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The Iowa Lottery has no plans to get into online gaming this year, but at least one lawmaker thinks it might be in Iowans’ best interest to offer online poker.

Lottery Director Terry Rich reminded lawmakers Jan. 22 that state code allows the Lottery to offer online games. However, he has no plans to “put the full accelerator on” to pursue online gaming this year.

“Internet gaming is booming,” he said, noting several states offer or are considering Internet games. A study for the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission estimate the state could reap $3 million to $13 million a year from online poker. It’s been estimated as many as 150,000 Iowans play online poker. A lottery official told the committee many Iowans who call 1-800-Bets Off, a gambling help line, identify online poker as their primary form of gambling.

For now, Rich said, the Lottery is in “research and development,” and he is monitoring what other states and the federal government are doing.

Sen. Brian Schoenjahn, D-Arlington, however, thinks state-run online poker would provide Iowans a level of security not available on Internet gaming sites.

“My fear is that it’s like the Target credit card scam, except there are no protections,” he said. “If people are going to do it anyway, maybe Iowa ought to take a piece of the pie and regulate it.”

That idea has been floated before. In 2012, a bill to allow intrastate online poker as well as give Iowa an opportunity to join interstate compacts to regulate online gaming passed the Senate 29-20. It went nowhere in the House.

Last year, a similar bill failed to win committee approval in the Senate.

Senate State Government Committee Chairman Jeff Danielson, D-Cedar Falls, agrees with Schoenjahn that Iowans risk being taken by “bad actors” in the online poker business. However, he doubts the Legislature will take action this year unless there is bipartisan support for online gaming legislation.

So far, none have been introduced.



Lawmaker wants Iowa in on online poker

Information technology is seen as an enabler by business community of India. As the use of IT in India is increasing, entrepreneurs have started exploring the cyberspace to establish new ventures like e-commerce, Bitcoins exchanges, online poker websites, etc. All this is happening without a clear cut legal framework as we have no dedicated online gaming and gambling laws and regulations in India and this field is still evolving. Although the traditional gambling in India is governed by colonial laws yet we have no dedicated laws for online gambling in India.

Similarly, there are no dedicated laws and regulations for online poker in India as on date. Further, there are no specific judicial decisions pertaining to playing of online poker in India. Both players of pokers and websites hosting the poker games are in a fix to decide whether to play and host the poker game on a website in India. Till date the position of playing online poker in India is a grey area.

Since the area is developing there are very few cyber law firms and cyber lawyers in India who can provide effective legal support and services in this regard. The Information Technology Act, 2000 is the sole cyber law of India and very few law firms and lawyers are practicing in this novel field. Even among those practicing the cyber law field, there are only handful of lawyers who can take up the matter pertaining to online gaming and gambling in India.

Online gambling laws in India are different that online gaming laws of India. Further, online gambling and gaming laws and regulations in India and conflict principles must also be kept in mind by online poker websites of India.

According to Perry4Law, the exclusive techno legal ICT law firm of India, to start with, any online poker website of India that wishes to engage in legal business must comply with Indian laws like Indian Penal Code, 1860, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, Indian Information Technology Act, 2000, the Public Gambling Act, 1867, Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) 1999, etc

Taxation, money laundering and payment gateways issues must also be taken care of by those proposing to open online poker websites in India. Further, various guidelines and rules issued from time to time must also be complied with by online poker websites of India opines Perry4Law.

The crux of the legal position seems to be that if an online poker website is following the laws of India while operating in India, it is legal to play online poker in India. However, if the laws of India are breached during such online presence both the cyber law of India and other applicable state laws may be attracted.

Online gaming industry is booming in India and it is going to be a multi billion dollar industry in India. In order to capture this market the online poker entrepreneurs must comply with all the applicable laws of India and consult some good techno legal firm before launching their websites.




CJNEWS INDIA: Is It Legal To Play Online Poker In India?

A New York man has been sentenced to five months in federal prison for running high-stakes poker-games involving the rich and famous.

Edwin Ting was also ordered Tuesday in Manhattan federal court to forfeit $2 million.

US Attorney Preet Bharara says that from 2010 through 2013, Ting ran poker games for the Russian mob and took a percentage of pots that reached hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Players in the underground network included professional athletes, Hollywood luminaries and business executives, authorities said.

Playing poker isn’t a crime, but it’s illegal to profit by promoting it.

Ting was one of 25 defendants who pleaded guilty. They’ve agreed to forfeit a total of more than $68 million.

Ting was charged in April along with 33 other alleged members and associates of two Russian-American organized crime enterprises.


nypost-com/2014/01/23/ny-man-sentenced-to-federal-prison-for-running-poker-games/

The Iowa Lottery has no plans to get into online gaming this year, but at least one lawmaker thinks it might be in Iowans’ best interest to offer online poker.

Lottery Director Terry Rich reminded lawmakers this week that state code allows the lottery to offer online games. However, he has no plans to “put the full accelerator on” to pursue online gaming this year.

