Let your mouth speak archive

At a party this evening in Munich, an industry insider close to Facebook made the following prediction:

"When online gambling is legalized, Facebook will be a $100 billion company."

That's $100 billion of revenue, not $100 billion in market value (Facebook's already close to the latter.)

For context, Google is a $40 billion company. And Facebook did about $4 billion of revenue last year.

The insider's theory?

Given the popularity of social gaming on Facebook's platform already, the insider figures that legalized online gambling (poker, etc.) will drive Facebook's revenue to the moon.

Facebook currently gets a 30% cut of all virtual goods purchased using Facebook Credits through companies like Zynga. With Zynga netting about $1 billion of revenue per year, this suggests that Facebook is currently generating about $400 million of gaming revenue through Zynga alone. (Most of Facebook's revenue is ad revenue, but the "Credits" business is meaningful.)

There would have to be a LOT of gambling done through Facebook for the company to generate $100 billion in revenue. But given how nuts people are about gambling, and how powerful Facebook's social platform could be for this, gambling would likely be a big opportunity.

Toward the end of last year, Facebook was rumored to be looking into hosting gambling in the U.K., where online gambling is already legal.

The big opportunity, though, will come in the United States, if and when online gambling is legalized.

According to a Wall Street Journal article earlier this week about Zynga potentially getting into gambling, many U.S. states are now pushing for online gambling to be legalized. Some of the big casino companies are trying to get Federal laws changed, and Indian tribes and lottery groups are lobbying for changes at the state level. With states desperate for new sources of revenue, changes to these laws could actually be on the way.

So could online gambling make Facebook a $100 billion company?

$100 billion is a lot.

But it seems safe to say it could make Facebook a much, much bigger company.

The protracted decision by officials in Washington District of Columbia regarding the legalization of online poker within the District’s borders has reached another milestone. Being the first to offer legal online poker Washington has been making sure the process was free of any wrongdoing.

A portion of a recent 19 page report published by the Washington Post issued by District of Columbia Inspector General Charles J. Willoughby says Council members have been cleared of acting illegally when they voted to approve online poker in the District.
The report goes on to state that even though D.C. Council member Michael A. Brown was employed by a law firm that had members of the gaming industry as some of its clients, Willoughby “found no evidence” that Brown “lobbied or received anything on behalf of any gaming entity or did anything improper which resulted in the council voting for the legislation.

The [Office of the Inspector General] finds that the mere fact that a legislator who is associated with an entity that provides or performs work in a subject area that may be the subject of possible legislation under consideration … in and of itself does not constitute a use of public office for private gain.”
Even though the Inspector General Willoughby cleared the Council because of “insufficient evidence” and that Council members had not, “acted improperly or violated standards of conduct. ”However Willoughby criticizes in the report Natwar M. Gandhi who is D.C.’s CFO decision to add the online gambling provisions to the lottery provider contract which was awarded to Greek provider of services Intralot even after the deadline to submit bids has passed. The Inspector suggests that District “may not have received the best price” for the lottery deal.
There are still a few hoops for the online gambling law in Washington D.C. to go through. Hopefully when all is said and done it will prove lucrative for the area which needs the revenue to balance its books.

The race to find a GOP representative and opponent for President Barrack Obama in the 2012 elections has been anything but straightforward. Political experts, pundits and even the lines makers at Bovada Sportsbook have had quite the time determining which horse is going to win the race and now the new frontrunner is former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich.

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Mitt Romney had been the favorite to represent the Republican party in the 2012 election throughout most of the running. There were brief spikes in popularity from Michelle Bachmann, Rick Perry, Ron Paul and even Rick Santorum, but at the end of the day they all faded while Romney was the lone constant. Meanwhile, Gingrich had been lurking in the background and while he lost the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries, he didn’t falter. That’s because Republicans felt Romney was a little closer to the center than they would like and far softer to the honest, blunt and straightforward Gingrich.

Then the South Carolina primary arrived and turned everything upside down.

In the debate, Gingrich came out guns a blazing as liberal media tried to bring his personal baggage (with his ex-wife) into the mix right at the start of the debate and he spun it around calling their attempt “despicable”. The response earned a standing ovation from the audience and earned viral video status on the internet. In return, Gingrich surged in the primaries and now finds himself neck-in-neck with Romney for the Republican nomination.

Now we’re heading to Florida and things are about to get really interesting. Bovada Sportsbook’s odds makers have added to the fun by posting some lines on the upcoming primary.

