Luck was not on Lampard’s side. Last weekend, Chelsea’s midfield player threw out, in just a few hours, over 12,000 euros at the blackjack tables with some of his teammates such as Shaun Wright-Phillips, Wayne Bridge, Glen Johnson and the legendary Teddy Sheringham.

During the unfortunate hand, the player, engaged to former Catalan model Elen Rives –mother of his daughter Luna Patricia, almost two years old-, met a woman from East Europe, who was about 30 years old, with whom he spent four hours in his suite.

The date is considered lucky and it was chosen by many couples to get married and by gambling lovers to try out their luck. Many companies, from wedding companies to casinos, obtained on this day the highest revenue of the year.

According to historians, the idea that claims that there are lucky numbers goes back to the ancient Greeks, but it’s not very clear why number seven has a special connotation in the occidental culture.

After 25 years of being an FBI agent, Joe Navarro certainly knows something about lies, tricks to deceive and body language. Recently, Mr. Navarro decided to apply some of his knowledge to help poker players identify whether an opponent has a good hand or is just bluffing.

Currently, Mr. Navarro along with poker star Annie Duke teaches body language reading techniques at the poker training camp managed by Phil Hellmuth. “Reading people is paramount to success,” Mr. Navarro explained. “I treat them just like the special agents I train.

July 4th is a day to remember, a day to celebrate the Independence of the United States. For those that like gambling, spending the holyday at a casino might be an interesting choice. Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs is offering an Independence Day celebration customized for gamblers.

It will be a two day event, both on July 3rd and 4th. Players will have the chance to enjoy more than 1,100 slot machines. The non smoking Food Court area recently went through an 82-game expansion, now including Electronic Blackjack and Roulette.

Dutch illusionist Hans Klok presents his show three times a week at the Planet Hollywood Casino Hotel in Las Vegas. The Stage Entertainment company announced in a statement that former “Baywatch” star Pamela Anderson will assist the self-proclaimed “fastest magician in the world” during the “The beauty of magic” show.

“I knew that some day my dream of becoming a Las Vegas Show Girl, and even better, a magician assistant, would come true. It’s every girl’s fantasy!”, exuberant Pamela Anderson commented, both excited and amused.

Following the increasing popularity of Texas Hold’em games all over the world, the National Poker League of Australia has decided to start offering tournaments of this poker variant in South Australian pubs from the end of June. Texas Hold’em championships have already taken place in Western Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania.

Tournaments are open to both amateur and professional players, who will play with “non-value” chips instead of cash.

The manager of the biggest stock fund in the world is in his way to collect $5 million or even more with the stamps he bought for $2 million mostly in 2000. His fund of $104,000 million, Total Return Fund, had an annual rent of 6.9 percent in the last ten years.

The value of the collectable objects is going very high according to the millionaire who always looks for alternative investments or trophies. As an example, Stanley Ho, the casino businessman from Macao, paid $1.8 million in May for the throne of emperor Kangxi, which was sold in 1994 for $43,700.

Zoe Busiek works as a croupier in Las Vegas when, suddenly, she is forced to leave her job because of her sister’s death in a traffic accident. Therefore, Zoe has to leave her blackjack table to take care of her nephews in Chicago since their father left them a while ago.

To move on with her new life, Zoe needs to find a new job, which won’t be easy in a new city that is completely different to Las Vegas and job offers are also different from her croupier job.

Blackjack Institute offers training and instructions to succeed in the game. The institute was launched by Michael Aponte and David Irvine, two of the former members of the Minnesota Institute of Technology Blackjack Team, the legendary winners in Las Vegas in the 90s.

The MIT Blackjack Team was first created by students that took an optional course that the MIT offered on gambling. After a first unsuccessful period, the team soon strengthened and got lucky in Las Vegas.

American tycoon investor Kirk Kerkorian announced his plans to purchase two Las Vegas Casinos owned and operated by MGM Mirage: the Bellagio and the CityCenter, still under construction. Any acquisition would be done through Tracinda, Kerkorian’s investment company, which already owns 56 percent of MGM Mirage.

Tracinda also informed that it intends to pursue “strategic alternatives” related to its share in MGM Mirage.