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Online poker talks in Congress will be revived during a Feb. 9 hearing to further ascertain how tribes will participate and be affected by the potential Internet gaming industry.

The Senate oversight hearing will specifically address the recent Department of Justice flip-flop on its long-held position on the Interstate Wire Act of 1961 — a law now rendered obsolete in halting efforts for intrastate web poker.

At the last hearing in front of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Rep. Joe Barton’s (R-TX) stagnant online poker bill was blasted.

Ernie Stevens, chairman of the National Indian Gaming Association, said the measure “violates the core principals of tribes” to act as their own governments and decide upon appropriate taxation measures. Bruce Bozsum, chairman of Connecticut’s Mohegan Tribe, also had reservations with the bill. However, he has consistently been saying that his group is hoping to break into an online poker market. NPR reported Tuesday that Gov. Daniel Malloy is considering a plan to put the state’s tribal gaming groups at the head of such an industry.

Some are completely against gaming in cyberspace.

At the November hearing, Glen Gobin, chairman of the Washington-based Tulalip Tribes, said he sees the online version of casino games as a threat to the $25 billion annual spending attributed to tribal gaming.

Despite their differences, Indian groups were in a consensus that the Barton bill doesn’t include them in deciding how the industry would take shape.

Former U.S. Sen. Alfonse D’Amato, chairman of the Poker Players Alliance, testified at the last hearing, saying that poker-only legislation would not adversely impact tribal gaming.

The witness list for Feb. 9 has not yet been announced.

Every week, Bovada hosts thousands of poker tournaments, ranging from single table events to their massive $100,000 guaranteed tournaments - and that includes the holidays! There's really no way we can cover all of them, but we do want to make sure you keep up with who won the biggest of the big games so you know how hot the action is there.

So, who took the top spot in this past Sunday's $100,000 guaranteed online poker tournament? Brian K took first place this week, earning $21,411.00 for his victory. He was followed by Richard K ($14,274.00) and Ivan K, who rounded out the top trifecta while earning $10,870.20. Here are the rest of the final table results: Tyson G ($7,960.50); Anthony N ($5,709.60); Edward F ($4,282.20); Richard D ($3,184.20); Sharon Z ($2,141.10) and Tri T ($1,427.40).

In addition to show-stopping Sunday events, Bovada hosts a series of regular big-money weekly tournaments for players, and here are the winners of last week's events!

• January 16 — $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: Jarrod P ($3,027.20)
• January 17 — $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: Michael T ($2,625.76)
• January 18 — $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: Benjamin B ($2,710.40)
• January 19 — $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: Ali A ($2,55.17)
• January 20 — $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: Bryan T ($2,920.94)
• January 21 — $10k Guaranteed Turbo Double-Stack: William E ($3,039.18)
• January 22 — $15k Guaranteed Turbo Double-Stack: Christina C ($3,657.00)
• January 22 — $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: Marchand D ($2,461.00)
• January 22 — $10k Guaranteed Double-Stack: Jeff S ($2,662.00)

Bovada'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 Bovada and get your share today!

Winning players at the weekly Super Satellite tournaments will play on Titan Poker's behalf at two of the most exciting poker events in Europe.

Leader online poker room Titanpoker-com, has launched satellite tournaments awarding winning players with seats at upcoming poker tournaments in Cannes and in Nottingham, England.

Titan Poker players can qualify for the Mega Poker Series Nottingham 2012 Main Event, a land-based poker tournament which will be held in Nottingham on March 7- 11, 2012. The tournament will be staged at the Dusk Till Dawn Pokerclub/Casino with entries to the Main Event set at €700 +€70. Players qualifying at Titan Poker will each receive a €1,500 prize package, which includes the Main Event buy-in as well as 5 nights' accommodation and breakfast at the Park Plaza Nottingham and €400 for flights and spending.

Titan Poker is staging a satellite tournament series awarding winning players with seats at the exciting poker tournament DeepStack Open Cannes 2012, which will take place at the Casino Cannes Croisette on March 15th - March 18th, 2012. Winning players at Titanpoker-com's weekly Super Satellite tournaments will be awarded with €1,250 prize packages, including the €500 + €50 buy-in to the DeepStack Open Cannes 2012 Main Event tournament, four nights of luxurious accommodation at the Gray d'Albion Hotel, and €205 for flights and spending money.

