Last night saw the conclusion of the UK and Ireland Poker Tour’s first stop of the season in Galway, Ireland. The poker tournament was postponed on Thursday until Friday to allow players more opportunity to travel and make it to the tournament because of heavy snow and terrible weather conditions in the country.

Despite the bad weather, 266 players made it to Galway and entered the tournament with many familiar faces amongst the line-up including Liv Boeree who is now part of Team PokerStars Pro. There was also a familiar champion from Season 1 of the UKIPT – Nick Abou Risk who was victorious in the Edinburgh stop of Season 1.

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Nick Abou Risk managed to make it to heads-up play against Trish Mallin and she had lots of support from the rail being a local amateur. On the final hand of the tournament it was all down to the river card as to who would be victorious. Mallin decided to shove after the turn card was revealed with the board of: 9/5/10/4. Mallin held 7/8 chasing a straight but Nick held 10/2 just needing to avoid a 6 or a Jack – and he did. The dealer revealed the river of 10 giving Nick trip Tens and victory.

Nick’s victory means he is the first UKIPT double-champion and for this win he picked up €67,100 meanwhile Mallin picked up €41,300 for the second-place finish.

UKIPT Galway Final Table Results

1: Nick Abou Risk, Canada – €67,100
2: Trish Mallin, Ireland – €41,300
3: Maurice Silke, Ireland – €25,250
4: Vytenis Navickas, Lithuania, PokerStars qualifier – €18,600
5: Eoin Olin, Ireland – €15,400
6: Dan Rankin, Ireland, PokerStars qualifier – €12,725
7: Roar Aspaas, Norway, PokerStars qualifier – €10,100
8: Johan Meyer, Germany – €7,975
9: Aonghus Farrell, Ireland – €5,700

A shamed store manager who squandered bogus lottery refunds to feed her own gambling habit has escaped being sent to prison.

Kezia Hopkinson, 27, from Priest Road,Swanage, admitted the theft of £20,576 from WHSmith PLC while she was running their premises at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital. Prosecuting at Bournemouth Crown Court, Carolyn Branford-Wood said an investigation had been launched at the store after financial irregularities were detected in February 2010.

She added: There were high levels of National Lottery pay-outs and a covert camera was installed to cover the tills and office. The footage showed Miss Hopkinson removing money and putting through false lottery refunds or winnings.

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Hopkinson, who denied pocketing the cash until she was shown the incriminating CCTV evidence, was £12,000 in debt. She told police she had frittered the money away on nights out with friends, splashing out on Champagne and gambling on slot machines, using part of the proceeds to buy a new car. During interview, she added: It was a habit; I couldn’t help himself.

In Hopkinson’s defence, the court heard that she was a woman of previous good character and truly remorseful.

At the time of the offences, she had been under immense pressure to boost sales and been suffering from depression, anxiety and a gambling problem.

Sentencing Hopkinson, Judge Roger Jarvis described the offence as very serious, and told Hopkinson: You were in a position of trust – the money has mainly been squandered. He imposed a 40-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, with a 12-month supervision requirement and 20-day activity requirement.

A bingo hall in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, is celebrating after raising over £1,800 for a cancer charity. The sum is much more than the £1,000 target that had been set by the bingo club and now Marie Curie Cancer Care will benefit as a result, the Ellesmere Port Pioneer reports.

Gary Shanks, manager of the location, said: “It’s inspiring to see how generous people have been, especially given how difficult this year has been financially for many.” It means that those who love to play bingo games have also had the opportunity to give cash to a good cause.

Marie Curie Cancer Care community fundraiser Siobhan Heffernan told the news provider it is great to see the efforts the bingo hall has went to help the charity out.

Racing claimed a measure of success in its battle with the betting industry over the next levy scheme, after the Levy Board’s three government-appointed members recommended that bookies should pay levy on bets placed on foreign racing and that the “threshold” system, designed to benefit smaller betting shop operators, should be abolished. However, their report to government suggests that the target yield for the next levy, the scheme by which bookmakers contribute a percentage of their gross profits to the sport, should be £75m to £80m, well short of the £130m to £150m that racing had insisted it required.

Both sides are now likely to spend several days studying the details of the submission to Jeremy Hunt MP, the culture secretary, who is required by law to determine the 2011 levy after the racing and betting industries failed to reach agreement. However, action on thresholds and a levy on foreign racing were two significant pleas in racing’s submissions over the levy, and both have received a favourable response from the Board’s independent members.

If accepted by the government, the report could ensure that the sharp decline in levy yield in recent years will be arrested. However, the proposal to abolish thresholds is likely to face fierce opposition from bookmakers, who will claim that it will threaten the existence of a number of betting shops where margins are already tight.

Australians will wager almost $1 billion on illegal online gaming this year, raising concerns it could become as big a social problem as poker machines.

The Gillard Government yesterday foreshadowed its crackdown on problem gambling would move into cyberspace to target the growing epidemic.

