Casino City has come out with the latest ‘Top ten … of the decade’ list with their analysis of the’ Top ten WSOP Main Event champions of the decade’. They judged players by the impact their Main Event win had on poker, the way they embraced their role as champion and how they’re currently perceived by players and fans. Current champ Joe Cada takes the five spot, and number one is yes, the guy with those ridiculous glasses. Read more…

'Who's Queen?'Even the most ardent republican can have cause to cheer for the Queen, by taking the 8-1 offered by William Hill about Lizzie Windsor owning a winner at Royal Ascot in 2010. This Guardian article goes all Royal and cherry-picks a few other racing specials to get your teeth stuck into for next year. Read more.

This fall Markley Dennis, a Circuit Court Judge in South Carollina, overturned the conviction of five poker players. He argued that poker is a game of skill and therefore isn’t worthy of a conviction. Attorney general Henry McMaster also appealed the ruling to the state Supreme Court this week saying that he felt it was handed down to make gambling illegal statewide. Read more...

Double swoop for Bookmaker.comThe long-established online sportsbetting firm Bookmaker.com has announced its acquisition of two sports betting brands, Las Palmas and Bet Canadian for an undisclosed sum. Read more.

'Because you keep bloody winning, you're fired...'Not content with generating enough bad publicity as it is iPoker has refused to see the year out without hitting the headlines with some more negative press. This time a high stakes player has been banned by iPoker skin Victor Chandler for having the temerity to keep on winning. What was he thinking? Read more.

Swede dreams are made of theseWhat with it being the last day of the year and all, we thought it would be a good idea to look back on what the year, in gambling terms, meant for different countries around Europe. And here’s what it meant for Sweden. Read more.

Due to the current recession, Kentucky may be coming up $1.5 billion short on their budget over the next two years. The state has been locked in debate over possible expansion of the gaming industry and many politicians feel that it could solve their budgetary woes. The state’s proposal to legalize slots at horse tracks predicts that the machines could bring in $200 million to $350 million a year. Read more…

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Are you serious? I cannot believe I attended so many igaming conferences, parties, poker tourneys and award ceremonies all over the world, all within the space of 365 days. Holy crap, I think I’m still drunk.Throughout the last few weeks I have read and watched all sorts of “2009 year in reviews” and I could not help but think, especially now that the word “socialite” is officially a part of my title, I really should put one of these together for the igaming conference and party people. We’re talking some amazing memories here, and seeing as many of you attended the very same events...

Every casino has what they like to think of as a fail safe system to catch cheaters. This is especially true in the era of online gaming with all of the advanced technologies available. However, even with all of this, the true fail safe system may be the players themselves and their desire to protect their game and each other. Read more…