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Despite a new push, Massachusetts seems to be conflicted when it comes to online gaming.
There were several drives in recent years to pass online gaming legislation, but more recent reports coming out of the Commonwealth indicate lawmakers will be waiting until the state’s brick & mortar casino industry is up and running before moving on to tackling online poker.
But now the matter seems to be up for debate once again.
In recent weeks there have been multiple indications, both from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission and the State Lottery Commission that the Bay State may push forward with some type of online gaming bill.
Here is what you need to know about it.
Massachusetts Gaming Commission plans to study the issue
The relatively new Massachusetts Gaming Commission already has a lot on its plate, considering it must oversee the building of three Massachusetts resort casinos and develop a regulatory model for the state.
In addition to this, the MCG is apparently also willing to listen to arguments on potentially expanding into online gaming.
During a January 9th hearing, and in between a five hour discussion concerning the land-based casino projects that are currently in flux, the MGC made arrangements to host a panel to discuss online gambling in the Commonwealth.
On Page 81 of the recent Commissioners Packet (something along the lines of a reading of the minutes from the meeting) there is an overview of the proposed hearings and panels on online gambling:
What is Internet gambling and social gaming?
State of Internet gambling nationally and around the world
Money laundering and problem gambling a risk to Internet Gambling?
Approaches, challenges and successes in Nevada, New Jersey, Delaware and Canadian Provinces
Lottery and internet gaming in the US
Industry perspective
State Lottery Commission forging an iGaming path
In addition to the hearings called for at the MGC meeting, this past week the State Lottery Commission also discussed online gambling, calling on the state legislature to take the first steps towards legalizing online gambling by allowing the Lottery Commission to offer a trial run of online lotteries and perhaps poker or gambling.
The proposed bill SB 101 would allow the State Lottery to experiment with online services.
State Lottery Assistance Executive Director Beth Bresnahan told the Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure:
“We are not proposing to offer these games to our players with an actual cash transaction, nor are we seeking any appropriation to fund such operations.
Rather in the interests of preserving and protecting the Lottery, we simply want to ensure that we have a solid understanding of the technology and logistics of online gaming should this market space become more competitive. Existing law does not permit us to conduct such experimentation.”
PPA quick to respond to opening
These developments were music to the ears of online gaming advocates, especially the Poker Players Alliance.
PPA Executive Director John Pappas issued a statement to the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure calling on them to at least consider expansion into online gambling.
Pappas’ statement begins by noting that other states are taking similar steps, “[and] recognizing the potential for significant job growth and millions in added revenue…”
He urges Massachusetts to include online poker in any bill that would explore online lottery sales.
Additionally, Pappas told the committee that it was a matter of player safety and regulation:
“Today, in the U.S. and in regulated markets throughout the world, it is required that Internet gaming companies employ ‘best of breed’ technologies that protect minors and problem gamblers, ensure that the games are fair, and that sites block players in prohibited jurisdictions.
These mandatory safeguards are even more restrictive than those employed in brick-and-mortar casinos today.”
The PPA has also been calling on its members to engage in a letter writing and social media campaign, asking Massachusetts lawmakers to get behind SB 101.
Last year’s attempts to being online gambling to Massachusetts
Massachusetts was one of the busier bees in 2013, but efforts there failed to produce any honey, as lawmakers came up short in three separate attempts at online gaming expansion.
The first came in the form of an attachment to the state’s budget, which was followed by two separate standalone bills, one that would have allowed online casino games and the other the creation of an online lottery.
About The Massachusetts Gaming Commission
The MGC is a five member panel with a chairman and four commissioners:
Stephen Crosby – Chair
Gayle Cameron – Commissioner
Enrique Zuniga – Commissioner
James F. McHugh – Commissioner
Bruce Stebbins – Commissioner
Massachusetts Continues to Inch Toward Online Gambling Regulation
There were several drives in recent years to pass online gaming legislation, but more recent reports coming out of the Commonwealth indicate lawmakers will be waiting until the state’s brick & mortar casino industry is up and running before moving on to tackling online poker.
But now the matter seems to be up for debate once again.
In recent weeks there have been multiple indications, both from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission and the State Lottery Commission that the Bay State may push forward with some type of online gaming bill.
Here is what you need to know about it.
Massachusetts Gaming Commission plans to study the issue
The relatively new Massachusetts Gaming Commission already has a lot on its plate, considering it must oversee the building of three Massachusetts resort casinos and develop a regulatory model for the state.
In addition to this, the MCG is apparently also willing to listen to arguments on potentially expanding into online gaming.
During a January 9th hearing, and in between a five hour discussion concerning the land-based casino projects that are currently in flux, the MGC made arrangements to host a panel to discuss online gambling in the Commonwealth.
On Page 81 of the recent Commissioners Packet (something along the lines of a reading of the minutes from the meeting) there is an overview of the proposed hearings and panels on online gambling:
What is Internet gambling and social gaming?
State of Internet gambling nationally and around the world
Money laundering and problem gambling a risk to Internet Gambling?
Approaches, challenges and successes in Nevada, New Jersey, Delaware and Canadian Provinces
Lottery and internet gaming in the US
Industry perspective
State Lottery Commission forging an iGaming path
In addition to the hearings called for at the MGC meeting, this past week the State Lottery Commission also discussed online gambling, calling on the state legislature to take the first steps towards legalizing online gambling by allowing the Lottery Commission to offer a trial run of online lotteries and perhaps poker or gambling.
The proposed bill SB 101 would allow the State Lottery to experiment with online services.
State Lottery Assistance Executive Director Beth Bresnahan told the Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure:
“We are not proposing to offer these games to our players with an actual cash transaction, nor are we seeking any appropriation to fund such operations.
Rather in the interests of preserving and protecting the Lottery, we simply want to ensure that we have a solid understanding of the technology and logistics of online gaming should this market space become more competitive. Existing law does not permit us to conduct such experimentation.”
PPA quick to respond to opening
These developments were music to the ears of online gaming advocates, especially the Poker Players Alliance.
PPA Executive Director John Pappas issued a statement to the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure calling on them to at least consider expansion into online gambling.
Pappas’ statement begins by noting that other states are taking similar steps, “[and] recognizing the potential for significant job growth and millions in added revenue…”
He urges Massachusetts to include online poker in any bill that would explore online lottery sales.
Additionally, Pappas told the committee that it was a matter of player safety and regulation:
“Today, in the U.S. and in regulated markets throughout the world, it is required that Internet gaming companies employ ‘best of breed’ technologies that protect minors and problem gamblers, ensure that the games are fair, and that sites block players in prohibited jurisdictions.
These mandatory safeguards are even more restrictive than those employed in brick-and-mortar casinos today.”
The PPA has also been calling on its members to engage in a letter writing and social media campaign, asking Massachusetts lawmakers to get behind SB 101.
Last year’s attempts to being online gambling to Massachusetts
Massachusetts was one of the busier bees in 2013, but efforts there failed to produce any honey, as lawmakers came up short in three separate attempts at online gaming expansion.
The first came in the form of an attachment to the state’s budget, which was followed by two separate standalone bills, one that would have allowed online casino games and the other the creation of an online lottery.
About The Massachusetts Gaming Commission
The MGC is a five member panel with a chairman and four commissioners:
Stephen Crosby – Chair
Gayle Cameron – Commissioner
Enrique Zuniga – Commissioner
James F. McHugh – Commissioner
Bruce Stebbins – Commissioner
Massachusetts Continues to Inch Toward Online Gambling Regulation
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2006/12/07
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29893
Gaming and hospitality company MGM Resorts has thrown its support behind a campaign against a federal online gambling ban in the US.
According to the Politico-com website, the new Coalition for Consumer and Online Protection group will launch with an initial three-week $250,000 (€184,257) online and print advertising campaign against the ban.
The ad campaign will focus on the market in Washington DC, but will also have a presence in the online gambling-regulated state of Nevada.
The group will oppose a counter-effort led by Sheldon Adelson, chairman of casino and resort company Las Vegas Sand Cooperation, who also heads the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling group.
As reported by iGaming Business, the anti-online gambling group has gained backing in recent weeks with at least 10 state attorneys having pledged their support.
However, the new pro-online gambling group also has plenty of backing from the likes of Mike Oxley, a former Republican who served as financial services committee chairman when the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act of 2006 was introduced.
Democratic operative Jim Messina, former Republican Mary Bono, and Kristen Hawn of Granite Integrated Strategies have also been added the new group.
In addition, North Star Opinion Research’s Dan Judy and Whit Ayres recently carried out a survey about what US citizens think about the ban. The results showed 33% “strongly” opposed it, 22% “strongly” supported it and 74% preferred the current state-by-state legislation process.
Alan Feldman, executive vice-president at MGM Resorts, said it is important for people that oppose the ban to get “vocal” in order to combat claims by Adelson and his own campaign.
“He is using that, and he is going to use that, and we have to argue the facts on our side,” Feldman said. “He’s not making a secret of his positions. We shouldn’t be secretive about ours.
“He’s playing on people’s fears, he’s making all kinds of claims and making all kinds of accusations that simply aren’t true, so we’re going to stick to the facts and hope that the facts might win out.”
Mary Bono, now of FaegreBD Consulting, said a complete ban on internet gambling would be impossible.
“I try to compare it to the similarities we witnessed the film and television and music industries go through,” Bono said. “I think the lessons we’ve learned now is it’s impossible to stand in the way of the internet and it’s best to embrace it and try to shape it.”
Meanwhile, MGM Resorts has also announced that Mary Chris Gay has been elected to the firm’s board of directors.
Gay previously served as senior vice-president, portfolio manager and equity analyst at Legg Mason Global Asset Management, an international asset management firm.
Jim Murren, chairman of the board and chief executive officer at MGM Resorts, added: "Mary Chris has solid, well-rounded experience in the world of finance and investment, and she will be a tremendous asset to the MGM Resorts board.”
MGM backs online gaming campaign | iGaming Business
According to the Politico-com website, the new Coalition for Consumer and Online Protection group will launch with an initial three-week $250,000 (€184,257) online and print advertising campaign against the ban.
The ad campaign will focus on the market in Washington DC, but will also have a presence in the online gambling-regulated state of Nevada.
The group will oppose a counter-effort led by Sheldon Adelson, chairman of casino and resort company Las Vegas Sand Cooperation, who also heads the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling group.
As reported by iGaming Business, the anti-online gambling group has gained backing in recent weeks with at least 10 state attorneys having pledged their support.
