Missouri Man Shot Dad Dead, Hit Casino with His Credit Cards

A Lake Saint Louis, Mo. man suspected of shooting his father dead went to the Ameristar Casino St Charles with the victim’s credit card right after the alleged crime, The Saint Louis Dispatch reports.

Joseph M. Liszewski, Edward Liszewski, Lake Saint Louis, Ameristar St Charles
Joseph M. Liszewski in a Lake Saint Louis Police mugshot. The 39-year-old has admitted killing his father with a shotgun before heading out to the Ameristar Casino, according to a police report. (Image: KMOV)

Joseph M. Liszewski, 39, was charged with first-degree murder last Thursday following the discovery of his father’s body at the Lake Saint Louis home they shared.

When police later arrived at the house, Liszewski told them his father had inadvertently stepped on a shotgun and shot himself. That’s according to a probable cause statement seen by local media.

The suspect added that he didn’t know where his father was. Police suspected he had taken drugs.

Earlier, Liszewski was captured on security video at the Ameristar Casino St Charles, just hours after police suspect he killed his father.

Traumatic Event

Officers noticed there were dried drops of blood on the front porch of the house. In the hallway and kitchen, they found more blood, this time in splatters and pools, according to the report.

Officers concluded there was “obviously a traumatic event that had happened in the kitchen.”

Upstairs, they found the victim deceased and with a large gunshot wound to the left side of his face. He was covered by a comforter.

Police did not identify the victim by name. But neighbors who spoke to the Dispatch identified him as Edward Liszewski, 72.

Confession

Jospeh Liszewski, who has a history of DUI charges, was detained at the scene and booked on a $1 million bond. When police searched him, they found the suspect had his father’s bank cards and ID.

The suspect admitted that he and his father had gotten into an argument between midnight and 1am on Thursday morning.

He had killed his father in the kitchen with the shotgun, he stated. His father said, “You shot me, you shot me, you shot me,” according to the police report.

The suspect claimed he then tried to help his father by washing his face and placing towels on the wounds.

‘Blood and Guns’

Police were initially called to the crime scene after receiving a 911 call from a friend of the suspect. She had received text messages from Liszewski after he had returned from the casino.

Liszewski had told her “something terrible happened” and he “did it for her.”

The woman went to the house to check on him and found “blood and guns all over the place,” according to the probable cause statement.

Liszewski was also charged with armed criminal action and unlawful possession of a firearm.

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Pennsylvania Casino Smoking Targeted in New State Legislation

Pennsylvania Rep. Dan Frankel (D-Allegheny) is no fan of smoking exemptions for certain businesses like casinos. For a second year in a row, the Allegheny County Democrat has introduced legislation in the Harrisburg capital that seeks to end the smoking loopholes for casinos and other venues currently immune from the state’s indoor smoking law.

Pennsylvania casinos smoking gaming
Cigarettes and cigars inside Pennsylvania casinos are being threatened by recently introduced state legislation. State Rep. Dan Frankel (D-Allegheny) thinks the state’s brick-and-mortar casinos should be forced to go entirely smoke-free. (Image: Shutterstock)

Pennsylvania passed its Clean Indoor Air Act in 2008. The law prohibits indoor smoking in most public spaces and workplaces. However, the law that was signed by Gov. Ed Rendell (D) provides certain exceptions for casinos, cigar lounges, private clubs, and bars where alcohol generates the bulk of the establishment’s revenue.   

Frankel doesn’t believe casino workers should be subjected to working in toxic environments where secondhand smoke is prevalent. Though Pennsylvania casinos are limited to allowing indoor smoking on only half of their gaming floors, health experts say dangerous secondhand smoke lingers into the supposed nonsmoking areas.

Government Action Needed

Pennsylvania is home to 18 brick-and-mortar casinos. Only Parx Casino in Bensalem, north of Philadelphia, and Rivers Casino Philadelphia in the city proper are fully smoke-free casinos. The rest have maintained designated smoking sections on their casino floors.

Frankel says the majority of the casinos seem intent on keeping smoking. And the state Democrat feels that’s unfair to employees and guests who don’t light up.

