According to the AFP, some genius in India faked his kidnapping because he needed money for a gambling trip. Pawan Verma, a 22-year-old in New Delhi, staged his own kidnapping and demanded $40,000 from his father so he could make a trip to Macau, where he wanted to celebrate New Year’s Eve with his girlfriend with a night of partying, gambling and other excesses.

Apparently, Verma doesn’t have enough spare time in his life to watch any of the American movies where someone stages a kidnapping in order to get some money. Spoiler alert: It never ends well! When you get out of jail, though, Mr. Verma, I would suggest watching Fargo. It’s the best of the fake-kidnapping movies.

The case against Verma is pretty good. What makes them think he staged the kidnapping? Well, the authorities were tipped off when Verma was seen at the drop site picking up the random money…Yes, folks. This rocket scientist actually went to the drop himself instead of sending someone else and somehow didn’t expect to be recognized. He thought his dad would just drop off $40,000 without having anyone watching? I imagine it went down something like this:

Verma’s father: Look, there’s somebody heading over to the duffle bag now!

Cops: Okay, team. Get ready to move in.

Verma’s father: What the f–? It’s Pawan!

Cops: What?

Verma’s father: That’s my son! I can’t believe it! He’s okay!

Cops: Are you sure it’s him? It can’t be someone else?

Verma’s father: Are you saying we all look the same? No, it’s him; I know it. Thank God…Wait, he’s taking the money. He’s walking away…That son of a—

Verma, not surprisingly, was arrested. The authorities found it hard to believe that he had a legitimate reason for picking up the ransom money when he was supposed to be kidnapped at that time. A police officer in New Delhi told the press that Verma wanted to treat his girlfriend for New Year’s. He “wanted to fulfill her wish but was not able to bear the expenses.”

Maybe he should have just come clean. It’s always tough when you have to tell your girlfriend you can’t afford something, but I think that’s a little less damaging to the relationship than getting arrested for faking your own kidnapping. Add to that the fact that, if he needed to conduct this scheme to afford the gambling trip, this man has no business gambling in the first place! You should never gamble money that you can’t afford to lose, and I think it’s safe to say that if Verma had to con his dad out of $40,000 to hit the casino, he fits in the can’t afford to lose category.

A police offer said that if the father wishes, the charges against Verma will be dropped. My opinion: He should go to jail and be banned from ever visiting a casino…and from having kids.

So a priest walks into a poker tournament and wins $100,000. That’s not a joke, but when you first started reading the sentence you probably thought it was going to be. If it was, though, I probably would have started it with, “A priest and a rabbi…”

This, however, is no joke. A South Carolina priest, Reverend Andrew Trapp, recently entered the PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge and took a shot at the $1 million prize. His church, St. Michael Catholic Church, is trying to raise $5.5 million to build a new church and is nearing that goal. Trapp, who is an assistant pastor, received permission from his pastor and also from the Charleston bishop.

Since it was a free tournament, Trapp contends that he wasn’t really gambling. He also stressed that in his view, activities such as gambling and drinking aren’t sinful if they are done in moderation. The key is to be smart and not overdo it (which is pretty much my opinion as well). “It’s a question of moderation, just like anything else,” Trapp said. “We believe it’s fine to enjoy a beer or a glass of wine, but not to abuse it and get drunk.”

Trapp had a lot of fun at the tournament and likely challenged the preconceived notions some of the other players had about priests. “At the very least, even if I didn’t win any prize money, I was hoping it would help people to see that priests can have fun and be normal people and hopefully get a little bit of a fun twist on the image of the priesthood,” Trapp said.

The tournament, believe it or not, was televised on FOX after the football games. Yeah, I know. I didn’t see it, either. I imagine some of the players thought it was unfair competing against a priest. After all, there’s a good chance that God was on his side. Is it cheating if God performs a miracle and gives you the winning hand? I guess not. In any case, Trapp didn’t win the grand prize, but he did bring back $100,000 for the church, which is now a little less than $1 million short of their goal.

