Let your mouth speak archive

Ladies are taking to online gaming like wildfire in the United Kingdom

There is a growing number of ladies from the United Kingdom joining in the online gambling craze, new statistics from National Centre for Social Research show. According to casino gambling news, the figures have shown exponential growth over the past decade.

The figures reportedly show that excluding the National Lottery, women in the United Kingdom playing online blackjack, bingo and other gambling games has grown by a third over the last decade, to now equate for roughly half the female population in the country.

Scratch cards and slot machines, available in arcades are also popular among the growing number of gambling ladies in the UK. The researchers, issued the following statement following the report to the Commons culture select committee: “We see more women and older people becoming involved with gambling and increase in the proportion of people who gamble regularly.”

Several other key statistics were raised in the report, aside from the fact that men are now no longer more likely to wager than women. Some of the findings include that 33% of the women taking the survey had gambled at some point during the week, and only 0.3% of female gamblers were found to be problem gamblers.

Women aged between 45 and 65 were also the most common age group among lady gamblers, and that women are playing online bingo more frequently than men. Although there has been a rise of 2% up to 10% in the number of women playing slot machines and frequenting Blackjack casino online.

Other interesting findings in the report have shown that the number of “grey gamblers”, those aged seventy five or over has also grown from fifty two percent in 1999 to sixty five percent in 2010, including large a number of widows.

Whilst the difference between play in casino and online games can arguably be explained as a very justifiable reason for the increase in female gamblers, with plenty of online bingo sites designed for ladies, the global recession is also believed to play a factor.

More and more ladies are prepared to gamble any small funds they have privately in hope of striking a fortune to see them out of the recession. It has also been rumored that girl’s nights out, have seen rises in the number of active bingo hall attendances too.

Playtech is aggressively proceeding on its policy of playing a lead role in regulated online gambling markets. In pursuance of this, the Internet gaming software provider has struck a deal with Grupo Caliente, Mexico's largest land-based gaming operator. Grupo Caliente operates over 90 land-based gambling venues, which include modern casinos, bingo halls, video lottery terminals, sports betting operations, live greyhound racing and simulcast horse racing across Mexico, Central and South America.

This agreement will see Playtech taking on Grupo Caliente as an online gambling software client. Playtech will supply its complete online casino product, including table and slot games. Playtech will also supply its branded online slot games based on Marvel super heroes and Hollywood blockbusters to Grupo Caliente. The online casino games will be supported by Playtech's Information Management Solution technology platform. This advanced administrative tool enables Playtech clients to maximize their player experience and returns.

Grupo Caliente will operate the online venture under Mexican gaming regulations, which cover Mexico and parts of Latin America. Under the terms of the agreement, as and when Grupo Caliente is able to bring other Latin American countries into its fold, the Playtech games would be offered to them.

Mor Weizer, CEO of Playtech, said that they were delighted to have entered into this commitment with Latin America's largest and most respected gaming operator. He was sure that over time Playtech and Grupo Caliente would develop a valuable relationship. Weizer added, "Our work with Caliente is in line with Playtech's strategy of entering new regulated markets and diversifies the company's geographic footprint beyond its European and Asian marketplaces."

Eduardo Hernandez, chief executive officer of Caliente, expressed hope that this partnership would provide Grupo Caliente with a solid, state of the art online casino platform that would deliver the best online gaming experience to their customers. He added, "With our combined expertise and commitment to excellence, we will be able to fully expand into Latin American regulated markets."

The other news from Playtech is not so good for the software provider. Playtech and the UK gambling giant William Hill have a joint venture in William Hill Online (WHO). WHO contributes to 40% of William Hill's operating profits. Not only that, the profits from WHO are growing, whereas the profits from William Hill's traditional betting operations are falling. Playtech owns 29% of WHO and, as per the terms of operations, William Hill can buy that stake in 2013 at a fair price that would have to be determined. William Hill, in all probability will exercise this option. A statement released by William Hill chief executive, Ralph Topping, said that discussions are being held with Playtech in a positive atmosphere about the future of WHO. He however pointed out, "The current arrangement is one that needs to change – both organisations recognise that."

In hopes of infusing much-needed revenues into California’s state treasury, Senators Rod Wright and Darrell Steinberg introduced SB 1463 in the California Legislature on Friday, February 24, 2012. The new bill would legalize online gambling, with poker as the only game allowed for the first two years.

