So, what was this objectionable ad?  Well it started with “Addicted to slots? 888promos.com.” Which was where the objectionable part comes in. That first line — addicted to slots was what the ASA objects to. The rest of the ad tells folks to   “Register at 888 casino and get 7 spins every week for a whole year absolutely free! Get the chance to win every day. No deposit necessary.”

The ASA found the ad to be insensitive and to trivialize gambling addiction.  Which is somewhat hard to deny.  I suspect that 888 Casino might be looking for someone else to create their ads in the future because this is one that sort of boggles the mind.  Yes, there are people who suffer from gambling addiction out there, but no casino wants to suggest that those are the people they want to sign up to play their games.  And I don’t know any sensible gamblers out there who really want to be stuck with the stigma that they’re addicted.  So the 888 Casino folks probably aren’t too happy about the ad or the backlash.  Though it has gotten them some press. Well, at least some bloggers are mentioning them. Because it makes a change from blogging about how Absolute Poker and UB.com are falling apart.

And I strongly suspected it was meant to sound reassuring. Meanwhile players noticed that the revived domain names only had a statement that the poker rooms were working toward refunding funds to players. There was and still is no way for a player from the United States to access their accounts and withdraw their funds.  And now the real situation is becoming more apparent. A recent poker tournament was cancelled mid-way through events because prize money that was to provided by Full Tilt Poker didn’t show up.  And now the truth is beginning to sink in. Full Tilt and the other poker rooms don’t want to fail to meet their financial obligations. But they may have no access to millions of dollars in bank accounts seized by the FBI.  So, if you have a Full Tilt, PokerStars, Absolute Poker or UB.com account and want to know where your money is, you might need to ask the FBI.

Experts on Atlantic City, or at least some bloggers, believe that Christie may still be ticked off about the proposed bill to allow online gambling within the state of New Jersey. According to sources, Christie has fussed that vetoing the proposed bill caused him to “have to write a long letter than sounded thoughtful without seeming too negative. Otherwise people might think I was letting my future political career help me determine the best course for New Jersey.”  Meanwhile, polls taken by Christie’s office have determined that 75 percent of New Jersey residents* disapprove of Atlantic City all together and wouldn’t mind getting rid of the city.

The Governor hasn’t decided how to sell the city just yet. A committee is looking into the possibility of putting it up on eBay, though they note shipping and handling would not be included unless the buyer paid “way more” than the bid amount.  Though Christie did mention the possibility that Donald Trump might make him an offer for the whole place if the price was right.

*At least 75 percent of those who still have land lines, don’t use caller ID and didn’t hang up because the call interrupted their dinner time.  So, basically 3 out of 4. This includes 2 who said “I don’t care what they do with the damn city, can’t you see I’m busy” before slamming down the phone.  Also this data is plus or minus an error of one person since the one person counted in favor of Atlantic City told the survey taker that he sounded like a nice boy, and then provided a 30 minute update on her cats. But she did say Atlantic City sounded like a nice place and that she remembered with the Miss America pageant was held there.

Recently the Donald sold off one of his Atlantic City casinos. Oh, he wasn’t going to part with the Trump Taj Mahal or one of the casinos on the Boardwalk. No, he sold the Trump Marina casino, a smaller casino located in the Marina district of Atlantic City.  But it seems Trump can’t let anything go without trying to fire someone.  A recently article by The Press of Atlantic City reported that employees of the Trump Marina were in danger of losing their jobs when the casino changed hands.  This of course is a fantastic way to panic employees and cause concern in a time of economic instability. (Has Trump decided if he’s running for President or not? Because causing people more worry really isn’t what we need right now. Besides being President is probably harder than firing people on a TV show.)

But the Golden Nugget, who is buying the Trump property, was quick to respond with a reassurance saying that they plan to rehire the majority of all Trump Marina employees.   So employees who are happy with their jobs should probably stay right where they are.  Landrys, who owns the Golden Nugget, has also promised to honor Trump Marina customer points and rewards.  So, the casino seems prepared to take care of both staff and customers.

