The idea that online gambling is illegal all over in the USA is false and here are the facts that prove it.
First of all, internet wagering on the horse races has never been outlawed by the government and it is legal in states that allow it. A company called TVG is one of several companies offering traditional pari-mutuel betting on horse racing in states where it's legal. TVG was acquired in 2009 by BetFair, a London UK online gambling firm. To that end BetFair, recently opened a technical hub which employs about 75 people in San Francisco, California. The firm is planning to release a product in May that could not only transform betting on the horse races but could also save the declining fortunes of the U.S. horse racing industry.
BetFair which claims an annual global revenue of just over $500 million has developed the exchange concept of betting, in which online gamblers place bets against one another. As an example if a punter wants to bet on a particular horse to win and another bettor thinks that particular horse won't finish first, BetFair will broker the bet and take a commission.
Exchange betting has not yet been authorized in California, but a law passed last year will make it legal starting in May, which, is when BetFair plans to open its online exchange.
Not only does BetFair let racing fans bet against one another, it allows them to bet in ways they can't with traditional wagering.
Stephen Burn, Head of BetFair's San Francisco office, comments, "You can keep betting in the middle of a race," Burn continued to explain, betting can continue until the results are posted, so "if there's a photo finish, you can keep betting until a result is announced."
Whether or not the advent of exchange betting will save the horse racing industry, remains to be seen. Stay posted.
A new state Racing and Gaming Commission study projects an online poker operator could make between $13 million and $60 million yearly if lawmakers choose to legalize the activity for Iowa residents.
The report also showed the level of new gaming could increase the state's gambling revenue between $3 million and $13 million annually if one or more online poker operators paid roughly the same tax level on profits that's currently assessed to most of the state-licensed riverboats and racetrack-casinos.
The study, released Thursday, is meant to frame the possible regulatory structure and safeguards the commission would use should lawmakers decide to allow intrastate online poker games. The legislative session starts in January.
"Our goal was fact-finding and information-gathering that could help the legislators who might face bills to be better informed so they could make a public policy decision that was in the best interest of Iowa," said commission Administrator Jack Ketterer.
Ketterer believes the Racing and Gaming Commission would be able to regulate the online poker activity should legal hurdles be cleared. The study did not recommend how officials should vote.
"How strictly it could be regulated might differ in different legislators' eyes," he said. "Our goal was to inform them as to what's out there, what is the status of the industry right now, and then they can hopefully draw conclusions as to whether this is something that can or can't be regulated to their personal desire and that they would be comfortable with."
Sharon Haselhoff, the general manager of the Grand Falls Casino Resort near Larchwood, Iowa, reviewed the study and said it's too early to determine the possible impact on the state's gaming industry.
"It really depends on what the end result of any legislation would look like," Haselhoff said.
She said online gaming may benefit traditional casinos because the venues would administer the gambling accounts.
"It all depends on how it's structured," Haselhoff said. "I think this is definitely worth continuing to study, and we'll continue to watch it closely."
The study indicates the tax rate might be adjusted to reflect that an online operation would not have the same costs as a traditional casino operation.
Projections from several models used in the commission's research estimated the number of online poker players at between 34,500 and 172,500.
Gambling industry officials said last session that an estimated 150,000 Iowa players already are engaging in online poker via illegal offshore operations.
Commission staff attempted to verify that claim and another estimate that the illegal activity would result in up to $35 million in yearly tax revenue in the state if lawmakers brought it under state regulation, but was unable to get corroborating data from industry officials who did not want to divulge proprietary information.
Florida's gambling laws, thanks in part to special interest influence, are a hodgepodge that savvy attorneys have learned to exploit.
By Michael Vasquez
As Florida considers ushering in a new era of casino mega-resorts, a dispute in the tiny Panhandle town of Gretna has focused attention on the state’s existing gambling landscape — and the considerable confusion that surrounds it.
Florida’s current gambling laws, some say, are so haphazard, so disjointed, that no one can even agree on what the term “horse racing” means anymore.
If you’re thinking of the Kentucky Derby, think again. Gretna’s new Creek Entertainment barrel racing facility — which also will offer poker and hopes to add slots — has just opened, despite fervent opposition from the state’s horse trainers and breeders. Instead of racing around an oval track, these horses zig-zag around red barrels, rodeo-style.
The owners of Creek Entertainment — which include a savvy Gulfstream Park lobbyist who once tried to install slots at Miami International Airport — say the particulars of how the horses are running don’t matter. Florida’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation has agreed, and signed off on barrel racing as fully compliant with Creek Entertainment’s quarter horse racing permits.
By opting for unconventional barrel races, Creek Entertainment is poised to reap all the rewards of running a horse track, while avoiding the typical requirement of sharing profits with the horsemen.
“This is nothing more than a get-rich-quick scheme,” said Kent Stirling, executive director of the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association. “When this gets to court, they’re going to have a lot of questions to answer.”
Stirling and other horsemen are working to get a hearing before an administrative law judge, and the legal tussle will likely continue after that. Attorney Marc Dunbar, a Gulfstream Park lobbyist with an ownership stake in Creek Entertainment, says the dispute over his new track boils down to greedy horsemen who are unwilling to share racing purses with barrel racing riders. As for the notion that barrel racing isn’t true horse racing, Dunbar is incredulous.
“First of all, why is it called barrel racing?” Dunbar asked.
Of late, Dunbar has not only had to justify barrel racing, but he’s also been put on the defensive by accusations that influence-peddling played a role in the state approval of his racetrack. When Jim Barnes, a former investigator with the state’s Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering, retired last month, his farewell email to colleagues said he was joining the “dark side” and taking a job as head of security at the new barrel racing track. Dunbar insists that Barnes has not been hired and never even filled out an application.
When reached by a reporter, Barnes’ only comment was, “I really hope you don’t screw up my retirement job.”
These days, as horse racing fades in popularity but slot machines and poker generate huge profits, horse racing permits can be lucrative not because of the actual races but because, under Florida law, running horses entitles the permit holder to offer poker and sometimes slots. The same is true of jai-alai permits, which can allow casinos so long as the permit holder stages an even-less-popular gambling sport that features acrobatic men bouncing a ball off a wall.
