We'd do anything for the fruit of our loins – like buying them not one, but two train sets at Pecorama and almost instantly regretting it – but a doting mum from Folkestone, Kent, has really taken the biscuit after shoving a hundred quid into an allegedly rigged claw machine. Cheryl Holden, 34, was holidaying at that Great …

Last November, US Justice Department officials, having reviewed the nation's laws, quietly concluded that, oops, interstate and international internet gambling is actually illegal. For some reason, that view was only made public on Monday. And for now, this hot take is not being enforced across the country. Published here [PDF …

Apple has reportedly kicked off a mass removal of illegal lottery and gambling apps from the China version of its iOS App Store. Multiple reports indicate that the Cupertino phone seller has had to purge roughly 25,000 apps from the localized version of the store it offers on the Chinese mainland. Apple, per usual, did not …

UpdatedGambling site BetVictor has been caught leaving what appears to be the administrator credentials for its website out on the public internet. Security researcher Chris Hogben today said the Gibraltar-based betting site had left help articles online that included usernames and passwords for its internal systems. His secret for …

Google has agreed to let Play Store customers court cruel mistress Lady Luck. A spokesperson confirmed to The Register that, as of August 2, the store formally allows gambling apps. Folk in the UK, Ireland and France are part of this experiment. According to Apple's Developer guidelines, the Apple App Store allows gambling …

Canada's second largest province, Quebec, has passed a law that obliges ISPs to block gambling websites. Bill 74 has passed almost without notice (the casino industry being the notable exception) and will see the government agency in charge of lotteries in the province, Loto-Québec, draw up a list of online gambling sites that …

AMD is going to reveal a significant customer win within the next few months – in the gambling world. The California biz, which is hurting bad in the PC and graphics card space, really wants to slot its chips into next-gen arcade-like casino machines and pachinko halls to bring home some much-needed cash. It's been wanting to …

Two members of an illegal international gambling enterprise which operated over the net and telephone have been convicted of a racketeering conspiracy. Kelly Dorn, 53, of Oklahoma City, and Kory Koralewski, 45, of Parker, Colorado, were found guilty of the offence, while Dorn was additionally convicted of conducting an illegal …

A Nevada court has ruled FBI agents can dress up as ISP repairmen to blag their way into a suspect's home without a search warrant – but must tell the courts about it when they do. The ruling stems from a case brought by the Feds against Malaysian poker player Wei Seng Phua and his son, whom the agency accused of running an …

The UK National Lottery website seems to have done something nasty to itself on Saturday night, as it crashed out for much of Sunday. We're not sure exactly when the site went down and it's hard to say exactly when the problem happened because the time stamps on the Tweets that tell the story don't translate well when read …

US Casino operator Affinity Gaming has had its credit card processing system hacked for the second time in less than a year. The Las Vegas-based company said hackers breached a system last month that processed customer credit and debit cards but had no evidence that cards were compromised. "Affinity Gaming and its IT experts …

The governor of Wisconsin is set to sign into law a bill which will finally legalise the popular local activity of rubber duck racing, joining Minnesota and Michigan where plastic bathtoy contests are already legal. For years, the organisers of illicit duck races in the state had been forced to live in fear of police raids and …

IT finance provider Syscap account manager Leigh Jones has been sentenced to 24 months in jail after pleading guilty to nicking more than £100,000 from customers. Jailbird Jones, 40, found that his six-figure earnings weren't enough to fund his spiralling gambling habit. A clerk at Chester Crown Court confirmed to us that …

HPC blogHave you ever wanted to lay a bet down on the Las Vegas sports books? Or take a bundle of money from the suckers in your office's Final Four betting pool? Is it possible to win sports bets consistently over the long haul? According to the guys at PredictionMachine.com, the answer is yes. Their secret weapon? Numbers, baby – it …

Licensing conditions proposed by the Gambling Commission may not adequately protect customers against the risk of losing their money or credits if gambling operators become insolvent, an expert has warned. The Commission is consulting on draft plans that, if introduced, would oblige remote gambling licensees, except ancillary …

Zynga has decided to give up on trying to get a gambling licence in the US, the new revenue stream many investors were banking on to lift the gaming firm's fortunes. The makers of "Farmville" and "Words with Friends", which recently hired former Xbox boss Don Mattrick to replace founder Mark Pincus as CEO, said it now believed …

Having solved all of the state's other problems, the Ohio legislature has passed a bill outlawing that most foul of societal ills: the internet café. As reported by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, House Bill 7, which passed the State Senate with a bipartisan vote of 27 to 6 on Wednesday, effectively cuts off the main source of …

Top dogs at Zynga say the online gaming firm just needs a little more time to turn around its losing streak - after forecasting worse losses than expected for this year's second quarter. The struggling FarmVille maker managed to scrape together a surprise profit for the first three months of this year after cutting costs, but …