£1 Million online bingo Win!

Pauline Clarke, 62, from Brislington, Bristol, has become the first bingo millionaire after getting a full house online.

She was down to her last 60p of a £5 account when her numbers came up during the game on Sunday.

The mother-of-two, who has played bingo “for years”, now plans to pay off her children’s mortgages and hire someone to put up a greenhouse in her back garden.

Widowed Mrs Clarke retired from her job as a supervisor two years ago due to stress.

She said: “I’m absolutely shocked. My heart is still racing. I’ve played bingo for years, in fact I won £6,000 in the National Game 12 years ago.

“However, I’ve only been playing online bingo for two months.

“I had always thought that I would win big and I do remember that a clairvoyant once said to me I’d never be stuck for cash, but when I needed to retire from work two years ago due to stress I wondered what she could have meant.”

One lucky Postman has won the National Bingo game’s £100,000

David Weeks a postman from Grimsby has won the National Bingo game’s £100,000 jackpot bingo prize, as well as £200 on the house game, at his local club in Cleethorpes, England.

To follow on from the BIG win luck was still on David’s side later when he went on to win another £350 in the following game!  Who says lighting never strikes twice!
Mr Weeks was in shock and just couldn’t believe he had won that amount of money. It took quite a while to sink in. He thought he had only won £200. It wasn’t until people kept telling him that he had won the big prize that he then realised the amount of his win.

David is going to use the money to help with his wedding plans, and of course the buying of a new car!

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Advertising Ban for Gambling Firms

As reported by Sky News

About 1,000 gambling websites based overseas will be banned from advertising in the UK under new rules when the ban it comes into force on September 1.

The aim is to stop unregulated gambling sites trying to attract UK punters, according to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Sites in the UK, Europe and other “white list” areas can advertise on TV, radio and in print media, subject to UK advertising rules.

Publishers, broadcasters and advertising companies found in breach could face fines or even imprisonment, the department warned.

To make it on to the white list, companies must show they are subject to a suitably stringent regulatory regime.

Culture Secretary James Purnell said: “I make no apology for banning adverts for websites operating from places that don’t meet our strict standards.”Protection is my number one priority.”

The new rules take effect on September 1, when the Gambling Act comes fully into force.

That legislation brings with it a relaxation of the current rules surrounding adverts for all types of gambling firms, like casinos and betting shops.

Gambling sites operating from the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Gibraltar, the Isle of Man, Alderney and other white-listed countries will still be allowed to advertise in the UK.

The announcement follows figures released recently by the Gambling Commission which showed the number of people going online to place a bet in the UK was increasing.

You can play online bingo today by joining Bingo Gala.

The end of the state monopoly in France?

An online gambling firm has won the right to operate in France, undermining the former state monopoly on gambling.

France’s highest court, the Cour de Cassation, overturned a previous ruling. The Court said a monopoly would break EU competition laws.

France operates a state monopoly on gambling and Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU) is the operator for horse racing betting. It brought the case against Zeturf, which was allowing French people to gamble online on horse races.

The Court, though, ruled against PMU, saying that the monopoly it enjoyed was not consistent with EU competition law. Article 49 of the EC Treaty guarantees free movement of services within the EU.

One French legal expert said that the ruling will probably open up France’s betting market, but only in those areas where French monopolies already operate. “I think France will have to open sports betting to all EC companies, but only in the case there was already a market with only one actor, such as horse race betting,” French law expert Cedric Manara told online news service The Register.

There is a power struggle in Europe about the regulation of gambling. France and Germany are trying to maintain state-controlled betting monopolies, while the European Commission is attempting to enforce Article 49 of the Treaty, which should undermine monopolies.

This week’s Court ruling follows a judgment from the European Court of Justice earlier this year which barred operators in other countries from offering gambling services in Italy.

Italy had issued 1,000 gambling licences, but three men operated as intermediaries for Stanley, a UK company which did not have an Italian licence. The Italian courts asked the ECJ to clarify whether or not that country’s licensing policy was in breach of the Treaty and the EU principles of free trade.

In March this year the ECJ said that Italy’s laws restricted trade. It said that the blanket exclusion of companies from tender procedures for the award of licences goes beyond what is necessary to achieve the objective of preventing criminals from being involved in gambling.

The ruling pointed out that criminal legislation may not restrict the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by Community law.

Neteller pays $136 million penalty

Neteller, the online payment processor, admitted on Wednesday that it broke US laws and agreed to pay a $136m penalty to settle its part of the US crackdown on internet gambling.

The Isle of Man-based company said on Wednesday that it hopes to relist shortly on London’s Aim. Its shares were suspended in January after its co-founders, Steven Lawrence and John Lefebvre were arrested. Both men pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy earlier this month.

Pursuant to the DPA, the Company has consented to the filing of a criminal information relating to transactions between Internet gambling merchants and persons located in the United States. The USAO has agreed to defer the prosecution of any federal charges and, as a consequence, the Company will not be convicted of any federal crime, as long the Company fulfils the set conditions of the DPA during the two year term of the agreement. At the conclusion of the two year term, the criminal information will be dismissed. The key terms of the DPA are set out in more detail later in this announcement. The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York has approved the deferral of the prosecution. As part of the DPA, the Company has also agreed to forfeit US$ 136 million to the United States. This amount includes the approximately US$ 60 million that the USAO has previously seized.

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