Let your mouth speak archive

His marriage to Winnie had fallen apart after his release and he was now married to Graca Machel, the widowed former first lady of neighboring Mozambique.

He is survived by Machel, his daughter Makaziwe by his first marriage, and daughters Zindzi and Zenani by his second.


Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, 1918 – 2013

As bargain-hungry Americans braved crowded malls to hunt down Thanksgiving deals last week, some New Jersey residents decided to visit Atlantic City – from the comfort of their living room.

They could do so because of new rules legalising online gambling across the Garden State. Six Atlantic City casinos have set up virtual storefronts thus far, with customers creating more than 50,000 online gambling accounts since a trial period began last month.

The push is being watched across the nation: New Jersey, though the third state to legalise online gambling after Delaware and California, is by far the biggest in terms of population.

It also has the broadest regime, with the expansion extending beyond poker to a broader range of casino games. According to the analysts at the ratings agency Fitch, New Jersey’s move could generate up to $300m (£183m) in revenues in 2014, a figure that could rise to as much as $750m in subsequent years.

The state’s Republican Governor, Chris Christie, is even more optimistic: he expects about $1bn in revenues by July.

The big question is whether the online push will hurt business at the bricks-and-mortar casinos that populate Atlantic City, where annual gaming revenues have declined from over $5bn in 2006 to under $3bn, due largely, according to Fitch, “to the development of neighbouring markets”.

While online gambling won’t in itself revive the broader gaming business in New Jersey, lawmakers are betting that the new push will supplement, not eat into, business at Atlantic City’s casinos, and thus provide a much-needed shot in the arm to the industry.

If it works, the New Jersey experiment could become a template for other American states that are waiting in the wings with pro-online gambling legislation.

“Without online gaming, two casinos would have closed and 5,000 to 10,000 people would have been out of jobs in Atlantic City,” state senator Raymond Lesniak told The Star-Ledger of New Jersey last week, explaining why the Governor, who is seen as a possible Republican Presidential candidate in 2016, “ultimately came around to signing legislation he had vetoed the year before last”.

The six casinos that have been granted permits have set up websites powered by various platforms, including Bwin, 888 and Betfair, which, in a half-yearly update to investors in London this week, singled out the US as an attractive long-term market for its business. Of its foray in New Jersey, for which it has partnered with the Trump Plaza Casino, Betfair said the initial signs had been promising.

Beyond New Jersey, research from the National Conference of State Legislatures, a non-governmental organisation that tracks policy across the US, shows eight states – California, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and Texas – are hoping to jump on the bandwagon.

Those in favour of legalisation say that prohibition simply plays into the hands of black market operators, with the American Gaming Association, an industry group, claiming that “Americans spent nearly $3bn gambling with rogue offshore operators” last year.

“The internet cannot be forced back into the bottle – nor can market demand,” the group’s president, Geoff Freeman, said this month.

“New government efforts to prohibit online gaming will unintentionally strengthen black market providers, create more risk for American consumers, including children, and drive US jobs and potential revenues overseas.”

The opposition isn’t sitting back, however, with the billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson reported to be preparing a public campaign aimed at convincing Congress to ban internet gambling. Mr Adelson, a prominent backer of Mitt Romney’s ill-fated Presidential run in 2012 and the chief executive of the Las Vegas Sands Corp casino business, created waves across the industry when he signalled his opposition to online gambling in a Forbes op-ed article published earlier this year.

He argued that not only would legalisation have a negative economic impact by hitting industry jobs, but said that “the plague it could bring to our society is even more far-reaching”.

“Online gambling makes it possible for bets to be placed by anyone at any time.

“When gambling is available in every bedroom, every dorm room and every office space, there will be no way to fully determine that each wager has been placed in a rational and consensual manner,” he said. According to The Washington Post, the billionaire has now hired lobbyists across the country to fight back against the online gambling push.

Next month, he is planning launch an advocacy group called the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling to further press his case. Three former elected officials - the first African-American mayor of Denver, Wellington Webb, former US Senator Blanche Lincoln and former New York governor George Pataki - have been hired to speak for the group as national co-chairs.

“I am willing to spend whatever it takes,” Mr Adelson told Forbes this month after news of his plans first surfaced, setting the stage for a major political fight over the issue in 2014.



US waiting to see if online bet is a winner - Business News - Business - The Independent

Paul Walker’s family is reportedly suing Porche with a multi-million pound lawsuit over his death in a fatal crash.

A source has said that similar accidents have happened in the Porsche Carrera GT model and it’s worrying, the Daily Star reported.

The insider added that the Fast and Furious star’s family will be taking legal advice, and given Walker’s status and potential earnings any claim for compensation would be huge.