The owners of Miami’s Flagler Dog Track/Magic City Casino recently obtained a summer jai-alai permit using a 30-year-old loophole in state gambling laws. The new permit allows construction of a new casino/jai-alai fronton anywhere in Miami-Dade County. Even if no one shows up to bet on jai-alai, the casino could post a heavy profit through poker and slots. For now, Flagler’s owners have yet to unveil any concrete plans for what they might do with the new permit.
In Broward, influential developer Ron Bergeron is pursuing a jai-alai permit, with the possibility of building a facility in Weston. Bergeron’s attorney in that jai-alai bid is David Romanik, a Florida gambling law expert who also has a stake in Gretna’s barrel racing operation. The state’s gambling laws, he said, are the result of decades of lobbyist influence — a dog track or horse track, looking to boost the bottom line, will convince a lawmaker to insert a beneficial clause or two.
The frequent goal, Romanik said, is to reward just one particular company, but writing specialized laws like that is unconstitutional. So the law is broadened just a touch, making it conceivable, but perhaps unlikely, that the new law could apply to someone else.
But that kind of legal wording can lead to legal loopholes big enough for attorneys in the know to exploit later on, Romanik said.
“The statutes are published, so they’re available for anyone to read,” Romanik said. But, he added, “I think you have to have specialized knowledge to be able to connect the dots.”
The notion of insider attorneys driving Florida’s gambling policy strikes state Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff as all wrong. Bogdanoff, a Fort Lauderdale Republican, is sponsoring a bill in the Legislature this year that would allow three large-scale “destination” casinos to open in South Florida. Though disagreements over the wisdom of allowing more casinos has dominated the public debate so far, Bogdanoff’s bill would also set up a statewide gaming commission that could, in theory, replace Florida’s hodgepodge of gambling laws with clear, understandable rules of the road.
The current slew of loophole-exploiting gambling proposals proves an legal overhaul is necessary, Bogdanoff told a gathering of Broward business leaders last week.
“I couldn’t have written the script better myself,” Bogdanoff said.
Why couldn’t Florida’s gambling guidelines be updated without approving new casinos? Bogdanoff says she’s tried a stand-alone regulation bill in the past and it got nowhere in the Legislature. But this time, the three casinos’ provision could end up killing t
Gov. Steve Beshear said Thursday that it’s time for Kentucky to finally address the question of whether to expand gambling and that he’s consulting with lawmakers about the best way to accomplish that in the 2012 General Assembly.
A constitutional amendment may stand a better chance of passage than a simple change in existing law, he said — because it gives the final say to voters.
Beshear’s remarks, after a speech to the Kentucky Farm Bureau’s annual convention at the Galt House in Louisville, were his first extensive comments on the gambling question since his re-election last month.
“I think the time has come to address it one way or the other,” he said.
Previous efforts to expand gambling — something racetracks and breeders argue is necessary to compete with other states that use casino revenues to help their horse industries — have all failed, even though Beshear made it the centerpiece of his successful 2007 campaign for governor.
A proposed 2008 constitutional amendment died in the House. A bill approved in a 2009 special session, which would have allowed slot machines at tracks without amending the constitution, passed the House but was defeated in a Senate committee.
But a potential standoff looms as to which approach will be taken in the 2012 session, which begins next month.
House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, has said he doesn't believe a constitutional amendment is necessary to authorize expanded gambling and previously has advocated a change in state law.
“The House has already voted once on this issue, and it is now up to the Senate to act in good faith,” Stumbo said in a statement released by his office Thursday. “If they send us legislation, we will take a look at it.”
He also said he would keep an “open mind” to any approach.
Some prominent Senate Republicans — including President David Williams of Burkesville, who lost to Beshear in the governor's race last month — have said they believe an amendment could pass the Senate.
Williams released a statement mirroring what he said on the campaign trail, accusing Beshear of failing to lead on the issue. “After over four years, it seems that the governor is still formulating how he wants to address his primary agenda item, the expansion of gambling,” the statement said.
Williams’ spokeswoman, Lourdes Baez-Schrader, said the Senate president hasn’t heard from Beshear since election night and that the Republican Senate Caucus will meet Dec. 14-15 to continue work on its legislative agenda for the 2012 session.
Constitutional amendments require three-fifths’ approval in both chambers of the legislature and are then submitted to voters for ratification. A change in law next year would require only a majority vote in the two chambers, but it would be more likely than an amendment to encounter a lengthy legal challenge on grounds that it wouldn’t be adequate to authorize casino-style gambling.
House Democrats have been skittish about controversial amendments since losing seven seats in 2004 when an amendment banning same-sex marriage was on the ballot and was credited with driving up turnout.
But Beshear said he believes those concerns are unfounded.
“I think the idea that that issue being on the ballot in the fall of ’12 ... (will) somehow ... affect the turnout, I’m not sure how much substance that there is to that argument,” he said. “It’s going to be a presidential election. I mean that’s the biggest turnout we ever get in Kentucky or any other state.”
He said he doesn’t believe “an issue like (gambling) will make any difference in terms of the amount of turnout this particular November.”
The governor said he would support any approach that could pass and that he’s open to having expanded gambling at locations other than racetracks — so long as the tracks are included in the mix. His 2008 amendment proposal included casinos at tracks and other locations.
The racing industry argues that states such as Indiana, New York and Pennsylvania are attracting horses that otherwise would race in Kentucky because of purses and breeding incentives in those states that are supplemented with revenues from slots or broader casino gambling.The only movement on the issue in Kentucky has been the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission’s approval of the slot-like Instant Racing game, currently in use at Kentucky Downs along the Tennessee border in Franklin and approved for Ellis Park in Henderson.
The device uses results from old horse races to determine winners, without identifying the race to the gambler until after the bet is made. Proponents say it is legal pari-mutuel gambling, while opponents say it is just a slot machine.
A Franklin Circuit Court judge ruled last year that the game is legal, but the Family Foundation of Kentucky has appealed that decision to the Kentucky Court of Appeals, where the case is pending.