“Internet gaming is booming,” he said, noting several states offer or are considering Internet games. A study for the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission estimate the state could reap $3 million to $13 million a year from online poker. It’s been estimated as many as 150,000 Iowans play online poker.

A lottery official told the committee many Iowans who call 1-800-Bets Off, a gambling help line, identify online poker as their primary form of gambling.

For now, Rich said, the lottery is in “research and development,” and he is monitoring what other states and the federal government are doing.

Sen. Brian Schoenjahn, D-Arlington, however, thinks state-run online poker would provide Iowans a level of security not available on Internet gaming sites.

“My fear is that it’s like the Target credit card scam, except there are no protections,” he said. “If people are going to do it anyway, maybe Iowa ought to take a piece of the pie and regulate it.”

That idea has been floated before. In 2012, a bill to allow intrastate online poker as well as give Iowa an opportunity to join interstate compacts to regulate online gaming passed the Senate 29-20. It went nowhere in the House. Last year, a similar bill failed to win committee approval in the Senate.

Senate State Government Committee Chairman Jeff Danielson, D-Cedar Falls, agrees with Schoenjahn that Iowans risk being taken by “bad actors” in the online poker business.

However, he doubts the Legislature will take action this year unless there is bipartisan support for online gaming legislation.

So far, none have been introduced.



Lawmaker thinks online poker's a safer bet for Iowans

There are just three states with legalized and operational online poker — Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey. It appears very possible to remain that way when 2014 winds to a close.

The aforementioned three have online poker industries in their infancy, which means strong revenues have yet to be realized. It’s unclear how much Nevada or Delaware have seen in online poker revenue, but New Jersey did recently release some figures on its fledgling system.

The sentiment among the remaining states in the country with some propensity to authorize gambling seems to be a wait-and-see approach. After all, it’s much easier to push a bill through when other states have sorted through any hiccups with their games. It’s also incredibly valuable to be able to more accurately estimate what revenue would look like.

We’ll start with what might be the state most likely to legalize online poker in 2014 — Pennsylvania. In May, the state will have its study completed on the industry and a proposal is already in the works from one lawmaker. Pennsylvania, now the nation’s number two commercial casino market, has in recent years become very open to expanded gambling.

Illinois, which has an online lottery that has expressed interest in offering Internet gaming, has in the past been regarded as a serious player in the online poker debate. But those talks have quieted down over the past year or so. The state has rejected calls for expanded casino gambling, and even said negative to a proposal to keep casinos there open 24 hours. Thus, online poker is probably not likely there this year, given the political climate.

Louisiana, which last year made some effort to study online poker, according to reports could have an online poker bill hit the legislature this year. However, even if so, given the fact that there’s not a history of online poker attempts in Louisiana, there could be a lack of momentum.

California, the most populous state in the country, has been home to many attempts over the years at legalizing online poker. While momentum seems to have been building, 2014 is unlikely to produce any fruit for the cause, as it is an election year. Since online poker is a touchy subject it probably won’t be legalized during such a political climate.

Despite a small population, the state of Iowa has been active in the online poker debate over the recent years. Some lawmakers there have failed to get any traction on their proposals to authorize online poker, and 2014 seems like a long shot as well, according to reporting from The Globe Gazette. Like others, the state is taking it slow and waiting to see how things play out elsewhere.

Gambling expansion is on the agenda in Florida, but there’s just so much going on with regards to brick-and-mortar gambling that online poker appears far off the radar for officials in the Sunshine State. The big issue in Florida is whether to authorize massive casino-resorts in or around Miami. Florida liberalized its live poker rules not long ago, too.

The same idea likely applies to states like New York, Maryland and Massachusetts. They are all very much involved with brick-and-mortar gambling expansion and appear very unlikely to authorize online poker in 2014. Maryland’s lottery director told Card Player late last year that his state will “keep an eye on” New Jersey’s web games. Maryland also recently legalized live table games, so it makes sense it would see how those go first for awhile before trying the Internet.

Ohio has been rumored to be a player in the U.S. online poker market (Rock Gaming’s Dan Gilbert even owns a piece of Caesars Interactive) and its first wave of new casinos has been completed, but it also seems unlikely for online poker legalization in the Buckeye State in 2014. The previous gambling expansion that went through the legislature is just too recent.

With a large population and being in the name of poker’s most popular format, the state of Texas also seems like a near impossibility for online poker in 2014. Despite years of effort, poker supporters in the state can’t even legalize live commercial poker rooms.

Mississippi has been home to attempts at online poker, but proposals have very quickly died in the legislature there in the past. According to reports, the controversial issue there is highly unlikely to gain any ground during 2014, though there will be some discussion.

Taken as a whole, the U.S. is slowly inching back into the online poker realm, after the major offshore operators were booted in April 2011. Poker fans are eagerly waiting.

Even if no state legalizes in 2014, it’s a safe bet to say that things will have evolved to the point where 2015 would contain a lot of promise for U.S. online poker.



Most States Seem To Be Implementing 'Wait And See' Approach To Online Poker In 2014

As various states grapple with the idea of considering online poker legislation, it remains certain that players will play whether its regulated or not.

