Poland: going downhillBetting is well and truly on the downhill slide in Poland. Not content with banning online gambling the Polish dictatorship authorities have now come down like an avalanche on the ski resort of Zakopane for having the temerity to advertise the services of an online bookmaker. Still, they can’t ban us, so bet with Bet-at-home everyone. Read more.

Terry's armband: safe as 'ousesJohn Terry may be a very naughty boy but his off-field misdemeanours will not affect his England captaincy, according to the bookmakers -especially after scoring the winner yesterday. Read more.

Let the Games beginCommodus, the Roman Empire, liked games so much he personally appeared at the Colisseum dressed as Hercules on 735 occasions and killed scores of people at no genuine risk to himself. While the software supplier Microgaming are not known to have killed anyone recently, they do share Commodus’s love of games, and have released a further three side games in this past week alone. Unfortunately, as we can tell, none involve fights to the death between women and dwarves – but more’s the pity. Read more.

Staff wanted: must be handy in the line of fireWhoever is in charge of security at Pridmore Bookmakers in Whyteleafe should perhaps think about a career move – or getting Clint Eastwood to work behind the counter. The luckless bookie has been robbed at gunpoint for the third time in as many months. “We are looking at the similarities between the robberies and will be viewing CCTV footage of this latest incident,” said the police, before not adding, “I don’t know why we didn’t do that last time.” Another reason to bet online, methinks. Read more.

The human race is overratedGood day to you. Matt Kuchar came extremely close to pocketing me a few squid last week. But no matter, the plaice return will do – two sentences, two fish jokes. What a start! Saturday And as if they weren’t bad enough I might as well add that yesterday’s bets really had me squ-eeling. After a promising time of it last week I decided to ramp it up a notch on the football front. In fact I ramped it up three notches, by giving it large with a canny three-fold. Draws between Birmingham and Spurs and West Ham and Blackburn set up a nail-biting finale; the same...

Storms off the coast of California have exposed a piece of gaming history. Specifically, the wreck of the S.S. Monte Carlo, a former casino ship that got around 1930’s gaming laws by anchoring three miles offshore in international waters. Water taxis would bring customers out to the ship that advertised “drinks, dice and dolls” until a storm tore it from anchor and ran it around on New Year’s Eve in 1936. Read more.

Future bright for pokerA recent study has found that economic necessity is forcing individual states to not only expand casino offerings but look to the possibilities of online gambling as an additional revenue source. And since internet poker has proven itself to be more lucrative and less controversial than online casino games and sports betting, that niche has the best chance of seeing success. All-in! Read more.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for online gaming, but whoever agreed to geen light the latest advert for Prime Scratchcards might have still been hungover when they signed this one off. “I am a single mom & I live on family benefits, I played and won £46,799 and it is incredible for me,” it goes. “I was very stressed for my son’s future and I couldn’t sleep, now that I won I know that I can help my son build a better future.” Funnily enough, the Advertising Standards Authority put it to the sword. Read more.

Come over to iPadThere have been contrasting views as to whether the iPad is a good thing for online poker or not . As yet we haven’t actually seen what the most-hyped phenomenon since Andy Murray can do, but Poker News Daily is with Calvin, who says the iPad is the shit, people. Still, what does he know..? Read more.

French affairThe French may be veering towards the edge of censorship but they have opened their doors to one London-based company. Francaise Des Jeux have chosen LVS to provide them with their sports betting platform for both their online service and their 27,000 Fixed Odds Betting Terminals. Like all exclusivity, monopolies are a terrible thing, unless you’re part of it. Je t’aime, moi non plus. Read more.