Odds to win the Florida Primary (January 31st):
Newt Gingrich 1/3
Mitt Romney 2/1
Ron Paul 50/1
Rick Santorum 50/1

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I would also suggest Cake network. Red Star poker offers rakeback and also available for US players.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has done an excellent job taking on Connecticut's huge budget deficit and putting the state on the path to financial stability.

Malloy has been courageous and creative in parlaying a combination of budget cuts and increased revenue to dig the state out of the deep hole it had been in.

We do not believe, however, that the state should simply go wherever it legally can in search of more money. And we are uneasy on a number of levels with the prospect of Connecticut going online for more lottery and gaming dollars.

Just because a recent U.S. Justice Department ruling allows states to benefit from online lottery and gaming revenue does not mean it is the right thing for Connecticut to do.

Online sales would cut into the lottery income taken in by brick-and-mortar ticket-sellers. That 5 percent take is important to smaller stores in particular, and the lottery also draws in customers who pick up a few other items while buying tickets.

Online lotteries and gaming would also be difficult to police for underage buyers. It is not practical to think that those under 18 -- many of whom are more technologically savvy than their parents -- could be effectively blocked from such websites.

But our concern is more basic than that.

Making gambling more accessible -- especially to problem gamblers -- is a dangerous prospect. Having to go to a store to buy lottery tickets at least requires getting out of the house -- putting some time, distance and effort between impulse and purchase.

And Connecticut Lottery officials are not just talking about going online with number-drawing games, but also possibly with "virtual scratch games."

Of course, whether or not Connecticut gets into Internet gaming, there will be plenty of places for gamblers to play online.

Malloy's argument is that with all that money up for grabs, the state should go ahead and get what it can.

But we believe the state should hold itself to a higher standard than simply saying that if Connecticut doesn't do it, somebody else will.

Zynga let it all ride with its IPO late last year and its stock has fluctuated ever since, with some analysts suggesting the social-games market has capped out its user base, that it doesn't generate enough consumer spending, and that Zynga just isn't worth very much as a company. Perhaps in answer to these claims, Zynga is flirting with the idea of online gambling -- the kind with real money.

Zynga is talking with several potential partners about the foray, a spokesperson told All Things D, along with the following statement: "Zynga Poker is the world's largest online poker game with more than 7 million people playing every day and over 30 million each month. We know from listening to our players that there's an interest in the real-money gambling market. We're in active conversations with potential partners to better understand and explore this new opportunity."

Entering the online-gambling industry would help Zynga end its piggyback dependence on Facebook, which may quell some investors' concerns about its future as an independent company. And it may stop Zynga from making more games like Farmville.

Online Gambling publisher KAX Media has officially relaunched Gambling.com with a brand new website after acquiring the domain in 2011. KAX Media adds Gambling.com to its portfolio of iGaming portals that include WSN.com, CasinoSource.co.uk, CasinoSource.ie and CasinoSource.it.

Since quietly soft launching the new website at the end of 2011, KAX has witnessed dramatic increases in customer engagement, including an 800% uplift in customer conversions with partner advertising. The new website features a wide variety of fresh content including slideshows, videos and reviews that cover all aspects of online gambling. Gambling.com will continue to operate exclusively as a portal for online gambling and only within regulated markets. While currently focused only on the United Kingdom, KAX plans to ultimately expand Gambling.com worldwide to all regulated English speaking markets.

The KAX Chief Executive, Charles H Gillespie, said “We are very excited to officially relaunch Gambling.com with a modern look and great new content. The domain name has a long history, at certain times commanding a wide audience and at other times not as much. We hope to restore Gambling.com as the pre-eminent resource for online gambling information and the first stop for every online gambler.”

About KAX Media

KAX Media publishes digital content for the online gambling industry. Founded in Shanghai as sports betting portal WSN.com, the business has since expanded into Europe and other gaming verticals. Recently KAX has launched CasinoSource.co.uk, CasinoSource.ie and CasinoSource.it along with acquiring Gambling.com to expand into the online casino vertical. KAX Media’s domain experience in online gaming player acquisition and vast experience in driving and converting targeted traffic enable it to offer iGaming operators a deep source of player acquisition in regulated markets.

It is at a party in Germany this week where an “industry insider,” says Henry Blodget in a new piece in Business Insider, mutters the following prediction to someone: "When online gambling is legalized, Facebook will be a $100 billion company."

