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2006/12/07
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While California is one of the more liberal states, with its legalization of medical marijuana use, it would seem typical for it to be one of the first states to allow intrastate online poker. The state is in fact set to pass new legislation that will make online gambling legal in the state of California, and while this is in obvious opposition to the federal government’s stance on Internet poker, the feds have not yet made an official statement on their position regarding this legislation. The silence has done nothing but encourage speculation that the feds may not be that concerned with trying to stop it.
It is no secret that California has issues with its economy, and online gambling would do nothing but boosts its otherwise struggling state. In fact, California by far holds the biggest state economy in the country and contributes 13% to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, but it also has a deficit of more than $26 billion.
State Senator Lou Correa says that if legalized within California, it could generate up to $1.4 billion in the next 10 years and create up towards 1,300 jobs for California citizens, a state that now has an unemployment rate of about 11.7%, which is about 3% higher than the national average.
The news regarding legal intrastate online poker in California is being well-received by the online poker community, especially by many online poker pros, who have claimed that they will move to California because they cannot otherwise play in their own home state. This will in turn generate more tax rev for the state. A similar bill was recently introduced in the state of Massachusetts, which if passed would allow a certain number of Internet poker sites to operate legally within the state.
It is no secret that California has issues with its economy, and online gambling would do nothing but boosts its otherwise struggling state. In fact, California by far holds the biggest state economy in the country and contributes 13% to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, but it also has a deficit of more than $26 billion.
State Senator Lou Correa says that if legalized within California, it could generate up to $1.4 billion in the next 10 years and create up towards 1,300 jobs for California citizens, a state that now has an unemployment rate of about 11.7%, which is about 3% higher than the national average.
The news regarding legal intrastate online poker in California is being well-received by the online poker community, especially by many online poker pros, who have claimed that they will move to California because they cannot otherwise play in their own home state. This will in turn generate more tax rev for the state. A similar bill was recently introduced in the state of Massachusetts, which if passed would allow a certain number of Internet poker sites to operate legally within the state.
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2006/12/07
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29893
California is set to pass new legislation that would make online gambling legal in the state. California has a reputation for path breaking legislation that often bucks the federal trend and this latest move is in keeping with that tradition.
The legislation however threatens to put the state on a collision course with federal authorities who are committed to ensuring that online gambling stays illegal.
In 2006 the federal government passed The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act which made online poker illegal. Thereafter for almost three years there was no full-fledged effort to apply the law in practice. Suddenly, in April this year the Department of Justice cracked down without warning on the major internet poker sites and seized their domain names and associated assets. Since then a very lively debate has broken out on the wisdom of the legislation and on how the interests of all parties concerned could be protected if the government were to take a more practical and balanced approach to the problem.
Any legislation that California might pass sanctioning online gambling is sure to add firepower to the pro online gambling lobby that is made up of a motley collection of poker players, proponents of personal freedom and of course the online casinos themselves.
As yet, federal authorities have not made any official statement about their position on California’s proposed law. This silence has led people to speculate on how things would pan out if the state were to actually go ahead and pass such a law.
California has by far the biggest economy of all the states in the Union and contributes a whopping 13% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product. The state however has budget deficit of more than $26 billion for 2009-2010. The move to legalize online gambling is therefore a hard headed measure to tap a potentially huge source of revenue for the state. According to State Senator Lou Correa, if online poker was legalized it could fetch the state’s coffers almost $1.4 billion over the next ten years and also create about 1,300 jobs.
The news has been received enthusiastically by the online poker playing community with some prominent players vowing that they would move to California if such legislation did become reality. California however is not the only state with such plans. A bill was introduced in the Massachusetts State Assembly this year that seeks to permit a limited number of online poker companies to operate legally in the state.
The legislation however threatens to put the state on a collision course with federal authorities who are committed to ensuring that online gambling stays illegal.
In 2006 the federal government passed The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act which made online poker illegal. Thereafter for almost three years there was no full-fledged effort to apply the law in practice. Suddenly, in April this year the Department of Justice cracked down without warning on the major internet poker sites and seized their domain names and associated assets. Since then a very lively debate has broken out on the wisdom of the legislation and on how the interests of all parties concerned could be protected if the government were to take a more practical and balanced approach to the problem.
Any legislation that California might pass sanctioning online gambling is sure to add firepower to the pro online gambling lobby that is made up of a motley collection of poker players, proponents of personal freedom and of course the online casinos themselves.
As yet, federal authorities have not made any official statement about their position on California’s proposed law. This silence has led people to speculate on how things would pan out if the state were to actually go ahead and pass such a law.
California has by far the biggest economy of all the states in the Union and contributes a whopping 13% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product. The state however has budget deficit of more than $26 billion for 2009-2010. The move to legalize online gambling is therefore a hard headed measure to tap a potentially huge source of revenue for the state. According to State Senator Lou Correa, if online poker was legalized it could fetch the state’s coffers almost $1.4 billion over the next ten years and also create about 1,300 jobs.
The news has been received enthusiastically by the online poker playing community with some prominent players vowing that they would move to California if such legislation did become reality. California however is not the only state with such plans. A bill was introduced in the Massachusetts State Assembly this year that seeks to permit a limited number of online poker companies to operate legally in the state.
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
It started a few days ago but we wanted to remind you that Bovada's doing a killer Poker Holiday Countdown where players have access to 53 (😡) chances at free entry into the site's weekly $100,000 guaranteed tournaments and throws bonus cash at you like you wouldn't believe - and there's a special bonus for playing this weekend!
The second week of Bovada's Poker Holiday Countdown is in full swing and running through New Year's Day, January 1st. How does it work? Bovada is hosting a nightly turbo freeroll at 8:40pm EST. Each of these fast and furious freeroll events will stop when the final twenty-five players are reached. Why? Each of the twenty-five finalists get a ticket to the next Sunday's $100,000 guaranteed tournament.
Bovada is also giving you a chance to earn bonus money just by playing real-money online poker like you normally would. Through January 1st, players that hit Bovada's point benchmarks get cold, hard cash deposited into their player account. If you earn 50 points during a week, you'll get $15 cash. Earn 100 points within a week and you'll get $30. To make it easy, Bovada will email you on Saturday mornings with an update on your total.
Get more details when you visit Bovada's Poker Holiday Countdown page.
The second week of Bovada's Poker Holiday Countdown is in full swing and running through New Year's Day, January 1st. How does it work? Bovada is hosting a nightly turbo freeroll at 8:40pm EST. Each of these fast and furious freeroll events will stop when the final twenty-five players are reached. Why? Each of the twenty-five finalists get a ticket to the next Sunday's $100,000 guaranteed tournament.
Bovada is also giving you a chance to earn bonus money just by playing real-money online poker like you normally would. Through January 1st, players that hit Bovada's point benchmarks get cold, hard cash deposited into their player account. If you earn 50 points during a week, you'll get $15 cash. Earn 100 points within a week and you'll get $30. To make it easy, Bovada will email you on Saturday mornings with an update on your total.
Get more details when you visit Bovada's Poker Holiday Countdown page.
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Online poker has been the mainstay of many internet gambling operators and has received a great deal of press since it was first introduced to players not that long ago. Poker is big bucks for some and is a social event for many who enjoy the past time. The word on the net is that the days of the poker professional sponsored by the big card rooms has had its time and the recreational online poker player will dominate in the near future.
That being said it is interesting to see the actual amounts the poker professionals are earning from their winnings on top of the huge fees paid to them by their sponsoring operators. A recent article on the Calvin Ayre web site talks about the payout settlement one now divorced pro poker player relinquished to his ex wife. It was revealed that many thousands of dollars was paid to the pro every month. The numbers seem staggering by any ordinary standard.
Poker champ Jonathan Duhamel has found out the way to riches is not an easy one with the recent news that ex girlfriend Bianca Rojas-Latraverse was one of the four people arrested in connection with the home invasion and beating Duhamel experienced before Christmas at his residence in Quebec Canada.
