Midway through last month, Northbet’s terror alert level went from ‘elevated’ to ‘OMG’. Reports of slow-pay/no-pay tactics began circulating in betting forums. The drone grew loud enough that industry tabloid Gambling911 published an article titled Northbet Going South? Sources See Red Flags. G911 has since removed all trace of the article from their site, but a Google cache post-mortem uncovered the article’s text:

There is a book called NorthBet.com which is calling up people from BetUS.com and BetOnline.com player lists and aggressively emailing the lists as well. The owners of this book are going by the names David Craig, Shandor Hawkes, David Bell and Tulga Kalayci. This group of thieves got jobs with both companies, stole their source code for their websites and their player databases and set up shop. The group took with them several VIP account managers once BetUS.com left the US Market and these managers went to work with the new group because they’re paying agents 25% on losses. The book is starting to slow pay players that they stole from BetUS.com and BetOnline.com and players are urged to stop playing with NorthBet.com. The site has offices in Costa Rica and Montreal.

Ironically, Northbet’s apparent financial woes may stem from its reliance on heavy betting retail customers poached from BetUS and BetOnline. This NFL season was not kind to sportsbooks. With the popular favorites routinely covering the spread and the underdogs unable to keep things within the points, even a piss-poor prognosticator could turn a profit. It’s an unenviable position for a sportsbook, even more so for an online bookmaker with an already shaky financial foundation – and a Verisign-issued .com domain vulnerable to seizure at any moment by the US Department of Justice.

This is a great industry full of great people, but even Ivory Soap only claimed to be 99.44% pure. People like Craig and his cronies should never have bit the hand that fed them, but what’s done is done. What’s important now is that they don’t go any further down this road. The online sports betting world doesn’t need another Covers/BetED fiasco. Pay the damn players.

Business News

Jennifer Larson and Bryce Geoffrey in the Lock Poker Boardroom

We heard it on good authority that the US department of Justice is on the prowl. The US department of Justice out of Baltimore is preparing to make a move against some US facing gambling company to coincide with the 2012 Super Bowl.

We’re hearing that the US Attorney General’s office in Maryland is pissed at the boys in New York for stealing their thunder. Black Friday trumped Blue Monday and now Assistant US Attorney Richard Kay is digging for anything to steal some of the shine back from the New York office.

We’re hearing rumours that the Maryland office is looking to speak with former junior Lock Poker Media Buyer Derrick Maloney. It’s surprising that they would be looking for evidence from Derrick Maloney as he’s a Canadian and he doesn’t carry much influence in the gambling industry.

Derrick Maloney is not the type of person you would expect the DOJ to be after as it’s hard to believe that any Canadian would volunteer to help the DOJ as this would be the kiss of death for future employment in the industry. We’re not sure if Derrick Maloney is really who the DOJ wants to talk to or if they are using him to get to someone else.

Maloney is a great guy and well liked in the industry so the DOJ may be counting on him being friends to all in the gambling industry for information.

Also confusing is why the DoJ would be targeting a micro site like, US facing, Lock Poker. Lock is something like the mouse that roars though. US facing Lock, run by Canadian ex-roommates Jennifer Larson and Canadian lawyer Bryce Geoffrey  is well known for releasing a lot of media, most of it considered ridiculous by knowledgeable industry observers but the noise factor is there.

Also their small advertising budget is used to get them prominent placement on a few sites that its well know to be regularly monitored by the US government to track US facing online gaming. The most recent example of this is the Covers.com/BetED player deposit theft scandal, where micro-site BetED (beneficially owned by Covers but not disclosed to covers.com site traffic) was targeted by the DoJ. Covers had their micro-site BetED ranked as the number one site in the US for two years running before the hammer dropped. This case is still winding its way through the US legal system and we have more coverage planned as it develops. Our biggest issue with this case is that we believe the owners of Covers have all the BetED player balances and are pretending the US government grabbed the cash.

This story is still developing and we’ll give you more details as we have them but our sources are strong.

Legal News

Los Angeles residents and former Full Tilt Poker regulars, Larry Kennedy who is alleged to be owed $120,000 from FTP and Greg Omotoy is owed another $10. $10? I think I’d just take the loss but the duo is after $900 million in damages.

The new suit contends accused Full Tilt Poker of Fraud, unjust enrichment, “a pattern of racketeering,” “brazen money-laundering” and a lot more.

Omotoy and Kennedy included everyone who was involved with the FTP collapse in the suit, CEO Raymond Bitar, board members and poker pros Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson among others including Ferguson’s lawyer, Jeff Imrich and Rafe Furst, are in the crosshairs.