By that the insider means $100 billion of annual revenue, not $100 billion in market value. For some context, Facebook did about $4 billion in revenue last year.

And why will this happen? Mr. Insider says given the popularity of “social gaming” on Facebook's platform already, legalized online gambling (poker, etc.) will drive Facebook's revenue “to the moon.”

Toward the end of last year, Facebook was rumored to be looking into hosting gambling in the U.K., where online gambling is already legal.

The big Kahoona though is the U.S. market.

Many states are already pushing for online gambling to be legalized, some of the big casino companies are trying to get Federal laws changed, and Indian tribes and lottery groups are lobbying for changes at the state level.

Playtech, the world's biggest provider of online gaming software, is holding talks with a number of potential partners in the United States as it gears up for the possible re-opening of the potentially lucrative market, CEO Mor Weizer said.

The United States Justice Department said in December that only betting on sporting contests is unlawful, clearing the way for other types of internet gambling such as poker and casino games to be legalized.

"We have lots of potential customers that approached us or that we approached that would like to have us as their suppliers of online gaming products when the market opens up," Weizer told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.

"There is a lot of work being done behind the scenes in various states by various local authorities. We have people on the ground now in the U.S. working with us in order to monitor all these processes," Weizer added.

Online gaming was effectively outlawed in the U.S. by legislation passed in 2005. Weizer said it was too early to say if those laws will be overturned in the current year.

Playtech said it was seeing increasing opportunities as gambling laws are relaxed across the world and was confident of meeting full-year expectations.

The company also announced joint ventures with German gaming machine business Merkur and South African gaming and hospitality business Peermont as well as the 11 million pound ($17.2 million) acquisition of sportsbook and lottery software firm Geneity.

($1 = 0.6412 British pounds)

The Golden Globes have passed and the race for the Oscars is on. The 84th Academy Awards will take place on February 26th, 2012 and Bovada Sportsbook will be right there every step of the way.

The nominations have been announced for the acclaimed statues and one of the most highly contested categories will be for the Best Director award.

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The category features a pair of previous Oscar winners with legendary directors Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen headlining, but to the surprise of many neither are favored to win it this year. Bovada Sportsbook odds makers have listed Michel Hazanavicius as the leader of the pack with the nomination for The Artist.

2012 Oscars - Odds to Win Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) - 4/7
Martin Scorsese (Hugo) - 7/4
Alexander Payne (The Descendants) -11/2
Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris) - 18/1
Terrance Malik (Tree of Life) - 18/1

While the silent film tribute hasn’t had the marketing budget of an Ocean’s Eleven-type movie and didn’t have the explosions of a Michael Bay flick, it’s a brilliantly pieced together tribute to the silent film era that everyone seems to have fallen in love with. It’s earned a total of 12 nominations at the Oscars, which tied Hugo for the most at this year’s awards.

Hazanavicius is a French-born director, producer and screenwriter that is mostly known for his spy movie parodies. While he was nominated for Best Director at the Golden Globes, he fell short to Scorsese. Is it possible that the Oscars will agree? Keep in mind that 17 of the last 26 Golden Globe award winners for Best Director went on to win the Oscar, so maybe Scorsese offers some value in this spot.

Join Bovada Sportsbook and bet on who you think will win the Oscar for the Best Director in 2012.

Co-CEO expects foundations to be laid this year

-- Process of setting it up likely to stretch through 2012

-- Company already applying for preliminary suitability review in Nevada

By Kathy Gordon

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Legalized online gambling in the U.S. is now a case of 'when', not 'if', Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment PLC (BPTY.LN) chief Jim Ryan said Wednesday, adding that he expects the foundations to be laid this year.

But speaking on the fringes of the ICE online gambling conference in London, the co-chief executive cautioned that setting it up will take time.

The process of passing legislation, drawing up regulation, vetting and licensing operators will likely last through 2012, he said, and he speculates that actual operations probably won't get off the ground before next year.

Partygaming, which last year merged with Austrian peer Bwin to form Bwin.Party, along with other European operators withdrew from the U.S. market in 2006 shortly after then-President George W. Bush signed a bill designed to prohibit U.S. banks and credit card companies from processing payments to gambling websites.

Partygaming paid a $105 million fine as part of a non-prosecution deal with the DOJ in 2009, for admitting indirect contravention of US law, but in anticipation of a relaxation of the rules, Bwin.Party last year signed a joint venture with U.S. casino operators MGM and Boyd to operate online gaming if and when it became legal in the U.S.