The rocky road online poker has been navigating in the USA is one that has millions of players wondering what will happen next. The great debate whether poker is a game requiring skill and not just luck seems to have fallen into the cracks with the Department of Justice cracking down on the industry calling the Full Tilt Poker room fiasco a ponzi scheme of epic proportion. In the eyes of the ordinary person the idea of online poker has been portrayed as illegal and dangerous, an image that is far from the reality and fun experienced by the average internet poker fan. Hopefully this portrayal of online poker won’t last too long and the average player in the USA won’t feel like a criminal every time they are dealt a virtual hand.
That being said it is interesting to see the actual amounts the poker professionals are earning from their winnings on top of the huge fees paid to them by their sponsoring operators. A recent article on the Calvin Ayre web site talks about the payout settlement one now divorced pro poker player relinquished to his ex wife. It was revealed that many thousands of dollars was paid to the pro every month. The numbers seem staggering by any ordinary standard.
Poker champ Jonathan Duhamel has found out the way to riches is not an easy one with the recent news that ex girlfriend Bianca Rojas-Latraverse was one of the four people arrested in connection with the home invasion and beating Duhamel experienced before Christmas at his residence in Quebec Canada.
The rocky road online poker has been navigating in the USA is one that has millions of players wondering what will happen next. The great debate whether poker is a game requiring skill and not just luck seems to have fallen into the cracks with the Department of Justice cracking down on the industry calling the Full Tilt Poker room fiasco a ponzi scheme of epic proportion. In the eyes of the ordinary person the idea of online poker has been portrayed as illegal and dangerous, an image that is far from the reality and fun experienced by the average internet poker fan. Hopefully this portrayal of online poker won’t last too long and the average player in the USA won’t feel like a criminal every time they are dealt a virtual hand.
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
One of the owners of three of the largest Internet poker companies pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a criminal charge of deceiving U.S. banks over the processing of gambling proceeds.
Absolute Poker co-owner Brent Beckley, 31, admitted in Manhattan federal court to conspiring to break U.S. laws against gambling on the Internet. He also pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud.
Twelve people have been charged in the case, including 11 in April when the U.S. government seized the Internet domain names of the three largest Internet poker companies: Absolute Poker, Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars.
Full Tilt Poker owner Raymond Bitar, PokerStars owner Isai Scheinberg and Absolute Poker owners Beckley and Scott Tom were also charged with breaking the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and other laws.
Beckley told U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald Ellis that at Absolute Poker between 2006 and April 2011 he accepted credit cards from players so they could bet on the Internet. He said he disguised the purpose of the payments.
"I knew it was illegal to deceive the banks in this way," Beckley told the judge.
The bank fraud charge carries a possible maximum prison sentence of 30 years, but under a plea agreement in the court record, Beckley will likely serve a term of between 12 months and 18 months.
His lawyer, Robert Cleary, declined comment.
The indictment said that between 2008 and 2011 Beckley hired so-called "payment processor" Ira Rubin to help the company avoid U.S. gambling laws. Rubin would process e-checks for Absolute Poker disguised as payroll processing, affiliate marketing and online electronics merchants, according to the indictment.
Rubin, who lived in Central America for years to avoid a telemarketing fraud charge, is close to a plea agreement, according to his lawyer.
Prosecutors said that of the billions of dollars the poker companies tricked U.S. banks into processing, approximately one-third or more of the money went directly to the companies as revenue through the "rake" charged to players on almost every poker hand played online.
The government has also filed a civil lawsuit against the Full Tilt Poker website. They accused self-styled "Poker Professor" Howard Lederer and professional poker champion Christopher Ferguson and others of paying themselves more than $440 million while defrauding other players.
Absolute Poker co-owner Brent Beckley, 31, admitted in Manhattan federal court to conspiring to break U.S. laws against gambling on the Internet. He also pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud.
Twelve people have been charged in the case, including 11 in April when the U.S. government seized the Internet domain names of the three largest Internet poker companies: Absolute Poker, Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars.
Full Tilt Poker owner Raymond Bitar, PokerStars owner Isai Scheinberg and Absolute Poker owners Beckley and Scott Tom were also charged with breaking the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and other laws.
Beckley told U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald Ellis that at Absolute Poker between 2006 and April 2011 he accepted credit cards from players so they could bet on the Internet. He said he disguised the purpose of the payments.
"I knew it was illegal to deceive the banks in this way," Beckley told the judge.
The bank fraud charge carries a possible maximum prison sentence of 30 years, but under a plea agreement in the court record, Beckley will likely serve a term of between 12 months and 18 months.
His lawyer, Robert Cleary, declined comment.
The indictment said that between 2008 and 2011 Beckley hired so-called "payment processor" Ira Rubin to help the company avoid U.S. gambling laws. Rubin would process e-checks for Absolute Poker disguised as payroll processing, affiliate marketing and online electronics merchants, according to the indictment.
Rubin, who lived in Central America for years to avoid a telemarketing fraud charge, is close to a plea agreement, according to his lawyer.
Prosecutors said that of the billions of dollars the poker companies tricked U.S. banks into processing, approximately one-third or more of the money went directly to the companies as revenue through the "rake" charged to players on almost every poker hand played online.
The government has also filed a civil lawsuit against the Full Tilt Poker website. They accused self-styled "Poker Professor" Howard Lederer and professional poker champion Christopher Ferguson and others of paying themselves more than $440 million while defrauding other players.
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Legal online gambling is coming to the Internet. And that could spell opportunity for big tech companies such as Facebook, Zynga, Apple and Google.
Last week, the U.S. Justice Department reversed its long-held opinion that most forms of online gambling were illegal. That will allow states to offer nonsports gambling on the Internet, with some limitations.
First to go online will be lotteries. These already are a huge business, with $64.8 billion of annual U.S. sales in the year through June, according to the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries. Yet lotteries are struggling to attract younger players, says Massachusetts State Treasurer Steve Grossman. He argues that the ability to reach them online or via mobile devices opens up an "enormous new market." That is a market that has the attention of Facebook, for one. It dispatched a representative to a lottery industry convention in October to give a presentation on how lotteries can use Facebook to connect with players. Besides allowing lotteries to buy ads on its site, it could one day, perhaps, let lotteries put real games on its platform. Google's social network, Google+, could be another platform.
And to reach younger players via mobile devices, lotteries could turn their games into apps for Apple's iPhone or Google's Android mobile operating system.
Online poker is also in the cards, as some states are likely to roll out casino-style gambling. But that path looks to be more complicated. As things stand, online poker games would be limited to players within a given state. That could limit revenue potential. But it might be possible to strike interstate compacts, as lotteries have done for games such as Powerball, says Mark Hichar, a lawyer specializing in gambling at Edwards Wildman.
Casinos such as Caesars Entertainment are hoping Congress will pass a law allowing them to operate online casinos nationwide. But states could be a roadblock; they don't want to lose business to casinos or tax revenue to the federal government.
If states control the future of online gambling, that would worry casinos. Some players may choose not to visit Las Vegas or Atlantic City if they can play poker or slots in their living room.
As with lotteries, online poker presents an opportunity for social media companies. With more than 800 million active users, Facebook has the largest pool of potential players. In 2011, it explored offering gambling with real money in the U.K., where it is legal, according to a source familiar with the matter. In August, it allowed certain casinos as well as lotteries to advertise on its site.
Meanwhile, Zynga's first game was Zynga Poker, which still boasts 29 million monthly average users, according to AppData. It doesn't involve real-money bets. Melissa Riahei, general counsel for U.S. Digital Gaming, says it isn't clear how many of these players might convert to using real money, but she argues Zynga could succeed by partnering with those ultimately granted online poker licenses by states.
Online gambling initiatives will surely heat up in the new year. Big tech companies that grab a seat at the table could end up winning big.
Last week, the U.S. Justice Department reversed its long-held opinion that most forms of online gambling were illegal. That will allow states to offer nonsports gambling on the Internet, with some limitations.
