From Card Player A bill that would have approved casino gambling expansion has failed to make it out of the Illinois House spring session. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has been pressing for casino gambling expansion since last summer, saying casino gambling revenue will pay for education, but Gov. Pat Quinn has requested that lawmakers include a comprehensive pension reform plan in the bill before he’ll consider passing it. “I will never, ever sign a gaming expansion absent comprehensive pension reform,” Gov. Quinn said. The bill would have approved a Las Vegas-style casino for the city of Chicago and given complete…

From SBR Forum Sports Book Review Sports Book Review Sportsbook Review.com provides an SBR iGaming News video rundown for the last week of May 2013. Today’s show topics include lottery and jackpot casino games supplier TopJack Games striking a deal with Asian gaming software company Market Dimension Ltd, as well as other recent iGaming sportsbook news. Lottery and jackpot casino games supplier Topjack Games has struck a deal with Asian gaming and software provider Market Dimension Ltd. The terms of the deal will have Tojack’s suite of jackpot games such as blackjack, keno, scratchcard, roulette, video poker and more converted…

Red Hawk Casino, underperforming since the day it opened and struggling to pay its bills, moved a step closer Thursday toward gaining financial relief. Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a new gambling compact that reduces the revenue the state will collect from Red Hawk and its owner, the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians. Brown signed AB 1267 by Assemblyman Isadore Hall, D-Compton, which ratified the new compact the governor signed with the tribe last November. Despite the governor’s signature, the Shingle Springs casino isn’t out of financial trouble yet. The tribe has to restructure $500 million in debt…

From iGaming Business American lottery technology provider Scientific Games Corporation has signed a contract with the Oklahoma Lottery that will see it supply lottery systems and services including terminals and state-wide communication technology. New York-based Scientific Games revealed that the year-long contract, which includes nine one-year extension options, was secured following a competitive procurement process and is set to begin from August 9. “The Oklahoma Lottery has been a valued customer since its launch in 2005, one of the fastest implementations ever in the industry, and we are pleased to continue our successful partnership,” said Pat McHugh, North American Lottery…

From LA Times Poker aficionados will descend on Las Vegas as the 44th World Series of Poker kicks off at Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. The first event, which began Wednesday, is a two-day No-Limit Hold ‘em tournament exclusively for casino employees. This year, the World Series of Poker, first held in 1970, will run until July 15 and will feature 62 events on 480 tables. Seemingly every major poker variation is present in the tournament, with buy-ins for the various events ranging from $500 to $111,111. Anyone 21 years or older can enter. Tens of thousands of poker enthusiasts…

From Australian Broadcasting Corporation WATCH VIDEO HERE Australians no longer accept tobacco advertising in any shape or form, now public health advocates say gambling ads should also be banned because of the harm they cause. The Federal Government has proposed a total ban on live odds during play and limited bans on general gambling ads during matches to reduce the intensity of betting company marketing. But just as tobacco companies were once accused of targeting teenagers to get them addicted to their product, Australian researchers believe gambling firms are just as voraciously targeting young people today. FULL STORY

British sports betting operator Stanleybet has threatened to sue Greece for lost revenue in a long-running legal battle over their gambling monopoly firm OPAP. Stanleybet accuses Greece of tacitly rejecting its 2004 request to offer sports betting in the country and said on Wednesday it had told the government and OPAP it will seek damages of about 240 million euros. OPAP, one of Europe’s biggest gaming companies, has a monopoly in offline sports betting and lotteries in Greece until 2030. Athens agreed earlier this month to sell a controlling stake and management rights in OPAP to Greek-Czech investment fund Emma…

Like infinite numbers of women before her, Heather Robbins didn’t dream of Nevada brothels. She came to Las Vegas with a bit of luggage and a big dream: to someday become a showgirl; or at the very least, to dance in a strip club and maybe work her way up by catching the attention of somebody influential. Like the thousands before her, the 22-year-old arrived by bus, fleeing a dysfunctional relationship, a negligent family, and desperate poverty in inner-city Indianapolis. Within the first week here, she managed some job interviews but never a job. By week two, she was ripping…