Ryan's confident tone comes after a recent ruling by the U.S. Department of Justice, which clarifies the scope of the Wire Act, a law that in the past has been used stop online gambling sites. The ruling essentially gives U.S. states the green light to allow gambling within their borders, according to online gambling experts.

Still, Ryan said this doesn't mean the company is in line to recoup any of the$105 million fine.

Bwin.Party and its joint venture partners have already applied for a preliminary suitability review in Nevada which will lay the groundwork for gaining a license there once regulation is agreed.

Ryan also told Dow Jones the sale process for its Ongame poker network is very advanced and he expects to be able to announce further news in the not too distant future.

He confirmed recent reports that the company is looking for an executive to head up its payments processing division CQR with a view to ultimately taking it public, but said this was several years away.

He said the company wants to expand its online payments operations outside of the gambling sector to build an online merchant market place, increasing the value of this asset and ultimately realising shareholder value by listing it on the stock market.

Shares in Bwin.Party closed down 0.7% on Wednesday at 154 pence, valuing the company at GBP1.29 billion.

A new memorandum from the Justice Department regarding lottery games will allow online ticket sales.

Illinois, New York, and Washington D.C. are already moving forward with their plans for online lottery sales. Officials with the Michigan Lottery say they hope to do the same, but local party stores aren't happy about it.

Party World on Alpine Avenue NW is known for its lucky tickets. Some store workers credit the genuine four-leaf clover that was found behind the store and now sits on the top of the cash register.

"We've had all those jackpots," says manager Dave Castor. "All those winners."

Castor says customers come in every day to buy lottery tickets and, while they're there, they buy other things.

"We hope that when people are in buying the lottery, they might pick up something else we have on sale or a bag of chips or something," the manager says.

But Castor says he is concerned with the possibility of competition from online ticket sales.

It all started when Illinois and New York asked the Justice Department for an opinion on "online gambling." In December, Justice Department officials sent out a memorandum saying that the Wire Act of 1961 -- long considered a provision prohibiting all internet gambling -- only prohibits betting on sports.

Michigan is just beginning to look at the option. Michigan Lottery spokeswoman Andi Brancato says there is much to consider, like whether the right software is in place.

"We don't even know if it's feasible," says Brancato, "but we always need to be thinking about maximizing our revenue."

The revenue from ticket sales in Michigan go to the School Aid Fund. In 2011, the state collected $727 million.

At Party World, Castor is all for more money going to education, but not at the risk of losing local business.

Even though Internet gambling has been legal in the District since early 2011, it remains but an idea that hasn't yet become reality. Ongoing controversy over how it came to be has led its proponents to hold off on implementing it, and tomorrow a D.C. Council committee will hold a hearing on legislation that would repeal it altogether.

To summarize: in December 2010, Councilmember Michael Brown (I-At Large) inserted a short provision into a larger supplemental budget bill legalizing Internet gambling. By April 2011 the measure had passed Congress, making the District the first jurisdiction in the county to allow Internet gambling.

By the end of June, though, outcry from opponents and concerned residents forced the D.C. Lottery and the D.C. CFO to postpone implementation of the program and instead host a series of townhall meetings in every ward. At the same time, Councilmember Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) and Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) introduced legislation that would repeal the Internet gambling provision.

From beginning to end, the program -- which Brown estimates could raise $15 million or more for the District's coffers -- has been mired in controversy. Critics say that the council erred in passing Internet gambling as part of a broader budget bill instead of a stand-alone that would be subject to normal hearings and markups. More recently, a report by the D.C. Inspector General found that D.C. CFO Natwar Gandhi improperly amended a 2008 lottery contract worth $120 million to include a provision that would eventually allow Brown to propose Internet gambling be legalized.

Even the townhalls have been questioned. First, they were all scheduled for August and early September -- the very months when most people travel. (They were eventually rescheduled for October through December; we attended one in Ward 5.) After they happened, a December report from the D.C. Lottery summarizing them said that the majority of participants expressed their support for Internet gambling. Still, some critics said, only 254 people throughout the city attended the townhalls, and many went to multiple ones.

And this month, The New York Times published an article saying that studies have found the profits for Internet gambling to be much more modest than its proponents claims.

All told, the majority of the opposition is less focused on the drawbacks of Internet gambling itself than it is over how it came to be law in the District.

"I do believe that we'll eventually have intrastate Internet gambling," admitted Marie Drissel, a Ward 2 activist and former council candidate who had loudly protested the way Internet gambling was passed.