Solo practitioner from Beverly Hills, Cyrus Sanai is representing the duo in their suit. Sanai is taking a shotgun litigation approach by going after anyone and everyone who might have earned a dime from Full Tilt Poker’s mismanagement.

Full Tilt’s legal counsel Cozen O’Connor could be on the hook for $2 million dollars in legal fees it earned from failed poker company. Part of the suit is claiming that the law firm should disgorge legal fees it received for representing clients involved in an Internet poker operation. The suit makes very similar allegations to the amended federal case against Full Tilt Poker although O’Connor wasn’t named in the original DOJ suit.

If the suit moves forward as a class action through the California courts, it will be another avenue for North American players to try to recoup the hundreds of millions of dollars Full Tilt’s management still owes former players.

Poker News

Readers were quick to question Joe MacDonald who posts under the handle “Freedom@Stake” as to why after pumping up BetED would Covers.com promote TopBet.com.

The backlash forced MacDonald and Covers co-owner Paul Lavers hand, last night the duo said they would take down the link to TopBet.com to “investigate” the media claims trying to appease their readers backlash.

Along with the announcement that they’d “Investigate” Topbet.com, Lavers or MacDonald posted a 700 word diatribe defending their decision and accusing industry media of pushing rumours. This defence of their decision came all despite documented proof of TopBet.com’s shady history and no real proof that the company’s financial stability.

Posters pointed out that Futurebet associated sportsbooks have a decade long history of stealing bettors and investors money. Still Covers said they would investigate.

In the “Freedom@Stake” diatribe, the first point he made was about how after the BetED deposit theft Covers had to change their model. He stated that “Our American “Where To Play” list is just that… a list of places that still take bets from Americans. You will notice that we link directly to those sites (without tracking codes) and don’t offer any reviews or recommendations – we don’t even number the list. In this day and age, we don’t do recommendations anymore and must leave it up to the customers to ensure they have evaluated all operations thoroughly before sending money.”

This point was debunked by savvy gamblers who pointed out Covers did use tracking codes for the links provided.

We don’t take offence with Covers or any affiliate site using tracking codes and links. Affiliate marketing is such a huge reason for the success of this industry; without it, many great companies wouldn’t have enjoyed the success they presently have.  Affiliate send companies players and then make a little money on the backend.

What we take offense with is Joe MacDonald/Paul Lavers outright lying to their readers about something so commonplace in this industry. They must assume their readers are naive and that’s probably why they felt comfortable promoting an obscure and underfunded sportsbook like TopBet so soon after BetED blew up in their faces.

Covers completed their “investigation” re-established Topbet in their “Where To Play” list. This time however, they were a little more upfront about their reasoning.

“We trust the people involved with Topbet, rumors notwithstanding, and are happy to have them on our list as long as they keep paying players and operating in a responsible manner…Or until they stop paying us… that’s right, we are a business and I’m not going to apologize for that.”

We think that’s the first honest thing to come from Lavers/MacDonald in a long time. They admitted the reason they promoted the book is they are getting paid.  Joe/Paul, you don’t have to apologize for trying to make money with a website. You need to apologize for trying to pull another fast one on your readers. You need to apologize (and return the money) to all the people who were conned by the BetED scam.

We are still investigating the BetED/Covers.com ownership connection. Players need to get their stolen money back and the Costa Rican BetED employees need to get their proper severance.

Business News

It’s funny how things can come full circle in this industry. TopBet.com has started taking bets, just in time for football season. Despite a shady past, a known scammer running the show, a long history of cheating bettors and the dreaded F-rating at the reputable sportsbook ratings site, Sportsbook Review, they found a website willing to promote them as an honest book to would be gamblers.

This week, Covers.com elevated TopBet.com into the top six of their “Where to Play” listings for American sports bettors.

It seems that Covers.com head honchos are one again trying to lead the lambs to slaughter by promoting an underfunded and dodgy sportsbook to their unsuspecting readers.

Despite being behind one of the largest player balance thefts since BetOnSports with their perpetually number 1 ranked sportsbook BetED, Covers.com sees dollar signs and has taken the bold step to try their luck one more time.

Thankfully many of the Covers.com regulars, still stinging from the BetED balance theft fiasco, were quick to point out TopBet.com’s F-Rating and our expose on the Noel Samson/Futurebet group.