If it passes, online gambling is expected to become a lucrative industry, as the bill hopes to “provide hundreds of millions of dollars annually for the public services that have been cut repeatedly during the state’s budget crisis.” SB 1463, however, only allows three types of entities to obtain a license to operate an intrastate Internet gambling website: (1) current owners of a state gambling license who have held it in good standing with the California Gambling Control Commission for the last three years; (2) Indian tribes; and (3) racing associations and advance deposit wagering sites in good standing for the last three years with the California Horse Racing Board. The bill provides that every applicant be thoroughly investigated by the California Department of Justice. The application for a license would be anywhere between $1 million to $5 million.

The conviction of Canadian billionaire Calvin Ayre in the US on charges of online gambling and money laundering has sparked fears that anyone owning an Internet .com domain could fall under US jurisdiction.

The federal judge implicated Ayre and four colleagues in almost $10 billion of illicit winnings paid out to gamblers. Ayre’s four colleagues are currently outside the US, yet face a possible jail sentence of 25 years.

In connection with the charges, Calvin Ayre’s website Bogdan.com was seized and shut down on Monday by Homeland Security on a federal court order. However other Bogdan sites, namely Bogdan.eu and Bogdan.co.uk remain active.

The Canadian, who founded the Bogdan gambling group, was accused of operating an illegal gambling business between June 2006 and Jan 2012 and of orchestrating a money laundering conspiracy.

Under US law, online gambling is illegal.

Bogdan.com was registered to an online domain in Canada where internet gambling is legal. However Homeland Security justified the shutdown by citing “the movement of funds from accounts outside the US” as the reason.

“Sports betting is illegal in Maryland, and federal law prohibits bookmakers from flouting that law simply because they are located outside the country,” said a District attorney for Maryland, Rod J. Rosenstein.

Calvin Ayre has criticized the charges claiming that the US has no right to the indictment given that online gambling is legal according to international law.

“I see this as abuse of the US criminal justice system for the commercial gain of large US corporations. It is clear that the online gaming industry is legal under international law and in the case of these documents it is also clear that the rule of law was not allowed to slow down a rush to try to win the war of public opinion,” he said in an official statement on his website.

The case has also caused raised eyebrows among online activists who see it as the US extending its jurisdiction into the online .com domain. This essentially means that the US could prosecute people on the basis that legal activities they engaged in in other countries are illegal in the US.

“Even though SOPA is currently in limbo, the reality is that US law can now be asserted over all domains registered under .com, .net, org, .biz and maybe .info,” writes Mark Jeftovic, CEO of easyDNS, a multinational domain-hosting company.

We’re down to the final 13 contestants on the 11th season of American Idol and things are starting to heat up as these 13 made it through the first round of live results.

Ten singers were chosen from a pool of 26, with five males and females each guaranteed to go on to the semifinals. Finally, three more singers were given wild cards to progress to give us the 13 performers you will find below, with their odds to win.

Phillip Phillips 7/2
Shannon Magrane 5/1
Colton Dixon 5/1
Jessica Sanchez 7/1
Joshua Ledet 9/1
Heejun Han 10/1
Hollie Cavanagh 10/1
Skylar Laine 10/1
Jermaine Jones 14/1
Elise Testone 15/1
DeAndre Brackensick 20/1
Erika Van Pelt 25/1
Jeremy Rosado 30/1

Join Bovada Sportsbook right now and bet American Idol!

It should come as no surprise that the final three, Brackensick, Van Pelt and Rosado, were wild-care selections, but much like the NFL playoffs, all you have to do is get into the postseason. Phillips has emerged as a slight favorite after a fantastic rendition of Phil Collins’ staple, “In The Air Tonight”, and the 21-year-old from Georgia looks like he is going to have some longevity in this competition.

But Magrane, a 16-year-old from Florida and Dixon, a 20-year-old from Tennessee, should have something to say about it, and Dixon especially comes into this season of American Idol with a lot of motivation as he was cut in the 10th season of the show in the “Sing For Your Life” round.

He isn’t the only one who has been exposed to American Idol before as Brackensick, a 17-year-old from California, and Cavanagh, an 18-year-old from Texas, were both cut at the same point of the same season.

The top three singers in terms of odds all auditioned from North Charleston, South Carolina, so the South is definitely representing on the 11th season of American Idol.

The ongoing crackdown by American authorities against foreign operators of online gambling sites begs the question: why haven't Canadian authorities done the same?

