Let your mouth speak archive

This is the first in series of special articles on the U.S. political landscape and Internet gambling as we approach the upcoming Presidential election in November.

With Ron Paul announcing he is no longer officially running, Mitt Romney is the Republican candidate for the 2012 elections. If regulated gambling is on a list of election issues, many gamblers are still somewhat confused who to vote for. The online gambling community had hoped that Barack Obama would be gambling friendly and that the UIGEA would be overthrown or amended in his first term in office but was disappointed. Instead they witnessed the Democratic government seize offshore betting sites on Black Friday and no movement was ever made to legalize the product federally. Thus, one has to wonder if Barack Obama, a self-proclaimed poker player, is truly the best option for Internet bettors. Mitt Romney, on the other hand,

Read More: Republicans vs. Democrats ? A Chronology of Online Gambling Decisions Part 1

European online gambling firms are scrambling to make a back-tax payment being demanded by the cash-strapped Spanish government, which effectively raises the cost of market entry ahead of an expected new license round.

Internet gaming firms said on Monday that they have been in talks with the Spanish tax authorities in recent weeks over the payment of retrospective taxes for January 2009 to May 2011, a period in which they were in the market without a clear legal framework.


Read More: Spain moves to claw back taxes from gaming firms | Reuters

Illinois is not alone in the rush to expand legalized gambling to the Internet.

According to U.S. Internet Gambling Regulatory Tracker, nine other states are reviewing legislation dealing with Internet poker and online casino gambling.

That’s up from seven states in 2011, and the number could grow, the tracking service noted in an advisory issued last week.

“With 19 state legislatures and Congress still in session, this calendar year — during which more states have considered Internet gambling legislation than any other in history — could yield even more legislative activity,” noted Chris Krafcik, research director for GamblingCompliance, which operates the tracking service.

The growing number of states hoping to reap the potential billions of dollars from online gambling is one reason Senate President John Cullerton is urging quick action by the legislature on a plan he unveiled last Monday.


Read More: Cullerton puts a push on gambling : Herald & Review | Local news from Decatur, Macon County and Central Illinois

MGM Grand bosses in Las Vegas have launched an internal investigation following allegations Whitney Houston's daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown was caught gambling at the casino after the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday.

Video footage obtained by TMZ.com appears to show the teenager hitting the slot machines with her boyfriend - even though, at 19, she's too young to gamble in Sin City.

The website posted the video online on Monday morning - hours after Bobbi Kristina had accepted her late mother's Millennium Award at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

TMZ.com reports officials at the Nevada Gaming Commission have also launched their own investigation into the footage.

Underage gambling is a misdemeanour in Nevada, punishable by up to six months in jail or a US$1,000 fine.

Let them puch and then more puch!

That´s a funny one :1orglaugh

Online gaming company RocketFrog is on a mission to revitalize how people play in virtual casinos. RocketFrog CEO and founder Brett Calapp thinks the social gambling market is primed for expansion, especially after the U.S. Justice Department changed its stance on its legality last December. The company is one more startup in the hot market of social casino game companies.


Read More: RocketFrog wants to revolutionize online gambling with real-world prizes | VentureBeat

Bwin.Party digital entertainment has become one of the largest online gambling operators in the European jurisdiction. It has a large market share that it hopes will continue to grow in newly regulated markets such as Spain. The Spanish market is expected to open up this June 2012 with some controversy over the proposed regulation and taxation in Spain.


Read More: Bwin.Party To PayTaxes to Secure Spanish Online Gambling License

A lot of concerns have been raised by the religious groups following the drastic change of heart of the Dept. of Justice of the United States regarding the Wire Act, which basically legalized all forms of online gambling, excluding sport wagering. This resulted in twelve groups writing and pleading with leaders in the Congress to take actions against the rapidly growing and expanding presence of online gambling which came as a result of the Dept. of Justice announcement about its interpretation of the federal Wire Act that was announced last December. The 12 groups included Eagle Forum, Let Freedom Ring, Religious Liberty Commission and others. This letter was sent this last Friday to Cantor, the Majority Leader, Whip Kyl, Boehner and McConnell, the Republican leader among others.

