The young woman became an instant multi-millionaire in the Christmas Eve draw, although it took her six days to claim the prize in microgaming online casinos following a reminder from the Powerball administrators to players to check their tickets as the prize had not been claimed.

“My mum told me to check my ticket because she’d heard on the news that someone from the area had won the $12 million,” the anonymous winner said. “I didn’t really think it was me but then I thought, why not me?”

The woman said she never played the lottery but bought the winning ticket on a whim last week.

“I was walking past the Tatts shop just before Christmas and something told me to go in and buy a ticket,” she said, adding that she would use her new wealth to invest in her children’s futures.

Players speaking Polish, Norwegian, Finnish, Czech, Romanian, Hungarian and Japanese will now be able to play online casino games in their own language. William Hill Casino Club has a range of games with full graphics and sound effects, such as Blackjack, online roulette, Slots games, Video Poker and Arcade games.

Colin Cole-Johnson, casino director at William Hill, said: “We are always very excited to be welcoming new players and I’m pleased to announce that we can now entertain people speaking these [new] languages. We continue to improve our software capabilities to include other languages, and we will also be launching Chinese and Portuguese casinos very soon.”

Pinnacle, a regional online casino operator that doesn’t own a Las Vegas resort but runs a casino near Reno, said Thursday it lost $21.9 million, or 37 cents per share, in the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with a loss of $11.8 million, or 20 cents per share, a year earlier.

Pinnacle said its quarterly results included an $8.8 million charge related to the early payment of some long-term debt.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, whose estimates generally exclude one-time items, expected a profit of 2 cents per share.

Quarterly revenues rose 1 percent to $265.4 million from $262.9 million.

Pinnacle said its results improved at two of its Louisiana resorts, Boomtown Bossier City and L’Auberge du Lac in Lake Charles.

“There were no real surprises in the quarter and we think investor expectations were appropriately set going into today’s release,” JP Morgan gaming analyst Joe Greff wrote in a research note Thursday.

Pinnacle Entertainment Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dan Lee said the recession played a role in reducing the company’s results.

“We are pleased that consolidated revenues and adjusted (cash flow) grew from last year’s third quarter, despite continued softness in the overall economy and consumer confidence,” Lee said in a statement.

Lee said Pinnacle is concentrating on opening a second casino in St. Louis next year and construction of a second Lake Charles casino and new resort in Baton Rouge, La.

Macquarie Securities gaming analyst Joel Simkins wasn’t concerned about the quarterly loss. He said Louisiana is an important market for the company and it’s no surprise Pinnacle is taking steps to expand in the state.

“It is important to keep in mind that resurgent energy prices should ultimately benefit the Louisiana economy in future periods, particularly the company’s assets in Lake Charles and Bossier City,” Simkins told investors. “Pinnacle is somewhat of a derivative play on energy prices given its exposure to this region.”

PartyPoker Australia Ambassador Stewart Scott is the defending champion and there is a chance to emulate his success in Melbourne next year. PartyPoker is offering the chance to win one of 25 luxury Aussie Millions main event packages. These fantastic dream trips will be up for grabs in two amazing $600+40 satellites on Sunday 13th December. One will be timed to suit Australia and New Zealand-based players with FIVE packages guaranteed worth $12,000 casino bonuses, while the other is scheduled to give players from the rest of the world the chance to win one of 20 guaranteed packages worth $15,000.

PartyPoker ambassador Stewart Scott said: “I’ve been playing at PartyPoker for five years. These great packages are an amazing opportunity for other players to play in this huge tournament. Claiming the Aussie Millions title has been the highlight of my career and I’d love to see another PartyPoker player take the title.”

The Stewart Scott Bounty Hunt

From the 1st November, Stewart will be playing in the $64+$6 Aussie Millions ANZ Friendly Satellite Qualifier at 04.05 ET (19.05 AEST) every Tuesday and Thursday. There’s a $70 bounty on Stewart’s head if a player eliminates him.

Stewart Scott Aussie Millions Specials

In these tournaments PartyPoker will be giving away seats to Aussie Millions qualifiers. First place will win a $640 seat, second place gets a seat at the $128 qualifier while third will claim a $70 qualifier seat. Top ranking players will also receive prize money from the buy-in pool and there’s also a $70 bounty if you’re the player who knocks Stewart out.

Stewart Scott Aussie Millions Special 1 – Sunday 15 November, 03.05 ET (19.05 AEST), buy-in $6+$1
Stewart Scott Aussie Millions Special 2 – Sunday 6 December, 03.05 ET (19.05 AEST), buy-in $6+$1

Stewart Scott Highroller Aussie Millions Invitational

One luxury $12,000 Aussie Millions package for first place, $640 seat in final qualifier on offer for the player that knocks out Stewart. This takes place on Sunday 22 November at 03.05 ET (19.05 AEST) with a $250+$20 buy-in.