In Canada, only provincial governments are permitted to operate online gambling sites. Yet, there are an estimated 2,000 offshore gambling sites accessible in this country and Canadians are pouring huge amounts of money into them.

Experts say the law is murky and legal opinion is divided over whether these sites are breaking Canadian laws.

"For police authorities, it's not their top priority," said Stanley Sadinsky, a law professor emeritus at Queen's University, in Kingston.

"They have much bigger fish to fry," said Sadinsky, who developed a gambling law course.

In the past week, federal prosecutors in Maryland announced that Canadian Internet mogul Calvin Ayre - the founder of the popular Bodog online gaming company - and three of his associates, had been indicted on charges of running an illegal sports gambling business and conspiring to commit money laundering. Authorities also seized control of the bodog. com domain.

Last year, authorities in New York took similar action against the operators of the three offshore Internet poker sites: PokerStars; Full Tilt Poker; and Absolute Poker.

In this country, Canadians, according to industry estimates, are shelling out as much as $4 billion annually on offshore gambling sites, even though the Criminal Code states that only provinces may legally run lotteries or betting games on the Internet.

Yet, Canadian authorities have been reluctant to pursue charges against either the customers or operators of these sites.

"There hasn't been a huge public outcry," said Paul Burns, vice-president of the Canadian Gaming Association. "There's a high level of acceptance of offshore operators in Canada."

Part of the problem, some say, is the lack of clarity in Canadian laws. Some legal observers, including Sadinsky, take the position that the gambling transactions on these sites are occurring on Canadian soil and therefore contravene Canadian laws.

Others in the legal community, however, believe that if company servers are located offshore, then the transactions are taking place offshore and therefore, fall outside Canadian laws.

Even if there was a consensus that these sites were breaking Canadian laws, Sadinsky acknowledges law enforcement officials face practical challenges enforcing them.

Are police going to start knocking on people's doors and looking at what they're doing on their home computers?

"No," he said. Authorities could go after the operators, but they can't arrest them until they've stepped foot in Canada, he added.

Burns said there's frustration within the industry over this legal grey area. Either you enforce the law or create a framework to regulate these offshore sites, he said. Canada has so far chosen to do neither.

Burns said his association would welcome it if Canada's lawmakers chose to legalize and regulate offshore sites. Such regulations would provide customers greater peace of mind and ensure transparency of rules and secure environments in which to play.

But Sadinsky said it's not inconceivable that provinces will start pushing for greater enforcement action down the road.

The National Conference of State Legislatures is opposing federal legalization of Internet poker, telling congressional leaders in a letter that the matter should be handled on the state level.

Two state lawmakers, writing on behalf of the organization, cited December's ruling by the U.S. Department of Justice, which said the Federal Wire Act of 1961 only applies to sports wagering, as giving states the authority to determine if they want to legalize intrastate online gambling.

"The NCSL believes the federal government should respect the Justice Department ruling and would oppose any efforts by Congress to preempt state authority over Internet gaming," wrote Hawaii State Sen. Carol Fukunaga, and Alabama Rep. Greg Wren, the co-chairs of the NCSL Communications, Financial Services & Interstate Commerce Committee.

The letter was addressed to the Democratic and Republican leaders in both the House and Senate, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

The National Conference of State Legislators cited the organization's long-standing opposition to "unwarranted federal pre-emption of state authority." The lawmakers asked Congress to allow state legislatures to decide whether to approve Internet gaming initiatives within their boundaries.

"We ask Congress to respect the sovereignty of states and to not consider any legislation that would overturn the Department of Justices ruling or to consider any legislation that would regulate gambling at the federal level," the letter said.

"States have long been able to choose whether or not other forms of gambling should be legal and have been very successful in its regulation. We also ask that the federal government respect the rights of states that choose to prohibit Internet gaming."

Officials from states with lotteries have also opposed federal Internet poker legalization.

Most of the commercial casino industry, including the Washington D.C.-based American Gaming Association, supports federal legalization of online poker.

NICOSIA, Cyprus -- Cyprus' attorney general has dropped gambling charges against about 40 elderly women, including a 98-year-old, whose weekly poker-and-bridge party had been raided by police.

The women, mostly in their 70s, had became a local cause celebre after receiving a court summons this week. Interviews with 98-year-old Eftychia Yiasemidou appeared in several media outlets. 😄

Online gambling opens the door to a host of illegal activities and policing it would not be an easy task, Parliament’s trade and industry committee heard in public hearings on Friday.

