Good news or bad news, it’s still news. True enough even the worst news appears to be talked about and the stranger it gets, the more it is talked about. This is the same with online gambling: 2010 has been a roller coaster ride for the gambling world with all those legalization bills, instant celebrity gambling players and some gambling sites especially on the online casino that has shut down.

Today I bring you a list of some the most outrageous gambling stories of 2010 that has made online gambling last year a lot more colorful.

Representative’s wife involved in illegal gambling operation

If you’re following some gambling news I know you can remember this one. Representative John Tierney’s wife was indicted for being involved in an illegal gambling operation, which included her brother and her act of changing bank account transactions to make them look like anything but online gaming transactions! She first insisted that she didn’t know that the operation was illegal. Her representative husband on the other hand, Rep. Tierney was on the defense stating he had no idea what his wife was doing or his brother in-law, even though it came to light that the brother in-law had already been in jail for illegal gambling issues in the past. This case hasn’t reach court proceedings yet but we will be sure that this news will be up again this year.

Paul the Octopus

Two news actually for the famous sea creature. One is the right prediction it made during the World Cup, actually every prediction it made. Second news was on last October. It was a sad day back in October when everyone’s favorite Gambling Guru, Paul the Octopus passed away from natural causes. Paul and his eight beautiful legs made many online sports bettors very happy with his perfect record for predicting the winner of 8 straight world cup soccer games! Paul’s 15 minutes of fame has been the talk of the town and for an octopus, its an achievement.

Convicted Scam Artist Sentenced to Play Poker

This can be labeled as one of the most outrageous we’ve heard about online gambling last year. A man who swindled over $440,000 from poor unsuspecting souls was charged with 26 different charges of investment fraud, and he was able to convince the Judge in his court case that it would better suit his victims to keep him out of jail, and let him go play poker to win back their money so he could set things right! And the Judge agreed! And as it is, Samuel McMaster Jr. set out to play at as many poker games, tournaments that he could so he could start paying back these victims. The Judge set a date of 6 months to see how much he had paid back, if he didn’t succeed, he would go to jail. And after six months, he’s still sitting in jail.

“The Shrink” Death by Suicide

The biggest news by far in 2010 that involved online gambling was the shocking and unexpected death by suicide of online gambling portal operator Ken “The Shrink” Weitzner. He created the internet’s second major portal dedicated to online sports wagering. In the evening of April 10, 2010, Weitzner and his wife of two decades, Jackie, both killed themselves in their mansion in Washington, D.C. They both swallowed a fistful of sleeping pills, and then Ken ignited a gas grill inside a small room in their home, and the pair inhaled the noxious fumes and died. It was then revealed that the suicide is an suppose escape to Weitzner’s debts due to his huge betting losses.

By Dave Newgates
Dave Newgates writes casino-related articles to help you learn more about online casino gambling, the top online casinos and casino games.