Areas of Expertise
3300 stories by Philip Conneller
Oregon Lottery Billboards Hacked with Cute Furry Animals
Oregon Lottery LED billboards were infiltrated by mysterious furry cat animations in a suspected hack this week, forcing the screens to go dark before normal service could be eventually restored. The adorable attack affected at least seven billboards across the state, which...
Miami Heat’s Jimmy Butler Banned from Poker Show for ‘Bad Attitude’
“I don’t care how many viewers he brings. I don’t want him back. He was rude to the dealers. He was rude to the other players. He was rude to the staff.” So said the co-owner of poker show "Hustler Casino Live"...
Mohegan Sun Wants $2.7M from Hollywood Exec Who Lost $5M in a Day
Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun Casino is chasing former Hollywood heavyweight Ron Meyer for more than $2.7 million in unpaid markers, according to a lawsuit filed in the state’s Superior Court in New London. Meyer, 79, was president and COO of Universal Studios from...
West Virginia Senator Exposed Himself in Slots Parlor, Prosecutors Claim
A West Virginia Republican state senator was arrested Tuesday allegedly for pleasuring himself in a video lottery parlor, prosecutors said Wednesday. Sen. Mike Maroney, 56, was suspended from his duties as chair of the Senate’s Health and Human Resources Committee. That’s after...
Hard Rock Rockford to Get 62-Ft Guitar Honoring Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen
The entrance to the Hard Rock Casino in Rockford, Ill. will soon be adorned with a 62-foot-tall electric guitar. Since Hard Rock is a brand synonymous with outsized electric guitar signage, this may not be earth-shattering news, except that this guitar is...
Utah Lottery Would be Legal in Certain Counties Under New Proposal
Utah State Rep. Kera Birkeland (R) plans to reintroduce a proposed constitutional amendment that would ask Utahns whether to legalize a state lottery. But following the failure of last year’s effort – the proposal was pretty much dead on arrival – this...
Bizarre Aussie Quizmaster Robbery Leads to Cops to Sinister Casino Kidnap Plot
The attempted robbery of a pub quizmaster in Queensland, Australia appeared at first to be “World’s Dumbest Criminals” material. But authorities quickly realized they were dealing with something far more sinister, and that the perpetrator had been traumatized after recently escaping a...
Phil Hellmuth Has Epic Meltdown On ‘No Gamble, No Future,’ Storms Off Set
Poker legend Phil Hellmuth stormed off the set during the filming of an episode of Poker Go’s “No Gamble, No Future” after an expletive-laden meltdown at the Aria, Las Vegas. “The Poker Brat” ripped off his microphone and threw it on the...
Ugandan Diplomats in Hot Water for Running Illegal Casino in Dubai Consulate
Uganda’s foreign spy agency is examining how diplomats representing the East African country in the United Arab Emirates were able to install an illegal casino inside the Ugandan Consulate in Dubai. The External Security Organization (ESO) is also looking into how privately...
French Cops Catch Cheating Network Using ‘Microscopic’ Earpiece
French authorities have arrested a 63-year-old Ukrainian and a 37-year-old Latvian on suspicion of perpetrating a sophisticated, hi-tech poker and blackjack cheating scam in casinos throughout Europe. The as-yet unnamed men were detained Monday at the Casino Barrière Enghien-les-Bains in the Paris...