Titan Poker's Mega Poker Series Nottingham 2012 Super Satellites are staged on Monday nights at 20:00 GMT as a €80 + €8 re-buy event. Titan Poker's DeepStack Open Cannes 2012 Super Satellites take place on Thursday nights at 21:00 GMT as a €80 + €8 re-buy event. Low-priced sit 'n' go and scheduled satellite tournaments are running around the clock feeding to these tournaments.

Titan Poker stages weekly poker tournaments with huge guaranteed prize pools and satellite series awarding players with seats at the biggest poker tournaments around the world, including the Irish Open, the Aussie Millions, and the Asian Poker Tour. Poker novices and veteran poker players alike are invited to try out the free poker download at Titan Poker and win their way to two of Europe's most exciting poker tournament.

About Titanpoker-com:

Titanpoker-com is the number one online poker room in Europe and part of the iPoker Network. Titan Poker's software is developed and maintained by Playtech, a public company and leading gaming software developer. With tens of thousands of online players at peak hours, Titan Poker guarantees millions of dollars in monthly prizes, features special sit 'n' go tournaments with progressive jackpots as high as $300,000, and awards players with entries to major worldwide poker tournaments. The Titan Poker brand is promoted exclusively by Euro Partners.

We're big fans of the World Series of Poker Circuit here in the Gambling Beat offices: they're a perfect microcosm of poker scenes across America and they give players who might be blown out of the water in Vegas a chance to shine. The most recent event, which just wrapped up in Durant, OK, had one of those heartwarming stories where the best man truly did get the ring.

East African native Abraham Araya was recently laid off from his job as flight mechanic after the company for which he worked filed for bankruptcy thanks to the current economic downturn. He spent his days and nights working on the aircrafts of various NBA teams and it sounds like it was a demanding career, but a good one. "We had 12 teams we used to travel with. It was a great job," Araya said.

Fortunately, though, the 44-year-old's poker game decided to peak at just the right town. Last October, he won the T.J. Cloutier Poker Challenge (also held at Choctaw) for $83,659 and now a few months later, he's earned what he says was four or five years salary in his previous life: over $270,000. He earned, it though, with a tough field of 647 players making their way to the Main Event.

He held the chip lead for the vast majority of the tournament but it was after 13 hours of play on Day Two that Araya was finally declared the winner. "Last night I kind of felt I was going to win because I had the chip lead, but when I eliminated (Derek Browning in sixth) I knew I was going to win," Araya said.

What does Araya, who came to America 21 years ago, plan on doing with his winnings? He mentioned taking his children to see their grandparents back in the old country along with going off with his wife to relive their honeymoon in Hawaii for their tenth anniversary, but we're pretty sure he's also going to tuck away a significant amount for his bankroll. It already looks like poker pros may have a new person to look out for.

Want to sharpen your skills for your own breakthrough? Bovada offers the best US online poker play going, with tournaments for every sized bankroll.

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On February 9th, the United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs will grant a hearing on the subject of online gambling, the third hearing on this subject in recent months. The new hearing will touch on the recent changes of opinion expressed by the US Department of Justice regarding online gambling and poker, focusing specifically on how the new opinion will affect Native American tribes. The hearing, “The U.S. Department of Justice Opinion on Internet Gaming: What’s at Stake for Tribes?” will be broadcast live from the hearing via its website and will begin at 2.15 pm Eastern Time.

In its statement released just before Christmas last year, the Department of Justice said that it was no longer of the opinion that online gambling, including online poker, should be incorporated under the 1961 Wire Act, despite the fact that it was also seen so for many decades. The DOJ said that the Wire Act only covers sports betting.

It will be interesting to see the results and opinions from the latest congressional hearing, scheduled for next month. In previous hearings which touched on internet gambling and the rights of Native American tribes, witnesses were generally not in favor of online poker as they believed a growth in this industry would threaten the land-based tribal casinos. It should be noted, however, that there are several tribes who recognize the huge potential there is to be had in legalizing and regulating online poker and have expressed their support.