Scott, 37, from Queensland, Australia, made history in January 2009 by becoming the first Australian in the modern era to take down the Aussie Millions Main Event, scooping US$1,865,724. He made his debut representing the leading online poker room at the PokerNews Cup in Melbourne earlier this month. Scott is married with one daughter and started life as a gourmet chef in Adelaide , with a period running a small IT business as he honed his skills online. He made his first impact on the live circuit in 2006 by winning a satellite series at SkyCity Casino in Adelaide that awarded him a $30,000 package for the WSOP Main Event. Stewart is a popular figure on the Australian poker circuit and is well known for his relaxed attitude but killer instinct at the table.

“We’re committed to giving our guests what they want, and that’s exactly what we are doing for our poker players. The space is a natural fit for a poker room, giving players a private area away from the online casino floor, a convenient bar and lounge, and more seats and tables than any other Detroit casino poker room,” said Amanda Totaro, VP Marketing at Greektown. “Poker players can also get excited about new tournaments they’ll only be able to find at Greektown. We have always been known as a great place to play poker and we’re reinforcing that with our new poker room.”

Greektown’s new poker room will utilize a pager and digital screen system to conveniently alert players when their seat is ready. The room will also offer players a variety of traditional and several unique tournaments, a wall of fame, finger food, and free collectible tournament chips. Upcoming poker tournaments include “The Road to the Big Game,” a “No Limit Free Roll Tournament” and a “Bounty Hunter Bonus.”

Located at 555 E. Lafayette Boulevard in Detroit’s Greektown Entertainment District, Greektown Casino-Hotel opened on Nov. 10, 2000. Readers of The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press have voted Greektown Casino- Hotel Michigan’s and Detroit’s “Best Casino” numerous times. Greektown Casino-Hotel offers such amenities as their all-new International Buffet, the Eclipz Lounge and a VIP lounge for players. In addition to being named “Best Casino” by readers of The News and Free Press, Greektown Casino-Hotel also placed first in other categories in The News’ reader survey, including “Best Slots,” “Best Wait Staff Outfits,” “Best Craps Tables,” “Best Blackjack Tables,” “Best High Rollers Area,” “Best Casino Restaurant,” and “Best Casino Entertainment.” Greektown Casino-Hotel opened its new 400-room hotel tower February 2009.

The online casino operator reported a net loss of $123 million in the quarter Thursday, largely due to higher income tax expenses and other accounting measures.

The online gambling company, which operates The Venetian and Palazzo, three resorts in Macau, and the Sands Bethlehem in Pennsylvania, said the net loss translated into a loss of 19 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30. A year ago, Las Vegas Sands lost $32.2 million, or 9 cents a share.

Earnings were affected by an income tax expense of $73.7 million. The company also recorded other taxes and accounting actions.

On an adjusted basis, Las Vegas Sands would have earned 3 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet Research expected the internet casinos company to lose a penny a share in the quarter.

Revenues, however, were $1.14 billion, an increase of 3 percent from $1.11 billion in the third quarter of 2008.

“While our current quarter’s results in Las Vegas reflected unusually low table games hold, which negatively impacted our revenues by approximately $40 million, the execution of our cost savings programs has positioned us to deliver improved operating margins and cash flows as the economy recovers,” Las Vegas Sands Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sheldon Adelson said in a statement.

On a conference call with analysts to discuss earnings, Adelson said he couldn’t discuss the company’s planned initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in which the casino operator hopes to raise about $2 billion.

Las Vegas Sands officials said the company’s cost-cutting efforts are expected to amount to $500 million annually in savings. The process is about 90 percent complete.

Las Vegas Sands said strong results in Macau offset weakness in Las Vegas.

At The Venetian Macau, revenue was $493.6 million, a decline of 5.5 percent. However, the Sands Macau grew revenues 13 percent to $280.8 million.

In Las Vegas, revenue fell 26 percent to $228 million at The Venetian and Palazzo, due to lower room rates and a low hold on table game wagers.

“The quarter yielded an increase in our slot hold percentage and we saw demand for future group rooms to continue to accelerate,” Las Vegas Sands President Mike Leven said. “In fact, we put more future group room nights on the books this quarter than we have during any other 90-day period in our history.”

In Bethlehem, the Sands casino that opened in May with 3,000 slot machines reported net revenues of $63 million in its first full quarter of operations. The company said gamblers wagered $813.3 million on slot machines at the casino in the quarter, holding 7.2 percent of the revenues.

Leven said the company is monitoring the continuing debate by Pennsylvania lawmakers considering a bill that would legalize table games in the state’s casinos. The Sands Bethlehem would immediately add tables games to the casino if the bill passes, making the property the closest Las Vegas-style casino in proximity to New York City.

“If the table game legislation comes with a favorable tax rate, we will move to expand our business and employment in the Lehigh Valley,” Leven said.

Company executives said the $5.4 billion Marina Bay Sands in Singapore is on track to open in the first quarter of 2010.

Las Vegas Sands reported earnings after trading closed on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares of the company finished up $1.59, or 12.07 percent, to close at $14.76. In after-hours trading, the company’s shares rose $1.24, or 8.4 percent, to reach $16 at 5:30 p.m. PDT.

