So how many of you have made bets in this world cup? I put some money on the Netherlands, Argentina and Brazil to win the tournament in South Africa. So far they are all looking good and Brazil got a very good win against a tough Ivory Coast team last night.

When the world cup started I have been looking for a site that would keep me updated with all the latest news there and I have found a couple of great ones… the bbc world cup page, football gamble, and tribal football.

What this deal means is that the Irish company Paddy Power will give $15,000 to the Our Lady and St. Etheldreda Church in Suffolk, a town in th United Kingdom. In the confessional box there will be Paddy Power branding. This is really strange.

Obviously, Paddy Power wants to push it’s brand, but I really thought that strong Christians thought badly about gambling. Well according to Mark Hackeson, the spokesman for the church in Suffolk, said ‘there is nothing morally wrong with gambling, as long as it doesn’t deprive people from what is necessary to take care of themselves and others.’ Usually churches raise money through raffles and I guess that can be considered a form of gambling.

Well there you go… you surprised now?

Internazionale will face the German team, Bayern Munich in the final which will take place in Madrid this month. So who will win? I think Inter have a better defense and a solid team all round. Bayern have a strong attack with Ribery and Robben so it should make for a very interesting game.

I was hoping for Manchester United to beat Bayern Munich (and they should have) because one of my favorite players in O’Shea who has just got back from a bad injury. Gibson is another good Irish footballer but I think he would have been on the bench.

So who do I hope will win the final? Neither of them

Fundamentally, to create that many jobs in the Irish market, Ireland has to give a face-lift to online casino gambling laws, and then take a portion of roughly 5% of the global internet gaming market. If Ireland revamps its gambling laws and permits online casinos to function out of the country coupled with a favorable taxation structure, then Ireland would prove an ideal launching point for UK facing gaming sites.

The fact remains that new online casino gambling laws are still going through the government, considering that the last laws regarding online gambling were passed way back in 1956, and this was well before the introduction of the Internet in the 1990s. Many Irish lawmakers are of the opinion that it is high time that the officials take a stand either way, and then support it till the end until implementation, as the current indecisive situation was not taking anyone anywhere.

The game is called Rugby Reactors and you can access this game exclusively their website Paddy Power. The game requires you to collect a group of animated rugby champion’s symbols which if you do and it is matched up with the winning combination, you will win hard cash for real. The payouts vary according to the match of the collection you have. If you have a larger number of Rugby champions in your collection you may be eligible for a higher payout. The current accumulated payout is worth about £140,000 and it is all up for grabs so why don’t give it a shot while it lasts. You might be a winner if you get 7 matching players together or 7 of Martin Castrogeovannis.

All enthusiasts of the European Six Nations Rugby Championship games can enjoy playing this impressive online arcade-style game just for fun or get familiar with the players and the game itself. Siobhan O’Donoghue of Paddy Power is all excited about the Rugby Reactors; he feels fans of European Rugby will find it useful and entertaining while serving as a tribute to the real game itself.

Com’n Ireland!!!

O’Brien, who took over hosting the show from Jay Leno last year, is not pleased with the networks decision to shift the program to an after-midnight schedule making way for the return of the Jay Leno Show.

The bookmaker is also providing several odds on which network O’Brien could move to if he quits NBC. According to their odds of 11/8 it is most certain for the 46 year-old broadcaster cum comedian to join ex-Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin in the job of Rupert Murdoch over at Fox entertainment. Also on the bookies nomination list are ABC at 2/1, CBS at 3/1 and MyNetworkTV at 5/1.

Paddy Power stated that from Conan O’Brien’s point of view it must be a real kick to have the show moved past midnight where the sun don’t shine. I wouldn’t be surprised if he quit and says farewell to NBC.

Tonight Show Betting
2/1 Conan O’Brien to quit ‘The Tonight Show’ before June 2010
What network will Conan O’Brien shift to?
11/8 Fox
2/1 ABC
3/1 CBS
5/1 MyNetworkTV
12/1 The CW
66/1 BBC

The tour commences at the fabulous Radisson Hotel, Galway with the Irish Poker Championship from 10 to 14 December. The remaining Irish events will be held at Gleneagles Hotel in Killarney from 24-27 June and at Burlington Hotel, Dublin from 9th to 12th September. The winner of each level will be given paid entry to the London EPT event next October.

The organizers are also putting together a question and answer segment where the team of pros from PokerStars will give tips and answer questions of players before the matches so that they can use the advice and strategies in their game.