First to go online will be lotteries. These already are a huge business, with $64.8 billion of annual U.S. sales in the year through June, according to the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries. Yet lotteries are struggling to attract younger players, says Massachusetts State Treasurer Steve Grossman. He argues that the ability to reach them online or via mobile devices opens up an "enormous new market." That is a market that has the attention of Facebook, for one. It dispatched a representative to a lottery industry convention in October to give a presentation on how lotteries can use Facebook to connect with players. Besides allowing lotteries to buy ads on its site, it could one day, perhaps, let lotteries put real games on its platform. Google's social network, Google+, could be another platform.
And to reach younger players via mobile devices, lotteries could turn their games into apps for Apple's iPhone or Google's Android mobile operating system.
Online poker is also in the cards, as some states are likely to roll out casino-style gambling. But that path looks to be more complicated. As things stand, online poker games would be limited to players within a given state. That could limit revenue potential. But it might be possible to strike interstate compacts, as lotteries have done for games such as Powerball, says Mark Hichar, a lawyer specializing in gambling at Edwards Wildman.
Casinos such as Caesars Entertainment are hoping Congress will pass a law allowing them to operate online casinos nationwide. But states could be a roadblock; they don't want to lose business to casinos or tax revenue to the federal government.
If states control the future of online gambling, that would worry casinos. Some players may choose not to visit Las Vegas or Atlantic City if they can play poker or slots in their living room.
As with lotteries, online poker presents an opportunity for social media companies. With more than 800 million active users, Facebook has the largest pool of potential players. In 2011, it explored offering gambling with real money in the U.K., where it is legal, according to a source familiar with the matter. In August, it allowed certain casinos as well as lotteries to advertise on its site.
Meanwhile, Zynga's first game was Zynga Poker, which still boasts 29 million monthly average users, according to AppData. It doesn't involve real-money bets. Melissa Riahei, general counsel for U.S. Digital Gaming, says it isn't clear how many of these players might convert to using real money, but she argues Zynga could succeed by partnering with those ultimately granted online poker licenses by states.
Online gambling initiatives will surely heat up in the new year. Big tech companies that grab a seat at the table could end up winning big.
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
2011 represented a year of upheavals for many a professional poker player from the US, who were then forced to review their careers after the plug was pulled on online poker Stateside.
One such player is the legendary online grinder Dusty “Leatherass” Schmidt, who says he is now ready to return to competitive golf, whilst significantly reducing his poker activities. After intensively reflecting upon his career and life in general, Dusty Schmidt concluded on his website last week:
“I came to the realization that I love golf infinitely more than I love playing poker. With that, I have decided to return to golf and use all of what poker has taught me to try and become the best I can be (whatever that is) at the game of golf.”
The 30 year-old golfer made the switch to playing poker for a living, after suffering a heart attack back in 2004. Schmidt is well known for his work ethos, and has consequently gone on to earn over $3 million online, plus a further $100,000 a year in bonuses.
Over the past few years however, and despite never suffering a losing month, Dusty Schmidt has often commented on how tough and competitive poker had now become . Then in 2010, Schmidt said his returns were half as when he first started out, eventually finishing the year with a diminished $425,000 in profits, including bonuses and live winnings.
2011 seems to have ended badly for Schmidt, too, who wrote on his blog at Cardplayer:
“I can honestly say I have never run worse at poker than I have this month on Black Chip. After my epic start building $200 into $18,000, I have only about $12,000 in there now. I have run 25 buy ins behind EV on the month, and it has been incredibly frustrating.”
Perhaps buoyed by a recent golf win at the Pumpkin Ridge Club Championship, his first victory since suffering his heart attack in 2004, Dusty “Leatherass” Schmidt says that his chances are slim on the PGA of making it big but he was looking forward to the challenge.
However, he will still continue to be involved in the poker world, albeit to a much lesser degree. As Schmidt concludes:
“While I am pursuing golf, I will still be making videos as well as playing 20-25k hands a month of poker so that I am sure not to let my skills diminish.”
One such player is the legendary online grinder Dusty “Leatherass” Schmidt, who says he is now ready to return to competitive golf, whilst significantly reducing his poker activities. After intensively reflecting upon his career and life in general, Dusty Schmidt concluded on his website last week:
“I came to the realization that I love golf infinitely more than I love playing poker. With that, I have decided to return to golf and use all of what poker has taught me to try and become the best I can be (whatever that is) at the game of golf.”
The 30 year-old golfer made the switch to playing poker for a living, after suffering a heart attack back in 2004. Schmidt is well known for his work ethos, and has consequently gone on to earn over $3 million online, plus a further $100,000 a year in bonuses.
Over the past few years however, and despite never suffering a losing month, Dusty Schmidt has often commented on how tough and competitive poker had now become . Then in 2010, Schmidt said his returns were half as when he first started out, eventually finishing the year with a diminished $425,000 in profits, including bonuses and live winnings.
2011 seems to have ended badly for Schmidt, too, who wrote on his blog at Cardplayer:
“I can honestly say I have never run worse at poker than I have this month on Black Chip. After my epic start building $200 into $18,000, I have only about $12,000 in there now. I have run 25 buy ins behind EV on the month, and it has been incredibly frustrating.”
Perhaps buoyed by a recent golf win at the Pumpkin Ridge Club Championship, his first victory since suffering his heart attack in 2004, Dusty “Leatherass” Schmidt says that his chances are slim on the PGA of making it big but he was looking forward to the challenge.
However, he will still continue to be involved in the poker world, albeit to a much lesser degree. As Schmidt concludes:
“While I am pursuing golf, I will still be making videos as well as playing 20-25k hands a month of poker so that I am sure not to let my skills diminish.”
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Calvin Ayre, creator of the Bodog Brand has released his predictions once again for 2012 concerning online gambling, going on the record with some bold predictions.
First off his hopes for states in the U.S. to have a turnaround anytime soon with legalizing and regulating online gambling is dim, with only hopes for maybe Nevada being at the forefront since it has already taken steps to move the process along.
Calvin states, “I say it’s 50/50 that there will be one more state doing remote gambling in 2012, and even that one state may only offer online purchases of lottery tickets. But while progress will be slow, this state-by-state process that started in late 2010 with remote sports betting in Nevada will continue to spread over the coming decade. Under this scenario, the big winners – apart from those companies already holding US land-based licenses – will be the companies holding the best technology. But the US is no longer the world’s largest market, and those foreign companies who have hitched their future growth strategies solely to America’s wagon will be sorely disappointed with the results.
In Europe he feels that the European gambling markets are fragmented and non-cooperative, which will only cause further division at an accelerated rate. “Overall, this is a stale and mature market with an economy that will remain shaky for a long time to come. The smart companies (smart enough to have steered clear of public markets and shareholder meetings) will be shifting their focus toward.”
He sees Asia as a young and upcoming market, bigger and getting stronger than the rest of the world all together, claiming, “if you don’t yet have a toehold in Asia, you have no business calling yourself an industry player.” He believes Asian authorities (China, in particular) will embark on a US-style vendetta against some of the major players, only those companies with the right structures in place will be nimble, the winners’ names have yet to be determined, but one thing is for sure: public companies will not be among them.
As for Latin America, “The southern half of the western hemisphere will never rival Asia in terms of scale, but in gambling terms, it’s largely virgin territory, and probably represents the second best market to target in 2012.”
He also feels that India is just a step away from someone coming in and figuring out how to explode this market into online gambling’s billion dollar industry.
In 2012 Ayre’s is looking forward to the “integration code being cracked” as he puts it. For 2011 the focus was on land-based casino companies getting their “digital feet wet.” Ayre’s believes that it will only be a matter of time before the challenge of overcoming the combination of online and land-based gambling into one symbiotic business model come to fruition. His opinion, “is that the guys best positioned to do this integration are the online companies that control their own technology and are not burdened by massive amounts of debt.”
Next up, taking advantage of Mobile Gambling, Apps, social media and the more are at the forefront of making the online gambling industry the next best thing to tweet about!
“Live Dealer Casino is already massively popular in Asia he says, “live dealer’s appeal will spread to other markets and into other forms, such as bingo. The technology has matured, and bottom line, it’s just fun.”
