The one-day conference, Online Gambling in Spain, will take place in the InterContinental Hotel in Madrid and will feature addresses from the Ministry of the Interior’s Technical Secretary General, María Ángeles González, and Eduardo Antoja, President of the Spanish Gaming Association, among others.

The press release stated that the conference will provide “exclusive insight” into Spain’s new regulatory system “and what the resultant landscape may look like.” According to the conference’s website, www.spainonlineconference.com, Spain’s gambling market generates some $52.7 million in bets annually.

”New regulations,” the site says, “will allow for Spanish online-gambling licenses to be issued to EU-based operators, but will also impose tough sanctions on unlicensed companies targeting the booming Spanish market.”

Gambling Compliance Ltd. and Spanish law firm Legal Link are cosponsoring the conference and representatives from the two companies will be present to answer questions concerning legal issues.

The US should follow suit and try the same thing.

“According to a report from Radio Praha, one of the firms thought to be in contention for a license is Fortuna Group, which operates land-based sportsbetting in the Czech Republic alongside lotteries, games and telephone betting services. It is also active in Poland, Croatia and Slovakia and sponsors the giant Sparta Prague football team.

“‘We are sad and bitter that foreign Internet betting companies are allowed to operate in the Czech Republic without any control,’ Tomas Bahnik from Fortuna Group told Radio Praha just before Christmas.

“‘There is no legal restriction. So, basically they operate in this country illegally. So we want to have the same opportunities as foreign companies.’

“Bahnik stated that his firm is losing around several hundred million Euros a year because it is not allowed to offer its services online but may be able to go live with an Internet service onMonday.

“‘Internet betting is officially allowed from January 5, so I hope we will be prepared and ready to start right from this date,’ said Bahnik…”  Good news for the entire industry for sure.

The debate over the proposed federal bailout of Detroit’s Big Three automakers raises some intriguing comparisons with the industry behind our own company town.  Las Vegas has been called the “last Detroit.” And the Strip is indeed a modern union success story. The U.S. automakers say the failure of the country’s largest remaining manufacturing base could spark a depression.

Job cuts and lost wages mean less money to buy goods and services, which results in fewer car sales, continuing a vicious cycle, says the Center for Automotive Research, a Michigan-based nonprofit that receives taxpayer and industry funding.

The same could be said of gaming and Las Vegas, which, like Detroit, has been hard hit by the downturn. Casino layoffs and reduced work hours are affecting nearly every sector of the local economy, including forcing the state, with 50 percent of general fund tax revenue coming from casinos, to cut one-third of its budget.

Before the economic decline, both car and casino companies had a bigger-is-better mentality. When gas was cheap, Americans flocked to gas-guzzlers and carmakers responded with more SUVs and large trucks. In Las Vegas, developers loaded up on cheap debt from Wall Street to create larger, more elaborate properties preferred by well-to-do hordes.

The Center for Automotive Research says 352,341 Americans were employed in the auto industry as of September, 239,341 of them at the Big Three automakers. Including auto parts manufacturers, that total rises to about 732,800.

U.S. casinos employed more than 706,000 people at the end of 2007, which includes estimates from the American Gaming Association and Applied Finance Group, which compiles tribal casino figures. Gaming manufacturers employ more than 28,000 worldwide.

Under a worst-case scenario, the Center for Automotive Research estimates that suspended operations at the Big Three could cost nearly 3 million jobs in the first year, including 973,969 jobs with suppliers and other indirect sources and 1.7 million “spinoff” jobs. Even a 50 percent reduction in operations would cost 2.5 million jobs and $50 billion in lost tax revenue near-term, the group says.

The American Gaming Association doesn’t have figures on the industry’s multiplier effect, but Applied Finance estimates that tribal gambling generates 732,000 direct and indirect jobs and $29.4 billion in wages.

About 22 percent of Michigan’s workforce depends on the auto industry, compared the 26 percent of working Nevadans employed in the leisure and hospitality sectors and 16 percent working directly in gaming.

Wages paid by auto and parts manufacturers, suppliers and car dealers in Michigan totaled $44.7 billion in 2007 versus $7.2 billion in wages paid by Nevada’s gaming industry, according to the U.S. trade association Auto Alliance and Applied Analysis, a Las Vegas consulting firm.