However, the new pro-online gambling group also has plenty of backing from the likes of Mike Oxley, a former Republican who served as financial services committee chairman when the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act of 2006 was introduced.
Democratic operative Jim Messina, former Republican Mary Bono, and Kristen Hawn of Granite Integrated Strategies have also been added the new group.
In addition, North Star Opinion Research’s Dan Judy and Whit Ayres recently carried out a survey about what US citizens think about the ban. The results showed 33% “strongly” opposed it, 22% “strongly” supported it and 74% preferred the current state-by-state legislation process.
Alan Feldman, executive vice-president at MGM Resorts, said it is important for people that oppose the ban to get “vocal” in order to combat claims by Adelson and his own campaign.
“He is using that, and he is going to use that, and we have to argue the facts on our side,” Feldman said. “He’s not making a secret of his positions. We shouldn’t be secretive about ours.
“He’s playing on people’s fears, he’s making all kinds of claims and making all kinds of accusations that simply aren’t true, so we’re going to stick to the facts and hope that the facts might win out.”
Mary Bono, now of FaegreBD Consulting, said a complete ban on internet gambling would be impossible.
“I try to compare it to the similarities we witnessed the film and television and music industries go through,” Bono said. “I think the lessons we’ve learned now is it’s impossible to stand in the way of the internet and it’s best to embrace it and try to shape it.”
Meanwhile, MGM Resorts has also announced that Mary Chris Gay has been elected to the firm’s board of directors.
Gay previously served as senior vice-president, portfolio manager and equity analyst at Legg Mason Global Asset Management, an international asset management firm.
Jim Murren, chairman of the board and chief executive officer at MGM Resorts, added: "Mary Chris has solid, well-rounded experience in the world of finance and investment, and she will be a tremendous asset to the MGM Resorts board.”
MGM backs online gaming campaign | iGaming Business
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Michigan is about to severely hurt the small business owners within it's state. The lottery commission wants to create an on line gambling environment. Currently retailers, taverns, etc sell billions of dollars in various lottery tickets for the state. They are required to make investments in equipment and inventory. What will happen to these investments when the state gets into the on line gambling businesses? Even the state of Nevada (where the gambling industry has matured) does not allow on line gambling. They know it will kill the goose that laid the golden egg. We must prevent this from happening to Michigan's fledgling gambling industry. Can't our state legislature understand this will be a major job killer for the retailers in this state? -
See more at: What happens to the state with online gambling? - TheAlpenaNews-com | News, Sports, Jobs, Michigan, Community Information - The Alpena News
See more at: What happens to the state with online gambling? - TheAlpenaNews-com | News, Sports, Jobs, Michigan, Community Information - The Alpena News
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
The Winter Olympics opened Friday in Sochi, Russia, with a ceremony that was beautiful and befuddling, as befitting the tradition of Olympics opening ceremonies.
NBC, meanwhile, opened its formal coverage of the games with too much blather and too little focus on what the night was supposed to be about— the ceremony itself.
With a 6:30 p.m. start time for the broadcast, NBC stalled for 45-odd minutes before taking viewers to Fisht Olympic Stadium.
Instead, coverage began with a long tribute to Russia, with lovely pictures paired with pretentious narration (“Russia overwhelms, Russia mystifies, Russia transcends”), and to Olympians, read by Peter Dinklage of “Game of Thrones” with as much dignity as he could muster.
Bob Costas, soldiering through for the second night with an eye infection that left him squinty, interviewed President Barack Obama, then gave way to “Today” anchor Matt Lauer, joined by Meredith Vieira.
Charged with interpreting an un-interpretable pageant, Lauer and Vieira fell back on platitudes. Luckily, although they rarely shut up, they could barely be heard over the ambient crowd noise. The ceremony itself opened with a video that covered Russian history and accomplishments, letter by letter, ranging from Dostoevsky and Catherine the Great to a “hedgehog in the fog,” the periodic table, Sputnik and television. Here’s where a little more interpretation from the NBC team, or at least informational captions, would have been welcome.
The NBC team was clearly bored by the Parade of Nations, a highlight for any real Opening Ceremony fan. Lauer and Vieira narrated it like the Macy’s parade or maybe the Westminster dog show, throwing out trivia rather than offering much that would enhance the viewing experience.
The entry of the athletes, with the map of each country projected on the stadium floor, was interrupted too frequently for commercials, almost causing viewers to miss the Germans in their deliriously wacky rainbow-hued jackets. Vieira read a German statement that the team was not, in fact, showing support for gay rights with the jackets, but she was unable to explain the wildly printed pants.
If the Germans had the loudest outfits, the United States stood out in Ralph Lauren-designed cardigans that looked as if they had been knitted by a loving grandmother with little taste.
Interviewed before the fact about his participation in the Parade of Nations, speed skater Shani Davis said: “I just wanted to come out here, enjoy it, wear the sweaters.” Davis’ tongue appeared to be in his cheek at the time.
NBC, meanwhile, opened its formal coverage of the games with too much blather and too little focus on what the night was supposed to be about— the ceremony itself.
With a 6:30 p.m. start time for the broadcast, NBC stalled for 45-odd minutes before taking viewers to Fisht Olympic Stadium.
Instead, coverage began with a long tribute to Russia, with lovely pictures paired with pretentious narration (“Russia overwhelms, Russia mystifies, Russia transcends”), and to Olympians, read by Peter Dinklage of “Game of Thrones” with as much dignity as he could muster.
Bob Costas, soldiering through for the second night with an eye infection that left him squinty, interviewed President Barack Obama, then gave way to “Today” anchor Matt Lauer, joined by Meredith Vieira.
Charged with interpreting an un-interpretable pageant, Lauer and Vieira fell back on platitudes. Luckily, although they rarely shut up, they could barely be heard over the ambient crowd noise. The ceremony itself opened with a video that covered Russian history and accomplishments, letter by letter, ranging from Dostoevsky and Catherine the Great to a “hedgehog in the fog,” the periodic table, Sputnik and television. Here’s where a little more interpretation from the NBC team, or at least informational captions, would have been welcome.
The NBC team was clearly bored by the Parade of Nations, a highlight for any real Opening Ceremony fan. Lauer and Vieira narrated it like the Macy’s parade or maybe the Westminster dog show, throwing out trivia rather than offering much that would enhance the viewing experience.
The entry of the athletes, with the map of each country projected on the stadium floor, was interrupted too frequently for commercials, almost causing viewers to miss the Germans in their deliriously wacky rainbow-hued jackets. Vieira read a German statement that the team was not, in fact, showing support for gay rights with the jackets, but she was unable to explain the wildly printed pants.
If the Germans had the loudest outfits, the United States stood out in Ralph Lauren-designed cardigans that looked as if they had been knitted by a loving grandmother with little taste.
Interviewed before the fact about his participation in the Parade of Nations, speed skater Shani Davis said: “I just wanted to come out here, enjoy it, wear the sweaters.” Davis’ tongue appeared to be in his cheek at the time.
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
The situation in America regarding the federal government consideration for legalising online gambling has become a battle involving millions of dollars in lobbying efforts. In the States there is a great deal of political debate concerning the introduction of internet wagering which is now becoming a battle that rivals any fight. While there are those in the anti online gambling camp led by Sheldon Adleson and his billions there are now more efforts and money being poured into the alternate pro online gambling groups.
The Poker Players Alliance which is a not for profit group has been vocal about the right to play poker online nationwide has been met with a new group of gaming industry executives who are for online betting nationwide. A true coalition for online gambling has been formed, with some serious contenders fighting for the future of internet gambling.
Several major casino operators are in favor of expanding online gambling in the United States one of which is the MGM Resorts International Corporation which is lending its considerable financial clout to the debate. The Coalition for Consumer and Online Protection has putting a three-week online and print ad campaign against a federal ban on Internet gambling together costing approximately $250,000. The bulk of the campaign ads will run in the Washington, D.C. area, and Nevada is also being exposed to the issue.
The official spokesman for the coalition is former GOP Representative Mike Oxley of Ohio who recently stated, “An across the board federal ban on online gaming would have unintended negative effects for Americans by encouraging illegal online gambling and bolstering the current black market,” Oxley continued, “Millions of Americans are currently engaged in online gaming. A congressional ban would essentially ensure they are playing on an unsafe black market without the strong consumer protections that all Americans deserve,”
Federal US Online Gambling Debate Rages On | Online-Casinos-com
The Poker Players Alliance which is a not for profit group has been vocal about the right to play poker online nationwide has been met with a new group of gaming industry executives who are for online betting nationwide. A true coalition for online gambling has been formed, with some serious contenders fighting for the future of internet gambling.
Several major casino operators are in favor of expanding online gambling in the United States one of which is the MGM Resorts International Corporation which is lending its considerable financial clout to the debate. The Coalition for Consumer and Online Protection has putting a three-week online and print ad campaign against a federal ban on Internet gambling together costing approximately $250,000. The bulk of the campaign ads will run in the Washington, D.C. area, and Nevada is also being exposed to the issue.
The official spokesman for the coalition is former GOP Representative Mike Oxley of Ohio who recently stated, “An across the board federal ban on online gaming would have unintended negative effects for Americans by encouraging illegal online gambling and bolstering the current black market,” Oxley continued, “Millions of Americans are currently engaged in online gaming. A congressional ban would essentially ensure they are playing on an unsafe black market without the strong consumer protections that all Americans deserve,”
Federal US Online Gambling Debate Rages On | Online-Casinos-com
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2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Prohibition doesn’t work. As our history books show, the Volstead Act, which prohibited alcohol in the 1920s, closed the doors of legal, regulated businesses and opened a Pandora’s box with unintended consequences.
These consequences – criminal activity, illegal manufacturing and distribution, and more – took years to fully combat and required significant resources. And then the act was repealed.
Let’s not repeat history. Americans enjoy entertainment, especially gambling, which has been woven into U.S. history since our nation’s establishment.
Let’s rely on common-sense safeguards and consumer protections by extending well-established and effective gaming regulations to the newest form, online gaming, at the onset – not retroactively.
Naively assuming a ban would end Americans’ interest and participation in online gaming sets up local, state and federal law enforcement for tremendous expenses, and will turn millions of average U.S. citizens into online criminals.
The black market exists, and today’s unregulated online operators are flouting their products in clear violation of state and federal law, with no regulatory controls or tax obligations.