Many companies in are getting a shot at the latest online gambling offerings in the USA and one which stands out is website 888 Holdings which operates several high-profile gambling locations. A recent announcement indicated that 888 Holdings has extended their partnerships with the payment processors Optimal Payments and the marketing firm Optimove.

The arrangement has Optimal Payments offering the payment processing options to the 888 brand, but also to any other brand using the 888 platform in the US, which currently involves deals in the three legal online gambling states of Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey.

Optimal Payments is the payment company of Neteller and it received approval to operate within New Jersey from the Division of Gaming Enforcement in late October. Chief Operations Officer of 888, Itai Frieberger, said, “We have worked in partnership with Optimal Payments for more than 12 years, delivering deep and robust joint solutions for our own brand and our platform operators around the world. We are very pleased to extend this partnership for the licensed U.S. online gaming market.”

President & CEO of Optimal Payments, Joel Leonoff, commented on the relationship and deal, “888 are a long-time, strategic partner for Optimal Payments. We are very excited to extend our relationship with 888 as we deliver on our own strategy to provide a complete solution for the licensed U.S. online gaming market.”

888 Holdings has also retained the arrangement with Otimove’s retention automation software that will now see them helping with its consumer facing bingo operations.
888’s senior vice-president head of business-to-consumer division, Itai Pazner said, “A large part of our success as a leading online entertainment company has been our development and focus on the most advanced CRM strategies and tools,” adding, “Optimove has proved itself to be the perfect enhancement to our existing in-house customer marketing systems.”


Online Gambling Firm 888 Deal with Optimal Payments

Renee Maurice has won New Zealand's Got Talent, 2013.

Singing the Jennifer Holliday torch song And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going, the 22-year-old singer from Wellington was a clear winner with viewers.

Thousands of people turned up to open auditions around the country earlier this year and from them nearly 400 acts performed for the NZGT judges with just 30 selected for the semi-finals.

Renee, a singing tutor for StarJam, won from 13 finalists to take home the Grand Prize of $100,000 and a Toyota RAV4.

Choosing a song that showcased her impressive vocal range, she had the audience and judges on their feet before the song had even finished.

"I was just stunned, as well as honoured and grateful that people had actually taken the time to vote for me," she said.

"I can continue to do what I love without worrying about money. Now that I have this platform I want to perform live as much as possible and do larger gigs - I'll just soak up as much as I can get."

Dancing duo Silhouette (Kate and Lei'ataua Limuloa, from Christchurch) took second place in the competition while Jenny Mitchell, a 14-year-old singer and guitarist from Gore, was third.

Judges Rachel Hunter, Jason Kerrison and Cris Judd were delighted with the results of the public voting and said they couldn't be happier with the top three New Zealand selected.

"All three had flawless performances in the Grand Final...the final three truly did deserve to be there," Jason said.



Singer from Wellington wins NZ's Got Talent - Entertainment News | TVNZ

What locales come to mind when you think about online gambling operators? Malta, Gibraltar, and the Isle of Man: all of these are jurisdictions known for hosting countless Internet gambling companies that do business around the world. Now, New Jersey legislators are hoping Atlantic City can be added to that eclectic mix of international online gambling hotspots.

The legislation comes from State Senator Ray Lesniak, the same man who was behind the push for online gambling in New Jersey over the past two years. While Lesniak had originally talked about his idea for luring international companies to New Jersey last month during a press conference, he only introduced the legislation late last week, which finally allowed the public to understand the details of his proposal.
Aliens Welcome

It should be made clear that this is not legislation that would allow for the sharing of player pools for poker or other casino games, though New Jersey has suggested that they may look into that in the future (especially with other states that have regulated online poker). Instead, this bill would allow companies to set up shop in New Jersey, and then provide online gambling games to players around the world.

Ironically, that wouldn’t mean they could necessarily offer their services to players in New Jersey, though. These companies would still have to go through the same licensing steps and partner with an Atlantic City land casino to offer Internet wagering in the state.

The biggest change from Lesniak’s original proposal to the one unveiled this past week was a shift in location. Originally, his plan was to allow companies to set up their operations anywhere in the state. However, after consulting with fellow State Senator Jim Whelan, he decided to change the law and require companies to base their online gambling operations in Atlantic City.

“Obviously from Atlantic City’s perspective, the casino companies and so on, it’s good for the city and it avoids any potential constitutional issues,” Whelan said. “Do it in Atlantic City. The companies are going to be here anyway.”

“Do It in Atlantic City”: we smell a new marketing slogan for sure.