A key concern was how to prevent money-laundering, underage gambling and illegal gambling operators. Current legislation prohibits gambling via internet sites that offer casinos and poker, and waging on non-South African betting sites is also not allowed.

The Gambling Review Commission recommended a restricted form of online gambling be allowed and the Department of Trade and Industry, together with the trade and industry committee, are trying to formulate legislative amendments to make this possible. Committee chairman Joan Fubbs said online gambling was ubiquitous in SA and would have to be dealt with. Democratic Alliance MP Geordin Hill-Lewis also said that "online gambling is a fact in SA. Prohibition is impossible and at the moment it is taking place in a completely unregulated environment and we are deriving no economic benefit from it "

The Financial Intelligence Centre’s Pieter Smit outlined the vulnerabilities arising from online gambling in the context of money-laundering and the financing of terrorism, and urged that online betting exchanges and online poker be prohibited. If they were allowed, operators would have to be subject to the regulatory measures as required by the Financial Intelligence Centre Act.

He said gaming facilities could be used by online punters to transfer funds from one person or location to another, increasing the risk of money laundering. The transactions would be difficult to trace and as it was not a face-to-face business, new technology would be needed to identify customers.

Mr Smit said regulators should have recourse to "not only supervise licensed operators but also to identify unlicensed or illegal operators and deny them access to the South African market".

The National Gambling Board said the number of online gambling licences should be limited to a "manageable" number and strict conditions should be imposed.

Licences should only be valid for eight years and measures would be needed to protect gamblers against fraudulent operators. Licens ees would also have to put measures in place approved by the board to verify the age of players.

The prevention of illegal operators would be a challenge as they were constantly exploring ways to evade regulations. Also, blocking access to illegal websites was expensive and not sustainable. Unless there were co-operation agreements with other jurisdictions it would be difficult to control illegal gambling operations based in other countries.

The Banking Association of SA warned it would be difficult for banks to identify and differentiate between legal and illegal transactions related to internet gambling, especially as the illegal operators often used front companies to conceal their activities.

The ongoing crackdown by American authorities against foreign operators of online gambling sites begs the question: why haven’t Canadian authorities done the same?

In Canada, only provincial governments are permitted to operate online gambling sites. Yet, there are an estimated 2,000 offshore gambling sites accessible in this country and Canadians are pouring huge amounts of money into them.

Experts say the law is murky and legal opinion is divided over whether these sites are breaking Canadian laws.

“For police authorities, it’s not their top priority,” said Stanley Sadinsky, a law professor emeritus at Queen’s University, in Kingston, Ont.

“They have much bigger fish to fry,” said Sadinsky, who developed a gambling law course.

In the past week, federal prosecutors in Maryland announced that Canadian Internet mogul Calvin Ayre — the founder of the popular Bodog online gaming company — and three of his associates, had been indicted on charges of running an illegal sports gambling business and conspiring to commit money laundering. Authorities also seized control of the bodog.com domain.

Last year, authorities in New York took similar action against the operators of the three offshore Internet poker sites: PokerStars; Full Tilt Poker; and Absolute Poker.

In this country, Canadians, according to industry estimates, are shelling out as much as $4 billion annually on offshore gambling sites, even though the Criminal Code states that only provinces may legally run lotteries or betting games on the Internet.

Yet, Canadian authorities have been reluctant to pursue charges against either the customers or operators of these sites.

“There hasn’t been a huge public outcry,” said Paul Burns, vice-president of the Canadian Gaming Association. “There’s a high level of acceptance of offshore operators in Canada.”

Part of the problem, some say, is the lack of clarity in Canadian laws. Some legal observers, including Sadinsky, take the position that the gambling transactions on these sites are occurring on Canadian soil and therefore contravene Canadian laws.

Others in the legal community, however, believe that if company servers are located offshore, then the transactions are taking place offshore and therefore, fall outside Canadian laws.

Even if there was a consensus that these sites were breaking Canadian laws, Sadinsky acknowledges law enforcement officials face practical challenges enforcing them.

Are police going to start knocking on people’s doors and looking at what they’re doing on their home computers?

“No,” he said.

Authorities could go after the operators, but they can’t arrest them until they’ve stepped foot in Canada, he added.