In April, Everest Poker will run its first real world tournament — the Everest Poker ONE.  The ONE is designed to be a small and intimate tournament.  And to make the tournament stand out against the field of tournaments out there, Everest Poker has chosen the exclusive environment of Monaco as a location for the tournament.  The ONE will take place at the Salle de Palmiers in Monaco from April 21^st to April 24^th. The Salle de Palmiers is known for first class service and exclusivity.  But the ONE tournament won’t be too exclusive. After all, it needs to attract players.  Players with an account on Everest Poker can take part in satellite tournaments and compete for a seat in the tournament. There are daily satellites being offered and direct entries on Tuesday.  The first class prize packages being offered from the online poker room are worth 7,000 Euro. Unfortunately, Everest Poker isn’t open to players from the United States.  Anyone ready to move to Europe.

Last year Barney Frank tried to get HR 2267 through congress, but it never picked up enough steam to get very far.  It made it through a committee review but the year ended and it was removed from the rostrum for the congressional term.  This takes place every time a new congress is introduced.  But no another bill – the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act has been introduced by Congressman John Campbell (R-CA) with Barney Frank (D-MA) acting as the lead sponsor. Another democrat and republican are in the mix as co-sponsors.  So I’ll be watching to see if this bi-partisan bill can pick up enough steam to chug its way through congress.

There is no reason given for the closing, though it may just be a that the casino didn’t take off as expected.  Jackpot Games is a UK casino that runs on NetEnt software.  NetEnt games really do have a great visual appearance but the company doesn’t seem to have the influence to go after the high profile titles.  So the NetEnt casinos end up with games that seem to just miss catching the public attention.  And that sometimes sound just a little bit like a cheap knock off.  For example, they offer Relic Raiders instead of Lara Croft Tomb Raiders slots.  And instead of Thunderstruck, they have Hall of the Gods.  Mystery at the Mansion instead of Cluedo.  I apparently reviewed their Wild Witches slot some time ago.  The slots are all very nicely done, but they seem to just miss hitting the top of the slots charts.  But if you’re a fan of the NetEnt games, there are still casinos that run their software.

Let’s take a moment to look at professional poker players because there is a clear and researchable group of players who make their living playing poker.  Besides, I’d have trouble finding people who make their living playing slots.  Now, professional poker players have schedules than mean they wouldn’t have much luck at holding down a real job because they’d need to take off for tournaments and appearances and even just top cash games.  They need to travel and that means hotel and other expenses.  But the top poker players also pick up sponsorships from top online poker rooms.  Those help pay the bills and a lot of the expenses.  A sponsorship is strictly gambling, but a poker player wouldn’t have a sponsorship if they weren’t great gamblers.  Which means they’ll be able to deduct expenses that aren’t covered by their sponsor already.

But for most gamblers, this ruling will have no effect whatsoever.  So don’t worry about pulling the tax form out and rechecking your deductions.

But that doesn’t mean that some companies aren’t exploring the iPad options, and a UK company has just released an iPad online poker remote control.  This application is supposed to turn the iPad into a touch screen control for your favorite online poker room and works with many of the top poker rooms including Full Tilt, UB, Titan Poker, PokerStars, PartyPoker and others.  Now, I’m seeing lots of news articles on this, but I’m not impressed yet. Oh, sure, everyone writes about it because the iPad is supposed to be cool, so how cool is it to turn it into a remote control? Actually, I do mean that as a real question. To use the iPad as a remote control means I have to have the poker room itself displayed on another monitor. So I’m using a $500 iPad to do the work of a $5 computer mouse.  Hey, if you already have an iPad, this might be another app to try. But I’m not buying an iPad to replace a mouse.

So, why do you want to play in this tournament?  I have to admit, I’m not a big slots tournament player. Oh, I’ll check out the occasional free roll slots tournament, but more often I run out of credits long before I’d hit the leader board.  And if I am winning enough credits to hit the leader board, I can’t help but thinking I’d actually be making more money if I were simply playing on my own $10 or whatever the tournament entry fee is.  Which is why I tend to stick to free roll slot tournaments. Because winning even a small amount if I’m playing for free is always a nice addition bank roll.

So, what does the money look like for the Grand Slam of Slots II?  How about a $2.43 million in gold for a single player.  That’s the jackpot that will be award to one player.  And there’s another $290,000 in prize money for the top 290 winners on the leader board.   So, I’m putting this slot tournament on my calendar.  If I can win my way in with a free roll tournament, I wouldn’t mind winning $2.43 million.  Care to join me?