While it may not be immediately obvious why companies would want to relocate to the Jersey Shore, Lesniak believes that at least some firms would want the benefits that come with Atlantic City’s trusted name for regulated gambling.

“The Atlantic City casino industry is well-regulated and highly respected, which gives us an advantage,” he said. “We can capitalize on our strengths and attract business to build and invest in our state. We shouldn’t allow these opportunities to migrate overseas to other countries.”
Welcome, Now Pay Up

That kind of stability and regulation comes with a price, however. Gaming revenues would be taxed by New Jersey at 15 percent, which is higher than in many non-American jurisdictions that currently license Internet gaming companies. However, those companies would be able to get credits for any taxes paid to their home countries. Lesniak acknowledges, of course, that some trade organizations and others might oppose agreements between New Jersey and foreign jurisdictions that would be necessary for the online gambling plan to work.

Still, an estimate by Econsult Solutions says that the city and state could rake in as much as $5 billion to $8 billion each year were this legislation to be passed. In addition, becoming an international online gambling hub could create 11,000 to 16,000 new jobs for the state, a compelling selling point for pushing this legislation through.

Read more: New Jersey Wants to Lure Offshore Online Gambling Operators

Bonza Gaming is an independent company with their development team based in central London. Bonza Gaming started product development in September of 2012. The first game, Bonza Slots, launched on Facebook at the start of 2013. The experienced team of engineers developed a great product in short order.
A recent announcement in November indicated that Bonza Casino, a real money social gaming application is now available. It offers Roulette, Blackjack and Texas Hold'em. The web location also offers Net Entertainment as its exclusive software supplier with NetEnt’s popular Starburst, Gonzo's Quest plus others. A Guernsey-based social gambling start-up Bonza Gaming was built with financial interest from its partners Sportingbet and game studio developers Plumbee.

Unibet took over the venture and is now competing in the social network gambling trend. In a article from Social Casino Intelligence Chief Executive Officer of Bonza Gaming, Rick Brownlow said the launch of a real-money casino product on Facebook was in line with the company’s long term stratregy to diversify its product offering. “It was always our idea to create a very slots-specific application and then launch a specific casino application which we think will be aimed at different customer bases,” Brownlow was quoted as saying.“We’ve got a lot of customers who have come into the slots application where we were targeting casino players who have probably come in, had a little play but thought this doesn’t really give them the breadth of product they wanted because they’re used to playing off-canvas. Adding, “Now we’ve got the casino application we can then drive them to that side. So we’ve got a cross-sell existing base and we also hope to appeal to a whole new audience out there.”
The social network online gambling offerings are slow to catch fire but the smoldering potential is there with millions of people participating in social media.


Social Network Real Money Online Gambling

The media has uncovered another big scam in the world of match fixing with recent revelations that the The Sunday Sun has published. The video revealing ex premier league footballer 34-year-old Nigerian defender Sodje bragging about wagering on portions of various games. Sam Sodje, who played for Portsmouth and also in the top flight at Reading, says in the video he can guarantee certain events in play in return for money.
An undercover reporter recorded Sodje claiming he fixed a game for an ex-Premier League player, who now plays in the Championship, to get a yellow card and can even arrange other such events in Premier League games - for a much greater price owing to the huge fines for high level players who are caught cheating.

The undercover reporter posing as a middleman for a betting syndicate based in Asia gathered information on the scam and its perpetrators. Police have now taken over the investigating of the crime after information the reporter garnered over a period of four months was released to them.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) confirmed it was investigating the claims. In a statement the agency said: 'The NCA can confirm that the Sun on Sunday has passed material from its own investigation to the National Crime Agency. 'An active NCA investigation is now under way and we are working closely with the Football Association and the Gambling Commission. We cannot comment further at this stage.'
The revealing video has the football player admitting he made a quick £60,000 even after being fined £10,000 after being paid by the gambling ring £70,000 Sodje punched Oldham Athletic's Jose Baxter twice during a game in February this year.

It has been suggested that illegal betting gangs are worth £320billion globally, the illegal activity is growing due to the increased popularity of gambling during games, and the ease of in-play betting.


In-Game Online Betting Exploited By Match Fixers

With legalized online gambling in the Netherlands expected to become a reality in 2014, Dutch gambling monopoly Holland Casino announced that it has selected online gaming giant Playtech as its service provider.

The agreement will see Playtech develop an online gaming platform for the Holland Casino, supplying software for poker, roulette, blackjack, slots, and bingo. Playtech was selected by Holland Casino following a competitive tender process.

"We will soon offer our players a unique gaming environment and experience," said Holland Casino’s interim CEO Willem-Jan van den Dijssel. "Coupled with the expertise of Playtech, we look forward with confidence to the forthcoming regulation of the market."

