Mark "Pegasus" Smith has captured his fifth World Series of Poker* Circuit ring in event #1 at the Horseshoe Southern Indiana, allowing him to surpass Men "The Master" Nguyen and Chris Reslock as the all-time circuit ring leader. Back in April of 2007, Nguyen set the bar at four rings with his victory at Caesars Indiana. The venue's name may have changed, but Smith found himself sitting in the same place with a massive chip lead as he went into three-handed play against Matthew Campbell and Christian Schumacher.
Other notable finishers in the first event on this tour stop include previous WSOPC gold ring winner and country musician Luther Lewis. Lewis added a tenth cash to his resume by finishing in twenty-seventh place. As is the usual with this year's WSOPC, there will be eleven more champions crowned over the ten remaining days of the series and two seats will be awarded to the Regional Championship. One seat will be awarded to the champion of the $1,600 Main Event to be held October 8 and another seat will be given to the individual who earns the most ranking points at this stop and is crowned the Casino Champion.
The commercial casino industry wants Congress to skip proposals already on the table for regulating the estimated $6 billion online poker industry and pass new legislation that would let states decide whether to allow online gambling and would require online casino companies to be licensed.
Chief Executive Frank Fahrenkopf of the American Gaming Association said Tuesday at the start of an industry conference in Las Vegas that he's optimistic a new bill will be introduced this year.
"We're perhaps closer to federal legislation than we've ever been," Fahrenkopf told reporters during a news conference. "There's a buzz in Washington about the need for action."
Part of that buzz is the response to legal troubles facing the three companies that ran the largest online poker operations until this year _ PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker.
Indictments filed in April charge that executives at the companies and people accused of moving money for them with fraud and money-laundering. Prosecutors say the defendants tricked banks into processing billions of dollars in revenue in violation of a 2006 law that prevents financial institutions from handling funds for online gambling.
The indictments show that online poker companies will be able to make billions of dollars, untaxed, if they remain unregulated, Fahrenkopf said.
"The fact is that, despite the (indictments), millions of Americans are still betting billions of dollars a year on foreign poker websites, sites outside the reach of US law enforcement, leaving US players vulnerable," he said.
Fahrenkopf said he and his staff have been working to meet with more than 100 newly elected lawmakers, most of whom haven't addressed online or offline gambling before.
The association has slowly warmed to the push for online gambling, though casinos are far from united on whether Americans should be able to gamble on poker from home on their laptops and other devices. While the AGA supports the idea of legalizing online gambling nationwide, it hasn't backed any existing bills and calls its position neutral.
Proposals already introduced for regulating online poker, including separate measures introduced by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, are objectionable to the industry because they either call for federal regulation, going beyond the state framework in place today, or lack elements the industry is seeking, Fahrenkopf said.
Fahrenkopf said Barton's proposal is closer to what he wants but is losing steam among some lawmakers who supported it initially.
The association has been circulating a short video comparing the overall online gambling market _ which it estimates generates $30 billion a year worldwide _ to the Wild West. It has said it wants a six-point code of conduct to be included in any legislation, including regular audits of poker software, tight technological controls to prevent kids from gambling and procedures to prevent money laundering.
The association released the video and code of conduct proposal the same day last month that the Department of Justice expanded its probe of Full Tilt Poker, calling it a Ponzi scheme and claiming it used players' balances to pay directors. Company lawyers have rejected the comparison and called it inflammatory.
While a gambling industry conference in Las Vegas reports that operators in the USA are seeking to regulate and license online poker the Department of Justice continues to prosecute what were the three biggest internet poker rooms operating in America.
Lawyers for the defense for a Utah banker and another businessperson who are facing charges related to illegal gambling are doing their level best to sway a judge’s opinion on whether online poker is gambling or a game of skill and experience. The argument is not new to American courts in many states where the reasoning has been questioned by many learned lawyers and prosecutors.
Documents filed in the New York federal court of Manhattan seek to have all charges dismissed with regard to the indictment of bank executive, John Campos, and co-defendant Chad Elie. The Department of Justice maintains that Chad Elie convinced Mr. Campos of the SunFirst Bank, located in St. George, Utah, to proceed with transactions for offshore online poker operations Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker. A plea of not guilty has been put forth by both of the defendants.
The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, of 1988 was one of the reasons for the defense’s argument citing that the Act categorized poker with bingo and other card games but not blackjack or baccarat.
The argument contends that poker is different in so much that there is no ‘rake’ taken to provide the table for the game and that internet poker operators don’t participate at all in the games. The lawyer’s statement read, "The players compete against each other on a level playing field, using an array of talents and skill to prevail over their opponents," The defense continued, "The distinction between the poker companies in this case and websites that offer casino-style games and sports betting is stark. Online operators of casino-style games like roulette and slots are playing against their own patrons. Likewise, sports betting websites are also on the opposite side of their customers' bets. Those operators make profits from their customers' losses," "The poker companies did not participate in the games, and had no risk or stake in the outcome of the games. Instead, the companies provided virtual facilities for the games, and collected, in exchange, a fee for each hand played."