This has led lawmakers from various states to voice concerns that perhaps regulation would be the best course of action in order to protect consumers. Along with that protection, a considerable amount of revenue could be had by way of taxation should Internet poker regulations be enacted.

The latest to follow this line of thinking is Iowa Senator Brian Schoenjahn (D-Arlington), who told the Quad City Times that

if people are going to do it [play online poker for real money] anyway, maybe Iowa ought to take a piece of the pie and regulate it.

A similar sentiment was expressed by Louisiana Gaming Control Board Chairman Ronnie Jones, who earlier this week informed state lawmakers that despite a law on the books prohibiting "gambling by computer," Louisianans continue accessing sites and playing online poker, according to USAfriendlypokersites-com.

Indeed, the latest traffic numbers among U.S.-facing poker rooms and networks confirms what state regulators and lawmakers are saying. That despite Black Friday almost three years ago and the UIGEA statute enacted more than seven years ago, U.S. online poker players who want to play will find a way to do so at the U.S.-friendly poker sites that accept and cater to them.

Those sites happen to be numerous, with Bovada Poker leading the way. Bovada’s anonymous player format in which all screen names have been removed in order to protect less-skilled or recreational players is no longer an experiment. It has proven to be a successful endeavor and has allowed the poker room to attract more players than any other U.S.-facing sites or networks.

Players who happen to dislike the anonymous model, of which there are many, can be found logging on at Americas Cardroom on the Winning Poker Network. WPN has grown considerably in recent months, with the VIP player loyalty programs and quick cashouts at the network’s skins often cited as the reasons why. Another one of those skins, Black Chip Poker has experienced a resurgence since leaving the Merge Network and joining WPN in late 2012.

The expanse of the U.S. market has also prompted new U.S.-friendly poker rooms to appear on the scene. One such site is Full Flush Poker, which launched for real money on November 8, 2013 on the Equity Poker Network. More and more U.S. players are finding their way to Full Flush, taking advantage of favorable promotions that new sites often run in order to establish a solid customer base.

It is apparent that the U.S. online poker market will be served whether its by regulated sites that are currently found only in Nevada, New Jersey or Delaware, or by the many unregulated sites that accept players from throughout the rest of the country. State officials, whether from Iowa, Louisiana, or any other state, are absolutely correct in realizing that online poker players in the U.S. will always find a way to play poker on the Internet. May as well regulate it in order to afford greater protections for players and earn money for state coffers at the same time.



U.S. Online Poker Market Strong With or Without Regulation

Carbon Poker confirms new policy

I contacted Carbon Poker support and was told that “Regrettably, we no longer offer online gaming services to members in New Jersey and Delaware. This decision was made after much consideration.”

Support confirmed that it’s not simply a matter of new accounts being refused, but that existing accounts are also being closed.
Policy appears to apply to other Merge sites

Players on Poker.org and TwoPlusTwo both recounted their direct experience with attempting to log on to a Merge site only to be told their accounts were “suspended.”

Upon contacting support, players were informed that their account “has been banned as per restrictions set in your state.”

One of the by-products of regulating online gambling in New Jersey and Delaware was to make unregulated online gambling explicitly illegal to operate.

Most posters in the TwoPlusTwo thread are relatively new to the forum, but one regular poster - MR_UNOWEN - confirmed that he had a similar experience, writing:

I just emailed them, though; and I was told I was no longer eligible to play although I did a bit this morning. Yeah, though, it would seem just a matter of cashing out now. … I just received an email stating that they initiated a manual withdraw for me which has a processing time of 3 – 8 weeks. Gg, Carbon!


Merge Poker Booting Players From New Jersey and Delaware

The Poker Players Alliance has said that it is is “working overtime” to counter the efforts of the Las Vegas Sands boss, Sheldon Adelson as he continues his anti-online poker crusade. Adelson has recently garnered the support of three state Attorney Generals, Chris Koster of Missouri, Jon Bruning of Nebraska and Alan Wilson of South Carolina, who are pushing for a federal bill to ban online gambling. According to reports, Adelson already has ten signatures for his bill, from states including Montana, Michigan and Wyoming.

“We’re working overtime to make sure the letters don’t gain momentum among state AGs,” said the executive director of the Poker Players Association, John Pappas.. “We understand 10 have signed already, and we’re hoping we can change their minds as well. It’s an odd thing for a state AG to support. Essentially, it’s asking Congress to do a federal power grab on states, telling them what they can and cannot authorize. Either AGs are being misled or they don’t care what the message is, they’re just going to go along with this because they’re being asked by Sheldon Adelson.”

The billionaire casino tycoon, Adelson, vowed to go all out to push his Internet Gambling Control Act, which seeks to amend the Wire Act so that it also incorporates online poker and online casino games.

“We want them to earn every inch they try to get in this fight,” said Pappas. “We don’t want them to push any effort that goes unchallenged. Since this is the launch of their campaign, we want to make sure it comes hard fought.”