The Netherlands is preparing to launch a regulated online gambling market by 2015. According to intersog-com, the country is the 17th largest gambling market in the European Union with more than 700,000 online players generating gross gambling revenue between €130 million and €250 million annually.


Playtech Selected by Holland Casino as Internet Gambling Service Provider | PokerNews

In an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Brian McGill, a gaming analyst for Janney Montgomery Scott, said that online poker will grow in New Jersey, but that Delaware was unprepared for an iGaming launch.

"We still think that online gaming will ultimately grow into a meaningful driver of revenues in New Jersey,” McGill said. “But it will take some time to see it ramp.”

McGill believes that annual revenues can fall “on the high side” of the $200 million to $1.8 billion estimates.

As for Delaware, where online websites are run by horse tracks and in conjunction with the state lottery, McGill isn't as bullish.

“There was little promotion or information unless you went to one of the track’s sites," he said. “You could not find any information initially at the actual casino in the track.”

McGill is a New York resident, and he traveled across state lines to participate in the New Jersey soft launch and to experiment in Delaware. He believes that online gaming could be a "significant catalyst" for Boyd Gaming Corp., the operators of the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. McGill says that the Borgata could represent up to 20 percent of the Garden State's online gaming market.

Moody's Investors Services Vice President Peggy Holloway agrees with Boyd's potential in New Jersey.

"As a single-asset company, Borgata stands to benefit more from incremental revenue from online gaming," Holloway said.

Borgata is partnered with bwin.party, the operator of partypoker.

Holloway still believes there will be growing pains, and that revenue increases won't come immediately.

“Operating margins will be about 10 percent to 20 percent, but startup costs will likely lead to operating losses for at least the first year,” Holloway said. “Nevertheless, online gaming is a much-needed boost for a market that has suffered protracted declines in gaming revenues amid increased competition from neighboring states and weak consumer gaming demand.”

Moody's release a report last week that online casino revenues would be between $250 million and $500 million in the first year. Fitch Ratings also released a report, predicting the revenue to be between $200 million and $300 million.

Gov. Chris Christie predicts that revenue would reach as high as $160 million by July of 2014. Christie originally forecasted $180 million, but the tax rate was reduced in the final bill.

New Jersey Senator Jim Whelan disagrees with both predictions.

"From the get-go, we thought the number was, frankly, absurd. I never thought the state was going to hit the mark, even the revised mark," he said.

Whelan believes the figure will be "well under $100 million given the time constraints."


Gaming Analyst Says Online Gaming in New Jersey Will Grow; Delaware Unprepared | PokerNews

Legendary Entertainment is expanding its television production repertoire by acquiring Asylum Entertainment, the firm behind the biographical miniseries "The Kennedys."

Legendary, the entertainment company controlled by film producer and financier Thomas Tull, announced Monday it had completed a deal to buy 100% of Asylum Entertainment, a 10-year-old production firm.

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Asylum specializes in unscripted and scripted fare. The 2011 miniseries "The Kennedys" featured Greg Kinnear, Barry Pepper, Tom Wilkinson and Katie Holmes. Originally produced for the History Channel, the network abandoned the project after complaints from Kennedy family members.

The independent Reelz Channel ultimately broadcast the series, which scored 10 Emmy nominations.

Asylum's other credits include the sports documentary series "30 for 30" for ESPN and the 2013 movie "Ring of Fire" for Lifetime Entertainment with Jewel playing June Carter Cash. Asylum is producing "Happy Valley" for A&E, which looks at how the sexual abuse scandal involving assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky seared the cultural fabric of Penn State University.

Legendary has been raising its profile in sports-themed content, producing this year's biographical feature film on Jackie Robinson, "42."

Asylum Entertainment’s founders, Chief Executive Steve Michaels and Chief Creative Officer Jonathan Koch, plan to stay on to run Asylum as a somewhat separate entity. They will report to Bruce Rosenblum, the former Warner Bros. television chief who became president of Legendary's television and digital media businesses last summer.

“This is an incredible deal that allows Asylum to scale our existing business beyond what we could have imagined,” Michaels and Koch said in a statement. “In terms of our programming philosophies and the audiences we’re trying to build and serve, Legendary is a perfect match."

Legendary buys TV production firm Asylum Entertainment - latimes-com

Organizations and advocates on all sides of the online gambling debate are cheering a Congressional hearing on the state of online gambling.

The hearing took place Tuesday before the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade.

In his testimony, American Gaming Association President Geoff Freeman praised the hearing as timely. He said the gambling lobby appreciated Congress' leadership.