Estimates show growth in unregulated online gaming markets is explosive: an estimated 1 million Americans or more spend nearly $3 billion annually on overseas gaming sites. Most of these Americans aren’t criminals; they’re simply looking to participate in the newest form of gaming – online.
The U.S. should harness this practice, not vilify or ignore it. Moreover, the billions of dollars this form of gaming technology generates present a healthy funding model to cover costs associated with regulation and legal enforcement. Modern technologies associated with online gaming exist to protect consumers – including minors, gambling addicts and others – and these safeguards are being tested in states such as New Jersey that allow online gaming within its borders. These technologies, while not perfect, will continue to improve for the financial, health care and gaming industries.
Moreover, when properly implemented, the tax revenue generated through online gaming can not only cover the necessary expenses to ensure consumer protections, but also support local communities’ budget deficits to pay for essential services such as education.
As with previous versions of draft legislation, states and licensed industry participants should have the option of whether they support online gaming at all. For those that do, many will likely limit online gaming to competitive poker only.
It’s no secret that many state and local governments are woefully in need of new revenue streams. Online gaming holds the potential to assist with budgetary shortfalls.
State lotteries are a perfect example of leveraging long-standing entertainment to help subsidize public-sector treasuries. However, the large number of states that have kept up with 21st-century technologies by offering online lotteries would also be jeopardized through wide-sweeping federal prohibition.
The slippery slope of a proposed ban doesn’t stop at the state level. The Fantasy Sports Trade Association was recently warned that popular sports fantasy leagues could end up banned by this legislation as well.
It wouldn’t be surprising if other forms of online gaming – through social media channels such as Facebook and others – were brought under scrutiny through federal prohibition, too.
America is well known for its entrepreneurs, with innovators such as Henry Ford, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and others as tied to American history as U.S. presidents and policymakers.
Don’t let the federal government impede innovation. Set up the parameters to let Americans innovate – and play – on a level playing field with the rest of the world.
Instead of pretending that innovation and the Internet don’t or shouldn’t exist, America should look back to its historical mistakes and its historical innovations for inspiration on how to best navigate the challenges and opportunities associated with Internet gaming today.
Read more here: Mark Lipparelli: Prohibition on gambling spurs black market, creates long-term consequences | National Opinions | Modesto Bee
These consequences – criminal activity, illegal manufacturing and distribution, and more – took years to fully combat and required significant resources. And then the act was repealed.
Let’s not repeat history. Americans enjoy entertainment, especially gambling, which has been woven into U.S. history since our nation’s establishment.
Let’s rely on common-sense safeguards and consumer protections by extending well-established and effective gaming regulations to the newest form, online gaming, at the onset – not retroactively.
Naively assuming a ban would end Americans’ interest and participation in online gaming sets up local, state and federal law enforcement for tremendous expenses, and will turn millions of average U.S. citizens into online criminals.
The black market exists, and today’s unregulated online operators are flouting their products in clear violation of state and federal law, with no regulatory controls or tax obligations.
Estimates show growth in unregulated online gaming markets is explosive: an estimated 1 million Americans or more spend nearly $3 billion annually on overseas gaming sites. Most of these Americans aren’t criminals; they’re simply looking to participate in the newest form of gaming – online.
The U.S. should harness this practice, not vilify or ignore it. Moreover, the billions of dollars this form of gaming technology generates present a healthy funding model to cover costs associated with regulation and legal enforcement. Modern technologies associated with online gaming exist to protect consumers – including minors, gambling addicts and others – and these safeguards are being tested in states such as New Jersey that allow online gaming within its borders. These technologies, while not perfect, will continue to improve for the financial, health care and gaming industries.
Moreover, when properly implemented, the tax revenue generated through online gaming can not only cover the necessary expenses to ensure consumer protections, but also support local communities’ budget deficits to pay for essential services such as education.
As with previous versions of draft legislation, states and licensed industry participants should have the option of whether they support online gaming at all. For those that do, many will likely limit online gaming to competitive poker only.
It’s no secret that many state and local governments are woefully in need of new revenue streams. Online gaming holds the potential to assist with budgetary shortfalls.
State lotteries are a perfect example of leveraging long-standing entertainment to help subsidize public-sector treasuries. However, the large number of states that have kept up with 21st-century technologies by offering online lotteries would also be jeopardized through wide-sweeping federal prohibition.
The slippery slope of a proposed ban doesn’t stop at the state level. The Fantasy Sports Trade Association was recently warned that popular sports fantasy leagues could end up banned by this legislation as well.
It wouldn’t be surprising if other forms of online gaming – through social media channels such as Facebook and others – were brought under scrutiny through federal prohibition, too.
America is well known for its entrepreneurs, with innovators such as Henry Ford, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and others as tied to American history as U.S. presidents and policymakers.
Don’t let the federal government impede innovation. Set up the parameters to let Americans innovate – and play – on a level playing field with the rest of the world.
Instead of pretending that innovation and the Internet don’t or shouldn’t exist, America should look back to its historical mistakes and its historical innovations for inspiration on how to best navigate the challenges and opportunities associated with Internet gaming today.
Read more here: Mark Lipparelli: Prohibition on gambling spurs black market, creates long-term consequences | National Opinions | Modesto Bee
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Do Super Bowl commercials really matter? Yes. Shut up. Sure, it seems strange that we should think about, care about, or devote any deeper-than-shallow national attention to advertisements representing millions of dollars invested by companies worth billions of dollars in the hopes that you, me, and everyone we know will give them at least hundreds of dollars. Did the great philosophers ever grapple with the subtext of a billboard? Did John Keats ever write a poem about a newspaper advertisement for a popular brand of absinthe? No. But Keats also didn’t live long enough to see a puppy fall in love with a horse.
Super Bowl commercials matter, but this year they mattered much less than usual. Because they were almost uniformly terrible. This is just one man’s opinion, but it’s an opinion that everyone shares. We as a species cannot really agree on everything, but we can usually agree on the Super Bowl. Everyone knows the Broncos were terrible, and everyone knows that the Super Bowl commercials were worse. The creative output on display came from a diverse array of authorial personalities. SlashFilm compiled a list of some of the directors who worked on commercials this year: Nicolas Winding Refn, David Gordon Green, John Hillcoat, Mark Romanek, all legitimate weirdos who delivered commercials that were both weirdly ambitious (compared to Super Bowl commercials of the past) and totally unmemorable (compared to the same.) Lots of people have lots of opinions about Hillcoat’s Coca-Cola ad, which proves that we as a country are incapable of talking about important things except through the prism of stupid things.
But the fact that the ad broke through speaks to the power of Super Bowl commercials. They represent an attempt by major companies to reach out to the most amount of people ever; in turn, because they are watched more than anything else is watched, they embed within us viewers some deeper notions about Where We’re At Now. This is not a process you can stop, nor should you want to: Goofy as they are, Super Bowl commercials are our last best chance at a common societal language, the monoculture’s last gasp.
Whether you love or hate Hillcoat’s Coca-Cola ad — and really, if you love or hate it, you need to learn how to modulate your opinions — we can all enjoy how the ad implies that one of the running narratives of American popular culture henceforth will be Liberal Sentimentality as opposed to Conservative Sentimentality. (The fact that an ad about America was directed by an Australian — paid for by a company that makes most of its sales outside of America — proves everyone’s point about America, whatever that point is.)
On a lighter level, Oscar-winning terrible director Tom Hooper made that commercial about British villains, which strikes me as the most coherent statement anyone has made about America’s current wave of Sherlock/Downton Abbey-era Anglophilia. We don’t like British villains because we think British people are evil: We like them because we think British people are cooler than us. (You could almost see that advertisement as a whole movie, with Ralph Fiennes and Benedict Cumberbatch and Alan Rickman.)
The worst and therefore most important ad this year, of course, was the Kia advertisement starring Laurence Fishburne, which dug up the corpse of The Matrix and dry humped it into dust. Lots of people got upset about Bob Dylan doing a commercial. I can sort of understand that, even though complaining that Bob Dylan has “sold out” feels like an argument that people have been having the entire time Bob Dylan has been Bob Dylan. (Though worth pointing out that the advertisement uses “Things Have Changed,” one of Dylan’s worst good songs — which could imply that this is yet another example of Dylan having his cake and deconstructing it, too.)
But for people of a certain age — people who were young enough and maybe dumb enough to take The Matrix seriously, of which, guilty — this is a psychic wound that will never be healed. The Matrix stood for a certain kind of late ’90s anti-something rebellion — corporations, consumerism, like life man — and so to see it 15 years later transformed into car commercial is both ironic and inevitable.
These ads were all interesting, I guess is what I’m saying, without being particularly good. They leaned too hard on nostalgia, which proves that we as a nation care too much about nostalgia. (That commercial for RadioShack was the killer app for my ’80s column, and also probably the last bit of ’80s nostalgia anyone ever needs to indulge in again.)
How can we fix this? Super Bowl ads are so beautiful now. Maserati’s Beasts of the Southern Wild remake and Axe’s Global Stereotype Circus look like they were shot everywhere using all the money. And yet: Boring. Dull. Uninteresting. You get the vibe that advertisers want people to feel everything – the complete sweep of human history, now buy some deodorant!
Weird as it is to say, GoDaddy is pointing the way forward. Yes, GoDaddy made its name as the trashiest of trashy Super Bowl brands, shamelessly appealing to the Bro demographic while shamelessly trolling the Irate demographic. But as a brand, this gave them a weird amount of confidence. I understand why a lot of people/everyone hated the Bar Rafaeli Kiss ad last year. It speaks to a whole weird assortment of gender-norm conversations we’ll probably still be having when our cyborg great-grandchildren shuffle us off to the retirement home.
But the brute-force effect of the ad is incomparable. Most Super Bowl ads flip around: Hyper-kinetic farce, fast-paced editing, helicopters, digital effects. The GoDaddy ad is composed of nine shots, one of which is just a long, long, long open-mouth kiss. It’s hard to think of another commercial that moves at such a gradual pace; hell, it’s hard to think of a major recent Hollywood movie that has shot a kiss like that.
Having achieved a new high/low, this year GoDaddy went the And N
Super Bowl commercials matter, but this year they mattered much less than usual. Because they were almost uniformly terrible. This is just one man’s opinion, but it’s an opinion that everyone shares. We as a species cannot really agree on everything, but we can usually agree on the Super Bowl. Everyone knows the Broncos were terrible, and everyone knows that the Super Bowl commercials were worse. The creative output on display came from a diverse array of authorial personalities. SlashFilm compiled a list of some of the directors who worked on commercials this year: Nicolas Winding Refn, David Gordon Green, John Hillcoat, Mark Romanek, all legitimate weirdos who delivered commercials that were both weirdly ambitious (compared to Super Bowl commercials of the past) and totally unmemorable (compared to the same.) Lots of people have lots of opinions about Hillcoat’s Coca-Cola ad, which proves that we as a country are incapable of talking about important things except through the prism of stupid things.
