3661 stories by Philip Conneller
Bitzlado Founder Arrested, Charged for Darknet Gambling, Drug Payments
The founder of Hong Kong-registered crypto exchange Bitzlato was arrested Tuesday in Miami by federal agents. Anatoly Legkodymov, a Russian national living in Shenzhen, China, has been charged with laundering $700 million from illegal gambling, drug deals, and online scams, the Justice...
Veteran Poker Player Guilty of Sending White Powder to NY Gaming Commission
Two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Brent Carter has admitted sending letters filled with white powder and making threatening phone calls to the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC), federal officials said Wednesday. The 73-year-old pleaded guilty last Friday to conveying...
TonyBet Slapped with £442K Fine for ‘Unfair’ Withdrawal Conditions
European online sportsbook TonyBet has been fined £442,750 (US$547,000) by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) for “unfair” conditions in its small print that could have been designed to frustrate player withdrawals. The regulator said Wednesday it imposed the fine for the company’s...
Alvin Chau, Fallen Suncity ‘Junket King’ Gets 18 Years in Prison
Alvin Chau, once one of the most powerful men in Macau’s gambling industry, was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Wednesday for 162 charges of fraud, illegal gambling, and criminal association. As chairman and CEO of now-defunct Macau mega-junket Suncity, the...
Mike Postle: Beau Rivage Casino Freezes Accused Poker Cheat’s Winnings
Alleged poker cheater Mike Postle made an unexpected comeback with a seventh-place finish in the Million Dollar Heater Main Event in Biloxi, Miss. on Monday. But he may not get to keep the $32,703 first prize. That’s because two poker players have...
Accused Poker Cheater Mike Postle Makes Final Table Using Alias
Mike Postle has been lying low since he was publicly accused of cheating in a lawsuit brought by 88 fellow poker players. But over the weekend, he turned up at the Beau Rivage Hotel and Casino in Biloxi, Miss., to play the...
Party Drug Ketamine to be Studied as Treatment for Problem Gambling
Drugs and gambling generally make terrible bedfellows. But research will soon begein to study the effects of the horse anesthetic turned illegal party drug, ketamine, on problem gamblers. Academics from the University of Exeter in England are working on the theory the...
Cosa Nostra’s ‘Last Godfather,’ Matteo Messina Denaro, Arrested in Sicily
Matteo Messina Denaro, Italy’s most wanted Mafia figure, has been arrested in the Sicilian capital, Palermo, after more than three decades on the run. Messina Denaro is alleged to be the boss of the Cosa Nostra, the secretive Sicilian criminal society that...
Steve Wynn RICO Suit Alleging Judicial Corruption Junked by Appeals Court
A lawsuit accusing Steve Wynn, Wynn Resorts, and others of racketeering and attempting to corrupt the judicial process has been dismissed by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals. The plaintiff’s attorney says he plans to appeal to the US Supreme Court....
Karen Carter Peterson, Ex-Louisiana State Senator, Gets Prison for $140K Gambling Fraud
Former Louisiana state senator Karen Carter Peterson was sentenced to 22 months in a federal prison Wednesday. The ex-lawmaker pleaded guilty last August to plundering $140K from the state Democratic Party and her own campaign fund to feed a crippling gambling addiction....