Read More: State of the Gambling Union : ADI News

For sometime Bingosupermarket has highlighted how some online gambling sites have such unfair terms and conditions that your deposits become as good as monopoly money. It seems that a court has also taken a dim view of some of the terms and conditions associated with online operator.

According to the Metro daily newspaper a UK court has thrown out a spread betting firm's case, ruling that the company's 49-page terms and conditions were an "unfair contract". The means that the punter is no longer liable for the losses accrued.

Colin Cochrane claims that he had left his computer on, with his Spreadex account live and his 5-year-old son had played games on the computer during which he lost £50,000 on the spread betting site.

Read More: www-bingosupermarket-com/bingo-news-articles/2238-uk-court-rules-against-online-betting-tacs-html

The X Factor has managed to stay in the headlines during its “offseason” because of creator Simon Cowell’s search for new judges to join Cowell and L.A. Reid. He has reached out to many artists in the industry but the plan to replace Paula Abdul and Nicole Schwerzinger hasn’t gone as smoothly as Cowell had hoped. However, the cast of the second season started to take shape when it was announced that Cowell had finally landed Britney Spears after chasing her for a while and now he has added Demi Lovato to the mix.

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It’s now confirmed that Lovato will be a judge on The X Factor, which will help Cowell bring in a younger demographic as Spears will likely draw her longtime fans who are now in their late-20s or early-30s. Lovato, who will turn 20 years old in August, made her name on the Disney channel and has since began a music and film career. She’s popular among teenagers and Cowell is hoping to draw those fans to his show. His major competition, American Idol (where Cowell made his name to American viewers) has Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler, while The Voice features Christina Aguilera, Cee-Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton, and he realizes that big-name judges are the best way to bring in a crowd.

X Factor USA - Season 2 - Who will win?
Male +120
Female EVEN
Group +400

Lovato won’t be making the same type of money that Spears is as the “Hit Me Baby One More Time” singer will cash in to the tune of $15 million while Lovato clocks in at a cool million but the experience and the exposure to a new audience should pay off for her in the long run. Now, Cowell just needs to find a new host to replace Steve Jones and The X Factor will be off and running.

There’s a very fine line between social gaming and social gambling. Think about it. All you have to do is add a wager and one becomes the other.

Given that the former is already massive business (It’s no accident that Zynga accounts for 12% of Facebook’s revenue) it’s hardly surprising that the latter is set to follow suit.

In fact, tech analysis company Juniper Research reckons that social gambling could be a US$100-billion industry by 2017. It says the surge in social gambling activity is being driven, at least in part, by the introduction of intrastate casino and lottery services in the US.

Hardly surprising then that Zynga itself want in on the action. According to Juniper Research’s Dr Windsor Holden:

“Social gaming companies such as Zynga are seeking to move from play-for-fun casino games into real money gambling, while pureplay mobile casinos including Probability have begun to integrate with the Facebook mobile platform. In this way, consumers will be able to use their social networks to register for casino games, substantially increasing both the reach and engagement of such services.”

At the moment, social gambling is dominated by sports betting, although that looks set to be overhauled by casino gaming within five years.

Juniper Research also reckons that mobile will become an increasingly important platform for gambling, particularly with the emergence of mobile wallets.

The online gambling industry looks set to get a boost from the federal government, with reports claiming the sector has been recently briefed over measures enabling online live sports betting and poker.

According to the Herald Sun, the Federal Government is considering legalising the banned practices as it tries to combat unregulated gaming on overseas-based sites.

Local gaming sites could run trials of both forms of gambling within one year, the report says.

Live betting, which currently can only be accessed by telephone and in person, could be worth $300 million a year online, according to the Herald Sun.

The Federal Government has flagged possible changes to gambling laws that would allow people to bet online during live sporting events.