But the fact that the ad broke through speaks to the power of Super Bowl commercials. They represent an attempt by major companies to reach out to the most amount of people ever; in turn, because they are watched more than anything else is watched, they embed within us viewers some deeper notions about Where We’re At Now. This is not a process you can stop, nor should you want to: Goofy as they are, Super Bowl commercials are our last best chance at a common societal language, the monoculture’s last gasp.
Whether you love or hate Hillcoat’s Coca-Cola ad — and really, if you love or hate it, you need to learn how to modulate your opinions — we can all enjoy how the ad implies that one of the running narratives of American popular culture henceforth will be Liberal Sentimentality as opposed to Conservative Sentimentality. (The fact that an ad about America was directed by an Australian — paid for by a company that makes most of its sales outside of America — proves everyone’s point about America, whatever that point is.)
On a lighter level, Oscar-winning terrible director Tom Hooper made that commercial about British villains, which strikes me as the most coherent statement anyone has made about America’s current wave of Sherlock/Downton Abbey-era Anglophilia. We don’t like British villains because we think British people are evil: We like them because we think British people are cooler than us. (You could almost see that advertisement as a whole movie, with Ralph Fiennes and Benedict Cumberbatch and Alan Rickman.)
The worst and therefore most important ad this year, of course, was the Kia advertisement starring Laurence Fishburne, which dug up the corpse of The Matrix and dry humped it into dust. Lots of people got upset about Bob Dylan doing a commercial. I can sort of understand that, even though complaining that Bob Dylan has “sold out” feels like an argument that people have been having the entire time Bob Dylan has been Bob Dylan. (Though worth pointing out that the advertisement uses “Things Have Changed,” one of Dylan’s worst good songs — which could imply that this is yet another example of Dylan having his cake and deconstructing it, too.)
But for people of a certain age — people who were young enough and maybe dumb enough to take The Matrix seriously, of which, guilty — this is a psychic wound that will never be healed. The Matrix stood for a certain kind of late ’90s anti-something rebellion — corporations, consumerism, like life man — and so to see it 15 years later transformed into car commercial is both ironic and inevitable.
These ads were all interesting, I guess is what I’m saying, without being particularly good. They leaned too hard on nostalgia, which proves that we as a nation care too much about nostalgia. (That commercial for RadioShack was the killer app for my ’80s column, and also probably the last bit of ’80s nostalgia anyone ever needs to indulge in again.)
How can we fix this? Super Bowl ads are so beautiful now. Maserati’s Beasts of the Southern Wild remake and Axe’s Global Stereotype Circus look like they were shot everywhere using all the money. And yet: Boring. Dull. Uninteresting. You get the vibe that advertisers want people to feel everything – the complete sweep of human history, now buy some deodorant!
Weird as it is to say, GoDaddy is pointing the way forward. Yes, GoDaddy made its name as the trashiest of trashy Super Bowl brands, shamelessly appealing to the Bro demographic while shamelessly trolling the Irate demographic. But as a brand, this gave them a weird amount of confidence. I understand why a lot of people/everyone hated the Bar Rafaeli Kiss ad last year. It speaks to a whole weird assortment of gender-norm conversations we’ll probably still be having when our cyborg great-grandchildren shuffle us off to the retirement home.
But the brute-force effect of the ad is incomparable. Most Super Bowl ads flip around: Hyper-kinetic farce, fast-paced editing, helicopters, digital effects. The GoDaddy ad is composed of nine shots, one of which is just a long, long, long open-mouth kiss. It’s hard to think of another commercial that moves at such a gradual pace; hell, it’s hard to think of a major recent Hollywood movie that has shot a kiss like that.
Having achieved a new high/low, this year GoDaddy went the And N
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2006/12/07
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Massachusetts is among 10 states eyeing online gambling this year. Bills introduced last year being discussed again on Beacon Hill would expand state lottery ticket sales to the Internet and open state-regulated online poker and blackjack rooms.
Not everyone is on board with the latest proposals, however, in the midst of a statewide repeal campaign to roll back the 2011 law that legalized slots and casinos in the first place.
“The idea that states are turning to Internet gambling is an exclamation point on how extreme a failure the state's experiment in lottery has been,” says Les Bernal, the executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Stop Predatory Gambling Foundation. “This isn't about people gambling. ... We're not anti-gambling,” he added.
“We don't think government should be in the business.”
Online gaming grows after justice department opinion
Last year was historic for Internet gambling legislation according to a new briefing paper from GamblingCompliance, an industry research group that tallied more proposed measures in 2013 than in any year previously. Since 2008, the number of states considering bills has risen from two to 10, and that number could grow again this year.
Online gambling received a big boost in 2011 with a U.S. Department of Justice legal opinion that said the Wire Act of 1961 did not prevent states from using the Internet to sell lottery tickets. The ruling was interpreted to also allow other forms of gambling, but not on sports.
In the past year, GamingCompliance reported $8.24 million was spent on federal lobbying for Internet gambling legislation. Three states commenced online gambling in 2013: Delaware (poker, table games, and video lottery), New Jersey (poker and table and slot games), and Nevada (poker).
What does online gaming mean for brick-and-mortar casinos?
With the Massachusetts Gaming Commission awarding the state's first license for a slots parlor later this month, followed by licenses for casinos next fall, what would online gambling mean for the burgeoning industry?
“It shouldn't affect it at all,” says Clyde W. Barrow, director of the Center for Policy Analysis at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. An industry expert who runs the center's Northeastern Gaming Research Project, Barrow said proposals for Internet keno/lottery and poker/blackjack rooms targeted a different audience than the slots parlor and casinos.
Technically prohibited (but unenforced), Barrow said about 2 percent of the state's population currently gambles online. “Maybe that percentage goes up, but probably not much.”
Instead of serving as competition, Barrow said online poker and blackjack rooms could serve as the “minor leagues” for people to learn to play the game before they head to the casino.
Where will Massachusetts go to game?
With three slots-parlor proposals and the commission set to award one license this month, “I don't know who they go with,” Barrow said.
This September, when casino licenses are awarded, MGM Springfield appears to be a “shoo-in” as the only current bidder in the western part of the state, while two proposals are currently competing for a license in eastern Massachusetts.
One thing is for certain: There's a market in Massachusetts. In its fourth biennial New England Gaming Behavior Survey last year, the Center for Policy Analysis found Bay State residents were the majority of visitors at Rhode Island's Twin River Casino and Newport Grand, as well as Connecticut's Foxwoods Resort Casino. (Massachusetts drove the second-most visitors to Mohegan Sun.)
With about 50 percent of their revenue coming from Massachusetts, Barrow stressed the impact in-state venues will have on Rhode Island casinos. Who's gambling now?
The gaming behavior survey finds Massachusetts residents report the highest propensity to gamble in New England (excluding Vermont), with 58 percent of residents legally gambling in some form over the previous 12 months. Nearly half the population reported playing lotto or buying a scratch ticket at least once. One in five visited a casino in another state.
The highest proportion of casino gambling was in Connecticut and Rhode Island, showing a pattern “consistent with research that indicates a higher propensity to casino gamble the closer residents are to a gaming facility,” according to the survey.
The sex of visitors to Connecticut casinos was split fifty-fifty, while the average age was around 46. Fifty-five percent of visitors there made under $75,000 a year, including one in four whose annual family income was below $45,000.
Women visit Rhode Island's casinos slightly more than men, meanwhile, and 34 percent of visitors had an annual income below $45,000. An additional third reported making between $45,000 and $75,000.
Not all welcome the new way to lose money
Gambling's inroads have not been universally appreciated in the Commonwealth. Repeal the Casino Deal is a ballot initiative set out to overturn the 2011 law this November. The online lottery proposal faces opposition from retailers.
“We are opposed to the lottery taking customers out of our stores and creating what we potentially see as jobless casinos online, and turn potentially every home computer, laptop, and smartphone into a lottery machine,” said Stephen Ryan, the executive director of the New England Convenience Store Association, responding to the online lottery bill, S. 101, which he testified against in committee last month. “We think it's clearly a step in the wrong direction,” Ryan told GoLocal.
Formerly of Massachusetts, Bernal said residents “aren't clamoring” for the online expansion. “This is being driven by very powerful special interests,” and supported by states as a revenue source, he said. “Government sponsorship of casinos and lottery, and now possibly internet gambling, produces just two things: Unfairness and inequality in American life.”
Bernal said upper-income American
Not everyone is on board with the latest proposals, however, in the midst of a statewide repeal campaign to roll back the 2011 law that legalized slots and casinos in the first place.
“The idea that states are turning to Internet gambling is an exclamation point on how extreme a failure the state's experiment in lottery has been,” says Les Bernal, the executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Stop Predatory Gambling Foundation. “This isn't about people gambling. ... We're not anti-gambling,” he added.
“We don't think government should be in the business.”
Online gaming grows after justice department opinion
Last year was historic for Internet gambling legislation according to a new briefing paper from GamblingCompliance, an industry research group that tallied more proposed measures in 2013 than in any year previously. Since 2008, the number of states considering bills has risen from two to 10, and that number could grow again this year.
Online gambling received a big boost in 2011 with a U.S. Department of Justice legal opinion that said the Wire Act of 1961 did not prevent states from using the Internet to sell lottery tickets. The ruling was interpreted to also allow other forms of gambling, but not on sports.
In the past year, GamingCompliance reported $8.24 million was spent on federal lobbying for Internet gambling legislation. Three states commenced online gambling in 2013: Delaware (poker, table games, and video lottery), New Jersey (poker and table and slot games), and Nevada (poker).
What does online gaming mean for brick-and-mortar casinos?
With the Massachusetts Gaming Commission awarding the state's first license for a slots parlor later this month, followed by licenses for casinos next fall, what would online gambling mean for the burgeoning industry?
“It shouldn't affect it at all,” says Clyde W. Barrow, director of the Center for Policy Analysis at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. An industry expert who runs the center's Northeastern Gaming Research Project, Barrow said proposals for Internet keno/lottery and poker/blackjack rooms targeted a different audience than the slots parlor and casinos.