Who came out on top in the weekly $100,000 guaranteed online poker tournament held this past Sunday, October 2nd? phatcat took first place this week, earning $23,600. They were followed by smartyluck ($13,600.00) and czarcaesarxx , who rounded out the top three spots while earning $9,100. Here's the rest of the final table results: 4realson ($7,000.00); nutzkrackr ($5,700.00); gym ($4,500.00); iLLNuGWichee ($3,300.00); cj1058 ($2,200.00) and _ToPToP_ ($1,300.00).
In addition to our show-stopping Sunday events, Bodog hosts its regular weekly tournaments to players, and here's the winners of last week's events!
September 26 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: Reservor_Dog ($3,808.75)
September 27 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: Klean1 ($3,506.25)
September 28 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: mennatime ($3,726.25)
September 29 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: isuckudont ($3,630.00)
October 2 • $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: teslaaaa ($3,588.75)
October 2 • $10k Guaranteed Turbo Double-Stack imahustla1 ($4,980.00)
Bodog's guaranteed tournaments mean that there's always a big cash pool and with more players getting in on the action every week, that means there's more to be won Play poker online at Bodog and get your share!
This past weekend, five more players won their way into the Punta Cana Poker Classic, so give it up for jameel harris, Here I Sit, dkh1970 , Last_Remaining and shelltheriver
If you've somehow never heard of the Punta Cana Poker Classic: here's what you need to know.
It's a 5 day Texas Hold’em poker tournament
It takes place November 8th to 13th, 2011
It's held at the luxurious, all inclusive five-star Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic
Most importantly – you can get there free with Bodog!
That's right – we're sending thirty online poker players to fun in the sun while the rest of us try to deal with the autumn blues.
Bodog is setting up winners with a $4,000 prize package that includes a buy=in to the $500,000 main tournament (valued at $1,650) along with a five-night all-inclusive stay at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Punta Cana, a $1,000 travel allowance and a $1,500 spending voucher for hotel services like gold, spa, tours and more. What's even better than the prize package is how easy we've made it to qualify!
You can win your way to a seat at the Punta Cana classic for as little as $.55 thanks to our cheap seat tourneys held every day. You can also buy directly into semifinal events for $35+.3.50 or the satellite events for $230+20. We're also offering two players the chance to qualify through a draw held by Bodog!
A Las Vegas casino is launching a free online poker website tied to the program it uses to determine perks for frequent gamblers, with an eye toward opening a site to play for real money if it becomes explicitly legal in the United States.
South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa owner Michael Gaughan planned to announce Wednesday that the site will launch Thursday for members of its casino loyalty program and Oct. 17 for the public.
Gaughan told The Associated Press the site is a first step in being ahead of the pack if federal or state lawmakers decide to explicitly allow casinos to operate Internet poker. Current laws are murky but effectively prohibit sites from operating by preventing banks from processing payments for illegal gambling.
"It's kind of a gamble," said Gaughan, who said he plans to promote the casino by giving away cash and prizes, including funds for one player to take a seat at next year's $10,000 buy-in World Series of Poker main event.
"I don't know that much about online poker and I'm trying to learn about it with a free site," he said.
Gaughan said he has been working with Nevada gambling regulators with the stated intention that should online gambling be given a green light in Nevada or nationwide, he'll be ready.
Casinos have pursued Internet poker more eagerly since federal indictments brought down the three largest sites that offered poker gambling to Americans. The indictments accused executives and other associates of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker of fraud and money laundering for tricking banks into processing payments by disguising them as purchases of flowers, golf balls and other items.
Teresa Zellhoefer, deputy enforcement chief for the Nevada Gaming Control Board, said regulators looked at the South Point site — the first free one directly branded under a Sin City casino's name and linked to its gambling rewards program — as primarily a promotional tool.
Regulators asked how the site would arbitrate disputes in games and keep information about hands played, and they took into considerations new state rules the control board has been drafting since state lawmakers asked for new regulations earlier this year.
"It was kind of a precursor to getting the big ball rolling," said Zellhoefer, noting that the board didn't have to formally approve the site because it doesn't involve real-money gambling.
The site isn't the first for a casino company but appeared to set new bars with its branding and direct tie to its loyalty program.
Caesars Entertainment Corp. has been running a free poker site for two years branded through the World Series of Poker, which it owns, with games also available on Facebook and mobile platforms. The site signs up thousands of players weekly and is approaching 1 million total user accounts, World Series of Poker spokesman Seth Palansky said.
