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Sweden Moves to end Gambling Monopoly Svenska SpelWed, Oct 31st, 2007 @ 12:00am This past weekend, the ruling party in Sweden voted to end support for their government's monopoly on Sweden's online gambling industry, and also to privatize Svenska Spel, the government-owned gaming monopoly, reports Poker News this week. The European Commission, headed by former Irish finance minister Charlie McCreevy (58), has been pressing Sweden to open up its gambling monopolies, and threatening a lawsuit in the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to enforce compliance with the Union's requirement for the free movement of trade and services (click here for related article). When McCreevy earlier rejected Sweden's protectionist regulations and issued a final warning called 'Reasoned Opinions' to Sweden saying, "Countries cannot claim that their policies protect consumers from gambling if, at the same time, they encourage people to participate in state lotteries and other gambling entities that contribute to the government. Specific to Sweden, he added, "Nor can they prevent competition with state-supported gambling monopolies through laborious regulatory hurdles, as Sweden has done" (click here for related article).
Delegates at the Moderate Party conference in Gavle were told by parliament member Tomas Tobe that Sweden must abolish the current monopoly and join England and Italy in regulating the industry. And to counter balance a possible increase in gambling, Tobe said funds should be allocated to problem gambling research and to establish risk-minimization controls. The Moderate's decision to privatize Svenska Spel is shared by most other political parties. Now only the Christian Democrats are opposed to regulation and privatising Svenska Spel.
Svenska Spel generated over Sweden's four casinos and sports-betting monopoly took in 4.8 billion kroner (USD $753 million, nearly 523 million Euros, or GBP 364.6 million) in 2006, more than a quarter of the 18 billion-kroner national budget surplus. (click here for related article). The company may become publicly listed after privatization. It is rumored that it could be valued as high as Euro 7 billion, which would make it one of the major companies in the European gambling market. Read Related Articles:
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PokerStars Launches New UK and Ireland Poker Tour PokerStars.com has announced the start of a new poker tour with stops throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland. The UK and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) will kick off in Galway, Ireland in mid-December, and the first event in the UK will be held in Manchester in February.
Peerless Media Agrees to Purchase World Poker Tour Enterprises According to a Monday press release, WPT Enterprises Inc., mothership of the World Poker Tour, is now the rightful property of Peerless Media, Ltd., subsidiary of online giant PartyGaming.
Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho Hit the Amazing Race Rail After surviving six legs of the Amazing Race by the skin of their teeth, poker pros Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho were finally eliminated in the CBS reality show's most recently aired episode. Michelle and Ho, the last women standing in the 2008 and 2007 World Series of Poker Main Events, gave reality television fans another chance to watch poker personalities compete away from the felt. Annie Duke garnered quite a following earlier in the year on another reality show competition, NBC's Celebrity Apprentice.
Isaac Baron Dominates Caesars Classic Main Event Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron ran over the final table of the Caesars Palace Classic $5,000 Main Event, amassing a huge chip lead and going home with the $246,928 first prize. It took two long days to narrow the 162-person field to the final ten. A very high percentage of the entrants were recognizable tournament circuit players, and unsurprisingly, the stacked field produced a tough final table lineup.
Tonight- ESPN shows Day Before WSOP Main Event Final Nine are Set- Oct 27 Tonight (Oct. 27) at 9pm ET, ESPN will broadcast highlights of action on the day before the Final Table of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event was set. Only 27 players remain when this one-hour show begins.
Frenchman Wins PokerStars EPT Warsaw Poker Tourney At the PokerStars European Poker Tour Warsaw No Limit Texas Hold'em main event that wrapped up yesterday, French businessman Christophe Benzimra finished first taking home 358,644 Euros in prize money, while Italian poker pro Alfio Battisti finished second in the tournament.
Vedes Conquers WPT Festa al Lago Final Table Tommy Vedes is the WPT's newest champion! Vedes outlasted 274 players to win the Festa al Lago title and the $1,218,225 first prize. Freddy Deeb, who began the final table with the chip lead, hoped to win his third WPT title and tie Gus Hansen's record. Instead, Deeb was forced to settle for 4th place, leaving room for a new WPT champ. Click here for in-depth coverage of the action and photos from the final table.
Will Hungarians Get Taxed on Poker Soon? Hungarian lawmakers have plans to tax poker winnings and regulate clubs to generate much-needed revenues during the country's worst economic crisis since the end of communism, reports Germany's Deutsche Weele.
Freddy Deeb Leads World Poker Tour Final Table The WPT Festa al Lago Main Event is down to the final six after five tough days of play. Two-time WPT champion Freddy Deeb brings the chip lead along with the benefit of his under-the-lights experience into Monday's televised final table. Deeb previously won the WPT Season III Aruba Poker Classic and the Season VII Celebrity Invitational. He also owns two World Series bracelets and has amassed over $6 million in tournament winnings. A win on Monday would add $1,218,225 to that total. Click here for photos from the felt and final table chip counts.
11 Remain in WPT Festa al Lago Main Event The fourth day of the Festa al Lago WPT $15,000 Championship began with 37 players, just ten eliminations away from the money. Though action was painfully slow at times, it hit break-neck speed before the end of the night, leaving only 11 players standing heading into Day 5. Click here for Day 4 photos and chip counts. |
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