Telegraph – While the FTSE 100 finished the week on the front foot, punters betting that William Hill shares are in for a rough ride over the next 12 months ensured the bookmaker missed out on the broader market’s winnings. The gambling group slumped 13.3, or 3.2pc, to 403½p – the heaviest faller in the blue-chip index – after analysts at JPMorgan Cazenove cut the bookie to “underweight” from “overweight”, a double downgrade that skipped out the “neutral” rating altogether. William Hill, which warned on profits earlier this month, will come under pressure in the coming year partly because of…

Rant Sports – In 1954, the Baltimore Colts began a trend that was initially viewed as a novelty act but would go on to forever change the landscape of the NFL. This change to football had nothing to do with the on-field product, though, it was the invention of cheerleading teams in the league. Since the Colts decided to form their own cheerleading team there has been a boon of teams who have picked up the trend of having their own cheer squad, but no team has had a bigger impact on the status of cheerleaders in the NFL than…

Card Player – A woman who won a $1-million prize in a promotion at an Oregon tribal casino is suing the firm who insured it for stiffing her on her seven-figure payout, according to KGW. In 2012, Beverly Mackey, who currently lives off of disability and social security payments and a small pension, hit the grand prize in the Chinook Winds Casino’s “Swipe, Play & Win” promotion. To her devastation, the insurer of the contest, Nevada-based Odds On Promotions, reportedly refused to pay, claiming that it had made a terrible blunder. It said a company technician put the odds of…

India Times – This Diwali, expect fireworks ‘across the board’, literally. As the well-heeled and the not-so-well-heeled travel overseas, gambling is emerging as a major passion and casino destinations, the big draw. Even in their backyard, while some still indulge in the roll of the dice surreptitiously, new vistas of wager are opening up under state patronage across Goa, Sikkim and Daman. In India, the business of casinos alone accounts for Rs 500 crore in revenues, says Jaydev Mody, chairman of Delta Corp Ltd, the biggest organised casino operator in this neck of the woods, with three offshore casinos and…

Players seem to find mobile game play the preferred method. The global gaming industry is going through radical changes, and it’s primarily driven by consumers. The explosive adoption of Smartphone and Tablets and new emerging markets in developing countries have pushed the number of players, social casinos and online gambling websites. According to SuperData Research the estimated value of social casino sector across all platforms remains $1.7 billion in 2013, driven by 173 million players worldwide. The industry will record nearly 50% growth in next 2 years, consequently, the projected value of social casino sector will touch $2.5 billion by…

Gambling 911 – “Runner, Runner” star Ben Affleck was so worried over the outcome of the online gambling flick that he brought in his go-to-film editor, Academy Award winner William Goldenberg, to spruce things up. The film still bombed. “Runner, Runner” took in a dismal $7.7 million its first weekend in theatres.  The Brad Furman movie involved a $30 million budget.   Furman is rumored to have lost control of “Runner, Runner” during the filming. By comparison, the Sandra Bullock-George Clooney film “Gravity” took in a whopping $55.6 million in its opening weekend. Affleck and co-star Justin Timberlake each were reportedly…