Major sites like Full Tilt Poker.com, UltimateBet.com and Cake Poker.com are using the service, empowering poker players to transfer their chips quickly and securely between sites.

Operated by SMC Group Management Limited, SendMyChips.com is secure and features a full auditing suite allowing sites complete access to transactions for the purpose of conducting security checks.

The service is currently available between the hours of noon and midnight New York time, and includes a blacklist facility that allows participating sites to monitor fraudulent transactions so that appropriate actions can be taken to identify and eliminate scammers.

SMC has additionally teamed up with SharkScope.com to provide a credibility check system in order to further protect against fraud. SMC checks a player’s stake history and their join date using SharkScope.com before setting a transfer level limit. The more history a player has, the higher his or her individual limit level will be set, but competitors with no history will start at the lowest level.

Once a player conforms to the poker sites’ money transfer requirements they can also use SendMyChips.com to send money from one site to another.

But an attempt by the leagues to impose an injunction stopping the implementation of the Delware decision before the NFL’s September 10 season openers was turned down by U.S. District Judge Gregory M. Sleet this week. This means that Delaware’s plan to begin single-game and parlay wagering will go ahead unless there is interference from any appeals procedure.

The newspaper USA Today reports that after denying the injunction, Sleet set a series of October deadlines related to the leagues’ request for a summary judgment ruling on its lawsuit against the state, and scheduled a trial date of December 7.

“The state is moving full speed ahead with our plans to implement a sports lottery by the start of the NFL season,” Michael Barlow, lead counsel for Delaware Governor Jack Markell’s office, told USA Today. “The Delaware Supreme Court gave us permission to initiate a sports lottery and today’s decision reaffirms that we can move forward.”

At a hearing in Wilmington before Judge Sleet, lawyers hired by the NFL, Major League Baseball, the NBA, NHL and NCAA argued that Delaware’s plan violated the federal ban against sports betting.

Kenneth Nachbar, the leagues’ lead attorney, said his clients are evaluating their options, including appealing Sleet’s decision to the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.

Sleet said the leagues had to prove one of three things for him to grant a summary judgement, and had failed in all:

* They did not show they were likely to prevail at trial. Sleet added it also was not clear if Delaware would prevail at trial.

* They did not show there would be irreparable harm to professional and college sports if action was not taken now. Sleet said the leagues’ position was “ironic” given that - as attorneys for Delaware noted - a number of sports teams have sponsorship deals with casinos and several owners of sports teams also own gambling establishments.

* They did not show Delaware would not be irreparably harmed by the injunction. The judge said there was at least potential harm to the state because it is counting on millions of dollars in revenue from sports betting to help balance its budget.

University of Pennsylvania law school professor Tobias Barrington Wolff said the leagues could face a challenge if they appeal, especially since Sleet didn’t see how the leagues could be harmed as the case moves towards trial.

“Basically, the district court balances hardships,” Wolff said. “If the district court judge didn’t see any harm (to warrant an injunction), it is probably going to be a tough appeal to win. They would have to claim that (the district court judge) underestimated the harm by allowing the lawsuit going forward without an injunction.”

Delaware state officials also plan to offer betting on other sports, including MLB and NCAA football games.

On Thursday the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) approved a policy banning states, such as Delaware, from hosting championship events if they allow fans to bet on single games.

The Associated Press news agency reports that chancellors and presidents from all three NCAA divisions approved the measure, saying it applies to “any session of an NCAA championship,” though it does not apply to states that allow parlay betting, lottery tickets, pull tabs and sports pools.

The move came one day after a federal judge denied a request by professional sports leagues and the NCAA to halt Delaware’s planned sports betting lottery until a legal challenge is resolved (see previous InfoPowa reports).

Congress banned sports betting in 1992 while grandfathering four states - Delaware, Nevada, Montana and Oregon - that had already offered it. The lawsuit filed by the four major pro sports leagues and the NCAA argues that Delaware’s plan to allow single-game betting would violate the legislation because Delaware has never offered single-game betting before.

