While the European Commission put out a warning towards Finland back in 2006, Finland keeps ignoring the gambling legislation put up by the European commission.

Finnish gambling monopolies where in contradiction with the european law on the free movement of goods and services. A recent study shows that the Finns didn't learn a single thing.

RAY, the Finnish slotmachine association, got the exclusive rights to offer online poker to Finlands citizens. Besides RAY, also Veikkaus Oy, the Finnish lottery organisation, got permission to offer online poker and casino games.

In reaction to the Finnish decision to give these two companies the exclusive rights, the European Commision is shocked.

I can't think of any other part of the world where people love to gamble more then in Asia. In countries like China and Thailand you can gamble on anything you would like, anytime you like.

Knowing these facts, it is at least a bit strange that Asia have made statements that they do not want online poker in there territory.

On the Chinese official internet portal there are many statements about their intentions to conduct major operations to try and ban all of the online poker rooms from there internet. Besides poker rooms, also banks are part of the investigations because they provide a way to transfer funds into the poker players account.

The reason China and other Asian countries do this, as they say, is to block funds flowing over to other countries.

Two weeks after the brutal poker robbery in Berlin the german police have apprehended a third suspect. The 20-years old Mustafa U. was apprehended on saterday after he was landed on the airport of Tegel.

The other two apprehended suspects (20 and 21 years old) are allready in jail, while the fourth and final suspect is still missing.

The last thief goes under the name Jihad (?) C. from the Berlin area called Kreuzberg. Rumours go that he's taken 40.000 euro and took of to Libanon.

Dot org domain names where once ment for non-profit organisations, but soon after introduction they became pray for domain brokers. But even till today, the dot org extension has a non-profit feeling to it.

Poker.org just shows the text "Opening soon" when you surf there. It has to become a web 2.0 kinda site, where people can share there poker experiences.

Competiting site poker dot com is said to earn more then $2 million a year only from bringing poker players to online poker rooms.

Belgium, Famous for their chocolat, beer & flemish fries, wants to put online poker on top of their priority list during their european presidency.

Gambling for money on the internet is illegal. Not long ago a law was introduced to put a break on the online gambling, allowing players only to play poker on one of the nine existing physic casino's online poker rooms.

110 million euro
A couple of european countries have showed interest in Belgiums gambling law. Thats why the Belgians want to bring it up during their european presidency period.

In Belgium 35.000 people play a weekly game of online poker. 330.000 people play once every 6 months, wagering a total of 110 million euro.

Australian grandmother Barbara Wells is a good example for the aussies $18 million gambling addiction. The 39 years old granny is sentenced to prison for a period of 18 months after robbing her employer for more then half a million dollars which she lost all to the poker machines.

In her function as a property manager she shipped money into three of her personal accounts to feed her addiction. It started with just a few thousands but quickly escalated into bigger amounts of sometimes even more then $15.000 at once.

Wells pleated guilty for 129 charges, stealing a stunning amount of $545,222 total.

When Derek Potter is playing poker, he doesn't show a lot of emotions. But when he put his last chips in holding a pair of nines, even he had to drop his mask for a moment.

"I have never slapped the table as I did then, when the last card fell and I was still alive,", said Potter.

With that hand he tripled his stack and became one of seven grand prize winners in the Minnesota Poker League's Fall Spectacular State Championship. Potter, age 27, was one of 220 participants at the Shooting Star Casino in Mahnomen, Minnesota.

He also won a seat at Caesar's Palace in the Free Poker Network's national championship next month in Las Vegas. Included in the package is also a three day airfare and a hotel ticket.