That’s right folks. The presidential elections are on and the candidates are racing to the finish line. William Hill, a popular online sports betting site has revealed the odds for Republican candidate. Mitt Romney is the clear leader with the odds at 2/9 ahead of Rick Santorum who is at 8/1. Candidates Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul both stand a 12/1 odds. Jon Huntsman is at 25/1, Rick Perry, 40/1 and Michelle Bachmann is at 50/1. The presidential odds show that current president, Obama is the favorite so far standing at 8/11. Romney follows at 6/4 while Paul and Santorum are at a tie with 20/1 odds and the rest of the candidates with varying long odds. So now that the odds are out, all you have to do to sink your teeth into the action is get to William Hill and place your bets.

The station’s main anchors stunned the sports announcer by cutting live to him on the air to inform him that he was this year’s millionaire winner. The ecstatic Delay said: “You know people are going to think this is kind of fishy, don’t you?”

Whether fishy or not this is a great story, with the winner being well deserving of the prize on offer.

The first such site to be launched is called CalShark and it is powered by Playtech. But the only difference between you playing poker in an online casino that is powered by this online casino software provider and this site is that you cannot place real money bets. Well, the plan behind this move by the poker association, poker room groups and Indian casino operators is to make sure that they are ready with brands and customers in case online poker is made legal.

Even though a bill to regulate online poker sites was shelved in California legislation this year, Senate President Darrell Steinberg has assured that a hearing on the same issue will take place in January 2012. 53 percent of Californians wish to see the legalization of online gambling as they understand the impact that it will have on their state’s tax revenue.

Julian Barnes is the top pick among bettors with odds of 6/4 for his short novel “The Sense of an Ending”. The Mann Booker Prize has proven to be elusive for Julian in several occasions in the past. However, this year looks bright for him as he has already made it to the final six. Even online sportsbooks like William Hill and Ladbrokes have their money on Julian Barnes, this year. The other contenders who are featured on the bettors list are Carol Birch with odds of 7/2 for Jamrach’s Menagerie, A.D. Miller with 5/1 for Snowdrops, Stephen Kelman with 6/1 for Pigeon English, 6/1 odds for Esi Edugyan for Half Blood Blues and Patrick deWitt with odds of 7/1 for The Sisters Brothers.

If you have your bet on any of the above mentioned authors then you need to watch out for the 18th of October for the final winner’s announcement.

According to the German Law sponsorship of sports teams is prohibited. Fortunately enough this law was deemed incompatible with European law. Betfair made a swift move and managed to earn sole sponsorship of Türkiyemspor Berlin and thereby enter the German sports betting market. Betfair is more than happy to have an increased presence in the real –life sports world. Türkiyemspor Berlin is also pleased that they are being backed by a huge company.

This new ban is much like the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of the United States and prohibits the use of credit and debit cards for online wagers. The new rule was approved by the Brazilian Congressional Committee and players will no longer be able to use their cards to place wagers online. The Deputy Valdivino de Oliveira, bill number PL 57/2011 sponsor addressed the committee and pointed out that games of chance were prohibited by Brazilian law but there was an omission for games of chance offered online. But it looks like the government may amend this omission in the legislation. It is believed that these measures have been taken in order to strengthen the monopoly of the state run Caixa Economica.

Mr Yu has confirmed to the company board that they should begin searching for his successor. He also stated that he will remain completely committed to the firm until a suitable candidate is found. David Yu took over the company in October 2010 during a time when company shares had taken a 52% drop on revenues of £340 million.

Yu has said “I have discussed my plans with the board and as a result, we are beginning to search for my successor. We are announcing this now so we can actively and transparently begin the process. I will remain committed to delivering the best for our people and our shareholders and will give the board all possible support during the succession process”.

After reaching Egypt the playing card deck consisted of 52 cards and 4 suits that had 13 cards each. Looks like Spain is where it all started for playing cards in Europe and it was in France that playing cards got the suits that we are accustomed to today. The 17th century saw the introduction of the indices onto the playing cards and this made it possible for the players to play with just one hand. 18th century brought forth the reversible court cards. America can be called the last contributor towards playing cards as this is the nation that added the Joker to the deck of cards. Now you can say that you know your cards inside out.

So who are the proud owners of the license? They are The Nation Traffic SAS who own the Titan.fr domain name. The company got its first license in 2010 for its online poker domain. This is was about the same time that Titan.fr joined the world famous Playtech software’s iPoker Network.

This sudden turn of evens can perhaps be attributed to the newly established Consultative Committee for the implementation of the monitoring policy of responsible games and gambling (Cojer). This committee was spearheaded by the French Minister of Budget, Mr Jean-François Copé and was given the responsibility of ensuring the safety, integrity, accountability and reliability of online gaming activities in the nation. With the creation of this new committee things have changed considerably in France’s online gambling industry. The French even announced that willing to open their market up for competition as per the regulations and requirements of the EU. Furthermore new draft legislation for the regulation of the French online gambling market is on also on the cards. The changes have not only been drastic they have been pretty rapid and the French online gambling industry is certainly enjoying all its new found freedom.

Last year the ARJEL awarded at least 17 licenses to 11 gaming operators most of whom were French companies, but there have been a few foreign companies as well which includes Austria’s bwin, Canada’s Everest Poker and the Maltese BetClic. The increased number of licensed gambling operators has helped a great deal in sports betting, horse racing and online poker gaming. Online poker providers did have to wait a bit more than the others, but looks like things are looking up for them in France.

Now let us have a look at the prizes that we stand to win. If you are an online player the prize package of $6,000 would consist of a $3,700 buy in, spending cash of $1,000 and 4 nights of superb accommodation. No more long and boring Sundays as the Daily Freeroll contests with every $300 + $20 online satellite will be taking place on Sundays at 1:45pm (Eastern Time). There is more, you also have a $6k prize package for 20 players who have lady luck on their side.

Bratislava is a hot spot for World Poker Tour. Both the organizers of World Poker Tour and PartyPoker are providing registered players with free dinner and shuttle services from the WPT in Vienna. The 45 minutes trip to Bratislava from Vienna is one that is filled with beautiful sights and if you are a player you can buy in to the contest as you enjoy top class packages that include accommodation.

The qualifiers for the WPT will be telecasted in Vienna and this will include the Main Event of €3,200+ €300. This particular event takes place between March 25th and March 29th of 2011. High Rollers are always the privileged few and they get to enjoy a High Rollers contest worth €15,000 which will take place from the 28th of March till the 30th of the same month.