Let your mouth speak archive

A $1 billion gaming deal is heading to the House for a final vote after the Florida Senate signed off on the measure by a 29-9 vote Thursday.

With no debate, the Senate approved the deal, which would expand gaming in the state and infuse $437.5 million into a cash-strapped budget, propping up funding to schools and universities. The vote comes after three years of legislative and legal wrangling and nearly two decades of negotiations with the Seminole Tribe of Florida, which operates seven facilities throughout the state.

The deal would provide the state at least $1 billion over a five-year period.


:dirol

Serial divorcer Larry King is apparently at it again, as TMZ-com was the first to report that the talk show host has filed from divorce from wife Shawn Southwick.






😄😄

I used to watch Larry King. Now I just think he's a sad man. I mean, you should be able to find exactly what you want in a wife with that kind of money. Or else just quit getting married and play the field. It is just sad to see that kind of crap. 😔

Arrested payment processor Daniel Tzvetkoff is expected to make a bail application this coming Wednesday.

Tzvetkoff, who was arrested Friday in Las Vegas, is charged with laundering $500 million through illegal gambling transactions. He is also alleged to have scammed the online gambling houses out of millions of dollars in recent years.

:dirol

In Australia the advantages and the disadvantages are many for legalising online gambling. The advantages certainly outweigh disadvantages especially in the Asia Pacific Australian district where things are progressing now. Most individuals who were asked contend that moving towards legal and regulated online gambling in Australia is the best move, and will accomplish much for the safety and integrity of the games. :thumbsup

The largest affect that the UIGEA had on the industry was regarding depositing. Credit card companies began to follow some of the UIGEA mandates which made it illegal for financial companies to knowingly allow gambling deposits. As a result credit card deposits became more difficult. US gambling sites found a way to improve credit card acceptance rates and some sites including Sportsbook and Rushmore remain some of the leaders in credit card acceptance rates. In addition, there were many depositing alternatives that became much more popular such as ewallets and echecks.

:dirol

Anyone play on LUVINPOKER and if so what are your thoughts about the site?

Never heard of it and unfortunately... i already have too many poker sites on my PC

Never heard about them :dirol

Last week ended on a high note for gambling expansion in two states. Both Florida and Massachusetts heard the news of gambling expanding bills being passed in one part of their state’s legislatures. The upcoming week may entail both states passing their bills, and proponents are hopeful that the long debates will finally be put to rest.

Last week, the Florida Senate passed a bill that would bring formal cooperation between the state and the Seminole Tribe’s casinos. The issue has lasted years, and the Florida Senate finally came to a bill that they had agreed with. A 29-9 vote ended the battle in the Senate on Thursday, leaving nothing but a House vote in the way of the bill. Charlie Christ, Governor of Florida, will also have to sign the bill, though this has been essentially assured.

The current draft of the gambling compact will legalize several table games, including blackjack and baccarat. In trade, the Seminole tribe will pay over $1 billion dollars to the state over a period of five years. These funds will work their way into the general budget, though it is expected that education will receive the largest cut.


(Unfortunately, the delay in the committee hearing over the anti-UIGEA legislation has been postponed. Federal legislatures, Barney Frank in particular, have not yet announced the new date for the committee hearing over HR 2267, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act.)

After years of trying, the Florida House of Representatives finally approved a new agreement Monday with casino-operator The Seminole Tribe of Florida, guaranteeing the state a minimum of $1 billion over five years.

The legislation won approval, 74-39, with the entire local delegation voting in favor. The House’s action in Tallahassee followed Senate approval last week, which also drew all ayes from local lawmakers.

State Rep. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, who chaired the House committee overseeing gaming issues and was a key member of the negotiating team, told lawmakers in urging them to vote in favor: “I think it is a very good deal.”

:dirol

Pro-gaming lobbyists are highlighting a new study that shows legalizing online gambling could create tens of thousands of new jobs over five years.

H2 Gambling Capital, a Manchester, U.K.- based market analysis firm for the gambling industry, released a new report on Monday that says legalized online gambling would spark 32,000 new jobs and $57.5 billion in new tax revenue over five years. It could also lead to $94 billion in new economic activity, the firm estimates.

“This study should provide further incentive for the Obama administration and Congress to act quickly to regulate Internet gambling,” Simon Holliday, a director at H2, said in a statement.

He also argued that by keeping online gambling illegal, U.S. lawmakers are losing billions for their economy and leaving tens of thousands of U.S. players without any onshore regulatory protection.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, has sponsored legislation that would legalize online gambling and set up an infrastructure to regulate it. Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, separately has authored legislation that would tax online gambling.

Frank’s bill has attracted the most support so far, with 68 co-sponsors, including some Republicans. A hearing to discuss the bill was postponed last week.

Gambling advocates said the study should encourage members to pass Frank’s and McDermott’s bills.

Online gambling in the United States was first banned in 2006. Republicans attached a rider to a ports security authorization bill to institute the ban.
Conservative Christian groups as well as professional sports leagues lobbied hard for the measure and have since opposed any attempt to legalize the industry.

:dirol

I still use my CC

Lucky them!!

Echecks are just great. Its like "click-type-click" your done.

I want to get the Nike+ shoes to work with the iPod. I have 50 lbs to lose.

Does anyone here have this. I was wondering if I can just use the Nike sensor or do I need the sportsband too😟

:helpme

The New Hampshire House of Representatives will vote Wednesday on a bill to expand gambling in the state.

Seacoast area representatives expect the vote to be close.