The sites are not tied to Total Rewards, the gambling perks program that Caesars has become famous for within the industry.
Caesars has made no secret of its intentions to eventually be a player in online gambling, and Nevada regulators have cleared its business tie with 888 Holdings PLC to create Caesars online poker for real money in the United Kingdom.
Gaughan said he thinks things will move quickly toward legalization, and he wants to be ready.
"I think it would help business at the South Point and I think I could make money with it as a (stand-alone) poker site," Gaughan said.
The first online poker room branded with the name of a Las Vegas casino is set to launch Thursday, putting the owners in a position to take advantage of any future regulations that might allow real money online poker in the United States.
The site will be launched Thursday by the South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa. Owner Michael Gaughan says that the site will initially only be open to members of the casino loyalty program, but will expand to the general public on October 17.
“It’s kind of a gamble,” Gaughan said. “I don’t know that much about online poker and I’m trying to learn about it with a free site.”
For now, the site will provide free poker to players, but will award some promotional prizes. For instance, Gaughan said that the site will award at least one seat to the 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event.
But the real intent of the site is to be ready for any future movement in US law that makes it explicitly legal for him to offer real money online poker. By working with Nevada gaming regulators, Gaughan believes that the site will be ready to go for real money play almost immediately should that option be open to him.
According to Nevada regulators, the site is considered purely a promotional tool. Since it doesn’t currently feature real money gambling, the Gaming Control board did not have to give its approval to the site, though Gaughan did consult with them during the creation of the site.
While the South Point site will be the first one that features the name of a Vegas casino, they are not the first American casino group to get involved in online poker. Ceasars Entertainment is the owner of the World Series of Poker brand, and has a free poker site that uses the WSOP branding. Caesars has made it clear that they wish to enter the real money online poker market in the USA as soon as one is available to them, and they have already used the WSOP brand to create real money online poker in the United Kingdom.
The casino industry is reportedly pushing Congress to ignore proposals seeking to regulate the online poker industry and instead pass new legislation that would let states decide for themselves whether to allow online gambling.
The American Gaming Association’s chief executive, Frank Fahrenkopf, said at an industry conference in Las Vegas on Tuesday that he was optimistic a new bill empowering states will be introduced this year, according to a report by the Associated Press.
"We're perhaps closer to federal legislation than we've ever been," Fahrenkopf told reporters during a news conference. "There's a buzz in Washington about the need for action."
The gaming chief and his staff have been working to meet with more than 100 newly elected lawmakers who have addressed gambling in the past, according to the report.
The increased interest in the $6 billion online poker industry was sparked earlier this year after U.S. officials shut down and seized the domain names for the nation’s three largest web gambling companies: PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker.
The indictment unsealed in April had alleged the three poker heavyweights had continued to operate their businesses in the U.S. despite new laws banning Internet poker, and had deceived banks into processing billions of dollars in revenue in a money-laundering scheme that violated a law passed in 2006. The government was seeking at least $3 billion in civil money laundering penalties and forfeiture from the defendants.
While the association has slowly warmed up to online poker regulation, Las Vegas’ biggest casinos such as Wynn Resorts (WYNN: 119.94, +1.19, +1.00%) and MGM Resorts International (MGM: 8.73, -0.01, -0.11%) have yet to unify on the issue one way or another.
The association has said it wants a six-point code of conduct to be included in any legislation, such as regular audits of poker software, procedures to prevent money laundering and technological controls to prevent underage gambling.
Online poker has never had it easy in the United States thanks to the country’s unfriendly online gambling laws, and the events of mid April this year, when the federal government cracked down on three major online poker sites, have simply made things worse for innumerable American online poker players who had accounts on these sites. Two weeks back, the American Gaming Association (AGA) redoubled its efforts to get online poker legalized and regulated in the US. Since Full Tilt Poker is up to its neck in trouble, it is still in no position to pay back the $390 million it owes to poker players worldwide. Moreover, Full Tilt Poker stands accused of engineering a worldwide Ponzi scheme, cheating players of millions of dollars while paying its own executive officers over $440 million dollars over the last few years.
Professional US players miss their game badly. While a number of them have left US soil so that they can continue playing online poker elsewhere, a number of them are still at home, pressurizing the federal government to legalize the game they cannot live without. In fact, poker is the only means of livelihood for many of these players. Moreover, the floundering American economy and its conventional society hardly provide any alternative for numerous online poker players who are left without a means of livelihood after the events of mid April this year.
At the same time, it cannot be denied that the shocking happenings of April 15 have accelerated the poker legalization process in America thanks to the AGC making it a top priority. Nobody wants a Full Tilt Poker disaster in America again, and although things aren’t friendly to online poker in America, players still want the industry legalized and regulated so that they can enjoy their favorite game in peace and without fear of losing their money.