He also believes it is just a matter of time before RNG casinos make a comeback, “it is wide open for some innovative company to make serious inroads.”
With social media stemming the popularity of Sports betting, the sector will continue to evolve slowly but vibrantly, with more betting types and increased integration with social media.
The Bodog Recreational Poker Player Model, he claims will be “THE big poker story of 2012.”
Also subscription poker and free-play virtual chip models will continue to grow, Ayre’s doesn’t think anyone will ever find a way to convert, “as a real-money poker player would never play strictly for fun, so they are in fact different markets which can’t be crossed one way or the other.”
He believes that horse racing is in need of a jump start, with a fresh, new and innovative face reaching out to a younger demographic to help it cross over into a hipper scene.
Anonymous Payment Systems, “this will be the year a modified version of Bitcoin hits the net.”
He also predicts his site Calvin Ayre will be the leader of online gambling sites and hey who are we to doubt a man with strong aspirations, hopes and dreams!
First off his hopes for states in the U.S. to have a turnaround anytime soon with legalizing and regulating online gambling is dim, with only hopes for maybe Nevada being at the forefront since it has already taken steps to move the process along.
Calvin states, “I say it’s 50/50 that there will be one more state doing remote gambling in 2012, and even that one state may only offer online purchases of lottery tickets. But while progress will be slow, this state-by-state process that started in late 2010 with remote sports betting in Nevada will continue to spread over the coming decade. Under this scenario, the big winners – apart from those companies already holding US land-based licenses – will be the companies holding the best technology. But the US is no longer the world’s largest market, and those foreign companies who have hitched their future growth strategies solely to America’s wagon will be sorely disappointed with the results.
In Europe he feels that the European gambling markets are fragmented and non-cooperative, which will only cause further division at an accelerated rate. “Overall, this is a stale and mature market with an economy that will remain shaky for a long time to come. The smart companies (smart enough to have steered clear of public markets and shareholder meetings) will be shifting their focus toward.”
He sees Asia as a young and upcoming market, bigger and getting stronger than the rest of the world all together, claiming, “if you don’t yet have a toehold in Asia, you have no business calling yourself an industry player.” He believes Asian authorities (China, in particular) will embark on a US-style vendetta against some of the major players, only those companies with the right structures in place will be nimble, the winners’ names have yet to be determined, but one thing is for sure: public companies will not be among them.
As for Latin America, “The southern half of the western hemisphere will never rival Asia in terms of scale, but in gambling terms, it’s largely virgin territory, and probably represents the second best market to target in 2012.”
He also feels that India is just a step away from someone coming in and figuring out how to explode this market into online gambling’s billion dollar industry.
In 2012 Ayre’s is looking forward to the “integration code being cracked” as he puts it. For 2011 the focus was on land-based casino companies getting their “digital feet wet.” Ayre’s believes that it will only be a matter of time before the challenge of overcoming the combination of online and land-based gambling into one symbiotic business model come to fruition. His opinion, “is that the guys best positioned to do this integration are the online companies that control their own technology and are not burdened by massive amounts of debt.”
Next up, taking advantage of Mobile Gambling, Apps, social media and the more are at the forefront of making the online gambling industry the next best thing to tweet about!
“Live Dealer Casino is already massively popular in Asia he says, “live dealer’s appeal will spread to other markets and into other forms, such as bingo. The technology has matured, and bottom line, it’s just fun.”
He also believes it is just a matter of time before RNG casinos make a comeback, “it is wide open for some innovative company to make serious inroads.”
With social media stemming the popularity of Sports betting, the sector will continue to evolve slowly but vibrantly, with more betting types and increased integration with social media.
The Bodog Recreational Poker Player Model, he claims will be “THE big poker story of 2012.”
Also subscription poker and free-play virtual chip models will continue to grow, Ayre’s doesn’t think anyone will ever find a way to convert, “as a real-money poker player would never play strictly for fun, so they are in fact different markets which can’t be crossed one way or the other.”
He believes that horse racing is in need of a jump start, with a fresh, new and innovative face reaching out to a younger demographic to help it cross over into a hipper scene.
Anonymous Payment Systems, “this will be the year a modified version of Bitcoin hits the net.”
He also predicts his site Calvin Ayre will be the leader of online gambling sites and hey who are we to doubt a man with strong aspirations, hopes and dreams!
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
If the Connecticut Legislature approves a bill introducing new forms of Internet gambling, online poker could become a reality again.
According to the Hartford Courant, a recent U.S. Justice Department ruling makes the online lottery ticket sales and online gaming a possibility in Connecticut
Gov. Dannel Malloy supports the move, as a way to raise funds for the state, and keep Connecticut in the game, as casinos proliferate in Massachusetts and other nearby locations.
Not only could new casinos in Massachusetts drain customers from Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods, but the decline could have an impact on the state's economy, as the local casinos pay 25 percent of their slot revenue to the state.
In October, Patch reported that Mohegan Sun has signed a contract with Bally Technologies, Inc., for a new user interface on more than 6,000 machines, and an official of Mohegan Sun has confirmed that the casino is talking with companies about online gambling. The new technology could make the re-entry into online gaming more possible.
According to the Hartford Courant, a recent U.S. Justice Department ruling makes the online lottery ticket sales and online gaming a possibility in Connecticut
Gov. Dannel Malloy supports the move, as a way to raise funds for the state, and keep Connecticut in the game, as casinos proliferate in Massachusetts and other nearby locations.
Not only could new casinos in Massachusetts drain customers from Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods, but the decline could have an impact on the state's economy, as the local casinos pay 25 percent of their slot revenue to the state.
In October, Patch reported that Mohegan Sun has signed a contract with Bally Technologies, Inc., for a new user interface on more than 6,000 machines, and an official of Mohegan Sun has confirmed that the casino is talking with companies about online gambling. The new technology could make the re-entry into online gaming more possible.
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2006/12/07
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29893
He came from California to help remodel flooded homes and now he's North Dakota's newest Texas Hold 'Em Poker champion. 34 year-old Jeremy Keillor took home the top spot payout of $42,000 and a championship trophy that tells everyone who he is and what he's done. It was Keillor's first ever professional tournament.
"There were a lot more people that had better skills than I did," Keillor told local news station KFYR, but he didn't believe in beginner's luck. While he knew he would finish in the top three through his sheer chip count going through the final table, the poker player stuck to a strategy that worked for him and made it all the way to the top.
"I’m still in shock. I mean 2,000 people and I actually got 1st place," Keillor added when talking to the news crew.
Keillor may be overestimating the total number of players (there were actually "only" 1,851 who paid the modest entry fee to participate) but his heart is in the right place. He came to Minot, ND looking for work, helping repair homes damaged in the 2011 floods and plans on keeping his money and skills in the community. With the earnings, he plans on starting his own remodeling business, fixing houses and getting people back into their homes.
Runner-up Jeffery Thomas, of Columbus, MT earned $19,000. Virgil Olson, of Fort Ransom, ND took third to win $13,000 and Jason Conley of Minot took fourth to win $9,000. The Minot State University Alumni Association uses the event to raise money for scholarships.
"There were a lot more people that had better skills than I did," Keillor told local news station KFYR, but he didn't believe in beginner's luck. While he knew he would finish in the top three through his sheer chip count going through the final table, the poker player stuck to a strategy that worked for him and made it all the way to the top.
"I’m still in shock. I mean 2,000 people and I actually got 1st place," Keillor added when talking to the news crew.
Keillor may be overestimating the total number of players (there were actually "only" 1,851 who paid the modest entry fee to participate) but his heart is in the right place. He came to Minot, ND looking for work, helping repair homes damaged in the 2011 floods and plans on keeping his money and skills in the community. With the earnings, he plans on starting his own remodeling business, fixing houses and getting people back into their homes.
Runner-up Jeffery Thomas, of Columbus, MT earned $19,000. Virgil Olson, of Fort Ransom, ND took third to win $13,000 and Jason Conley of Minot took fourth to win $9,000. The Minot State University Alumni Association uses the event to raise money for scholarships.