The Gaming Association is pushing for a national regulatory structure for online gambling.

On the other side of the spectrum, the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling applauded Congress for "taking seriously the threat of Internet gambling"

The coalition said in a statement the hearing provided a chance to explore the dangers associated with online betting.

At least three Congressional bills related to online gambling have been introduced this year.

Two lawmakers introduced bills over the summer that would legalize some form of Internet gambling nationwide. This fall, Rep. Jim McDermott, a Democrat from Washington, introduced a bill that would tax federally sanctioned online wagering.

Republican New York Congressman Peter King introduced a bill in June that would open the door to all forms of casino games.

In July, Rep. Joe Barton, a Texas Republican, introduced a more limited bill that would pave the way for states to legalize online poker without fear of federal intervention. Barton's legislation would apply only to poker and would allow states to opt out of the federal system.

On Tuesday, Barton suggested his bill might be divinely sanctioned.

"I will say as a practicing Christian that God does give men and women free will, and I think that we ought to have a law that represent free will in this issue," he said. Capitol Hill could see another legislative push for online gambling before the session is out. Democratic Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, who has said the issue is one of the most important that his home state faces, is working on new legislation with his Nevada colleague, Republican Sen. Dean Heller.

Gamblers wanting to make wagers from the privacy of their homes have had few options in recent years. The federal government cracked down definitively on Internet gambling in 2011. But the same year, the U.S. Justice Department issued a ruling making online gambling legal so long as it's permitted on the state level.

Congress flirted with an online gambling bill in 2012, but industry infighting and partisan disagreement ultimately doomed it. When that legislation failed, states began moving ahead on their own.

Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware have legalized some kind of online gambling, and legislatures in other states are weighing the issue.

Morgan Stanley predicts that by 2020, online gambling in the U.S. will produce the same amount of revenue as Las Vegas and Atlantic City markets combined: $9.3 billion.



Congressional Subcommittee Weighs Online Gambling - ABC News

House members highlighted casino magnate Sheldon Adelson’s seemingly contradicting positions on online gambling during a Tuesday hearing on online gambling.

Adelson, CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Corp., has been a vocal opponent of state and federal attempts to legalize online gambling. Despite Adelson’s protests to legalized online gambling, the Venetian Las Vegas — a casino owned by Adelson’s group — offers mobile gambling to customers visiting the casino, according to its site.

“Is there anything you can’t do on a smartphone or tablet nowadays?” the site asks.

“Mobile Casino Gaming is available to you on property during your stay, and you can even play from your room!”

Members of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on trade questioned how Adelson’s group could offer mobile gambling services while opposing attempts to legalize online gambling.

Subcommittee member Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) introduced the Internet Poker Freedom Act earlier this year, which would create a federal licensing system for states to allow residents to play online poker for money.

“What you’re advertising … is the same thing that we’re talking about,” Barton said to Las Vegas Sands Corp. Vice President of Government Relations Andrew Abboud during Tuesday’s hearing.

“It’s just a matter of how wide the geography is,” Barton said.

Subcommittee ranking member Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) pressed Abboud on the discrepancy.

“It feels, to me, a little hypocritical,” she said.

Abboud replied that the casino is able to verify visiting customers who want to gamble through their smartphones.

“That’s a very controlled environment in a regulated state,” he said. Abboud spent most of his testimony asking the committee to ban online gambling.

Smartphones will become traveling casinos where anyone, including children, can access online gambling, he said.

Poker Players Alliance Executive Director John Pappas, who testified at the hearing in favor of legalizing poker, said Adelson's group faces "a difficult position for them to reconcile."

"On one hand they claim a ‘moral objection’ to Internet and mobile gaming, yet you don’t have to dig deep to learn that they tout themselves as a leader in the ‘mobile casino’ gaming and sports betting in Nevada," Pappas said in a statement to The Hill.

"I guess it is ok to gamble on the Internet only when it benefits their bottom line."




House members call Adelson

In 2006, Republicans in Congress led a crackdown on Internet gambling. Two years ago, many of them cheered when the U.S. Justice Department moved to suppress the booming online poker market, shuttering three top sites simultaneously on a day known within the industry as Black Friday.

But now some Congressional conservatives are increasingly enthusiastic about—or at least increasingly open to—the merits of online gambling.

A light snow on Tuesday spurred the closure of the federal government, but inside the Rayburn House building, a panel of members packed into a crowded committee room to consider a bill to legalize online poker. Its sponsor: Texas Republican Joe Barton, a Tea Party member who cast the measure in conservative terms.

“It is a states’-rights, user-friendly bill,” Barton said of his legislation, which would legalize online poker nationwide while giving states the ability to opt out.