Last November, the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade held a hearing on the subject of online gambling, and the general opinions expressed were positive and in favor of online gambling.

The Poker Players Alliance is asking the poker community to help in another attempt to get President Obama to address online poker.

The Obama administration has taken to YouTube to field questions for the president to answer at a post-State of the Union conversation that will take place Monday from the White House. There are already more than 100,000 questions asked, including 123 about poker. The site vaguely states that the president will answer several of the top-voted questions during the interview.

PPA executive director John Pappas has submitted the following question with video and text: “Regulating internet poker will establish strong consumer protections; create new jobs and revenues for states and the federal government. President Obama, will you support this common-sense public policy?”

As of this writing, the PPA's question has 446 likes and 46 dislikes. To find the question, go to the White House YouTube channel linked above and search for poker on the right-hand side. A login is required to vote. There are multiple questions unrelated to poker that have tallied more than 3,000 likes. The deadline for votes to be counted is Jan. 28 at midnight Eastern time.

The poker community is still waiting for the response promised by the Obama Administration for the “We the People” online poker petition.

The petition got off to a strong start last September, quickly passing the required 5,000 signatures to get a response. The petition finished with 9,296 signatures, less than the final required total of 25,000, but was still guaranteed a response because it passed the original requirement before it was raised.

To date, 41 responses have been issued. The responses come not from Obama himself but from someone within the administration who deals with the topic. Judging by the responses made so far, the poker response won't be worth the wait. The responses have not addressed concerns made in the petitions but instead merely stated the administration's stand on the topics.

It's so bad that, in a second set of petitions made at the end of last year after some of the initial responses had come in, a petition was created with the title, “Actually take these petitions seriously instead of just using them as an excuse to pretend you are listening.” The petition goes on to say: “Although the ability to submit petitions directly to the White House is a noble and welcome new feature of the current administration, the first round of responses makes blatantly clear the White House intends to just support its current stances and explain them with responses everyone who has done any research already knows.” The petition got 33,714 signatures.

Still, the Obama administration has never said much of anything about online poker so any stance taken could be interesting. Perhaps that is why the online poker response is taking so long.

American online poker pros sad they are missing out on major series like the WCOOP, SCOOP, and the current TCOOP on PokerStars need not feel so left out anymore. Merge Network, which is still open to US players, unveiled plans for a new online tournament series, Poker Maximus, which will run across the Merge sites from March 4th-25th.

The three-week series will consist of more than 70 different Hold’em and Omaha tournaments with buy-ins as low as $1 and as high as $530. This is the first-ever tournament series for the Network, which includes sites like Lock Poker, Carbon Poker, RPM Poker, and Hero Poker to name a few.

The series includes over $1.5 million in guarantees, including a $100 buy-in Main Event with a $200,000 guarantee and a guaranteed $50,000 first place prize, a $530 Deep Stack Event with a $100,000 guarantee, and a Tournament of Champions event. Each Sunday of the series will feature an event with a $150,000 guarantee. There will even be a unique Players Choice event on March 20th, where players can decide what kind of game they want to play.

Poker Maximus will offer a selection of three tournaments a day and run a Player of the Series leaderboard with prizes for the top three finishers. The sites will be offering a number of satellites into the various events with buy-ins as low as $.55. The satellites include a range of Sit-N-Go and MTT events for all of the events, including the $530 Super Stack Main Event, which has $33 and $60 satellites running daily.

Several players from the Merge sites have already been Tweeting and taking to Facebook to spread the word about the new series. “This is a big step in the right direction that we’ve all been pushing for at Lock Poker,” says Team LockPRO ELITE member Matt Stout. “We’ve worked hard to build a solid MTT schedule on the site, and now it’s time to kick off our very first bit MTT series with a three-week schedule. I can’t wait.”

The official site for Poker Maximus has the complete schedule as well as information on satellites. Play gets underway on Sunday, March 4th.

Ultimate Bet, the online poker site which was badly affected by actions by the US Department of Justice, along with Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker in April last year, is now faced with a new battle. Eight poker players have filed a complaint against Ultimate Bet Poker, also naming its former parent company, Excapsa Software, in a Californian court.