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2006/12/07
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29893
There's one big fear among every high-stakes poker player who leaves a casino with a sizable amount of a cash on them: robbery. It's happened before: Doyle Brunson was the victim of a memorable home in version back in 1998 after coming home after playing in the World Series of Poker in which the crooks got away with $4,000 in cash and $80,000 in chips. It's one of the reasons many casinos offers security to help people get to their cars after events and cash games. On New Year's Eve, police in Oceanside, CA found themselves investigating a robbery outside of the Ocean's Eleven Casino that had an interesting twist.
The robber only demanded $1.
The victim, who went unnamed in the police report, informed police that the robber told him that he had a gun in his waistband and that he wanted a single dollar from him or things would go badly. The victim, perhaps emboldened by the bluffing going on at Ocean's Eleven's tables, didn't give follow the robber's demands and the suspect fled empty-handed.
The would-be robber was gone when police arrived, and officers had not found him Saturday evening, police Lt Sean Marchand told the local press.
The robber only demanded $1.
The victim, who went unnamed in the police report, informed police that the robber told him that he had a gun in his waistband and that he wanted a single dollar from him or things would go badly. The victim, perhaps emboldened by the bluffing going on at Ocean's Eleven's tables, didn't give follow the robber's demands and the suspect fled empty-handed.
The would-be robber was gone when police arrived, and officers had not found him Saturday evening, police Lt Sean Marchand told the local press.
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2006/12/07
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LONDON, ENGLAND--(Marketwire - Dec. 21, 2011) - People in the state of Nevada can look to play online poker as 888 Holdings, the famous UK based company for online gaming, is considering applying for an online poker license in Nevada, as per a report. The report also stated that the company is planning to enter into a partnership with Caesar's Entertainment Corp., which owns brands like Flamingo, Rio, Caesars and Harrah's. Deputy Chairman of 888 revealed that the company is in talks with Caesars and a decision will likely to be reached by mid-autumn. The Play Poker Online editorial team sought to find more on the issue.
Though 888 Holdings has enough cash to self-finance its expansion programs in the US, the company may still consider debt financing if there are attractive terms. The company also stated that it did not want to miss out on any attractive deals. In fact, the company doesn't even have to partner with Caesar's for a license since a clause in the Nevada bill reads that offshore companies can gain license to operate in the US as long as they meet any of the qualifications specified by the federal law in regard to online gaming.
But there is no guarantee that the company will be able to launch online poker in the US and definitely not for a few months, given the recent events that have happened in the online poker circuit since Black Friday. With the possibilities of online gambling being legalized in 2011 being dim, it will be quite a while before 888, which has earned a revenue of $13 million in poker alone, will realize the hopes of US residents to play poker online for money at their site.
Another reason why this could take longer is that a few months back, the Assembly Bill 258, which allowed the Gaming Commission of Nevada to grant licenses to casinos and establish a regulatory framework for online poker, was passed in the Nevada Senate. The bill made no mentions of any regulations as such, but authorized the gaming commission to establish regulations and grant licenses to online casinos if the federal government or the US Department of Justice legalizes online gaming in writing.
About Play Poker Online Website
PlayPokerOnline.com is one of the best places online for information related to online poker real money sites. By logging on to PlayPokerOnline.com, online poker players can find information related to the latest happenings in the online poker network and budding poker players can also learn how to play poker at their site.
Though 888 Holdings has enough cash to self-finance its expansion programs in the US, the company may still consider debt financing if there are attractive terms. The company also stated that it did not want to miss out on any attractive deals. In fact, the company doesn't even have to partner with Caesar's for a license since a clause in the Nevada bill reads that offshore companies can gain license to operate in the US as long as they meet any of the qualifications specified by the federal law in regard to online gaming.
But there is no guarantee that the company will be able to launch online poker in the US and definitely not for a few months, given the recent events that have happened in the online poker circuit since Black Friday. With the possibilities of online gambling being legalized in 2011 being dim, it will be quite a while before 888, which has earned a revenue of $13 million in poker alone, will realize the hopes of US residents to play poker online for money at their site.
Another reason why this could take longer is that a few months back, the Assembly Bill 258, which allowed the Gaming Commission of Nevada to grant licenses to casinos and establish a regulatory framework for online poker, was passed in the Nevada Senate. The bill made no mentions of any regulations as such, but authorized the gaming commission to establish regulations and grant licenses to online casinos if the federal government or the US Department of Justice legalizes online gaming in writing.
About Play Poker Online Website
PlayPokerOnline.com is one of the best places online for information related to online poker real money sites. By logging on to PlayPokerOnline.com, online poker players can find information related to the latest happenings in the online poker network and budding poker players can also learn how to play poker at their site.
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2006/12/07
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29893
The Greek government is flirting with danger, perhaps only as a negotiating tactic, but, if so, its bluff could be called. First, on Tuesday, its spokesman, Pantelis Kapsis, raised the possibility that Greece would leave the euro, if the negotiations on the next instalment of rescue measures – worth about €130-billion – do not make good progress. Then on Wednesday, Lucas Papademos, the Prime Minister, raised the prospect of “disorderly default” if those negotiations – with the so-called troika of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund – do not succeed before early March. These statements are not in themselves outrageous, but the acknowledgment of these risks from such sources is provocative. Mr. Papademos, almost universally classified as a technocrat as opposed to a politician, took office when the troika – and the international policy community as a whole – became fed up with the Greek political class. But the new government of experts is adopting its own rhetorical poses.
To whom are these messages addressed – to the troika and the bondholders, or to the Greek labour unions and the Greek people? Probably, to all of these. And that is as it should be. Some reports suggest that the Papademos government is on its way to obtaining significant concessions from both the international bondholders and the central body of Greek private-sector unions.
The euro and the euro zone can live on, with or without the small Greek economy. And one way or another, the Greeks will have to cope with lower price and wage levels for several years. What is to be avoided is disorderly default, panic, runs on banks, and an inability to conduct the most ordinary commercial transactions. If the European Union cannot prevent all that, its competence to do much of anything will be in doubt.
Meanwhile, Mr. Papademos seems to be playing his weak hand well.
To whom are these messages addressed – to the troika and the bondholders, or to the Greek labour unions and the Greek people? Probably, to all of these. And that is as it should be. Some reports suggest that the Papademos government is on its way to obtaining significant concessions from both the international bondholders and the central body of Greek private-sector unions.
The euro and the euro zone can live on, with or without the small Greek economy. And one way or another, the Greeks will have to cope with lower price and wage levels for several years. What is to be avoided is disorderly default, panic, runs on banks, and an inability to conduct the most ordinary commercial transactions. If the European Union cannot prevent all that, its competence to do much of anything will be in doubt.
Meanwhile, Mr. Papademos seems to be playing his weak hand well.
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2006/12/07
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After three years of seemingly making political progress toward legitimizing the activity, everything came crashing down on Black Friday, and 2011 went in the books as the year online poker went dark across the United States.
Looking back, it could have been worse. Don't get me wrong, the fallout was brutal. The DOJ indictments forced the major online poker sites out of the country and left many U.S. players without large chunks of money and their main source of income.
When the indictments struck, many people worried that the controversy could also stop cold any possibility of licensing and regulating Internet poker in the United States in the near future. It stood to reason that politicians concerned with re-election wouldn't want to go near an issue tainted with federal indictments.
This did not happen. To the contrary, the bottom falling out of online poker reinvigorated the player community to bombard representatives on Capitol Hill with phone calls, emails, Facebook posts and tweets. The American Gaming Association and Nevada casinos seized on the sudden absence of reputable sites for Americans to play on by pushing harder than ever to lead a domestic-based online poker industry.
The result is that, entering 2012, it's the first time I think federal online poker legislation passing by the end of the year is a real possibility.
I wouldn't say the odds are favorable. It's still a long shot. There is a lot left to overcome.
One big issue is that it's an election year, which shortens the congressional season and always makes it difficult to move controversial legislation.
