CNN – Right now, Bitcoin is a hard sell for people who are accustomed to old-fashioned cash or credit. The stateless, digital currency can’t shake off the image that it’s unstable, unproven and largely still an experiment. Recent news doesn’t help. Last week, Russia’s top prosecutor declared that Bitcoin and all anonymous payment systems are illegal. One of the largest Bitcoin exchanges in the world, Mt.Gox, prevented investors from pulling out their bitcoins, citing a technical glitch. Apple yanked the last remaining Bitcoin digital wallet from its app store. And earlier, a Bitcoin exchange CEO was arrested for money laundering….

Card Player – Some lawmakers in Italy are considering a ban on gambling advertisements that appear on TV and radio, according to reports. The amendment to a government finance bill has already passed the Senate. The lawmaker behind the proposal is Riccardo Nencini. Those in favor of it cite gambling as being an addictive activity. Italy has a murky regulated online poker industry, one which has been on the decline. This past fall, a European court issued a preliminary ruling that Italy cannot legally block some gambling sites from accessing its 61 million person population. Critics for Italy’s practice reportedly…

Fox News – A group of seniors in Washington state is pushing back against the state Gambling Commission’s decision to shut down their nickel-and-dime card games at a local senior center due to local ban on card games with money. Seniors at the 650-member Snohomish Senior Center had been playing illegally since 2009, when the city council banned “social” card games, The (Everett) Herald reported. Unaware the ordinance applied to them, the seniors continued to play poker, bridge, pinochle and other games for cash. In December, the Gambling Commission shut down their game with a letter informing them the games…

Wall Street Journal – Forget Britney Spears and Cirque du Soleil. For many gamblers, the hottest attraction in Sin City is an outdated three-reel slot machine that hasn’t produced a jackpot in nearly two decades. It is called the Lion’s Share, and in this city with no shortage of losing bets, the 20-year-old slot has attracted a legion of ever-hopeful devotees on the floor of the MGM Grand, the Strip’s second-biggest casino. The machine’s miserly track record may, paradoxically, make it the rarest of all Vegas treats: A decent bet. A generation of players has already lost money on it,…

The Tyee – Super Bowl Sunday is the biggest day of the year for gambling in Canada and the United States — more than $100 million is expected to be bet legally in Las Vegas alone. More than 100 million people will tune in to the Fox broadcast. They will be certain to discuss the $4 million-for-30-seconds TV ads, the Bruno Mars and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ halftime show and, of course, the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos on their smartphone or tablet via social media. At the British Columbia Lottery Corporation’s second annual responsible gambling convention last week, delegates…

Vice – BitInstant CEO Charlie Shrem, along with alleged co-conspirator Robert Faiella, was arrested by federal authorities last week for allegedly laundering more than $1 million worth of bitcoins. This is a tiny amount compared to the largest drug-and-terrorism money laundering case ever. Yet when British bank HSBC was found guilty in 2012 of laundering billions, the firm paid a fine of $1.9 billion. Authories made no arrests, and HSBC still turned a $13.5 billion profit that year. Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi detailed the crimes HSBC helped fund, including “tens of thousands of murders” and laundering money for Al Qaeda…