Yeah, I know we’re a little late to join in this craze, but Gambling Review is now on Twitter! The tweets will come from yours truly, Jeremy Schrute, your favorite staff writer (unless you still prefer Ricky, even though he hasn’t worked here for a while). So follow us on Twitter. I’ll have lots of interesting facts, witty comments and all of the other stuff that you’ve come to expect from Gambling Review. Here’s the link:

http://twitter.com/Gambling_Review

Last Friday, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm signed a new smoking ban into law that outlaws smoking in all bars and restaurants. The new law will take effect in May 2010. Similar smoking bans already exist in other states, such as Florida and California. Smokers have predictably called the legislation discrimination, saying that it tramples on their right to smoke wherever they please. Like is often the case, these people have no idea what is a “right” in our country and what is a privilege. I’ve read the US Constitution many times, including the Bill of Rights, and smoking is never mentioned. The anti-smoking crowd points out that they have a right to eat food without choking on someone else’s cigarette smoke, but they aren’t right either. The truth is, each establishment has the right to choose whether or not they want to allow smoking. A smart restaurant separates the smoking and non-smoking sections in such a way that smoke from the smoking section won’t bother people in the non-smoking section. If they do not, non-smokers have right to refuse to eat there. But I digress. For the record, I think smoking is a filthy habit and I can’t enjoy eating a meal when someone else’s smoke is in my face. Plus there is still that believe, though unproven, that second-hand smoke can cause cancer.

As is often the case, though, the new legislation does not affect everyone equally. Lobbyists are very good at getting new laws to work to their benefit. As a result, cigar bars and casinos are exempt from the smoking ban. As a result, some believe that casino business could increase. Smokers enjoy smoking as a social activity, and if they can’t do it at their local bar but can at a casino, why not go to the casino? And while you’re there, you can always try your hand at blackjack.

Some employees of casinos have complained about having to inhale smoke all night at work and are likely unhappy with the exemption, but there are now plenty of places where they can work in a smoke-free environment. Only time will tell if the ban significantly increases the business of the casinos, because it’s unlikely that smokers will go there instead of a restaurant to eat, but they could take away a lot of business from bars. Of course, while that’s good for the casinos, it’s not so good for the bars. We’ll keep you posted.

I’m one of those people who thinks that you can never have too much of a good thing. If a little bit is good, then a lot is even better. It’s why I won’t do heroin. I would end up increasing the dosage until I became a complete junkie and then overdose and am found in a dumpster like Layne Staley. I also love to multitask. I’m one of those people that bought DirecTV so I could watch all 65 NCAA tournament teams playing at once in tiny, tiny boxes on the screen. It’s great because it gives me more and more and allows me to multitask in my basketball-watching activities. Well, Roxy Palace finally has come out with games catered to people like me.

Roxy Palace is now offering a cool new feature brought to us by the boys at Microgaming. The online casino is now offering multi-tab gaming, which allows members to play up to five games at once. This means five times the fun, or I guess if you lose, five times the pain and disappointment. Players can do this with any game. Multi-tab gaming works best with simpler games that don’t require strategy, such as keno, bingo or the slots. I would advise against playing 5 poker games at the same time. That’s a pretty good way to lose money five times as fast. Plus, you’ll annoy the people who are waiting on you to make a decision because you’re playing one of the four other games.

The multi-tab gaming works basically the same as multi-tab web browsing that you would find on Firefox, Internet Explorer or whatever else people use for surfing the web nowadays. You can have five tabs open at a time and each tab would have a different game. You click on the tab that you want to play and that game is brought to the forefront of your screen. As a warning, though, playing more games at a time means that you are wagering and risking more money at a time, so while it can be fun and it can lead to more winnings, it can also increase your losses.

To get your multi-tab gaming on, visit Roxy Palace online casino today. Or I guess you can do it tomorrow, but why put off until tomorrow what you can do today?

If you remember, and you probably don’t, a while back we reported on the Morongo Band in Mission Indians and their quest to provide online gambling within the state of California. Recently, the Morongo Band has opposed measures in Congress to repeal the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). While that may seem absurd, given their desire to provide online gambling, there seemed to be selfish reasons for it. A legalization of it nationwide would increase competition and the Morongos, according to some, wanted it all to themselves.

