Spain, like the United States, has had a ban on online gambling. However, the Spanish government is taking steps to legalize and regulate the online gambling industry. As the market begins to open up, online casinos are rushing to get their place at the table. Two online casino giants, Bwin and William Hill, are currently under negotiations for licensing deals. Studies say that Spain has a potential a market of 50 million people. Bwin and William Hill want to be the first online casinos to hit the market, giving them an early competitive advantage.

 Spain’s move to legalize online gambling is in response to the European Union claim that the ban on online gambling violates EU trade agreements. The United States has been criticized of the same thing in regards to trade agreements within the World Trade Organization. With the possibility of America legalizing gambling soon as well – with a bill to repeal the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) currently in the House of Representatives – you can bet that the US would face a similar licensing rush from casinos. Most people believe that the US would give preference to current land-based casinos for licensing, though it would have to allow some foreign online casinos to abide by its trade agreements.

 Until then, Spain is the new pretty girl in the class and all of the online casinos want to meet her and get her phone number. Bwin and William Hill are the first to start talking to her, but expect the shyer casinos to say hello soon.

The G4 network is set to air a brand new online poker reality show called 2 Months, $2 Million. The show will feature online poker pros Jay “pr1nnyraid” Rosenkrantz, Emil “Whitelime” Patel, Brian “Flawless_Victory” Roberts and Dani “Ansky” Stern.

The premise of the show? The online poker players are all given a shared bankroll and are given two months to win $2 million. On the show, the online poker pros live together in a 10,000 square foot home equipped with 50-inch flat screens and computers to play all the online poker they desire.

If that sounds boring to you, fear not. There’s a lot more than a bunch of dudes sitting around clicking a mouse at their online poker avatars. The show is set in Las Vegas where camera crews will follow the guys around and capture every moment of the obligatory pre-planned reality show hijinks. For example, a promo for the show features the guys frolicking in the Playboy Mansion pool with a bunch of playmates. There you go, I just proved reality TV is fake. Game, set, match.

Ten half hour episodes chock full of online poker excitement are set to begin airing August 16^th at 9pm on the G4 network.

Other titles for this article: “Playtech Head Taking Over Leo’s Slots” or “Bar Rafaeli: Playtech Founder Hopes to Poker.”

Reports are circulating that Leonardo DiCaprio’s supermodel ex Bar Rafaeli is dating Playtech founder Teddy Sagi. Most likely, they are circulating from Teddy Sagi’s bedroom as if I looked like him, I would be calling everyone in the phone book and breaking the status bar on my Facebook bragging about bedding Bar Rafaeli. That being said, does anyone understand why a rich, successful and gorgeous woman feels she still has to date men for their money? I’m not saying she’s dating him for his money, but I’ve seen a picture of him and I think if he was the guy stocking shelves at Target the sparks would not be flying. But alas, he is the 30^th richest man in Israel, which is like saying you’re the 30^th skinniest person in Somalia.

So a bit about these two “love birds.” Teddy Sagi is 34 years old, founded online gambling software firm Playtech and sold 25% of the company for $250 million. He still owns a 40% stake in the company so it doesn’t look like he’ll be running out of dough any time soon.

Rafaeli looks way younger than 34 years old was modeling in major fashion campaigns and commercials by the age of 15. She has appeared in Elle, Maxim, GQ and Sports Illustrated. Though I hear that she is very intelligent which is why Teddy Sagi is dating her. And as Sagi is known as one of the rare software developers for having a keen wit and a charming twinkle in his eye, these two are a match made in heaven. I’m kidding. I can’t even type that sentence with a straight face.

So to wrap this all up. Leo’s Ex’s turn ons include: cash, money, legal tender and financial security. Meanwhile, Teddy Sagi is the smartest, luckiest computer nerd. Meanwhile, Leonardo DiCaprio laughs to himself as half a dozen other bikini models swing from his junk as he remembers that the only difference between having $50 million in the bank and $500 million is how far out of touch from reality your grand-kids will be.

A note to Ms. Rafaeli: Should you decide that filthy disgusting rich Playtech moguls are not your speed, but maybe want to slow dance to Debbie Gibson in the dark with someone involved in the online gambling industry I know a guy at Gamblingreview.com. Hint: His name rhymes with “Clicky Tower.”