Aggrieved players are demanding that the federal government act in their favor right away, legalize poker, and provide a safe platform at home so that they can enjoy their game without fear of being cheated by over smart offshore gaming service providers. Everybody associated with online gaming in America are aware that the hurriedly implemented Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, although meant to protect players, has hardly succeeded in doing so. In fact, the UIGEA has created innumerable problems, and American poker players hope that their lawmakers won’t repeat the mistake.
It took some legal wrangling, but The Donald finally got what he wanted: control of the domain name unitedstatespokerchampionship.com, which corresponds to the name of a poker championship he founded years ago but you've never heard of. Right now, the domain name shows some pretty explicit pornography (so we won't actually link to it) and that rankled the he-swears-he-isn't-wearing-a-toupee star of The Apprentice .
Trump filed a complaint with World Intellectual Property Forum over the domain name. The case was terminated and the domain name was voluntarily transferred to Trump’s intellectual property attorney. This isn’t the first time Trump has turned to arbitration to get domain names. This year he has already recovered 13 domain names after filing complaints. Some of those names include trumpbeijing.com, trumpindia.com, and trumpink.us.
The last one has us a bit confused, honestly. Is he planning on opening up a chain of tattoo parlors inside of his casinos? Considering his penchant for putting his name on anything this would surprise us not one bit.
Final table, five handed with the blinds at 120,000 and 240,000 with a 30,000 ante, Hwang raised to 525,000 from the cutoff seat, Elias reraised to 1,225,000 from the button, Hwang called. On the Flop, Hwang went all-in, Elias called 1,665,000
Analysis
Hwang was treading on thin ice preflop, his steal play from the cutoff was foiled and his opponent was milking him into proceeding with pot odds. Hwang called another 700,000 for the pot of 2.26M, but now 41% of his stack was invested preflop with “the computer hand.” Hwang was trailing the field significantly so he decided it was time to take a flier as Elias had priced him in. Hwang caught a beautiful flop, giving him top pair with a flush redraw. Now it was Elias who felt priced in, facing another 1,665,000 for the 4,625,000 pot, with 2.7 : 1 pot odds. Hwang turned the flush, but would have to fade an additional spade as Elias held that King. Elias failed to improve, losing 42% of his stack on the hand. Obviously in hindsight Elias probably wishes he had just shoved preflop. He had the cards, the chips, and the leverage but instead mounted a bet that seemed contrived to isolate the blinds out while forcing a call from Hwang due to the pot odds. If Hwang four bet all-in, obviously Elias was prepared to call. But if Hwang flat called, as the pot odds would encourage, Hwang would be motivated to open shove the flop in a variation of a stop and go. That would put Elias in decision mode where he might fold a leading hand. In this case the standard and obvious play, to move all-in preflop, would have served Elias best. Elias went on to finish in 5th for $230,925, his further run likely compromised by this unfortunate hand.
Bodog's King of the Felt promotion keeps giving players reasons to come back to the tables and right now, there's a new champion that's really made an impact on the game! Bodog player gti2284 has won the challenge five weeks in a row, collecting $1,000 for each of the wins and an additional $2,500 as a bonus for hitting the five-game-streak mark. If he keeps this streak up for another five weeks, he'll get a chance to play a Bodog Poker Pro for a spot in the 2011 WSOP main event.
How do you compete to be King of the Felt? Just cash in during three or more qualifying Sit-and-Go tournaments at Bodog. The more you play, the more chances you get to win and the poker room is even offering up special freerolls for those that go the extra distance and beat the bubble in six or more tourneys.
JESUS FERGUSON and Howard Lederer (“the Professor”) did not invent online poker. They just took it to new heights — and, according to the authorities, new depths — as their company, Full Tilt Poker, became a gambling palace of the Web. The poker press routinely described the two pro players as grand masters, and endlessly parsed their styles. Mr. Ferguson, whose official first name is Christopher, was the mathematically minded Ph.D.; Mr. Lederer, the strategic Kasparov of Texas Hold ’Em. As the years went by, Full Tilt became a powerhouse in the cultish world of Internet poker. By 2010, Americans were gambling $16 billion a year through such sites, according to PokerScout.com.
But on April 15, players in the United States went to fulltiltpoker.com and found this message: “This domain name has been seized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
Federal authorities had blocked access to Full Tilt and two other top poker sites, Absolute Poker and PokerStars, and accused all three of money laundering and fraud. In poker circles, April 15 became known as Black Friday.