Technically prohibited (but unenforced), Barrow said about 2 percent of the state's population currently gambles online. “Maybe that percentage goes up, but probably not much.”
Instead of serving as competition, Barrow said online poker and blackjack rooms could serve as the “minor leagues” for people to learn to play the game before they head to the casino.
Where will Massachusetts go to game?
With three slots-parlor proposals and the commission set to award one license this month, “I don't know who they go with,” Barrow said.
This September, when casino licenses are awarded, MGM Springfield appears to be a “shoo-in” as the only current bidder in the western part of the state, while two proposals are currently competing for a license in eastern Massachusetts.
One thing is for certain: There's a market in Massachusetts. In its fourth biennial New England Gaming Behavior Survey last year, the Center for Policy Analysis found Bay State residents were the majority of visitors at Rhode Island's Twin River Casino and Newport Grand, as well as Connecticut's Foxwoods Resort Casino. (Massachusetts drove the second-most visitors to Mohegan Sun.)
With about 50 percent of their revenue coming from Massachusetts, Barrow stressed the impact in-state venues will have on Rhode Island casinos. Who's gambling now?
The gaming behavior survey finds Massachusetts residents report the highest propensity to gamble in New England (excluding Vermont), with 58 percent of residents legally gambling in some form over the previous 12 months. Nearly half the population reported playing lotto or buying a scratch ticket at least once. One in five visited a casino in another state.
The highest proportion of casino gambling was in Connecticut and Rhode Island, showing a pattern “consistent with research that indicates a higher propensity to casino gamble the closer residents are to a gaming facility,” according to the survey.
The sex of visitors to Connecticut casinos was split fifty-fifty, while the average age was around 46. Fifty-five percent of visitors there made under $75,000 a year, including one in four whose annual family income was below $45,000.
Women visit Rhode Island's casinos slightly more than men, meanwhile, and 34 percent of visitors had an annual income below $45,000. An additional third reported making between $45,000 and $75,000.
Not all welcome the new way to lose money
Gambling's inroads have not been universally appreciated in the Commonwealth. Repeal the Casino Deal is a ballot initiative set out to overturn the 2011 law this November. The online lottery proposal faces opposition from retailers.
“We are opposed to the lottery taking customers out of our stores and creating what we potentially see as jobless casinos online, and turn potentially every home computer, laptop, and smartphone into a lottery machine,” said Stephen Ryan, the executive director of the New England Convenience Store Association, responding to the online lottery bill, S. 101, which he testified against in committee last month. “We think it's clearly a step in the wrong direction,” Ryan told GoLocal.
Formerly of Massachusetts, Bernal said residents “aren't clamoring” for the online expansion. “This is being driven by very powerful special interests,” and supported by states as a revenue source, he said. “Government sponsorship of casinos and lottery, and now possibly internet gambling, produces just two things: Unfairness and inequality in American life.”
Bernal said upper-income American
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2006/12/07
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29893
The industry of online gambling is worldwide with different jurisdictions each experiencing issues such as politics and taxes and the usual up and downs. Much of the revenues generated by online gambling for governments that have regulated and licensed the activity go to keeping social programs viable and budgets on track. There has been controversy in political circles that points out the addiction that governments have regarding the revenues from gambling. When those revenues fall administrations scramble to improve the situation or analyze the reasons and look for alternatives and solutions.
European gambling is going through decline in general and those countries experiencing this slowdown in wagering are comparing their gambling revenue results with those before the liberalization to include international online gambling operations.
In Sweden for example the gambling scene has fallen again in 2013 for the third year in a row. Sweden’s Lotteriinspektionen said the total turnover in 2013 was down 0.3 percent over last year. The stats revealed that revenue flowing out of Sweden to internationally licensed online site increased by 2 percent while spending remained the same. Sweden as well as other jurisdictions are starting to counter the exit if funds to international offshore firms by introducing things to deter the local gamer form going to places other than the authorized government sites. In Sweden adverts for offshore sites are prohibited and lotteries “of foreign origin” are illegal.
Director general of Sweden’s Lotteriinspektionen, Håkan Hall Bergstedt said his country’s “subdued demand” for gambling was a familiar pattern being experienced across Europe’s regulated markets. France has a similar problem with declining revenue and has introduced an advertizing campaign that exposes the dangers of gambling on unlicensed web locations. Sweden has been using adverts to promote gambling at the government licensed web locations which some critics and the European Commission call unfair monopoly marketing.
Sweden Experiencing Gambling Revenue Decline | Online-Casinos-com
European gambling is going through decline in general and those countries experiencing this slowdown in wagering are comparing their gambling revenue results with those before the liberalization to include international online gambling operations.
In Sweden for example the gambling scene has fallen again in 2013 for the third year in a row. Sweden’s Lotteriinspektionen said the total turnover in 2013 was down 0.3 percent over last year. The stats revealed that revenue flowing out of Sweden to internationally licensed online site increased by 2 percent while spending remained the same. Sweden as well as other jurisdictions are starting to counter the exit if funds to international offshore firms by introducing things to deter the local gamer form going to places other than the authorized government sites. In Sweden adverts for offshore sites are prohibited and lotteries “of foreign origin” are illegal.
Director general of Sweden’s Lotteriinspektionen, Håkan Hall Bergstedt said his country’s “subdued demand” for gambling was a familiar pattern being experienced across Europe’s regulated markets. France has a similar problem with declining revenue and has introduced an advertizing campaign that exposes the dangers of gambling on unlicensed web locations. Sweden has been using adverts to promote gambling at the government licensed web locations which some critics and the European Commission call unfair monopoly marketing.
Sweden Experiencing Gambling Revenue Decline | Online-Casinos-com
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2006/12/07
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29893
George Clooney, Matt Damon and Cate Blanchett have been mugged at the North American box office by little yellow people with removable heads, hands and legs.
Hollywood's new A-List stars are Lego characters and Australia played a major role in the invasion.
The Lego Movie, based on the popular Danish-made plastic toys, earned a bumper US$69.1 million (NZ$83.34 million) haul in US and Canadian theatres on the weekend, easily landing it at the No. 1 spot. World War II caper Monuments Men, starring Clooney, Damon and Blanchett, could only manage $US22.7 million.
The Lego Movie is the latest hit from Australian digital visual effects house Animal Logic.
Animal Logic's past credits include Happy Feet, The Great Gatsby, The Matrix trilogy, Moulin Rouge!, 300 and Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole.
"Our crew there was so great," US co-director Phil Lord told AAP. "I'd make a million movies in Australia."
A team of 250 worked on the film at the Animal Logic facility at Sydney's Fox Studios, with the Lego characters a mix of computer generation and old-fashioned stop motion animation.
Lord and co-director Chris Miller, whose past films include the two Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs movies and 21 Jump Street, will likely get another chance to work with Animal Logic in Sydney with the big opening and merchandising fortune almost ensuring multiple sequels.
The almost US$70 million is the all-time second biggest February debut in North America, behind Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ with US$83.8 million in 2004.
Helping The Lego Movie collect the big opening weekend take were strong reviews from America's top critics.
"The visuals are spectacular, the 3D technology is artfully used and the story is jam-packed with so many funny lines, it's hard to catch all the jokes that are delivered in rapid-fire succession," Chicago Sun-Times critic Bill Zwecker wrote.
The Lego Movie follows the story of Emmet, an ordinary Lego minifigure mistakenly identified as the saviour of the world.
Emmet, voiced by comedy actor Chris Pratt, goes plastic head-to-head with the evil Lord Business (Will Ferrell) and henchman Bad Cop/Good Cop (Liam Neeson). He is helped by ancient mystic Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman) and a long list of familiar heroes, including Batman (Will Arnett), Superman (Channing Tatum), Wonder Woman (Cobie Smulders) and Green Lantern (Jonah Hill).
Han Solo, Chewbacca and C-3PO from Star Wars, Gandalf from Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, basketball star Shaquille O'Neal and historical figures Abraham Lincoln and William Shakespeare also make appearances.
The Lego Movie opens in New Zealand on April 17.
George Clooney, Matt Damon beaten up by Lego - Entertainment - NZ Herald News
Hollywood's new A-List stars are Lego characters and Australia played a major role in the invasion.
The Lego Movie, based on the popular Danish-made plastic toys, earned a bumper US$69.1 million (NZ$83.34 million) haul in US and Canadian theatres on the weekend, easily landing it at the No. 1 spot. World War II caper Monuments Men, starring Clooney, Damon and Blanchett, could only manage $US22.7 million.
The Lego Movie is the latest hit from Australian digital visual effects house Animal Logic.
Animal Logic's past credits include Happy Feet, The Great Gatsby, The Matrix trilogy, Moulin Rouge!, 300 and Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole.
"Our crew there was so great," US co-director Phil Lord told AAP. "I'd make a million movies in Australia."
A team of 250 worked on the film at the Animal Logic facility at Sydney's Fox Studios, with the Lego characters a mix of computer generation and old-fashioned stop motion animation.
Lord and co-director Chris Miller, whose past films include the two Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs movies and 21 Jump Street, will likely get another chance to work with Animal Logic in Sydney with the big opening and merchandising fortune almost ensuring multiple sequels.
The almost US$70 million is the all-time second biggest February debut in North America, behind Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ with US$83.8 million in 2004.
Helping The Lego Movie collect the big opening weekend take were strong reviews from America's top critics.
"The visuals are spectacular, the 3D technology is artfully used and the story is jam-packed with so many funny lines, it's hard to catch all the jokes that are delivered in rapid-fire succession," Chicago Sun-Times critic Bill Zwecker wrote.
The Lego Movie follows the story of Emmet, an ordinary Lego minifigure mistakenly identified as the saviour of the world.
Emmet, voiced by comedy actor Chris Pratt, goes plastic head-to-head with the evil Lord Business (Will Ferrell) and henchman Bad Cop/Good Cop (Liam Neeson). He is helped by ancient mystic Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman) and a long list of familiar heroes, including Batman (Will Arnett), Superman (Channing Tatum), Wonder Woman (Cobie Smulders) and Green Lantern (Jonah Hill).
Han Solo, Chewbacca and C-3PO from Star Wars, Gandalf from Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, basketball star Shaquille O'Neal and historical figures Abraham Lincoln and William Shakespeare also make appearances.
The Lego Movie opens in New Zealand on April 17.
George Clooney, Matt Damon beaten up by Lego - Entertainment - NZ Herald News
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2006/12/07
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29893
Many experts believe online wagering is the future of gambling, but the casino industry is increasingly divided on the issue.