Martin Cothran, a Family Foundation spokesman, said Beshear’s comments about an amendment being the easier path show he either misunderstands Kentucky’s process “or he’s intentionally misrepresenting it.”
Cothran said legislators do more than take the politically easy route of just passing the issue to voters. Their vote is a vote for the amendment, and voters ratify the change.
“We’re hopeful that the governor’s wrong and we still have statesmen in the General Assembly,” he said.
Cothran also said he suspects the Republican-majority Senate would not take kindly to a Beshear-led initiative because going along “would be the equivalent of full surrender.”
The Kentucky Equine Education Project, a horse industry coalition, doesn’t care which approach legislators take, said executive director Patrick Neely. “We are open to any solution that will increase revenue into the industry,” he said.
Neely said KEEP will continue “to make the argument that our industry is at a competitive disadvantage.”
A spokesman for Churchill Downs did not immediately respond
The online gambling market in Denmark is set to enter the regulated phase early in 2012. Therefore it is expected that there will be a flurry of activity and lots of news in the online gambling sector emanating from Denmark.
The Danish Gambling Authority (DGA) has been reaching out to other European regulatory bodies and formalizing agreements of co-operation with them. It was reported that a bilateral cooperative and information sharing agreement has been signed with the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission. A similar collaboration has been agreed with the Alderney Gaming Control Commission, though there are no reports of an agreement being signed. However, the agreements will be formally implemented only after the Danish Gaming Act comes into force next year. Though the details have not been made public it is believed that the agreements include provisions to make a common standard of licensing more attainable, such as mutually agreed requirements and access to gambling systems for regulatory purposes. Operators would still have to go through the licensing formalities in other jurisdictions, but those who have successfully obtained a license in one of the signatory jurisdictions will find it easier to do in the other one. Industry experts have appreciated such moves as a middle of the path approach.
Another move by the DGA should also bring some relief to the prospective license applicants. It has notified the European Commission of a change in rules regarding the location of potential licensees' online gambling systems. The Authority will now consider applications from online gambling operators whose servers are located offshore in another jurisdiction, provided that that country's gambling authority has an agreement with the DGA or if the license holder can give the DGA access to perform adequate control of the gambling system by means of remote access. The DGA has announced plans to hold a hearing for interested online gambling operators in Copenhagen on December 20 on the impending liberalization of the market.
On a slightly different note, the Danish state gambling monopoly Danske Spil has released a tender for a software platform provider for sports betting operations in order to prepare itself for the market liberalization. The activities covered include fixed odds betting, pre-live betting, live betting and betting as pool games. The functions required in the software include listing of match details, odds determination, sales, bonuses and prize handling. The software has to be integrated into Danske Spil's sales channels with retailer terminals and Internet sales. The software provider will be required to handle full solution hosting and operations, must monitor communication channels to Danske Spil, and offer training for Danske Spil staff. At present Danske Spil uses a solution developed in-house.
Today’s mobile devises offer the fastest and most convenient way of accessing just about anything on the web. Online casinos are some punters favourite on mobile because one can have fun while waiting for the tube or keep up with the latest odds on a team or sport the player is following. All and all the speed factor and being able to play while away and a phone to boot to make your wager what more can be said about mobile online gambling, it’s the best thing since sliced bread.
Now as technology is leaping in bounds to accommodate the trend, smart phone designers are competing like nobody’s business to give the consumer more bang for the buck and features everyone has been waiting for. Enter the LG Nitro HD smartphone an android platform based newcomer to the growing number of amazing smart phones.
Originally planned to be out by December first 2011, AT&T announced that the new phone will be available for its 4G LTE network on December 4. Android casinos players are going to be pleased with this impressive machine. It has a 4.5 inch True HD AH-IPS screen with 1280x720p and a 1.5GHz dual-core monster complemented by 1GB of RAM. This is a phone that can fly with speed and agility bar none, If Santa needed a mobile devise he might just as well pick this one especially if the old boy likes to play online.
The impressive specs don’t stop there and include an 8MP camera with 1080p video capabilities and a LED flash. The 1.3MP front camera is quite good for video chatting. The 4GB of internal memory can be boosted up to 32GB via a microSD slot and it comes with a 16 GB card as a bonus from LG. At $250.00 this little gem may have a slot under the tree for a few mobile punters this year.
A loophole in federal gambling legislation is allowing an online casino to take money from Facebook punters but not pay out winnings in cash, leaving unsuspecting punters out of pocket.
The DoubleDown casino on Facebook gives players free chips - but once they are exhausted, punters are required to buy credits to continue to play online casino games such as poker and blackjack.
In a reminder to always read the fine print, the terms and conditions explicitly say "regardless of the terminology used, Virtual Currency and Virtual Goods may never be redeemed for "real world" money, goods or other items of monetary value from the Site or any other party."
But this has not stopped a flood of complaints to independent senator Nick Xenophon. A Facebook page condemning the site and warning others has also been set up by disillusioned users. A constituent contacted Senator Xenophon after he attempted to withdraw the chips, made a complaint, but was then blocked from the site by administrators.
Senator Xenophon wrote to the Australian Communications and Media Authority complaining that the US-based website was misleading and was in breach of online gaming laws.
ACMA told Senator Xenophon the website's content is not prohibited because it was not possible to win 'money or anything else of value' from playing the games provided, so it does not constitute a gambling website.
The Senator yesterday wrote to Communications Minister Stephen Conroy requesting an urgent meeting to discuss "a loophole in the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 which has allowed hundreds of Australians to lose money".
"People are paying real money to gamble on these sites," Senator Xenophon said. "But because these gamblers are forbidden by the sites from converting that virtual money back into real money, the sites aren't technically breaking any laws. This needs to change."
A review of online gambling laws began earlier this year and Senator Conroy's spokesman said online casino games were prohibited and could not be provided to Australians.
"Consumers participating in games purporting to be such things should think carefully as they are not regulated by Australian law," he said.
A spokesman for DoubleDown Casino said it took great pride in having built the world's largest virtual casino game on Facebook.