The Covers.com and quite possibly BetED owners Joe MacDonald and Paul Lavers, who both post under the handle “Lou” in the Covers forum, were quick to respond to the questioning. “Lou” posted the following message,

“Hey Boys,

I know the guys running Top Bet well and I think they are doing a great job.

Top Bet has 1 free payout per month and pay outs take 5 – 12 business days and I am hoping in time they can take 12 days out of the equation. They say 12 days is rare but IMO its better they tell you this up front instead of saying 2-3 days and making you wait 12.

If you have any questions give their customer service a call at 1- 877-528-6748 and they have operators that speak English that will help you out.

Keep winning my friends,
Lou.”

Have Lavers or MacDonald ever heard of the Boy Who Cried Wolf?

It’s amazing that Covers.com would have the balls to shill for a shady, underfunded sportsbook, especially after burning their readers with BetED.

If we didn’t already know that scam artist Noel Samson of Futurebet was behind TopBet.com, we’d guess TopBet.com was just another Covers.com white label like BetED or Logans.com.

If you have any further information related to this story that you would like to share privately feel free to Contact Us.

Business News

Kentucky Downs will now offer Instant Racing, which allows horse bettors to bet on previously run races on individual terminals. Sadly, they have no plans to offer betting on previous played football games.

Detractors have compared the Instant Racing machines to slot machines but bettors say they can focus on details such as how the horses enter the gate and post position.

The new addition is the Kentucky Horse Racing Commissions attempt to revitalize a track that only has four days of live racing a year.

Track President Corey Johnson has big expectations for their $3 million investment into the betting parlour. He’s hired 85 new staff to serve drinks, cash vouchers and work the floor featuring 200 machines.

If the initial launch goes well, Johnson will ask to expand to 500 or more new machines with the revenue generated going towards more live racing and higher purses.

But like any attempt at extended access to gambling, the no-fun brigade isn’t too far behind. A Conservative group (obviously), the Family Foundation, is seeking an injunction to stop the state’s first instant racing parlour.

The group is a little late to the party as they only decided to look for the injunction after seeing photos of the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony in the newspaper.

A judge is set to make his decision Tuesday on the injunction but it’s doubtful the Family Foundation will succeed as the Kentucky courts may be staunchly against internet gambling but anything that will benefit the horse racing industry will be supported.

Sports News

Emmanuel R Samson IV aka Noel Samson

Manila is the Asian hub for the online gambling industry; with a solid infrastructure and a fair and reasonable regulatory system, the Philippine city has attracted many reputable online gaming companies looking to service the exploding Asian gambling market and a few well funded startups. Unfortunately, as we find out in our latest investigative piece, Manila is also attracting some of the less reputable players in the gaming industry.

We started hearing a buzz about a new gaming company setting up shop in Manila. The company was snapping up former employees from Sportsbook.com, BetUS.com and others that were hit hard by Black Friday and Blue Monday. So we wanted to find out who was taking the plunge into the Asian market.

The company’s corporate name is World Hub Services and they are taking bets online as www.topbet.com.

Alarm bells went off when we did a quick Google search of Top Bet’s customer service phone number. It’s the same number as an SBR Rated F Sportsbook FeltStars. If you don’t know FeltStars consider yourself lucky, they were part of the FutureBet/IGS/Gametech group headed by Boston native and software whiz Joe LaCascia and his partner Filipino-Canadian Emmanuel R Samson IV from Surrey British Columbia.

Emmanuel R Samson IV is better known in the gaming industry as Noel Samson.

In 2001 Noel Samson moved from British Columbia to Manila intent on becoming the authority for online gaming in the Philippines. He began pitching to potential gaming operators a complete gaming solution that included LaCascia’s Futureweb gaming platform and a licence to operate online gaming from the burgeoning market.

Samson raised 500k from investors, friends, family and particular group of motorcycle enthusiasts who were all looking to cash in on Noel Samson’s promises on an online gambling goldmine that the Futurebet had to offer. Things began to fall apart when Samson failed to gain the blessings of the Philippines government and then unable to help the investors launch the gaming sites. Rather than return to Canada or return the half of a million dollars he took from investors, Samson settled in Manila full-time and lived like a king on his embezzled cash.

Most investors moved on, licking their wounds from their bad investment but the certain motorcycle enthusiasts weren’t about to let Samson walk away with their hard earned cash. The group began sending people to Samson’s mother’s home in Surrey BC looking for her son or the cash that was taken. Noel Samson’s mother remortgaged her home in an effort to pay back the investors but it still wasn’t enough to cover the money Noel had embezzled.