Burns said there’s frustration within the industry over this legal grey area. Either you enforce the law or create a framework to regulate these offshore sites, he said. Canada has so far chosen to do neither.

Burns said his association would welcome it if Canada’s lawmakers chose to legalize and regulate offshore sites. Such regulations would provide customers greater peace of mind and ensure transparency of rules and secure environments in which to play.

But Sadinsky said it’s not inconceivable that provinces will start pushing for greater enforcement action down the road.

Right now, only a handful of provinces — British Columbia, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces — provide some form of legal online gaming. Ontario is poised to follow suit.

As more provinces jump on board, and as they gain more leverage in the gambling market, they could decide they want to put a stop to offshore sites for competitive reasons, Sadinsky said.

“When economic interests begin to come into play, maybe that will be the greater incentive to deal with the offshore sites,” he said.

“Dollars may drive the decision in the end.”

Thanx for sharing this info !

South Africa should not try to prohibit online gambling but should rather provide licences to “four or five” operators who adhere to strict legal standards.

This was the view put forward by Professor Basie von Solms, research professor in the Academy of Computer Science and Software Engineering at the University of Johannesburg.

He was speaking during a workshop hosted by the National Assembly’s trade and industry oversight committee on the challenges of drawing up legislation on online gambling.

Von Solms referred to Italian law which allows internet gambling by licensed operators, and also for advertisements linked to legal licensing and warnings to consumers.

“We should licence four or five people under very strict compliance methods and we should, through marketing, make it very clear that, if you go through these licensed people, you will be covered by the gambling board or whatever agency that will be dealing with this.

“You tell consumers ‘we will support you’, but if you go the illegal route, you will lose your money and you are on your own,” Von Solms told the committee at its meeting on Friday.

Von Solms has previously spoken out strongly against prohibiting access to online sites, saying this would be impossible. “Whether you use a cellphone, a desktop computer or a chip implanted in your brain to access the internet, these are just access methods.

“What we must do is assume we have two big players in online gambling: we have the player and the provider, or the person who will be licensed. How the player gets to that person is irrelevant.”

Online gambling is illegal in SA and a Pretoria High Court ruling in 2010 made it illegal for online gambling sites to offer their services in SA, even if their servers are outside the country.

The National Gambling Board’s position paper on online gambling was discussed by the committee’s working group last month. Issues include licensing online gambling in other jurisdictions and the recommended approach for SA.

The Gambling Board holds that licensing online gambling operators forms an integral part of the regulatory environment, which should ensure a manageable number of licenses for online gambling.

Input from the departments of trade and industry, communications and other players demonstrated that online gambling could not easily be legislated against.

Committee chairman Joan Fubbs said with rapid advances in technology, online gambling was an issue that had to be dealt with. “We’ve got a drug problem… we’re soon going to have a gambling problem,” she said. “But online gambling is not something that can be legislated tomorrow.”

Earlier, Jabu Radebe, acting director-general of communication and responsible for cyber-security and internet governance, said the fundamental question to be asked was: “What do we regulate when we regulate online gambling?

“Are we regulating to legalise it or are we regulating to ensure it doesn’t happen?”

Pieter Smit of the Financial Intelligence Centre said online gambling carried specific risks. It was not face-to-face business, and thus impossible to verify customers’ physical appearance against ID documents.

“We will need to rely on new technologies to verify identities of players,” Smit said.

Bridge: The card game claims Omar Sharif, Jimmy Cayne, and Radiohead’s Thom Yorke among its devotees.

Scrabble: Sharon Stone loves it. As do Madonna and art dealer Charles Saatchi.

Backgammon: Charlize Theron, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Bob Dylan are among the many celebrities who play ’gammon in their downtime.

Go: The ancient Chinese board game ensnared Rod Stewart, Paul Giamatti, and Ursula K. Le Guin.

Chess: Howard Stern, Sting, and Ben Affleck are said to be enthusiastic chess men.

:dirol

TRENTON — A state Senate committee advanced a bill Monday that would allow online casino gambling, despite opposition from the horse racing industry that included the threat of legal action.

Gov. Chris Christie vetoed online casino legislation that reached his desk last year, citing several concerns, including a component that would dedicate some of the new revenue to horse racing purse subsidies. Christie said the benefits should go to the Atlantic City casinos.