"We couldn't have done that without the millions of customers who return every day to enjoy free chips and our entertaining game. Casual gamers can play every day for free and it is entirely up to the user to decide if they wish to purchase virtual chips to play longer," he said.
"There are hundreds if not thousands of games on Facebook which accept virtual currency in the form of Facebook credits and we're proud to be one of Facebook's top 12 game partners."
Subsequent to European Parliament resolution instructing the European Commission (EC) to act against defaulting national online gambling jurisdictions, there have been complaints filed against Greece and Germany.
In the case of Greece the complainants are the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) and the Remote Gambling Association (RGA), who represent the majority of the largest European online gambling operators. It may be recalled that Greece enacted their online gambling law despite criticisms by the EC. The specific provisions complained against were listed in a joint statement from the EGBA and RGA, which are as follows. Licensed online gambling operators would be required to have a permanent base in Greece. They would have to engage in financial transactions through Greek banks. They must impose a higher age-limit restriction on online players than prevalent at land casinos. The complaint also states that the Greek Government has decided to grant OPAP, the state owned monopoly gambling operator, an extension of its existing license for an additional 10 years in an uncompetitive and non-transparent manner. OPAP pays no gambling tax on its offline activities, whereas online operators will be required to pay 30% tax on gross gaming revenue.
Sigrid Ligne, Secretary General of EGBA, said, "We trust the Commissioner will urgently investigate our compliant against Greece and take action accordingly against Greece as well as on several other pending complaints." Clive Hawkswood, Chief Executive of the RGA welcomed the opening of the Greek online gambling market, but expressed that action was warranted because the terms of regulation were contrary to the provision of the Treaties.
In the case of Germany the complaint has been filed by the online gambling operator Betfair. It challenges the draft German regulatory regime on grounds that it offers protection to German provincial monopolies. The complaint requests the EC to compel the German states to comply with European Court of Justice rulings and European Union free market principles. The complaint excludes the state of Schleswig Holstein, which has independently submitted a proposal that has been lauded by the online gambling industry.
The complaint could prevent the German states from securing EC approval by December 15. However, a spokesman from the Rhineland-Pfalz state said that not much importance is being attached to the complaint. The politicians were confident of obtaining the support of the EC in the dispute. The online gambling industry thinks otherwise. It may be recalled that European Court of Justice pointed out that the German states were vigorously marketing their monopolized online gambling services. In light of this the highest European court had turned down German claims that monopolized online gambling is necessary to control addictive gaming.
THE DEBATE over legalized gambling in Massachusetts is over, but we have only begun the most critical aspect of the law — its implementation.
Although I oppose the law, many of its negative effects can be mitigated by smart appointments and wise actions by a truly independent gambling commission.
With the power to decide who gets licenses, where they are located, what the standards and rules of the game will be, as well as regulating casinos, the new commission - once appointed by the governor, attorney general, and treasurer - must act quickly in several key areas to protect the public interest and ensure public confidence.
Choose independence over connections. Commissioners must be selected on the merits - demonstrated qualifications, independence, leadership experience, as well as reputations for being tough but smart, balanced, and honest. It should not matter whether appointees are for, against, or neutral on casinos. The key is the commitment to do the right thing and to demonstrate independence of judgment.
View membership as a public service. This commission cannot be a career stepping stone. It should be seen strictly as fulfilling a public service obligation and as an opportunity to instill public confidence in the capacity of government to perform as an open, transparent, efficient, and effective overseer.
Quickly showcase independence. The commission chair must quickly send the signal that merit, independence, skill, character, and performance will be the only criteria that will guide decision-making by showcasing the best human-resources practices in hiring the team of advisers and consultants.
Create a code of ethics and conduct. Given the current level of cynicism toward Beacon Hill and the pressure this commission will face, commissioners must develop a comprehensive set of governance, ethics, and compliance policies as well as a comprehensive code of conduct for all employees, vendors, and license applicants.
Establish the process for success. The commission must produce a clear set of standards by which all applicants for casino and slot licenses will be evaluated so the Commonwealth can attract the best licensees. And applicants must know they will be judged solely on the merits of their applications.
Centralize law enforcement functions. The commission must centralize all the regulatory and enforcement functions and make it clear what the organizational chain of command will be. This a key piece of what is missing from the new law. It is more important that the major agency in charge be clearly identified than which agency it is, and that the lead organization have all the powers necessary to ensure centrality and unity of enforcement.
Gauge impact prior to action. On a parallel track, the commission must do what supporters failed to do by initiating an independent economic study of the costs and benefits to use as the baseline for evaluating the casino legislation and the commission’s performance. At present, there is no valid measure of economic benefits or costs. If the commission does not fill this informational vacuum, they will never control the expectations or reality.
Engage the public — for real. Hold a series of public hearings around the Commonwealth, particularly in and around potential casino locations. Doing so will create a heretofore nonexistent level of public education and awareness of the general issues and challenges ahead. The commission should develop an interactive website and social media capacity to further this dialogue where the modern public truly lives, agree to comply with the open meeting laws, and schedule an annual statewide conference to ensure the dialogue continues.
The hard work on casinos and slots begins now — with truly independent-minded commissioners willing to stand up for the Commonwealth and its best interests.
It was Michael Jackson week on X Factor and no one seemed more unimpressed than Michael Jacksn's kids, Prince, Paris and an eerily aloof, Blanket. As the contestants belted out hit after Jackson hit, the camera would cut to Jackson's kids, who looked on, stonefaced.
Josh Krajcik gave a rock version of "Dirty Diana," which Simon Cowell had called "overproduced." Astro rapped to "Black or White" while Drew sang a hauntingly beautiful rendition of "Billy Jean" while seated in a chair. Young Rachel Crow sang an obscure Jackson song "Can You Feel It," which judges poo-pooed.
Marcus Canty, who wound up singing for his life, gave the audience a dance pop number. Chris Rene sang in a sparkly letterman jacket with an R&B version of "I'll Be There." And finally, favorite
Melanie Amaro got rave reviews from judges with an outstanding vocal performance of "Earth Song."