Over the past few years, Noel Samson has continued to peddle promises of payment processing and influence with the government but Samson has access to neither. We spoke with several gaming executives who had been taken for upwards of $20,000 in hopes of gaining an ecommerce solution through Samson before learning he couldn’t deliver on those promises. Our sources say Samson is using the money he takes from unsuspecting executives to pay off his Canadian debts as the original Futurebet investors continue to demand repayment.

Now that you know Noel Samson’s history, let’s look at his latest operation.

Samson managed to convince a local Filipino and another backer from China into investing in a new US facing sportsbook.(We’ll let that sink in) The investors put up $1.5 million in hopes of cashing in on Samson’s latest pipedream. As my grandfather says, “that’s a fart in a windstorm.” Or as Calvin more eloquently states in “Beware of the Pee-Wee Hermans of online gaming” it doesn’t even come close to the minimum $20 million dollar entry fee today’s market demands.

The cost of doing business in the gaming sector has exploded exponentially in the past decade and to seriously think you can create a new brand that will target the US market with such limited funds is ludicrous.

Noel Samson was enjoying the newly invested cash until his financial backers began asking for deliverables and proof that their money was being put towards the promised sportsbook. That’s when their corporate site, http://worldhubservices.com quickly went online. The site lists a corporate address located in a residential tower in the exclusive Fort district of Makati.

We do not think it’s practical or even possible to operate a gaming company from a condo tower in the Fort. That and there are legal issues with running a gaming business from your home. The company doesn’t have a gaming licence in the Philippines. In fact, the Philippines regulators say that nobody from their group has even talked to them about a licence. It really wouldn’t matter in any event, offering services to the US is illegal under online gaming law in the Philippines.

The TopBet.com website lists that it’s located in the British Virgin Islands with their financial transaction being processed in Curacao. We have doubts either are true. Samson’s history says they won’t have a reliable ecommerce solution capable of meeting their future US customers’ needs. Perhaps the gentlemen from Linwood would be able to help them out.

Samson has been bragging to people around Manila that his company can’t hire people quick enough because they are growing so fast. This is interesting because the link to their “Current Jobs” section is broken. It’s obvious the $1.5 Million isn’t being spent on web designers or office space.

One thing we do know Samson is spending money on is hiring staff. They have made some decent hires; Canadians who have been in the gaming industry for several years. Though we’re told none of the Canadians working for World Hub Services have legitimate work permits; theywill be acting as perpetual tourists to avoid running afoul of Philippine immigration law.

The company’s CEO has a decent reputation in the industry. By having his name attached to the project, they will likely draw some reasonably talented people from the Canadian gaming market. One other thing it does for Samson is that it keeps his name out of the public eye, so that when the shit inevitably hits the fan, he’ll have a few human shields to keep any from landing on him.

We won’t name the CEO or any of the hires here as we feel they are already victims of Noel Samson’s latest endeavours. We only hope that those hired by Samson can salvage their reputation in this relatively small community we call the online gaming industry.

Business News

The move comes after the recent publication of a Norsk survey that found that more than 4 percent of Norwegians of legal gambling age are currently placing their bets with offshore companies. While that may not seem like a lot, it was more than enough for Huifeldt to spring into action and enact measures like Internet Service Providers blocking and filtering of foreign domain names related to online gambling.

“Such measures have been successfully used in Italy, Estonia and France, and the concept has found favor in Denmark,” the future Darth Vader told the national newspaper, Dagbladet.

An opposition movement has made itself known in the guise of Liberal leader Ove Vanebo, who claims the moves stamp on the freedom of the Norwegian people to choose where they game.

Legal News

Despite this groundswell of support from his constituents, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is now expected to bow to his conservative overlords and veto recently passed legislation that would license and regulate both online gambling and sports betting.

Should Christie decide not to tow the party line, as he has hinted in the past, it would likely set off a chain reaction of events, with similar legislation passing in California, Florida and other states seeking new sources of revenue to fill gaps in their budgets.

Legal News

The win notches Ivey back into the black for the year after the 35-year-old pro hit a rough patch last month and started the year off more than $600K in the hole. Yet with this win, the New Jersey Native once called “No home Jerome” is already up $300,000 for the year.

At this stage in his career, Ivey has never booked a losing year online, and PokerListings.com speculates that his online cash game winnings could exceed $18 million in pure profit.

Poker News

It’s no secret that the Republican Party at large has been largely opposed to the legislation, and with no clear frontrunner for who the party will run against current president Barack Obama in 2012, Christie doesn’t want to ruffle too many stuffed shirts in the hopes of a potential party nod.