As with the big carmakers, there’s a possibility that one or more major casino companies will enter bankruptcy — the most highly leveraged of them are burning through the cash needed to pay their bills. After a certain point, casinos can’t cut staff, their largest expense, or business will suffer even more.

Gov. Jim Gibbons has asked Washington to help Nevada get through the downturn.  Still, casino bosses won’t be heading to Washington to beg for a bailout.

One reason is it could open the door to unwanted scrutiny from the feds, who have long had a dim view of gambling, a state-regulated activity.

Automakers argue that people won’t buy cars from companies under bankruptcy court protection. Yet many casino bankruptcy reorganizations have occurred with tourists unaware that buildings have changed hands.  Most important, though, the public likely views troubled casinos with apathy.

Gambling is often considered a sin industry, while the country’s industrial flagship is a source of national pride for many Americans.  I love gambling but I can’t say I feel sorry for them, I personally think casinos won’t suffer too badly.

Professional players or players considered to be abusing the bonus system by any means may have bonuses revoked at the discretion of BetUK management’ but understood from the complainants that they were only informed they were not eligible for the bonus after they had made £100 worth of bets specifically to qualify for it,” read the ASA’s judgement. As the offer had now expired, the ASA could not change the e-mail. But, BetUK.com stated that it had changed its marketing procedures to prevent professional gamblers and tipsters from receiving promotions, actions that were welcomed by the ASA.  I am glad to see the powers-that-be doing their jobs.  Most recently the online bingo bonus systems have been rumored to be next.

It is actually a bit of a mystery as to where the funding is coming from but many people suspect that this is just a short term ‘feel good’ factor move and will soon fall back to more traditional levels. Wall Street is full of high earning bankers who are now on the verge of losing their employment and their income. Big players who literally bring home millions of dollars a year – maybe it is these players having a last throw of the dice (quite literally) before reality kicks in and it all hits home.

For some people poker is a way to escape from the pressures of everyday life, give you the chance to take on strangers and beat them at their own game, the chance to bring home some decent wins. My guess is poker players will keep playing throught the good times and the bad.

The real benefit of the Chartwell company is that it develops software based on flash technology – technology said to be the future of the online gambling market. This is because it provides the most dynamic and exciting interface while using low-bandwidth images that take up little megabyte space. This saves companies money when hiring bandwidth space, meaning that flash technology is set to become commonplace in the online casino market. The chair of Chartwell Technology, Donald Parken, has stated that he is “absolutely thrilled” with the new partnership and believes it will be a “mutual success” for both companies – a feeling reflected by Interwetten in a statement accompanying the announcement of the new contract today.  Long-term contracts like this don’t come around often in this industry so many have taken notice.

Next came pocket 5’s that tripled up on the flop, this one turned out huge because there was a King high and someone had A, K and another guy had Kinds and….I sucked them dry to put me in first place.   Going into the first break I was in fourth.  I hope my luck holds out, I could really use a nice payday since my bankroll has been dwindling to bad-beats all throughout August.

Italy, along with parts of Spain, has been targeted by several British bookmakers as the government has begun to liberalise its betting shop industry. Gala Coral’s Eurobet has 403 shop and kiosk licences in Italy while Ladbrokes has 142 licences and has acquired 25 already trading betting shops.  About 12,000 Italian licences were granted in 2006, adding to about 1,000 existing sites, but William Hill’s joint venture with Spanish gaming firm Cordere won only 57. Yesterday William Hill, which has managed to open no more than a couple of Italian betting shops, said the operation was “insufficient in scale to provide an attractive long-term return”. It has agreed to sell the joint venture to Turkish rival Intralot for €5.5m (£4.3m).

The UK bookmaker will make a £1m write-off as it exits Italy. It remains committed to its joint venture in Spain with Cordere, which trades as Victoria, though European expansion will not be a priority while the group focuses on returning its struggling online business to growth. Topping, has been reviewing priorities for Britain’s largest bookmaker and believes the online business will eventually generate 25% to 30% of group gross win (balance of earnings after paying out winnings). Within that, online gaming - including poker - is expected to overtake conventional betting.

William Hill’s online division last year saw gross win slide 8% while operating profit fell 17% as the website lost to competitors. The group has brought in software firm Orbis to upgrade betting capability and the revamped website will be launched in November.

