Online Casino News and Information

Back in October, the European Parliament’s internal market committee adopted a resolution on online gambling. At the time Clive Hawkswood, Remote Gambling Association chief executive committed that

“The most important questions are whether these recommendations will lead to any concrete action and, if so, when. Although a directive is being mooted, there is no legislative action planned at this point and we all know from long experience how fiercely any form of harmonization will be opposed by some Member States.”

On Nov. 16^th the European Parliament voted on and agreed on the online gambling resolution. The Remote Gambling Association came out praising the more progressive parts of the resolution.  Clive Hawkswood again came out with a statement saying in part,

“The European Parliament’s resolution demonstrates a marked change in approach.  It now wants to regulate rather than prohibit and it is pressing the commission to act against member states which unjustifiably restrict access to their gambling markets. The resolution is clear, reminding the commission of its ‘duty to act swiftly upon receipt of complaints about violations of the freedoms enshrined in the Treaties.’ The licensed private remote gambling sector is in full support of those remarks.”

The RGA chief executive concluded his statement by saying;

“There has been a welcome advance in understanding of the licensed remote gambling sector by many MEPs and recognition of the important economic role it plays in stimulating growth and innovation. Fundamentally, however, we should remember that this is a non-legislative process. The next steps in relation to the parliament’s resolution and the commission’s deliberations regarding its Green Paper exercise are unclear. In the meantime, we will continue to work with receptive and forward thinking member states and to press the commission to enforce EU law.”

With one online gambling Congressional meeting done, a house panel plans to look deeper into the issue starting this week. The issue at hand is internet gambling and the efforts to legalize online poker.

The Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade has set a hearing Nov. 18^th according to officials, there has not been a list of speakers released as of yet.

The last subcommittee session last month talked about legalizing, regulating, and taxing online poker. Currently overseas sites make millions of U.S. players even though the U.S. government is trying to outlaw play.

The Subcommittee chair in the October session was Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif. And she heard Indian Tribes, coalitions and representatives for both poker players and casino companies. At the time she promised more meetings to hear from state officials and the Commerce and Justice departments.

Poker advocates have called on the House-Senate “supercommittee” on reducing the U.S. debt to add an online gaming initiative among the recommendations.  This as seemed to spark interest and if anything can be read into the many meetings now being called, at least it shows that there is clear movement on online gambling in Congress and possible we are seeing a positive momentum set in.

“I hope to sketch a new road map for the journey ahead.” That is what Brian Sandoval, Governor of Nevada said as he announced that he will be reviving the Gaming Policy Committee at the State Bar of Nevada’s Gaming Law Conference.

The committee is made up of 11 members and their discussions could eventually lead to the making of policy, decisions, regulations and legislation of the gaming industry in Nevada.

Sandoval added that, “We will preserve our position as the gold standard in gaming regulation and in the provision of gaming entertainment. We will be second to none on the globe.”

The Gaming Policy Committee was created in 1961 by then Governor Grant Sawyer, Sandoval actual served as the Chairman of the commission from 1999 to 2001. Though a subcommittee met in 2007, the full group has not met since the 80’s.

Sandoval also announces he has asked Mark Lipparelli, Chairman for the Nevada Gaming Control Board, and Peter Bernhard, Chairman for the Nevada Gaming Commission to join the Gaming Policy Committee and added;

Nevada’s success in capitalising on the emergence of Internet poker will depend on the strength of its leadership as a sophisticated regulator of gaming.

We can only imagine what technology will bring in another ten years and there are policy implications for us in that world of rapid change.

We will examine issues ranging from specific technological devices to the world of the Internet to the impact we may someday see on our tax policy from an infrastructure in a changed cybereconomy in which gamers will not necessarily need to be on the casino floor.

With billions on the line, people like Donald Trump and the major casino companies are rushing to get into the right position to take advantage of if and when the United States regulates online gambling.

The MGM Resorts announced this week their poker alliance with Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, the company that owns Party Poker, the second largest online poker service worldwide and the World Poker Tour.

Jim Murren, chief of MGM Resorts said in a statement;

“MGM is proud to have bwin.party as our partner as they have the assets and experience that, combined with our brands, can ensure a secure, fair and entertaining online poker experience.”

Of course this is all contingent on an online gambling regulatory regime being started on either a local or state level. This bet on an online regulation seems to be where all the big money is heading. Boyd Gaming also announced it is entered into an online poker alliance with Bwin.Party as well.

According to Jim Ryan, co-chief executive of Bwin.party they have been working on both these alliances for the past 18 months. Bwin.party is slated to own 65% of the proposed joint venture, while MGM will own 25% and Boyd will own 10%. Bwin.Party will also license its technology to both MGM and Boyd so they can offer online poker under their own brands as well.

According to Ryan, “The intention of the joint venture is to take the PartyPoker brand and the World Poker Tour brand and our operating expertise and combine that with the regulatory expertise of MGM and Boyd.  Effectively you will have four brands in the U.S. and all four brands will be acquiring players and putting them in one hub, one poker network.”