But Black Friday was just the start. A bigger bombshell hit on Sept. 20, when prosecutors asserted that Full Tilt was, in effect, the biggest bluff in poker. In a civil complaint, the Justice Department said certain Full Tilt executives, among them Mr. Ferguson and Mr. Lederer, had defrauded players of hundreds of millions of dollars. Full Tilt, the accusations went, was not just a poker site, but also a vast, global Ponzi scheme.
However this scandal plays out — Full Tilt and its executives have denied wrongdoing — the Internet poker debate is now stretching from the tables of Las Vegas to the halls of Congress. (Absolute Poker and PokerStars are reimbursing American players; PokerStars denies that it broke laws, and Absolute said it would not be appropriate to comment on the case.)
Could online poker go legit? It might sound crazy, given the uncertain future of online poker in general, and of Full Tilt in particular. (The French investment firm Groupe Bernard Tapie has agreed to buy Full Tilt, provided that the site’s legal troubles are resolved). And yet Big Poker and its fans say the best way to safeguard players would be to give Washington a piece of the action. Prying the game out of the dark recesses of the Web could yield many billions of tax dollars for public coffers, these people say.
The push to legalize the game comes despite a federal law that tried to curtail online gambling in 2006. Banks and credit card companies are basically prohibited from processing payments from online gambling companies to individuals. But many legal experts say the law is murky, and the industry is itching to expand.
Whatever the qualms about online gambling — nightmare situations, real and potential, are many — Uncle Sam is leaving a lot of money on the table. Over 10 years, legal online gambling could generate $42 billion in tax revenue, according to the Congressional Committee on Taxation.
An estimated 1.8 million Americans played online poker last year, and some make a living at it. Because of the legal issues in the United States, online card rooms typically base their computer servers elsewhere, in places like Costa Rica or, in the case of Full Tilt, in the Channel Islands.
Online poker fans, including some with money frozen in accounts at Full Tilt, are among the most vocal proponents of legalization. “It’s the only industry on earth that is clamoring for the U.S. government to impose regulations,” says Bradley Cole, an online poker player in Oxford, Miss. Mr. Cole said he had about $5,000 in his Full Tilt account on Black Friday.
Oddly enough, Internet gambling is already legal in the nation’s capital. Earlier this year, the District of Columbia became the first jurisdiction in the United States to legalize it. Officials there said they hoped the move would bring in $13 million to $14 million a year in tax revenue. But Washington may only be the start. Several bills now working their way through the House of Representatives would give online poker the run of the country.
IN five-card poker, there are 2,598,960 possible hands. A four-of-a-kind is dealt once in about 4,000 hands, a royal flush once in 650,000. And yet aficionados say poker isn’t really a game of chance. Instead, they argue, it is a game of skill — of mathematical probabilities and human psychology, played with artful direction and misdirection. The answer to this one question — chance or skill? — may well set the course of the multibillion-dollar business of online poker.
Alfonse M. D’Amato, the former three-term senator from New York, is a longtime poker buff and chairman of the Poker Players Alliance, a trade group that lobbies on behalf of poker players. In an op-ed article in The Washington Post in April, he sharply criticized the Justice Department for corralling Full Tilt and the other sites. He argued that online poker has never been explicitly outlawed, in part because, unlike, say, craps, the outcome doesn’t depend purely on luck. His views have been echoed — and amplified — by the online poker world and its friends in Washington.
“It’s not dice,” Representative Joe Barton, a Texas Republican, says of poker. “It’s not just randomly watching where the roulette wheel stops.”
He continues: “It’s people who can think and analyze probability and analyze their opponents.”
Last March, before Black Friday and the scandal at Full Tilt, Representative John Campbell, a California Republican, introduced a bill that would legalize online gambling. But it’s Mr. Barton’s bill, introduced in June, that industry experts believe has the best chance of passing because it focuses specifically on online poker. Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, has supported online poker for years. He says that, if anything, the scandal at Full Tilt has only strengthened his resolve to legalize it.
Some of the biggest English and Irish licensed sports books and gambling establishments respected UIGEA and are now applying for Nevada gaming licenses, so will following the law and taking things slow work out for them?
There is an old saying – ‘The slower you go, the further you get’, and we are about to see whether our foremothers and fathers were blowing hot air or actually were as wise as we were taught.
We will also learn the answer to that very important question if following the rules gets you ahead in life as all kids are religiously taught.
According to casino gambling news, some of the biggest English and Irish licensed sports books and gambling establishments respected the insane prohibitions of the United States government against Americans using financial systems for gambling called the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006).
Other online poker rooms and online casinos throughout the world ignored the ban since the money from the Yanks was flowing like the mighty Mississippi river.
Today, quite a few of those that blatantly used underhanded tactics to disguise American gambler deposits as payments for toilet seats and flower pots are in hot water, some that didn’t get snatched up in the Black Friday dragnet instantly closed their online doors to Americans.