The initiative is a sign of how the GOP‘s libertarian streak and a host of cash-strapped states have come to embrace online gaming—not just poker, but also state-run lotteries, sports betting and other forms of gambling—as potential sources of revenue in tough economic times.

Over the past year, Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware have legalized online poker within their borders. State legislatures from California to Iowa are considering doing the same next year. Proponents hope to tap into a multi-billion dollar industry, of which U.S. residents account for around 15% of the revenues despite laws that force Americans to patronize offshore companies to participate. A recent study by Morgan Stanley estimated that Internet gambling could become a $9 billion industry by 2020, roughly on par with the revenue generated in the glittering palaces on the Las Vegas strip and the casinos lining the Atlantic City boardwalk.

Much of the gaming industry, which once regarded the rise of online gambling as a threat to their market share, has come to see the Internet as both a fact of life and a revenue stream to tap into. “The government cannot put the Internet back in the bottle,” said Geoff Freeman, the CEO of the American Gaming Association, who suggested casinos will adapt to growing demand for gambling over laptops, tablets and mobile devices or risk becoming relics, like brick-and-mortar video stores in the age of Netflix and Amazon. ”It’s not often,” Freeman noted, that “an industry comes before you asking for regulation.”

Not all gaming companies are on the same page, however. Las Vegas Sands Corporation, the casino operator run by billionaire Sheldon Adelson, is launching a national push to enact a federal ban on Internet gambling. Adelson, a top donor to Republican campaigns, is backing the newly created Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling, which argues the activity is insecure, unregulated and targets youth and the less fortunate. The lobbying group is led by former New York governor George Pataki, a Republican, former Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, and former Democratic Mayor of Denver Wellington Webb. Adelson said recently he is willing to spend “whatever it takes” to bar Internet gambling.

“The Internet is more dangerous than ever,” said Sands vice president Andy Abboud in his testimony before the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade. “Internet gambling takes gambling too far.”

Some lawmakers on the panel were sympathetic to Abboud’s arguments that legalizing gambling would entice children, among others, to destructive behavior. Several staunchly conservative Republicans seemed ambivalent, drawn to the states’-rights argument even as they mused about the challenge of walling off impressionable children from vice. Democrat Jan Schakowsky of Illinois noted that Adelson’s company makes a lot of money from gambling. “It feels to me,” she said of its opposition, ”a little hypocritical.”

Barton is not the only member of Congress who wants to go all-in on online poker. Last summer New York Republican Peter King pushed a federal bill to license online gambling, and Nevada Senators Harry Reid, the Democratic leader, and Republican Dean Heller have worked on the issue. And while momentum on the Hill for a federal overhaul has waned amid rising partisan tensions, Barton says he believes legislators will soon recognize that the government should not prevent people from playing a game of skill in their own homes if they choose.

“The timing is coming,” said Barton, a self-professed poker fan. He described a mad scramble Tuesday morning from his Dallas-area home, braving icy roads and escaping flight delays to make the hearing on time. “God,” he concluded wryly, “must be for this bill.”

Read more: Congressman Joe Barton's Online Poker Bill Gets Hearing | TIME-com Congressman Joe Barton's Online Poker Bill Gets Hearing | TIME-com

Justin Bieber reportedly branded a fellow hotel guest a "beached whale".

The 19-year-old singer shocked sunbathers on the pool deck at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Perth, Australia, on Sunday when he mocked a "gorgeous" fan for her curvy figure.

Hotel guest Helen Robinett told website News.com.au: "There were four young girls in bikinis. One girl who was gorgeous looking, with long dark hair and would have been about a size 14. Justin looked over at her and said, 'What are you, Hawaiian or something?' She said, 'No, I'm not.'

"Then he said 'You look like a beached whale' ... The girl said, 'Are you serious?' And he said, 'You should go on 'The Biggest Loser'.' ... The whole pool deck heard him call this beautiful young girl a beached whale.

"I made a complaint to the hotel, and they said the girl was okay and she was a Bieber fan.

"He's nothing without his fan base. And he's abusing them. The girl next to me said, 'I can't believe he just said that, he's my idol.' And I said, 'Well get yourself a new idol'."

Helen also criticised the star - who had had the gym and pool closed for private use the day before - for his irresponsible actions around the water in front of young children.

She continued: "There were two little boys having a ball around the pool and Justin said, 'Hey kids, don't do this,' and then jumped into the pool. He did it twice."

A spokesperson for the hotel refused to comment if there had been any complaints about their famous guest.

The spokesperson said: "We are a hotel, we have hundreds of guests staying with us, we simply cannot speak on behalf of every single guest that comes in and interacts with another guest.

