Australian Gambling News Round-up, by Greg Tingle - 15th April 2011

Australian gambling and casino news keeps coming thick and fast. We've got a butcher who slayed his wife over a gambling argument, Tabcorp numbers, pokie lovers vs haters, James Packer's boat for sale, and much more. Media Man and Gambling911 with your regular Aussie gambling fix...

Melbourne Man Butchers Wife Over Gambling...

Butcher Peter Lubik, 42, severed his wife Barbara's carotid artery when he stabbed her in the throat at their Melbourne home in January 2009. It's been described as a "shocking and cowardly" killing. Prior to the the stabbing they had fought about Lubik, who was understood to have been a big gambler, going to a casino, the Victorian Supreme Court heard on Wednesday. Last year, Lubik was found guilty by a jury of manslaughter but acquitted of murder. On Wednesday, Justice Ross Robson jailed Lubik for 9.5 years and ordered he serve a minimum of 6.5 years. Justice Robson said Lubik, of Noble Park North, deliberately stabbed his wife in a very delicate area of the body. He rejected Lubik's defence that his wife had come at him with the knife, finding that only Lubik had a knife. "Your deliberate stabbing of Barbara involved a deliberate intention to harm her," Justice Robson said. "It was a shocking and cowardly crime. You were duty-bound to protect her. "You are a big man. She was small. "There was not the slightest justification for taking up a knife against her in her own home." Justice Robson said Mrs Lubik constantly forgave her husband's abusive, "bullying and boorish" behaviour. "Despite her loyalty, love, forgiveness and companionship, you cruelly and deliberately stabbed her, with a knife, killing her," he said. "I can discern no reason for your conduct, other than your repeated abuse and bullying of your wife." Lubik's two-and-a-half-year marriage had been a turbulent one and included physical violence, the court heard. Lubik was a "good husband" unless he had been drinking. Mrs Lubik came to Australia from Poland in 2004. Lubik has already served more than two years and two months in custody.

James Packer Boat For Sale: $22 million...

Gambling and media king James Packer has put up for sales his 46m motor yacht, Z Sydney, on the market. The vessel is being advertised with an asking price of $22 million. That's about the same price it was bought for by JP back in January of last year. Rumour is that yachts name has been changed to "Ares" (Greek god of war) in attempt to lure in European buyers. The big boat can fit 12 guests and 8 crew. Leaks reckon he's looking to upgrade.

Sin City Sydney's Star City Wants To Take Brownlow AFL Event From Melbourne's Crown Casino...

The AFL code is in talks with the New South Wales Government to take the iconic Brownlow Medal night to 'Sin City' Sydney next year. Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu told the press that if the AFL even thinking about moving its awards night from Melbourne, it would show it is out of touch with Victorian football lovers. The shift would coincide with the launch of Sydney's second AFL team. An $850 million revamp of Sydney's Star City casino is the key in the bid to host the event. A grand hall in the redevelopment will hold up to 4,000 people. That does rather outdo Crown's Palladium, which has a 1,700 capacity. Will the rumor turn to reality? Time will tell, but many celebs keep saying they like it at Crown... and looking forward to doing some Twittering about it also.

Tabcorp 3rd Quarter Up 5.4%...

Gambling giant Tabcorp Holdings Ltd has reported a 5.4% rise in normalised net revenue for the March quarter. Normalised net revenues for the 3 months ended March 31 was $1.06 billion, up 5.4% on the previous corresponding period, Melbourne-based Tabcorp said in a statement on Wednesday. Revenue growth for the first nine months of the financial year was 3.9% to $3.32 billion. All 3 business divisions achieved positive revenue growth. The casinos division experienced revenue growth of 5.9%, wagering's grew 2.6% and gaming gained 8.6%. Revenues in wagering were adversely affected by wet weather in January and early February with abandoned race meetings and reduced field sizes due to the state of the tracks, the company said. Tabcorp said its plans to demerge its casinos business was progressing with shareholders to vote on it in June this year. In Queensland, the January floods impacted significantly on the performance of the Treasury Casino and Hotel during the quarter. Star City Casino in Sydney grew normalised revenues by 11.3 per cent and the other Queensland casinos recorded positive revenue growth. Tabcorp chief executive Elmer Funke Kupper said in a statement that trading in the third quarter was pleasing, in light of the Queensland floods. The recent floods on Australia's east coast had wiped $10 million from its revenue, the company said last month. In better news, last month Tabcorp was awarded Victoria's new exclusive 10-year Keno licence, which will start in April 2012. "Revenue growth in the third quarter improved over the first half of the financial year, which indicates that the businesses are resilient and have good underlying momentum," Kupper said.

PM Gillard Still Hates Pokies...

Julia Gillard stated on record that it's the "right thing" to crack down on problem gambling and she has seen the misery it causes in her own back yard. The PM holds the western Melbourne seat of Lalor, home to Victoria's number one venue for "one armed bandit" losses. "We know what it's like to see people who put so much money into poker machines that they break the family budget, they can't feed the kids. They end up with their houses being repossessed," Gillard said. "Now, that kind of problem gambling causes human misery. I don't think we want to see anybody profiting on human misery. Of course people like to have a bet, but I don't think they like to see their fellow Australians suffer." Despite a $20 million campaign by clubs and hotels, Gillard said the Government would push ahead to introduce technology to require frequent gamblers to set, in advance, how much they would spend. Anti-pokies senator Nick Xenophon said he had lodged a complaint with the ACCC against the Clubs Australia campaign. In the meantime MP Wilkie reckons he got a genuine death threat from pro gambling folks. Clubs Australia have called him to prove it and to refer the matter for police.

Burswood In Line To Get New Sporting Stadium Next To Packer's Casino...

West Australian Premier Colin Barnett says a new football stadium for Perth is likely to be built at Burswood, just across the Swan River from the city's centre. But he says a final decision on the site, size and timing of the new stadium will not be made until mid-year. "Burswood is a probable site, maybe even a likely site, but I stress a decision has not been made, cabinet has not yet looked at the matter," he told the press on Wednesday. He said there would not be any announcement about a stadium in the budget in May, though funding would be set aside to do initial engineering tests at the sites and perhaps initial designs. The government has been looking at three different sites for a new stadium, including several different locations within the Burswood precinct. "Much of that area is an old waste site, so we've got to be very careful about that," Barnett said. "I think most people, from the reaction I get, do see a lot of merit in Burswood in the sense that this stadium, when it's built, has to serve the state for another 50 years." Mr Barnett said Burswood, the site of the city's casino, had space for more sporting and entertainment venues and that was in its favour. West Coast coach John Worsfold said he would leave the matter of a stadium to the experts, but the sentimental value of Subiaco would remain. With all of this happening little wonder James Packer remains such a big fan of Perth.

The Aussies continue to love to try their luck. Sure, spin to win, but know the odds, and have fun.

Punters, er readers, stay glued to Media Man reports via Gambling911 for more "can't miss" information on Australian pokies and gaming wars.

*Greg Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911

*Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company. They cover a dozen industry sectors including gaming.

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