Reporter:
In Philip Conneller’s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation.
Philip was the original features editor for poker’s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites.
His news stories for Casino.org/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others.
Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John’s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic.
He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist.
Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC.
Contact Philip at [email protected].
Areas of Expertise
3217 stories by Philip Conneller
Caesars Palace Guests Robbed of $100K by Alleged Sex Worker, Police Say
A Portland, Ore., woman is facing charges of grand larceny and possession of stolen property. That's after police say she and a female accomplice stole $100K in cash, chips, and jewelry from a Caesars Palace hotel room. Taelar Durbin, 28, was arrested...
Atlantic City Settles with Cop Cleared of Violent Attack on Tropicana Patron
An Atlantic City police officer has received a $323,631 payout from city officials, NJ.com reports. The sum was given after the officer was cleared of using excessive force when he set his K-9 on a drunken reveler outside the Tropicana. Sterling Wheaten,...
Federal Judge Shoots Down New Jersey Gun Ban at Casinos, Beaches
A federal judge in New Jersey has blocked parts of the state’s new gun carry law, including sections that prohibited guns in casinos and on beaches. But Atlantic City casinos won’t be giving up their strict anti-firearms policy just yet. US District...
Michigan Poker Player Sentenced for Running Illegal ‘Private’ Card Club
Michigan poker player Joshua Thatcher was sentenced to probation last week for running an illegal card club. Thatcher, 42, offers YouTube tutorials on the poker variant Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) under the name “the PLO Professor.” In April 2021, he opened the 906...
888 Shares Plunge as CEO Walks Amid Middle East Money Laundering Probe
Shares in online gambling giant 888 Holdings plunged almost 27% in early trading Monday. That’s after the Gibraltar-based company announced CEO Itai Pazner had quit amid an internal review that found deficiencies in its anti-money laundering (AML) program. In a filing to...
North Dakota Casino Sees Mexican Gangster Arrested, Linked to Murder, Kidnapping
A Mexican national arrested by US Border Patrol Agents at North Dakota’s Sky Dancer Casino and Resort last week was charged with a double murder and a kidnapping in his home country, local Fox affiliate KVRR reports. Fidel Arenas Torres showed up...
New Mexico Tax Inspector Stole $1.2M from Public to Gamble
A former New Mexico tax investigator was sentenced to eight years in prison Wednesday for stealing an estimated $1.2 million from state taxpayers, The Albuquerque Journal reports. George Martinez had “little to show for living a life subsidized by fraud,” Assistant US...
Loto-Québec IT Guy Sentenced for Skimming from Online Customer Accounts
A former IT guy with Quebec’s province-owned gaming operator and regulator, Loto-Québec, has been handed a one-year suspended sentence for siphoning funds from online customer accounts. Martin Raymond was convicted of fraud, breach of trust, and fraudulently using the services of a...
Ex-Mashpee Chair Imprisoned for Casino Bribes Must Pay Tribe $250K
Cedric Cromwell, the disgraced former chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag, must pay $250K in restitution to the Massachusetts-based tribe. Cromwell was sentenced to three years in prison in November for accepting kickbacks related to the tribe’s $1 billion First Light Casino project....
Poker Dealer Dodges Prison for Inside Job at Dublin’s ‘Fitz’ Card Club
A former poker dealer at the now-shuttered Fitzwilliam Card Club in Dublin, Ireland, has avoided prison for helping a robber target his ex-employer in a €50K raid. David Wright, 36, admitted informing the crook about movements of cash in and out of...