It is not new news that mega-mogul – Sheldon Adelson – has made billions of dollars out of the gambling industry. He is the owner of Las Vegas Sands, as well as various other gaming properties. It is also not new news that he is adamantly opposed to the introduction of an online gambling industry in the USA. So much so, that he is throwing mega-money at the government of this country.

The hypocrisy is blatant, and is out there for anyone who cares to see. His reasoning for the viperous campaign he is conducting against regulating this industry, is supposedly based on his own personal moral compass. So, it is fine for him to have made billions out of people with gambling problems, because live casinos are not as easy to access as the virtual homes to these games. To this end, we are made to believe that “traditional gaming venues are not able to victimizecustomers in the same way that online venues do”. We say, we have never heard such a lot of poppy-cock!

Adelson is so sure that his casinos are more responsible in the way they deal with their customers, that he is throwing money by the millions at the next US election campaign. We believe, in the hopes of lobbying against regulation for gambling online. We have also heard from the grapevine that he has met with no less than FOUR Republican presidential candidates (2016 elections), and donated $90 million to their campaign.

This hypocrite of note, believes that it would be good to see Barack Obama defeated, and that any amount of money will be well spent if this stops the regulation of internet gambling. He vows that his rationale is to discourage “gambling addiction” problems, which brings us to the next story.

In even more recent news, we hear that a New Jersey Woman has stolen $1.8 Million finance her gambling addiction. Guess what?This is not an online gambling addiction – it is one whereby she spent the stolen money at a Sands Resort Casino. If Sheldon Adelson is the owner of the Las Vegas Sands, we can also safely assume that any “Sands” branded casino property, is going to be one of his. He would hardly allow his “Sands” brand to be plagiarised by any other company.

So, the fact that people steal to fund gambling addiction in his establishments, can hardly have escaped this man’s eagle-eye. Surely not? Or is he just blind to the fact that people are the problem when it comes to problem gambling, not the gambling establishment? People have to be more in control. And if Adelson believes that he has problem gambling controls in place at his land gambling establishment, then perhaps the hypocrite should think again.

We often read about the concerns certain groups have regarding the proliferation of online gambling, and its effect on problem gamblers. The real problem is not internet gambling websites, the problem is people. Some people are simply don’t have the moral compass to know when to stop. Be this addictions to alcohol, drugs, gambling, sex or cheating others out of their hard earned money. It is a people problem, not a gambling problem.

One Utrecht, Netherlands woman, who was recently investigated by the Public Prosecution Authority, was found to have spent as much as €557,000 on internet gambling sites. To make matters worse, she was the "supposed" founder of a non-profit organisation designed to help children who displayed behavioural problems. Now, if this woman does not have a behavioural problem, we certainly don’t know who does.

A foundation named "Vriended van Tom"in English – Friends of Tom – was the source of her funding. So, after intricate investigations made into her spending habits from 2008 up till 2013, she appeared in court, charged with the embezzlement of €700,000. This money was PGB-funding which in the Netherlands should be used to help people in need of extra care. The money came from funds allocated to parents of problem children by the Government.

The problem is, that this lass still has a problem – she admits that she has gambled before, but denies the amount spent. Anyone with half an ounce of sense knows that people in denial won’t admit to any problems. Responsibility is stressed at all good online gambling site, and she could have been gambling at many. So it is as our opening paragraph states. People are the problems, not the games or websites.

In this particular instance, the guilty party was stealing from needy children, and their parents who desperately needed help. Admitting that she has a problem, is the only way she will ever get help. It is about being realistic, rather than living life in "La-La Land". The majority of online players don’t have problems such as this, and even if they are considered to be problem gamblers, would not steal from others to fund their habit.

Addictions always affect our own lives, and the lives of our families. But rarely are they so severe that the lives of needy children are affected, as in this particular case. Right now we do not know what the outcome of the court matter will be, but we trust that the judge will see that this young miss needs much more than mere counselling for a gambling habit.