While analysts following Adelson’s antics have noted that attorney generals are not lawmakers and therefore cannot change the laws of the state, it should be remembered that when the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was passed in 2006, it had the support of practically all state AGs, and the PPA does not want to see a repeat of the events leading up to that draconian and controversial law.



PPA Vows to Fight Adelson’s Anti Online Poker Bill

PokerStars is discovering their 2006 decision to remain in the US market after the passage of UIGEA legislation may have come with some very stiff backend fees.

The company has already sent over $800 million stateside since Black Friday (see below), and if this recent article at CalvinAyre.com has any legs, there could be at least one more payment in their future.

When all is said and done, PokerStars will more than likely have shelled out over $1 billion in settlements and fines in order to reenter the US market.
The DOJ is ready to deal

According to unnamed sources at CalvinAyre.com, the DOJ is potentially willing to settle outstanding charges against anyone currently facing iGaming charges, with the caveat that the company never had a physical presence in the US and the person in question is not a US resident – sorry Scott Tom.

The settlements would be in the form of corporate fines paid by the company and not the individual, according to the CalvinAyre.com article.

If this report turns out to be true, it could pave the way for New Jersey regulators to reopen PokerStars’ license application, assuming that the Isai Scheinberg problem centers on his indictment and not his continued role with PokerStars.

If the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement wants Isai Scheinberg out, the settlement might not be enough.
Don’t expect this to happen overnight

If a deal between the DOJ and PokerStars is to happen it will certainly not happen overnight, as a lot of litigious volleying would have to take place.

And even if a deal is agreed upon between the DOJ and Scheinberg/PokerStars, PokerStars’ license application would still have to be reopened in New Jersey and reexamined before approval was granted.

Additionally, a deal doesn’t guarantee PokerStars will be approved in New Jersey or elsewhere.

When the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement suspended PokerStars’ license application in December, they said the unresolved indictment against Isai Scheinberg was the key issue, but not the only issue:

“the unresolved federal indictment against Isai Scheinberg for the alleged violation of federal gambling statutes […] and the involvement of certain PokerStars executives with Internet gaming operations in the United States following the enactment of UIGEA…”

Three years of settlements, fines, and payments add up

As I mentioned in the opening, PokerStars is approaching a dubious milestone when it comes to fines and payments.

The first, and most significant chunk to come out of the PokerStars wallet was the $731 million settlement in August of 2012 (although PokerStars did receive Full Tilt Poker in the bargain) to erase the company’s Black Friday charges.

Next up was the preemptive $50 million settlement between the DOJ and Mark Scheinberg, that prohibited the DOJ from bringing future Black Friday charges against Mark Scheinberg.

When PokerStars first looked into New Jersey they focused on the Atlantic Club, but a $15 million payment and a lot of headaches netted the company nothing, except for the “Atlantic Club Fiasco.”

After legal fees and everything else, the failed attempt to purchase the property had to cost the company closer to $20 million than $15 million.

And now we are finding out that the DOJ will likely be excising another hefty chunk to settle Isai Scheinberg’s charges, and perhaps those of other high level executives.

If history is any indication (see Party Poker’s Anarug Dikshit) this is going to likely be another nine-figure hit, although John Mehaffey thinks it might be similar to – or even less than – the settlement reached with Full Tilt Poker’s Ray Bitar, which was $40 million.

Personally I think it will be much higher, considering Mark Scheinberg paid $50 million and he wasn’t even indicted on Black Friday.
Was it worth it?

PokerStars will be forking over some $1 billion to reenter a US market that currently measures its player base in the low thousands, begging the question of whether or not the company took the right approach to the US market post-UIGEA.

Was this a strategic move to take advantage of both the unregulated and regulated US market? Or will PokerStars find themselves on the outside looking in, and having forked over a lot of money for their seat?

As Steven Stadbrooke of CalvinAyre.com pointed out in the above mentioned article, and as Bill Rini explained, PokerStars’ decision to remain in the US market allowed them to build the biggest brand in online gambling, methodically taking over market after market thanks to their US revenue stream.

As it stands now, PokerStars is still a giant amongst men.

But what if PokerStars is blackballed for a few years, will they suffer the same fate as Party Poker? Will their brand survive the prolonged hiatus as other sites take their place and US players grow comfortable with them?

Remember, Party Poker was the pre-UIGEA version of PokerStars and they now have to rebuild their brand after a lengthy absence.

Absence may make the heart grow fonder, but prolonged absence could lead to irrelevancy.
The competition

If PokerStars can return to the US sometime in 2014, there is still the not-so-small matter of bwin.party, which will assuredly be PokerStars’ biggest rival in New Jersey and beyond.

From 2007 on PokerStars has dominated the one-time king of the online poker mountain, but Party Poker never really had a chance. The fight wasn’t fair.

Not only did Party Poker bow out of the US market entirely, but PokerStars masterfully used the leverage from its US player base to conquer market after market around the globe, grinding Party and other competitors under its boot heel.

But Party has resurfaced in the US, and so far they have made mostly all the right moves. Party has been the most innovative and active marketer, aligning themselves with some high-profile brands, and they clearly have the best software in the US – software that r

For video-poker fans, nothing matches the thrill of a royal flush.

