Medicine for Gambling Addicts

The tireless efforts of medical expert to find a drug to cure for gamblers from their urges to gamble had been most admirable. SavySeph believes in a mental cure for mental addiction.

Psychologist from the University of British Columbia, Canada (UBC) had taught rats to gamble using a simulated slot machine. The rats push a lever to spin and lights will be illuminated. If a winning combination was the outcome, they would be rewarded with sugar pallets.

Like humans, the rodents never learn from heartache of near wins because they keep selecting the almost win choices to cash-out. This near win can be very addictive in gambling and had been the inherent features of slot machines.

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Gambling Addicts Sue Casinos

Australian property developer sue the Crown Melbourne Casino to recover his losses. He claims that casino exploited his pathological urges to gamble by offering him perks and incentives. The court rule against the Australian gambler, Harry Kakavas. The High Court believes that Kakavas "was able to make rational decisions in his own interests and the Crown did not knowingly victimize the appellant by allowing him to gamble."

In a separate case a Norwegian gambler sued two online gambling companies, Bet365 and Centrebet for enticing him to gamble. Centrebet being a company registered in Australia, claimed that the case should be hear by the Australian court. While the Norwegian court rule that it should hear the case since gamblers can bet on Norwegian sporting events using Norwegian currency on Centrebet. The company also operates a Norwegian bank account, home-page and toll-free telephone number.

Centrebet argued for an Australian court because they expect Kakavas's case to serve as a precedence to give them the advantage. On the other hand, the Australian court ignore a fraudulent case concerning Kakavas resulting in some injustice to Kakavas.

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Underage Gambling Violations

A sensible gambling act of any country would aim to protect the vulnerable, prevent crime and allow fair wagering. Law will always look good on paper. Good or bad will depend heavily on the enforcement of the legislature.

The violations of underage gambling laws in various places indicate that the government is never serious about protecting the vulnerable from getting addicted to gambling.

An ex staff of one of the largest bookie, Paul Pearce had given valuable insights on the attitude of staff when it comes to maintaining security. It is disturbing to know the workers at gambling outlets are not concerned about the underage having access to gambling. They need to do what they must to keep their jobs. These rampant cases were the reason for SavySeph sharing the 36 Casino Gambling Tips.

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By the way, have a happy and prosperous new year, everyone.

Gambling Addicts Murderer

It is very scary to think that gambling addicts will take your life because they want all your money. The moment they know that you have tons of it, they will decide to end your life.

Rakesh Bhayani also known as the "mad Indian gambler" had decided to terminate Carole Waugh because she is millionaire.

For Bhayani, Waugh's death serves only one purpose and that is to feed his gambling addiction. After killing Waugh, he dumped her body in a car and abandoned it. He recruited a fellow con artist and an impersonator into his team to start draining her wealth.

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Have a Merry Christmas everyone.

Ladbrokes Murder Trial

"Children", "smashed" and "money laundering" is tabooed in Ladbrokes, the biggest bookmaker in the United Kingdom. The more they tried to hide the violence in their betting shops, the worse it became. Now a life had been lost through the all the anger that had been vented out at the shops.

Although he was homeless, he gambles regularly at the Ladbrokes betting shop branch at Aberconway Road. Perhaps this betting shop is the closest thing to his home for him. This is the place he bets up to £100 on cricket matches and smaller amounts on dog racing. At this place he unleashed his ferocity on the shop manager with a claw-hammer. He is Shafique Aarij, 21, whom the courts found guilty of murder.

This murder case revealed the inefficiency of Ladbrokes security system. Ladbrokes route all distress calls to the head office instead of the police station. Nobody responded to the distress call and the manager, Andrew Iacovou, was left to die. Ladbrokes are no experts when it comes to dealing with crime and they should let the police handle it.

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Gambling Shops Laundering Money

Ladbrokes, the biggest bookmaker in the United Kingdom, warned their staff not to use the word "children", "smashed" and "money laundering" in company documents. This warning shows the bookies have something ugly to hide.

With facebook turning into a semi casino, the bookies in UK granting admission to minors to gamble had fallen within expected norms. I will give adolescence gambling a separate coverage.

When the bookies reported bad financial performance due to bad weather, I knew they were trying to hide the rising cost of their machine being smashed up often.

Paying the casino's house edge to wash money in the casino had been the most commonly used method. The betting shops is a hive for drug dealers to wash money because they can easily get away with it.