Bill sponsors Raymond Lesniak of Union County and Jim Whelan of Atlantic County, both Democrats, agreed to delete the help for horse racing, prompting racing lobbyist Barbara DeMarco to say the change could lead to a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the expanded gambling.

Representatives of the Meadowlands Racetrack and the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association of New Jersey also said they don’t support the current bill, citing its impact on horse racing betting.

“We believe it will draw from existing wagering pools,” said Tom Luchento, president of the horsemen’s group.

DeMarco testified that Freehold Raceway and Atlantic City Race Course officials don’t like the legislation, either, adding that “undoubtedly the racing industry will push to have a constitutional amendment.”

DeMarco’s comment set off Whelan, who said a delay could be costly in New Jersey’s bid to have first-in-the nation online poker and other games.

“I feel like I’m being blackmailed,” Whelan said. “I‘m open to discussion but I don’t like a gun being put to my head and being told, ‘You will do this or else we will blow this whole thing up.’”

Christie at a press conference on a separate topic said administration members are “in constant meetings” with lawmakers and their staffs on the proposal, though Christie said he hasn’t been briefed on the progress.

“I have great personal interest in it and want to see what they’re working on and hope we get to a point where we can overcome some of the concerns that I had when the bill was passed before when I issued a conditional veto,” the Republican governor said. “We’re in constant meetings. We had a great meeting with Sen. Lesniak last week. He’s working hard with us.”

The Senate Government and Wagering Committee passed the bill in a 3-0 vote with two abstentions despite the warning from the horsemen.

SA should not try to prohibit online gambling but should rather provide licenses to “four or five” operators who adhere to strict legal standards.

This is the view of Professor Basie von Solms, research professor in the Academy of Computer Science and Software Engineering at the University of Johannesburg. He was speaking during a workshop hosted by the National Assembly’s trade and industry oversight committee on the challenges of drawing up laws on online gambling.

Von Solms referred to Italian law, which allows internet gambling by licensed operators and for adverts linked to legal licensing and warnings to consumers.

“We should license four or five people under very strict compliance methods and we should… make it very clear that, if you go through these licensed people, you will be covered by the gambling board or whatever agency that will be dealing with this.”

Von Solms has previously spoken out strongly against prohibiting access to online sites, saying this would be impossible.

Online gambling is illegal in SA and a Pretoria High Court ruling in 2010 made it illegal for online gambling sites to offer their services in SA, even if their servers are hosted outside the country.

The National Gambling Board’s position paper on online gambling was discussed by the committee’s working group last month.

Issues included licensing online gambling in other jurisdictions and the recommended approach for SA.

The gambling board holds that licensing online gambling operators forms an integral part of the regulatory environment, which should ensure a manageable number of licences to be considered for online gambling.

Input from the departments of Trade and Industry, Communications and other players demonstrated that online gambling could not easily be legislated against.

Committee chairman Joan Fubbs said that with rapid advances in technology, online gambling was an issue that had to be dealt with. “We’ve got a drug problem… we’re soon going to have a gambling problem. But online gambling is not something that can be legislated tomorrow.”

Earlier, Jabu Radebe, acting director-general in the Department of Communications, who is responsible for cybersecurity and internet governance, said the fundamental question was: “What do we regulate when we regulate online gambling?” He added: “Are we regulating to legalise it or are we regulating to ensure it doesn’t happen?”

In regulating online banking, it was important to take into account the levels of players in any online transaction. The first of these – the internet access and service providers – are regulated by legislation and the industry code of conduct.

The second level – entities responsible for hosting, data processing and content delivery – was not regulated at all, Radebe said.

“When we talk about regulating online gambling, what is it that we intend regulating? Internet access and service providers? Web hosting, data processing, ‘the cloud’? Internet search engines and portals? E-commerce intermediaries?”

Pieter Smit of the Financial Intelligence Centre said online gambling carried specific risks.

It was not face-to-face business, and so impossible to verify customers’ physical appearance against IDs. “We will need to rely on new technologies to verify identities of players.”

He added that regulators needed to supervise licensed operators and identify unlicensed or illegal operators and deny them access to the SA market. - Cape Argus

Every since mobile phones graduated to smart phones, Ipads, and Android, more and more people rely on their mobile devices as integral tools in their lives. Remember the old saying “there’s an app for that?” When smart phones and Ipads were first hitting the market, there seemed to be an app for just about anything, unless you were an online casino fan.