Multi- millionaires and even multi- billionaires have been made by the online gambling industry, and here we do no refer to players who have won big money. Although more than a few online multi-millionaires have been made when playing these games, the real winners are the people who dared to take a gamble, and offer casinos, bingo clubs, poker rooms, and sports-betting websites online.

Social gaming is a category that has long been popular online, but this popularity has recently expanded in to the online gambling arena. Basically this means that gambling-type games are being played on social media websites, and social media gaming designers are delving into the gambling genre. One of the latest of these social gaming developers – Playtika – has joined in the fray.

This Tel Aviv based developer is not to be confused with Playtech, also an Israeli-based online gambling game developer. Playtika aims to allow fans of their games a taste of what it might be like to enjoy gambling online, but at this point only for fun. In other words games will be developed in demo” mode where real money is not exchanged!

They are already creators of some of the most widely played social gaming titles – over five million people play these games daily – from one-hundred and ninety countries. Their online video slot title – Slotomania – is the current jewel I n the crown – introduced in 2010. It became an almost immediate hit, and immediately a big hit with web-based gaming enthusiasts. Its execution was soremarkable that Interactive Entertainment giant Caesar’s snapped it up just one year later. They became a 51% shareholder of the company in 2011, and we all know how big Caesar’s is.

Despite the fact that Caesar’s is a gambling brand, they are also predominantly a US land gambling brand. There are still currently all kinds of regulatory issues regarding the legality of Internet gambling in this country, so, Playtika, and their new major partner do not offer slots where money is involved. These games are considered to be normal online apps where the player accumulates points to earn virtual rewards.

Obviously there has to be some (rather large) money it in the system, or CIE would have never become involve. So, players effectively enhance their “freemium” gaming experience, by purchasing upgrades, but no player expects to win money. Playtika has essentially become Caesar’s Interactive Entertainments’ lynchpin in the social gaming industry. They even have taken the title of “largest in the world”, away from Zynga.

In December 2013, Net Entertainment signed an agreement with one of the world’s leading online gambling groups, bet365. Net Entertainment is today pleased to announce that a comprehensive selection of the company’s best titles is now offered via desktop and mobile channels to bet365’s player base.

Björn Krantz, Chief of GMO and MD at Net Entertainment Malta Ltd, said: "We are very excited and proud to realize a successful launch of our games on Vegas at bet365. I am positive that our innovative and exciting portfolio of best of breed games will be well received by bet365 and its players."

The regulatory landscape for online gambling websites ishugely diverse. However offshore websites are popularly used by millions of fans, even in countries where ostensibly real money gambling activities are not allowed. Most Western European countries have regulatory systems in place, while the majority of the USA, as well as Asian countries don’t have much going in terms of regulation.

Russian courts have made ISP’s responsible for blocking internet gambling websites that are "illegally" offering this form of online gaming, and the latest website to bite the dust is the almighty PokerStars. Here is pays to remember that like most people in the world –the Russians love playing poker. Some of the best WPT, and WSOP players are Russians who first started playing online. Now a November 2012 ruling by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation has put a spoke in that wheel. But it does not stop here, some major type of censorship pogrom appears to be on the cards, with opposition news groups and others being affected.

According to the press, this ruling has not been properly enforced since its inception, but things are starting to change. Although land gambling is restricted to special zones, online gambling is strictly speaking – illegal. Access to PokerStars has now been blocked, together with a host of other gambling websites, and even some sites that do not offer real money gambling games.

PokerStars has the lions’ share of the market for online poker globally. The Russian Federation cutting them out of the equation will obviously have an impact on numbers. It is a very large country, with a very large poker following. While we doubt the effects of a ban will put this mammoth poker brand out of business, it could well be a hard knock.

Other A-listed gambling brands to come under the ban include; Ladbrokes, SportingBet, Unibet, Carbon Poker, and the dedicated Russian PartyPoker.net website. Affiliate sites have been included in the ban and in total,approximately fifty websites have been affected. Although some players are reporting that they are unable to access these websites, but somehow still manage to access tables. Not quite sure how that works, but PokerStars remains positive, and has offered reassurance to fans stating ~ "at this time we do not believe this changes our ability to offer services to Russian players. As such our operations continue as usual."