Seeing the 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace of the same suit on the screen fulfills a longtime quest for most players. And it signals the start of the hunt for the next one.

Tom Wojtasiak, 65, of McKees Rocks knows how tough finding a royal can be. He's played video poker for more than 15 years and has yet to hit one. He's still trying, playing nickel and quarter machines a couple of times a week at Rivers Casino.

Mathematicians calculate that a royal flush shows up, on average, once in every 40,391 hands. As Wojtasiak knows all too well, sometimes it's a lot longer.

“You just keep looking,” says Greg Rogers of Center, who can't remember hitting a royal in almost 20 years of play.

Video-poker pro and author Jean Scott of Las Vegas reminds players that the 40,000 figure is an average.

“You can hit several in a short time, and you can have long, long royal droughts,” Scott says. She and her husband, Brad, have recorded 785 royals in their 22-year career. While high, that number is probably about the expectation for the number of hands they've played, she adds.

A royal is the top payoff in video poker, typically paying 4,000 coins on a five-coin bet. But video poker, in which players decide which cards to hold and throw away, is far different from traditional slot machines, where luck is the sole factor in winning.

A single-line video-poker machine uses a 52-card deck, and each card must have an equal chance of appearing. That allows mathematicians to calculate the best move for any situation. Video-poker players willing to study and practice can increase their return.

Even with Pennsylvania's stingy pay schedules, video-poker players who know elementary strategy can get a payout rate of about 97 percent, compared with less than 90 percent for standard slots.

Wojtasiak, a retiree who first visited Las Vegas in 1997, likes multiline machines, which offer a chance to win or lose on several hands at once — from three to as many as 100. The first five cards are the same for each line, and the player decides which to hold and which to throw away. Each line deals the replacement cards from its own deck.

Wojtasiak's biggest score, so far, is being dealt quad threes with an Ace kicker on a three-line Double Double Bonus game, which yielded a payout of around $1,500.

The down side of multiline poker is the cost. Each line costs five coins to qualify for the maximum payout for a royal flush. So instead of spending $1.25 per hand on a single-line 25-cent machine, a quarter player would spend $3.75 a hand on a triple-play machine — more as the number of lines increases. One option is to move to a lower denomination, betting nickels rather than quarters. However, lower denomination machines often have worse pay tables.

Another factor to consider with multiline machines is the volatility — how quickly you can lose or win a lot when playing 400 to 500 spins an hour.

“When you're doing good, it's very, very good,” Scott says. “And when you are bad, it's terrible.”

Players on multiline machines will see royals more frequently than players at single-line machines simply because they play multiple hands at once, according to Wizard of Odds: The last word on gambling strategy, an online cornucopia of gambling statistics and strategies. A player at a 5-line machine will see a royal about five times as frequently as someone at a single-line machine.

In their quest for a royal, players should remember to stick to the proper strategy for their game. That means not throwing away a paying pair because you have three cards to a royal.

The WizardOfOdds site says a “royal at all costs” approach reduces the time between royals to about 23,100 hands. It also increases the house edge to more than 50 percent.

The best advice: Play each hand correctly, and the royals will come. Sometimes it takes patience. Just ask Wojtasiak and Rogers, still looking for No. 1.

As for Scott, she's looking for No. 786.

Read more: Royal quest never ends for video-poker players | TribLIVE
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One poker player gave new meaning to the saying "throwing money down the drain."

Christian Lusardi, 42, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, flushed $2.7 million worth of counterfeit poker chips down the toilet in a room at Harrah's Resort and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey state police said. He was arrested over the weekend, police said.

Lusardi disposed of the fake chips he was using during the Winter Poker Open's "Big Stack, No Limit Hold 'Em" event at the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa, police said.

Tournament personnel found 160 of the counterfeit poker chips -- each with a value of $5,000, for a total of $800,000 -- among the genuine casino chips, police said.

The discovery in clogged sewer pipes prompted Harrah's to notify Borgata officials.

The counterfeit chips forced officials to suspend the event for 24 hours. Soon after, the tournament was canceled.

"This was a very unusual occurrence. It's the first time in Borgata's 10 years that anything like this has happened," Joe Lupo, senior vice president of operations at Borgata, told CNN.

Authorities found Lusardi Friday at a motel in Atlantic City.

"We are very pleased that the New Jersey State Police Casino Gaming Bureau has apprehended a suspect," Lupo said. "While this is a very positive development, the investigation by the Division of Gaming Enforcement and the State Police is ongoing."

Police say Lusardi introduced the counterfeit chips into the tournament on multiple occasions. Lusardi obtained $6,814 in winnings during the tournament.

Lusardi was charged with rigging a publicly exhibited contest, criminal attempt, and theft by deception. He was being held on $300,000 bail, with no option to pay 10%, at the Atlantic City Jail, police said.

The poker tournament began in mid-January with more than 4,800 people enrolled. When it was canceled Friday, 27 people remained in the tournament.