The complaint has nothing to do with the events surrounding Black Friday last April, but instead goes back to a super-scandal which rocked the online poker world in the mid 2000’s, when Ultimate Bet was charged with swindling over $22 million from its online poker players. The online poker room is charged with using super accounts which enabled it to view its players’ hole cards and cause them to lose their games. While the super accounts were set up through the poker room’s software for technical reasons at first, they were later abused by people who were high up in Ultimate Bet’s circle of owners and executives.

“Since at least June of 2003 and until at least January of 2008, Excapsa/Ultimate Bet did conspire to and did direct, effect and permit the theft of over $2,000,000 held in plaintiffs’ online poker accounts at UltimateBet.com,” reads the complaint. “Specifically, by creating and making use of an intentional security flaw in the UltimateBet.com software and with the assistance of owners, agents and employees of Excapsa and its various subsidiaries that operated UltimateBet.com, defendants either allowed others to or did directly view plaintiffs ‘hole cards’ during high-stakes poker matches run at UltimateBet.com.”

Among those who have joined the complaint lodged against Ultimate Bet Poker are top professionals, including high stakes pro, Daniel Booth.

With his girlfriend and 2½-month-old baby looking on, John Dolan of Biloxi laid down the winning hand in the final table of Beau Rivage’s Million Dollar Heater Regional Poker Tournament. He walked away with $336,105 in cash, the trophy and bracelet.

The final table started at 2 p.m. Wednesday. It came to an exciting end for the hometown poker player about 11 p.m. Dolan came to the final table as the chip leader and faced World Poker Tour champion Randal Flowers, World Series of Poker bracelet winner Ryan Welch and Lock Poker Pro Matt Stout. Online-poker pro Glenn Poole of Olive Branch finished second, his first big live score, winning $185,367.

The Million Dollar Heater at the Beau Rivage had 6,000 players in 33 preliminary events and multiple satellite tournaments. It awarded more than $1.7 million in prize money and main event entries.

Many of the entries were high-profile tournament players from the South. Recent major tournament winners who played were WPT champions Jonathan Little and Joe Tehan, and last year’s Beau Rivage Southern Poker champion, Alexander Kuzmin.

A new interpretation of a half century's worth of legislation gave the gambling industry a very big Christmas present.

On Dec. 23, the U.S. Department of Justice updated its long-held ruling on the Interstate Wire Act of 1961. Colloquially known as "The Wire Act," it was designed to prohibit any kind of betting via telecommunication devices that crossed state lines or borders.

The new decision only prohibits online sports betting, opening up the door for states to legalize any other form of virtual betting. Prospective websites would be able to offer various wagering options, including poker, casino games, lotteries and bingo.

This ruling could not come at a better time, when states are imposing savage fiscal austerity measures on imperative programs such as higher education, Medicare and Medicaid.

University students have first-hand knowledge of these spending cuts, as the past two years have seen the University's state appropriations cut by more than $45 million, resulting in the elimination of many programs and services along with the loss of about 400 would-be positions — nearly half of which were faculty jobs.

Now states can begin putting a halt to the budget cuts and attempt to reduce deficits by cashing in on their residents' optimism — by legalizing and taxing Internet gambling.

The Joint Committee on Taxation, led by members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, issued a report claiming federal and state taxes imposed on Internet gambling firms would net $42 billion for the federal government and $30 billion for state and local governments over a 10-year period. The American Gaming Association, a casino industry trade group, made a similar estimation.

But there are other beneficial aspects to virtual gambling aside from tax revenues.

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who leads the Financial Services Committee, said there are jobs and economic impacts to be seen with online gambling. A recent study released by H2 Gambling Capital, a data and market intelligence supplier for the worldwide gambling industry, indicated that approximately 25,470 jobs would be created in the next five years from the regulation of online gambling.

Not all are pleased with the Department of Justice ruling, however.

The most vocal critic was Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., who made outlandish claims devoid of reason or logic that online gambling leads to crime and hurts youths.

Bachus's demagoguery culminated in 2008 at a House Financial Services Committee — part of an earlier attempt to legalize online gambling — when he misinformed the assembled crowd that McGill University conducted a study linking one-third of college students who gamble on the Internet to ultimately committing suicide. He further concluded an increase in gambling is "why the rate of suicide on college campuses had doubled in the past 10 years."