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Gambling with Borrowed Money

Each time we read about a scam in the news, it will have something to do with the victims' believe in some sure win method for gambling or investment. In spite of being caught time and again, people still fall prey to these cleverly plotted but malicious plans.

This story is about Michael Garner. He is a 53-year-old self-employed financial and pensions adviser who scammed money from investors. He used money in his custody to finance his gambling habit. The more he dabbled in gambling the more he stole from the funds.

As a financial expert he did not apply any risk management rules to gambling. Being caught up by the law is the only way to stop his criminal activities. I guess not all good traders are cut out for gambling.

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Gambling Addiction Traps

This is a chip counterfeit case. A Chinese student in Australia collaborate with a dealer of the Crown Perth Casino in Australia to produce fake $25 casino chips. When caught they had about $26,000 worth of chips in hand.

With a bad twist of fate their plans was unfolded by Customs official before it even took off. The student got off with fine of $3000 while the croupier sentence will be due next week.

Having a relationship crisis was the student's excuse for turning to gambling. Overwhelmed by a gambling debt was the motive behind the student's crime. Once caught by this trap the student's nightmare begins.

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Chinatown Becomes Betting Strip

Community leaders is fearful and angry that London's Chinatown had become a betting strip. It is no longer a place to visit for Chinese food, oriental produce or to enjoy Chinese culture.

Businesses are moving out as being planted near a betting shop is bad for business. Tourist are also turned off to see a colony of betting shops. This reflects badly on London as a whole.

According to the chairman of London Chinese Community Centre, the dwellers find gambling irresistible. A social worker further detailed out the reason for such addiction.

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Serial Casino Cheaters

On August 29 2013 a case that was described by authorities as nationwide serial casino cheaters was brought before the Hamilton County Municipal Court. Four men were charged with one count of casino violation each.

Judge Bernie Bouchard set their bonds at $40,000 cash. "I set a high bond for these professional casino thieves based on their extensive history of criss-crossing the country in pursuit of their next casino heist," the Judge said.

In brief, the operation resulted in a loss of $1,565 per man to the casino. It made use of colored chip in roulette.

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Commentary | About 36 Casino Gambling Tips

To those who seek gambling tips then having 36 Casino Gambling Tips would sufficiently equip them. As a gambling club consisting of tacticians, +guerrilla gamblers see the 36 Casino Gambling Tips as strategies against the casino. I had frequented the website with the intention of understanding gamblers and gambling and I see it as the Psychology of Gambling.

Gambling Myths

The issue of skill or luck (tip 1), the paranoid that the casino will mark winners (tip 2), the mentality that we could leave the casino easily (tip 3) being misled to think that trends and probability works (tip 4), the disillusion that high drawdown (tip 5) equate to success, and conspiracy thoughts that the casino cheats (tip 6) to win are rooted deep in our psychology.

Casino's Perspective

Not realizing that house edge (tip 7) is paying a surcharge to the casino for playing, randomness (tip 8) is the casino's tool, our winnings creates publicity for the casino (tip 9), the cowardice of casino through maximum bets (tip 10), the casino employs distraction tactic (tip 11), and the casino would resort to conspiracy thoughts that the supernatural (tip 12) reveals gambler unawareness and need to change their psychology.

Gambling Emotions

Gambling involves understanding impact that emotions have of the phyche. Impatience (tip 13), fear (tip 14), and indecision (tip 16)constantly weights down the mind. Pride or over confidence (tip 15) comes from initial success that would fuel greed (tip 17) that would lead to destruction. Out of sheer desparation gamblers rely on intuition (tip 18).

Gambling Pitfall

Gambling Pitfalls comes back to emotional psychology again. It focuses on the most destructive emotions. A simple sulkiness that comes from discontent (tip 27) could blow up to rage (tip 25). After that comes chasing loss (tip 26) and subsequently the ugliest sight of gambling beyond your means (tip 29). The desperate may come to gambling to ease (tip 28) financial burden or the lonely need to seek addition trill through gambling (tip 30).

Gambling Tools

Keeping gambling records (tip 19) and conducting postgame analysis (tip 21) are daunting task that require mental acceptance that these menial activities can be helpful. Psychological preparation is needed to completely rely on luck (tip 24) and increase bet size (tip 20) because these activity will take you out of your comfort zone. Preparation is most crucial in abstaining to take a break (tip 22) because doing nothing can be destructive in the casino. Capitalize bias outcomes (tip 23) comes under acumen which also requires mental preparation.