Read more: Flush of a different kind lands poker player Christian Lusardi in jail, police say

It’s been an odd stretch for pro poker players and what appears to be an epidemic of hubris making the rounds amongst them: first we saw pro poker blogger Jay Newnum get probation for fishing into a dealer’s tip box and extracting nearly $700 with chopsticks at Foxwoods during their Mega Stack Challenge tournament series, and now comes news that pro player Christian Lusardi has been arrested in connection with $2.7 million in counterfeit chips at the Borgata during their Winter Open series.

But that’s the just the tip of the iceberg in the utter weirdness department, because this latest story has all the makings of a good movie plot.
Not A Straight Flush

After play was terminated in Event #1 at Borgata just over a week ago – after the discovery of counterfeit chips having been introduced into the action – all accounts were frozen with 27 players remaining out of an original 4,814, each of whom had paid a $560 buy-in. The next step, of course, was to discover from whence came said fake chips, and while you might think the endless surveillance cameras that permeate any casino were the break in this case, the latter emerged from a much more bizarre source: clogged sewer pipes.

Turns out the problem was discovered when some Harrah’s Resort casino workers had to find out what was causing a massive sewer clog; and what did they come upon, but $2.7 million in counterfeit Borgata chips, apparently flushed down the toilet. We assume not all at once, but nonetheless, pretty impressive that a casino’s sewer system can even accept that much roughage, isn’t it?

It all started to unravel when hotel guests called in with complaints of leaky pipes dripping water into their rooms. The source of the pipe clog was traced to pro player Christian Lusardi, 42; the Fayetteville, North Carolina player had been staying in the originating room, according to investigators.
Caught, Arrested and Charged

Lusardi had long taken off from Harrah’s after his royal flush, but was discovered and arrested by New Jersey State Police midday on Friday at a local Super 8 Motel in Atlantic City; no word on how the authorities were able to follow Lusardi’s paper – or should we say, chip – trail to get their man. He’s been charged with rigging a publicly exhibited contest, just for starters. It’s not yet clear if Lusardi acted alone, or if other accomplices could have been involved as well. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement has been part of the investigative process also, of course.

It takes a lot to surprise casino execs, but Borgata’s senior vice president Joe Lupo says this instance did the trick for him.

“This is the first time we’ve had anything like this happen in our 10 years in business, and it’s the first time I’ve seen this in my 27 years in gaming,” said Lupo.

“The investigation by the DGE and the State Police is ongoing and Borgata remains under the order the DGE issued last week,” added Lupo. “Borgata will continue to work with the DGE and the State Police until this matter is concluded and a final order is issued by the DGE concerning the resolution of Event I.”

The implications and how this will be handled by both Borgata and law enforcement are complex indeed, as the fake chips obviously affected the outcome of the event up until the final three tables were frozen. Authorities now say that Lusardi added counterfeit chips to his stacks more than once during the event; he ended up winning $6,814 – an amount we’re pretty sure he won’t be keeping.

Not surprisingly given his edge, Lusardi was a hefty chip leader early on in the tourney, with 519,000 in his stacks at the start of Day Two; that alone granted him a $2,000 bonus, according to news reports.

In addition to the pipe-clogging chips – which was the first tip of foul play – Borgata employees additionally found another $800,000 worth of fake chips had been introduced into play in the event. At that point, regulators put the kibosh on the event and shut it down.

Apparently, this is not Lusardi’s first fall from gambling grace: back in 2008, he was one of a dozen charged with illegal gambling operations and alcohol sales in his hometown of Fayetteville. Along with cards and chips, news reports said $12,000 in cash was discovered in his home.

Perhaps this story can best be summed by Ryan Messick, a player who was eliminated from the Borgata event early on.

“The fact that this guy flushed the chips down the toilet, that just has to be the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” noted Messick. “There was no way he wasn’t going to be found out.”

Meanwhile, the culprit will have plenty of time to contemplate clogged toilets; he was taken to the Atlantic County Justice Facility when he couldn’t meet the $300,000 bail requirement.

Read more: Poker Pro Christian Lusardi Charged in Borgata Fake Chip Scandal

Online poker in California most likely isn’t coming this year, but that won’t stop some of the industry’s leading figures from discussing its future in the Golden State.

The inaugural iGaming Legislative Symposium, to be held Feb. 27, 2014 in Sacramento, will “identify the critical issues regarding the legalization of online gaming in California, and explore possible solutions and success scenarios that are applicable to jurisdictions nationwide,” according to a press release.

California is the nation’s most populous state. It also has the largest tribal casino industry out of any in the country.

The announcement added that the symposium will examine the key policy decisions that will be considered in California in 2014 for online poker.

Industry experts such as Geoff Freeman, President and CEO, American Gaming Association; Mark Macarro, Chairman, Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians; and Richard Schuetz, Commissioner, California Gambling Control Commission, will discuss topics such as:

What can California legislators, regulators, and operators expect with the pending legalization of online gambling? What are the political pitfalls and opportunities for making iGaming a reality in California? Who are the stakeholders that will participate in operating California iGaming? What are the potential regulatory options and how are effective regulatory regimes developed? How should California structure its iGaming tax policy and what is the most effective policy?