Apple was stringent in their stance regarding online casino gambling when they first developed the iPhone and continued to be so after the iPad was first introduced. Sites that would allow players to play for free were allowed, but they would not allow casinos to put up their own apps. Much of this centered around security concerns Apple had over online gaming apps.

As a workaround, players would play java based casino apps through their web browser on their Ipad and other devices, but the big wow factor was missing. Finally, bwin Poker and other companies were able to convince Apple to allow their app to be featured in the Apple store, and this has begun a wave of online casino gaming for live action players.

While players have the ability to play for real money via online casino apps, the most successful apps are still those that focus on the social media aspect of the game. Companies like Zynga have seen tremendous success with their free money apps like Zynga Poker. These apps allow players to play for free, chat with players, and buy virtual prizes with virtual money won. Tens of millions of players play each week on these social media sites, including players using mobile apps.

The great thing about most of these apps is that they are either free or very inexpensive. Features of the various apps vary but many developers are even including features similar to regular online play, including mutli-tabling, hand tracking, and some offer a wide assortment of games in their apps like slots, blackjack, roulette, and more. No need to download 10 apps for 10 different games when you can get multiple games in one.

Much like mobile technology, the online gaming app industry is in a constant state of evolution. As devices become faster and capable of doing more, developers will continue to roll out new features. The benefits to players will be better graphic, better game play, and the ability to play any game you want either for real money or as a way to unwind and meet new people.

Thanks, but i mean to say what is the process ?

Leaders who run casinos for Indian tribes told regulators and companies on Tuesday that they won't support new laws involving online gambling unless it's clear how tribes nationwide will be affected.

Chairwoman Leslie Lohse of the California Tribal Business Alliance said at the iGaming North America conference that online gambling has cultural and economic implications that shouldn't be brushed off because others are in a hurry to start taking bets.

"What's going to satisfy us? That we really sit down and hammer out the nuts and bolts of this," Lohse said.

Tribal sovereignty, local economic implications and other issues need to be fully addressed before tribes eagerly support Internet gambling laws in California or nationwide, Lohse said.

The comments underscored the divisions between those who might want Internet gambling in some form. The tribes and others, including casino companies, equipment manufacturers and state lotteries, don't want to be hurt or left out if Americans are able to wager on poker or other games at home on computers or on mobile devices.

Gambling revenue at American Indian casinos was $26.7 billion in 2010, according to industry publication Casino City. That was up slightly from $26.4 billion in 2009, when casinos in the U.S. were battered by the global recession that left many people without the means or willingness to gamble as much.

Many of the top commercial casino companies have pushed for federal legislation that would create one national framework for online gambling and allow states to opt out if they choose.

Jonathan Halkyard, chief financial officer of Caesars Entertainment Corp., urged federal legislation as soon as possible while speaking at the conference on Monday.

Commercial casinos haven't supported a particular bill and talks of an effort by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid haven't produced any publicly circulated drafts or other tangible proposals since late 2010.

Stephen Hart, a lawyer who represents tribes and tribal gambling commissions throughout the West, said tribes in California won't be eager to give up elements of their sovereignty, or exclusive rights to offer casino games.

Federal prosecutors just dealt consumer freedom a terrible hand, shutting down the gambling website Bodog.com and indicting four company executives, including founder Calvin Ayre, for alleged illegal gambling that actually generated $100 million in customer winnings. Ironically the anti-Bodog crackdown comes as the push for sensible regulation of the online gambling industry is gathering serious political momentum.

In recent years, it's become clear to a growing number of policymakers, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, that the ban on online gambling is a failure. Many federal and state-level politicians want to legalize online gambling, which Congress made illegal in 2006.

The current prohibitionist law is really a protectionist measure designed to support specific domestic operators, such as the websites run by the horse betting industry. Stopping American online gambling is truly mission impossible, with a vast number of insurmountable challenges facing governments that endeavor to criminalize online gambling.

A great degree of surveillance is required to detect online illegality, and there are significant difficulties in locating, investigating, and prosecuting online offenders. In addition, the technological and human capital required to locate offenders is substantial, as are the costs of prosecution and incarceration. Along with the inefficient use of resources caused by prohibition, there's the danger of unintentionally increasing the criminal element.

Two additional factors contribute to the inevitable failure of prohibition. First, online technology renders prohibition futile. As an international network, the Internet provides an instant detour around domestic prohibition.