“Meanwhile, two potential Maryland buyers - developers David S. Cordish and Carl Verstandig - reiterated their interest in bidding on the tracks and the Preakness Stakes.

“Magna Entertainment Corp., the Canadian firm that owns the racetracks and the Preakness Stakes and filed for bankruptcy protection in March, said the auction should be held quickly because Maryland law gives the state 60 days to review a internet gambling deal and the right to match any bid.

“The sale procedures also would require potential buyers to keep the Preakness, the middle leg of racing’s Triple Crown, in Maryland, satisfying concerns of the state and others in the horse industry who had feared losing the state’s single largest sporting event…”

“Mark Pace, 58, of Texas, died Sunday after a spill in the first race at noon at Blue Ribbon Downs in Sallisaw.

“When changes were announced before the start of the races, Pace was named to ride a horse that jockey Mike Bishop was originally scheduled to ride, 3-year-old filly Reep What You Sow, the No. 2 horse in the online gambling race.

“…during the 5 1/2-furlong race, the filly ran into the rail and Pace fell. An ambulance transported Pace to Sequoyah County Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The track announcer, Jesse Ullery, said he believed Pace was dead on the track before being taken to the hospital.

“…Pace, a native Texan, had recently returned to riding after being away for an extended online casinos period…”

Last week President Lech Kaczynski signed into law draconian and controversial land gambling controls restricting gambling to casinos and the numbers of gaming machines permitted, and the concern is that online gambling will receive similar treatment, with rumours of ISP blocks and censorship systems.

Among those watching the government’s moves will be the Polish football industry, which has lucrative sponsorship deals with major Internet gambling groups, reports the Wall Street Journal.

“Gambling-related marketing and advertising has also been outlawed under the new [land gambling] legislation, and though sponsorship deals between sports teams and e-gaming companies have escaped the current ban, these agreements would be forbidden under the latest raft of proposals [to control Internet gambling]“, the publication claims.

The prospect of a ban on Internet gambling sponsorships has alarmed some of the country’s leading sports teams, but representatives of football teams and gambling companies wouldn’t speak on the record to the WSJ concerning the legislative developments.

Nevertheless, the Journal claims that roughly 50 million Polish zloties ($18.2 million) are channelled into Polish sport each year by e-gaming companies, including Unibet’s $4 million-a-season title sponsorship of 1 Liga, the second tier of Polish football.

The publication also reports that Internet gambling operators Bet-At-Home and BetClick have shirt-sponsorship deals with leading football clubs Wisla Krakow and Lech Poznan respectively, but their $3 million-a-year agreements could be illegal under the draft provisions.

“Such a development would represent a crippling blow to the finances of those teams and undermine attempts by Polish clubs to compete on the European stage. No Polish club has reached the group stages of the Champions League since Widzew Lodz in 1996,” the article points out.

“This threat to online gambling sponsorships will certainly be watched by the rest of Europe,” the Wall Street Journal article continues.

“Austrian operator Bwin’s landmark deals with two of the continent’s biggest clubs, AC Milan and Real Madrid - the latter worth up to GBP18 million a year - are two high-profile examples of e-gaming sponsorship agreements, while more than a third of clubs in England’s Premier League now have shirt-sponsorship contracts with online betting companies.”

This sponsorship trend is likely to continue into newly liberalised gambling markets like Italy,France and Denmark the report concludes, but what the sports sponsorship industry fears is a ban on the practice.

The forthcoming ratification of the Lisbon Treaty only increases the likelihood of a ban on sponsorships, according to Simon Chadwick, a professor of sports-business strategy and marketing at Coventry University in the U.K.

“This is not just an issue in Poland,” says Chadwick. “The debate about online gambling could be significant across Europe, and my view is that the clock is ticking on online gambling sponsorships.

“We’ve seen the banning of tobacco sponsorships, there’s now discussion over the banning of alcohol sponsorships, and gambling may also be banned in the coming years because there is a general consensus that socially undesirable sponsorships should not be allowed.

“The Lisbon Treaty doesn’t specifically mention online gambling but allowing such sponsorships to continue would be at odds with the prevailing ethos of the sport competence [aspect of the treaty], which is about leading healthy lifestyles,” he said.

Newco Entertainment Limited is a the company launching this exciting new internet bingo site; Newco has other major online casinos in the marketplace, including the Dragonfish Bingo Network. Newco’s new site has long been in development and the Super Millionaire promotion is designed to really give the site a strong launch into the market and entice gamblers to immediately sign up for new accounts. As a part of the promotion, new gamblers only have to pay GBP 1 for one ticket to the Super Millionaire online bingo jackpot.

This new bingo gambling site is designed specifically around the large bingo jackpots – the site is not for the meek because there is quite a bit of money to be won from MoonBingo. There are a lot of new games and cash jackpots for free bingo play. The idea is to get gamblers to the site and exploring the many new promotions and special features. Beyond what’s inside the new online casino bingo gambling site, Moon Bingo is also offering a highly competitive welcome bonus for all new players interested in giving the site a try.