"But I think D.C.'s law is fatally flawed. All of the laws across the country are a lot longer than half-a-page, which is what ours is. In 39 years, I've never seen anything like this. There's going to be more print written about the color of taxicabs than there is about this. There's no legislative history. There's nothing," she said.

There are even deeper concerns, she added, including the fact that the rules for the program will be written by the CFO and that the Lottery Board hasn't had members since 1996.

At a recent meeting of the Ward 3 Democrats, Drissel and Mendelson outlined their concerns with the program. (Brown was scheduled to attend but did not, citing a prior commitment.) Drissel and Ward 3 activist Ann Loikow pushed a resolution calling on the group to demand that the council "develop a more detailed piece of legislation, after full and substantive public hearings," but it was not voted on due to procedural issues.

At the event, Mendelson issued a mea culpa of sorts. "I was guilty at the time of voting for the bill," he said.

For Brown, every day that the District delays the program it loses out on potential revenue. "I think we're relatively hopeful that implementation will be relatively imminent," he recently told us. (In September, he penned a long letter to the council defending Internet gambling and the way it was passed.) Today, the CFO responded with a statement saying that it did nothing illegal or untoward in how it worked Internet gambling into the 2008 contract.

As for the prospects of the repeal that will be discussed tomorrow, beyond Wells, Mendelson and possibly Councilmember David Catania (I-At Large), people with knowledge of the issue assume that it may not have the votes to pass the council. A good number of the 77 people that have signed up to testify tomorrow, including Drissel, certainly hope to change that.

But even tomorrow's hearing, which will be chaired by Councilmember Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), has provoked some controversy. According to the agenda, the hearing will start at 10 a.m. and recess at 1 p.m., restarting at 6 p.m. Government witnesses will testify first, likely leaving the 77 residents and activists to share their thoughts late into the night.

"The council is compounding its illegal passing of further Lottery legislation in December, 2010 with no public hearings, with further insult to the residents of the District who wish to be heard on this important matter," said Denis James, president of the Kalorama Citizens Association, in an email sent yesterday.

Problem gambling in clubs and pubs along with the increasing exposure to gaming through Internet betting begs the question; why not outlaw gambling altogether?

When that question was put to Eden-Monaro member Dr Mike Kelly, his response was, “Mate, this is Australia! I don’t think you could ever get rid of gambling.”

However, there is increasing awareness of the impact that gambling addiction is having on families particularly in low socio-economic areas such as Eden, and the radical Andrew Wilkie strategy of mandatory pre-commitment was seen as a big step forward in addressing it.

But the financial impact of introducing the technology on clubs in rural areas and the subsequent loss of revenue would have been devastating.

Many clubs along the Sapphire Coast that rely so heavily on gaming revenue would have been forced to close altogether.

General manager of the Eden Fishermen’s Recreation Club, Peter Cook, said gaming represented 60 per cent of the revenue generated at the club.

“We’d like to be able to reduce that figure,” he said. “We’re looking at diversification as well in how we can better address the needs of the future without being so reliant on gaming revenue.”

However, he said it’s a big challenge, particularly in small communities. City clubs have branched into restaurant, accommodation and even nursing home ventures, but Mr Cook said these areas are already over-subscribed in Eden.

“We’d be competing against our own town and that makes it more difficult,” he said.

“That doesn’t mean we’re not addressing it. We’ve done a risk analysis and a strategic plan lately where all these things have been identified and we’re looking at how we would still be here in the community in the next 50 years.”

In the meantime there’s the work on trying to minimise problem gambling and Mr Cook said they’ve had some success there.

“In my eight years here we’ve entered into probably 30 self-exclusions - whether they’re three-month exclusions or six-month exclusions or whether they sign up again, most of those people who have signed up don’t come to the club for gambling anymore,” he said. “So it has been a tool that has assisted the club to help them and assist with them personally as well.”

However, he said that there was more that could be done, although it would require a change of legislation to make work one idea he believes could.

“One of the best things that could happen on this issue is to have a third party approach us,” he said.

“At the moment in NSW if, say, a gentleman comes and says, ‘Oh, my girlfriend has a problem with gambling’, I can’t discuss that matter with him because of privacy rules, but if that legislation changes and we are able to listen to third parties then we’d be able to approach the people and talk to them about their potential problem.”

Mr Cook and Dr Kelly say they are now hopeful that the ACT trials will yield solid data and that will assist in further strategies to combat problem gambling.