Right now, just Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey have legal online poker.



Conference To Focus on California Online Poker

An Amsterdam court has ruled that the organizers of a poker tournament in the Netherlands were not guilty of breaking the country’s gambling laws on the grounds that “poker is not gambling.” The ruling came after seven years and an independent investigation of the roles of skill and luck.

The Café de Viersprong Bussum regularly hosted a €10 rebuy tournament which was closed down by police in 2007. The acquittal of owners Richard Blaas and Rene Kurver is the second time that a senior Dutch court has ruled that poker tournaments are not gambling and therefore not subject to the gambling laws.

In 2010, Steven van Zadelhoff achieved a similar verdict. In an interview with PokerNews, the lawyer Peter Plasman explained that, with two cases providing a precedent, poker tournament organizers have a strong argument that they can reasonably assume that what they are doing is legal.

“The fact that two different courts came to the same conclusion might make the prosecutor say that it’s time to halt bringing people in front of criminal court,” Plasman said.

However, it remains possible that a different judge could take a different line.

“The prosecutor has the right to intervene, to stop the tournament and to sanction the organizer. There is still much to be done before we can consider this a closed issue,” Plasman cautioned. “There could be another judge, somewhere, ruling that poker is a game of chance.”

New gaming laws are expected to be implemented in the Netherlands in early 2015. The issue of definitions is likely to be resolved when they take their final form, and poker will be considered a game subject to the control of the Dutch Gaming Authority.


"Poker is Not Gambling" According to Dutch Court Ruling | Pokerfuse Online Poker News

Spain is one country in the European Union that hasn’t been doing that well economically. The internet gambling rules were changed recently with the issuing of the first online gambling licences on June 1st 2012. Since then however there has been a decline in the revenues generated by the industry an enormous 20% from Q1 to Q3 2013.

While the marked decline is one that serves as worry for those in need of the funds garnered from gambling in Spain a new threat to the system has emerged. The Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) has announced plans that if it had power would put an end to online poker in Spain.

The party wants to amend the “Responsible Gaming Strategy” adopted in 2013 by eliminating poker’s appeal to Spanish players. Last November the opposition party proposed that online poker players should have to pay a tax on all winning hands they play without any tax deduction considerations for the losing hands. It has been suggested that the PSOE’s approach to online poker comes from the idea that poker fosters “an addictive behavior with undesirable social effects.” If the Socialists gain control over the government in the next election in 2015 they would by any means remove online poker from the Spanish jurisdiction.

Other destructive changes are also planned by the Spanish Socialist Workers Party including the elimination of online poker bonuses and other incentives that encourage poker players to stay online and play more poker. Also measures to limit the amount of time players can actually spend online would be introduced, as well as pre-set spending limits, and strict identification requirements would be introduced.

Firms which thought the punitive taxes that the Spanish government required before they applied for licenses to operate in Spain were excessive but were willing to pay are having second thoughts after seeing the falling revenues and now the opposition party views. Some saw the writing on the wall last year and pulled out of the market there, cutting their losses early.


Spanish Opposition Wants to Dismantal Online Poker | Online-Casinos-com

Sheffield-based pro Rick “TheClaimeer” Trigg returns to the Top 10 of the UK online poker rankings after a fanastic run of form that also resulted in his winning the first PocketFives-com Triple Crown of his career.

Trigg has been putting in plenty of volume at the virtual felt and it shows in his results. On January 20, Trigg won the PokerStars Big $109 for $21,556 then two days later took down the Full Tilt Poker Turbo Hundo for an additional $3,480, before completing a Triple Crown of online titles when he won the Sunday Supersonic on PokerStars French site.

Sandwiched between those victories were some impressive results. These near misses include:

3rd place in the PokerStars.fr €100 1R1A for $7,895
3rd place in the PokerStars $265 Knockout for $4,042
3rd place the PokerStars Nightly Fifty Grand for $7,166
2nd place in the Sunday Six-Max at PokerStars for $18,564
3rd place in the $109 NL Hold’em at PokerStars for $4,274

Top bombing, sir.

The only other change to the shape of the UK Top 10 was Sebastian Saffari leapfrogging Rhys Jones into sixth place.


Rick Trigg Returns to the UK Online Poker Rankings Top 10 | PokerNews

On Tuesday, lottery officials in the state of Massachusetts reportedly asked lawmakers to say OK to it testing the viability of offering Internet gambling.

Massachusetts is in the middle of figuring out who should be able to build new Las Vegas-style casinos in the state, one in three geographical regions.

“We are not proposing to offer these games to our players with an actual cash transaction, nor are we seeking any appropriation to fund such operations,” Lottery Assistant Executive Director Beth Bresnahan told the Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure, according to reporting from State House News Service.

“Rather, in the interests of preserving and protecting the Lottery, we simply want to ensure that we have a solid understanding of the technology and logistics of online gaming should this market space become more competitive. Existing law does not permit us to conduct such experimentation.”