Meanwhile, Topping is believed to regard the group’s current online poker deal with CryptoLogic as unsustainable. He is seeking to pool player numbers with other smaller online poker businesses in to compete with larger players. If a collaborative solution is not found, William Hill will sign up with a large poker network provider.

London-listed Playtech is believed to be a contender to succeed CryptoLogic. The number of players on its iPoker network overtook numbers playing with PartyGaming’s PartyPoker, making iPoker the third largest poker liquidity pool after PokerStars and Full Tilt which continue to take bets from the US despite introduction of tough anti-online gaming laws.

Even after experiencing these uncomfortable set backs William Hill is still a world leader and we expect good things down-the-road from this company.

After listing Woods at 7-2, from as short as 5-4, firms started to see brisk business. Paddy Power said it was still “happy to lay” Woods at 7-2, even after accommodating a £10,000 bet and a number of £2,000 wagers at the start of the week. William Hill racked up £100,000 of liabilities in hours after going joint top-price yesterday morning, before cutting him to 11-4. At midday yesterday Coral, Paddy Power and Totesport were holding 7-2.

Woods makes the ante-post market in every tournament he enters, but because of his brilliant record at this year’s US Open venue, Torrey Pines - where he has won six Buick Invitational titles and the Junior World Golf Championships in 1991 - he was always going to be shorter in the betting than usual this time round. His time off, recuperating from surgery, has to be a worry for backers, though. Woods has returned from a similar lay-off to win at the San Diego course before - in the 2002 Buick - but the par 71, 7,643-yard track will be set up very differently this week. The greens will be firmer and quicker - 13.5 on the stimpmeter as opposed to 11 - with the rough higher. And while Woods’ record at the Buick is terrific let’s not forget that, of the four majors, he has his worst record in the US Open (two wins from 13 starts).

Phil Mickelson is the obvious alternative to Woods. The left-hander is another multiple winner at Torrey Pines, although his three Buick wins came before the course was remodelled and lengthened in 2002. Ladbrokes offers a standout 8-1 about Mickelson, who has four runners-up efforts in the US Open on his CV and two tournament wins this season. However, I am loath to back a golfer at such a cramped price, given there have been triple-figure odds winners in the last three renewals of this event (150-1 Angel Cabrera last year, 100-1 Geoff Ogilvy in 2006 and 200-1 Michael Campbell in 2005).

Europeans have a dreadful record at the US Open but Luke Donald, at a freely available 33-1, looks to have a great chance of emulating Tony Jacklin’s 1970 success this time out. A 7-1 (Stan James) chance to be the top European, Donald comes into this event off the back of sixth place in the Memorial Tournament and third in the BMW Championship. The Englishman, who ranks second in the putting statistics in America this year, was beaten in a play-off in the 2004 renewal of the Buick at Torrey Pines and was second again a year later. His lack of length off the tee is compensated by his ability to score well on tough courses and two recent top-20 efforts in the US Open suggest he can go close this year.

Mike Weir is another short hitter who has prospered at the US Open - three top-six finishes in the last five years - and the Canadian former Masters champion is fair value at Paddy Power’s 55-1 to add to his major haul. Weir, well supported at VC Bet yesterday, was second on his last outing, at Muirfield Village, and his consistent play suggests that a sell of his finishing position at 37 (with Sporting Index and IG) could return a profit.

I could not put anyone off backing Sergio García at a freely available 20-1. The Spaniard’s putting held up for his recent Players Championship success and his form with the flat stick was arguably better in the St Jude Championship last week, when he finished fourth. Alongside him in fourth place at TPC Southwind was Padraig Harrington, another who will be popular among punters this week, especially with Ladbrokes quoting the Irishman at 25-1.

In the speciality markets one bet that appeals is Daniel Chopra to be the top Swedish player. A winner on the PGA Tour this season, Chopra has seven compatriots to beat, headed by the 5-2 shots Henrik Stenson and Robert Karlsson. Chopra is one of the best putters on tour - handy on the quick greens expected at Torrey Pines - and looks a terrific each-way bet at 14-1 (Sky Bet).  Tiger Woods is one guy I would never bet against no matter how good the odds seemed.