Though let’s be honest, unless some miracle man named John Reagan Everyman comes marching through a cornfield holding the second amendment in one hand and a bald eagle in the other, that nomination is likely going to the mildly bangable, but hopelessly terrible Sarah Palin. As such, Christie may want to risk pissing off a few of the old guard, and help his state climb out of debt.

Legal News

Damn if they don’t sound reasonable too, with an official statement from the opposition even accepting warning labels over outright prohibition.

“If restrictions were essential, it would be more acceptable to treat gambling in the same manner as smoking, with warnings of the possible dangers associated with wagering carried on any advertising, rather than outright bans,” an industry spokesperson wrote in an official statement.

Legal News

Now that buck has all but officially been passed from a national decision to a state one, and Campbell believes this progress could lead to a wider acceptance of the online gambling community at large.

The gambling market in the U.S. is estimated to produce about $90 billion, while the global online gambling market in its entirety is only worth an estimated $30 billion. Campbell claims that a country-wide adoption of iGaming legislation could add an additional $7 billion to that total.

Legal News

After a taxation dispute delayed the process, the Netherlands’ tax minister Troels Lund Poulsen, known as “T-bone” to his friends, has assured industry managers that the Danish licensing process will begin in the Autumn of 2011.

All of this comes as Italy prepares to incorporate online casino gambling in the coming months, making this a prime time for the European iGaming industry.

Legal News

The Android-powered smartphone features a slide out key panel that resembles a first generation playstation controller with a laptop-style tracking pad in the center.

Users will be able to download games, music and other content from both Sony’s Playstation Game Suite and the Android Marketplace, granting the device instant access to a number of online gambling applications currently available to Droid users.

The phone will officially launch on February 13.

Business News

Given out by the player advocacy group, the eCOGRA Seal of approval has been given to both the Red Flush Casino and the Casino La Vida and signifies that eCOGRA confirms each casino offers “Safe and Fair” gaming to its customers.

eCOGRA has thousands of gaming companies submit themselves for consideration by the organization, and but with only 145 sites earning a seal. Yet while being allowed to bear the eCOGRA seal is evidently more difficult than being allowed to sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl (too soon?), Red Flush’s Retention Manager Alex Roberts was not surprised by the honor.

“We’re certainly proud of our newest accomplishment and are glad to be recognized for our ongoing transparency, integrity and satisfactory operating standards,” Robers told the Casino Advisor.

Casino News

Paddy Power Poker has extended the number of satellite tournaments that will allow players to win their way into the world’s second largest poker tourny. The satellites, which were supposed to wrap up at the end of January, will run every Monday from now until the event begins on April 22.

The €20 + €2 rebuy satellites kick off every Monday at 8 P.M., with an entry into the company’s €100,000 Sole Survivor promotion also up for grabs to winners.

Poker News

Yet with those restrictions expected to be lifted later in the year, the market is expected to continue to climb, particularly since the action on an individual level appears to have hit a plateau.

“Even if game accounts and revenues for poker increased in 2010 with respect to 2009, during the last four to five months of last year there were clear signs of stabilization,” claims Stefano Acciavatti, a spokesperson for TrustPartners. “Game sessions, tournaments and amount of money spent per each game were down in number and volume compared to the comparable period in 2009.”

Business News

Much like this year’s competition, the Packers are the odds on favorites for 2012, with a +1015 standing. Other teams punters may want to watch for next February include the Indianapolis Colts, the New England Patriots, The San Diego Chargers and the Pittsburgh Steelers, all of whom were posting a +1215.

While the easy choices tend to make the most news, many punters prefer to bank on a long shot, and there are no longer shots than the Seattle Buffalo Bills, whose +8050 give them longer odds then other bottom dwellers including the Seattle Seahawks (+6050), the Cleveland Browns (+5250) and the Detroit Lions (+4050).

It’s kind of cool to bet on the next Super Bowl before the last Super Bowl has been played but it just means an even longer wait to get paid on those winning bets. And with the NFL lockout looming, you could be waiting even longer to get paid on those Super Bowl XLVI bets.

Sports News

Dedicated to the French online gambling community, the Poker and Betting show is a massive industry event for one of the largest regions in the iGaming community, with more than 80 participating companies and a wealth of activities planned.

Organizers are expecting more than 20,000 guests for the show, which will feature product exhibitions, demos and networking sessions to help grow the gaming sector in France.

Conference News