"But obviously we want all our guests to feel comfortable and not intimated by anyone. We have security, as do any VIP guests, they have their own security."

- Bang! Showbiz

Nice article. Definitely, online casino is a good business that generates taxes in some cities. We can observe that most online casinos have licenses to ensure legitimacy of their business. Although, once it has been abused, it becomes unhealthy for gamers especially in terms of financial, mind and social lives.

American Indian tribes have 460 gaming facilities in 28 states, but none offers online gambling—at least not yet.

Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware are the only states that have legal Internet gambling, but it is spreading internationally. Worldwide, online betting generates almost $30 billion of revenue a year, with Americans spending $4 billion, according to estimates from the American Gaming Association. Some of the 240 Indian tribes in the U.S. are eager for a piece of that market.

It's unclear how much revenue online gambling will bring to U.S. tribes or states. In New Jersey, for example, Republican Gov. Chris Christie is hoping his state can collect $1.2 billion a year from legal online betting. Fitch Ratings, however, estimates its take will be $300 million to $750 million annually over the next several years.

By the end of the year, an American Indian tribe in rural California, the Alturas Indian Rancheria Tribe, expects to launch the country's first tribal online gambling effort. The Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribes in Oklahoma are pressing forward with a site that will target gamblers from outside the United States. And the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians in the Midwest is actively preparing for the possibility that more states or the federal government will sanction online gambling sometime soon.

Tribes have been deeply divided over whether to allow gambling on their reservations, and online betting is just as divisive. Those that back casinos to combat high unemployment and poverty among Native Americans see online gambling as the next logical step. To prepare, many have set up websites that offer free games with no prizes. But other tribes fear online gaming will siphon business from their casinos.

States began legalizing online betting after the U.S. Justice Department reversed its ban on Internet gambling in December 2011. California, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts and Texas were among the states that considered proposals related to online gambling this year, but none was approved.

SOVEREIGN NATIONS

Because the federal government recognizes tribes as sovereign nations, their gaming businesses are generally exempt from federal and state income taxes and local property taxes. Some tribes share casino revenues with states, often in exchange for agreements to keep out privately-run casinos—such deals exist in California, Florida, Minnesota and Wisconsin—but the amount is much less than states would collect in taxes from private casinos.

In 2011, the most recent year for which data are available, tribes funneled $1.4 billion to states and localities under such agreements, according to the Casino City's Indian Gaming Industry Report. By contrast, states and localities raked in $8.6 billion in tax revenue from non-tribe casinos in 2012, according to the American Gaming Association.

Under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988, the federal government must approve state-tribe compacts, casino management contracts and tribal gaming ordinances. But that authority applies only to "Class III" gaming, including slot machines, other video and electronic games of chance, craps, roulette and blackjack. The tribes themselves have authority over "Class II" gaming, such as bingo, pull-tabs, lotto and punch boards. The online games that tribes in Oklahoma and California plan to launch involve Class II gambling.

A FIRST IN OKLAHOMA

Oklahoma doesn't allow its residents to gamble online, but under an unusual agreement reached with the state earlier this year, the Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribes will be allowed to target online gamblers from outside the U.S.

Under a first-of-its-kind settlement with Republican Gov. Mary Fallin, the tribes agreed to close an online site called www-pokertribes-com that the state said was illegal. In exchange, Oklahoma will allow the tribes to launch a website that takes bets only from people outside the United States.

The tribes also will give Oklahoma 10% of the revenues generated from online card games and up to 6% from online bingo, lottery and other games. It is unclear how much money that will be.

Tribal casinos in Oklahoma generated $3.5 billion in revenues in 2011, second only to those in California. Oklahoma collected $134 million as part of its revenue sharing agreements with the tribes that year, according to the Casino City's Indian Gaming Industry Report.

ALL EYES ON CALIFORNIA

Tribal casinos in California had $6.9 billion in revenues in 2011, 25% of the total Indian casino revenues nationwide, according to the Casino City's Indian Gaming Industry Report. From that total, the 60 California tribes gave $387 million to the state and localities, tops in the nation.

The Alturas Indian Rancheria Tribe in Northern California is expected to be the first tribe to formally launch online gaming by the end of the year. The tribe has partnered with a company called Great Luck that has developed a technology open to gamblers anywhere in the country, who could play on their home computers or on mobile devices.

Great Luck, which is headed by Indians from other tribes, unveiled what it called "first tribal online bingo site in the United States" during an event in Las Vegas in September. A primitive version is available now in a "free-play" format, but it expects "real-money" games to start with its deal with the Alturas Indian Rancheria Tribe, via the host site, DesertRoseBingo-com.