However, it was teen rapper Astro and folksy, soultry Drew who were eliminated.
Think you know who has the X Factor edge? Get your X Factor odds now in the Bodog Sportsbook!
X Factor - Odds to Win
Melanie Amaro 1/1
Josh Krajcik 9/4
Rachel Crow 3/1
Chris Rene 10/1
Marcus Canty 18/1
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Since the first offshore betting website opened in the late 1990s, government officials in the United States have set out to shut down the business. John Kyl, the Senator from Arizona who unashamedly announced that he hated everything about gambling, introduced a bill, The Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act to make it illegal for Americans to wager online. Kyl’s agenda when introducing the bill was to scare adults by suggesting they could lose everything in an unregulated environment. His tag line “click the mouse and lose the house” was specifically aimed at parents who should be worried that their kids would steal their credit card and bet the limit. He further argued that offshore bookies were unscrupulous and that underage betting couldn’t be prevented. The tactic didn’t work and Internet gambling continued to grow in the U.S. throughout the first half of the 2000s despite Kyl’s efforts. In fact there was an indication that by 2005 there was up to $12 billion being bet online in the U.S. While Kyl’s gambling bill went nowhere, others in Congress, inspired by his efforts tried to pass their own bills which they believed would be better accepted in the Senate. Robert Goodlatte and Jim Leach both believed that no law could pass that was targeted at bettors so they introduced bills that would make it illegal to process payments for online gambling transactions. In their opinions if the government could stop payment options to websites then it would effectively cut off the activity at its knees. After all, if no one could deposit or withdraw then there is no business. They were correct in believing the bill would be better accepted and the majority in supported the new bill. Moreover, the religious right came aboard to support the cause. Focus on the Family, for example, made it a mission of theirs to support a gambling ban and worked side by side with evangelicals in the Republican Party to achieve that objective. In 2006 Goodlatte and Leach’s bills were combined to form the UIGEA and the bill passed in Congress in the fall of 2006. The bill was then sent to the Senate for consideration but was given little chance of passing before the winter break. So in a last ditch attempt Congressmen Bill Frist attached the bill to the Safe Port Act, which was already guaranteed passage and the UIGEA became law.
Poll after poll indicated that the majority of Americans wanted the right to wager online but it seemed that few in the government were listening to their plea. One man, however, Barney Frank, the Democratic Congressmen from Massachusetts took up the gamblers’ cause and made it a mission to overturn the UIGEA which he called “one of the stupidest laws ever passed.” Frank himself isn’t a gambler, but he said that he couldn’t personally support a law that does not harm the general public and is a clear intrusion on personal liberty.
"If it affects me, mind your own business," he said. "If affects others, let the government get involved." The issue of online gambling went before the House Financial Services Committee on several occasions as that committee oversees the area of gambling and until 2007 the chairman was Alabama Congressman Spencer Bachus, who had no sympathy for anyone connected to online gambling. He argued that gambling was immoral and proceeded to support that notion by providing numerous nonsensical arguments relating to the danger of the activity. Each time, Barney Frank was present to present the gambler’s side of the equation but wasn’t able to make much headway. That changed in the fall of 2006, when the Democrats gained control of the House and Barney Frank was appointed Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. His impact was immediate. He set out to stop the implementation of the UIGEA, which had just passed months prior by introducing HR2266, a law that tried to stop implementation of the UIGEA for one year as well as a companion bill, HR2267, The Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act, which was aimed at taxing, regulating and heavily monitoring gambling in the United States. The bill initially planned to exempt all forms of gambling from the UIGEA but sports betting was excluded from the bill when Frank conceded that the leagues have far too powerful a lobby and it was unlikely to gain any traction unless sports was excluded. The bill, however, called for the immediate legalization of poker which Frank said was a game of skill and should never have been included in the UIGEA in the first place. Not surprisingly, those comments made Frank an immediate hit in the poker industry and he was featured numerous times by the Poker Player’s Alliance. Other bills to legalize poker were introduced prior to Frank’s bill such as Robert Wexler’s Skill Game Protection Act, but none gained much support. Frank’s bill, on the other hand, got immediate support and eventually garnered 70 co-sponsors on both sides of the House. Frank was determined to ensure that the bill would be bi-partisan. Perhaps Frank’s biggest achievement was getting the backing of Republican Ron Paul, who said that as a libertarian he couldn’t justify telling Americans how to spend their own money. Paul also became an instant celebrity in the online gambling field and it is hoped that he will take up Frank’s cause when he leaves.
When drawing up his bill, Frank told reporters that he reread John Stuart Mill's "On Liberty" before finalizing it. The book talked about the ‘tyranny of the majority’ where Mills believed that if left untouched the majority will develop a superiority complex and act in a way that oppresses individual freedom. No doubt Frank believed that was exactly what was happening with the UIGEA, where the Republican majority was instilling their own moral values on the American public despite the fact that few wanted it and it didn’t benefit anyone.
One of Frank’s most memorable actions as Chairman occurred in
Today throughout Florida, parents are helping their kids with homework. High school students are preparing for the SAT and applying to colleges. Citizens are applying for jobs that they hope and pray they will get.
We owe these Floridians a strategy to build a robust and diverse economy. In doing so, we could learn from the words of FedEx founder and CEO Fred Smith, who says, "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing."
Unfortunately, some politicians in Tallahassee have set their sights lower -- much lower, so the main thing they will be discussing during the upcoming legislative session in Tallahassee is not luring new jobs in aerospace, computer simulation, life sciences, knowledge-based industries or manufacturing. Instead, the main thing they'll be talking about is high-stakes casino gambling.
The Florida Legislature is considering a bill that provides for a historic expansion of gambling in Florida. In fact, a Malaysian gambling conglomerate has hired 23 lobbyists to push their idea of building the biggest casino in the history of the world here in Florida. It would be almost twice the size of what is today the world's largest casino, and would be as big as the casinos in the Mirage, the Wynn, the Bellagio, the Venetian, the MGM Grand and Caesar's Palace combined. And the bill would allow up to three such "destination casinos" to be built (until the Legislature adds more).