Pennsylvanians should not have to choose between their jobs and their health. Despite a growing body of evidence suggesting that smoke-free environments attract more customers — not fewer — these businesses have not banned smoking on their own,” Frankel said in his newsletter this week.

Frankel last week filed House Bill 1657. The statute seeks to amend the Clean Indoor Air Act by repealing certain provisions that allow casinos and other businesses and clubs to permit indoor smoking.

HB 1657 has been directed to the House Health Committee, which Frankel chairs. The committee is set to meet this Wednesday, Sept. 20, to consider the smoking bill.

Casino Workers Rejoice

For the many Pennsylvania casino workers seeking a clean-air workplace, Frankel’s introduction of the anti-casino smoking bill was welcomed news. The Pennsylvania chapter of CEASE — Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects — said the bill poses the opportunity to save lives.

We thank Rep. Frankel for introducing legislation that we know will save our lives,” said Jen Rubolino, a table games dealer at Rivers Casino and the co-lead of CEASE PA. “Too many of us have been left to deal with the dangerous effects of secondhand smoke including cancer, asthma, and heart disease. It’s time to finally close the casino smoking loophole to protect our health.”

Casino smoking remains in nearby Atlantic City and in West Virginia. But casinos in the four other states that border Pennsylvania — Ohio, Maryland, New York, and Delaware — fully prohibit indoor smoking.

In research published in February, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office on Smoking & Health concluded that smoke-free casino sections still have “elevated levels of Particulate Matter.”

“Despite robust evidence about the harms of secondhand smoke, tens of thousands of casino employees and tens of millions of tourists are exposed to high levels of secondhand smoke in Las Vegas casinos annually,” said Office on Smoking & Health Policy Team Lead Michael Tynan. “The only way to protect people from secondhand smoke exposure is to prohibit smoking in all indoor areas.”

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Venetian Slot Outage NOT a Cyberattack, Las Vegas Casino Insists

An outage taking at least 50 slot machines out of service at The Venetian on Friday was not the result of a cyberattack, officials with the Las Vegas Strip resort insisted.

The Venetian
When The Venetian suffered an outage of its slot machines on Friday, casino attendants reportedly told guests it was from “a system-wide upgrade.” (Image: beatthefish.com)

At around 2:45 p.m., gaming-floor guests began posting on social media that slot machines were either down or glitching. The outage apparently ended around 4:30 p.m.

Today, we experienced a brief outage of some of our slot machines,” read a statement from The Venetian to the media. “This was not a cyber-related incident. Slot machines have now been restored, and we are working with guests who were impacted.”

A normally trivial slot outage at The Venetian — and the casino resort’s need to issue a media statement about it — illustrates how on edge every casino on the Las Vegas Strip is right now about cyberattacks. This week, MGM Resorts International (MGM) and Caesars Entertainment (CZR) admitted to being hit by them.

According to KLAS-TV, attendants at The Venetian told guests at the time that the outages resulted from a “system-wide upgrade.” Perhaps The Venetian upgraded its system security in light of current events.

Caesars paid a ransom after getting hit by ransomware a few weeks ago, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. However, it stated that the company paid half of the $30 million originally demanded. According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Caesars said its breach compromised customer driver’s licenses and Social Security numbers that were part of a customer loyalty program database.

Citing an ongoing investigation, MGM Resorts has yet to confirm what kind of cyberattack it is facing or what customer data, if any, was stolen. However, according to the credit rating firm Moody’s, it faces potential revenue losses, litigation, and a big hit to its reputation regardless of the damage the attack did.

Maybe Not Now, But Then…

The Venetian was the target of a cyberattack in February 2014, back when it was owned by billionaire Sheldon Adelson.

The attack had no financial motive and was apparently orchestrated to punish Sands’ CEO and largest shareholder for comments he made the previous October during a panel discussion at Yeshiva University. During that discussion, Adelson suggested that the U.S. should detonate a nuclear bomb in the Iranian desert if Tehran continued its nuclear program.

According to former U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, the Iranian government was behind the attack.

Adelson died in 2021. A year later, his family sold the casino resort and its sister property, The Palazzo, to its current owner, Vici Properties. Apollo Global Management operates it.

