Bit from Italy -- GoldenPalace.com and veteran streaker Mark Roberts struck again this weekend when Roberts, sporting a Golden Palace tattoo on his back and chest, ran around naked at Pamplona's annual running of the bulls. According to the gambling operator, Roberts joined the bulls as they turned the last corner before reaching the bullring, narrowly missing getting run over by the animals, who pursued the streaker "like two angry heat-seeking missiles." "It's unbelievable how fast those things can move," Roberts said. "I thought I was a dead man." Eleven people were injured this year at the running of the bulls. Roberts' most recent streakings include the UEFA Cup Final in Spain, the French Open and the Royal Ascot.
Names and Faces -- The chairman of Stanley Leisure, Leonard Steinberg, said Friday that it "appeared probable" that gambling reform legislation in the United Kingdom will be delayed. Steinberg, speaking with The Guardian, said he will give up his executive role with the bookmaker in September.
News from Down Under -- TAB Ltd. is, not shockingly, applauding the New South Wales government's desire to put the hammer on betting exchanges. The bookmaker, calling the person-to-person betting industry a "parasite," said the government is correct to want to amend the Interactive Gaming Act to outlaw the exchanges. "These operators provide not one cent to the staging and development of racing and sport in this country, nor do they provide funding for community projects," said TAB Ltd. chief wagering executive Peter Kader.
Problem Gaming -- A variety of experts on problem gambling spoke recently to the Associated Press about youth and gambling. George Meldrum of the Delaware Council on Problem Gambling warned that children are being exposed to too many more forms of convenient gambling at a young age. "This is the first generation of kids growing up when gambling is legal and available virtually nationwide," he said. Jeffery Dervensky, co-director of the International Center for Youth Gambling Problems at McGill University, said that not only are 8 percent of young gamblers compulsive gamblers, they are less likely to seek help than the three percent of adults who gamble who are addicted. "These kids still live at home, and nobody's dragging them in, saying, 'If you don't go for help, I'm leaving you,'" he said. "These kids steal money, usually from their family. If you get caught, your parents are not going to turn you in."