The problem is that gambling is not real economic development. There is no product or service. It is merely an efficient re-distributor of money. It is an industry that is predatory in every way. When casinos go into a developed tourism economy, they cannibalize existing jobs and businesses. That's because casinos give away as loss leaders things that are otherwise sold for a profit by local businesses. These "comps" of cheap or free hotel rooms and meals are designed to keep people in the casino. In fact, when casinos opened in Atlantic City, 40 percent of the restaurants and a third of the retail establishments went out of business.
Those who believe casinos would be good for our economy need to take a closer look at Nevada. Nevada leads America in unemployment, with a jobless rate that is 30 percent higher than Florida's. It leads America in foreclosures, with a foreclosure rate nearly 400 percent that of Florida's. It leads America in personal bankruptcy. Nevada's addiction to gambling also takes its toll in terms of social costs. It is a leader in per-capita spending for law enforcement and has the highest divorce rate in America.
Casino gambling has also proven to be a lousy springboard into economic diversification, as evidenced by the fact that no Fortune 500 companies outside of the casino industry are headquartered in Nevada.
This track record is why Florida's leading business organizations -- the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, the Florida Attractions Association and the Florida Retail Federation -- all oppose this expansion of gambling.
Not only would the proposed mega-casinos cannibalize existing jobs and businesses, they also rack up social costs borne by taxpayers: Counseling and treatment for compulsive gamblers and public support for the families they leave destitute, the cost of regulation, lost productivity, law enforcement, crime, insurance claims -- the list goes on and on. According to the Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling, 35 percent of addicted Florida gamblers who call their hotline admit to committing crimes in order to support their addiction or pay gambling debts. Gambling promoters almost never acknowledge these impacts, much less try to account for their costs.
Anyone concerned about honesty and integrity in government should also be leery about legalizing full-scale casino gambling in our state. In fact, the last time there were proposals to build big-time casinos in Florida, one casino company put the sitting speaker of the Florida House of Representatives on its payroll. He went to federal prison, for, among other things, failing to pay taxes on the $250,000 he was paid by the casino company.
Unlike other states that have gone the big-time gambling route, we in Florida have much more to lose. Our family-friendly brand has for generations made Florida a global leader in tourism. Las Vegas tried to promote itself as a family destination in the 1990s. They failed, and have opted for the more apropos "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" moniker.
The parents helping their kids with homework and the high school students applying to colleges tonight want and deserve a bright future. They want Florida to aim for the top, not race to the bottom. They aren't interested in jobs with titles like card dealer or pit boss. Their aspirations are higher. Ours for Florida should be too.
Gambling architect Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, has again, after more than 20 years, decided to bet the future of Gary and Northwest Indiana on expanded gambling.
The plan is legislation to combine two licenses into one and build a land-based casino near Interstate 65 and the Borman Expressway.
It bothers me that the attempts to save Gary through gambling have not worked and are not likely to work in the future. Gambling prospers the owners, but is not the way to lift a community. The profits are carried away and produce no new wealth. Money is simply transferred from the gambler’s pocket to the owner’s pocket.
Billionaire Warren Buffett has kept gambling out of Omaha, Neb., for that reason.
Municipalities across the river in Iowa have not prospered. The same is obvious in Northwest Indiana, as layoffs are occurring.
Porter County rejected casino boat gambling in 1993 by an overwhelming 20,790 to 15,186 and is prospering. Gary, meanwhile, has been near bankruptcy.
Although Indiana counties voting on casino referendums voted 106,158 to 105,294 against them, we ended up with 11 casino boats.
Predatory gambling does not solve infrastructure and municipal problems. Barden Enterprises owned two casinos in NWI and went bankrupt. Minnesota-based Wayzata has taken over the licenses and is trying to carry out the plan of Rogers and Rep. Charlie Brown for a land-based casino.
Why would Rogers and Brown want to start what experts have predicted will fail?
According to published reports, overall casino revenues in Indiana and the northwest corner are falling. Total revenues in NWI dropped to $89.3 million in October, a decline of 4.75 percent from one year ago.
The gambling industry employs 13,100 people statewide — its lowest level this century.
I have suggestions.
Put the gambling expansion before an objective economics panel to examine the gambling impact on Northwest Indiana.
Are we seeking to become what Jack Binion forecast as the “Las Vegas of the Midwest”? Will a land-based casino divert high-tech industries from locating in the region? What will be the impact on other businesses, such as the closing of Phil Smidt’s?
Is it time to retire the Rogers-Brown proposal and start innovative thinking for Northwest Indiana?
The Oct. 23 Post-Tribune reported that Sen. Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso, was willing to co-sponsor the bill for a land-based casino. I have talked to the senator and now find him undecided.
I have another suggestion for those who support the Rogers-Brown bill.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Nov. 3 proposed that the casino industry be required to send out monthly statements of wins and losses to all patrons. This way, gamblers will find out if they are gamblers or donors.
In the movie “Casino,” Robert DeNiro said, “Nobody wins at a casino but the owners.”
Politicians need to think carefully about leading NWI into the “Las Vegas of the Midwest” and the expansion of predatory gambling.
If the Legislature is foolish enough to adopt such a predatory gambling proposal, I suggest they add the proposal of the Nov. 3 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the casino industry send out monthly statements of wins and losses to all patrons.
One Baltic State sets changes to improve the nations gambling industry and bring in due taxation monies
Serbian lawmakers have just announced new changes to gaming laws there. The government hopes that fewer illegal operators will be able to profit from active gamblers located in the country. In addition, they expect improvements in the issue of money laundering, which apparently had been a problem for the country. For those in the gaining industry as well as for gamers themselves, these changes are devised to clarify misunderstandings and cloudy rules.
The trade association JAKTA announced that it welcomes these innovations to the existing gaming scene; this follows their meeting with the Serbian Gaming Board once the regulations had been approved.