Second, consumer demand for online gambling and the government's demand for tax revenues will create enormous pressure for legalization in any jurisdiction, such as the U.S., that currently operates a domestic ban.

In 2008, the global online gambling market was valued at $20 billion annually, with 50 percent of that demand coming from the U.S.. If the domestic marketplace demands online gambling, which it clearly does, it will be supplied with or without government consent. This is especially true given service providers' unrestrained access to overseas Internet sites in jurisdictions without online gambling restrictions.

Prohibitionists appear to ignore the fact that most gambling sites, like any reputable business, rely on customer loyalty to remain profitable. The necessity of maintaining a strong customer base would motivate legal American service providers to offer legitimate, reputable gambling sites.

Online gambling can be regulated effectively and without excessive cost, to standards that will provide strong protections for consumers and vulnerable players. The principal benefit of regulation to online players is the personal and legal security of funds, whereas currently players in unregulated environments have no legal recourse over matters such as suspected cheating and frozen assets.

Another major benefit of allowing online gambling is that competition will be introduced into a highly regulated marketplace dominated by licensed providers who monopolize the gaming market. Increased competition results in a more efficient allocation of resources, as gambling providers attempt to maintain and attract new customers.

The Internet has revealed the potential of technology not only to dramatically increase existing gambling opportunities but also to introduce new ones. As such, the Internet offers potential consumers convenient and inexpensive access to their favorite gambling sites, introducing competition into an industry once dominated by highly restrictive licensing practices.

This form of gambling also encourages private sector businesses to develop network capacity and commerce. Not only will this increased competition result in a wider range of gambling activities, it will reduce cost to consumers. With legal online gambling, competition among operators would increase to such an extent that they will be forced by the marketplace, rather than by governments, to offer a reduced house advantage.

Banning online gambling in the domestic American market simply results in the establishment of Internet gaming sites overseas. As other jurisdictions identify the demand for online gambling, they have supplied this service to consumers.

For example, in 2009 there were 2,381 sites run by 493 companies licensed in 50 jurisdictions worldwide. Including unlicensed sites, the total rose to 6,000. Many of these sites were established in small nations with little or no regulatory oversight.

Gambling is one of the great successes of online commerce. The ill-advised indictments handed down against Calvin Ayre and his Bodog colleagues cannot alter that fact. The online gambling industry is merely another form of commerce where prohibition is the wrong option.

The American Gaming Association (AGA) and Reed Exhibitions announced today that Jim Ryan, co-chief executive officer (CEO) of bwin.party digital entertainment plc, will serve as the exclusive conference keynote speaker at Global Gaming Expo (G2E) 2012. Ryan is highly regarded for his knowledge of the Internet gambling industry and his leadership of bwin.party digital entertainment, the world's largest listed Internet gambling business. The premier trade show and conference event for the international gaming entertainment industry, G2E 2012 will be held October 1 - 4, 2012, at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nev.

Ryan's conference keynote address will be held on Wed., Oct. 3, from 3:15 - 4:15p.m. and will be open to G2E 2012 conference delegates only. He plans to address the growth in the global Internet gambling phenomenon and its future potential. Ryan joins a prestigious list of past G2E conference keynote speakers, including Gary Loveman, president, CEO and chairman of Caesars Entertainment Corporation, and James J. Murren, chairman and CEO of MGM Resorts International.

'We are honored that Jim Ryan will be serving as the conference keynote speaker at G2E 2012,' said Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr., president and CEO of the AGA. 'As efforts to legalize and regulate Internet gambling in the United States advance and the global market continues to grow, Jim is the ideal person to provide a comprehensive overview of this developing sector of the industry. His expertise, experience and success in Internet gambling are matched by few others, and G2E 2012 conference attendees are sure to benefit from his invaluable insights on how to succeed in this sector.'

Prior to the 2011 merger of bwin Interactive Entertainment AG and PartyGaming Plc, Ryan served as the CEO of PartyGaming. Before this, he served as the CEO of St. Minver Limited where he was responsible for the formulation and implementation of the company's strategy to deliver high levels of customer service and industry-leading products to its partners. He also has held senior posts at three publicly-listed companies, including president and CEO of Excapsa Software Inc, chief financial officer (CFO) of CryptoLogic Inc. and CFO of SXC Health Solutions Corp.

Ryan earned a business degree with first-class honors at Brock University in Ontario, Canada. He also obtained professional qualifications as a chartered accountant from the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants.