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EMMA ALBERICI, PRESENTER: Nate Silver's almost perfect predictions of the state-by-state results in the 2012 US Presidential election made him one of the brightest stars on the American political landscape. The creator of the New York Times now-influential FiveThirtyEight blog says days of bombastic political punditry are numbered as people seek a more participatory way of getting news. Mr Silver believes interpreting data and presenting it in an unopinionated manner is the new blueprint for political analysis and journalism. Hamish Fitzsimmons reports.
HAMISH FITZSIMMONS, REPORTER: For Nate Silver, reading a poker hand isn't so far from crunching political numbers and he's travelled halfway around the world to Melbourne for an international competition.
NATE SILVER, FIVETHIRTYEIGHT: You have to run through a lot of probability calculations in your head kind of very quickly, more quickly than you can really do if you had a spreadsheet or something. So what it helps people with is their kind of probabilistic intuition, right? Where you can size up a poker hand and come to a quick judgment about the relative likelihood of your opponent having a strong hand or a weak one.
HAMISH FITZSIMMONS: His almost perfect prediction for the US election based on combined analysis of various polls made him the new political wunderkind, but to hear Nate Silver describe it, calling the polls sounded simple.
NATE SILVER: By the time we get to the end of a campaign, the polls are pretty good. Most people have made up their minds. In the US in particular where it's a two-party system that makes things maybe even more predictable than in a parliamentary system, and so if you look at the electoral college, look at the individual states; Obama was ahead in almost all the states that he would need to win. So he had a much more robust and richer strategy. He could have taken some damage and not done as well as his polls and still eked out a win. So, I was nervous, but I think that the math behind it was solid and these are rules that we had set up months in advance without knowing what the outcome would be. Where everyone else is kind of putting their finger in the wind and changing their mind that it's just a matter of having a good way to look at the data and the information and holding steady to that. HAMISH FITZSIMMONS: Nate Silver's dispassionate analysis of figures on his FiveThirtyEight blog on the New York Times website was the talk of the 2012 election and may have changed the political punditry game for good.
NATE SILVER: I think it makes for easy competition when you have pundits who are basically entertainers, where they sometimes get mislabelled as journalists, but they're not really trafficking in facts, they're trafficking in opinion and the opinions that often sound good on television or on radio but aren't backed up by any evidence. And, you know, and that was shown when you had people who are very respected pundits who not only said that the election's close, but you had some conservative pundits who said Romney is gonna win in a landslide in contradiction to all objective evidence and if they encountered data they didn't like they would say well, this data is rigged, it's cooked, it's a conspiracy because they weren't able to make sophisticated arguments to look at the data in a different way, right? They were just trying to traffic in opinion and pass it off as fact and when they encountered fact they become very angry about that and then they get humiliated on election night.
HAMISH FITZSIMMONS: One of the reasons Nate Silver believes he's been so successful is, he says, he doesn't offer opinions on his site, but presents data for people to evaluate and draw their own conclusions from.
NATE SILVER: We're not just saying there and saying well, Obama's gonna win, we're showing you how we get there where we show the uncertainty in the calculation, the different stages of it, how it comes together in the different states and we write about it all the time. So it's more open and transparent instead of saying "Here's my conclusion" kind of in the voice of God so to speak. Instead you trust the reader to be intelligent and to work with it through them and you listen to the readers when they're upset with you and I think that type of participatory feel is part of what makes blogging work and part of what's made FiveThirtyEight successful in particular.
HAMISH FITZSIMMONS: As to whether that success translates to the poker tables, Nate Silver is keeping his cards close to his chest.
HAMISH FITZSIMMONS, REPORTER: For Nate Silver, reading a poker hand isn't so far from crunching political numbers and he's travelled halfway around the world to Melbourne for an international competition.
NATE SILVER, FIVETHIRTYEIGHT: You have to run through a lot of probability calculations in your head kind of very quickly, more quickly than you can really do if you had a spreadsheet or something. So what it helps people with is their kind of probabilistic intuition, right? Where you can size up a poker hand and come to a quick judgment about the relative likelihood of your opponent having a strong hand or a weak one.
HAMISH FITZSIMMONS: His almost perfect prediction for the US election based on combined analysis of various polls made him the new political wunderkind, but to hear Nate Silver describe it, calling the polls sounded simple.
NATE SILVER: By the time we get to the end of a campaign, the polls are pretty good. Most people have made up their minds. In the US in particular where it's a two-party system that makes things maybe even more predictable than in a parliamentary system, and so if you look at the electoral college, look at the individual states; Obama was ahead in almost all the states that he would need to win. So he had a much more robust and richer strategy. He could have taken some damage and not done as well as his polls and still eked out a win. So, I was nervous, but I think that the math behind it was solid and these are rules that we had set up months in advance without knowing what the outcome would be. Where everyone else is kind of putting their finger in the wind and changing their mind that it's just a matter of having a good way to look at the data and the information and holding steady to that. HAMISH FITZSIMMONS: Nate Silver's dispassionate analysis of figures on his FiveThirtyEight blog on the New York Times website was the talk of the 2012 election and may have changed the political punditry game for good.
NATE SILVER: I think it makes for easy competition when you have pundits who are basically entertainers, where they sometimes get mislabelled as journalists, but they're not really trafficking in facts, they're trafficking in opinion and the opinions that often sound good on television or on radio but aren't backed up by any evidence. And, you know, and that was shown when you had people who are very respected pundits who not only said that the election's close, but you had some conservative pundits who said Romney is gonna win in a landslide in contradiction to all objective evidence and if they encountered data they didn't like they would say well, this data is rigged, it's cooked, it's a conspiracy because they weren't able to make sophisticated arguments to look at the data in a different way, right? They were just trying to traffic in opinion and pass it off as fact and when they encountered fact they become very angry about that and then they get humiliated on election night.
HAMISH FITZSIMMONS: One of the reasons Nate Silver believes he's been so successful is, he says, he doesn't offer opinions on his site, but presents data for people to evaluate and draw their own conclusions from.
NATE SILVER: We're not just saying there and saying well, Obama's gonna win, we're showing you how we get there where we show the uncertainty in the calculation, the different stages of it, how it comes together in the different states and we write about it all the time. So it's more open and transparent instead of saying "Here's my conclusion" kind of in the voice of God so to speak. Instead you trust the reader to be intelligent and to work with it through them and you listen to the readers when they're upset with you and I think that type of participatory feel is part of what makes blogging work and part of what's made FiveThirtyEight successful in particular.
HAMISH FITZSIMMONS: As to whether that success translates to the poker tables, Nate Silver is keeping his cards close to his chest.
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2006/12/07
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The Revolution Poker Network, owned by Lock Poker and also home to Cake Poker, Juicy Stakes and other sites, continues to struggle under the weight of lengthy, worldwide withdrawal delays that have some onlookers questioning the network’s financial health and asset liquidity.
The troubles at Revolution have steadily progressed following Lock’s acrimonious departure in 2012 from its former home as a Merge Network site, at which time it purchased the Cake Poker Network and rebranded it under the Revolution name.
Plagued by such issues as the temporary loss of Lock’s US-facing Western Union check processor, delays for Americans are stretching well beyond three months, as reported on several player forums. Lock recently announced the resumption of a WU option, but it’s too soon to see if it will result in reduced withdrawal times.
While most networks servicing the US necessarily have delays involved in the payment-processing area, what is unexplained at Revolution are similar lengthy backlogs for international players.
Since such payments can be processed in as little as a few hours via existing e-payment channels, reports of delays approaching two months for such players exceed reasonable expectations. Among the services particularly impacted in forum reports are Revolution’s Moneybookers/Skrill options.
Revolution sites remain the lowest rated of all significant US-facing networks for cashout times, according to a monthly processing report published by PokerAffiliateSolutions. Lock’s grade of “D” for January remains unchanged from December, while the Juicy Stakes family of skins, which includes the former US players from Cake Poker, ranks even lower at “D-”.
Anecdotally, the Revolution Network continues to struggle with a weak level of consumer confidence. Lock Poker’s bickering with rival networks Bodog and Merge is well known, and Lock was recently dropped as a sponsor by at least one small podcaster/blogger, the mercurial Scotty Clark, who cited the slow payouts as the reason for ending his Lock partnership.
Revolution Poker Network Remain Industry's Slowest for Cashouts | Pokerfuse Online Poker News
The troubles at Revolution have steadily progressed following Lock’s acrimonious departure in 2012 from its former home as a Merge Network site, at which time it purchased the Cake Poker Network and rebranded it under the Revolution name.
Plagued by such issues as the temporary loss of Lock’s US-facing Western Union check processor, delays for Americans are stretching well beyond three months, as reported on several player forums. Lock recently announced the resumption of a WU option, but it’s too soon to see if it will result in reduced withdrawal times.
While most networks servicing the US necessarily have delays involved in the payment-processing area, what is unexplained at Revolution are similar lengthy backlogs for international players.
Since such payments can be processed in as little as a few hours via existing e-payment channels, reports of delays approaching two months for such players exceed reasonable expectations. Among the services particularly impacted in forum reports are Revolution’s Moneybookers/Skrill options.
Revolution sites remain the lowest rated of all significant US-facing networks for cashout times, according to a monthly processing report published by PokerAffiliateSolutions. Lock’s grade of “D” for January remains unchanged from December, while the Juicy Stakes family of skins, which includes the former US players from Cake Poker, ranks even lower at “D-”.
Anecdotally, the Revolution Network continues to struggle with a weak level of consumer confidence. Lock Poker’s bickering with rival networks Bodog and Merge is well known, and Lock was recently dropped as a sponsor by at least one small podcaster/blogger, the mercurial Scotty Clark, who cited the slow payouts as the reason for ending his Lock partnership.
Revolution Poker Network Remain Industry's Slowest for Cashouts | Pokerfuse Online Poker News
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2006/12/07
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Most interesting tweet we’ve seen all day is from Roger Gros, the publisher of Global Gaming Business magazine and a longtime Atlantic City insider.
Gros, on his @GlobalGamingBiz account, notes: “Sources in NJ tell me Gov. Christie considering a “conditional” veto of online bill. But only because Dems are blocking his other plans.”
I haven’t been able to confirm this yet, and I suspect the situation will be quite fluid into early next week anyway – maybe right up until the Thursday, Feb. 7 deadline.
But let me go into what a “conditional veto” might mean:
According to the New Jersey Legislature website, a conditional veto is “a veto in which the Governor objects to parts of a bill and proposes amendments that would make it acceptable. If the Legislature re-enacts the bill with the recommended amendments, it is presented again to the Governor for signature.”
In this case, the most likely issue presumably is the fact that the bill on Christie’s desk allows for the possibility of any casino game being made available to online players as well. That’s more expansive than Nevada Senator Harry Reid’s proposed Congressional bill, or the state law that Nevada passed last year. Both of those allow only for online poker.
The Jersey version is similar to the one passed in Delaware, the other state that has moved forward. But Christie recently expressed his concerns about the state creating new compulsive gamblers, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he would prefer to tip just one toe in the water at first.
If Christie does go this route, what would happen next?
On the one hand, a colleague notes, this is an election year for not only Christie but also the entire 120-member Senate and Assembly delegation. Will the Democratic majority be willing to give Christie what he wants here?
The key could be state Sen. Ray Lesniak, D-Union. As the leading voice in the legislature on this issue, if he is willing to compromise, that could signal an online poker-only bill being passed.
Of course, time could be of the essence. We’re only a few weeks away from the annual budget drama that often consumes Trenton for months. Given the stakes this year, it surely won’t get any easier this time.
Recall, too, that the Assembly and Senate take off for the months of July and August. So if this conditional veto rumor pans out, it will be a logistical challenge for supporters of a revised bill to rush it through the legislature once again (a similar bill passed in 2011 only to be completely vetoed by Christie. Many of the objections were addressed in the new bill).
Gros, on his @GlobalGamingBiz account, notes: “Sources in NJ tell me Gov. Christie considering a “conditional” veto of online bill. But only because Dems are blocking his other plans.”
I haven’t been able to confirm this yet, and I suspect the situation will be quite fluid into early next week anyway – maybe right up until the Thursday, Feb. 7 deadline.
But let me go into what a “conditional veto” might mean:
According to the New Jersey Legislature website, a conditional veto is “a veto in which the Governor objects to parts of a bill and proposes amendments that would make it acceptable. If the Legislature re-enacts the bill with the recommended amendments, it is presented again to the Governor for signature.”
In this case, the most likely issue presumably is the fact that the bill on Christie’s desk allows for the possibility of any casino game being made available to online players as well. That’s more expansive than Nevada Senator Harry Reid’s proposed Congressional bill, or the state law that Nevada passed last year. Both of those allow only for online poker.
The Jersey version is similar to the one passed in Delaware, the other state that has moved forward. But Christie recently expressed his concerns about the state creating new compulsive gamblers, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he would prefer to tip just one toe in the water at first.
If Christie does go this route, what would happen next?
On the one hand, a colleague notes, this is an election year for not only Christie but also the entire 120-member Senate and Assembly delegation. Will the Democratic majority be willing to give Christie what he wants here?
The key could be state Sen. Ray Lesniak, D-Union. As the leading voice in the legislature on this issue, if he is willing to compromise, that could signal an online poker-only bill being passed.
Of course, time could be of the essence. We’re only a few weeks away from the annual budget drama that often consumes Trenton for months. Given the stakes this year, it surely won’t get any easier this time.
Recall, too, that the Assembly and Senate take off for the months of July and August. So if this conditional veto rumor pans out, it will be a logistical challenge for supporters of a revised bill to rush it through the legislature once again (a similar bill passed in 2011 only to be completely vetoed by Christie. Many of the objections were addressed in the new bill).
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2006/12/07
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Pennsylvania has already become the nation’s second-most lucrative gaming market, but the state could still want more. A state lawmaker recently announced plans for a bill that would legalize online poker, as well as potentially other casino games on the web.
Under Rep. Tina Davis’ plan, current Pennsylvania gaming regulators would oversee the intrastate industry. Also, an Internet gaming license would cost $16.7 million.
She added that there would be a “reasonable tax rate” for the industry and that money from Internet gaming would go to the Property Tax Relief Fund and the State Lottery Fund.
“Considering the nationwide efforts to legalize Internet gaming, it is imperative that we maintain the integrity of our gaming industry amid inevitable federal preemption and competing states, as well as possible expansion of Internet games through the privatization of our own State Lottery,” Davis wrote in the memorandum.
“A responsible Internet gaming system must be created in order to protect Pennsylvanians and the success of the established gaming industry in the Commonwealth, which has generated more than $7 billion in state tax revenue, and created more than 16,000 jobs statewide.”
The news comes as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie ponders an online gaming bill. The Garden State was just overtaken by Pennsylvania in terms of annual casino revenue and thus is looking to turn things around. However, it’s unclear if Christie will sign.
Other states in the mix for an Internet casino industry include Mississippi, Iowa and California, while Nevada and Delaware have already legalized. The year 2013 could be the time when many states take big steps, thanks to the federal government failing to act on the issue in 2012.
Bill To Legalize Online Poker To Be Introduced In Pennsylvania
Under Rep. Tina Davis’ plan, current Pennsylvania gaming regulators would oversee the intrastate industry. Also, an Internet gaming license would cost $16.7 million.
She added that there would be a “reasonable tax rate” for the industry and that money from Internet gaming would go to the Property Tax Relief Fund and the State Lottery Fund.
“Considering the nationwide efforts to legalize Internet gaming, it is imperative that we maintain the integrity of our gaming industry amid inevitable federal preemption and competing states, as well as possible expansion of Internet games through the privatization of our own State Lottery,” Davis wrote in the memorandum.
“A responsible Internet gaming system must be created in order to protect Pennsylvanians and the success of the established gaming industry in the Commonwealth, which has generated more than $7 billion in state tax revenue, and created more than 16,000 jobs statewide.”
The news comes as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie ponders an online gaming bill. The Garden State was just overtaken by Pennsylvania in terms of annual casino revenue and thus is looking to turn things around. However, it’s unclear if Christie will sign.
Other states in the mix for an Internet casino industry include Mississippi, Iowa and California, while Nevada and Delaware have already legalized. The year 2013 could be the time when many states take big steps, thanks to the federal government failing to act on the issue in 2012.
Bill To Legalize Online Poker To Be Introduced In Pennsylvania
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2006/12/07
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Yesterday’s publication of a feature at pokerfuse regarding bribery allegations made by SunFirst online-payment processor Jeremy Johnson, which reported Johnson’s personal retelling of a million-dollar bribe he claims was sent to US Senator Harry Reid on behalf of Full Tilt Poker, was one of those pieces guaranteed to raise eyebrows.
The piece was authored by yours truly, and I expected that writing the story would result in at least a little bit of pushback, even if the story was likely to be received warmly overall. This behind-the-scenes tale looks at both the story itself and the pushback, because it’s an interesting example of how poker writing — both the good and the bad of it — really works.
First the news itself, which requires some lead-in. For those unfamiliar with some of the backstory surrounding the United States “Black Friday” crackdown, many of the allegations therein centered on activities of the SunFirst Bank in St. George, Utah. SunFirst was the bank used for processing transactions to and from US players of PokerStars and Full Tilt from late 2009 to early 2011, when the FTC ordered the bank to stop such processing. The Black Friday indictments were handed down about three months later, in April 2011.
Jeremy Johnson’s intimate connection to the SunFirst saga took some time to become public. He was not listed among any of the Black Friday defendants, while payment processor Chad Elie (a partner of Johnson’s) was, as was SunFirst banker John Campos.
Johnson remained uncharged in the Black Friday case even though he was the primary figure of the SunFirst operation, a bank so ingrained with his corporate presence that employees referred to it as the “Bank of Jeremy Johnson.” Yet Johnson remained uncharged, but only because of a separate Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against Johnson and his fraudulent iWorks telemarketing empire. Due to massive shuffling of money and accounts and business names by Johnson’s accountants, Johnson’s iWorks corporations and Black Friday-related poker-processing businesses were intermingled essentially from the start, the better to hide and disguise assets. But even though Johnson wasn’t even mentioned in the DOJ’s Black Friday filings, he was its central figure. His case remained the “property” of the FTC, and in a splitting of cases and interests, the DOJ took the rest of the Black Friday stuff, while leaving Johnson to the FTC.
Yet Johnson is a rich and powerful man, one of the kingpins of Utah’s telemarketing industry, with close ties to both the former and present Utah Attorneys General, Mark Shurtleff and John Swallow. Johnson and Chad Elie even received approval from them regarding the SunFirst poker processing… though the FTC later said no way.
That closeness between Johnson and the Shurtleff/Swallow crew has triggered plenty of other events as well. Johnson lavished plenty of favors on both Shurtleff and Swallow, who duly seem to have given him an advance tip-off regarding the FTC case, which eventually resulted in a $275 million civil complaint, and the additional filing of criminal charges against Johnson.
Johnson also seems to have secreted tens of million dollars in off-the-book ways, meaning gold, silver, gems and currency, stashed in multiple locations throughout the American Southwest. And via his connections with Shurtleff and Swallow, he subsequently tried to bribe his way out of his FTC case, using Swallow and a now-deceased businessman named Richard Rawle to send $600,000 Harry Reid’s way.
That episode is the heart of a large series of expose pieces published by the Salt Lake City Tribune throughout January, which was of marginal interest to poker players because of the SunFirst Bank and Harry Reid connections. Swallow may well be forced out as Utah’s AG, which is cool, because he’s a crooked bum.
Yet earlier this week, when the Tribune decided to release an audio tape of a Johnson / Swallow meet that Johnson secretly recorded at a Utah donut shop, there was some more poker news embedded within. Johnson and Swallow, who already knew about Johnson’s SunFirst poker processing started talking poker, and Johnson related his tale about how he allegedly funneled a million-dollar bribe from Full Tilt to Reid’s coffers, drawing an untraceable cashier’s check from SunFirst Bank’s general reserve.
That made up the second half of the ninety-second exchange on the topic, buried 40 minutes into the tape. The set-up for the meeting where the potential bribe was discussed (which probably happened in Las Vegas in 2010) made up the first half of the poker exchange, and it went like this:
Johnson: I’ll tell you this. We had a meeting with Reid, where he said—this was a private meeting—it was Reid, it was me, it was, you remember John Pappas? Remember him? Poker Players Alliance guy?
Swallow: Oh, yeah.
Johnson: John Pappas, and Ray Bitar, owner of Full Tilt Poker.
Swallow: Yeah.
Johnson: Owner of Full Tilt Poker. [] And Senator Reid—this was when it was a tight election with this lady down there, real tight…
Swallow: Yeah… yeah, sure. I remember that.
Johnson: And he said, “Look, I’ve polled my constituents. They don’t like online poker. Bottom line. It’s bad for… it’s bad for jobs here in Las Vegas. But, I’m going to back what you guys are doing here. I’m going to introduce a bill for you.”
I transcribed that myself from the audio that the Tribune published, which is “fair use” for news in excerpt form. And I knew it was a potential hornet’s nest, too.
I knew my story at pokerfuse would likely be the first full release of this part of the audio transcript, and I also knew that the excerpt itself was very newsworthy. CalvinAyre.com ran a brief story on it where it’s clear they listened to the audio, but the writer of the piece chose not to run the full exchange, for whatever reasons.
It went through several rewrites with quite a bit of input from Michael Gentile, pokerfuse’s co-edit
The piece was authored by yours truly, and I expected that writing the story would result in at least a little bit of pushback, even if the story was likely to be received warmly overall. This behind-the-scenes tale looks at both the story itself and the pushback, because it’s an interesting example of how poker writing — both the good and the bad of it — really works.
First the news itself, which requires some lead-in. For those unfamiliar with some of the backstory surrounding the United States “Black Friday” crackdown, many of the allegations therein centered on activities of the SunFirst Bank in St. George, Utah. SunFirst was the bank used for processing transactions to and from US players of PokerStars and Full Tilt from late 2009 to early 2011, when the FTC ordered the bank to stop such processing. The Black Friday indictments were handed down about three months later, in April 2011.
Jeremy Johnson’s intimate connection to the SunFirst saga took some time to become public. He was not listed among any of the Black Friday defendants, while payment processor Chad Elie (a partner of Johnson’s) was, as was SunFirst banker John Campos.
Johnson remained uncharged in the Black Friday case even though he was the primary figure of the SunFirst operation, a bank so ingrained with his corporate presence that employees referred to it as the “Bank of Jeremy Johnson.” Yet Johnson remained uncharged, but only because of a separate Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against Johnson and his fraudulent iWorks telemarketing empire. Due to massive shuffling of money and accounts and business names by Johnson’s accountants, Johnson’s iWorks corporations and Black Friday-related poker-processing businesses were intermingled essentially from the start, the better to hide and disguise assets. But even though Johnson wasn’t even mentioned in the DOJ’s Black Friday filings, he was its central figure. His case remained the “property” of the FTC, and in a splitting of cases and interests, the DOJ took the rest of the Black Friday stuff, while leaving Johnson to the FTC.
Yet Johnson is a rich and powerful man, one of the kingpins of Utah’s telemarketing industry, with close ties to both the former and present Utah Attorneys General, Mark Shurtleff and John Swallow. Johnson and Chad Elie even received approval from them regarding the SunFirst poker processing… though the FTC later said no way.
That closeness between Johnson and the Shurtleff/Swallow crew has triggered plenty of other events as well. Johnson lavished plenty of favors on both Shurtleff and Swallow, who duly seem to have given him an advance tip-off regarding the FTC case, which eventually resulted in a $275 million civil complaint, and the additional filing of criminal charges against Johnson.
Johnson also seems to have secreted tens of million dollars in off-the-book ways, meaning gold, silver, gems and currency, stashed in multiple locations throughout the American Southwest. And via his connections with Shurtleff and Swallow, he subsequently tried to bribe his way out of his FTC case, using Swallow and a now-deceased businessman named Richard Rawle to send $600,000 Harry Reid’s way.
That episode is the heart of a large series of expose pieces published by the Salt Lake City Tribune throughout January, which was of marginal interest to poker players because of the SunFirst Bank and Harry Reid connections. Swallow may well be forced out as Utah’s AG, which is cool, because he’s a crooked bum.
Yet earlier this week, when the Tribune decided to release an audio tape of a Johnson / Swallow meet that Johnson secretly recorded at a Utah donut shop, there was some more poker news embedded within. Johnson and Swallow, who already knew about Johnson’s SunFirst poker processing started talking poker, and Johnson related his tale about how he allegedly funneled a million-dollar bribe from Full Tilt to Reid’s coffers, drawing an untraceable cashier’s check from SunFirst Bank’s general reserve.
That made up the second half of the ninety-second exchange on the topic, buried 40 minutes into the tape. The set-up for the meeting where the potential bribe was discussed (which probably happened in Las Vegas in 2010) made up the first half of the poker exchange, and it went like this:
Johnson: I’ll tell you this. We had a meeting with Reid, where he said—this was a private meeting—it was Reid, it was me, it was, you remember John Pappas? Remember him? Poker Players Alliance guy?
Swallow: Oh, yeah.
Johnson: John Pappas, and Ray Bitar, owner of Full Tilt Poker.
Swallow: Yeah.
Johnson: Owner of Full Tilt Poker. [] And Senator Reid—this was when it was a tight election with this lady down there, real tight…
Swallow: Yeah… yeah, sure. I remember that.
Johnson: And he said, “Look, I’ve polled my constituents. They don’t like online poker. Bottom line. It’s bad for… it’s bad for jobs here in Las Vegas. But, I’m going to back what you guys are doing here. I’m going to introduce a bill for you.”
I transcribed that myself from the audio that the Tribune published, which is “fair use” for news in excerpt form. And I knew it was a potential hornet’s nest, too.
I knew my story at pokerfuse would likely be the first full release of this part of the audio transcript, and I also knew that the excerpt itself was very newsworthy. CalvinAyre.com ran a brief story on it where it’s clear they listened to the audio, but the writer of the piece chose not to run the full exchange, for whatever reasons.
It went through several rewrites with quite a bit of input from Michael Gentile, pokerfuse’s co-edit
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Several US poker players are unaware that they have to pay taxes on their poker winnings. According to US tax laws, poker players have to pay taxes on money won playing poker tournaments and cash games, irrespective of whether these games were played online or offline. Even players residing in states that definitely prohibit poker gaming are required to pay taxes on their winnings.
Many US poker players are under the misconception that they can escape having to pay taxes on their poker winnings just because they were playing online. Online poker players cannot escape the watchful and alert eye of Uncle Sam because the US government uses the latest technology to track players’ banking transactions. In fact, the US online poker community realized that the government has devised methods of tracking their banking transaction after the crackdown on Neteller in 2007. Players who had so far believed that the IRS had no clue of knowing how much money they had won playing online poker realized that they had been sadly mistaken.
After cracking down on Neteller, the US government cracked down on popular eWallets such as QuickTender, UseMyWallet, eCheckUS, eWalletXpress, and PrePaidATM. The government also created a fake online payment processor to track poker players’ monetary transactions. When the feds cracked down on major online poker operators Absolute Poker, PokerStars, Ultimate Bet, and Full Tilt Poker, these poker rooms were forced to divulge their players’ financial information. Hiding one’s online poker winnings from the US government is, therefore, not as easy as online poker players once believed it was.
Although it is easier to hide land poker winnings, players are required by law to report their winnings. Although the IRS has no definition for the term “session,” the law requires casinos to log each ring game session. Poker rooms in land casinos are willing to provide a receipt for tournaments and cash games.
Land casinos also generate W2Gs whenever players win $5k or more in their poker room tournaments. These W2Gs are then handed over to the IRS, along with players’ personal information and social security numbers. If players refuse to provide this information, the casinos are required by law to withhold taxes on the winnings.
Poker rooms in land casinos are also required by law to generate currency transaction reports whenever players spend over $10k during a period of 24 hours. Besides, they are required to report any transaction that they consider to be suspicious.
US Tax Laws on Poker Winnings
Many US poker players are under the misconception that they can escape having to pay taxes on their poker winnings just because they were playing online. Online poker players cannot escape the watchful and alert eye of Uncle Sam because the US government uses the latest technology to track players’ banking transactions. In fact, the US online poker community realized that the government has devised methods of tracking their banking transaction after the crackdown on Neteller in 2007. Players who had so far believed that the IRS had no clue of knowing how much money they had won playing online poker realized that they had been sadly mistaken.
After cracking down on Neteller, the US government cracked down on popular eWallets such as QuickTender, UseMyWallet, eCheckUS, eWalletXpress, and PrePaidATM. The government also created a fake online payment processor to track poker players’ monetary transactions. When the feds cracked down on major online poker operators Absolute Poker, PokerStars, Ultimate Bet, and Full Tilt Poker, these poker rooms were forced to divulge their players’ financial information. Hiding one’s online poker winnings from the US government is, therefore, not as easy as online poker players once believed it was.
Although it is easier to hide land poker winnings, players are required by law to report their winnings. Although the IRS has no definition for the term “session,” the law requires casinos to log each ring game session. Poker rooms in land casinos are willing to provide a receipt for tournaments and cash games.
Land casinos also generate W2Gs whenever players win $5k or more in their poker room tournaments. These W2Gs are then handed over to the IRS, along with players’ personal information and social security numbers. If players refuse to provide this information, the casinos are required by law to withhold taxes on the winnings.
Poker rooms in land casinos are also required by law to generate currency transaction reports whenever players spend over $10k during a period of 24 hours. Besides, they are required to report any transaction that they consider to be suspicious.
US Tax Laws on Poker Winnings
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Euro Club Poker is an EU licensed poker room designed for players who appreciate the best things in life by giving them more of those same things. Their industry-leading rewards program offers players Gold Chips, Gold Stacks and Gold Cards simply for playing at their tables. Euro Club Poker is not available to US players and caters exclusively to the needs of players from Europe. The service at Euro Club Poker is tailored specifically for European players and is of the highest quality.
Euro Club Poker Review - Cake Games - Online Poker Software
There are plenty of poker sites that claim to be exclusive but Euro Club Poker is one of the only rooms available only to European players. If you’re fortunate enough to hail from Europe you’ll find an excellent client with great promotions and soft games. One of the best features is access to the entire Cake Poker Network so there are always plenty of games to be had despite the fact the site is still relatively small.
Welcome!!
Euro Club Poker Review - Cake Games - Online Poker Software
There are plenty of poker sites that claim to be exclusive but Euro Club Poker is one of the only rooms available only to European players. If you’re fortunate enough to hail from Europe you’ll find an excellent client with great promotions and soft games. One of the best features is access to the entire Cake Poker Network so there are always plenty of games to be had despite the fact the site is still relatively small.
Welcome!!
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2006/12/07
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The Super Bowl should have nothing to do with playing online poker, but it does. In fact in a big way. Each year there are a few events that bring big money to online gambling firms that serve the USA, the WSOP and the Super Bowl just to name a couple. The WSOP being the big producer for new poker signups and the Super Bowl for online bookies generating new customers and yes, they are intertwined.
It’s not really a secret but it’s often overlooked at how you can profit as a poker player from the Super Bowl. Eight years ago we all used to play at poker sites that had sportsbooks. It eventually caught on that these sites were so easy to make some extra cheese – because the sports bettors didn’t know how to play poker.
As both someone who has both poker sites and markets to sports bettors I can tell you for sure you want to play the week following the Super Bowl. During this event alone most sportbooks determine if they had a good monetary season or not. The NFL Super Bowl is the mecca for sports betting. It attracts hundreds of thousands of new registrants on the Saturday before the event and slightly dwindles down during kickoff. With mobile and live betting ever increasing the Bovada sportsbooks will be pumping in new customers by the hoards all day Saturday and Sunday.
So, as a poker player why the hell do you care. When the players at the books win we generally see people cash out, play a little bit in the casino or head directly to the poker room. From first hand experience sportsbetting sites do all they can from letting their bettors bet at the poker tables. They know that money is as good as gone once they hit the tables, whereas if they stay in the sportsbook or casino the money will stay on the site and make their .
Two sites of recent that will be largely popular during this years 2013′s Super Bowl will be Online Sports Betting, Casino, Poker & Horse Racing at Bovada. Both sites are primarily a sportsbook, but also maintain the largest poker sites per liquidity. If you want some easy money, this is a good little tip to follow every year, well, depending on how US gambliing Law goes in 2013.
Oh yea, and it’s the NBA playoffs right now, while it doesn’t generate nearly the amount of sport bettors as the super bowl it still brings in quite a bunch of sports bettors. Once the sports games are over on February 8th the poker games always seems to become bountiful for the yearly profitable player…
Online Poker Players Prey On Super Bowl for Profits
It’s not really a secret but it’s often overlooked at how you can profit as a poker player from the Super Bowl. Eight years ago we all used to play at poker sites that had sportsbooks. It eventually caught on that these sites were so easy to make some extra cheese – because the sports bettors didn’t know how to play poker.
As both someone who has both poker sites and markets to sports bettors I can tell you for sure you want to play the week following the Super Bowl. During this event alone most sportbooks determine if they had a good monetary season or not. The NFL Super Bowl is the mecca for sports betting. It attracts hundreds of thousands of new registrants on the Saturday before the event and slightly dwindles down during kickoff. With mobile and live betting ever increasing the Bovada sportsbooks will be pumping in new customers by the hoards all day Saturday and Sunday.
So, as a poker player why the hell do you care. When the players at the books win we generally see people cash out, play a little bit in the casino or head directly to the poker room. From first hand experience sportsbetting sites do all they can from letting their bettors bet at the poker tables. They know that money is as good as gone once they hit the tables, whereas if they stay in the sportsbook or casino the money will stay on the site and make their .
Two sites of recent that will be largely popular during this years 2013′s Super Bowl will be Online Sports Betting, Casino, Poker & Horse Racing at Bovada. Both sites are primarily a sportsbook, but also maintain the largest poker sites per liquidity. If you want some easy money, this is a good little tip to follow every year, well, depending on how US gambliing Law goes in 2013.