Now, however, the tribe seems to be getting more generous. They now are asking the state to allow them to allow them to provide online poker. The state should regulate the industry to ensure that it is safe and fair. In return, the tribe would cut the state in on some of the profit. The Morongo Band is reiterating that California need not wait for nationwide regulation. If they keep the online poker games inside the state and only allow players who reside in California to play, no federal regulation is necessary.

Facing major budget problems, California is looking for any ways to make extra money, so it’s possible that they’ll go along with the Morongo’s ideas. Only time will tell.

Green has become kind of a dirty word lately. It has become the word of pseudo-environmentalist con artists like Al Gore and their propaganda machines on NBC, National Geographic and the like. It has become a means of conning trillions of dollars out of individuals, corporations and even governments all in the name of saving the world from a fictional coming disaster known as “global warming.” Green is not always a bad thing, though. Originally, it signified money, and money is a good thing when it’s yours. And it’s even better when it’s freely given to you. That’s what Casino Tropez is doing.

The newest promotion at Casino Tropez is called ‘Tis the Season to See Green. The green they are offering is a 25% bonus on all deposits. Unlike with usual deposit bonuses, there is no cap, so if you decide to deposit a billion dollars, the online casino will match 25% of that and deposit it into your account. There is a catch, though. You can only participate in this promotion if you are on the casino’s e-mail list. So if you are not, be sure to sign up so you can receive an email on how to get a 25% bonus on all deposits until December 22.

Casino Tropez has always offered great bonuses to new members and they continue to do so, even with the ‘Tis the Season promotion going on. New members get a 100% match bonus on their first deposit up to $100. They also receive a 50% match bonus on their second deposit, this time with a $200 maximum. After that, every Sunday for the next 27 weeks, the new members can earn a 100% match bonus on their deposits up to $100.

With all of these giveaways, you’d have to be a real Grinch to not go along with Casino Tropez’s green ideas. Their idea of going green, instead of costing you lots of money like with the government and Mr. Gore, will actually put extra money in your pocket. I know extra money would make my Christmas a little more merry. To claim your bonuses, visit Casino Tropez today.

All Slots Casino is best known for their slot tournaments. I know, that must come as a shocker. The tournaments often have a theme that is in keeping with current events, including holidays. This month, the casino is holding the Christmas Spin promotion. The tournament started on December 8 and runs until January 4, 2010. The tournament has weekly events, each with prizes. The weekly events run from December 8 to December 14, December 15 to December 21, December 22 to December 28 and December 29 to January 4.

It is surely a unique type of promotion, or at least new to me. Members can’t access and play the featured game directly. They have to accumulate enough credits playing other games to get free spins on the game. Points earned on the game then are added to their leader board.

The Christmas Spin promotion is played on an online slot called – you guessed it – Christmas Spin. That’s probably where they got the name, though you can never be sure with the creative types. The prizes for the promotion are credits and the credits are treated as bonuses, in that they must be wagered 30 times before being withdrawn. During the promotion, players will be given one free spin on the Christmas Spin for every 50 credits wagered on any game in All Slots Casino. The points earned on Christmas Spin will accumulate and at the end of each week, the players with the most points will win prizes. Prizes will be given to the top 150 players and they will share a pool of 10,000 credits, with the prizes ranging from 1000 credits for first place to 25 credits each for 81^st through 150^th place.

What makes this promotion appealing is that nothing is required of the players than to do what they normally do. There is nothing extra, like an entry fee. All they have to do is play their favorite games, which they would do anyway, and while risking nothing, get free spins on a specific game, on which they can earn prizes.

To take part in the Christmas Spin promotion, simply log in to All Slots Casino and start playing some games. You know you want to. If you didn’t like gambling you wouldn’t be reading this. So go ahead. Have fun. Tell them I sent you… Actually, don’t. They don’t know me there anyway. And even if they did, you wouldn’t get anything special by dropping my name, so there’s no reason to bother.

