Business & Financial

Sands Casino Websites Finally Restored Following Hacking

(Associated Press) - Casino giant Las Vegas Sands Corp. has restored its websites a week after they were hacked.

The Las Vegas-based company pulled down its sites Feb. 13 after hackers defaced them with images condemning comments CEO Sheldon Adelson had made about using nuclear weapons on Iran.

Sands restored the websites Monday afternoon. Spokesman Ron Reese says the company first became aware of the hacking on Feb. 12, when company email went down.

Submitted by Associated Press on, Feb/17/2014

Frustration Continues as Sands Las Vegas, Venetian Websites Down Again

One week after a malicious hacking of the Sands Las Vegas casino websites, the progress getting them back up has been especially slow.

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Feb/17/2014

Mt.Gox Bitcoin Exchange Withdrawals to Resume ‘Shortly’

Following a halt to bitcoin withdrawals by one of the anonymous digital currency’s largest exchanges, Mt.Gox, it was announced Monday that these withdrawals should resume “shortly”.

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Feb/17/2014

New Jersey Online Gambling Expected to Triple in 2014

The Daily Record of New Jersey describes how that state’s new online gambling sector is expected to triple by year’s end.

Submitted by Ace King on, Feb/17/2014

Sands Casino Websites Back Up But Slow to Access

Days after a hacking of its various corporate websites, Sands Casino was back up and operational on the Web Saturday evening.  Still, the sites were slow to access at times.

The access time had some initial telltale signs of a Denial of Access (DoS) attack though the slow downloads were more likely attributed to routine maintenance.

A DoS attack sends pockets of useless traffic from compromised servers to a website, thus crippling load ability. 

Submitted by Jagajeet Chiba on, Feb/15/2014

Former Atlantic City Mayor Claims Caesars ‘Meddling in Atlantic Club Future’

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (Associated Press) — A state senator says the company that bought the former Atlantic Club Casino Hotel wants to make sure it never reopens as a casino.

James Whelan, a former mayor of Atlantic City, wrote this week to New Jersey casino regulators complaining about what he says are attempts by Caesars Entertainment to prevent a future buyer from operating the property as a casino. He said the company is seeking a deed restriction to be part of any future sale of the property dictating that it cannot be used as a casino again.

Submitted by Associated Press on, Feb/15/2014

New Jersey Approves Revel Co-Owners to Operate Casino

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (Associated Press) — New Jersey casino regulators gave final approval Wednesday to an investment firm to be the largest owner of Revel Casino Hotel.

The state Casino Control Commission granted final approval to Chatham Asset Management, a hedge fund that is part of a lender group that emerged with an ownership stake in Revel following its bankruptcy last year. Chatham owns 28 percent of Revel.

But how long any of this lasts is anyone’s guess. Revel is considering selling itself or making a second bankruptcy filing.

Submitted by Associated Press on, Feb/14/2014

Sands Hacked Casino Page Now Features Images: Still Reports Record Profits

Four days after Sands Las Vegas casino websites were hacked into, the respective sites for nine different properties are yet to be operating in full capacity. 

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Feb/14/2014

Stanley Ho's SJM Makes Fresh Start With New Macau Casino

(Reuters) - Macau gambling kingpin Stanley Ho helped put the former Portuguese colony on the map 40 years ago with the fluorescent, onion-shaped Casino Lisboa. Now, the pioneer of old Macau is creating a new landmark - a $3.9 billion resort that will be one of the final projects to open on China's booming Las Vegas-style Cotai strip.

Submitted by Reuters on, Feb/14/2014

PokerStars Sportsbook: World’s Number One Could Dive Into Sports Betting

The world’ largest real money online poker site PokerStars is said to be contemplating the addition of a sportsbook.

Submitted by Nagesh Rath on, Feb/13/2014

Regulators Still Unsure if Sands, Venetian Guest Credit Card Info Compromised

LAS VEGAS – (Associated Press) - A Nevada gambling regulator said Thursday afternoon that it's unclear whether the hackers who knocked down all of Las Vegas Sands Corp.'s websites for three days and counting had stolen patron data, including credit card information.

Submitted by Associated Press on, Feb/13/2014

Second Bitcoin Exchange Halts Withdrawals: Canada to Tighten Grip

A second major bitcoin exchange has temporarily ceased withdrawals following an apparent cyberattack that has seen the anonymous digital currency’s price drop in recent days.

Bitstamp followed the move of Mt.Gox by halting withdrawals after hackers had exploited a bug in some underlying software to carry out the attack.

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Feb/13/2014

FBI Confirms Probe of Sands Website Hackings: Credit Card Breach a Concern

Day 3 of the Las Vegas Sands casino websites remaining down following a corporate-wide hacking and it was still unclear as to whether customer credit card information could have been compromised.

At the time of the hacking, employee social security numbers were seen scrolling across the breached website.

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Feb/13/2014

CAN’T-Bet: Canbet Freezes $300k: Punters Issue Death Threats, File Lawsuits

Once among the most prestigious Australian online bookmakers, Canbet is now finding itself mired in scandal after freezing approximately $300,000 in player funds.

The reason: Financial restructuring, a gentle way of saying the company is having financial problems.

Submitted by Jagajeet Chiba on, Feb/13/2014

New Jersey Online Gambling Revenue Numbers Released: 28 Percent Increase

Internet gaming win for January 2014 increased 28% from the $7.4 million reported in December 2013.

As of January 31, 2014, 197,782 Internet gaming accounts have been created since the beginning of soft play on November 21, 2013.

Based upon filings with the Division of Gaming Enforcement, total gaming win from the casino hotels and Internet gaming operations totaled $195.7 million in January 2014,compared to $205.2 million in casino win last January.

- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Feb/12/2014

Rabcat Releases Castle Builder to the International Gaming Community

Austria - Rabcat is announcing the worldwide launch of its most innovative and successful real-money game yet, Castle BuilderTM.

Submitted by Press Release on, Feb/12/2014

Shares in 888.com Up: Growth in New Jersey Online Gambling Market, Eyeing CA

Shares in 888 holdings (888.com) were up 4.2 percent higher Tuesday to 145.3p on positive news that it may be increasing its market share in New Jersey.

Until now, Party Poker has captured more than half the New Jersey online gambling market.

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Feb/11/2014

Bitcoin Startup ZipZap.com Could Give Western Union a Run for its Money

CNN Fortune published an article warning that bitcoin start up ZipZap.com could fast become stiff competition for international money exchange outfit Western Union. 

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Up until now, Western Union has operated nearly as a monopoly.

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Feb/11/2014

Sands Casino Sites Still Down After Hacking: Social Security Numbers Posted

The Sands Las Vegas casino property websites were down throughout the day Tuesday following what appeared to be a website hacking.  At one point during the early part of the day it was reported that staff and executive social security numbers were scrolling on the compromised sites. 

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Feb/11/2014

Have Sheldon Adelson’s Sands Casino Websites Been Hacked (Update)

While billionaire casino magnate and mega GOP donor Sheldon Adelson has gone on the attack against legalizing Web gambling in the US, he may want to focus on keeping his own casino sites up and running.

Submitted by Jagajeet Chiba on, Feb/11/2014

Macau Gambling Revenue Up But Misses Estimates

(Reuters) - Macau, the world's casino capital, raked in 28.7 billion patacas ($3.6 billion) in gambling revenues for the first month of 2014, boosted by Chinese visitors flocking to the country's only legal casino hub ahead of a week-long national holiday.

Revenue growth in Macau, a special administrative region of China like neighbouring Hong Kong, was up 7 percent in January, the lowest growth rate since October 2012 and far below analyst estimates of 11-15 percent.

Submitted by Reuters on, Feb/10/2014

CoinDesk Removes Mt.Gox From Bitcoin Price Index

The world leader in news, prices and information on bitcoin and other digital currencies, CoinDesk.com, has taken the unprecedented step of removing exchange Mt.Gox from its bitcoin price index on Monday.

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Feb/10/2014

Russia Bans Bitcoin: Price Still Hovering Around $700

Russia banned the bitcoin this weekend, concluding a highly tumultuous week for the anonymous digital currency.

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Feb/09/2014

Aria Hotel and Casino in Vegas Fined for Blocking NGCB Agents

LAS VEGAS (Associated Press) — Nevada gambling regulators says the Aria Hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip blocked its agents from watching a high-stakes roulette table.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board filed a two-count complaint against Aria and part-owner MGM Resorts International on Friday.

The complaint said two state agents who had not identified themselves were watching high rollers play roulette last October when a supervisor told them that the players did not want to be watched and threatened to call security.

Submitted by Associated Press on, Feb/09/2014

London Affiliate Conference 2014 a Monster Event (Video)

The London Affiliate Conference 2014 attracted hundreds of people in Day 1 with this year’s event having outgrown itself from previous years.  It was forced to move to London’s biggest conference venue, Earl’s Court.

One of the attendees took a cue from last month’s NYC shock stunt marketing the film “Devil’s Due” in which a remote controlled baby was left in its carriage to terrorize unsuspecting pedestrians with Hell raising screams and even vomit.

MadAboutSlots.co.uk and Probability joined forces to unleash a giant dinosaur onto the LAC crowd.

Submitted by Gilbert Horowitz on, Feb/08/2014

Miami Beach Police Make What Could be First Ever Bitcoin Vendor Arrests

Police in Miami Beach in conjunction with the U.S. Secret Service’s Miami Electronic Crimes Task have arrested two men moving a large amounts of cash in and out of the Bitcoin virtual currency.  Experts believe this could be the first case that bitcoin vendors have been charged with a crime.

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Feb/07/2014

Bitcoin Price Down Nearly 7 Percent Friday: Volatility Declining, BitBet.com Debuts

The price of bitcoin had dropped approximately 7 percent Friday, quite likely on news that one of the biggest exchanges, Mt.Gox, had stopped processing withdrawals temporarily.

The price of bitcoin had fallen to $686 but rebounded later in the evening to $703, matching the day’s opening price.

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Feb/07/2014

Bitcoin Community May Give Up on Mt. Gox Exchange

Following yet another currency withdrawal halt at bitcoin’s most famous exchange, Mt. Gox, traders in the anonymous digital currency may finally be willing to give up on the mysterious Japanese-based operation.

Submitted by Aaron Goldstein on, Feb/07/2014

Apple Removes Blockchain Bitcoin Wallet Service App

(Reuters) - Bitcoin wallet service Blockchain was removed from Apple devices.

Apple has removed popular bitcoin wallet app Blockchain from its app stores in a major setback for the popular digital currency.

As a result, iPhone and iPad users do not have any bitcoin wallet options for their devices at present.

Submitted by Reuters on, Feb/06/2014

WinCake.com Enters Into Partnership With Goal.com: Strong Investment Backing

Cake Entertainment N.V. announced today that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Free Web Holding Ltd. to form Cake Next Entertainment Ltd. The partnership brings new investment and successful industry professionals to strengthen the company‘s efforts in building its B2B and consumer businesses, positioning the company as a major force within the international gaming entertainment space.

Submitted by Press Release on, Feb/06/2014

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