gambling

We've heard of betting with virtual currency in Zynga Poker, but how about playing with some bona fide dollar bills?

Zynga made its first move to create real-money gambling games in the U.S. by filing its initial application with the Nevada Gaming Control Board yesterday, according to the Wall Street Journal. Now, the board has to decide whether Zynga will be allowed to hold a gaming license in the state.

The social-gaming giant has made no secret that it'd like to get into the world of real-money gambling. In fact, in October it announced a deal with … Read more

The founder of an Internet poker company has been arrested and charged with operating a Ponzi scheme that allegedly bilked poker players out of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Raymond Bitar, founder and CEO of Full Tilt Poker, was arrested today as he arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Bitar, 40, said in a statement issued through his lawyers that he voluntarily returned from Ireland to face charges.

"I know that a lot of people are very angry at me," Bitar said in the statement. "I understand why. Full Tilt should never have … Read more

CNET TV reviewer Ty Pendlebury joins in on a fun rundown to start the week. We'll chat about a proposed bill that would require marketers to put a disclaimer on doctored advertisements, self-destructing e-mails, a Sony heads-up "VR" display, and something called "nomophobia." Yeah, you probably suffer from it already.… Read more

Zynga's possible plans to enter online gambling spurs a bipolar reaction for me. The capitalist in me drools over the potential business model, but the do-gooder worries about gambling addiction and sees an epic societal train wreck ahead.

AllThingsD has a big overview of Zynga's plans to enter online gambling. There are a bunch of caveats, of course--Zynga, for instance, has to navigate state and federal regulators--but it's highly likely that Zynga Poker will be played with real money at some point.

From a business perspective, Zynga's gambling exploration is absolutely brilliant. We all know the … Read more

There is a limitless need on the part of social networks to make limitless amounts of money.

If you are Facebook and you might, possibly maybe, have an IPO shindig next year, you have to help potential investors believe that your revenues are rosier than an English country garden.

This might be why reports are emerging from the United Kingdom that Facebook is considering allowing casinos to operate within its virtual friendship facility.

When I say casinos, I mean ones with real money.

The Daily Mail fulminates at the prospect. It cites the knowledgeable people at eGaming Review in insisting … Read more

Several founders of the three largest Internet poker companies doing business in the U.S. have been arrested as part of an indictment that includes charges of bank fraud, money laundering, and other online gambling-related offenses, the U.S. Attorney's office said today.

The three offshore companies--PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker--are accused of circumventing a 2006 U.S. law that prohibits financial institutions from handling transactions for online gambling sites. Prosecutors say they allegedly tricked U.S. banks and credit card issuers into processing billions of dollars in transactions that appeared to be legitimate sales on hundreds … Read more

A company called American Wagering is releasing a BlackBerry application in time for football season that will allow users to place sports bets from their smartphones.

Called Leroy's App, the software can be used anywhere in the state of Nevada, following its approval by state regulators, according to Las Vegas-based American Wagering.

"The Nevada Gaming Control Board scrutinized the project with a very thorough lab investigation, which helped us in setting the bar for our security features. We have developed the first mobile phone betting application to be approved in Nevada," John English, senior vice president at … Read more

They say launching a tech company is a gamble in and of itself, but sometimes that just isn't enough to bet on.

An Antigua-based sports betting site called Bodog has opened up speculation on when Facebook will reach the milestone of one billion users around the world--and also whether the company will go public by the time this happens.

The odds are good for both of them. Bodog places 4/6 odds on Facebook hitting a billion users before January 1, 2012, and 11/10 on the company going public before reaching that user count. A release from the … Read more

Steve Ballmer admits Apple knows a thing or two about tablets. The U.K. government says it's sticking with IE 6 despite the entire world saying it's full of security holes. And the U.S. Congress, realizing it's out of money, wants to bring Internet gambling back to the U.S. so it can be taxed.