The House Local and Regulated Revenues Committee voted 13 to 7 last week to kill Senate Bill 489, which would legalize six casinos and up to 17,500 slot machines around the state, including in Seabrook.

The bill came up for debate on Thursday, April 15 after the committee's daylong public hearing and a half-day work session. The debate occurred just hours after the Massachusetts House voted 120 to 37 to legalize slots and casinos there.

It is estimated that the bill would bring between $150 million to $200 million to the state of New Hampshire annually in its share of slot machine revenues.

Local representatives are divided over the committee's vote, with Seabrook's legislators largely in favor and most others opposed. Some feel the committee vote will guide the decision of the full House, while others believe it will lead to more discussion on the floor, and possibly a different outcome.

"I think everyone in Concord pretty well figured that's the way it would come out," said Rep. Doug Scamman, R-Stratham. "Usually if the committee says something, they come up with the right decision, and in this case they did."

Rep. Sue Kepner, D-Hampton, believes the House will most likely agree with the committee and vote against the bill.

"There are lockstep politicians on either side, but there are other people who like to think I can change my mind or not follow the party line," she said. "I don't think most people have the stomach for what this is going to do, so there's a pretty good chance they will follow the committee."

While many representatives often follow the guidance of committees simply because committee members are more involved in and educated about bills and issues, Rep. Amy Perkins, R-Seabrook, said this issue is one where all representatives are educating themselves.

"A lot of times, I think that we very much respect the vote of the committee and the opinion of the committee because we are not there to hear all of the testimony in the public hearing and not involved in all aspects of the bills," she said. "This specific bill, this specific issue and topic, does involve everybody, so I think the representatives are being much more involved with this specific issue and more focused on what's happening as it travels through the Senate and the House."

Rep. Al Weare, R-Seabrook, said "it was the wrong vote," but one that will make for an "interesting" debate on the floor of the House.

"I've said right along the line that the vote coming out of the House is going to be very close one way or the other. I think it's a toss-up if you listen to the constituents, and the majority of e-mails that I've got, they're all in favor of gambling," he said. "On the other side, there are some that you'll never change their mind and they think that the people should not have that before them because it will create all sorts of problems."

Rep. Donna Schlachman, D-Exeter, will listen closely to the debate on the House floor, but she said she does feel there are a lot of flaws in the bill. She also gives a lot of credit to the committee's decision.

"I am sure they considered the testimony very carefully," she said. "Generally when things come out of the committee, I give a lot of respect for the committee and that they've made their decision on the facts that they heard. When it is a relatively close vote like that, it says that there are strong arguments on the other side."

The committee vote was followed by Gov. John Lynch saying last Friday that he would veto a bill to legalize video slots in the state if it reaches his desk.

Lynch said he would veto both the Senate bill and one proposed in the House that scales back the number of sites to five. The governor said the House version was not an improvement.

Lynch said he wants to review a report by a gambling commission he appointed last year to study the issue and analyze possible gambling models for the state. The gambling commission report is due by early May.

State Rep. Nancy Stiles, R-Hampton, said she would like to know the results of the gambling commission report before the House makes its decision.

"I think we have to leave things on the table. I do think it's a resource that's out there and available," she said. "We are in a bind. Gaming is a choice, not a tax that's forced on you."

Also last week, the Massachusetts House approved a bill to license two resort-style casinos and allow 3,000 slot machines spread across the state's two dog tracks and two horse tracks. The Senate has yet to act on the bill.

Perkins of Seabrook said she wants New Hampshire to remain the leader it has always been, especially when it comes to gambling.

"New Hampshire has always been a leader as far as providing a wonderful way of life, and I don't want to be second best when it comes to this," she said. "I think we can do this, and we can do it with style and with a lot of cautiousness. We can do this. I think it's time."

Rep. Jim Splaine, D-Portsmouth, feels gambling in the state will hurt other kinds of economic development.

Some representatives expressed concern that if New Hampshire does not approve the gambling bill, it will lose revenue to Massachusetts.

"That's where people are going to go and that's where the money is going to go," Weare said.

:dirol

A new study projected that thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in tax revenue would be created if legislation were passed to legalize and regulate online gambling and poker in the United States.

The study by H2 Gambling Capital, which is “the leading supplier of data and consultancy regarding the gambling industry” according to its Web site, comes as legislation is moving through congress to regulate and tax the online gaming industry.

:dirol

Representative Barney Frank already knows the social advantages that regulated online gambling could have in the US. Now, a study released by H2 Gambling Capital claims that 32,000 jobs could be created if the US followed Frank's suggestion.

Rep. Frank has introduced legislation that would regulate Internet gambling in the US. Another piece of legislation would eliminate what many believe is an ill-advised law in the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

H2 Gambling Capital is a group that is considered to be at the top of its field when it comes to collecting and analyzing data for the global gambling industry. With the US unemployment rate still rising, h@ Gambling Capital has concluded that over a five year period, up to 32,000 jobs will be created from the online gaming industry.

Currently, offshore companies are dominating the US online gambling market. With companies not being able to acquire licenses in the US, players are forced to go to these unregulated sites to get their action. Frank has acknowledged that the government needs to protect its citizens against these offshore, unregulated sites.

The House Financial Committee had planned on discussing Frank's legislation last week, but the hearing was delayed until a later date. Frank and his allies have until June to pass the legislation before the rules to the UIGEA go into effect. The rules were delayed back in December for six months.

In addition to the jobs that would be created, the US government would stand to make billions of dollars if they were to regulate online gambling. experts will be brought in during the legislative discussions to show the strong affect that Internet gaming revenue could have on the country.


:dirol

Looks good :thumbsup