gambling. With the satellite-based Global Positioning System (GPS) available on next-generation mobile phones, this would no longer be an issue.

Currently, soccer betting, which is wildly popular, takes place either through illegal bookmakers or online. Millions are spent each year Internet and black market wagering over, which the Hong Kong has, no control and no share of the revenue.

But besides providing the Hong Kong government with millions of dollars of wagering revenue, it will help the government get rid the crime syndicates that control black market betting. It is also hoped that by cutting off black market betting, crime syndicates in Hong Kong will be starved of the cash that gives them their power to fund other illegal activity.

This new legislation looks likely to take Hong Kong’s gambling monopoly away from the Hong Kong Jockey Club, which now takes bets on Horse Racing and numbers games.

The pair admitted to stealing identities of the dead and pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court. The two were involved in a $400,000 scam that involved using dead people’s identities to obtain credit cards.

According to federal prosecutors, Ernesto Lyle Galvez, 28, and his wife, Shakiya Hairston Galvez, 22, each admitted to a single felony last week. The Galvezes were indicted on 32 criminal counts in January 2002.

According to court papers, the couple devised a scheme to open bank accounts and obtain credit cards under false identities, sometimes assuming the names and personal identification of deceased people.

As part of his plea, Ernesto Galvez admitted making online gambling wagers and buying credit reports. He faces up to 15 years in prison. Shakiya Galvez admitted cashing fraudulent checks written by her husband, collecting $25,000 during a six-week period in late 2001. She faces up to five years in prison.

Both defendants are scheduled for sentencing June 2 before U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton.