Justices ordered a new sentencing hearing for Michael B. Daniels, who said he was attempting to recover $20 he lost in a game of three-card monte when he stabbed and killed James Williams, 52, on Jan. 8, 2006. Daniels claimed during the trial that Williams had cheated in the game.

Justices cited a 68-year-old ruling that said someone couldn’t be convicted of aggravated robbery while trying to recover gambling losses. Aggravated robbery was the underlying circumstance when a jury ordered Daniels to die for Williams’ death. The split court reversed Daniels’ aggravated robbery conviction and the capital murder charge linked to it, but upheld his conviction for premeditated and deliberate capital murder.

In the majority opinion, Associate Justice Robert L. Brown acknowledged that some could argue the 1940 case was not in the public’s interest, but said, “it is nonetheless still good law in Arkansas.”

Daniels’ attorney, Teri Chambers, said Thursday’s ruling “makes sense because you have to be able to commit a theft in order to commit a robbery. You have to be taking someone else’s property to commit a theft.” It was unclear whether the ruling had been used to get anyone else off of Arkansas death row.

During the trial, Daniels’ attorney admitted that his client stabbed Williams in the head, chest and stomach with a Bowie knife. The attack was recorded on surveillance video. Prosecutors said there was no evidence that Williams cheated during the card game. I always told my momma that gambling was a good thing!

Playing Omaha the flop is 7-7-10 and I have pocket 10’s. I check the flop to see if I can spot someone with a 7 and maybe they will bet and I will make some cash. Nobody bets the flop and a K comes on the turn, the first player bets $200 and I raise all-in, an extra $290. We open and sure enough he had 7-K. The river comes and low-and-behold it is a 7….bad, bad beat. This is a friendly cash game and bad beats ussualy get a scratch-and-win lottery ticket but there was none left.

I was thinking I maybe should have bet $100 on the flop but I would have gotten called by the same player because he had trips and no matter what I bet on the turn (if I had more cash) he would have had to call, so I guess I was destined to lose that hand. Feel free to leave comments about your own bad beats.

These days you can find a zillion games by heading over to your nearest web browser any typing in free online games, your search will yield tons of great time-wasters from racing games to card games.

One way I have been spending quite a bit of time lately is playing online poker, it is a lot of fun but can be quite addicting. I mostly limit myself to mirco (small bet) tournaments of $1-$2 but I still can manage to lose $50 on a bad week.

The man, who William Hill has not identified, correctly guessed the outcome of eight horse races Friday, beating odds of two-million-to-one.

He walked into a William Hill branch in the north England town of Thirsk and placed wagers on eight horses in eight different contests in a so-called “accumulator bet,” the company said.

His first win came when a horse called “Isn’t That Lucky” won the 2:55 p.m. race at the Sandown track, southwest of London. By the time “A Dream Come True” crossed the finish line at the Wolverhampton racecourse in central England later that evening, the man had won 1 million pounds.

William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe says the man was oblivious to his win when he came to a different William Hill branch Saturday to place more 50 pence bets. Sharpe said the man had not won any of Saturday’s wagers, losing 2.50 pounds.

“If he does it another 400,000 times we’ll have it all back,” Sharpe said.

William Hill, one of the biggest players in Britain’s gambling industry, operates more than 2,000 betting shops across the country. I have never heard of that type of play but what a fantastic fluke.

The new slot machines casino, to be opened by the Las Vegas Sands Corp., will open it’s doors early in 2009, and it is hoped that the financial boost from the casino will help to pay for expensive maintenance work on the site so that the historic buildings can be opened for public display.

Sands has already saved 20 buildings from demolition, and many people are now petitioning for public access. ‘’It’s a terrific opportunity,'’ said history professor Howard Gillette from Rutgers University in New Jersey. ‘’Bethlehem tells the whole story of industrialization in America, and de-industrialization.'’

Sands have expressed support for the idea of telling the Bethlehem Steel plant’s story. They have already dedicated one of the oldest buildings – the Stock House, which dates back to around 1860, to the city for use as a visitor’s center.  Great to see a casino taking an interest in preserving history.

The Emerald Casino firm has been fighting for years to open a branch in Rosemont, and had its license revoked in 2005 after an investigation found that officials had lied to state investigators and sold shares to investors with ties to organized crime rings.

Emerald had appealed against the ruling, citing a law passed in 1999 which they believed gave them the right to open a casino in Rosemont. The ruling, given this Monday by a panel of the District Appellate Court in Chicago was unanimous.

The ruling was praised by Illinois attorney General Lisa Madigan, who said that it helps ‘protect the interests of the people of Illinois against unsuitable individuals operating casinos.’ No one from Emerald was available for comment, although Emerald have asked to appeal the ruling to the Illinois Supreme Court.

If they lose the appeal, then the 10th casino gambling license will become open, allowing an expansion of gambling in the state – something that is presently under discussion as lawmakers consider allowing another land-based casino in the area, as well as slot machines at race tracks. Other options for the expansion of gambling in Chicago include the increasing of the number of riverboat casino licenses available.

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.

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.