McGill professor Jeffrey Derevensky, who was on the Board of Governors for Youth Gambling International, told Poker News Daily that no such study had ever taken place at the Canadian institute.

Aside from baseless comments made by conservative zealots, most of the reception has been positive. As a result, many states, such as California, New Jersey and the District of Columbia, have already taken steps to legalize online poker.

The willingness by states, the Obama administration and the Department of Justice to repeal the ban on online gambling is not only a step in the right direction for our economy — it is a stand for freedom.

The United States is a country built upon the idea of personal liberties. Americans should have the right to do whatever they please with their money in the privacy of their own homes, especially if it pays our nation well in return.

Philippines—Is online gambling beyond the reach of the country’s antigambling laws?

The head of the police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) on Thursday decried a ruling by the Court of Appeals junking illegal gambling charges against the operators of an online or virtual casino inside the Clark Special Economic Zone because of the lack of clear laws on the matter.

In a statement, Director Samuel D. Pagdilao Jr. expressed fears this might jeopardize efforts by authorities to curb online gambling operations. He urged lawmakers to pass more laws against cybercrime.

In its decision, the court noted that there was nothing in Presidential Decree 1602, or the anti-illegal gambling law, that would indicate that internet gambling or running an online casino was among the illegal acts penalized by the law.

He said the decision had a “far-reaching negative effect on the overall effort of the CIDG and other law enforcement units against online gambling operations.

The great and the good of the global online gaming industry turned out in London this week to celebrate the achievements of the Gaming Intelligence Hot 50, the annual list of the most talented, innovative and inspiring individuals working in online gambling.

The Hot 50, as chosen by a panel of experts, includes entrepreneurs and CEOs, regulators, technology wizards, lawyers and marketers from across the globe, reflecting the diverse range of talent that is driving an incredible growth curve.

“We often write about the success of companies and their top executives, but the aim of the annual Hot 50 list is to recognise the achievements of all those who are shaping the future of this vibrant industry” said Bobby Mamudi, Managing Editor of Gaming Intelligence.

Growth in the online gambling industry is bucking the global economic trend with the GIQ20 quarterly ranking of the fastest growing listed companies in online gaming showing an average growth rate of 58.9 per cent during the third quarter of 2011.

The GIQ Hot 50 includes industry legends such as Denise and John Coates of Bet365 and Isai Scheinberg of PokerStars, influential regulators such as the UK Gambling Commission’s Jenny Williams, as well as relatively unknown talents such as Daniel Lindberg, the CEO of online casino supplier QuickSpin, which is yet to launch a product.

Andrew Bulloss, a Hot 50 judge and the head of betting and gaming at international headhunters Odgers Berndtson, commented: “The list of industry heroes, some well-known, some unsung, recognises how the industry has changed and the diversity of talent needed for success. The industry is becoming much deeper, broader and international as it moves into the mainstream.”

According to Global Betting and Gaming Consulting (GBGC), the world-wide gross gaming yield in 2011 is estimated at US$34.4bn. The UK generates nearly 14 per cent of this amount with US$2.5bn and UK citizens accounted for 40 per cent of the Hot 50. The next most represented nations are Sweden, Israel and Canada, representing the innovation centres that have shaped the industry thus far.

Note to Editors:

The Hot 50 will be published each January in GIQ, Gaming Intelligence’s quarterly magazine. It can also be found online at GamingIntelligence.com.
Nominees had to be employed in the online gaming industry or work for a supplier to the industry.

The GI Hot 50 panel of judges comprised:
● Warwick Bartlett, Chief Executive, Global Betting & Gaming Consultants
● Andrew Bulloss, Head of Betting & Gaming Practice, Odgers Berndtson
● Mark Davies, Chief Executive, Camberton
● Vaughan Lewis, Executive Director, Morgan Stanley
● Sigrid Ligné, Secretary General, European Gaming & Betting Association
● Bobby Mamudi, Managing Editor, Gaming Intelligence
● Dawid Myslinski, Financial Analyst, Redeye

About Gaming Intelligence:

Gaming Intelligence serves the business intelligence needs of the global interactive gaming industry, with a highly regarded team of analysts possessing a wealth of knowledge in the fields of online gaming, risk management, marketing, finance and law. Gaming Intelligence is the industry's leading provider of independent, analytical and agenda-setting content.

