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BodogLife.com (formerly Bodog.com), the rags-to-riches-to-rags story is playing out because of DoJ troubles with payment proccessing.

Forbes.com reported last month that the US Government seized $24 million from bank accounts linked to Bodog (BodogLife.com). And while Bodog was not the only online gambling firm with monies tied to Zip Payments - the subject of a U.S. attorney’s office out of Baltimore - the company has not had the same degree of success setting up new processing means compared to their counterparts. Of greater concern are the rumors that have been circulating that Bodog also set up shell corporations in the state of Nevada to help facilitate transfers of funds, though Gambling911.com has not yet been able to confirm these stories.

The court papers detail an elaborate international structure put together to allow Bodog to collect money and write checks to winning gamblers in the U.S. One affidavit by Randall S. Carrow, a special agent with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division, said that $248 million involving entities linked to Bodog was processed through Wachovia Bank, from which $11 million of the $24 million was seized.

According to Carrow’s detailed sworn statements, the IRS’s Criminal Investigation Division started looking at Bodog in 2003 and opened a formal probe in 2006, around the same time the US Government began severely cracking down on high profile online gambling companies the likes of BetonSports and Neteller, another payment solutions business that deals exclusively in online gambling.

This week, www.Gambling911.com learned that Bodog laid off nearly 300 employees with more terminations likely in the coming weeks. The company has been trying to break into the European market, however, they do not have a proper license to advertise in the United Kingdom. Bodog’s new Dublin, Ireland office is said to be so quiet you can hear a pin drop.

One source from within the company told us: “The situation is horrible. Nobody wants to process payments for us.”

Bodog’s inability to maintain a low profile has been at least partially to blame. I would say Arye has learned his lesson but probably now!

So yesterday I went to the casino to play 5-10 limit hold ‘em and here are 10 reasons I like playing there as opposed to an online casino.

1 spot - mid 40’s hippie, plays a lot of hands and likes to roll his eyes everytime he got rivered, which was often.

2nd spot - young asian guy, talked non-stop about how if he could just win a couple more big hands he could go home.

3rd spot - angry shaved head guy, liked to complain everytime someone beat him with crappy hole cards.

4th spot - Nice old guy, around 65-70 years old, good balanced player caught a lot of nice hands.

5th spot - Moi, pretty tight but plays some ‘flyer’.

6th spot - Nice older lady, British accent missed a lot of straights and flushes, lost around $400 during the few hours I was there.

7th spot - Middle aged Asian guy, pretty tight and quiet.

8th spot - Late 50’s, also quiet and tight player.

9th spot - Very tight middle aged guy likes to smile and talk to him neighbours a lot, only plays ace-picture or higher.

10th spot - Very tight player, middle aged with a little slcked back hair. Also likes to play ace-picture and better.

11th spot - My buddy, loud annoying….won the first hand after sitting down and called out he had “nuts” which was really 7th nuts. Everytime he won a hand he would tell the dealer to “ship” his chips.

The point is that sometimes sitting in at the casino can be fun and entertaining, where as the online casino can be a bit boring. At the end of the night I lost $60 but had fun.

As mentioned below I do love to gamble. I remember my dad taught me to gamble around the ago of 10. We used to play poker with monopoly money and he would tell me what hands beat which and some of his expert strategies. It was a nice father-son bonding experience and it has led to a life-long interest in gambling. I live in Canada so it is not always easy to go out to a casino, since the closest is around a two hour drive, so playing in an online casino is very appealing. A few of my concerns though are whether the casino’s are honest and offer me good value for my gambling dollars.

One of the best ways to protect yourself and to make sure your online casino experience is a good one is to do a little research. I often go to websites that reveiw online casinos and keep track of which are recommended and which are best to avoid. So far all my online gambling experiences have been positive but I am still down around $900 for this year. Hopefully lady-luck will shine on me before 2008 rolls around.

Here are some of the top gambling related news stories hitting the web.

-A Pennsylvania company, Penn National Gaming Inc. with gambling operations in 12 states is the first applicant for a contract to manage a state-owned casino in Kansas.

-Tennis umpires and officials received letters from U.S. Open organizers reminding them of rules against gambling, part of strengthened security measures to prevent match tampering.   I guess a little reminder never hurts.

-Today brings a new era for bingo halls, betting shops, high end casinos and humble slot machine arcades in Wales.  The Gambling Act 2005 came into force from midnight overhauling legislation dating as far back as 1845 when Queen Victoria was on the throne and Sir Robert Peel was her Prime Minister. The new laws mean bingo players could now become millionaires as jackpot wins can be “rolled over”. More than 6,000 slot machines will be removed from takeaways and minicab offices to stop children playing them.  Ridiculously easy phone-in quizzes with phone charges as high as £1 per minute must be made harder (otherwise they will be classed as lotteries with a requirement to give 20% of profits to charity).

Great news for all Canadians (which includes me), that are looking for a great online casino to call your home. Get ready to win a spot in the North American Poker Championship. To win a seat at this prestigious event in Niagara Falls try 888.com’s Pacific Poker’s weekly Maple Leaf Freeroll tournaments, where the top 10 winners will win a place in one of the weekly Maple Leaf Satellite tournaments. If you miss out on the free rolls you will still have an opportunity to enter a Satellite tournament directly for just 1¢!

Also don’t forget that when you sign up for their Freerolls and become a new Pacific Poker member, you are also eligible for our $500 First Depositors’ Freerolls. If you play with the WPT North American Poker tour you will join last years Canadian winner that went home with a cool 1.3 million dollars.

Here is a brief look at some of this weeks most interesting gambling news:

-Up to 40 per cent of online gamblers utilise the services of web-based forums, a new survey says.

-Chandrasekhar Billivara has made a cool $722,914 for his victory in the 49th event at the WSOP (World Series Of Poker), which had a record number of entrants for a non-main event competition.

-While declining revenues have jeopardised the horse racing industry in some parts of the US, a new breed of racing casino has brought track money indoors.  Over 35 racetrack casinos, dubbed ‘racinos’ have opened up in the US since 1992, with five states having new venues in the past three years.  According the American Gaming Association, last year, racinos raked in $3.6 billion

A spin around the world to check-out the news this month.

-World Poker Tour Enterprises (WPT) has announced that it will be sponsored by Southwest Airlines in its sixth season. Southwest Airlines branding will feature prominently on the World Poker Tour this coming year.

-Poker writer Jen Mason is better known for writing about poker tournaments than winning them, but the journalist had the luck of the Irish at the Green Joker Poker, wining more than 30,000 euros.

-London has been named by poker magazine Bluff Europe as the top city on the continent for poker action.

Yahoo!, one of the biggest search engines and Internet portals, has entered the online poker world with the addition of real-money poker to the games section of its UK operations.

Yahoo! Launched the online poker room in partnership with Gibraltar-based  St Minver, one of Europe’s largest gaming operators. Boss Media, which also supports the powerful gaming operators SportingBet, Bwin, and William Hill, will provide the poker software platform.

The new poker site does not accept players from the U.S., due to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which makes it illegal for credit card companies and banks to accept money transfers to and from online gambling sites.

Yahoo! is the only Internet Service Provider (ISP) to offer play for real money. The YAHOO! UK & Ireland Games Web site also offers real money Bingo. The new site will focus on the growing European poker market.

Saint Mary’s University researchers have received $345,000 from the Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation to study the impact of gambling and gambling addiction on teens. “Our research is aimed at uncovering the common themes coming from youth concerning the commercial advertising of gambling and its impact on their perceptions of gambling and their play behaviours,” John McMullan, a sociology and criminology professor who’s the project’s lead researcher, said in a news release this week. 

The four-year project will look at advertising for gambling from the Atlantic Lottery Corp., Casino Nova Scotia and the Maritime Provinces Harness Racing Association, and unregulated advertising from websites, television and radio from Jan. 1, 2004, to Dec. 31, 2006, will be reviewed. Researchers will then interview teens to analyze the impact advertising has on them, the news release said, and the last part of the project will track beliefs and behaviours using continuous advertising snapshots over time. 

I think this is a very positive step forward for the gaming industry as a whole because of all the potential problems that arise from gambling addiction at a young age.