We’re hearing more and more stories of men entering and winning women’s poker tournaments. At first, it was a novelty, but it’s gotten to the point that Gambling Review needs to address the issue. Men, stop entering the women’s tournaments. After outcry, one male player even said that he wouldn’t have entered the women’s tournament if he had known he wasn’t wanted. Gee, maybe the word “women” in the title should have been a clue. Men don’t try to play in the LPGA or the WNBA, so there’s no reason why they should enter women’s poker tournaments. Let the women have them. There are plenty of other tournaments out there.

Some have said that these events prove that men are superior poker players to women. I doubt it. I think that we simply never hear about the men who enter the women’s tournaments and don’t win. There is no physical advantage that can be gained in poker, the game is a combination of strategy and luck. There is no reason that women can’t strategize as well as men, unless people are suggesting that women aren’t as intelligent.

Some are also saying that the women’s tournaments are sexist and the men are right to join them, sort of like Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball. However, I don’t think any man in his right mind should care if women want to have a poker tournament of their own. After all, you can’t be a waitress at Hooters or a contestant in the Miss America pageant, either. While the tournaments can’t legally bar men from joining, common decency says for men to stay out. The other side of the argument is that women’s poker tournaments are sexist toward women. This depends on the reason for the tournament. If it is to give women a chance to win because it’s thought that they can’t compete with them men, then yes, the tournament is sexist and women need to realize that there is nothing preventing them from being as good at poker as the men. However, if the purpose is simply to give women a chance to get together and have fun playing poker, kind of as a ladies’ night, then that’s fine. Men have had poker night as a way of bonding forever. Why can’t the women do it, too? Not all women like to bond over pottery class, yoga or scrapbooking, you know. And some that do also like to play poker.

What it all comes down to is this: Men wouldn’t want women invading their men’s poker nights, so don’t invade their ladies’ tournaments.

Now is the time of year that people splurge on presents for loved ones and people in the office or school that they unfortunately have to get a gift for because of the bad Secret Santa idea. It’s the time of year when charities get more donations than any other time, including those annoying people outside Wal-Mart ringing a bell all day (no, I’m not saying that they’re not good people or that you shouldn’t give them money; I’m only saying that they’re annoying). With all of that spending going on, people tend to cut back on other expenses that are not necessary, including playing at casinos. That is why this is also the time of year that casinos roll out all kinds of good promotions. Right now Blackjack Ballroom online casino is offering 3 December promotions for their online slots. I know what you’re thinking. Isn’t this place called Blackjack Ballroom? Yes, but they have so much more than blackjack. And Mostly Blackjack Though We Also Have Lots of Other Great Games Ballroom doesn’t sound as catchy.

One promotion starts tomorrow, December 5 and runs through Sunday, December 6. The promotion, appropriately enough, is for the online slot game called Ho Ho Ho. No, it’s not a sexist game with a rap theme that is disrespectful of women. It is a game themed after Santa Clause. Anyway, anyone who wagers at least 20 credits on the game will be qualified for a prize at the end of the promotion. Prizes are 100 credits each for 10 players chosen from a random drawing of those who qualify.

From tomorrow, December 5, through December 10, Blackjack Ballroom is running a promotion on the Snow Honeys game. Unlike Ho Ho Ho, this game can actually be considered sexist, or at least some of those easily offended feminists might think so. The online slot has a theme of women playing winter sports, such as skiing in bikinis. For some people, that’s sexy. To me, I worry that they’ll get frostbite. But maybe I’m strange. To qualify for the promotion, players have to wager at least 20 credits on the game. At the end of the promotion, the top 5 wagerers on each day of the promotion will earn 100 credits each.

The third promotion is the big one, which started on December 1 and runs through December 31. The promotion is played on an online slot called Thunderstruck. No, it’s not based on an AC/DC song, though that would be really cool. The slot is actually based on Thor, the Norse god of thunder. And most Blackjack Ballroom players already knew that, since the casino stated that it is the most popular slot game of 2009. Players who wager at least 100 credits on the game will earn double loyalty points.

To take part in the promotions, visit Blackjack Ballroom today.