Oh yea, and it’s the NBA playoffs right now, while it doesn’t generate nearly the amount of sport bettors as the super bowl it still brings in quite a bunch of sports bettors. Once the sports games are over on February 8th the poker games always seems to become bountiful for the yearly profitable player…
Online Poker Players Prey On Super Bowl for Profits
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Here's how you can download the Zynga Poker app free for Android devices.
1. Go to the Google Play page for the free app Zynga Poker.
2. Tap the Install button.
Here's a description of Zynga Poker:
"New 1-on-1 Poker mode! Play turn-based, heads up hold'em poker with Facebook friends or random opponents!
Play a live hand of Texas Hold’em against millions of real players with Zynga Poker, the #1 social Texas Hold’em game on Facebook. Get $20K free chips for your first game. Experience Las Vegas casino VIP style playing online against players from Facebook, Google Android and iPhone.
Get $20K in chips FREE for your first time playing."
1. Go to the Google Play page for the free app Zynga Poker.
2. Tap the Install button.
Here's a description of Zynga Poker:
"New 1-on-1 Poker mode! Play turn-based, heads up hold'em poker with Facebook friends or random opponents!
Play a live hand of Texas Hold’em against millions of real players with Zynga Poker, the #1 social Texas Hold’em game on Facebook. Get $20K free chips for your first game. Experience Las Vegas casino VIP style playing online against players from Facebook, Google Android and iPhone.
Get $20K in chips FREE for your first time playing."
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2006/12/07
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29893
Ever since Black Friday, the entire world has been scrambling for solid information about playing real money poker on the internet without many reliable sources to help. Despite the lack of legislation and the crackdown in payment processing, there’s still real money poker games being played in the United States. Outside of the USA, there’s a thriving internet community of rounders playing the game they love on trustworthy, licensed sites located primarily in Europe. A lot of good information has been posted at reputable forums, such as Cardschat-com where much of the research for this article was conducted. Our aim is to allow those poker players interested to be informed about the state of real money poker in 2013.
If You are in the United States
There’s a good news / bad news situation going on in the United States. The good news is that there are some poker rooms still open for business, some leveraging perceived loopholes in legislation to continue to operate. Some of these sites are backed by reputable people in the industry while others are simply open for business with no guarantees. So the bad news is that payment processing on these sites is, at best, a gamble. Right now networks such as Revolution, Merge and Winning Poker all operate and accept players from the United States. Research into getting funds on and off resulted in mixed testimonials, ranging between folks who have had some good luck getting money off, to those waiting weeks and even months without receiving any money back when trying to make a withdrawal. The best rule if you insist on playing real money poker in 2013 within the United States is to make sure it’s not illegal within your state (see: Washington) and you recognize the risk with the uncertain atmosphere of payment processing.
Europe / Rest of the World
For people outside of the United States and specifically in Canada and the United Kingdom, you’re in luck because the poker atmosphere is fantastic. Industry icon PokerStars is thriving and sees hundreds of thousands of poker players at any given moment in the day. With the addition of “Zoom Poker” and other games, plus constant promotions, the industry leader continues to be the best place to play. The same folks behind PokerStars are now running Full Tilt Poker, which has vaulted back to the second most popular place to play since relaunching a few months ago. Both sites offer great promotions, solid management, and safe deposits and withdrawals.
Beyond those two there three other groups to consider for real money poker. The first is PartyPoker, which still is ranked as the third most trafficked poker room according to multiple industry sources. They too have a “fast poker” game available similar to Zoom / Rush as you see on PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker respectively. PartyPoker is known to be home of some seriously terrible fish, so if playing against the worst competition is the goal (and ideally making the most money), this might be the destination of choice. The other two alternatives are the iPoker Network and 888Poker. For iPoker, which is anchored by poker rooms such as Titan Poker and Paddy Power Poker, offers solid traffic, good games, great tournaments plus their own brand of speed poker game. 888 is a network that has been around as a brand for a while, and offers decent games and purportedly boasts some fishy games.
Overall
In terms of the state of real money poker games right now, if you are in the United States you can take a run at one of the networks and see how it goes. Recognize there’s significant risk here in that funds are hard to get off and you may not be able to get your money out. You might want to check in with other folks at popular forums to get some best practices if you go down that path. Alternatively, there’s some great games going on for the rest of the world, especially at sites such as PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Party Poker. Remember that you should gamble and play skills games like poker responsibly, for more information please visit Gamblers Anonymous.
If You are in the United States
There’s a good news / bad news situation going on in the United States. The good news is that there are some poker rooms still open for business, some leveraging perceived loopholes in legislation to continue to operate. Some of these sites are backed by reputable people in the industry while others are simply open for business with no guarantees. So the bad news is that payment processing on these sites is, at best, a gamble. Right now networks such as Revolution, Merge and Winning Poker all operate and accept players from the United States. Research into getting funds on and off resulted in mixed testimonials, ranging between folks who have had some good luck getting money off, to those waiting weeks and even months without receiving any money back when trying to make a withdrawal. The best rule if you insist on playing real money poker in 2013 within the United States is to make sure it’s not illegal within your state (see: Washington) and you recognize the risk with the uncertain atmosphere of payment processing.
Europe / Rest of the World
For people outside of the United States and specifically in Canada and the United Kingdom, you’re in luck because the poker atmosphere is fantastic. Industry icon PokerStars is thriving and sees hundreds of thousands of poker players at any given moment in the day. With the addition of “Zoom Poker” and other games, plus constant promotions, the industry leader continues to be the best place to play. The same folks behind PokerStars are now running Full Tilt Poker, which has vaulted back to the second most popular place to play since relaunching a few months ago. Both sites offer great promotions, solid management, and safe deposits and withdrawals.
Beyond those two there three other groups to consider for real money poker. The first is PartyPoker, which still is ranked as the third most trafficked poker room according to multiple industry sources. They too have a “fast poker” game available similar to Zoom / Rush as you see on PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker respectively. PartyPoker is known to be home of some seriously terrible fish, so if playing against the worst competition is the goal (and ideally making the most money), this might be the destination of choice. The other two alternatives are the iPoker Network and 888Poker. For iPoker, which is anchored by poker rooms such as Titan Poker and Paddy Power Poker, offers solid traffic, good games, great tournaments plus their own brand of speed poker game. 888 is a network that has been around as a brand for a while, and offers decent games and purportedly boasts some fishy games.
Overall
In terms of the state of real money poker games right now, if you are in the United States you can take a run at one of the networks and see how it goes. Recognize there’s significant risk here in that funds are hard to get off and you may not be able to get your money out. You might want to check in with other folks at popular forums to get some best practices if you go down that path. Alternatively, there’s some great games going on for the rest of the world, especially at sites such as PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Party Poker. Remember that you should gamble and play skills games like poker responsibly, for more information please visit Gamblers Anonymous.
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2006/12/07
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29893
IveyPoker-com continues to grow ahead of its imminent launch date and the latest player to add her name to the sites ever expanding line-up of pros is none other than model turned poker ace Christina Lindley.
The 30 year old beauty is originally from Atlanta, Georgia and was first thrust into national attention after appearing in various fitness magazines, as well as Maxim and Playboy. Noted for her muscular development as well as natural looks, in addition to modelling Lindley first started playing poker after re-locating to Los Angeles in order to pursue a career in acting. As Christina later explained:
“During the writer’s strike I was super bored. There was no work and I went back to Tennesse to visit my Dad and he took me to a casino and we played poker together. I fell in love with it.”
The game has also been kind to Christina Lindley, too, and since cashing in at her first tournament in 2008 has amassed $126,979 in live cashes, including last year finishing at the $10k WSOP Main Event in 32nd out of 6,598 entries for a $32,871 payday. However, it is online where Christina Lindley has really shined having won $905,453 playing under the screen name ‘Lindeyloo22,’ including victory at the World Championship of Online Poker for $127,000 and placing 2nd at a FTOPS 10,000 tournament field for $106,000.
Now the “the Siren” of poker adds poker instructor to her list of accolades after signing with IveyPoker-com, and commenting on her latest deal, said: “I’m excited to start 2013 off with a bang as an Ivey Poker Pro. I expect this to be a memorable year, for myself and every other amazing player on our team.”
Christina Lindley Joins Ivey Poker
The 30 year old beauty is originally from Atlanta, Georgia and was first thrust into national attention after appearing in various fitness magazines, as well as Maxim and Playboy. Noted for her muscular development as well as natural looks, in addition to modelling Lindley first started playing poker after re-locating to Los Angeles in order to pursue a career in acting. As Christina later explained:
“During the writer’s strike I was super bored. There was no work and I went back to Tennesse to visit my Dad and he took me to a casino and we played poker together. I fell in love with it.”