Gambling Essentials

The tips under gambling essential

• humility (tip 31),
• expect losses (tip 32),
• confine loss to bankroll (tip 33)
• warning (tip 34)
• risk mgt (tip 35)
• expense with your winnings (tip 36)

deals with major paradigm shifts that requires acceptance and preparation.

On its surface, the 36 Casino Gambling Tips appeared to be sharing tips for the benefit of gamblers. Since it covers gambling phychology, it can be use to gain insights on how gambler think. This could help social workers who are dealing with people whom gambling had become a problem.

Casino Slot Machines Deceive

Casino slot machines use to make a bell ringing sound when a winning combination is hit. Today these machines store an average of 400 different sounds.

Sounds had been used to confuse gamblers. These sounds are classed as wins, losses and losses disguised as wins.

Researchers believe this form of deception causes problematic gambling behavior by triggering gambling rage.

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Demand for Gambling

An estimate of 3,125,705 gamblers participate in gambling in illegal gambling dens in Thailand.

Sixty-three percent of Thailand's population gambled when were below the age of twenty-four.

It would seem a bit odd that an illegal gambling den is operated by the national military (as seen on the picture).

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Lip Service to Treating Problem Gambling

With gambling enjoying worldwide acceptance, the heartless explosion of casino benefits the economy at the expense of creating more compulsive gamblers.

Tom Leksan a former Ohio lawyer believes that "casinos thrive off the compulsive gambler. They pay lip service to treating problem gambling, but that's their bread and butter."

Looking into the allocation fund for is the best indication to gauge the degree of lip service to treat problematic gambling.

Casino said they kept their end of the bargain citing in contributing to the fund for treatment of problematic gambling.

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Online Gambling on Facebook

For a game like that facebook is trying to groom young people into gambling.

+SavySeph had help me test out this game to ensure it simulates the real thing and did a screen capture for me below.

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Casino Accepted Widely

Today casinos are well established and accepted across international boundaries as a legitimate and responsible industry. Schools had been set up to train dealers.

With the industrial revolution, access the game of the upper class gradually move to the lowest strata of society.

These were the infancy stages of the industry and it was plague with various social ills. Casinos were seen as a harm and life destroying organization.

I remember a time when I was brought up to think of the casino and gambling as nothing but bad news. Today the casino had gained so much social acceptance to become the good guy. Should I be swayed to accept the "modern" ideology?

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Firearms at Gambling Shops

Violence at the betting shop in on the rise recently. To add on to the sense of insecurity, robbers are getting more daring by using firearms.

With a gun and a machete two robbers busted into a bookie shop in Chesterton. The amount that they managed to get away with was not reveal.

There are indication that money was not the real issue here. The robbers may have a different agenda.

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Casino Supports Politicians

While lawmakers bow to the casino, the casino reciprocates by supporting politicians. Here are two recent cases.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chief Executive Officer, Sheldon Adelson who controls the world's biggest casino company by market value is also a donor to Republican candidates.

Neil Goulden, the chairman emeritus of the Gala Coral Group, gave a £20,000 donation to Chuka Umunna the MP for Streatham. As one of Britain's biggest bookmaking chains, Gala Coral Group owns more than 1,700 betting shops in United Kingdom.

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The Lonely Turns to Gambling

Rich or poor, gambling mistreats those who feel isolated. These people are not sufficiently challenged so they seek a more potent exhilaration to fill the emptiness inside them.

Kenny Sansom went from living in a £1m mansion to being homeless. More on my webpage.

Gambling Shops Profit Down

"Ladbrokes on a loser as heatwave puts its gaming machines in the shade," the Independent reported on 12 Aug 2013.

Ladbrokes told investors that the growth had been slower than predicted. The FOBT had been reaping a 40% jump in profit for the pass 3 years is now performing way below expectation.

They reported that the half yearly profits had been slashed by half at £55.1m and this resulted in their share price dropping by nearly 4%.

With revenue declining by less than 10% but profits cut by 50% something is not right somewhere. More on my webpage.

FOBT Gambling Crime

Betting Shops Violence Spread out of UK

Seven machines were smashed up after an angry gambler loss €5,000 in a sleepy town in Italy. The crack cocaine of gambling had caused trouble in outside UK shores.