The U.S. poker market has been the world’s largest even as the U.S. try’s to curtail as much as it can. Now, the U.S. casino industry has made an about face and is pushing for regulation to regulate online gambling market either on the state or federal level.

The rules for online gambling in Germany are changing and though it seems that Germany is relaxing its grip a little, it is not far enough according to the Remote Gambling Association (RGA) and some of Europe’s largest online gambling operators.

Currently 15 of the 16 German States have a adopted a policy that will follow the French model that taxes all bets at 5%, far lower than the originally planned 16.67%. The total allowed licenses will also increase from the current 7 to twenty.  This seems to come as a direct response from a complaint from the European Commission.

Will this be enough to bring the legal squabbling to a close about Germany’s monopoly run online gambling laws? Not according to Betfair who has stated:

“The detailed opinion of the EU Commission contained several points of contention with the original proposals which have not yet been addressed, and in our opinion the final makeup of the new state treaty in Germany therefore remains uncertain.”

Bwin.Party also issued a statement about the 15 states saying:

“The announcement by the 15 federal prime ministers today is a step forward, but in formulating the final decisions the important thing is find a solution that is in line with market realities and at the same time is compliant with EU law.”

The 16^th state, Schleswig-Holstein, has already passed a different set of online gambling regulations and though that would considered by most to be more in line with what the E.U. was looking for. It was hoped that the other 15 states would follow suit but now it seems the other states have invited Schleswig-Holstein to join in on their deal.

Clive Hawkswood, Chief Executive of the Remote Gambling Association said that:

“The European Commission has repeatedly stated that the draft State Treaty falls foul of EU law and the latest version appears to make little headway in meeting the Commission’s concerns. In fact, such an approach simply makes the Schleswig-Holstein proposal more attractive and creates a fragmented, confusing and undesirable situation for German consumers.”

Internet Gambling: Is there a fair bet? -  That was the name of the hearing today by the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trades. Hopefully this was another step towards regulating and legalizing online gambling in the United States.

Some like Poker Players Alliance chairman and former Sen. Alfonso D’Amato (R-N.Y.) say it is inevitable.

“The status quo is badly broken and benefits no one,” D’Amato said. “Internet poker has not gone away and it’s hard to envision a scenario where it will.”

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas)has legislation he presented this summer that would legalize online poker said;

“I learned to play poker, believe it or not, in the Boy Scouts. If you learned something in the Boy Scouts, it has to be a good thing.”

Maybe that’s an over dramatization but it does seem the way most people are thinking these days. The Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative released this press release concerning todays hearing.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Experts testified today that government oversight and regulation of Internet gambling activity in the U.S. presents the best opportunity to protect consumers at a hearing titled, “Internet Gambling: Is there a fair bet?”  Setting the stage for the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trades hearing was the recent Full Tilt Poker indictment, which further exposed the failure to provide guaranteed safeguards for U.S. consumers.  Pending legislation to regulate the industry, which has gained bi-partisan support, would ensure consumer safeguards, generate tens of billions in new government revenue and create tens of thousands of new jobs.

“People are playing poker on the Internet in the U.S. for money today,” said Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX).  ”It’s not regulated and so these sites are offshore, overseas and, consequently, outside the ability for us to tax the winnings and make sure it’s a fair game.”

A researcher of gambling behavior among high school and college aged youth, Dan Romer, associate director of The Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania and the director of its Adolescent Communication Institute (ACI), testified that federal regulation provides the best opportunity to protect our youth.

“[B]y controlling online gambling the federal government could minimize the harm that this activity can inflict on the young and their families and could also make the use of these sites safer for them,” concluded Romer in his written testimony.

Currently, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement and Protection Act (UIGEA) of 2006 does not prevent Americans who want to gamble online from doing so, leaving many exposed to the dangers of fraud, identity theft, and compulsive gambling.  This very sizeable underground marketplace does not benefit the U.S. economy in any way.  The only beneficiaries are offshore operators, who exploit the U.S. laws.

“Members of Congress heard valuable testimony today on the ineffectiveness of existing laws that attempt to prohibit online gambling. As many as 10 million Americans, who continue to gamble online, are being left at risk,” said Michael Waxman, spokesperson for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative.  ”It’s time for Congress to take control of this already-thriving underground marketplace to protect consumers, create new jobs and stimulate our economy.”

Earlier this month, Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) in a written submission encouraged the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, also known as the “supercommittee,” to include provisions to regulate and tax Internet gambling activity as part of its deficit-reduction package.

Several bills have been introduced this year to regulate online gambling activity.  The Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act (H.R. 1174), introduced by Representative John Campbell (R-CA), includes language identical to what was overwhelmingly approved last year by the House Committee on Financial Services.  It would implement practical and enforceable standards to control Internet gambling activity and protect consumers. Additionally, the Internet Gambling Prohibition, Poker Consumer Protection, and Strengthening UIGEA Act of 2011 (H.R. 2366), introduced by Representative Joe Barton (R-TX), would regulate online poker and strengthen attempts to block unlawful Internet gambling activity.