JAKTA president Mirjana Acimovic put it this way, “We are very optimistic," and continued, “We can see that our conscientious work in gathering the relevant facts about gaming markets in the former Yugoslavia and the rest of Europe has been worthwhile. We compared different national regulatory models and collaborated with relevant partners such as testing laboratories, reputable companies and associations. JAKTA put a lot of effort into lobbying the government for the creation of a well-regulated gaming market.”
The head of the Serbian Gaming Board, Aleksandar Vulovic, also remarked about the changes: “The new law will lead to the opening up of the online gaming market.
“There are three really important things that have been passed in this law.” Vulovic said the biggest concern is monitoring online gaming, the next is observing operators and the third issue is bringing in the monies from taxes that are due them.
Serbia will put into place a monitoring system to see what is happening in the industry within the Baltic nation. It hopes that by structuring a fair taxation scheme, protecting online players and offering legal gambling, the future of gaming in the country will be much improved.
Battle lines regarding online gambling in the Euro Zone are being drawn and the map is looking like it will split the European Union into many different sectors despite calls from European members of parliament to keep the laws equal for all.
The next step on the road to unilateral laws for online gambling operators will be rocky as Belgium plans to create a black list of unlicensed online gambling web sites. The country is asking that money processors and internet service providers police the industry with the usual penalties in place for not complying.
At the moment there are only eight legally authorized operators that offer betting services to the public in Belgium. Of those legal sites it has been estimated by the Belgian Gaming Commission that only a small percentage of Belgian players use these services. More than three times as many punters use the ‘illegal’ unlicensed web locations to play. Big operators such as, PMU, Partouche, and PokerStars are not getting the numbers that they would expect.
Belgian Gaming Commission regulatory chief Peter Naessens weighed in on the situation in Belgium revealing that the market could handle as many as twenty licensed operators and that there is one company not expected to be added to that list in the near future. Amalgamated bwin.party has been objecting to the rules despite court decisions that say they are wrong. Naessens said, “they’re not interested in having a license or saying they don’t need one as the Belgian gambling act is not compatible with EU law.”
Protests from industry groups like the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) and the Remote Gambling Association (RGA) have been constant and loud as Belgium claims it is creating the black list in order to protect the rights of Belgian punters who it says are being taken advantage of by illegal operators.
Britain was one of the few growth markets for casinos and online gambling in 2010, driven by the popularity of gaming machines, although the global industry is set to rocket by almost 10 per cent a year, figures suggest.
Revenues from casinos and online gaming activities rose by 0.6 per cent in the UK last year, according to the consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). It predicts that global revenues in the casino and online gaming industry will grow by 9.2 per cent a year until 2015, rising from $117.6bn (£75.4bn) in 2010 to $182.8bn in 2015. The principal growth will be in Asia, with Macau the "jewel in the crown".
While the UK casino market totalled $1.2bn, gaming machines in generated more than $3bn. The online gaming industry has continued to evolve, PwC said, adding that the UK was the largest legal online gaming market.
David Trunkfield, the lead gaming partner at PwC, said further growth in Britain was likely to be supported by the opening of 16 new casinos next year. He expects that new casinos will "help to generate gains averaging 4.1 per cent compounded annually between 2012 and 2015".
But Mr Trunkfield warned that the pressures on UK consumers would lead to casino revenues falling in 2011, before showing a slight advance next year. The casino market in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) was the hardest hit of all, falling by 12 per cent in 2009 and a further 7.2 per cent in 2010. "Weak economic conditions and the impact of adverse regulatory developments in some countries will curtail growth," Mr Trunkfield said.
He predicted that revenues in the EMEA market would hit $18.3bn in 2015, up from $16.3bn in 2010.
E-commerce sales in the U.S. hit $6 billion during “Cyber Week,” which ended Friday, a 15 percent increase over the same period a year ago, according to market research firm comScore.
Cyber Monday’s online sales increased 22 percent to a single-day record of $1.25 billion. But the biggest increase in online spending came on Black Friday, when shoppers spent $816 million online, a 26 percent jump from a year ago, according to comScore’s report.
That’s a sign that retail chains are increasingly offering many of their Black Friday specials on the Net, while reserving just a few doorbuster items for their brick-and-mortar locations.
I believe this sales trend will continue next year, as word spreads to consumers that they can get better deals shopping online on Friday than they can on Cyber Monday, marketed in recent years as the day to find the best online deals. Within the next few years, in my view, e-commerce sales on Black Friday may beat online sales on Cyber Monday.
ComScore also reported today that three of the top 4 online sales days ever occurred last week. Sales hit $1.1 billion on Tuesday and just surpassed $1 billion on Wednesday. Last year’s Cyber Monday takes the final spot among the top four, previously holding the old single day online sales record of $1 billion until it was topped by this year’s Cyber Monday.
Amid all the talk on Beacon Hill about the positive effects casino gambling would have on our state, did anyone ever mention the name Steve Wynn?
Surprisingly, and with the process of awarding casinos not even started, the Las Vegas entertainment magnate has entered into a partnership with New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft that would transform once-sleepy Foxborough into a mecca for gamblers. Suffolk Downs has been considered a lock for one of the three casinos. But only a fool would bet against an alliance of the most powerful man in Las Vegas with Kraft, one of the most respected businessmen in New England.
It might have been naive to think that the casino business would be any less glitzy here than elsewhere, even with the concerted spin about how gambling could come to Massachusetts without the misery it has inflicted on some other locales.
Still, the notion of a casino next to Gillette Stadium underscores how deeply casinos are going to transform their new home state.
Why would Kraft want in on the casino business? Perhaps because even an extremely successful sports franchise can never have enough revenue. Look at the building of Gillette itself: An ordinary, actually substandard football stadium was replaced by a megacomplex that includes restaurants, a concert facility, and even a Victoria’s Secret. Kraft got to where he is by thinking big. And casinos, clearly, are the next big thing.
It’s harder to understand why Wynn wants to partake in a venture that is, by his standards, small potatoes. The man already owns many of the landmarks on the Las Vegas Strip: Bellagio, the Mirage, Treasure Island. By no estimate would any Massachusetts casino enter that league. Yet he was in Foxborough yesterday, surveying the territory.