Fortuna Entertainment Group NV rose the most in four months after the Czech bookmaker said it received permission to start online gaming in Poland.

The stock jumped as much as 4.4 percent, the biggest gain since Sept. 26, and traded up 3.2 percent to 100.6 koruna as of 11:42 a.m. in Prague. Almost 160,000 shares have changed hands so far today, more than six times the three-month daily average.

Fortuna will start online sports betting in Poland today after obtaining a license from the finance ministry, the company said in a statement yesterday. The bookmaker has received 20,000 registration requests for internet gaming from Polish customers, according to a separate statement yesterday.

“Online betting in Poland represents a big opportunity for Fortuna” as “one of the most important growth projects for the company,” analysts led by Milan Vanicek at J&T Banka AS in Prague wrote in a report today. “The news is positive because Fortuna had applied for the license several months ago and there could be concerns whether any obstacles might get in the way.”

--Editors: James Kraus, Ash Kumar

To contact the reporter on this story: Krystof Chamonikolas in Prague at [email][email protected][/email]

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gavin Serkin at [email][email protected][/email]

Malloy further stated that, the gambling industry needs to be protected.

The two casinos have collectively provided the state with $360 million slot revenues in the fast fiscal year. This could be a little lower that the peak of $430.5 million revenues a few years ago, but still it is a huge sum. The more important matter is that these two casinos provide jobs for 17,000 residents and they are also major economic sources for both state and region.

It is a sad fact though that despite the high revenues and the jobs they can provide for the people, these casinos are still facing a lot of challenges old and new alike. New challenge included the opening of casinos in neighboring states and the ruling of theUSJustice Department giving states the constitutional authority to decide on the approval and regulation of online gambling operations.

This is an unforeseen event as Gov Lowell P. Weicker Jr. had first made an agreement to give exclusive gaming rights to the Mashantucket tribe.

It is a good thing though that Governor Malloy recently conceded that the contracts need to be updated to make the two tribe work together with the state inConnecticut’s move to legalize online gambling.
Connecticut Looks into Online Gaming as the Answer to the State’s Declining Revenues

Connecticut is facing yet another year of declining revenue and it is being joined by other nearby states around New England in considering Internet gambling as the best possible way to keep their revenues from hitting rock bottom.

Local legislators though are having second thoughts of opening online betting inConnecticutjust because neighboring states have beaten them into it.

Larry Cafero of R-Norfolk and House Minority Floor Leader explained that, they could be moving too fast and it does not necessarily mean that they are going to have declining revenues just because other states are earning from Internet gambling.

Cafero also added, the online betting should not be considered as a finite source of revenue, and that they should tread carefully on these new waters or else there will be some vulnerable people that they might hurt.

The Department of Justice of the US ruled last month that there is no violation of federal law for intrastate Internet gambling. Many states are currently studying the benefits of legalizing online gambling in generating state revenues.

Rhode Island and Maine are two states that are seriously studying the possibilities of introducing Internet gambling and gaining profit from this rapidly growing industry.

New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo, has stated this month that they are expanding gambling in New York following the remarks of Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey that he intends to make New Jersey an epicenter for the Internet gambling industry.

Connecticutlegislators are very much aware of the heavy and stiff competition. Congressman Stephen Dargan of D-West Haven, said that they will not be sitting back if there is competition in the neighboring states. He said that, he thinks it is significant that they should be a frontrunner in the field and that they need to look at all angles to see if it can be an excellent public policy.

Governor Malloy already believed that Internet gaming is certainly coming toConnecticutand their next best move is to decide on what is the best approach to that.
Online Gambling to be Legalized in Iowa

An Iowa State Senator is preparing a bill that will authorize internet poker to be legal in the state and some serious considerations have been gained from the possibility.

Over the past decade, that has been a dramatic increase in the popularity of online poker, but there is still the issue of whether it is legal or not.

According to Senator Jeff Danielson, there is no legality or illegality to playing online poker. The issue is in a limbo and he believes that there should be a closure on the issue.

The Senator chairs the government committee of the state, which is responsible for gaming policy and he has prepared the bill to legalize online poker inIowa.

He stated that the issue of the seizing of the assets of the 3 largest online poker companies last year has hurt the economy and players have fought to gather their winnings.

He also said that, no one knows where the money goes to, and there is no guarantee that the winners can get their winnings and it has reached a point wherein not onlyIowa’s economy is being affected but also the economy of the nation.