The game has also been kind to Christina Lindley, too, and since cashing in at her first tournament in 2008 has amassed $126,979 in live cashes, including last year finishing at the $10k WSOP Main Event in 32nd out of 6,598 entries for a $32,871 payday. However, it is online where Christina Lindley has really shined having won $905,453 playing under the screen name ‘Lindeyloo22,’ including victory at the World Championship of Online Poker for $127,000 and placing 2nd at a FTOPS 10,000 tournament field for $106,000.
Now the “the Siren” of poker adds poker instructor to her list of accolades after signing with IveyPoker-com, and commenting on her latest deal, said: “I’m excited to start 2013 off with a bang as an Ivey Poker Pro. I expect this to be a memorable year, for myself and every other amazing player on our team.”
Christina Lindley Joins Ivey Poker
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2006/12/07
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The state has suspended licensed millionaire parties at several local poker rooms over the past year in response to noncompliance with regulations or for other unlawful activities.
The Michigan Gaming Control Board, which officially took over regulation of charity gaming in October, suspended licenses for charity games at Snookers' Poker Room in Utica in late December, following acknowledgement by the owner and some of the charities hosting games there that they had exceeded the 15,000-chip per day, per charity limit and kept those transactions off the books.
According to other poker room owners, Snookers' had operated charity games for as many as seven or eight nonprofits at a time, making it one of the larger rooms in the region.
The move followed the Michigan Lottery's suspension earlier last year of charity gaming at two other locations: The Flying Aces Casino next to the topless Flight Club in Inkster and the Shark Club in Waterford Township, which is now closed, said Rick Kalm, executive director of the gaming board.
Most locations hosting charity poker games are operating within the law, Kalm said, but a few are not. The gaming board doesn't license poker rooms, but it can weigh their actions against the Traxler-McCauley-Law-Bowman Bingo Act, Liquor Control Commission regulations and criminal laws, and share information with law enforcement through the criminal justice sub-unit created within the board last year by executive order, Kalm said.
Suspensions of charity games at other neighborhood poker rooms have come as a result of noncompliance with current regulations, Kalm said.
Those include a recent ownership change at Hamlin's Pub Rochester and a physical location change by Rounders Charitable Poker Room in Saginaw, the gaming board said.
Subsequent to the suspension of licenses for charity games at their venues, some of the poker rooms have shut down. The closures and increased gaming board scrutiny are making some charity poker room owners and operators nervous.
"Any type of rules I can follow, I try to follow them," said George Bozin, owner of the Big Beaver Tavern Poker Room, which has operated in the Troy tavern's basement for nearly four years.
"I'm not against regulation. ... I'm all for making things better for the players and the state ... but we're not casinos; we can't spend thousands and thousands of dollars."
"It is stressful," Bozin said. "Every day you're wondering if you're going to be open. I've got people counting on me to follow the rules and stay open."
Business for Four Aces Club LLC, which operates inside Continental Lanes in Roseville, has increased since Snookers' closed, said owner Guy Hickey.
The club has had visits from the gaming board, just as the Big Beaver Tavern has, and hasn't had any issues so far, other than charity representatives needing to have name tags so they're easily identified, he said.
"I have no fear of them taking over, like I was doing something wrong and they're going to find out," said Hickey, who was manager of operations for Madison Heights-based automotive supplier J.S. McNamara for 24 years until its closure in 2008.
The Michigan Gaming Control Board, which officially took over regulation of charity gaming in October, suspended licenses for charity games at Snookers' Poker Room in Utica in late December, following acknowledgement by the owner and some of the charities hosting games there that they had exceeded the 15,000-chip per day, per charity limit and kept those transactions off the books.
According to other poker room owners, Snookers' had operated charity games for as many as seven or eight nonprofits at a time, making it one of the larger rooms in the region.
The move followed the Michigan Lottery's suspension earlier last year of charity gaming at two other locations: The Flying Aces Casino next to the topless Flight Club in Inkster and the Shark Club in Waterford Township, which is now closed, said Rick Kalm, executive director of the gaming board.
Most locations hosting charity poker games are operating within the law, Kalm said, but a few are not. The gaming board doesn't license poker rooms, but it can weigh their actions against the Traxler-McCauley-Law-Bowman Bingo Act, Liquor Control Commission regulations and criminal laws, and share information with law enforcement through the criminal justice sub-unit created within the board last year by executive order, Kalm said.
Suspensions of charity games at other neighborhood poker rooms have come as a result of noncompliance with current regulations, Kalm said.
Those include a recent ownership change at Hamlin's Pub Rochester and a physical location change by Rounders Charitable Poker Room in Saginaw, the gaming board said.
Subsequent to the suspension of licenses for charity games at their venues, some of the poker rooms have shut down. The closures and increased gaming board scrutiny are making some charity poker room owners and operators nervous.
"Any type of rules I can follow, I try to follow them," said George Bozin, owner of the Big Beaver Tavern Poker Room, which has operated in the Troy tavern's basement for nearly four years.
"I'm not against regulation. ... I'm all for making things better for the players and the state ... but we're not casinos; we can't spend thousands and thousands of dollars."
"It is stressful," Bozin said. "Every day you're wondering if you're going to be open. I've got people counting on me to follow the rules and stay open."
Business for Four Aces Club LLC, which operates inside Continental Lanes in Roseville, has increased since Snookers' closed, said owner Guy Hickey.
The club has had visits from the gaming board, just as the Big Beaver Tavern has, and hasn't had any issues so far, other than charity representatives needing to have name tags so they're easily identified, he said.
"I have no fear of them taking over, like I was doing something wrong and they're going to find out," said Hickey, who was manager of operations for Madison Heights-based automotive supplier J.S. McNamara for 24 years until its closure in 2008.
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2006/12/07
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Hawaii is once again pondering the idea of online gaming, including poker.
A measure was introduced into the state Senate last month that would establish the “Hawaii internet lottery and gaming corporation” to run the games. The state, which currently has no legalized gambling of any kind, is also considering other gambling initiatives in 2013.
Money from the new industry would go toward education, among other areas.
A similar plan died in the legislature in March of last year.
In addition to Hawaii, Iowa, Mississippi, New Jersey and California are in the mix to legalize online gaming this year. Nevada and Delaware are the only two that have already done so.
Hawaii Again Looks At Online Poker Legislation
A measure was introduced into the state Senate last month that would establish the “Hawaii internet lottery and gaming corporation” to run the games. The state, which currently has no legalized gambling of any kind, is also considering other gambling initiatives in 2013.
Money from the new industry would go toward education, among other areas.
A similar plan died in the legislature in March of last year.
In addition to Hawaii, Iowa, Mississippi, New Jersey and California are in the mix to legalize online gaming this year. Nevada and Delaware are the only two that have already done so.
Hawaii Again Looks At Online Poker Legislation
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2006/12/07
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29893
The boom in poker and other gambling games shows no sign of letting up, at least for 888, one of the most popular online gaming groups.
It said today that annual revenues had jumped 13% to $376 million (£238.5 million), helped by expansion in Europe and growth on mobile devices.
Chief executive Brian Mattingley said: “Our success in Spain and Italy shows that we have the right product and technology-led marketing to make significant inroads into new markets, and we will look to repeat that success in other regulating territories.”
Mattingley added: “2013 has started strongly, and we therefore remain confident of future growth.”
City brokers are mostly upbeat about the company, too. Nick Batram at Peel Hunt rates the shares a buy, saying in a note to clients: “888 has delivered a record fourth quarter and a record year in terms of top-line revenue — the continued growth in poker is particularly impressive.
“The company is one of a select few that has proven that it can deliver a credible performance in newly regulated markets. For this and the strategic opportunities open to 888, it deserves its premium rating,” Batram added.
Nevertheless, the shares today fell back 4.25p to 118.5p as some took profits.
It said today that annual revenues had jumped 13% to $376 million (£238.5 million), helped by expansion in Europe and growth on mobile devices.
Chief executive Brian Mattingley said: “Our success in Spain and Italy shows that we have the right product and technology-led marketing to make significant inroads into new markets, and we will look to repeat that success in other regulating territories.”
Mattingley added: “2013 has started strongly, and we therefore remain confident of future growth.”
City brokers are mostly upbeat about the company, too. Nick Batram at Peel Hunt rates the shares a buy, saying in a note to clients: “888 has delivered a record fourth quarter and a record year in terms of top-line revenue — the continued growth in poker is particularly impressive.
“The company is one of a select few that has proven that it can deliver a credible performance in newly regulated markets. For this and the strategic opportunities open to 888, it deserves its premium rating,” Batram added.