In other words, free-play games would need to be legalized for the lottery.

Late last year, the state’s top gaming regulator said the following with regards to real-money online gambling in the state: “We also have taken the position that Massachusetts shouldn’t do anything in online gambling until our bricks-and-mortar people are selected because they ought to be at the table when we do this. You can’t expect somebody to give us $85 million and then spend a billion to build a facility and change the rules of the game on them a year or two down the road.” Online poker in Massachusetts is likely years away.



Massachusetts Lottery Wants To Test Free-Play Online Poker

All US-based New Jersey and Delaware Internet poker players have reportedly been unexpectedly suspended from their online poker accounts via Merge Poker. Online messages from the network’s customer service department announced that Merge Poker would be discontinuing services to the two northeastern states, effective immediately.

Merge Poker Network is based in Australia and licensed in Curacao and has already deactivated Nevada player services, so that the network will no longer be offering US online poker services in US states that have legally regulated online poker because regulations in these states enforce hefty, multi-million dollar fines to sites that offer online poker to residents where they are not authorized to. It is for this reason alone that Merge has pulled the plug on US poker in these states, though the network doesn’t offer online poker to Kentucky, Washington, New York, Maryland, Louisiana, or Missouri residents either, nor to those players who reside in the District of Colombia.

In addition to online poker, the Merge Network also offers various casino games to online players including blackjack. These services will be suspended from these states’ players, as well. Merge, furthermore, has made no official statement to these affected players, only confirming their non-service to players who have asked about the state of their inactive accounts.

While the network has never pulled specific states from its list of US-friendly services due to the inconsistency of US laws that varies from state to state and across state to federal levels, but they have blocked French players since the country’s inception of its single-nation regulations that excludes all other countries.

Online rumors are circulating that the network will reimburse individual player accounts within three to eight weeks, but it is likely players will have to request this and see their inquiries through. The three affected states have a combined populous of around 12.5 million, which is about 3% of the nation’s population that totals 313 million people, according to 2012 census reports.

Carbon Poker is the biggest Merge Network skin, but other popular skins include PDG Poker, Sportsbook.ag, Aced-com, and PokerHost, among other smaller skins.



Merge Poker Network Withdraws Services from Three US States

The man considered online poker proponents’ biggest ally in California, State Senator Roderick Wright, has been convicted for eight counts, including voter fraud. It now remains to be seen whether the convictions (totally unrelated to online poker), will harm attempts to get a pro-poker bill passed in the coming years.

On the one hand, Senator Wright has worked tirelessly to introduce a regulated online poker industry and has been the main sponsor of previous bills which have failed to pass, mostly due to lack of agreement among interest groups such as Indian tribes. Wright’s term of office ends in 2016 and even if he manages to survive his political career until then, despite the convictions, the questions that needs to be asked are: Will the senator have enough political clout to help push online poker laws?; and Does the Californian poker lobby want to be associated with a politician who has 8 convictions to his name?

Although, theoretically Senator Wright remains in office, his power is somewhat limited, as will his ability to lobby other senators to back his pet projects.

It has been suggested that the online poker movement in California seek out another sponsor for their bills as they get ready to fight for the right to play poker on the internet this year. The main issue may not be to find a new sponsor – after all, there are several top lawmakers, including Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, who have fought for online poker in California in the past and will most likely lead, or at least back, any other bills in the future.

The main problem facing online poker in California this year, as in previous years, is that there is still no consensus on how a bill should look and what it should incorporate, due to pressures from all the parties involved in a potentially regulated industry.


Main California Online Poker Bill Sponsor Convicted

The Poker Players Alliance has started a campaign in Massachusetts, urging its members to push for the inclusion of online poker in SB101, which seeks to allow the Massachusetts State Lottery to examine the question of introducing online lottery services.

The Executive Director of the PPA, John Pappas issued a statement to the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure, urging the group to examine the option of introducing an intrastate online poker regime in the state, similar to the platform adopted in Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey.

In his statement, Pappas noted that a number of other states, including Iowa, California and Illinois are “now recognizing the potential for significant job growth and millions in added revenue, and are proposing their own legislation to regulate the online poker industry.” He thus urges Massachusetts to at least consider the option of investigating its own online poker laws on the back of SB 101, which is being pushed by State Senatior Jennifer Flanagan.

While addressing many of the reasons why it makes sense to regulate and legalize online poker in Massachusetts, including economic viability, Pappas also addressed concerns such as safety issues.

“Today, in the U.S. and in regulated markets throughout the world, it is required that Internet gaming companies employ “best of breed” technologies that protect minors and problem gamblers, ensure that the games are fair, and that sites block players in prohibited jurisdictions,” he said. ”These mandatory safeguards are even more restrictive than those employed in brick-and-mortar casinos today.”

There are 22,000 registered PPA members in Massachusetts, and the grassroots group, with a total US membership of over one million poker players, has urged them to push lawmakers for the inclusion of online poker in SB101.


PPA Begins Massachusetts Online Poker Campaign