Another group still offers online USA casino real money games because they have found ways to deal with Americans through Western Union, bank wires and checks without breaking the letter of the law.
Today, a few of the oldest, largest, and most reputable of traditional and online sports books and casinos in England and Ireland, who abided by the US Justice Department’s regulations and never allowed Americans to gamble, are beginning to test the waters to see if their patience has paid off in the long run.
Their hopes are that by following the rules, they will be on top of the list of foreign gambling companies and online casinos who will be allowed to partake in the US market once online gambling (or at least online poker in US) will become regulated since they obeyed the Justice Department from day 1.
Paddy Hill is the first to stick its big toe into the huge pool of ice cold water that is the United States gambling legislative landscape. The Irish sportsbook has submitted an application to the Nevada Gaming Commission for a license to manufacture and operate mobile gambling devices within the American state.
Nevada is the first state in America that enacted a low to allow casino hotels to provide intrastate mobile gambling services to their guests to use on premises.
Everyone in the online gaming industry is holding their breath since vast difference between individual state and federal American laws are frequently a mystery to outsiders. Europeans are still dumbfounded by such laws that forbid an 18 year old in Arizona (an hour away from Las Vegas) to purchase a .22 caliber pistol until turning 21.
Yet the law will allow the same 18 year old in the same shop buy a high caliber semi-automatic assault rifle with infrared night vision laser guided scope just by showing their state id card or driver license.
Yet, try to ask Arizona voters why betting on sports or playing poker online should not be legal and you may get a firm lecture on the dangers of gambling.
(Note: I am pro NRA and am using this example to illustrate that the right to defend yourself and the right to spend your own money should not be regulated by the government.)
In any case, if Paddy gets their license (I am not sure if their name would pass the politically correct test), it may be the stepping stone to receive a license to run an American online poker room once the morons in Congress and the Dumbo in the White House realize there is no more money to squander on their garbage pet projects.
Six months ago, the largest offshore online poker sites were shut down in the United States. Since that time, discussions centered on licensing and regulating online poker have heated up at both the federal and state levels. Such regulations would put the United States in company with 85 other nations that have already chosen to legalize, regulate and tax Internet gaming. Industry estimates say legalizing online poker could generate $2 billion in annual tax revenue and create 10,000 high-tech jobs.
Now, more so than ever, politicians are taking a hard look at poker as a means to put a dent into high unemployment and record deficits. The American Gaming Association, the industry’s most powerful lobby, which once opposed online gambling, released a public statement in March outlining a stance that now supports online poker in the U.S.
Democrats and Republicans alike have introduced legislation to tax and regulate the industry. While bureaucrats are still working to figure out licensing and regulatory standards and revenue streams, these bills provide a glimpse into what the industry’s future may look like and identify what it will take for traditional gaming businesses to enter the market.
Most industry experts agree that Capitol Hill will not vote on a standalone poker bill. Instead, poker legislation will likely be tied to any upcoming deficit reduction or job creation bill. Ironically, it appears any legislation that lays the groundwork for the U.S. online poker industry will, like the legislation that crippled it (the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act), be buried within a larger omnibus bill.
One industry insider told Card Player that “the chances of a poker bill happening in 2010 are 50-50 between Thanksgiving and Christmas.” If such legislation was approved, U.S. gaming companies, on sites such as WSOP.com, could offer real money poker by January 2013.
If the legislation is not taken up by end of year, things get interesting. States such as California and New Jersey, hungry for tax revenue to plug record deficits, could approve intrastate poker in early 2012. At the federal level, the issue, a controversial one to address during an election year, would likely remain dormant until at least 2013.
The Major Players
It’s likely that existing brick-and-mortar casino operations that currently operate large gaming facilities will have the first opportunity to stake their claim in the multi-billion-dollar online poker industry. Here, we take a look at the established casino operators who stand to benefit the most from online poker regulation.
Caesars Entertainment
Perhaps the biggest casino entity committed to online poker is Caesars Entertainment, the only company to hold on to their pre-Black Friday relationship with a non-U.S. gaming company. In fact, CEO Gary Loveman has been outspoken about the fact that the Department of Justice’s shutdown of online poker in the U.S. is an opportunity for his company to reduce its billions in debt. In an op-ed on CNNmoney.com, Loveman compared the current freeze of online poker to the Prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s.
“The goals of legislation are simple,” he said. “Let Americans play online poker in the privacy of their homes, and create jobs and revenues here in America. Only federal legislation can accomplish that, by creating a well-regulated system of online poker. And only federal legislation can clear up the current ambiguities in U.S. law and crack down on other online gambling like sports betting and casino games. One day, we’ll look back at 2011 and laugh at the folly of a ban on Internet poker, just like we now think about Prohibition.”