Federal Families Minister Jenny Macklin told a problem-gambling conference  held ironically at Jupiters Casino on the Gold Coast  that online betting was emerging as a major concern that would be tackled at a meeting of state and territory ministers early next year.

The move came as new research showed Australians would wager almost $1 billion on illegal online gaming alone this year and a leading gambling researcher warned young people were being caught up in the boom.

Internet gambling, apart from sports betting and lotteries, is banned in Australia, but many Australians access overseas-based gambling sites offering games such as poker and keno.
“It has been estimated that Australians will spend about $968 million in 2010 on illegal (overseas) sites,” gambling researcher Dr Sally Gainsbury told the National Association of Gambling Studies conference.

Dr Gainsbury, from Southern Cross University’s Centre of Gambling Education and Research, said internet gambling worldwide was forecast to grow in value from $21 billion in 2008 to $30 billion by 2012.

“It is highly accessible, fast and can be played alone at home with just a credit card and unregulated sites provide few player-protection measures,” she said.

The Productivity Commission, in a report on Australians’ addiction to gambling earlier this year, recommended a 10-year ban on internet gaming be lifted but the Federal Government refused.

Ms Macklin told the conference that while gambling was an enjoyable pastime for many Australians, for many others it was “a very, very destructive problem”.

Rush Poker Mobile, an application that features real money gaming, has been pulled from the Android Market. The software was in the beta testing stage and had been currently unavailable due to maintenance.

An e-mail from Full Tilt Poker technical support confirmed. “Rush Poker Mobile is currently unavailable due to maintenance. While we are delighted at the success of the Rush Poker Mobile software, due to the software being in the beta testing stage, maintenance such as this is often essential.”

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The Android Market website, however, offered up a different explanation for the app’s disappearance. “Apps with gambling themes or that include simulated gambling should be rated ‘Teen’ or above. Real gambling is not allowed in the Android Market.”

The app is still available for use on Full Tilt’s website, but a phone using Flash Version 10.1 or higher is needed to use the application. It is currently unknown whether the app will return to the Android Market for strictly play money use.

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Plans for a 24-hour casino in Didsbury have been thrown out by town hall bosses.

Grosvenor Casinos submitted proposals to turn a former bingo hall at the Parrs Wood Entertainment Centre into a gambling zone.

But members of Manchester council’s planning committee rejected the plans after residents objected.

The casino would have been at the vacant Buckingham Bingo Club in the entertainment complex, which is also right next to Parrs Wood High School.

Campaigners fighting the plans claimed sixth-form students from the school would be encouraged to gamble if the casino was approved.

The casino was opposed by John Leech, MP for Withington, as well as residents and local councillors.

Coun David Sandiford, who spoke against the plans, said: “Putting a casino near Parrs Wood High School would have been a dreadful decision.

“It was a wholly unsuitable site for a casino and the people of East Didsbury will be absolutely delighted by this decision.”

There is a already one Grosvenor Casino operating on Bury New Road in north Manchester.

The new one would have created around 120 jobs and meant a £3-£4m investment in the refurbishment of the former Buckingham Bingo,

The Rank group, which runs Grosvenor and Mecca Casinos, insisted that the site was already a bingo hall and that permission had been granted in 2007 to turn part of the complex into a casino which was open until 6am. However, the permission was never implemented.

A robber who went on the run for four years after holding up a bingo hall at knifepoint, has finally been brought to justice.

Lynton King, 28, and his accomplice Leroy Hippolyte, burst into the Gala Bingo in The Broadway, Pitsea, wearing a crash helmet and yellow rubber gloves.

King threatened terrified staff with a blade, before telling them they would be stabbed if they didn’t open the safe.

The pair fled with almost £5,000 from the raid, which happened on October 15, 2006.

Hippolyte, then 30, was linked to the raid, after police found his fingerprints and DNA on the crash helmet, motorbike, a pair of rubber gloves and a hoodie, which were later found dumped in Grays.

He admitted the offence at Basildon Crown Court in April 2008 and was jailed for four years.

During that hearing, the court heard how King said staff would “get the knife in their backs if they did not get the safe open”.

But after King was arrested in March 2007, he failed to answer his bail and went on the run.

He was only arrested in April this year, three years later, by Metropolitan Police officers for an unrelated offence. He was then handed over to officers at Basildon.

King, of Caraway Close, Plaistow, was found guilty of robbery and failing to surrender to custody, after a trial at Basildon Crown Court. He was jailed for five years.

Following the case, investigating officer Det Con Darren Ward, of Basildon CID, welcomed the sentencing.

He said: “I am pleased King has finally been brought to justice, more than four years after committing this robbery.

“The staff at the time were terrified as King brandished a knife and threatened to use it.

“This sentence reflects the severity of the offence. I hope others considering making a criminal career through robbery realise, however long it takes, they will be brought to justice and put behind bars.”