He also insisted that Internet poker can actually bring in about $30 to $100 million of revenues forIowaand about more than $5 billion for the nation.

The bill he is preparing would provide local casinos the chance to offer another service on their respective websites as long as they can provide it in a safe and secure platform.

Kim Pang, Diamond Jo Casino’s General Manager in Northwood, stated that, the casinos always want to ensure the gambling is regulated and no minors are ever allowed to gamble. He also said that through these regulations a fine can be established so that people would be deterred from gambling.

Danielson added that, there will be millions in state tax revenues once the legalization has been finalized, but he pointed out that the focus is not on that. And he also assured that casinos will be ready if ever the legalization plans will pass.
US Congressman Dennis Cardoza Meets With California Lawmakers to Discuss Gambling Laws

While the US Congress was in session last Wednesday, US Representative Dennis Cardoza was in Sacramento to discuss Internet poker laws with California lawmakers and some friends. This is according to interviews and reports.

Congressman Cardoza who owns ten racehorses has won over $125,000 from racing. It was also reported that he has gotten over $60,000 campaign donations from horse racing interest.

Reports say that the Sacramento meeting was aimed at discussing Internet gaming issues that include Inter

NEW research from the University of Sydney has revealed that internet gambling is on the rise in Australia. The study highlighted that people gravitated towards online gambling due to its easy availability.

Professor Alex Blaszczynski said that the fact that online gambling can be accessed from almost any location has given gamblers a medium to access a variety of outlets.

“It is the convenience of it and anonymity in the sense that other people won’t find out what you are doing,” Prof Blaszczynski said.

“You can do it in the privacy of your own home or at work and it is stimulating, exciting and available 24/7.”

While having the odd punt here and there may not seem like a big deal to most, Prof Blaszczynski said that online gambling can lead to much bigger problems if not correctly monitored.

“There are a number of potential dangers associated with online gambling,” he said.

“The first thing is that some of the sites are unregulated so it can expose people to exploitation. In some particular games like Texas Hold’em people assume they playing against other individuals when in fact they may be playing against a bot or software so they are at a disadvantage. The other danger is that people can readily shift money from their bank accounts to an online account with ease.”

Prof. Blaszczynski said that unregulated sites also have the risk of exposing underage persons to gambling.

One solution he suggested is the ability to set personal limits with pop-ups that will alert players to take breaks and provide feedback to how their gambling behaviour rates to other players.

D.C. Council members sharply questioned top finance and lottery officials Thursday about whether the District’s first-in-the-nation Internet gambling proposal went though proper channels on its way to becoming law last year.

Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi and his deputies were criticized by the District’s inspector general and two council members for including provisions in a 2009 lottery contract allowing online gambling without notifying lawmakers or allowing other companies to bid on that proposal.

Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), who has introduced a bill to stop the Internet gambling program, criticized officials for “working backwards,” implementing the program through a contract provision that did not receive public scrutiny and legislation that did not get a stand-alone public hearing before passage.

“Why truncate the process? Why take a shortcut? Why not do this straight-up?” Wells asked. “We have to convince folks we’re not putting our thumbs on the scales just to make more money for the District.”

But Michael A. Brown (I-At Large) — the council’s lead proponent of Internet gambling, or “iGaming” — rejected suggestions that the program was not given proper scrutiny. He suggested that any delay would be caving in to a small but vocal group of critics and would put the city at a disadvantage against states that are pursuing similar proposals.

“What do they know that the world-renowned experts do not?” Brown said of the opponents, dozens of whom signed up to testify at Thursday’s hearing. “It is already happening in neighborhoods throughout our city and, frankly, throughout our country.”

Thursday’s hearing was a crucial test for the Internet gambling program, which first came to light in December 2010 when language authorizing it was included in a broader budget package passed by the council.

After observers inside and outside D.C. government raised questions about the un******or******tho******dox process, lottery officials agreed to hold a series of community meetings before proceeding. Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) also ordered the inspector general, Charles J. Willoughby, to probe the gen******esis of the program.

More than 170 public witnesses signed up to offer testimony at the hearing, which was expected to stretch into Thursday night.

Willoughby issued a report last Friday saying that said Gandhi’s office had erred in adding the Internet option to the lottery contract after the council had approved it and without including it in a formal solicitation.

Gandhi strongly objected Thursday to Willoughby’s finding, arguing that each of the three bidders on the contract was allowed to offer options not specifically included in the solicitation. He said it made no sense to hold a separate solicitation for Internet gambling because the lottery system needed to be “complete, thoroughly integrated and have the ability to innovate.”