Loveman is one of the more influential chief executives in the business, and wants to position Caesars and perhaps more importantly, the World Series of Poker brand, as the biggest beneficiaries of a legalized online poker market. The company has already made a commitment to the game with their popular summer festival and unlike some other major casino properties, displays their large poker rooms with prominence as opposed to a necessary evil tucked away in a corner. Overall, the privately-owned company, formerly known as Harrah’s, owns and operates more than 50 hotels and casinos all over the country.
MGM Resorts International
A study conducted for the clients of Union Gaming Research concluded in December of 2010 that MGM Resorts had the most to gain from licensed and regulated online poker market in the United States, should legislation occur in 2012. The researchers believe that, of the over $1 billion in potential revenue taken in by licensees, between $100-200 million of that will go to MGM in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
The study arrived at its findings because of the company’s large recognizable brands and an overwhelming number of physical venues. CEO Jim Murren is on record as stating that the company that owns properties such as Bellagio, Mirage, Mandalay Bay and Aria, is positioning itself for the inevitable post-Black Friday legislation.
“The indictments validated our position,” Murren said. “We believe that we have the proper approach and the only thing that’s happened in the last couple of months is to reinforce our position on how Internet gaming should be regulated and pursued.”
MGM Resorts has shown a strong commitment to poker over the past decade as one of the primary hosts for the World Poker Tour. The Bellagio plays host to the WPT Championship each season and four other MGM properties accommodate or have accommodated tour events in the past. In addition, long-time poker pro and four-time WSOP bracelet winner Bobby Baldwin now serves as CEO of Mirage Resorts, after stints as president of both Mirage and Bellagio.
Unlike in most other countries in the world, online Poker in America is illegal. Other forms of online gambling and online casinos are not, but now the Feds in the United States are considering changing the laws so that online poker can be made legal once again. There are billions of dollars in taxable income waiting to be made. Gambling and other mortal vices like cigarettes, booze and gasoline are heavily taxed. The income from online poker could be enormous, argues an article in today’s New York Times. And if done from the Internet, and done legally, millions and potentially billions of dollars of revenues in tax dollars could go to funding renewable energy development, I argue.
Income from casinos beyond Las Vegas have gone to revive First Nations communities in America and Canada. I have family members who spend small fortunes at Casino Rama in Ontario, Canada, with the proceeds going to the Chippewas of Rama, a First Nation’s people. If you think that the joys of Canada’s native people have been one of powwows, potlatch and Sun Dance ceremonies, think again. These practices were banned until the early 1950s. By that time entire native cultures in Canada were effectively being wiped out. Giving them the right to build and manage casinos changed all that.
Unlike America, Canada does not open casinos unless under certain conditions: for charity or for First Nation’s people. The native communities earn this money, which has changed their fate and fortunes. At one point in time they were more than occupied by the Canadian Government. They were forced to change their names, their religions, their language, and were forcibly removed from their villages to adopt Christian western ideals.
Legal or not, people who want to will gamble. Before the online poker industry was shut down in America in 2010, on suspicion of Ponzi Scheme-like operations, Americans were gambling $16 billion a year through such sites, writes PokerScout.com.
If America and other countries, even those in the Middle East perhaps, were looking to control the industry in a way to reign in fraudsters, and illegal operations, it could be done so that these billions or more in tax dollars could go to a green cause, just as lottery ticket sales goes to education and culture.
Gambling from a religious viewpoint is not allowed for Jews. So Israelis go out to sea to gamble. And drinking is not allowed for Muslims. Those that want to will find a way resulting in lost income taxes from both these demographics. There could be a way however to tax gambling where it is legalized with funds going to renewable energy developments and innovation, so that the world could benefit from these inevitable vices. These billions of dollars wouldn’t go into the hands of a few: they would benefit the masses, and the future of this planet.
I am not the first to come up with this idea apparently. After I wrote this post, I Googled “green gambling” and found other writers coming up with similar ideas. Smartplanet.com links to the Smart Bet website which plans on donating a huge chunk of its income to funding renewable energy projects, including our favorite DESERTEC and DESERTEC University. An idea worth betting on, perhaps.
This year's list of nominees for the Poker Hall Of Fame is about as star-studded as this sort of thing can be. Not only do they have to have proven themselves at the tables, but they've also had to have earned – and kept – the respect of their fellow players over time. Non-players can also be inducted into the PHoF provided that they've contributed to poker's grown and development. And, just like the American Presidency, there's an age limit: they need to be at least 40 years old.
The nominees are Annie Duke, Barry Greenstein, Marcel Luske, Jennifer Harman, John Juanda, Scotty Nguyen, Linda Johnson, Tom McEvoy, Huck Seed, and Jack McClelland.