The Irish Poker Championship is one of the most reputed and popular tournaments of Ireland and the whole of Europe. Players from all over Ireland, UK, Europe and USA come together to battle it out and win this prestigious event. The games involve some great poker action from some of the finest players.

The Irish have plans for paramount new entertainment industries in County Tipperary that will feature a casino, a race course for sports bettors and a replica of the White House. A group of endowed Irish businessmen want to construct the resort, which also features a vast concert arena and has been nicknamed ‘Ireland’s Las Vegas’, near the village of Two-Mile Borris or Buiríos Léith in Irish.

This development is estimated for approximately €460 million and is considered the invention of Dublin-based slot machine mogul Richard Quirke, but has been supported by former Irish Government Minister Michael Lowry. The start up plans for the 800 acre development will be presented to North Tipperary County Council for further approval and initiation.

According to one of Northern Ireland’s new portals, the Belfast Telegraph, there is a lot of local eagerness surrounding the new project but it remains unclear whether it will be given the green signal by the local officials.

The White House is planned to stand as the centerpiece and main attraction of the resort and will be named after the great Irish architect, James Hoban, who was responsible for designing the US president’s official residence in Washington DC. That’s quite interesting. Us Irish are influencing the world.

If you missed out on what happened last night with all the controversy, then here it is in a nutshell…

Ireland were leading 1-0 (1-1 on aggregate) in extra time and heading for penalties, when they conceded a free kick. The ball was floated behind the defence (which was also off-side) where Henry controlled the ball twice with his hand before flicking to Galls, who then went onto to score the winning goal! France were then leading 2-1 overall and on their way to South Africa for the World Cup. What an outrage!

I never thought Henry was that type of player. He always played fair when he was in England with Arsenal, so it was quite shocking to see him do what he did last night. Players like him and Maradona (hand of G-d) will always be remembered as cheats, even though they are/were such amazing footballers with skill and flair.

This is what Henry had to say for himself…
“I will be honest it was a handball but I’m not the referee. “I told (Richard) Dunne and he said the same to me, ‘you’re not the ref’. That’s why the players did not come to me, that’s why they went to the referee. You can clearly see the opportunity. Sebastien Squillaci went to jump for the ball with two Irish players and I’m behind him. The next thing I know the ball hit my hand, my arm even. It was right in front of me, I played it. The ref allowed it and that’s a question you should ask him.”

Do you think the game should be replayed? I definately think so! But you know FIFA won’t allow it… they have one of their big teams now in the World Cup.

The Irish Luck video slots game has great background music played when the reels are not in motion and is very lively in keeping up with the Irish theme. The astounding graphics in the game are excellent and depict a very sharp and detailed image of each of the symbols presented on the reels. Few of the symbols are animated but are quite lively. The Shamrock Lady is animated in two different ways; one when she acts as a Wild symbol she zooms in and the other shows her standing in a field with a rainbow in the background and lots of tiny golden butterflies fluttering around. If you receive two or more Gold Pot symbols anywhere on the reels a Leprechaun leaps out from behind the pot.

Besides all that luck it gives you, there are flexible betting options as well and you get to choose from denominations as less as $0.01 and $5.00. The slot game has 30 pay lines and you can wager as much as 10 coins per payline. The line and total bet appear after you make your selections. This helps you to keep track of your bets.

Lady Shamrock is the wild symbol that can appear on all the reels. It substitutes all other symbols except the scatter symbol. The Lady Shamrock doubles payouts when she appears as the wild symbol. However, when 5 Lady Shamrock symbols appear on an active payline the payout is a massive 10,000 coins. Even if two of the symbols appear left to right on an active payline you still get a payout.
The Gold Pot is the Scatter in the game and if two or more scatter symbols appear anywhere on the reels this rewards you scatter payouts. If you get 3 or more scatter symbols you trigger the Gold Pot bonus game. This rewards you a minimum of 8 free spins with double the payouts. But you can also opt to play a bonus game to increase these parameters by choosing 2 pots of Gold.

You can win up to 33 free spins in this bonus game and this feature can be retriggered. After each payout you can try your luck at the Gamble Game in which you can double your winnings. At the Gamble Game round you will have to choose whether the next card will be a red or black card. If you get it right you payouts are doubled and if you fail you obviously lose your payout. The limit to the doubling of payouts is up to 1500.00 credits.