That's why the rebranding of Internet poker legislation in 2011 is so important. The bill Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.) introduced was named the "Internet Gambling Prohibition, Poker Consumer Protection, and Strengthening UIGEA Act." That sounds like something a congressman could vote for without any backlash from conservative constituents.
Barton told PokerNews in November that he believed there were already the votes to move his legislation through the House. He laid out the plan for 2012, to move the bill through the Energy and Commerce Committee in the spring and the full House in the summer.
Another hurdle is opposition from Las Vegas Sands chairman Sheldon Adelson. One would think that a single person could not derail what so many people want. However, Adelson has the ear of Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.). Having Kyl on board to strengthen UIGEA while exempting poker is probably the biggest key to getting legislation passed this year. If Adelson can convince Kyl to oppose online poker, many Republicans will fall in line under the Senate Minority Whip and that could be the end of any hope for online poker in 2012.
Kyl can't stand in the way for long, though, because he has announced that he will not run for re-election. Also not running for re-election is Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), long the champion for poker on Capitol Hill.
This interesting dynamic is one of the main reasons why I think 2012 could be the year. If Barney Frank really views this as a passion project, he is going to cash in his remaining favors and do everything he can to get it done before he leaves office. If Kyl wants to strengthen his baby, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, before he leaves office, this is the way to do it.
The November elections may also bring changes to the structure of the Senate. The Republicans took over the House last election and will be looking to take the Senate, as well. This may be Harry Reid's last term as Senate Majority Leader. If that ends up being the case, it may be time for him to finally put his chips on the table and push all-in to pass legislation that benefits the Nevada casinos that have financially backed him all these years.
All of this means the lame-duck session between the November elections and the next year could be very interesting.
In 2011, we did see the first state take steps to offer intrastate online poker. Look for the first licensed and regulated sites in the United States to get up and running in Nevada during the second half of 2012. The new year could see states like New Jersey and California follow suit.
Another thing to watch in 2012 will be the results of the federal indictments for owners of the three big poker sites and the expected payment of money owed to Full Tilt players.
The past year was worse for the poker community than anyone could have imagined, but the shattering of the status quo may end up being worth it if a safer, permanent structure for online poker is born in 2012.
Looking back, it could have been worse. Don't get me wrong, the fallout was brutal. The DOJ indictments forced the major online poker sites out of the country and left many U.S. players without large chunks of money and their main source of income.
When the indictments struck, many people worried that the controversy could also stop cold any possibility of licensing and regulating Internet poker in the United States in the near future. It stood to reason that politicians concerned with re-election wouldn't want to go near an issue tainted with federal indictments.
This did not happen. To the contrary, the bottom falling out of online poker reinvigorated the player community to bombard representatives on Capitol Hill with phone calls, emails, Facebook posts and tweets. The American Gaming Association and Nevada casinos seized on the sudden absence of reputable sites for Americans to play on by pushing harder than ever to lead a domestic-based online poker industry.
The result is that, entering 2012, it's the first time I think federal online poker legislation passing by the end of the year is a real possibility.
I wouldn't say the odds are favorable. It's still a long shot. There is a lot left to overcome.
One big issue is that it's an election year, which shortens the congressional season and always makes it difficult to move controversial legislation.
That's why the rebranding of Internet poker legislation in 2011 is so important. The bill Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.) introduced was named the "Internet Gambling Prohibition, Poker Consumer Protection, and Strengthening UIGEA Act." That sounds like something a congressman could vote for without any backlash from conservative constituents.
Barton told PokerNews in November that he believed there were already the votes to move his legislation through the House. He laid out the plan for 2012, to move the bill through the Energy and Commerce Committee in the spring and the full House in the summer.
Another hurdle is opposition from Las Vegas Sands chairman Sheldon Adelson. One would think that a single person could not derail what so many people want. However, Adelson has the ear of Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.). Having Kyl on board to strengthen UIGEA while exempting poker is probably the biggest key to getting legislation passed this year. If Adelson can convince Kyl to oppose online poker, many Republicans will fall in line under the Senate Minority Whip and that could be the end of any hope for online poker in 2012.
Kyl can't stand in the way for long, though, because he has announced that he will not run for re-election. Also not running for re-election is Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), long the champion for poker on Capitol Hill.
This interesting dynamic is one of the main reasons why I think 2012 could be the year. If Barney Frank really views this as a passion project, he is going to cash in his remaining favors and do everything he can to get it done before he leaves office. If Kyl wants to strengthen his baby, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, before he leaves office, this is the way to do it.
The November elections may also bring changes to the structure of the Senate. The Republicans took over the House last election and will be looking to take the Senate, as well. This may be Harry Reid's last term as Senate Majority Leader. If that ends up being the case, it may be time for him to finally put his chips on the table and push all-in to pass legislation that benefits the Nevada casinos that have financially backed him all these years.
All of this means the lame-duck session between the November elections and the next year could be very interesting.
In 2011, we did see the first state take steps to offer intrastate online poker. Look for the first licensed and regulated sites in the United States to get up and running in Nevada during the second half of 2012. The new year could see states like New Jersey and California follow suit.
Another thing to watch in 2012 will be the results of the federal indictments for owners of the three big poker sites and the expected payment of money owed to Full Tilt players.
The past year was worse for the poker community than anyone could have imagined, but the shattering of the status quo may end up being worth it if a safer, permanent structure for online poker is born in 2012.
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
The 2012 Card Player Player of the Year race is now sponsored by Lock Poker.
The annual contest was started in 1997 and has featured some of the best players on the tournament circuit as winners. Ben Lamb, who won the 2011 POY race, boasted one of the best runs in the history of the World Series of Poker.
Now, Lock Poker is expanded the Card Player POY brand to their online poker room. During the 2012 season, players can take part in the inaugural Lock Poker Online Player of the Year award simply by registering and competing in their numerous weekly tournaments.
If you’d like to take part in the OPOY race but don’t have an account, keep reading. The leading online site is currently offering an initial deposit bonus offer of 150 percent up to $750 (bonus code LOCKWELCOME) and a reload bonus offer of 75 percent up to $375 (bonus code LOCKNLOAD) to CP readers!
The site also offers sit-and-go leader boards, a $100,000 guarantee tournament every Sunday, royal flush bonuses, daily $50 freerolls, and much more.
Lock Poker, operating on the Merge Network, accepts players worldwide.
The annual contest was started in 1997 and has featured some of the best players on the tournament circuit as winners. Ben Lamb, who won the 2011 POY race, boasted one of the best runs in the history of the World Series of Poker.
Now, Lock Poker is expanded the Card Player POY brand to their online poker room. During the 2012 season, players can take part in the inaugural Lock Poker Online Player of the Year award simply by registering and competing in their numerous weekly tournaments.
If you’d like to take part in the OPOY race but don’t have an account, keep reading. The leading online site is currently offering an initial deposit bonus offer of 150 percent up to $750 (bonus code LOCKWELCOME) and a reload bonus offer of 75 percent up to $375 (bonus code LOCKNLOAD) to CP readers!
The site also offers sit-and-go leader boards, a $100,000 guarantee tournament every Sunday, royal flush bonuses, daily $50 freerolls, and much more.
Lock Poker, operating on the Merge Network, accepts players worldwide.
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2006/12/07
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29893
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has stated his approval of online poker in the Garden State, but legislation will have to wait until the next session, as the current session ends on Monday.
“Folks should know I favor it [online gaming legislation], I want to do it,” Christie said. “I do not want to rush and get legislation that either doesn’t pass state constitutional muster, or creates other problems for us.”
Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union) was hoping to push legislation through next week to keep pace with Nevada’s progress in intrastate online poker regulations, fearing to be “left behind the state of Nevada like we were with sports betting,” but has resigned himself to postponing his proposal until a later date in a new session.
“I’ve agreed to reintroduce Internet gaming in the next legislative session, and I expect that we can get it through the Legislature and signed by the Governor within the first few weeks of the new session,” Lesniak said in a statement.
The proposed bill had already been approved by the state Legislature in the beginning months of 2011, but Christie elected to use his veto authority to put the kibosh on its passage, citing concerns with the state’s constitution limiting all gaming to Atlantic City, as well as the vagueness of federal statutes. But modifications to the proposal that will require gambling website servers to emanate only from Atlantic City and the release of the U.S. Department of Justice memorandum clarifying the 1961 Wire Act as being applicable to only sports betting have apparently changed the Republican governor’s stance on the matter.
“I vetoed the last bill because I felt that it would open up the opportunity for there to be internet gambling houses all over the State of New Jersey,” Christie said. “I don’t think that’s what anybody wants. I think being able to have this be an Atlantic City-centric thing is something that makes sense to me. And given the Justice Department’s go ahead for people to be able to do it, I think we should go ahead and move on it. But, we have to do it in a responsible way.”
With Nevada having already accepted applications from online poker site operators and other states such as Iowa and California considering measures to approve intrastate internet poker regulations, New Jersey still figures to be a player in the race to be the first state to legally offer online poker to its residents despite the delay caused by having to wait until the next legislative session to get a bill passed.
“While I remain hopeful that New Jersey can take the lead on this exciting new direction for wagering – which would result in new revenues, new jobs, and new economic activity in the Garden State – I recognize that the complex issues surrounding internet wagering will take more time to iron out than we are afforded in the waning days of the current legislative session,” Lesniak admitted.
“Folks should know I favor it [online gaming legislation], I want to do it,” Christie said. “I do not want to rush and get legislation that either doesn’t pass state constitutional muster, or creates other problems for us.”
Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union) was hoping to push legislation through next week to keep pace with Nevada’s progress in intrastate online poker regulations, fearing to be “left behind the state of Nevada like we were with sports betting,” but has resigned himself to postponing his proposal until a later date in a new session.
“I’ve agreed to reintroduce Internet gaming in the next legislative session, and I expect that we can get it through the Legislature and signed by the Governor within the first few weeks of the new session,” Lesniak said in a statement.
The proposed bill had already been approved by the state Legislature in the beginning months of 2011, but Christie elected to use his veto authority to put the kibosh on its passage, citing concerns with the state’s constitution limiting all gaming to Atlantic City, as well as the vagueness of federal statutes. But modifications to the proposal that will require gambling website servers to emanate only from Atlantic City and the release of the U.S. Department of Justice memorandum clarifying the 1961 Wire Act as being applicable to only sports betting have apparently changed the Republican governor’s stance on the matter.
“I vetoed the last bill because I felt that it would open up the opportunity for there to be internet gambling houses all over the State of New Jersey,” Christie said. “I don’t think that’s what anybody wants. I think being able to have this be an Atlantic City-centric thing is something that makes sense to me. And given the Justice Department’s go ahead for people to be able to do it, I think we should go ahead and move on it. But, we have to do it in a responsible way.”
With Nevada having already accepted applications from online poker site operators and other states such as Iowa and California considering measures to approve intrastate internet poker regulations, New Jersey still figures to be a player in the race to be the first state to legally offer online poker to its residents despite the delay caused by having to wait until the next legislative session to get a bill passed.
“While I remain hopeful that New Jersey can take the lead on this exciting new direction for wagering – which would result in new revenues, new jobs, and new economic activity in the Garden State – I recognize that the complex issues surrounding internet wagering will take more time to iron out than we are afforded in the waning days of the current legislative session,” Lesniak admitted.
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2006/12/07
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Matt Glantz is a poker pro who knows his way around the game. With lifetime winnings of over $4,000,000 and 68 career cashes to his name, he's definitely earned his spot on the Epic Poker League Standards and Conduct Committee and he's now using that prominence within the industry in a much more direct matter than usual. A couple of days after Christmas, he wrote a post simply entitled "Responsibility in Poker" that called out the professional poker world, saying, essentially, that poker players should always present themselves as role models, especially in front of the cameras and online.
"When I say 'Responsibility in Poker', I’m referring to how you act or speak out in any public forum or media outlet. The things you say and do reflect on all of us," Glantz wrote. "Regardless of your intentions, your actions shine a light not just on you, but on all professional poker players. That light will shine dark or bright for all of us. When any one of us acts poorly in the spotlight, the ripple effect is typically immeasurable."
He went into further detail, mentioning Twitter specifically and how many players use it to vent their momentary frustration at tournament directors and other players without directly talking to the other, saying that it benefits nobody when poker pros go negative and that it can actually hurt how the next generation of poker players behaves. Overall, it's a fascinating, thoughtful read available on his blog at mantglantzpoker.com.
"When I say 'Responsibility in Poker', I’m referring to how you act or speak out in any public forum or media outlet. The things you say and do reflect on all of us," Glantz wrote. "Regardless of your intentions, your actions shine a light not just on you, but on all professional poker players. That light will shine dark or bright for all of us. When any one of us acts poorly in the spotlight, the ripple effect is typically immeasurable."
He went into further detail, mentioning Twitter specifically and how many players use it to vent their momentary frustration at tournament directors and other players without directly talking to the other, saying that it benefits nobody when poker pros go negative and that it can actually hurt how the next generation of poker players behaves. Overall, it's a fascinating, thoughtful read available on his blog at mantglantzpoker.com.
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2006/12/07
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29893
Online poker forums are thick with rumors that a mysterious player, who is playing at PokerStars under the name of RaiseOnce, is none other that Phil Ivey, a professional poker player who is simultaneously feared, admired, and hated. RaiseOnce is from Mexico, a place where Phil Ivey has a house, but this isn’t the only factor pointing to the possibility that RaiseOnce is Phil Ivey. A number of poker enthusiasts noted that just before Black Friday, Phil Ivey left Full Tilt Poker and simultaneously RaiseOnce appeared on PokerStars. The fact that this happened almost simultaneously has given rise to the suspicion that RaiseOnce is actually Phil Ivey.
Moreover, RaiseOnce bears a striking resemblance to Phil Ivey with regard to text messages, gaming style, and multi-tabling abilities. He also stops playing when the game goes bad and plays only at high-stakes tables, just as Phil Ivey does. All this has made poker fans sure that Phil Ivey is indeed playing at PokerStars under the name of RaiseOnce.
According to the statistics at Poker Table Ratings, RaiseOnce lost $100,408 after playing 22,100 hands at the cash tables of PokerStars since mid 2009. He also won $348,750 in the $25,500 NL Hold’em Heads Up WCOOP event at PokerStars last year. Besides, Bluff Magazine says that RaiseOnce won $54,611 at a multi-table tournament at PokerStars.
Ivey did not participate in WSOP 2011, stating that he does not consider it fair on all the players who have not yet been refunded by Full Tilt Poker, the online poker room that sponsored him for several years. A few posters at online poker forums are furious that Ivey is raking in profits at PokerStars. One of these furious posters says, “People have every right to be angry over Ivey playing. The specifics of who knew what are far from certain, but many people lost life-altering money on that damn site.”
However, players cannot continue being angry with Ivey especially now that Full Tilt is all set to be acquired by Groupe Bernard Tapie and ex Full Tilt Poker players might soon be refunded. A number of Ivey fans are actually delighted that he is back in action.
From January 19 to 29, PokerStars will hold the Turbo Championship of Online Poker (TCOOP), and a number of online poker fans are eagerly waiting to see how RaiseOnce will perform in the TCOOP, which is a brand new, high-speed online poker tournament.
Moreover, RaiseOnce bears a striking resemblance to Phil Ivey with regard to text messages, gaming style, and multi-tabling abilities. He also stops playing when the game goes bad and plays only at high-stakes tables, just as Phil Ivey does. All this has made poker fans sure that Phil Ivey is indeed playing at PokerStars under the name of RaiseOnce.
According to the statistics at Poker Table Ratings, RaiseOnce lost $100,408 after playing 22,100 hands at the cash tables of PokerStars since mid 2009. He also won $348,750 in the $25,500 NL Hold’em Heads Up WCOOP event at PokerStars last year. Besides, Bluff Magazine says that RaiseOnce won $54,611 at a multi-table tournament at PokerStars.