Probably the easiest call to make with this group is Barry Greenstein. The pro has earned the nickname of "the Robin Hood of Poker” for his habit of donating all his poker tournament winnings to charitable institutions and making a living on cash game winnings alone. He's so far given over $7.5m to charities in need. Running right behind him is Annie Duke, who's proven to be an online poker advocate as well as an ambassador for the game around the world.
The 18 living people inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame as well as a panel of 17 members will choose the winners and announce their names later this month. The honor will be presented to them in November.
Online poker pros Lex Veldhuis and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier have been training for a kickboxing match for nearly two years, and it appears the prop bet finally has an official date. Veldhuis said in his blog last Monday that the two are going to hit the ring on Nov. 22, 2011 in front of television cameras.
Veldhuis and Grospellier will step into the ring for an “official” three-round kickboxing match with judges and no protective gear. Veldhuis mentioned that he’s suffered several injuries leading up to the fight, but he still considers himself a favorite over the less-experienced Grospellier. Despite his confidence, however, Veldhuis was blunt about his problems of late.
"I have been getting injured a lot, and it sends me on the darkest tilt possible," he wrote. "I think cause it also shows me how much my body deteriorated, while I was in awesome shape when I was younger."
Betting site services learned that a poll that was conducted in September showed that voters in California are in favour of legalising online poker, as the State Legislature mulls legislation for that to happen.
Even though the owners of three offshore poker sites were recently indicted b federal authorities, lawmakers in California look ready to propose two bills to make gambling in online betting sites legal as early as January.
As the issue is a matter of public debate, the first poll on the subject was made last month which revealed that 53% of all of the California voters are in favour of the legalisation of online gambling with the proceeds being used as tax revenue.
Maybe unsurprisingly, betting site services found out that support was strongest with young males, with Republicans stubbornly against the idea. Online gambling critics said that the poll was a legalisation endorsement that was hardly overwhelming, and betting shop services can see that there is big controversy surrounding this.
David Quintana, who is the political director of the California Tribal Business Alliance, which is in opposition to the legislation said, “Fifty three per cent is support, but barely.” It is also worth to note that in the poll, there’s a margin of error of plus or minus 4.6%.
Others saw that support for a move which enables gambling with online betting sites was largely generational, as younger people back it three to one. , Mark DiCamillo, Field Poll Director, said “It’s definitely age-related…I just think it’s their greater familiarity with things online.” He also indicated that people in California usually back legislation which is more liberal, such as marijuana’s legalisation.
Betting site services found out that in reply, the author of the online poker bill in the State Legislature said that there are overwhelming financial benefits with legalised online gambling. State Sen. Lou Correa commented, “In terms of the revenue potential for California, it could be explosive. What we need to do now is cut a deal.”
Correa added that he saw separate polls which showed far greater support for the legalisation of online gambling in California.
Betting shop services would really like to see what happens in the state, and will be following developments very closely.
US poker players got their first look at the Epic Poker League's broadcasts this past Sunday with the airing of the final table of the first even hosted by the league: a six-max $20,000 event, taking place at the Palms Resort Casino back in August. The cable sports channel Velocity had aired tournament footage previously, but the big broadcast debut was held back for the final table. We caught it on our DVR and found that we enjoyed it much more than we thought we would.
First of all, the China Rheem issue was front and center. Hell, Rheem even talked about the situation itself, saying that everything is better when you're liquid and commentator Ali Nejad spoke at length about Rheem's debts to other players. While that was great, it would have been nice to have seen something said about the league's decision to revoke Michael Devita's prize for winning a seat in the second main event through a satellite. Devita was revealed to have been convinced of a sexual offense.
The Global Poker Index was referred to frequently and commentator Pat O'Brien wasn't afraid to join Nejad in discussing player numbers in a way that's very similar to college sports in the states. The rankings were great for the casual observer who may never have heard of Jason Mercier but knew by the end of the broadcast that he was the third-ranked tournament player in the world entering this event. Add in the fact that the player profiles were slick and well-produced and the play was edited down to show the best (and smartest) action possible, and you might have a new contender for the throne when it comes to broadcast poker.
That said, we're still not sure about Pat O'Brien. He sounds way out of his depth when it comes to the game itself, even if his scripted intros are basically the Voice Of God.
Other notable finishers in the first event on this tour stop include previous WSOPC gold ring winner and country musician Luther Lewis. Lewis added a tenth cash to his resume by finishing in twenty-seventh place. As is the usual with this year's WSOPC, there will be eleven more champions crowned over the ten remaining days of the series and two seats will be awarded to the Regional Championship. One seat will be awarded to the champion of the $1,600 Main Event to be held October 8 and another seat will be given to the individual who earns the most ranking points at this stop and is crowned the Casino Champion.