In Berserk Addiction, David Borgan was order to pay compensation when he smashed the machines with a hammer. In Gambling Violence, Mark Rutter was give life sentence. FOBT related violence may get as ugly as this manga.

Read more on my webpage.

Students Turn to Gambling

Save the Student's Survey

A survey of 2,300 students was done by Save the Student, a website on money management, to gauge how students are coping with the escalating cost of living in the UK.

It showed that 8 in 10 students do not have sufficient money to live on and a shocking 1 out of 5 turning to gambling to make ends meet. It also unfolded that 1 out of 4 would consider taking a job in the adult entertainment industry and 2% thought about going to a payday loan firm. More on my webpage.

Unscrupulous Legalized Loan Sharks

Payday loan firms, the legalized loan sharks in UK, are resorting to dirty tactics in going about their business operations. They are operating as if they were above the law. Hiding behind the crown allowed them to exploit the uninformed consumer with their own set of rules. It is like going back to the days where loan-sharking was illegal.

When probe by the law they can get off without a scratch by just surrendering their license. That is not a bad deal considering the extra-ordinary profit of this business had been pocketed. Take Wonga’s the largest payday loan firm as a guide. The firm tripled its net income to £45.8million in 2011. Their founder Errol Damelin is worth £34million and Jonty Hurwitz is rated at £25million. More on my webpage.

Gambling Addicts Trip to Hell

This article looks at the effects of barring gambling addicts from casino. It inquires into effectiveness of this method.

The case of a man barred from the casino using his mother's identification documents to gain excess to the casino in Singapore is an indication of the effectiveness of this remedy from the enforcement point of view.

Singapore's intention to build casinos on their republic is put under probe as their laws clearly indicates that the nation is not ready to have a casino.
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Casino Cheated $500,000 in 5 Months

Two New Yorkers will be going on trial for allegations of scamming the Mohegan Sun casino. The scam involved collaboration with two casino dealers Jian Ng and Bong Louie who will be trialed separately. The cards 7, 8 and 9 were marked by the dealers and troopers say Hu and Hung won more than $500,000 the boston.com reported. More on my webpage.

Moved to Website

I have moved to a website. The design is not as I intended but I will refine it as I go along. Learning HTML had been fun so far. I just need to take this one step at a time. Allocating time to learn and writing can make me scream out loud sometimes. I guess, it should not be a problem once I get a hang of HTML.

Here is my usual blog but it is on my on my new website this time. It is entitled "Nations Bow to Gambling" or "Bow2gambling". It is my comments on the the new casino in Crypus.

Moving on to a Website

I am thinking of moving on to a website. Blogging on google is about the same as learning MS Word where the learning curve is not too steep. I had been trying to learn html by switching from text mode to html mode while writing my blog but that won’t do. I need switch to a webpage to force myself to learn more html skills and be able to design a webpage.

Website Content

I am not an expert in gambling and most certainly do not have the ability to come up with an impressive multipage website on gambling. I came to the gambling circle here on google because I intend to do my post graduate studies on problematic gambling behavior, so my content will remain the same. It may seem a bit weird but I will be blogging on a webpage.

Studying problematic gambler is challenge to me because this group feels nobody can understand them unless they are gamblers themselves. Counselors, who are not gamblers, will never provide effective help. I will endeavor to put some framework as a starting point to understand these people because they have the potential to chalk up very costly damages and in the process mess up the lives of their loves ones.

Content Scarcity

I guess the need to move on had something to with the difficulty to find materials on problematic gambling behavior. It had to be confined to reported cases in most situations. With the news on gambling toning down, I get to feel a sense of idleness and that urges me to upgrade my skills. If I run into another material scarcity period again, I would most likely find a new topic. Write about girlie stuff like beauty tips or love and romance. Well, that is another story.

Gambling Addiction Crime

An operation specialist of Barclays Bank stole £127,471 from customer accounts since January 1, 2010, the Birmingham Crown Court heard. Julia Finney, 29, pleaded guilty to stealing the cash over a three-year period on July 4, 2013 the Birmingham Mail reports.

Finney was accused of fabricating nearly 200 separate transactions from customer accounts. The fraudulent transfers were fictitious amounts using ‘sundries accounts’ at the bank which Finney credits into her sole and joint accounts. A routine audit by the bank managed to pick up Finney's fraud which committed at the Barclay Bank, Colmore Row, Birmingham. Alan White, spokesman for Barclays Bank, said: "Whilst rare, staff fraud simply isn’t tolerated. We work with the relevant authorities to ensure matters such as this are dealt with in the appropriate way."