The immediare reaction in Delaware was disappointment. Speaking for Governor Jack Markell, his chief of staff Tom McGonigle, said: “Not having gotten its way in court yesterday, it is disappointing that the NCAA would take this retaliatory action.

“Importantly, Delaware law prohibits any type of sports betting on any Delaware college game. So as applied to Delaware, this new policy only serves to punish the very students the NCAA claims to be trying to protect.”

Associated Press reports that this is not the first time the NCAA has used its championships to send a message.

In 2001, the governing body prohibited South Carolina and Mississippi from hosting post-season games because those states had Confederate images on the statehouse grounds.

Officially, the NCAA opposes all forms of sports wagering that threaten the integrity of its games or jeopardizes the welfare of student-athletes and the athletic community. NCAA rules also ban advertising from organizations that promote gambling.

Some believe college athletes are more susceptible to gamblers because they are prohibited from getting paid for playing.

One of the accused persons is believed to a fugitive from justice somewhere in Costa Rica, officials revealed, adding that the gambling ring worked through an Internet website branded Perfect Wager.com in that country which took more than $13 million in wagers on sporting events over the 10 month period when it was under surveillance.

Those accused include James Rossi (49), Joseph R. Sofia (63) - a retired New York policeman, Michael Mildenberger (71), Carmen V. Cicalese (77), Anthony Acierno (50), Michael and Peter D’Angelo, William Jennings (55), Robert Degiacomi (28), John Marino (31) and Gene Panariello (74).

Police raiding premises in North Carolina and Long Island in a coordinated operation confiscated cash valued at almost $400 000 and records of the ring’s activities.

The RSA Security Token works by displaying a six-digit number that changes every minute and forms part of a new and more secure log-in process by requiring anyone accessing an account to have the token physically with them. The technology is already used in many corporate, government and military installations but PokerStars is the first gaming site in the world to offer its members such enhanced security.

The device will be especially effective against key loggers or other fraudsters that may come into possession of a player’s access details.

A PokerStars spokesperson said: “Helping players protect their accounts is a top priority for PokerStars and we are always looking at ways to improve security. The RSA token provides a super-strong defence against unauthorised access by upgrading account security to a ‘two factor authentication’ process – the player’s unique password plus the unique number generated by the token. It’s a cutting edge security solution that enables us to provide players with unrivalled security and peace of mind.”

RSA, which developed the tool, is one of the largest and most trusted security companies in the world providing expert security solutions to many leading companies. Players can purchase the token at cost price via the PokerStars online VIP store.

The RSA token is the latest in a series of measures introduced by PokerStars to increase security for its players. Account holders can also take advantage of a new PokerStars PIN service. The PIN is a six digit number that is issued by PokerStars and is used in conjunction with a player’s normal password. Once a PokerStars PIN is set for an account, individuals are required to enter the PIN by clicking an on-screen keypad. The numbers change position each time a player logs in, helping to prevent key loggers from recording where a player clicks and what buttons are pressed.

This week the company reported that it had experienced a decline of Euro 6.8 million from its German activities for the first six months of 2009 compared to a profit of Euro 5.4 million in H1 2008. Revenues fell by a debilitating 92.3 percent to Euro 1.4 million.

The German firm revealed that its earnings were further burdened by restructuring measures made necessary by the introduction of the Treaty.

“After being forced to part company with the majority of our German staff in the first quarter, we also gave up the majority voting rights in our former English subsidiaries in April as a further consequence of the State Treaty On Gaming,” said Jens Schumann, Chairman for Tipp24’s Executive Board.

“I am still convinced that key aspects of the State Treaty will have to be changed. Over the last years, Germany’s Federal States have lost over seven billion Euros in stakes from this legislation alone. This is money, which the states cannot replace, that is now missing for important institutions in the field of sport, social affairs and culture.”

Tipp24’s non-German business - mainly in the UK - fared better, growing its non-German earnings to Euro 29.75 million from a loss of Euro 952 000 in H1 2008. Overall net profits increased to Euro 17.3 million from Euro 3.4 million.

The company anticipates that revenues will rise to around Euro 85 million for FY 2009 with operating profit before interest and tax achieving Euro 40 million.