Tribes that use this system are banking on VPN-like technology called "Virtual Private Network Assisted Play System" that ensures that bettors are located on reservation property virtually, rather than physically. Once players are registered and approved, they can play games via "proxy play," in which the system connects wagers to servers located on Indian lands, "thus ensuring that all actual game play is taking place within sovereign Indian lands," the company said.

The technology will make sure the online pl

Yesterday's Senate subcommittee hearing had less fireworks than anticipated, but Sheldon Adelson's anti-online gambling stance managed to be labeled as "hypocritical" by two lawmakers.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Illinois) actually used the word when speaking to Adelson's mouthpiece, Andrew Abboud, the Las Vegas Sands Corporation Vice President of Government Relations and Community Development. Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) didn't use the term specifically, but inferred as much after poking holes in Abboud's testimony.

That testimony took place before the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade and was available via webcast at the government website and on C-Span for those who preferred watching on television. "The State of Online Gaming" was the hearing's title, with subtitles along the lines of the "Internet Poker Freedom Act" as introduced by Barton in July and the "current regulatory landscape" that finds individual states enacting online gambling legislation due to the DoJ's reinterpretation of the 1961 Wire Act in 2011.

Abboud, in denouncing the legalization of Internet gambling at the behest of Adelson, held up a Smartphone and said that regulation would turn "every [mobile] device into a casino" and that such a scenario "is going too far" with regard to the proliferation of gambling. He further added that "simply because we can [legislate online gambling] doesn't mean we should."

Schakowsky and Barton both pointed out that the Venetian, a Las Vegas Sands' property, marketed the use of mobile devices for making wagers. They mildly attacked Abboud's testimony in which he called for any talk of online gambling legislation to cease and for the Wire Act's previous interpretation to be reinstated.

Also given five minutes each to testify were Les Bernal, the National Director of Stop Predatory Gambling; Rachel Volberg, an associate professor at the University of Massachusetts and a recognized authority on problem gambling; Kurt Eggert, a gambling law professor at Chapman University; Geoff Freeman, American Gaming Association (AGA) president and CEO; and John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA).

Bernal is against all forms of gambling whether in a casino or online and he offered statistics that show that problem gamblers account for 40% to 60% of all gambling revenue. Volberg rightly called for more money to be spent on researching and combating addictive gambling. Eggert firmly dislikes bots and believes that online poker players and gamblers should have a wealth of information available such as casino advantage percentages and ratings of poker players based on skill levels in order to make more informed wagering decisions.

Freeman and Pappas were both well-prepared and highly effective in providing reasons why online poker should be legalized. Freeman made it clear that "online gaming is here to stay" and that "the demand [for Internet wagering] is extraordinary and not going away." Frank Fahrenkopf's successor correctly pointed out that many worldwide jurisdictions have effectively embraced and regulated online gambling.

Pappas spoke along those same lines, citing the success of regulated Internet gambling in Europe for more than a decade. He stressed that the U.S. can achieve the same results. Pappas also mentioned that underaged online gambling has not been reported in any of the states that have launched legalized Internet wagering thus far. The PPA honcho added testimony backing Barton's HR 2666 as a bill high on consumer protections.

Subcommittee members are preparing additional written questions for the witnesses and will review the answers received. It is the hope of online poker players that further hearings are scheduled in order to continue on the path of federally-regulated online poker throughout the U.S. with each state having the option to opt out at their discretion.



Sheldon Adelson Stance Seen as 'Hypocritical' at U.S. Online Gambling Hearing | PokerUpdate

Online gambling is off to a strong start in New Jersey according to the new online gaming newsletter iGaming Player

iGaming Player reports that about 51,000 internet gaming accounts have been set up since online betting began last month.

Atlantic City's casinos have 13 gaming websites up and running, each casino is allowed up to five sites.

Officials seem to be confident that geolocation programs are blocking players from outside the state, but some glitches remain and there have been reports of players inside New Jersey being blocked.

All online gambling sites are run through Atlantic City casinos.

In a report, the credit ratings agency Moody's predicted $200 million to $300 million in revenues for online gaming's first year.



Online gambling off to a strong start in New Jersey - NBC40-net

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler continue their world domination on the latest cover of Entertainment Weekly.

The "SNL" stars-turned-showrunners-turned two-time-Golden-Globes-hosts guest edited the Dec. 20 issue of the magazine. They even assigned Jon Hamm to interview Ellie Kemper, who will star in Fey's new comedy for NBC.

Even though Poehler was snubbed for a SAG nomination, we have no doubt they'll kill as hosts at the Golden Globes.