The people who supported gambling like this move. It confirms that casinos will be big business, and helps assuage concerns that Massachusetts lawmakers, through their endless dithering, had substantially lowered the value of casinos.
This is bad news for the opponents, for exactly the same reasons. If Steve Wynn is coming to town, that signals that the casino industry could become a beast that will strain the state’s ability to regulate it. This is not going to be Suffolk Downs or Plainridge with blackjack tables.
Foxborough would have to approve any casino, and so far the town has appeared wary, with good reason. The Patriots overwhelm the town 10 to 12 times a year. Putting a casino across the street would be the equivalent of hosting a game every night. The town manager told the Globe a couple of months ago that he didn’t know of a resident who supports a Foxborough casino.
Still, no one is closing the door completely. If there is one thing municipal governments like, it is money.
Thus, Larry Harrington, the chairman of the Board of Selectmen, says he is keeping an open mind, certain that whatever is being proposed by titans like Kraft and Wynn will be first-rate. Good move, Larry: Never show your hand.
One person who is undoubtedly keeping close watch over this is Governor Deval Patrick. Signing on to casino gambling after years of hand-wringing was the single most dramatic act of his tenure. In years to come, he will be judged not only by casinos’ effect on the state’s economy, but on how they affect the quality of life in a state that long considered that sort of gambling beneath its dignity, an industry defined by desperation.
Perhaps Massachusetts can show that there is a way to reconcile casinos and quality of life, though I wouldn’t bet on it. The good people of Foxborough are about to get an offer that will be very, very hard to refuse. And the rest of us are about to find out if we had any idea what Beacon Hill just agreed to.
Change is coming, and it is coming very soon. In my opinion, it’s not the kind of change New Hampshire will celebrate.
Massachusetts has finalized its plan to open up three new casinos and a racetrack in the near future. It will have an immediate and substantial impact on New Hampshire.
We must pass expanded gambling in New Hampshire now or suffer the economic consequences of not taking action.
I have long supported expanded gambling in New Hampshire. As Senate president and a former member of the House of Representatives, I submitted proposals to bring gambling to New Hampshire for the very reasons being discussed right now.
There is tremendous economic potential in a limited expansion. Gambling in New Hampshire means jobs, more tourism revenue and business expansion. And with the Massachusetts gaming bill’s passage, the stakes are even greater.
If we sit idly by while Massachusetts moves forward, we actually lose money. We actually lose jobs. We will lose an economic advantage we enjoy right now.
Massachusetts casinos will certainly become a new magnet for economic activity. Thousands of construction jobs will be created in our neighboring state. Thousands more people will need to be hired to work in its casinos.
And undoubtedly, as has happened in states around the nation, there will be economic expansion around these casinos in the form of new hotels, restaurants and attractions.
These are all opportunities we will lose if New Hampshire doesn’t move forward. We can provide jobs to local families who are looking for a way out of these economic hard times.
If we don’t move forward now, we won’t attract out-of-state revenues from tourists who visit our state and would enjoy the option of gambling. If we don’t move forward now, our residents will travel south to enjoy the new casinos and we will be funding the Massachusetts budget, instead of ours. Massachusetts gets all the benefits; New Hampshire will get nothing.
A special commission established by Gov. John Lynch last year offered a clear prediction of what is at stake. It concluded that if Massachusetts moves forward and New Hampshire does not, our state will suffer financial losses of $70 million every year. This is in addition to our lost jobs and further lack of economic development.
As a former New Hampshire Lottery commissioner, I am equally concerned about the impact that Massachusetts gaming will have on our lottery and other forms of tax revenue. Separate studies predict millions will be lost from a reduction in New Hampshire lottery sales and in rooms and meals tax revenue.
People will spend their expendable dollars in Massachusetts instead of in New Hampshire. As a border town business owner, this presents a real threat to our state’s well-being.
New Hampshire has an opportunity to keep its special advantage. There is a proposal before House lawmakers right now that would allow for two casinos to be built in New Hampshire. It was supported overwhelmingly by a House committee last month.
Lawmakers voted yes because they understand this plan means jobs and economic development. But this plan also funds tax cuts and protects our state from losing tens of millions in revenue to Massachusetts.
HB 593 ensures that gambling would be regulated and controlled by the Lottery Commission. The commission has clearly stated it is ready, willing and able to regulate gambling in a way that benefits our state.
HB 593 also requires local approval. Towns must vote in favor of a casino through referendum before any license is awarded. It is the purest form of democracy.
Local control is what I like most about this debate. The people ultimately decide. Salem has voted three times in favor of gambling, and it would have an opportunity again to vote in favor of a casino, if it wishes to be a host community. In other words, the town must approve this plan before any casino can be considered and ultimately awarded.
Please join me in supporting this important economic development initiative. Call your state representatives and tell them to “vote yes” on HB 593.
First of all, internet wagering on the horse races has never been outlawed by the government and it is legal in states that allow it. A company called TVG is one of several companies offering traditional pari-mutuel betting on horse racing in states where it's legal. TVG was acquired in 2009 by BetFair, a London UK online gambling firm. To that end BetFair, recently opened a technical hub which employs about 75 people in San Francisco, California. The firm is planning to release a product in May that could not only transform betting on the horse races but could also save the declining fortunes of the U.S. horse racing industry.
BetFair which claims an annual global revenue of just over $500 million has developed the exchange concept of betting, in which online gamblers place bets against one another. As an example if a punter wants to bet on a particular horse to win and another bettor thinks that particular horse won't finish first, BetFair will broker the bet and take a commission.
Exchange betting has not yet been authorized in California, but a law passed last year will make it legal starting in May, which, is when BetFair plans to open its online exchange.
Not only does BetFair let racing fans bet against one another, it allows them to bet in ways they can't with traditional wagering.
Stephen Burn, Head of BetFair's San Francisco office, comments, "You can keep betting in the middle of a race," Burn continued to explain, betting can continue until the results are posted, so "if there's a photo finish, you can keep betting until a result is announced."
Whether or not the advent of exchange betting will save the horse racing industry, remains to be seen. Stay posted.