Ivey did not participate in WSOP 2011, stating that he does not consider it fair on all the players who have not yet been refunded by Full Tilt Poker, the online poker room that sponsored him for several years. A few posters at online poker forums are furious that Ivey is raking in profits at PokerStars. One of these furious posters says, “People have every right to be angry over Ivey playing. The specifics of who knew what are far from certain, but many people lost life-altering money on that damn site.”
However, players cannot continue being angry with Ivey especially now that Full Tilt is all set to be acquired by Groupe Bernard Tapie and ex Full Tilt Poker players might soon be refunded. A number of Ivey fans are actually delighted that he is back in action.
From January 19 to 29, PokerStars will hold the Turbo Championship of Online Poker (TCOOP), and a number of online poker fans are eagerly waiting to see how RaiseOnce will perform in the TCOOP, which is a brand new, high-speed online poker tournament.
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Legal online poker is fast becoming a reality. New Jersey may pass legislation by next week. Nevada has passed rules on how to regulate the websites already. California intends to take it up when the legislature reconvenes this year. More and more states are taking up the fight for your tax dollars.
Legal Poker Sites is a website dedicated to the news related to legal Internet poker in the U.S. and around the world. This is not just a U.S. issue, this is a world issue. Countries all around the world are legalizing and regulating online poker. The U.S. can lead or we can follow, but we cannot stop the inevitable from happening. If poker players are willing to pay a fee and pay taxes on their winnings, you will be hard pressed to find an elected official who will say no. In a time where education budget cuts and city services budget cuts are the focus of so many press conferences, finding willing tax payers is a jackpot for state and local governments.
The legalization of online poker will be a boost for every state and local economy. It will create jobs, through the operation of the sites, advertising, sponsorships, and branded items. All of these branded items could be tied to state licensing. Want to run a site in Texas for example, provide jobs in Texas, sell branded items made in Texas. Companies will line up to do whatever they have to in order to be a part of the online poker profits. The support system for these sites would further create local jobs.
Looking at this from every angle, I think the answer to simplifying the process is quite easy. MasterCard, Visa, Discover, or American Express could simply issue Online Player Cards. An Internet Poker license if you will. The issuing company would charge a fee for the card, of which 100% would go directly to the state. The companies already have inplace the means to make this happen. These cards would then be linked to a bank account, taking cash completely out of the system.
The players then could choose the site he or she would want to play on. After registering at the site of their choice, the only option to load funds would be the state issued card. As money was taken out or transferred to other players the card company could charge a fee, pass on some to the state, and keep some for being the engine to run the whole thing. Instant taxation with a minimal amount of paper work.
All to often in our country we make things way too hard. This is simple math. We need money to operate our governments at our desired levels. Poker players are willing to pay reasonable taxes, there is a system in place that could do the job. Very simply, we should move forward, create the jobs, collect the taxes, regulate for fairness, and get on to something more important.
J. Brackston is a veteran of three World Series of Poker appearances, two World Series of Poker circuit events in Oklahoma and Louisiana, and an appearance in The River Poker Series in Oklahoma. Has won many local poker tournaments since beginning playing competitively in 2004.
Legal Poker Sites is a website dedicated to the news related to legal Internet poker in the U.S. and around the world. This is not just a U.S. issue, this is a world issue. Countries all around the world are legalizing and regulating online poker. The U.S. can lead or we can follow, but we cannot stop the inevitable from happening. If poker players are willing to pay a fee and pay taxes on their winnings, you will be hard pressed to find an elected official who will say no. In a time where education budget cuts and city services budget cuts are the focus of so many press conferences, finding willing tax payers is a jackpot for state and local governments.
The legalization of online poker will be a boost for every state and local economy. It will create jobs, through the operation of the sites, advertising, sponsorships, and branded items. All of these branded items could be tied to state licensing. Want to run a site in Texas for example, provide jobs in Texas, sell branded items made in Texas. Companies will line up to do whatever they have to in order to be a part of the online poker profits. The support system for these sites would further create local jobs.
Looking at this from every angle, I think the answer to simplifying the process is quite easy. MasterCard, Visa, Discover, or American Express could simply issue Online Player Cards. An Internet Poker license if you will. The issuing company would charge a fee for the card, of which 100% would go directly to the state. The companies already have inplace the means to make this happen. These cards would then be linked to a bank account, taking cash completely out of the system.
The players then could choose the site he or she would want to play on. After registering at the site of their choice, the only option to load funds would be the state issued card. As money was taken out or transferred to other players the card company could charge a fee, pass on some to the state, and keep some for being the engine to run the whole thing. Instant taxation with a minimal amount of paper work.
All to often in our country we make things way too hard. This is simple math. We need money to operate our governments at our desired levels. Poker players are willing to pay reasonable taxes, there is a system in place that could do the job. Very simply, we should move forward, create the jobs, collect the taxes, regulate for fairness, and get on to something more important.
J. Brackston is a veteran of three World Series of Poker appearances, two World Series of Poker circuit events in Oklahoma and Louisiana, and an appearance in The River Poker Series in Oklahoma. Has won many local poker tournaments since beginning playing competitively in 2004.
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Now they could be on the verge of a new legal place to gamble: online.
A surprise announcement last week by the U.S. Department of Justice has opened the door for states to legalize online gambling inside their borders. Previously, federal authorities cracked down on Internet gambling, resulting in most of the business going to off-shore companies.
"2012 in essence will be the year of online gaming in America," said Richard Bronson, chairman of the California online gambling company U.S. Digital Gaming. "States and lotteries and Indian casinos and conventional casino operators will be able to expand into online gambling."
Will 2012 also be the year of online gambling in South Dakota?
Some advocates for Deadwood casinos hope not.
"I think it would detract from the critical mass of bringing people to Deadwood to not only enjoy gambling but winter sports, summer sports, Mount Rushmore - the whole visitor experience that happens in the Black Hills," said Sen. Tom Nelson, R-Lead.
It would take a bill in the South Dakota Legislature to legalize online gambling in South Dakota. The Department of Justice's decision also only gives states authority to allow gambling by people accessing the Internet from inside the state. If another state legalizes online gambling, it would still be illegal for people in South Dakota to gamble on those websites.
With less than a week passing since the Justice Department's Dec. 23 announcement, many politicians and people in the gambling community haven't decided what it means.
Norm Lingle, director of the South Dakota Lottery, said in a statement that he is still learning more about the implications of the decision. Larry Mann, a gambling industry lobbyist, said that he has never discussed online gambling with his clients.
"I have absolutely no idea what it could mean," Mann said of the Justice Department announcement.
Gov. Dennis Daugaard wants to learn more about the issue, according to a spokesman.
"The governor feels like any time that the federal government acts to give the states more discretion or authority is a positive step," Daugaard's spokesman Tony Venhuizen said. "Are we going to do anything? Are we thinking about online gaming? He's willing to learn more about that and have that discussion, but he doesn't have any immediate plans to take on that issue."
Venhuizen said any discussions Daugaard has about online gambling would involve the current stakeholders in gambling: the Deadwood casinos, the video lottery establishments and the state's Native American tribes.
In the short time since the Justice Department announcement, several states have expressed interest in legalizing online gambling as a revenue source.
Bronson, whose company provides services to online gambling sites, predicted that South Dakota could see as much as $30 million per year in new government revenue.
He also disputed concerns raised by Nelson that online gambling would harm current casinos.
"This is not like Amazon being able to take business from existing book and record stores, so people say, ‘I'm not going to go to the mall, I'm going to Amazon,'" Bronson said. "I believe the existing stakeholders, the existing gambling interests in the various states, are going to be the ones who are also operating the online gambling."
Nelson is not persuaded. Deadwood gambling benefits not just casinos but hotels, restaurants, ski slopes and other attractions, he said.
"Deadwood is part of a package with the other attractions in the region and the history of the region," he said. "If online gambling ultimately keeps people at home, that detracts from the whole package."