Apparently, Playtech is a big fan of all things involving armored men wielding swords. Already offering the popular Gladiator online slot, online gaming software developer Playtech has a new slot with a spartan theme. The online slot is cleverly named Sparta. The Spartans are known for many things, including funky plumed helmets, fighting off a much larger Persian force at the battle of Thermopylae, and being the mascot for Michigan State University. Sports fans in Ann Arbor don’t have to worry, though, the Sparta game has no collegiate affiliation.

The 5-reel, 30-payline online slot has coin denominations from 1 cent to 5 dollars and players can wager up to 10 coins per line, meaning the maximum wager is $1,500. Maximum payout if $200,000. The game features various Spartan symbols, including soldiers, swords and catapults. Scatter symbols of the Spartan army can earn the player 15 free spins with double points. Riskier players have the opportunity to go double or nothing on their entire win or on half of their winnings.

After releasing the online slot based on Academy Award-winning Gladiator, releasing a Spartan game seemed like the next logical step. Spartan history and culture has seen a surge in interest thanks to the popularity of the Zack Snyder film 300, despite the fact that it’s a terrible movie. Just imagine how popular Playtech’s Sparta game will be if anyone releases a good Spartan movie. Sparta can be played at any of Playtech’s affiliated online casinos.

Congressman and online gambling patron saint Barney Frank’s bill to do away with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act continues to pick up supporters, now up to 50 as of Monday. Mike Thompson, a state representative from California is the latest to join the ranks, the tenth to do so since the beginning of July. More are expected to follow in August.

“Reaching this milestone illustrates that momentum is growing for a shift in U.S. Policy and a rewrite of U.S. Internet gambling laws,” said Jeffrey Sandman, of the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative. “The list of supporters will continue to grow as more representatives are educated on the subject and increasingly hear from their constituents that Internet gambling regulation presents the only viable way to protect consumers, since attempts to prohibit the activity have completely failed. We also expect an increased spotlight on Internet gambling as a way to augment federal revenues and help cover the cost of necessary policy initiatives.”

In the past, Republicans had done the most to thwart efforts to legalize online gambling. But with Democrats making up the overwhelming majority of the congress and Republicans still in time out after George W. Bush flushed their reputations down the political toilet, the possibility is ripe for this to really happen.

“These lawmakers are starting to realize just how out of touch previous lawmakers were when they adopted the UIGEA,” said observer Mark Freely, “the new administration seems much more in tune with what people in the US want, and clearly people want the right to gamble online legally.”

Lead advisers from President Obama’s camp met with Chinese government officials for a “strategic and economic dialogue.” The dialogue is being held in favor of upholding international commitments and free trade.

Both sides insist that the focus remains on keeping competition fair. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said that both nations have a strong interest in anti-protectionist measures and improving trade. “The United States and China are among the biggest beneficiaries of the global trading system and share a common interest in ensuring that global trade and investment remain open and rules-based,” Geithner said.

Much of this comes as a shock to the online gambling industry, as both the United States and China have proven themselves to be amongst the most repressive offenders when it comes to following rules. The US is facing accusations and possible legal action from the WTO and has lost a boatload of cash to Antigua over their failure to honor their free trade commitments with respect to online gambling.

China has instituted a “Great Firewall of China” which sensors the internet and particularly takes aim at online casinos. Should the UIGEA not be overturned in September, online casinos are expecting a similar online gambling ban in December.

America remains the largest market for online poker, despite the 2006 passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). After the passage of UIGEA, many online poker companies decided to focus on the European market and some pulled out of the United States altogether. Despite that, online poker is thriving in America.

Market research company Poker Players Research (PPR) reports that the United States still has 10 million players competing in online poker using real money, five times more than the UK, who has the second largest market at 1.9 million. The report states that Germany and France have 1.6 million and 1.3 million players, respectively, and the growing Scandinavian market has 1.4 million real-money players.

So it seems that the United States’ ban on “unlawful internet gambling,” whatever that means, is no more effective than its ban on drugs. The international aspect of the internet allows Americans to play online poker on websites located overseas. It should be noted, however, that the data in this report is somewhat misleading. The United States, with over 307 million citizens, is the third most populous country in the world, behind China and India. In comparison, Germany has about 82 million citizens, France has just over 65 million, the UK has around 61.5 million. The Scandinavian population, consisting of the citizens of Norway, Sweden and Denmark, totals approximately 19.5 million people.