The latest evidence of the split came on Monday as the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling launched the first commercial in a six-figure advertising campaign warning of the dangers of legalised internet gambling.
The coalition is emphasising the possibility that criminals and terrorists may use online gambling to launder money.
The group has support from casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, chief executive of Las Vegas Sands, who is the 11th-richest American, according to Forbes magazine.
Adelson has said he is willing to spend “whatever it takes” to stop the spread of internet wagering.
Meanwhile, the casino lobby has made the legalisation and regulation of online gambling its signature issue for the year. Major members including Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts International are taking steps to get into the market.
Proponents formed their own group, the Coalition for Consumer and Online Protection, which is expected to launch its own six-figure ad campaign targeting decision makers in Washington.
“The coalition will operate exclusively at the federal level — encouraging Congress to embrace regulation as the best means to protect minors, detect money launderers and eliminate a dangerous black market,” American Gaming Association president Geoff Freeman said in an e-mail to his board last week.
The new anti-online-gambling ad features stock scary-voice narration and starts with a black-and-white shot of two men shaking hands in silhouette.
“Right now, disreputable gaming interests are lobbying hard to spread internet gambling across the country,” the ad warns.
Established casino companies have regarded the rise of internet gambling warily, wondering whether it will cut into profits from brick-and-mortar casinos or revive the spectre of corruption that the industry worked so hard to shed in the 1980s and ‘90s.
Morgan Stanley has predicted that by 2020, online gambling in the United States will produce the same amount of revenue as the Las Vegas and Atlantic City markets combined: US$9.3 billion.
At least three congressional bills related to online gambling have been introduced this year.
Two lawmakers introduced bills last year that would legalise some form of internet gambling nationwide. Congressman Jim McDermott introduced a bill that would tax federally sanctioned online wagering.
Gamblers wanting to make wagers from the privacy of their homes have had few options in recent years. The federal government cracked down definitively on internet gambling in 2011.
But the same year, the US Justice Department issued a ruling making online gambling legal so long as it’s permitted on the state level.
Congress flirted with an online gambling bill in 2012, but industry infighting and partisan disagreement ultimately doomed it. When that legislation failed, states began moving ahead on their own.
Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware have legalised some kind of online gambling, and at least 10 other states are considering following suit, according to a survey conducted by Gambling Compliance, a group that tracks gambling-related legislation worldwide.
Casino firms split over legalisation of online gambling in US | South China Morning Post
The latest evidence of the split came on Monday as the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling launched the first commercial in a six-figure advertising campaign warning of the dangers of legalised internet gambling.
The coalition is emphasising the possibility that criminals and terrorists may use online gambling to launder money.
The group has support from casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, chief executive of Las Vegas Sands, who is the 11th-richest American, according to Forbes magazine.
Adelson has said he is willing to spend “whatever it takes” to stop the spread of internet wagering.
Meanwhile, the casino lobby has made the legalisation and regulation of online gambling its signature issue for the year. Major members including Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts International are taking steps to get into the market.
Proponents formed their own group, the Coalition for Consumer and Online Protection, which is expected to launch its own six-figure ad campaign targeting decision makers in Washington.
“The coalition will operate exclusively at the federal level — encouraging Congress to embrace regulation as the best means to protect minors, detect money launderers and eliminate a dangerous black market,” American Gaming Association president Geoff Freeman said in an e-mail to his board last week.
The new anti-online-gambling ad features stock scary-voice narration and starts with a black-and-white shot of two men shaking hands in silhouette.
“Right now, disreputable gaming interests are lobbying hard to spread internet gambling across the country,” the ad warns.
Established casino companies have regarded the rise of internet gambling warily, wondering whether it will cut into profits from brick-and-mortar casinos or revive the spectre of corruption that the industry worked so hard to shed in the 1980s and ‘90s.
Morgan Stanley has predicted that by 2020, online gambling in the United States will produce the same amount of revenue as the Las Vegas and Atlantic City markets combined: US$9.3 billion.
At least three congressional bills related to online gambling have been introduced this year.
Two lawmakers introduced bills last year that would legalise some form of internet gambling nationwide. Congressman Jim McDermott introduced a bill that would tax federally sanctioned online wagering.
Gamblers wanting to make wagers from the privacy of their homes have had few options in recent years. The federal government cracked down definitively on internet gambling in 2011.
But the same year, the US Justice Department issued a ruling making online gambling legal so long as it’s permitted on the state level.
Congress flirted with an online gambling bill in 2012, but industry infighting and partisan disagreement ultimately doomed it. When that legislation failed, states began moving ahead on their own.
Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware have legalised some kind of online gambling, and at least 10 other states are considering following suit, according to a survey conducted by Gambling Compliance, a group that tracks gambling-related legislation worldwide.
Casino firms split over legalisation of online gambling in US | South China Morning Post
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2006/12/07
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Raymond T. Moloney founded Bally as a pinball manufacturer in Great Depression-era Chicago. The company started producing slot machines in 1936, making Bally the world’s oldest slot machine manufacturer. Today, Bally Technologies, Inc. is a diversified, worldwide gaming company that designs, manufactures, distributes, and operates gaming devices and computerized monitoring, accounting and player-tracking systems for gaming devices.
The Company maintains more than 25 offices around the world and employs about 3,500 people. Based in Las Vegas, Bally strives to lead the industry in innovation.
The latest news about the established and progressive firm indicate it has no plans to ride on its reputation with the online gambling solutions outfit saying it is “well-positioned” to continue growth. The firm posted total revenue of $534.5 million in the first half, up from $473.5 million in the same period in the previous year.
President and chief executive officer of Bally Technologies, Ramesh Srinivasan, commented on the company’s second quarter saying it was “transformative”.
Srinivasan continued, “We successfully closed the acquisition of SHFL ahead of schedule and the ongoing integration process is moving forward smoothly,” he added, “We have integrated our sales, services and product development teams while simultaneously continuing to execute well on our core businesses as evidenced in our second quarter results. While more work remains to be done, we are off to a terrific start and are tracking ahead of our synergy targets. We believe that Bally is now well-positioned to continue industry-leading innovation and growth.”
Recently it was announced that an agreement with Boyd Gaming Corporation and Bally Technologies was signed. Paul Chakmak, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Boyd Gaming commented, “After a thorough review process, we believe Bally’s innovative systems solutions are a great way to differentiate our properties from the competition,” Chakmak added, “As a key component of our new Penny Lane initiative, Bally’s dynamic tools will help us create new and compelling gaming experiences, allowing us to provide ‘More Bonuses, More Often’ to our customers.”
Bally Technologies Continues to Grow With Online Gambling | Online-Casinos-com
The Company maintains more than 25 offices around the world and employs about 3,500 people. Based in Las Vegas, Bally strives to lead the industry in innovation.
The latest news about the established and progressive firm indicate it has no plans to ride on its reputation with the online gambling solutions outfit saying it is “well-positioned” to continue growth. The firm posted total revenue of $534.5 million in the first half, up from $473.5 million in the same period in the previous year.
President and chief executive officer of Bally Technologies, Ramesh Srinivasan, commented on the company’s second quarter saying it was “transformative”.
Srinivasan continued, “We successfully closed the acquisition of SHFL ahead of schedule and the ongoing integration process is moving forward smoothly,” he added, “We have integrated our sales, services and product development teams while simultaneously continuing to execute well on our core businesses as evidenced in our second quarter results. While more work remains to be done, we are off to a terrific start and are tracking ahead of our synergy targets. We believe that Bally is now well-positioned to continue industry-leading innovation and growth.”
Recently it was announced that an agreement with Boyd Gaming Corporation and Bally Technologies was signed. Paul Chakmak, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Boyd Gaming commented, “After a thorough review process, we believe Bally’s innovative systems solutions are a great way to differentiate our properties from the competition,” Chakmak added, “As a key component of our new Penny Lane initiative, Bally’s dynamic tools will help us create new and compelling gaming experiences, allowing us to provide ‘More Bonuses, More Often’ to our customers.”
Bally Technologies Continues to Grow With Online Gambling | Online-Casinos-com
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2006/12/07
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The announcement in New Jersey that regulators had approved the application of Wynn Resorts Ltd. to participate in that state’s Internet gambling activity gave hope to supporters that Steve Wynn would join the online movement.
Those hopes were shattered a week ago when Wynn was interviewed by veteran newsman Jon Ralston.
When asked about his position on Internet gambling, Wynn replied, “This is not a good entrepreneurial opportunity. Where is the business opportunity? The big problem I see is I don’t see the government letting us keep the money.”
Wynn didn’t write off Internet gambling completely, saying he could potentially embrace online gambling if circumstances changed and he saw an opportunity developing.
The gaming mogul also expressed concerns about the software providing Internet safeguards.
“Do you really think they can stop underage gambling,” he asked Ralston rhetorically.
Wynn, no business opportunity in online gambling :: GamingToday-com
Those hopes were shattered a week ago when Wynn was interviewed by veteran newsman Jon Ralston.
When asked about his position on Internet gambling, Wynn replied, “This is not a good entrepreneurial opportunity. Where is the business opportunity? The big problem I see is I don’t see the government letting us keep the money.”
Wynn didn’t write off Internet gambling completely, saying he could potentially embrace online gambling if circumstances changed and he saw an opportunity developing.
The gaming mogul also expressed concerns about the software providing Internet safeguards.
“Do you really think they can stop underage gambling,” he asked Ralston rhetorically.
Wynn, no business opportunity in online gambling :: GamingToday-com
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2006/12/07
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A Los Angeles TV reporter has been roasted by Samuel L Jackson in a toe-curling on-air interview after he mistook the Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained star for Laurence Fishburne.
KTLA entertainment anchor Sam Rubin asked Jackson about a Super Bowl commercial – the only problem was that it was Fishburne not Jackson who starred in the ad for Kia cars.
“What Super Bowl commercial?” said a visibly aghast Jackson. “I'm not Laurence Fishburne.”
Leaving Rubin tongue-tied, he went on: “We do not all look alike. We may be all black and famous but we do not all look alike.”
Obviously mortified, Rubin desperately tried to get the interview back on track, but Jackson was having none of it, at one point listing other black actors that he isn't.
“You are the entertainment reporter for this station?” he asked the hapless Rubin. “There must be a very short life for your job.
“I'm the other guy,” he continued. “There is more than one black actor doing commercials.”