It was learned that most of the stolen cash was used to feed short-term payday loans to pay off her gambling debts that she had built up. As an operation specialist, Finney should know the consequences of taking a loan form payday loan companies. The desperation to get easy and fast loan approval offered by these firms must be the main attraction for her. She just wanted money fast to feed her addiction. The consequences never did come to mind. It is still beyond my comprehension that experts of money could lose their rationality where gambling is concern.

Crackdown on Under-age Gambling

Half the gambling premises in Milton Keynes had failed to prevent the under-aged from entering the premises. Karen Ford, Head of the Council's Regulatory Unit, worked with the Gaming Commission and several 16 year old volunteers in a recent crackdown on 10 premises. It would not come as a surprised that if under-aged could get in without identification check, they would also be allowed to place bets. Three of these premises were found to guilty in this aspect as they allowed the volunteers to place bets.

In view of the anticipated opening of the new Aspers Casino in Milton Keynes later this year, the blitz was done to check that controls were carried out to prevent under-ages from having access to gambling facilities. Ms Ford said: "This was a disappointing result for the businesses involved but they have all made a commitment to improve staff training and to implement measures such as self-testing and the sharing of good practice. We will continue to monitor these and others to ensure the safety of children and young persons in Milton Keynes."

Most staff is indifferent when they see the under-aged enter the premises. With gambling facilities being easily available in the UK, sooner or later a person would have got involved in gambling. This attitude is the main cause for such lose control. To prevent further disappointment, Ms Ford need to constantly run check and blitz to toe the line or control will continue to slack. Slapping heavy fines on the operators will ensure they trained their staff accordingly.

Gambling Violence

SavySeph's manga referred to a case in Scotland where a man was given life sentence for causing violence in a betting shop. After losing £200 Mark Rutter, 40 smashed up a few machines and attacked two bookie shop's staff demanding to get back his money. He punched one man and injured the other with a pair of scissors then fled after taking £200 from the till in a William Hill's shop.

Rutter's case was seen as an angry punter losing control and resorted to violence. In another reported case of enraged punter using violence, David Brogan smashed up 4 machines with a hammer after losing £700 in a William Hill shop which I cover in my blog Beserk Addiction. Since nobody was hurt, Borgan got off the hook by paying compensation for the machine which he destroyed. In comparison Borgan's case differs significantly with Rutter.

• Borgan was a first time offender while Rutter had criminal history of criminal violence,
• There was no life threatening situation Borgan's case,
• Borgan destroyed property but hurt nobody,
• Rutter threaten staff and took money from the till.

Rutter case was deemed as robbery and thus had his previous offenses stacked against him. Jim Keegan QC, Rutter's defense, claimed that the gaming machines had sparked violence throughout Britain. He pointed out that many incidents were unreported because it would jeopardize the shop's business operations and admitted: "I don't say that excuses the level of violence which was used after the accused went across the counter and attacked the two men. But the machine was the catalyst". Keegan QC is trying to associate Rutters case to that of angry punters to divert it from being deemed as armed robbery resulting in life threatening injury but Judge Lord Uist was not convinced.

Looking at the merit of both cases they do not qualify as precedence. If Britain is serious about curbing the violence in Fixed Odds Betting Terminal (FBOT) premises that the former Treasury Minister fear will spill over to the High Streets, then cases similar to Beserk Addiction should be given a steep punishment to act as a deterrent.

Gunshot at Casino

A 23 year old Milwaukee woman was shot in the leg after a fight broke out at Potawatomi Casino, Menomonee Valley, Milwaukee on June 16 2013. A 27 year old Wauwatosa man was arrested at the scene. The suspect had a history of bad criminal records, the 620WTMJ (Wisconsin's Radio News) reported.

Gabriella, an eyewitness to the incident, had expressed her fears and dissatisfaction over the way the matter was handled. Security is clearly lacking in this casino. The gun should not even be in the casino in the first place. The metal detectors will buzz like crazy when you try to pass a gun through it. For it to go unnoticed the safety crew must be sleeping on the job or could not care less. No matter how they beef up security it will happen again because of this apathetic attitude. Ironically, incidents such as these will not deter Gabriella or other hard core gamblers from revisiting the premises.

