Quick Spins: Online Lotteries, High Roller Nabbed, and Hellmuth Denied

June 30th, 2011 by Archer Bannister

Quick Spins: Online Lotteries, High Roller Nabbed, and Hellmuth Denied

More States Consider Online Lotteries

With many US states struggling to make up for declining tax receipts and sluggish economies, more and more are considering allowing the sale of lottery tickets online.

Minnesota was the first US state to sell lotto tickets online and New Jersey has okayed online lottery sales as well, with many other states considering similar measures.

43 US states now have lotteries and many depend on lotto ticket sales for a significant part of their budgets, with revenues going to fund schools, universities and other agencies.

Offering lottery tickets online has increased sales by an estimated 15-20% in countries such as Finland and the UK, with some of the gainsing from sales to new players who’d previously never bothered going to the hassle of buying a ticket from a retail location.

High Roller Arrested in Arizona

The strange story of businessman/philanthropist Jeremy Johnson took another odd turn when he was arrested in Phoenix while trying to board a flight to Costa Rica.

The Utah businessman had been charged with mail fraud and accused by the FTC of defrauding customers out of $295 million via hispany I Works.

Johnson had made headlines in past years for his efforts to aid survivors of the Haiti earthquake and other disasters, donating millions in cash while often flying in his personal fleet of aircraft and helicopters in flamboyant fashion.

The government’s case against him unearthed the fact that he had a healthy appetite for gambling as well, losing nearly $1.4 million at Wynn Las Vegas playing blackjack and craps as well as dropping $1.5 million at online poker sites PokerStars and Full Tilt.

Hellmuth Denied Bracelet at 2011 WSOP

The 2011 WSOP has been underway for about two weeks and managed very good attendance numbers for the events held so far.

Some feared that attendance would be off due to the US government’s crackdown on PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker in April but so far most events have met or exceeded numbers from last year.

Phil Ivey kicked off the 2011 WSOP with the bombshell news that he was sitting out this year’s WSOP and suing Full Tilt for $150 million.

Those early fireworks abated quickly though, with players focusing on the business at hand in the 58 events that make up this year’s WSOP.

The biggest news story so far is Phil Hellmuth’s near-miss in Event #16, a $10,000 2-7 Lowball event.

Hellmuth had a big chip lead in heads-up play versus John Juanda but couldn’t secure his record 12th bracelet, losing after a long heads-up match that lasted nearly 3 hours.

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