Half an hour later Rubin delivered an abject on-air apology for his “very amateur mistake”, insisting that he does, in fact, know Samuel L Jackson's identity.
This is not the first time Jackson has been "mistaken" for Fishburne, but at least on that previous occasion he was in on the joke.
A 2005 episode of the Ricky Gervais series Extras featured Jackson as special guest - and a script in which Maggie (Ashley Jensen) humiliates herself by making the same error.
"I like lots of other things white or black. I like you for example," she tells Jackson. "... I don't normally watch films more than once but the Matrix ... I loved it."
Read more: Samuel L Jackson's black actor rant at TV reporter: 'I'm not Laurence Fishburne'
KTLA entertainment anchor Sam Rubin asked Jackson about a Super Bowl commercial – the only problem was that it was Fishburne not Jackson who starred in the ad for Kia cars.
“What Super Bowl commercial?” said a visibly aghast Jackson. “I'm not Laurence Fishburne.”
Leaving Rubin tongue-tied, he went on: “We do not all look alike. We may be all black and famous but we do not all look alike.”
Obviously mortified, Rubin desperately tried to get the interview back on track, but Jackson was having none of it, at one point listing other black actors that he isn't.
“You are the entertainment reporter for this station?” he asked the hapless Rubin. “There must be a very short life for your job.
“I'm the other guy,” he continued. “There is more than one black actor doing commercials.”
Half an hour later Rubin delivered an abject on-air apology for his “very amateur mistake”, insisting that he does, in fact, know Samuel L Jackson's identity.
This is not the first time Jackson has been "mistaken" for Fishburne, but at least on that previous occasion he was in on the joke.
A 2005 episode of the Ricky Gervais series Extras featured Jackson as special guest - and a script in which Maggie (Ashley Jensen) humiliates herself by making the same error.
"I like lots of other things white or black. I like you for example," she tells Jackson. "... I don't normally watch films more than once but the Matrix ... I loved it."
Read more: Samuel L Jackson's black actor rant at TV reporter: 'I'm not Laurence Fishburne'
Join:
2006/12/07
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29893
seanwilliam1988 wrote:
“...but it certainly has the potential to change the way we pay for online gambling…” And it actually did changed the world of online casino positively, which the gamblers are now enjoying. Nothing is better than having a fastest payout transaction because this way you can instantly feel your winnings without any hassle.
The new era is here and anything in this planet seems moving towards virtualization. We can't blame if more and more people will shift towards an efficient payment system, right? Through bitcoins and other alt coins, you can bid goodbye to bank account transfers, credit cards and your identification cards! This is likely favorable when you play at virtual casinos. Say, you want to pay fast and withdraw your payouts so easy, then bitcoin is for you. Just follow the above conventional wisdom when choosing the right online casino, then you’re safe to play.
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Many experts believe online wagering is the future of gambling, but the casino industry is increasingly divided on the issue.
The latest evidence of the split came Monday as the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling launched the first commercial in a six-figure campaign warning of the dangers of legalized Internet gambling. The coalition is emphasizing the possibility that criminals and terrorists may use online gambling to launder money.
The group has support from casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp. The Republican mega-donor is the 11th-richest American, according to Forbes.
Adelson has said he is willing to spend “whatever it takes” to stop the spread of Internet wagering.
Meanwhile, the casino lobby has made the legalization and regulation of online gambling its signature issue for the year. Major members including Caesars Entertainment Corp. and MGM Resorts International are taking steps to get into the market.
The battle is turning into a boon for lobbyists and public relations experts in Washington, D.C., and state capitals around the country.
Proponents formed their own group, the Coalition for Consumer and Online Protection, which is expected to launch its own six-figure ad campaign targeting federal decision makers.
“The coalition will operate exclusively at the federal level—encouraging Congress to embrace regulation as the best means to protect minors, detect money launderers and eliminate a dangerous black market,” American Gaming Association President Geoff Freeman said in an email to his board last week.
The new anti-online gambling ad features stock scary-voice narration and starts with a black and white shot of two men shaking hands in silhouette. “Right now, disreputable gaming interests are lobbying hard to spread Internet gambling across the country,” the ad warns.
Established casino companies have regarded the rise of Internet gambling warily, wondering whether it will cut into profits from brick-and-mortar casino companies or revive the specter of corruption that the industry worked so hard to shed in the 1980s and ’90s.
Some executives have decided that Internet gambling, or at least, Internet poker, can be properly regulated and boost the industry. But others have their doubts. Steve Wynn, CEO of Wynn Resorts Ltd., recently signaled that he had turned against online gambling for now.
Morgan Stanley has predicted that by 2020, online gambling in the U.S. will produce the same amount of revenue as Las Vegas and Atlantic City markets combined: $9.3 billion.
At least three congressional bills related to online gambling have been introduced this year. Two lawmakers introduced bills over the summer that would legalize some form of Internet gambling nationwide. This fall, Rep. Jim McDermott, a Democrat from Washington, introduced a bill that would tax federally sanctioned online wagering.
Gamblers wanting to bet from the privacy of their homes have had few options in recent years. The federal government cracked down definitively on Internet gambling in 2011. But the same year, the U.S. Justice Department issued a ruling making online gambling legal so long as it’s permitted on the state level.
Congress flirted with an online gambling bill in 2012, but industry infighting and partisan disagreement ultimately doomed it. When that legislation failed, states began moving ahead on their own.
Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware have legalized some kind of online gambling, and at least 10 other states are considering following suit, according to a survey conducted by Gambling Compliance, a group that tracks gambling-related legislation worldwide.
U.S. gambling industry split on wagering online - The Japan News
The latest evidence of the split came Monday as the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling launched the first commercial in a six-figure campaign warning of the dangers of legalized Internet gambling. The coalition is emphasizing the possibility that criminals and terrorists may use online gambling to launder money.
The group has support from casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp. The Republican mega-donor is the 11th-richest American, according to Forbes.
Adelson has said he is willing to spend “whatever it takes” to stop the spread of Internet wagering.
Meanwhile, the casino lobby has made the legalization and regulation of online gambling its signature issue for the year. Major members including Caesars Entertainment Corp. and MGM Resorts International are taking steps to get into the market.
The battle is turning into a boon for lobbyists and public relations experts in Washington, D.C., and state capitals around the country.
Proponents formed their own group, the Coalition for Consumer and Online Protection, which is expected to launch its own six-figure ad campaign targeting federal decision makers.
“The coalition will operate exclusively at the federal level—encouraging Congress to embrace regulation as the best means to protect minors, detect money launderers and eliminate a dangerous black market,” American Gaming Association President Geoff Freeman said in an email to his board last week.
The new anti-online gambling ad features stock scary-voice narration and starts with a black and white shot of two men shaking hands in silhouette. “Right now, disreputable gaming interests are lobbying hard to spread Internet gambling across the country,” the ad warns.
Established casino companies have regarded the rise of Internet gambling warily, wondering whether it will cut into profits from brick-and-mortar casino companies or revive the specter of corruption that the industry worked so hard to shed in the 1980s and ’90s.
Some executives have decided that Internet gambling, or at least, Internet poker, can be properly regulated and boost the industry. But others have their doubts. Steve Wynn, CEO of Wynn Resorts Ltd., recently signaled that he had turned against online gambling for now.
Morgan Stanley has predicted that by 2020, online gambling in the U.S. will produce the same amount of revenue as Las Vegas and Atlantic City markets combined: $9.3 billion.
At least three congressional bills related to online gambling have been introduced this year. Two lawmakers introduced bills over the summer that would legalize some form of Internet gambling nationwide. This fall, Rep. Jim McDermott, a Democrat from Washington, introduced a bill that would tax federally sanctioned online wagering.
Gamblers wanting to bet from the privacy of their homes have had few options in recent years. The federal government cracked down definitively on Internet gambling in 2011. But the same year, the U.S. Justice Department issued a ruling making online gambling legal so long as it’s permitted on the state level.
Congress flirted with an online gambling bill in 2012, but industry infighting and partisan disagreement ultimately doomed it. When that legislation failed, states began moving ahead on their own.
Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware have legalized some kind of online gambling, and at least 10 other states are considering following suit, according to a survey conducted by Gambling Compliance, a group that tracks gambling-related legislation worldwide.
U.S. gambling industry split on wagering online - The Japan News
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2006/12/07
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29893
When New Jersey launched online gambling in November, almost all of the industry participants came from other countries, where online gambling has long been legal, or from Las Vegas, the epicenter of the U.S. gambling industry.
KGM Gaming, a Philadelphia company started in 2004 to distribute slot machines in Pennsylvania, is trying to change that.
KGM licensed games from a Nevada software developer and struck a deal to have the games included in online casinos operated by Caesars Interactive Entertainment Inc.
That will give privately owned KGM a cut of casino winnings from games on the Caesars sites.
KGM officials declined to disclose details of its arrangement with Caesars and said that predicting when the online effort would be profitable was a "tough moving target."
"What's more important to us is that we are there at the start of a business," referring to online gambling in the United States, said Howard Weiss, KGM's chief executive. "We're very, very confident. This is not an industry that will go away. The industry will grow."
KGM's games, which it is paying Spin Games L.L.C., of Reno, to distribute in New Jersey, are expected to go live this month, a Caesars official said.
On Wednesday when New Jersey releases revenue data on the second full month of Internet gambling in the state, the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling - a group supported by Sheldon Adelson, CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp. - plans to announce that it has grown to a 39-member organization.
For Weiss, whose companies include Transcor Inc., a logistics and warehousing firm in Philadelphia, the move into online gambling is another example of pursuing opportunity created by legislation.
That's also what happened when Pennsylvania legislators legalized slot machines in 2004. The law included a controversial provision requiring casinos to buy slot machines from Pennsylvania distributors.
That's what KGM - originally Keystone Gaming Machines - was set up to do. Weiss said that from the beginning: KGM was a real business, not just a storefront.
Long after Pennsylvania legislators effectively eliminated the requirement that casinos purchase slot machines from Pennsylvania distributors in 2006, KGM is still around. It kept its original multiyear contract to distribute slot machines for Aristocrat Technologies Inc. until the contract expired.
KGM still distributes some slot machines, but it diversified into manufacturing wooden bases for slots and specialized seating for slots.
"Just before the first of the year, we shipped our first seating job in Vegas. We have shipped into most jurisdictions, including Canada, throughout the United States," said Jason Peters, who was recently promoted to president of KGM.
