Niki ‘Kaibuxxe’ Jedlicka’s spectacular comeback to nosebleed stakes online poker at Full Tilt Poker continued this week with another lucrative session that enabled him to end the night with a $600 000 profit.

This time the Austrian’s main benefactor was Patrik Antonius, who lost some major pots on the $300/$600 PLO virtual tables to the comeback kid – one for a giant $563 000.

Since his reappearance after a long absence following some heavy losses, Jedlicka is up at least $1.6 million this week, playing against some of the top online poker names.

The GBP 5 million land version of online casino, poker, sportsbetting and mobile operation CasinoRed appears to be in dire financial straits only eight months after it opened its doors in Huddersfield, UK.

The Huddersfield Daily Examiner reports this weekend that the premises remains deserted with no sign of relief for the 100 employees who were laid off after the first two months of operations following a plush opening in September 2008. Adding to the gloom, the window displays have apparently been remoived in the last few days.

The newspaper reports that the owners have remained silent, although the Gibraltar-licensed and Wagerworks-powered online property is still operating.

The land version was located in the extensively refurbished former Princess Cinema at Northumberland Street. Only eight weeks after opening its doors the venue – which also boasted a restaurant and three bars – was closed and croupiers, bar and restaurant staff were told to go home. Management explained that the company had had to suspend trading for 30 days in order to secure additional investment due to the withdrawal of some bank facilities.

The newspaper was unable to elicit a comment from the company offices in Macclesfield, Cheshire this week as messages left on voice mail and mobile phone numbers went unanswered.

When the casino closed, a notice on the door said: “Due to unforeseen circumstances Casino Red is temporarily closed for business.”

Customers were told of the closure via a single text message, which read: “Casino Red directors have unfortunately had to temporarily suspend trading at the venue in Huddersfield. We will inform of a re-opening ASAP. Apologies.”

Those remain the last words from management on the matter.

According to its online website, the CasinoRed company was formed in 2006.

Many players were scratching their heads this week over an unusual T&C at an online bingo and casino gaming venue: it calls for a 15x playthrough requirement before any withdrawal is allowed – whether the player has taken a bonus or not!

In fairness to RTG-powered Saturn Bingo.com, the owners – Saturn Gaming of Berkshire in the UK – are upfront about their business model. It’s all there in the T&Cs, which reinforces the the habitual advice to newbies given by experienced online punters – always read the T&Cs before handing over your cash.

The CEO of the company, who identified himself only as “James”, confirmed by email this week that the playthrough measure was in force regardless of whether incentives had been taken by a player, commenting in an email to a player posting about the issue on the Casinomeister information portal:

“Wagering requirements on your cash deposit are primarily in place to protect our business from the high level of fraud directed toward online gaming sites, and from which no protection or accountability is accepted by either the issuing banks , ewallet or credit card companies.

“As a business we need to have policies in place that limit our liability in relation to processing fraud, requiring player turnover is a procedure that in a small way helps us do that.”

The Saturn Bingo – it bills itself as “America’s Favourite Bingo!” – executive goes on to give advice that is particularly sound regarding his operation:

“Its always best to read a site’s polices before deciding to make a deposit and play, perhaps this site is not for you, but we are a long standing and respected player in online gaming and make every effort to accommodate our players, however player turnover requirements, however erroneous they may seem, is an area that we require our players to conform to.”

Other helpful hints in the T&Cs show that players should be prepared to accept 2 weeks processing time for cashouts and minimum withdrawal limits of $100. As one player commented: “They dont have to worry about money laundering because there isn’t going to be much to launder after wagering 15x your deposit. These have got to be some of the most predatory terms I have ever seen.”

Players who click the “I accept” button on the T&Cs without reading the document, and win without taking a bonus will be confronted with these requirements.

Two investors in the online gambling business with confidence in the future are Justin Drummond and his wife Alexandra, who last week upped their stakes in Internet advertising group Media Corporation, which owns the information portal Gambling.com.

According to the Business Scotsman, the duo bought an additional 1.5 million shares in the company for an undisclosed price, although the stock price has been trading around the 1p level according to public records – down more than half over the past year.

The purchases took their combined holding up to more than 24 million shares, or 8.3 percent of the company.

Drummond is CEO and a founder of Media Corporation, and the cause for his optimism appears to be that following the change in government in the United States he feels there’s a good chance that we will see US legalisation of online gambling sooner rather than later. This could have a significant impact on positive impact on Media Corporation’s business.

From December 2009 the gambling island of Macau off the shores of China will be under the control of a new chief executive, reports Associated Press. The former Chinese Culture Minister, Fernando Chui (52), has been selected as the man to lead the island out of its tough times in a five year tenure of office.

There are hopes that Chui may be able to persuade central government in Beijing to ease the visa restrictions on visits to Macau by Chinese gamblers, a measure that has helped to depress the gambling industry further in already difficult economic times.

Chui’s endorsement by a 300-member panel loyal to Beijing has been characterised as a formality: he was the sole candidate for chief executive in the former Portuguese colony’s first leadership change since reverting to Chinese rule in 1999.

The former culture minister will figure prominently in shaping the gambling industry in Macau, the only place in China where casinos are legal. After years of spectacular growth that helped it overtake the Las Vegas Strip, the territory’s market has lost momentum recently as a result of economic conditions and the restrictions imposed on travel by Chinese citizens to its gambling attractions.

Chui appears to be taking a conservative approach, telling reporters: “We will mainly follow these [existing] policies to allow Macau’s gambling sector to develop in a healthy manner and hopefully it will hold an edge in Asia. The policy for the next few years is basically set.

“Everyone has to work extra hard in this competition to maintain the outstanding results that we have achieved in the gambling sector in the past few years,” he added.

Current CEO Edmund Ho put a cap on the issue of new casino licenses and applications for additional gambling tables or slot machines last year.

Commenting on the change of Macau leadership, casino magnate Stanley Ho, whose SJM Holdings is Macau’s largest gambling company by market share, said he believed Chui wouldn’t push for more regulations on the industry. He suggested the new chief exec could also help tame some of the acrimony among Macau’s six casino operators.

“He will ensure that there should not be any fighting among the six of us and we should work together for the good of the citizens, for the good of Macau,” said Ho, a member of the election committee that picked Chui.

Chui received 282 votes on Sunday, according to Chu Kin, president of Macau’s electoral affairs committee. He will take office in December and serve a five-year term after his appointment receives formal approval from Beijing.