H2 Gambling Capital, the leading supplier of data and market intelligence regarding the global gambling industry, projected in a report released last year that regulating all forms of Internet gambling except sports wagering in the U.S. would generate a gross expenditure of $67 billion over five years and 25,470 new jobs.

What is the worst thing that anyone could do to Donald Trump…take money out his pockets and according to him that is exactly what is happening.

It seems Mr. Trump, founder of a casino company in Atlantic City, says it’s time for the United Stated to take steps to approve online gambling. His company, Trump Entertainment Resorts, is making plans to be ready as soon as it happens by establishing its own online betting venue.

His company is close to selecting a joint venture partner to help them run an online gambling operation and hopes it will be sitting on the ground floor ready to launch as soon as online gambling is legalized in the United States.

Trump said that having the best brand is the key to a successful online gambling site and that “We think we have the hottest brand there is, the Trump brand, my personal brand, we think it’s going to do phenomenally well.”

The company’s CEO Robert Griffin had this to say not only about online gambling but also about the resent set back in New Jersey concerning regulating online gambling;

“Currently, millions of Americans engage in online gaming with illegal offshore operators, and do so with no oversight, no regulation or no consumer protections. It makes sense for the state of New Jersey to regulate this activity, enforce strict standards to ensure games are fair and safe, and in turn be able to collect tax revenue instead of having those dollars and the jobs they support leaving New Jersey and going illegally overseas.”

For U.S. online gamblers, it looks like the time is coming to make their case before Congress. Tuesday the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade has scheduled a hearing on U.S. online gambling.

The panel will most likely be discussing the legislation introduced by Reps. Joe Barton, R-Texas, and Barney Frank, D-Mass but not specifically on online poker.  Rep. Barton said:

“I am pleased that (Chairwoman Mary) Bono-Mack is holding a hearing on the important issue of Internet gaming.”

“It’s a first step to showing why the current law is a lose-lose for everyone — the public, the taxpayer, the banking industry and the people who want to play poker openly and honestly on the Internet,” he added.

The biggest argument from supporters has been that American’s are playing online anyway, particularly online poker and are doing so from offshore sites offering little in consumer protection.

The American Gaming Association has recently changed its position in support of online gambling pointing at the latest Justice Department indictments as the main reason for the change.

Full Tilt poker has been accused of cheating its players out of millions of dollars and players in the U.S. are left with little they can do to ashore they get their money back. The AGA is pushing for regulation from Congress to legalize and regulate online poker so players will be assured of such protection.

A company executive for American Wagering Inc. said last week that their application for allowing sports wagering from IPhones has been approved by the Nevada Gaming Control Board.  This would make American Wagering d.b.a. Leroy’s Horse and Sports Place Inc. the first gaming company in the U.S. to have a free sports application in the iTunes store.

John English, senior vice president for business development and public affairs, stated “This means we are available through all the major carriers.  We now cover 90 percent of the Nevada smartphone market.”

The company’s application is free to download but you will have to open a new customer account before you are allowed to bet. There are other applications planned as well including one for the iPads and Windows based phones and tablets.

The app will now be tested for 30 to 180 days so that it can be evaluated by regulators for its efficiency and security. There is also a plan to add race boo features in the near future.

It has been less than a month since state regulators approved a deal between American Wagering and Golden Gaming Inc. to place betting kiosks in 37 PT’s Pubs, PT’s Gold and Sierra Gold taverns in Las Vegas.

Vic Salerno, chief executive officer of American Wagering and Leroy’s states that “The new addition of iPhone enables all of our mobile customers to enjoy complete compatibility with our PT’s Sportsbet Live kiosks. Once a customer establishes a Leroy’s wagering account, there is full integration between PT’s kiosks and our mobile phone accounts.”

California is not being left behind Las Vegas in launching their free online poker sites. The groups that want make online gambling in legal in California hope that this will show lawmakers how popular this idea will be.

Like other states, California’s bid to become the first state to allow online gambling within its borders stalled this year.  Proponents though are already looking towards January to renew their efforts.

A group of card room owners and casino owning tribes got together this year and formed the California Online Poker Association and sponsored Senate Bill 40 that would legalize online poker in California. COPA spokesperson Ryan Hightower said, “This is pretty much what online poker would look like as a real money game. It will absolutely serve as an example of the popularity of online poker in California.”

Monday, the group launched CalShark.com, a free online poker website for U.S. players. The Barona tribe launched its website as well last month. Obviously there is no money involved for the brink and mortar casinos but there is an opportunity to introduce a brand to the online gambling world.  It shouldn’t be long before the money will follow.

According to lobbyist David Quintana,

“Right now just about every single tribe that’s not (part of the California Online Poker Association) is at work at some level doing the same thing.  So there are going to be more free sites in California than you can shake a stick at.”

“It’s branding, creating customer loyalty, getting a database,” he added. “Then when something happens to make it legal they can flip the switch from a free site to a paid site.”

According to a poll conducted last month, 53% of California support legalizing and taxing online poker. Looks like the race is on and maybe January will finally see an online poker proposal everyone can live with.