Add Betting Shops to Pubs

In a move to revitalize high streets pubs are allowed to set up betting shops, the the UK Daily Mail reported on 29 May 2013. The ruling come into force on the date of publication. Again tax revenue from gambling is seen as a solution to boost the economy (see SavySeph's Blog for a similar line of argument). While policy makers use fear of Britain’s high streets turning into ghost towns to justify themselves, critics expressed their concern about high street being ‘overrun’ with bookmakers and payday lenders. Progress at the expense of social ills is the central theme for debate.

As long as gambling is present the complimentary industries will also mushroom along with it. A related article reported that payday lenders are experts when it comes to preying on minors because they are easier targets. Instead of churning out prosperity, it will only create more ghettos. A Labour source added: ‘This would mirror the unfortunate system in Australia where betting shops are found in large bars. They are placed in a defined area within the pub where beer cannot be consumed but have led to real problems where people go out on a night out and end up blowing a lot of money on booze and gambling.’

This are the typical stigmatization attached to gamblers. They see all gamblers as irrational and consuming alcohol will add on to it. Casinos had been offering alcoholic beverages to patrons without much incidents. I don't see a difference as betting shops are not new to Britain. Surely there would be a pub in the vicinity of these betting shops. The greater concern should be on the payday lenders targeting minors.

Betting System Had Fantastic Payback

Listen up gamblers. I just searched the internet and found an amazing betting system. It offers fantastic returns on your capital. Returns as high as a monthly dividends of £70,000. The system works well in the Betfair gambling website. The bets there are not only fair but prone to this system to offer you this amazing returns.

Sorry, did I catch anyone off guard? If you had bought my story, you will find me living it up with your money and behind bars for five years. This was the fraud by Elliott Short, 26, of Chester, Cheshire (see dailymail.co.uk news). Short indulged in a lavish lifestyle after conning family friends £400,000. He frequented exclusive night clubs and lived in plush hotels. Splash the money on branded clothing and vacations.

He proclaim himself the ‘King of Betfair’. He managed to get the now-defunct newspaper into running a write up about his success. He convinced the newspaper that he was a former City trader who netted more than £21million from his betting system. Short set up an impressive office at Knightsbridge as a front to lure potential investors. Potential investors soon realized that Short's super return never materialized and the tabloid was forced to print a retraction after Betfair affirmed the returns Short had promised were impossible.

In a five-week trial the London's Southwark Crown Court convicted Short of nine counts of fraud and one count of making or supplying an article for use in fraud. The price for Short's brief moment of luxury was five year of confiscated freedom. Would you make this exchange?

Berserk Addiction

Gambling addiction had always been thought of as the irrational behavior of pumping more money into casinos in hope of winning back all that was lost. This is one incident where some form of violence was involved. Clydebank Post reported that a betting shop at Radnor Street had been smashed up by a gambling addict after 8pm on September 7, 2012.

David Brogan a father of three, returned to the premises where he lost £700 with a hammer. Enraged by blowing away his monthly wages in a few hours, the 26-year-old began his rampage at the premise. A customer service assistant and the store manager could only watch as Brogan raised the hammer above his head and start smashing away. The witnesses kept out of his way as the move to the rear and lock the door. They could hear him leave a few minutes later.

A total of four machines worth £1800 worth were destroyed. Brogan pleaded guilty and was told to pay a compensation of £1850 to cover the cost of the damage. Sheriff Simon Fraser told Brogan: "I can understand your frustration at your stupidity at gambling away £700 in an afternoon but that does not entitle you to smash up other people's property."

I see Brogan's behavior as a form of justice or payback seeking. Since he can't get it form the machines that cruelly gobbled up him money. He could just smash it up to get even. I believe it would cost him a lot more if he had decided to borrow money to attempt to get his payback. There will be no end to his borrowing.

Bad Loser

It is not easy to come by a winning streak. According to +savy seph such occasion are rare (see her website) but these events do happen. We do not need gamblers to attest to that. Even the average Joe who does not gamble knows that. To be denied payment if you did come by a lucky streak is daylight robbery. This blog is a sequel to my previous blog Cry Baby Casino.

Let’s get the story from the Grantland’s article that Savy Seph used. Ivey won £7.8millon when he was already down half a million. That is a total win of £8.3millon coming from a half million loss. At this point the maximum bet was raised to £150,000 at Ivey’s request. For easy of calculation, assume Ivey parlayed maximum bet all the way. This would require a net win of 55 times to make £8.3millon. My question is, can a net win of 55 times be regarded as unfair advantage or would it fall under the category of super lucky days?

