A trial underway in Germany reminded me of the scene in Oceans Eleven when the guy financing the operation mentioned the 3 most successful robberies in Las Vagas history, all of which were horribly executed smash-and-grab operations.

The mastermind in this case had a bunch of teens handle the actual robbery, though that didn’t protect him all that much since he will soon be joining the young men on trial. The group had been planning it all for sometime and had a fairly straight-forward plan that was abandon by the ringleader for a spur of the moment “Get it!”. The teens grabbed the bag  and fought with several unarmed guests before making off with a portion of the money.

The big question being asked at the trial is where all that stolen money ended up.

Via Marketwatch.

The largest Poker series in Canadian history (The 2010 Canadian Open Poker Championships) is being organized by operators of the Canadian Poker Tour (CPT) and Canadian Poker Player Magazine and is set to occur this year in Calgary. It will feature a prize pool of around three and a half million, in 13 events over an 11 day period

I suppose there’s more money out West, what with all that oil and low taxes, but I’m incapable of getting excited over any event that takes place in the prairie’s.

He may be able to beat the odds at the table, but in the game of life, professional poker player Van Marcus only breaks even.

Two nights ago he went to pick up his high-performance Ferrari F430 Spider only to find it had been stolen by someone who must have had quite a poker face to bluff the valet into giving him the keys. The man was described as wearing a tracksuit and flannel shirt – which certainly doesn’t sound like millionaire chique – and was arrested 6 hours later at a service center along with the stolen car. Van ranted about the theft in typical 21st century fashion, via facebook.

The millionaire’s best known for his giant $162,857 win last year while on tour in Manill and his win at the World series for a total of $278,409.

The incident is being investigated by the casino, which claims it is a first, and seems to indicate there was a breakdown of proper valet procedures.

Likely tired of seeing potential profits drift off-shore through online gambling sites, Loto-Quebec and two other lottery businesses are collaborating on a site of their own. As with most things that are government regulated (from the SAQ to Venezuelan utilities) this blogger expects the service to be far too mis-managed and “official” for most players I know to switch to.

The planned site would be pushed Canada-wide and offer the unique feature of being able to operate on most mobile devices. This is where things get interesting, everything from typical cellphones to Steve Jobs’s “magical” iPad is being targeted as a potential platform for the service. Geo-location software would allow them to know what region your in (likely to tax you appropriately) and would need to confirm your real identity.

My support for this is mixed, I’m sure it will benefit local governments by providing funds, but I foresee an explosion of gambling addiction and over regulation.