Weiss and Peters were returning from an industry conference in London a year ago when they learned that Gov. Christie was expected to sign a bill making Internet gambling legal. That was the trigger for them to pursue what they see as the next frontier in gambling.
Weiss knew his eventual online partner, Kent Young, the founder of Spin Games. Young was an executive at Aristocrat when KGM had the distribution contract in Pennsylvania.
As to why Young would enter the New Jersey market through KGM rather than going in directly, he said: "We did it jointly because we think both parties bring certain things to the table. We're a technology company, so we're very much focused on developing the technology, where KGM is obviously very good at distribution, service, and support and maintenance."
It's a good combination, said Pierre Cadena, Caesars vice president of corporate development, because it allows Caesars to diversify away from the traditional suppliers of slot-machine games, who are adapting their games for the Internet.
"Spin Games are very innovative," Cadena said. "They started digital only, and it was a unique combination because KGM certainly was a player on the distribution side of land-based, so it was very familiar with the licensing regime."
Read more at KGM Gaming takes diverse approach to online gambling
KGM Gaming, a Philadelphia company started in 2004 to distribute slot machines in Pennsylvania, is trying to change that.
KGM licensed games from a Nevada software developer and struck a deal to have the games included in online casinos operated by Caesars Interactive Entertainment Inc.
That will give privately owned KGM a cut of casino winnings from games on the Caesars sites.
KGM officials declined to disclose details of its arrangement with Caesars and said that predicting when the online effort would be profitable was a "tough moving target."
"What's more important to us is that we are there at the start of a business," referring to online gambling in the United States, said Howard Weiss, KGM's chief executive. "We're very, very confident. This is not an industry that will go away. The industry will grow."
KGM's games, which it is paying Spin Games L.L.C., of Reno, to distribute in New Jersey, are expected to go live this month, a Caesars official said.
On Wednesday when New Jersey releases revenue data on the second full month of Internet gambling in the state, the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling - a group supported by Sheldon Adelson, CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp. - plans to announce that it has grown to a 39-member organization.
For Weiss, whose companies include Transcor Inc., a logistics and warehousing firm in Philadelphia, the move into online gambling is another example of pursuing opportunity created by legislation.
That's also what happened when Pennsylvania legislators legalized slot machines in 2004. The law included a controversial provision requiring casinos to buy slot machines from Pennsylvania distributors.
That's what KGM - originally Keystone Gaming Machines - was set up to do. Weiss said that from the beginning: KGM was a real business, not just a storefront.
Long after Pennsylvania legislators effectively eliminated the requirement that casinos purchase slot machines from Pennsylvania distributors in 2006, KGM is still around. It kept its original multiyear contract to distribute slot machines for Aristocrat Technologies Inc. until the contract expired.
KGM still distributes some slot machines, but it diversified into manufacturing wooden bases for slots and specialized seating for slots.
"Just before the first of the year, we shipped our first seating job in Vegas. We have shipped into most jurisdictions, including Canada, throughout the United States," said Jason Peters, who was recently promoted to president of KGM.
Weiss and Peters were returning from an industry conference in London a year ago when they learned that Gov. Christie was expected to sign a bill making Internet gambling legal. That was the trigger for them to pursue what they see as the next frontier in gambling.
Weiss knew his eventual online partner, Kent Young, the founder of Spin Games. Young was an executive at Aristocrat when KGM had the distribution contract in Pennsylvania.
As to why Young would enter the New Jersey market through KGM rather than going in directly, he said: "We did it jointly because we think both parties bring certain things to the table. We're a technology company, so we're very much focused on developing the technology, where KGM is obviously very good at distribution, service, and support and maintenance."
It's a good combination, said Pierre Cadena, Caesars vice president of corporate development, because it allows Caesars to diversify away from the traditional suppliers of slot-machine games, who are adapting their games for the Internet.
"Spin Games are very innovative," Cadena said. "They started digital only, and it was a unique combination because KGM certainly was a player on the distribution side of land-based, so it was very familiar with the licensing regime."
Read more at KGM Gaming takes diverse approach to online gambling
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2006/12/07
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29893
Some USA jurisdictions are saying no to legalized online gambling while others are on record as being pro internet wagering and are getting their ducks in a row. Meanwhile consumers are participating in online gambling offered by offshore web sites even though it is illegal in the States.
A recent report from Gaming Compliance has said Massachusetts is one of the American states attempting to regulate or expand online gambling in 2014. So far the Massachusetts Gaming Commission has granted Massachusetts its first slots parlor license, with licenses for land based casinos expected to follow later in the year. It has been suggested the next step for Massachusetts is to regulate an online gambling industry in the Bay State.
According to Clyde W. Barrow, Director of the Center for Policy Analysis at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, around two percent of punters in the State already gambles online and regulating the industry would ensure the revenues don’t go to the coffers of offshore online gambling operators. Barrow continued to explain that there may be benefits from allowing regulated internet betting in Massachusetts giving consumers a chance to learn to gamble at home with little risk and then go to a terrestrial casino for real money gaming.
Both the State Lottery Commission and the Massachusetts Gaming Commission have indicated that they would like to introduce some version of online gambling legislation. Additionally the State Lottery Commission has petitioned the state legislature to allow online lotteries and perhaps even online poker to test the viability of online services and make the initial moves towards legalized internet gambling. Beth Bresnahan, State Lottery Assistance Executive Director commented,
“Rather in the interests of preserving and protecting the Lottery, we simply want to ensure that we have a solid understanding of the technology and logistics of online gaming should this market space become more competitive. Existing law does not permit us to conduct such experimentation.”
American States Attempting to Legalize Online Gambling | Online-Casinos-com
A recent report from Gaming Compliance has said Massachusetts is one of the American states attempting to regulate or expand online gambling in 2014. So far the Massachusetts Gaming Commission has granted Massachusetts its first slots parlor license, with licenses for land based casinos expected to follow later in the year. It has been suggested the next step for Massachusetts is to regulate an online gambling industry in the Bay State.
According to Clyde W. Barrow, Director of the Center for Policy Analysis at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, around two percent of punters in the State already gambles online and regulating the industry would ensure the revenues don’t go to the coffers of offshore online gambling operators. Barrow continued to explain that there may be benefits from allowing regulated internet betting in Massachusetts giving consumers a chance to learn to gamble at home with little risk and then go to a terrestrial casino for real money gaming.
Both the State Lottery Commission and the Massachusetts Gaming Commission have indicated that they would like to introduce some version of online gambling legislation. Additionally the State Lottery Commission has petitioned the state legislature to allow online lotteries and perhaps even online poker to test the viability of online services and make the initial moves towards legalized internet gambling. Beth Bresnahan, State Lottery Assistance Executive Director commented,
“Rather in the interests of preserving and protecting the Lottery, we simply want to ensure that we have a solid understanding of the technology and logistics of online gaming should this market space become more competitive. Existing law does not permit us to conduct such experimentation.”
American States Attempting to Legalize Online Gambling | Online-Casinos-com
Join:
2006/12/07
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29893
The designer of now-pulled iOS smash hit Flappy Bird says he removed the game from the App Store because it was harmful.
Addictive and irritating in equal measure, Flappy Bird proved to be a surprise hit in the competitive mobile phone game market, attracting more than 50 million downloads and hooking users into a time-consuming challenge now renowned for its difficulty.
But its creator took the game offline on Monday morning after complaining with a choice of words that sounded more like one of its exasperated players than its maker: "I cannot take this anymore."
He hasn't explained what he meant - until now. In an interview with Forbes, Dong Nguyen said feelings of discomfort and guilt led him to pull the game.
"It happened to become an addictive product. I think it has become a problem. To solve that problem, it's best to take down Flappy Bird. It's gone forever."
Such was his stress, Nguyen said he couldn't sleep, but now the game is gone his conscience is clear.
"I don't think it's a mistake," said the 29-year-old. "I have thought it through."
He will continue to develop games, and has several other top App Store games, including Super Ball Juggling and Shuriken Block.
He has no plans to remove those two, calling them "harmless".
However, if he thought players were getting addicted, he would not hesitate to also take them down.
Last week Nguyen's estimated daily take from Flappy Bird in-app advertising was US$50,000.
"I don't know the exact figure, but I do know it's a lot," he said.
Addictive and irritating in equal measure, Flappy Bird proved to be a surprise hit in the competitive mobile phone game market, attracting more than 50 million downloads and hooking users into a time-consuming challenge now renowned for its difficulty.
But its creator took the game offline on Monday morning after complaining with a choice of words that sounded more like one of its exasperated players than its maker: "I cannot take this anymore."
He hasn't explained what he meant - until now. In an interview with Forbes, Dong Nguyen said feelings of discomfort and guilt led him to pull the game.
"It happened to become an addictive product. I think it has become a problem. To solve that problem, it's best to take down Flappy Bird. It's gone forever."
Such was his stress, Nguyen said he couldn't sleep, but now the game is gone his conscience is clear.
"I don't think it's a mistake," said the 29-year-old. "I have thought it through."
He will continue to develop games, and has several other top App Store games, including Super Ball Juggling and Shuriken Block.
He has no plans to remove those two, calling them "harmless".
However, if he thought players were getting addicted, he would not hesitate to also take them down.
Last week Nguyen's estimated daily take from Flappy Bird in-app advertising was US$50,000.
"I don't know the exact figure, but I do know it's a lot," he said.
Join:
2006/12/07
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29893
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The Back to the Future actor's self-titled sitcom has lost its prime time Thursday night slot in favour of Hollywood Game Night - a game show presented by Jane Lynch - after network NBC decided to pull the plug because of poor ratings.
Entertainment Weekly confirmed the news and with only 15 out the 22 episodes of the show having been aired so far, it's still unclear whether the remaining instalments will be broadcast at all.
The reports come after NBC chairman Robert Greenblatt described The Michael J Fox Show as a "uphill battle" at the Television Critics Association press tour last month, admitting he wasn't happy with its dismal ratings.
Despite the show's failure to pull in audiences, the series was honoured, along with five others, with the Critics' Choice Television Award for Most Exciting New Series in June last year.
The series marked a highly anticipated return to television for Fox, who hadn't had a leading role in a sitcom since his five-year stint in Spin City came to an end in 2000 as his battle with Parkinson's disease - which he was diagnosed with in 1991 - worsened.
The actor - who set up the Michael J Fox Foundation to help find a cure for the degenerative condition - had only made several minor guest appearances on TV shows, including Rescue Me, Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Good Wife, before The Michael J Fox Show was commissioned.