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Finland Registers Surge in Payment Options for Online Casino Players

latest_developments_in_payment_methods_for_finnish_casino_players_The online casino market in Finland has developed a lot recently, even though the country’s government has not yet introduced legislation to officially open the market to private casino operators. Nevertheless, online casinos which cater to Finnish players have diversified their offering in terms of content and also in terms of payment methods made available to their customers.

Alongside traditional payment methods such as credit and debit cards or bank transfers, online casino operators that allow Finnish players have been adding more and more options like cryptocurrencies, e-wallets and mobile payment apps.

Speaking about the latter, mobile payment applications have become more and more popular around the world, offering people a seamless way to deposit and withdraw funds at online casinos. Brite is one such application, in which people can link their bank accounts to their smartphones and then make instant transactions.

Cryptocurrencies Gaining Ground Along With E-Wallets

Most online casinos that accept players from Finland have integrated cryptocurrency payment options, these tend to be very fast and also quite popular with the younger generation. The most popular currencies are Bitcoin and Ethereum, and these two options are available at several Finnish online casinos.

E-Wallets are also increasingly popular and mainly for the same reason: fast transactions without too much hassle. Transactions with e-wallets tend to be faster than those with credit or debit cards and definitely a lot more convenient and quick than bank transfers. There are several providers that are competing on this market, with the most popular one being big brands such as PayPal, Skrill or Neteller.

However, some banks have sensed the wind of change and have made efforts to compete with the new fintech companies by allowing instant transfers within their own e-banking applications. With these new methods players are able to send money instantly from their bank account to their casino account. Moreover, most major banks in Finland support this method, so there is plenty of access to such swift transactions.

So there are plenty of payment methods available to Finnish online casino players, ranging from the classic ones like credit or debit cards and bank transfers to the most forward-thinking options like cryptocurrencies, mobile payment applications or e-wallets.

Source: “Latest Developments in Payment Methods for Finnish Casino Players“. European Gaming. September 1, 2023.

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Winlandia Casino Set To Launch in Multiple European Markets

Finlandia Casino, the online casino brand that has become very popular on the Finnish market for the past ten years, has announced its rebranding to “Winlandia” as the company seeks to expand on multiple European markets.

Taking Europe by Storm

winlandia_to_launch_in_eu_markets-_including_the_uk_norway_and_denmark_having_already_gone_live_in_swedenFinlandia Casino is regarded as one of the most respected brands on the Finnish online gaming market thanks to its impressive portfolio of slot games, table games and live casino titles, along with numerous payment options and enticing promotions and bonuses.

These strengths eventually attracted even players from other markets and that is why the company decided to change its brand to a more internationally-appealing one as it looks to expand into Europe.

Following the rebrand to “Winlandia”, the online casino has entered the Swedish market while three other major markets are lined up: Denmark, Norway and the United Kingdom. The online casino states that it wants to stand out from other brands by offering a tailored player experience, delivered with a Nordic twist.

Winlandia has a wide range of games in its offering, with its portfolio surpassing 5,500 titles from all the big developers in the world. However, the online casino also includes games from smaller providers which offer fresh and innovative titles.

The operator also announced that it intends to be among the first to apply for a license once Finland finally decides to dissolve the gambling monopoly and allow private operators to compete on the market in the coming years. Moreover, Winlandia announced that it intends to reach other continents as it will attempt to expand into Canada and New Zealand as well.

Hugely Passionate About Online Casino

Christoffer Grönlund, Head of Acquisitions & PR at Winlandia, was the one that announced the expansion plans, confirming that the online casino brand is looking to expand further into Europe and beyond.

“The team behind Winlandia is hugely passionate about online casino and delivering the absolute best experience to our players,” Christoffer Grönlund added, underlining that the company has a “very experienced” team with over 15 years of work in the iGaming industry.

“We have some incredibly exciting plans in the works and look forward to more players than ever before being able to enjoy what Winlandia has to offer,” the Winlandia executive concluded.

Source: “Finlandia Casino Rebrands to Winlandia and Goes Global“BusinessWire. August 31, 2023.

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