Visitors to online casinos and other online gambling sites increased during the month of July, according to comScore. The company, which measures all kinds of Internet statistics, stated that online gambling websites had 13.4 million unique visitors during the month of July. That is an 11 percent increase from June.

So what caused a sharp spike in interest in online gambling during the month of July? No online casino visitors were polled, but it’s a safe bet that it has something to do with a little event during July called the World Series of Poker.

According to Jeff Hackett, Senior Vice President of comScore Media Metrix, the World Series of Poker tournament prompted “millions to visit online gambling sites to test their card-playing skills.” It’s not hard to believe that the tournament, which is now thoroughly covered by the likes of ESPN, among other media sources, would lead to an increased interest in online poker.

Not surprisingly, online poker websites saw the largest gains during July. PokerStars saw an 8 percent increase, Full Tilt Poker saw a 14% increase and Ultimate Bet saw an incredible increase of 33 percent more unique visitors in the month of July.

It is not known how many of those online gambling visitors were from the United States, where the World Series of Poker is held (in Las Vegas). The U.S. federal government currently acts on a de facto online poker ban, thanks to UIGEA, even though no federal ban on online gambling exists.

comScore provides digital marketing intelligence by measuring a variety of statistics for websites, online advertising and online traffic. They use statistical research, analytics and survey tools for their research.

Things that bring a smile to my face: so much pizza that I can have as much as I want without seeming like a hog. The sweet smell of a chrysanthemum on a spring afternoon. And lastly, the little guys getting justice. The Kahnawake Gaming Commission issued an 11 page report detailing their findings in the investigation of a cheating scandal in Ultimate Bet online poker rooms. Tokwiro Enterprises has resolved to make things right by returning the lost funds and is doing everything in their power to make sure this does not happen again.

The KGC’s findings back up Ultimate Bet’s claim that they were not involved in the scandal, which should make online poker players who frequent their site breath a sigh of relief. Tokwiro Enterprises, current owners of Ultimate Bet were fined $1.5 million and has been ordered to refund $22 million to cheated online poker players.

COO Paul Leggett responded to the news as part of the company’s official statement: “The welfare of our players is our top priority and we are very pleased they now have access to the details of the fraud and all the facts and findings released by the KGC included in their report,” he said. “A lot of our players have been patiently awaiting the release of the full list of usernames involved in the cheating incidences, and we can now answerany of their outstanding inquiries related to their refunds.”

The online poker scandal involved Russ Hamilton and 31 co-conspirators using 117 screennames and 23 different Ultimate Bet accounts which wound up cheating other Ultimate Bet online poker players out of more than $22 million between 2003 and 2007. In a press release, Tokwiro mentioned that the scandal was made possible due to their screen name policy, in which users were allowed to employ several names and use names previously discarded by other online poker players.

Kathryn Farrell, an Ultimate Bet representative, said in a statement: “Witht the public release of that decision, we are finally able to close the book on theat chapter of the company’s history,” the statement said, “While we vow to never forget, we look to the future as a company with a pasion for the game of poker and for providing our players with the safest and most secure poker rooms on the net.”

A recent poll conducted by the betting exchange found that there are two major factors weighing on the minds of internet gamblers, the US government’s freezing of assets back in May and the recession. The fact that the US government overstepped their authority, or what I like to call “doing what the government does best” by seizing funds to be paid out to winning players is a major concern among online players – at least those who know about it. The survey showed that 88% of the players were concerned about the security of their money and 76% moved to different sites as a result. However, only 42% of the players in the United States were aware of the freezing of assets from PokerStars, Full Tilt, Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker.

 The poll also showed that 52% of the US players are spending less money in online casinos than the previous year due to the recession. So basically, online players are worried about the government stealing their money and about the government trashing our economy by spending too much of their money. Both problems seem to stem from the same principle: the government cannot be trusted with your money. The players’ worries about the government is the hurting online casino business, which should come as no surprise, because the current administration of bad for every other business as well, though it is good for the United Auto Workers union (UAW) and lawyers that love frivolous malpractice lawsuits. So if the online players want to make some real money they should probably join the UAW.