LOUISVILLE.- March Madness has hit Kentuckiana and it's hard to find anyone who doesn't know someone in an office pool. Filling out the NCAA brackets is part of spring for many people. WAVE 3 investigates how technology is making the habit dangerous for some.

"Just five dollars, you can fill out as many brackets as you want," says Denny Hertel about his office NCAA tournament pool. He's organized it for the past seven years and says most of his co-workers take the chance, filling out their paper bracket and turning it back in to him. "It really is luck," he says.

Like more and more people, Hertel plans on placing a second bet online. He says, "the chances of you winning online because there are so many people doing it are just almost zero, but it's just the fun of it. You never know"...

To attract your business many casinos will add a bonus to your initial deposit, usually 10% but I have seen it go as high as 100%.

When you accept a bonus you are usually required to meet a certain level of betting action to cash out the bonus. I have seen the total amount bet required range from the amount of the bonus to six times the sum of the deposit and the bonus. Read the rules carefully before you start playing.

After opening an account wait at least 15 minutes for any welcome e-mail to come in. Sometimes this e-mail will indicate different rules than what the web site says about earning a bonus...

Oasis Casino, Sportsbook & Racebook, an important Internet Casino, recently announced that eight lucky players got a Valentines Day gift totaling $500 in cash, bonuses and free plays from the site.

This Web Casino sent Valentines Cards to all of its members inviting them to send their Valentines greetings in return to Oasis. By sending their greetings to the online casino, members became eligible to win up to $500 in cash and bonuses. The $500 cash and bonus prize was then distributed at random among eight players...

London - Shares of UK companies that own online gambling sites had soared this year on speculation of mergers and acquisitions and the profit potential of online poker, said Dresdner Bank analyst Andrew Lee.

The businesses were "hugely cash-generative in an explosive growth market", said Lee. "The market is finally rerating them to reflect their organic and acquisitive growth prospects."

Online casino gambling has gained tremendous popularity in Asia over the past few years.

In Asia you can find rows and rows of computer terminals at internet cafes full of people playing instant flash online casinos and online betting.

But some of the online casino operations on China are not completely legal and recent Chinese authorities have begun to crack down on illegal online casinos in recent weeks.

Gambling Federation has announced the winners of the first edition of the Gambling Federation Affiliate Awards. Flaviano Fogli, CEO of Gambling Federation, said, “It always brings Gambling Federation great pleasure to reward its affiliates.

In the gaming industry, the rewards are high for affiliates that wish to apply themselves. I am sure that the winners would agree. I would like to take this opportunity to wish the winners, and all of our affiliates a great year in 2005.”

If you enjoy the rowdy, fun atmosphere of a British Pub but it�s already after closing time, don�t fret, you can visit a virtual pub at an online casino. Many people enjoy online casinos and the smoky, raucous atmosphere of British style pubs so the new only casino games developed by CryptoLogic provide lots of online entertainment for many people. The online casino is an excellent place to have some fun and play your favorite casino games. There is a continuous effort by casino game developers to come up with new and innovative ideas that will appeal to large sections of the population �the idea of fusing casino games with British style pubs is sure to be a success.

RENO, Nev. (AP) -- International Game Technology, a maker of gaming and video lottery equipment, on Wednesday said it bought its Canadian distributor Hi-Tech Gaming for an undisclosed sum.

The acquired company will become a new sales and service unit called IGT-Canada Inc. Most of Hi-Tech's 43 workers joined the new unit Jan. 1, while principals Owen MacNeil and Bill Hennessey will be consultants.

Las Vegas Sands, one of America's biggest gambling companies, is pressing for fresh amendments to the Gambling Bill following the Government's controversial decision to introduce a cap of eight mega-casinos.

The company, which owns The Venetian casino on the famous Nevada strip, has proposed four amendments which it believes will maximise the regeneration benefits, while reducing the scope for problem gambling.

Christmas came early for one lucky online casino player when he won over £150,000 on the At The Races Casino site. Peter who plays under the username Sunera struck gold with a £5 side bet on Caribbean Stud Poker, the game displayed a Royal Flush winning him a staggering £125,000 on a payout of 25000 X £5. His main game bet of £150 won him an additional £30,150 to take his total haul with a single bet to £155,150.

He was so surprised with his win that he immediately placed a £1,000 bet to make sure it was true and he really had won that much cash.