Nevertheless, the shares today fell back 4.25p to 118.5p as some took profits.
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2006/12/07
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29893
There are no internet poker sites up and running in Nevada yet, but already state legislators might change the law that allows for intrastate online poker. Class is back in session in Carson City and soon, according to an Associated Press report on BusinessWeek-com, elected officials might expand the borders of our favorite internet game.
The law, as it stands, makes it legal for licensed operators to run online poker sites, provided (among many other rules) their customers are located within the borders of the Silver State. It also says that interstate, or cross-country, gaming is out of the question until:
(1) A federal law authorizing the specific type of interactive gaming for which the license was granted is enacted; or
(2) The United States Department of Justice notifies the Board or Commission in writing that it is permissible under federal law to operate the specific type of interactive gaming for which the license was granted.
This all may change, as Assembly Bill 5, which according to the report will be discussed in the state legislature soon, would reverse these clauses. More specifically, the above quoted portion would be completely removed from the law. Additionally, the following verbiage would be added to the law:
The Governor, on behalf of the State of Nevada, is authorized to:
1. Enter into agreements with other states, or authorized agencies thereof, to enable patrons in the signatory states to participate in interactive gaming offered by licensees in those signatory states; and
2. Take all necessary action to ensure that any agreement entered into pursuant to this section becomes effective.
Thus, taken together, Nevada would no longer have to wait for any sort of word from the federal government to go ahead and allow its licensed operators to accept players from outside of the state. Those customers would still have to be in states that also permit online poker, but the state of Nevada would be free to enter into agreements with such states in order to allow non-Nevadans to play.
Reciprocity agreements like this are not new when it comes to gambling in the United States. Multiple lotteries in the country pool players from different states, including the massive Powerball and Mega Millions lotteries, which are both played in 42 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The only states in which they are not played are Utah, Hawaii, Alabama, Mississippi, Nevada (no coincidence there), Wyoming, and Alaska, plus Florida for Mega Millions and California for Powerball. Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman A.G. Burnett was quoted in the AP story as saying, “I think this is something that could help our state. Otherwise I don’t think you’d see this kind of interest in it. This is something that would go out and allow our operators to be as competitive as they can be.”
Stressing the importance of the larger player pool that would result from expanding the customer base past the Nevada borders, Tom Breitling, chairman of Ultimate Gaming, said, “This is peer-to-peer game, so you want your customers when they go online to actually be able to get a game of poker going.”
He added, “It becomes much more exciting if the player pool is 100,000, not 10,000, and if you can actually go online and win $1 million, not $10,000.”
Nevada to Mull Change from Intrastate to Interstate Online Poker
The law, as it stands, makes it legal for licensed operators to run online poker sites, provided (among many other rules) their customers are located within the borders of the Silver State. It also says that interstate, or cross-country, gaming is out of the question until:
(1) A federal law authorizing the specific type of interactive gaming for which the license was granted is enacted; or
(2) The United States Department of Justice notifies the Board or Commission in writing that it is permissible under federal law to operate the specific type of interactive gaming for which the license was granted.
This all may change, as Assembly Bill 5, which according to the report will be discussed in the state legislature soon, would reverse these clauses. More specifically, the above quoted portion would be completely removed from the law. Additionally, the following verbiage would be added to the law:
The Governor, on behalf of the State of Nevada, is authorized to:
1. Enter into agreements with other states, or authorized agencies thereof, to enable patrons in the signatory states to participate in interactive gaming offered by licensees in those signatory states; and
2. Take all necessary action to ensure that any agreement entered into pursuant to this section becomes effective.
Thus, taken together, Nevada would no longer have to wait for any sort of word from the federal government to go ahead and allow its licensed operators to accept players from outside of the state. Those customers would still have to be in states that also permit online poker, but the state of Nevada would be free to enter into agreements with such states in order to allow non-Nevadans to play.
Reciprocity agreements like this are not new when it comes to gambling in the United States. Multiple lotteries in the country pool players from different states, including the massive Powerball and Mega Millions lotteries, which are both played in 42 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The only states in which they are not played are Utah, Hawaii, Alabama, Mississippi, Nevada (no coincidence there), Wyoming, and Alaska, plus Florida for Mega Millions and California for Powerball. Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman A.G. Burnett was quoted in the AP story as saying, “I think this is something that could help our state. Otherwise I don’t think you’d see this kind of interest in it. This is something that would go out and allow our operators to be as competitive as they can be.”
Stressing the importance of the larger player pool that would result from expanding the customer base past the Nevada borders, Tom Breitling, chairman of Ultimate Gaming, said, “This is peer-to-peer game, so you want your customers when they go online to actually be able to get a game of poker going.”
He added, “It becomes much more exciting if the player pool is 100,000, not 10,000, and if you can actually go online and win $1 million, not $10,000.”
Nevada to Mull Change from Intrastate to Interstate Online Poker
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Delaware joined Nevada last year as the only other state to pass legislation that would make intrastate online poker legal. However, six months have passed and the state still has not brought games online. According to a report by Igamingbusiness-com on Monday, that could change soon as the state has filed a request to setup the technology for online gaming in the state.
The Delaware bill will not only make poker legal, but also games of change such as keno and bingo. These games will be administered by the Delaware State Lottery. In a statement made by the DSL,
“The Delaware State Lottery is issuing this request for proposal to invite interested vendors to submit proposals for the implementation of an Internet gaming system and services solution, which is a turnkey offering inclusive of a back-end technology platform, operations management and support services as well as an array of game content from multiple vendors to offer casino table games, video lottery games, poker, bingo and keno.”
“The solution may at some point in the future integrate with the Delaware State Lottery’s future Internet lottery system and Internet sports wagering system, which does not currently exist and is not included in this request for proposal.”
Prospective vendor must fill certain requirements for consideration. First, they must have been in business for at least a year and held at least one client in the private or government sector for at least a year and operated real-money games legally in either Europe or America.
Those wishing to be primary vendors must have been operating in a regulated gaming market for at least two years and also must have offered 30 games or game variants, or more, for at least one year.
Now that the initial request has been made by the State Lottery, the process looks to be a relatively rapid one. Initial presentations from potential vendors are scheduled to be heard between April 1st and April 12th and if all goes well the state hopes to put games online by September 30th, 2013.
Delaware Could Have Online Poker By September 30th
The Delaware bill will not only make poker legal, but also games of change such as keno and bingo. These games will be administered by the Delaware State Lottery. In a statement made by the DSL,
“The Delaware State Lottery is issuing this request for proposal to invite interested vendors to submit proposals for the implementation of an Internet gaming system and services solution, which is a turnkey offering inclusive of a back-end technology platform, operations management and support services as well as an array of game content from multiple vendors to offer casino table games, video lottery games, poker, bingo and keno.”
“The solution may at some point in the future integrate with the Delaware State Lottery’s future Internet lottery system and Internet sports wagering system, which does not currently exist and is not included in this request for proposal.”
Prospective vendor must fill certain requirements for consideration. First, they must have been in business for at least a year and held at least one client in the private or government sector for at least a year and operated real-money games legally in either Europe or America.
Those wishing to be primary vendors must have been operating in a regulated gaming market for at least two years and also must have offered 30 games or game variants, or more, for at least one year.
Now that the initial request has been made by the State Lottery, the process looks to be a relatively rapid one. Initial presentations from potential vendors are scheduled to be heard between April 1st and April 12th and if all goes well the state hopes to put games online by September 30th, 2013.
Delaware Could Have Online Poker By September 30th
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The state Gaming Control Board conducted its monthly meeting today in Carson City.
The issue: Three companies requested extensions to complete laboratory testing as provisions of interactive gaming licenses approved last year. Extensions were requested by South Point Poker and ACEP Interactive in Las Vegas and Monarch Interactive in Reno.
Vote: 3-0
What it means: The Control Board recommended approval of the three extensions. If approved by the Nevada Gaming Commission on Feb. 21, the companies would have until August to complete testing on their software.
Representatives of the three companies said they were in various stages of testing, and some said there are new variables to consider, including whether federal lawmakers would consider legislation governing online poker and the state’s plan to amend its online poker law to enable the governor to negotiate agreements with other states to expand the number of eligible players.
•••
The issue: TravelCenters of America, which has two truck stops in Southern Nevada and three in Northern Nevada, is requesting licensing as a publicly traded corporation to have options to expand gaming at its facilities. Initially, it is seeking licensing to receive a percentage of gaming revenue at one of its Northern Nevada properties.
Vote: 3-0
What it means: While there are no expansion plans in Southern Nevada for now, the vote recommends licensing the Westlake, Ohio, company. Final approval will be considered by the Nevada Gaming Commission on Feb. 21.