“The important point here is, was there a lottery process that was fair, open and transparent? The answer to that is yes,” he said.

But Willoughby said he stood by his report and suggested the contract must return to the council for further approval. A request for proposals issued by Gandhi’s office in 2009 did not specifically contemplate Internet gambling but allowed bidders to include “offered optional items” in their proposals. The contract subsequently signed by Intralot and forwarded for council approval allowed the company to offer “non-traditional games,” such as Keno.

Only after the contract passed the council in December 2009 was a specific reference to “Internet wagering” added. A contract executed in March 2010 includes an option for a “B-On Platform” that could be introduced “upon a determination made by the District that the games offered . . . are legal in the District of Columbia.”

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Under the contract, Intralot is entitled to receive 50 percent of Internet sales; the company receives only 2.6 percent of other lottery sales.

Joseph Giddis, Gandhi’s contracting director, said he did not consider the addition of Internet gambling a “material change to the contract” requiring re-submission to the council.

That answer was ridiculed by David A. Catania (I-At Large), a frequent critic of Gandhi. “There’s no way in my mind that that explanation is sustainable,” he said. He went on to call for the resignations of finance officials involved in the process, “right up to the top.”

“I was robbed of the right to make a choice, informed or otherwise,” Catania told Gandhi. “It is not your right to substitute your judgment for mine.”

Representatives of groups that competed with Intralot said they had not contemplated including an Internet gambling component in their bids.

Darryl Wiggins, owner of a District document-management company that partnered with Rhode Island-based GTECH on a bid, said iGaming was never discussed as an option. “Nobody ever asked me about any Internet gambling. Nobody ever asked us to demonstrate it. It was never brought up as a topic,” he said.

Charles Hopkins, a Maryland businessman who partnered with Atlanta-based Scientific Games, said it never occurred to him to read “non-traditional games” as including Internet gambling. “For one thing, it was illegal at the time in the District,” he said. “We would have been bidding on something that was illegal.”

Hopkins said he agreed with Willoughby that any Internet gambling program should undergo a new round of bidding. “I absolutely believe it would be a better deal for the city if it were rebid,” he said.

Gandhi said Thursday his office would not proceed with the Internet gambling plan until he receives “clear guidance from the council and the mayor.”

Evans, chair of the Finance and Revenue Committee, said Thursday afternoon he had not decided whether to proceed with a repeal bill offered by Wells and Phil Mendelson (D-At Large).

But he agreed the new contract details were troubling. “T

Super Bowl betting is all about the props. After all, you can bet on the winner of a game at any point throughout the NFL season; it’s only the Super Bowl where you get a smorgasbord full of props. But there are two celebrities who have less interest in the endless assortment of proposition bets that the Bovada Sportsbook lines makers have been working overtime to post and are more interested in a straight up bet.

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Rapper Birdman plans put up $5 million up on the New England Patriots to win on November 5th and he took to Twitter to make it known. After posting that he’s open to any and all suitors who want to take the Giants and bet against him, rap superstar and New York native 50 Cent took him up on $1 million of action. 50 Cent responded via Twitter, saying he’s believes his hometown team will pull the upset.

Birdman’s not a stranger to big sports bets as he won a million on the Green Bay Packers at the Super Bowl last season but according to Forbes Magazine, lost $2 million on the Miami Heat when they fell short in the NBA Finals to the Dallas Mavericks. Forbes also reported that Birdman has a net estimated worth of over $100 million and grossed roughly $15 million between May 2010 and May 2011 alone.

When you’re that rich, what’s a million dollar bet between friends?

A company that owns terminals used for online gambling has sued the Indiana Gaming Commission, saying the state violated its constitutional rights when agents seized 51 of the machines and $3,000 cash last month from two businesses in Fort Wayne.

In a lawsuit filed this week in federal court in Fort Wayne, Florida-based Buckwheat Holdings asked a judge to block any future action against the company by the state.

Gaming commission agents seized the so-called “sweepstakes machines” and money Dec. 21 from Lincoln Plaza Internet Sensations in New Haven and Wrigley Field Bar and Grill in Fort Wayne, The Journal Gazette reported.

The raid followed a Dec. 19 memo from the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission that said the so-called “sweepstakes machines” popping up in bars, restaurants and other businesses that sell alcohol are illegal, even for businesses authorized to have pull-tab type games.