Card Player – A bill (Senate Bill 0878) favorable to charity poker operations passed the Michigan Senate last week. It now moves into the House for consideration. As MLive.com reports, the measure would allow charity gaming operations to do business 365 days a year. The bill would be better for the charities than what is currently being planned by the state Gaming Control Board, which is looking to implement stricter rules next month. Basically, it’s a race to try to stop the Board’s rules before they go into effect. Michigan regulators have been giving charity poker and blackjack a hard…

The Commerce Casino, the world’s largest poker room with 160 tables, has suspended its advertising relationship with the Los Angeles Clippers NBA franchise in the wake of racist comments made by team owner Donald Sterling. “The Commerce Casino has enjoyed being a sponsor of the L.A. Clippers for the past 18 years,” said a casino statement. “The arena experience for fans and the reputation the team has maintained is why we have aligned with the franchise. We know the NBA is reviewing the matter and we expect the NBA will quickly provide its findings and explain any action it will…

Charlotte Observer – Since New Jersey began Internet gambling in November, it has been difficult to use a credit card to fund an online betting account. New statistics from a company that routes those payments show just how hard it has been. CAMS LLC told The Associated Press on Tuesday that credit cards are being accepted from New Jersey gamblers between 42 and 46 percent of the time. It receives online payments from the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, which has the largest share of the state’s online market, as well as from the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort and…

Bloomberg – MGM China Holdings Ltd., the Macau casino operator, said first-quarter profit jumped by a third as mass-market gambling increased. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, increased to $257 million from $193 million a year earlier, according to a statement yesterday from MGM Resorts International (MGM), the company’s Las Vegas-based parent. That compares with the median estimate of $258.5 million from six analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. The numbers exclude a branding fee of $16 million this year and $13 million last year. MGM China will continue to redeploy more gaming tables to mass-market gamblers,…

CNBC – Las Vegas is easily America’s city that is most synonymous with recreational risk-taking. Atlantic City, especially for those on the East Coast, has also long been known as a place to take a chance on blackjack or drop coins in a slot machine. But in truth, the United States is dotted with gambling havens from coast to coast. With tax rates up to 40 percent, these businesses can generate hundreds of millions in state revenues. We decided to look at the states with the most revenue from commercial gambling in 2012. Some of the 13 states that made…

The Hill – A coalition of libertarian groups have said a new bill to ban online gambling would pave the path for more government control over the Internet. The bill “is an inappropriate and unnecessary use of federal powers that infringes on the rights of individuals and states,” a coalition of ten libertarian groups said in a letter to the leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees on Monday. The bill to ban most online gambling for money was introduced by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) earlier this year. It would reverse a 2011 Justice…