Because there are so many more Americans, it can be expected for them to have a larger number of online poker players. A little simple arithmetic shows that both the US and UK have 3% of their population playing online poker, Germany and France have 2% of their population playing, and a surprising 7% of Scandinavians are playing poker online. Regardless of the percentages, though, UIGEA has clearly not been completely effective, since 3% of America’s population is still able to play poker online. Now, about the “war on drugs”…

I don’t want to hurt the feelings of the many loving pit bull owners out there, but from a media stereotype perspective, pit bulls are surrounded by the stigma of being owned and “appreciated” by some pretty rough characters. So, unless the site’s name is a reference to dogs playing poker, when it comes to steering clear of online poker sites, you don’t have to tell me twice to stay away from Pitbull online poker.

Pitbull aggressively sought to bring in customers by offering an unprecedented $10 to anybody who would sign up for an Pitbull poker account! Their flash-based gaming platform made gambling online with Pitbull convenient since players don’t have to download software and can play anywhere they can find an internet connection. But that’s about the only two good things I’ve heard about them.

Allegations are circulating like water in a flushing toilet bowl that Pitbull poker is up to no good. Suspicions have arisen from players that the site uses programmed bots sitting in at tables and the presence of superusers, able to see other players’ hole cards.

Player requests for hand histories, a common practice available on any trustworthy site, have been continually refused. As of July 24, 2009, hand histories are not available online. Dimensus Ltd, the parent company of Pitbull Poker has been dissolved as of March 10,2009 with no clear owner and never appears to have held a gaming license. Though they claimed they were based in Costa Rica, Pitbull had falsely represented themselves as a UK based online gaming company in the past.

As if that weren’t enough to make players who like money steer clear in favor of more reputable online casinos, one irate customer researched the folks at Pitbull and found out some pretty shady stuff. In March of 2004, Harrahs took legal action against Federico Schiavio for registering the domain wsop.com to launch his own online poker site. A scam artist named Kevin Baronowsky, who registered several domains selling things like pheromones and steroid cream, which redirect to Pitbull poker, was linked to forums that discuss illegally accessing satellite television. Later, he was arrested by a government agency for selling illegal equipment and ratted out his customers.

Since these accusations have come to light, more and more former online customers of Pitbull poker have come forward with accounts of seeing questionable happenings at their tables.

It has been reported that in the month of July so far Rival Gaming’s online slots are paying out over 100%. This isn’t like those idiotic athletes who insist they’re going to “go out and give 110%,” either. This number is real. While it is not uncommon for online slots to pay over 100% over a short time, like a few days, a string that lasts this long doesn’t happen often.

Seven different online slot games from Cyprus-based Rival Gaming are paying out over 100%, including their newest game, Psychedelic Sixties. That game, reports say, paid out $7,000 on a free spin on a wager of $1.40. You don’t have to be Monty Hall to recognize that good deal. Other online slots, such as Western Wilderness, are also paying out big. The game, which conjures images of cattle drives and shootouts, is paying at 100.56%. Other older games, such as Flea Market, Surf Paradise, and Sudoku Box Game, are also paying over 100%.

Online slots are games of chance, with completely random outcomes and requiring little to no skill. For that reason, trends like this can happen, but they disappear just as quickly as they arrived. No one knows how long the slots will be hot, but it is likely that many players will be flocking to the hot games in an attempt to cash in on the success. Players would be wise to do so soon. For anything completely random, streaks such as these usually don’t last long. In fact, it’s a statistical anomaly that it has lasted this long.

Leading online gaming software designer Cryptologic is not one to rest on its laurels. The company announced yet another deal, this time with UK bookmaker Totesport. Cryptologic, in an effort to expand their business, is signing deals to put their games on platforms supported by other software providers. Totesport is a bookmaker, established by an act of parliament in 1928, that specializes in horse racing, telephone betting and online casinos.

With the agreement, Cryptologic will offer six of its online slots to Totesport’s online casino website. They will provide both unbranded and branded slots, though it has not been reported which specific slots will be available on the site. Some of Cryptologic’s most popular online slots are based on Marvel comics’ superheroes.

Totesport is now the twenty-third company to sign a contract with Irland’s Cryptologic. Keith Oliver, e-gaming and Marketing Director for Totesport stated that he is confident the “collaboration will not only bring a new level of enjoyment for our customers but will also help to drive our ongoing expansion into online gambling.” The games will be available on Totesport’s website by the third quarter of 2009.