In a statement Ivey said, "over the years, I have won and lost substantial sums at Crockfords and I have always honoured my commitments" (from gamblingkingz.com). This is a clear cut case of a bad loser on the part of the casino. They would happily swipe Ivey’s money when he lost. When he had won a substantial amount, they conveniently accused him of cheating.

Even experts from the Casino’s home base in Kuala Lumpur (KL) had not found concrete evidence of cheating. If they did, they would had nailed Ivey. A simple letter to the fraternity of casinos worldwide to ban Ivey for cheating is enough to nail Ivey. Soon word gets around and the whole world would know that the poker superstar is actually a cheat. What does it tell you in view that these KL experts had sat on the thing since last August without taking the necessary action?

Cry Baby Casino

There is a Chinese saying, "nine out of ten who gambled will lose". Since there are more losers than winners, it is more common to hear gamblers put the blame on anything. People who do not gamble don't even give a damn with their justifications and excuses. They can whine all they want about it. If the amount was substantial these non gamblers may lend a sympathetic ears but deep down inside they thinks these gamblers deserve it. They should know better the risk that was at hand and should stop being a cry baby.

When there is nothing else to blame, gamblers will accuse the casino of using black magic. This not an exaggeration. It is a common accusation in Malaysia. It just amazing that they can come up with such ridiculous justification. Once you run out of excuses you had exhausted the rational so what remains is the irrational.

Read this news for the account of the biggest sore loser behaving like a cry baby. Now the situation is the other way around. The casino is the cry baby. I never expected a casino that had always been under constant fire for using witchcraft to resort to an equally ridiculous accusation.

(Ivey's profile pic on twitter)

Phil Ivey, an American who is one of the world's top professional poker players, was accused of cheating in a baccart game by Crockfords, one of London's oldest and most respected casinos now owned by the Malaysian based Genting Group. Quoting from foxnews.com

The casino group said in the court papers that Ivey's "illegal acts" void his claimed winnings. It said he was able to have a "significant advantage" over the casino by using improper means to determine whether the first card being dealt in the baccarat hands would be a powerful or weak card, allowing him to place his bets accordingly.

That is like saying Ivey here has an "uncanny" ability to predict cards. Ivey racked up winnings of roughly 7.8 million pounds ($11.9 million). When it involves millions the Malaysian based Genting Group will sulk like a baby and refuse to let you redeem their worthless chips to cash. You have to go through the long process of legal proceeding to get it.

Pinoy Loves Gambling

Hong Kong Police warned Filipinos that gambling in public places is an offense and that they will not hesitate to arrest offenders. A GMA News Online's article titled pinoy abroad reported this. The police also advice the Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong about the enforcement. The Consulate in turn reminded Filipinos accordingly on its facebook account on May 4. It added that gambling, including playing card games, at walkways, streets and parks are against the law.

This urge to gamble is beyond my comprehension. Could it be so bad that they will disregard the law and do in openly in public places? The first comment left on the news claims that "its pinoy culture". A comment on the Consulate's facebook had a mix of English and Filipino. I could only make out that it uses relieve from the stress of work on their off days to justify their actions. It is interesting that most comments on the facebook were by women.

Murder Probe

Twitter Mystery Solvers

I can't help but notice these tweets. I guess people putting their heads together on casual comments could actually solve mysteries. The problem is with the police as the burden of prove lives with them. Meanwhile keyboard inspectors like us make all the speculations.

British professional gambler jailed in US after admitting killing American wife in "heat of passion" bbc.in/1054va4

— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) May 2, 2013

In recent years he is known on the online and casino poker circuit for winning thousands of pounds in prize money but can't control passion

— Savy Seph (@SavySeph) May 3, 2013

Yes surprising that a poker player that had a reputation for winning is not able to control his emotions. I think its fight over money.

— heylong set (@SetHeylong) May 6, 2013

@savyseph When there is money on the table, they will give their right arm. When there is no money, they will resort to killing their wife.

— xingcai zhang (@ZhangXingcai) May 6, 2013

Savy Seph retweet me advising me not to marry a gambler. Being a gambler sucks. Once the world knows you are a gambler you have lost all trust. I just wonder how many reliable gamblers are out there. One in a million maybe?