Issue N37, 2012

September 12, 2012

Betfair Exec Resigns

The Chief Financial Officer of Betfair, the giant global betting exchange, has announced that he will be stepping down from his position as soon as areplacement can be found. Steven Morana has been part of Betfair for ten years and in December last year stepped into the shoes of Chief Executive Officer, David Yu as interim CEO. With the new CEO, former Paddy Power head, Breon Corcoran entering the picture last month, Morano tendered his resignation.

“I have informed the board that I intend to step down once a successor in the Chief Financial Officer role has been identified,” said Morana. “It’s been a very difficult decision to make but I feel the time is now right for both me and the company to move on. I have been incredibly fortunate to have been part of the Betfair success story over the past ten years and I am immensely proud of our achievements.”

He added that Betfair is entering into new era under the leadership of Breon Corcoran and he believes that the company has a very bright future ahead of it. Corcoran was welcomed by the chairman of Betfair, Gerald Corbette, who also thanked Morano for his years of service and wished him the best of luck in this future endeavors.

New Charges Against Full Tilt Poker Executives

When charges were first laid against the men in April last year, they were charged with illegal gambling activities. In September 2011, the original Black Friday charges were amended to include the fact that the two ran a Ponzi scheme which fleeced money off innocent Full Tilt Poker players. This week, it was announced that a second amended civil complaint was laid, accusing the two of using the money (called the ‘illegal proceeds’) from the Full Tilt Poker site to buy houses and cars.

According to the amended complaint, “there is probably cause to believe that the Defendant Properties constitute or are traceable to property used in illegal gambling businesses.”

The two are being asked to hand over around $40 million in forfeiture charges.

Bitar returned recently from Ireland, where he has been living since charges were brought against him last April, in a move that is believed to be connected with the three way deal reached between the Department of Justice, Full Tilt Poker and its rival Poker Stars, which resulted in Poker Stars purchasing FTP for over $700 million.

Slotland.com Progressive Jackpot Pays Out

Slotland.com , the stand alone online casino site, was pleased to announce that its progressive jackpot has been hit at $189,000. The lucky player, Abigail J., hit the jackpot by playing the newest slot game at the site, Pearls of Atlantis.

“I usually bet lower amounts when I play slots as I simply enjoy the thrill of playing and seeing the symbols fall into place,” said the winner, who played the five reel, 9 pay line slot game at Slotland.com. “That day, though, I felt somehow lucky so I decided to up the bets for some rounds. I was nervous but I had some smaller wins and then all of a sudden I was looking at the jackpot. Gosh, was it a shock. Now I’m happy as a bee and grateful to have won such a fantastic amount. Slotland.com is the best.”

Asked what she would do with this life changing sum of cash, Abigal J said: “I’ll put some of the money aside for more play and I’ll pay some bills. But, I’m also going to take a course in open-water diving in the Bahamas or Fiji or some other tropical destination. I won the jackpot playing Pearls of Atlantis so maybe I’ll get lucky again and discover the lost continent.”

Plenty of Winners at Golden Palace Online Casino

Online casinos traditionally roll out a list of their biggest winners each month, and Golden Palace Casino is no exception. The Playtech powered online casino Golden Palace was pleased to announce some of its top lucky winners during the month of August, starting with Magdalen G. of South Africa who took home R381,666 on the popular Thai Paradise slot game.

Dolphin Reef slot also proved to be a big hit at Golden Palace online casino, with two players clocking up big wins on this game. Stav S. from the UK won GBP 24,650 on the game, while another South African, Melindee D won nearly R200,000 in the middle of August.

Other games which paid out well were Sparta slot (paying $38,121 to Peter H from Australia) and the love-themed slot game, True Love, which saw fellow Australian Julia A. win over $24,000.