The Government is currently reviewing interactive gambling laws and is talking with key stakeholders about possible changes.

Currently, punters can only bet on sporting events as they happen in person or over the phone.

But Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has flagged a possible change to allow people to bet online during live events like last night's State of Origin clash.

"While the State of Origin was on last night, you can pick up a phone and make a bet, [but] you can't go online and make a bet," he told Channel Nine.

"So you've got a situation where if you make the phone call it's legal, if you try and do it online it's illegal.


Read More: Government may legalise live online gambling - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Australian online gaming sites may soon be allowed to bet on live sporting matches and offer cash card games.

The Herald Sun reveal that "gaming sites could run trials of both forms of betting within a year as the Federal Government tries to combat unregulated overseas gaming sites".

Gambling experts have said that the possible changes would prove lucrative for the online industry but would make gambling more accessible to problem punters.

Read More: Possible changes to online gambling | 3AW Mornings | Neil Mitchell |

Independent senator Nick Xenophon will make freedom of information (FOI) requests for any dealings between the online gambling industry and the federal government.

Senator Xenophon made the announcement after media reports on Thursday said the federal government briefed the gaming industry about plans to allow "in-play" online betting.

"It seems after its betrayal of its deal with (independent MP) Andrew Wilkie for real poker machine reform, the government is on a roll," he said in a statement.

"We now know the government has been engaged in secret talks with the online gambling industry to enable them to diversify their addictive product to suck in more Australians."

Read More: news-ninemsn-com-au/national/8472586/govt-gambling-industry-in-talks-xenophon

Cash-strapped Spain has raised around 60 million euros ($77 million) in back taxes from gaming companies this week after Britain’s Betfair said it had settled with the authorities for a sum of under 10 million euros.

Gaming companies are scrambling to pay off their liabilities in time to qualify for online licences the Spanish authorities are due to award on June 1.

Betfair said it expected to be awarded a licence covering its sportsbook next month and some casino products and plans to apply for a poker licence shortly afterwards.

The company this month won one of the first online gambling licences issued in Germany.

Read More: Betfair joins gaming companies settling with Spain - Latest sport news

The Netherlands has been gearing up for the first ever Gaming in Holland Conference 2012. The one day event to take place in Amsterdam this June 5th and will be a sure fire way to connect with the online gaming industry in the Nordic region. The Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam will provide an excellent venue for all the attendees from 9:AM until 7😋M. There is a lot on the agenda at this conference which will focus primarily on egaming.

This event will bring together key industry captains from all corners of the of online gaming industry. There will be persons responsible for regulatory decisions, as well as those from the media and sports. Software providers and those people from security, accounting and game development, will also be in attendance to share their knowledge and expertise. Noted speakers include Morten Ronde, Chief Executive Officer for the Danish Online Gambling Association and Policy Action Denmark’s Alan Littler.

Read More: First E-Gaming in Holland Conference June 5th Amsterdam

The U.S. Congress is too badly divided to act on Internet gambling, so individual states will start approving it on their own within the next two years, panelists at a major casino conference predicted Thursday.

Speaking at the East Coast Gaming Congress, casino and political leaders predicted online gambling will become a reality on a state-by-state basis. New Jersey hopes to become the "Silicon Valley of Internet gambling," and its legislature is working on a bill to legalize it.

Read More: Panel: States approval of Internet gambling likely - BusinessWeek

Ignoring Gov.Pat Quinn'sopposition, the Illinois House on Wednesday passed a major gambling expansion that would put casinos in Chicago and four other cities, add more positions for riverboat casinos and allow slot machines at horse tracks.

That scenario played out last year, when lawmakers approved a similar gambling measure at the urging of Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Quinn eventually said he'd veto it.

What's different this time is that pro-gambling forces are much closer to amassing enough support to make Quinn irrelevant. The House voted 69-47 in favor of gambling expansion. That's just two votes shy of the 71 needed to override a governor's veto.

Read More: Illinois House approves major gambling expansion - chicagotribune-com