Gaming Control recommends extensions for testing online poker software - Las Vegas Sun News
The issue: Three companies requested extensions to complete laboratory testing as provisions of interactive gaming licenses approved last year. Extensions were requested by South Point Poker and ACEP Interactive in Las Vegas and Monarch Interactive in Reno.
Vote: 3-0
What it means: The Control Board recommended approval of the three extensions. If approved by the Nevada Gaming Commission on Feb. 21, the companies would have until August to complete testing on their software.
Representatives of the three companies said they were in various stages of testing, and some said there are new variables to consider, including whether federal lawmakers would consider legislation governing online poker and the state’s plan to amend its online poker law to enable the governor to negotiate agreements with other states to expand the number of eligible players.
•••
The issue: TravelCenters of America, which has two truck stops in Southern Nevada and three in Northern Nevada, is requesting licensing as a publicly traded corporation to have options to expand gaming at its facilities. Initially, it is seeking licensing to receive a percentage of gaming revenue at one of its Northern Nevada properties.
Vote: 3-0
What it means: While there are no expansion plans in Southern Nevada for now, the vote recommends licensing the Westlake, Ohio, company. Final approval will be considered by the Nevada Gaming Commission on Feb. 21.
Gaming Control recommends extensions for testing online poker software - Las Vegas Sun News
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Gross gaming revenue for online poker operations in France fell in 2012 but not by as much as the decline experience in Italy according to regulator ARJEL.
Operator gross revenue from online poker tournaments in France was up 12 percent to €109 million but down 13 percent to €188 million for cash games.
This compares to a drop of 18 percent to €209 million for cash game revenue in Italy and a fall of 41 percent to €151 million in tournament poker in 2012.
In France the number of active player accounts fell 9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared to the same period in 2011.
ARJEL noted the change in demographic for poker players with the share of players aged between 18-24 decreasing compared to players in the 35 to 54 age bracket.
Mobile poker activity more than doubled with 27 percent of players accessing poker sites from a device other than a computer.
Tournament activity in the fourth quarter was up 14 percent with a turnover of €367 million but this was not enough to offset the three percent decline in cash game turnover to €1,569 million
Yet this quarter, the increase in the activity of tournaments is not enough to offset the decline in cash-game set and the overall gross gaming poker suffered a further decline of 2% in respect of Q4 2011.
Online Poker In France Continues To Slide - European Poker News
Operator gross revenue from online poker tournaments in France was up 12 percent to €109 million but down 13 percent to €188 million for cash games.
This compares to a drop of 18 percent to €209 million for cash game revenue in Italy and a fall of 41 percent to €151 million in tournament poker in 2012.
In France the number of active player accounts fell 9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared to the same period in 2011.
ARJEL noted the change in demographic for poker players with the share of players aged between 18-24 decreasing compared to players in the 35 to 54 age bracket.
Mobile poker activity more than doubled with 27 percent of players accessing poker sites from a device other than a computer.
Tournament activity in the fourth quarter was up 14 percent with a turnover of €367 million but this was not enough to offset the three percent decline in cash game turnover to €1,569 million
Yet this quarter, the increase in the activity of tournaments is not enough to offset the decline in cash-game set and the overall gross gaming poker suffered a further decline of 2% in respect of Q4 2011.
Online Poker In France Continues To Slide - European Poker News
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An alternative Full Tilt Poker site, hosted in Malta with a license from the LGA, is expected to go live in the next few weeks, a Full Tilt representative has announced.
Full Tilt’s sister site PokerStars debuted PokerStars.EU in February 2011. The Maltese-licensed site, which is otherwise identical to PokerStars-com, is used as a platform for players in certain European countries to eliminate tax liabilities from gambling winnings.
Currently, players from Sweden, Finland, Poland, Slovenia, Romania, the Netherlands and Germany have been moved onto the PokerStars EU platform, and the same can be expected when Full Tilt rolls out its equivalent offering.
Other than the license, the player experience is unchanged; the player pool, games and features available are identical.
According to certain interpretations of income tax law in some EU jurisdictions, winnings from sites based within the European Economic Area (EEA) are tax free. Although geographically in Europe, the Isle of Man—where Rational Group has its head offices and operates the primary sites for both PokerStars and FTP—is not part of the EEA.
The interpretation was bolstered in Sweden when the Swedish Tax Authority lead a coordinated campaign against online poker players for unpaid winnings. Letters sent to players requested a full audit history of their play, but only on sites outside the EEA.
In a February update on poker forum 2+2, FTP Poker Room Manager Shyam Markus stated that a release this week laid “the groundwork” for an EU launch, adding “We expect to begin rolling .eu out over the next few weeks.”
The introduction of FullTiltPoker.EU could lead to a noticeable bump in numbers, as players from Scandinavian countries will now be encouraged to try out the relaunched site without penalty.
EU Site for Full Tilt in "Next Few Weeks" | Pokerfuse Online Poker News
Full Tilt’s sister site PokerStars debuted PokerStars.EU in February 2011. The Maltese-licensed site, which is otherwise identical to PokerStars-com, is used as a platform for players in certain European countries to eliminate tax liabilities from gambling winnings.
Currently, players from Sweden, Finland, Poland, Slovenia, Romania, the Netherlands and Germany have been moved onto the PokerStars EU platform, and the same can be expected when Full Tilt rolls out its equivalent offering.
Other than the license, the player experience is unchanged; the player pool, games and features available are identical.
According to certain interpretations of income tax law in some EU jurisdictions, winnings from sites based within the European Economic Area (EEA) are tax free. Although geographically in Europe, the Isle of Man—where Rational Group has its head offices and operates the primary sites for both PokerStars and FTP—is not part of the EEA.
The interpretation was bolstered in Sweden when the Swedish Tax Authority lead a coordinated campaign against online poker players for unpaid winnings. Letters sent to players requested a full audit history of their play, but only on sites outside the EEA.
In a February update on poker forum 2+2, FTP Poker Room Manager Shyam Markus stated that a release this week laid “the groundwork” for an EU launch, adding “We expect to begin rolling .eu out over the next few weeks.”
The introduction of FullTiltPoker.EU could lead to a noticeable bump in numbers, as players from Scandinavian countries will now be encouraged to try out the relaunched site without penalty.
EU Site for Full Tilt in "Next Few Weeks" | Pokerfuse Online Poker News
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2006/12/07
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“I definitely think the meeting went very well, because we were given a great deal of latitude to expand on our two key points,” said Pappas, who did not identify the official. “We talked about the economic benefits of legalization, and the consumer protections that can help problem gamblers. It’s clear that the Governor is still deliberating on this matter, and a decision hasn’t been made.”
Just before Christmas, the Legislature overwhelmingly passed an online gambling bill that could allow residents to bet on any casino games that are authorized by state officials. Christie has until a week from Thursday to decide on the bill:
Pappas, whose non-profit group is comprised of more than 1 million online and offline poker players, said he brought three members along – a police officer, a small business owner, and a teacher – to illustrate the sort of residents who enjoy playing online poker recreationally.
Christie said in a radio interview last week that he was concerned that legalizing more online gambling – beyond the currently-allowed online horse racing betting – could lure a new generation into problem gambling.
But Pappas said he was able to address that point Tuesday, saying that “the controls online are far greater than at brick-and-mortar casinos.”
Pappas said that’s because any adult can walk into an Atlantic City casino and lose hundreds of dollars “without the casino even noticing.”
“But online, a record is kept of every single time you log in, of each transaction, and you can shut off players who have exceeded a certain amount of losses,” Pappas said. “We also talked about the United Kingdom, where national gambling prevalence studies have not shown a significant increase in problem gambling in that country from offering online gaming. The problem gamblers are already out there in New Jersey, but right now they are playing in anonymity.”
Christie also has questioned whether legalizing online casino games would really help Atlantic City’s casino companies – and also whether the online offerings would lead to a reduction in tourists, and therefore a loss of casino jobs. Pappas said, however, that the casino companies could hold poker tournament qualifying events online, with the winners then coming to Atlantic City to play the later rounds.
“Those people will then bring their spouse and make a weekend of it, like eating in the restaurants,” Pappas said, adding that the casinos could also offer discounted or free rooms to online players after a certain amount of hands are played.
The Poker Players Alliance official preference is for legislation – such as a bill proposed by Nevada Senator Harry Reid that has not advanced in Congress yet – that legalizes online poker as a game of skill while outlawing all other casino-style online games, Pappas said. But he said the group still supports the current legislation, since it also allows for online poker.
Nevada and Delaware became the first states to pass online gambling laws last year, but neither state has begun taking bets yet.
Pappas said he did not expect a decision from Christie this week.