Georgia’s capital Tbilisi has many locations to place a bet and as the interent becomes more accessable to more people in the region online gambling is become a force that some officials feel has to be reckoned with. Georgia went through a war with Russia in 2008 and is still feeling the economic repercussions of being independent from ‘Mother’ Russia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the south by Turkey and Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. Its population is almost 4.7 million and many of those adults like to gamble especially online say reports.

The gambling site Adjarabet.com currently ranks as the second most popular Georgian website second only to the TV and Movie site. Advertizing for other gambling sites can be seen on billboards and on public transportation throughout the capital. There are no stats on internet wagering in the country. The Georgian National Communications Commission does not issue licenses for gambling websites, and there is no effort made to regulate them.

Social issues regarding uncontrolled gambling habits are being seen by ministry officials who are concerned that out of control internet gambling is going to take its toll on the social fabric of Georgia. Internet use is growing by 18-percent per year giving Georgians increased access to online gambling sites. The biggest concern is for the well fair of Georgian youth who are increasing their activity at online gambling web sites and are showing signs of gambling addiction at an alarming rate.

In the central Georgian region of Imereti where internet availability has expanded over the last couple of years the NGO humanitarian aid organization World Vision is providing information on the risks of online gambling as part of an overall Internet education program aimed at parents. The organization is trying hard to explain that the internet is not all bad. Tamara Aleksidze a spokesperson and youth specialist for World Vision commented, We are trying to explain that if it is used in the correct manner, it is a very good thing.”

Super Bowl XLVI will be played between New England Patriots and New York Giants on Sunday, February 5 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. Bovada Casino urges its players not to wait till February 5 to celebrate, but to avail its special Super Bowl Casino Bonus and get in on the action earlier.

In celebration of Super Bowl XLVI, Bovada Casino is offering a 100% match bonus. Players who make a deposit of up to $46 will get a matching bonus of up to $46. The bonus can be availed any time between now and February 2. Players wagering on the Bovada Casino instant play software can redeem this Super Bowl Casino Bonus through the website. They will need to log in and click My Casino, then click Redeem Casino Code and enter the bonus code SUPER46. Finally they will have to click the Redeem button and the bonus will be credited in their account. Players wagering on the download software in the online casino will have to log in and click on Bonuses, and then on Casino Code. They will have to enter the bonus code SUPER46 and click the Submit button. They will instantly receive the bonus in their casino balance.

The following terms and conditions will apply to the Super Bowl Casino Bonus offer. Each player can redeem the code only once. The bonus will be given only to those players who redeem the bonus code while making a deposit. Bonus plus deposit amount is subject to a 40 times wagering requirement in the online casino before the deposit and bonus amount can be withdrawn. Only wagering after the coupon has been redeemed counts toward the wagering requirements. Any play in Single Deck and Double Deck Blackjack, Baccarat, Sic Bo, Craps, and Roulette will not count toward meeting the wagering requirements.

Bovada Casino is powered by software from Realtime Gaming and offers an American football themed online slot game titled Field of Green, which will be ideal for meeting the wagering requirements of the Super Bowl Casino Bonus offer. The symbols on the reels include the football player, the football, the cup, the helmet, the whistle and more. The top fixed jackpot is worth 8,000 coins and there is a randomly triggered progressive jackpot as well. The cup is the wild symbol and it doubles payouts. In the bonus game the player gets to kick the football at the goal. Each successful goal reveals an award of either free spins or credit prizes.

Bovada Casino is licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission. It is one of the few CasinoAdvisor recommended online casinos that has an online sports betting site as well. Players can place a number of bets on Super Bowl XVLI there.

The online poker landscape will change over the next few months of 2012. Several countries across the world have taken steps that will allow people to play poker online in a safe and transparent environment. To facilitate this, some countries are developing laws and regulations on the basis of which poker sites' operations will be carried out. In addition, bodies dedicated to ensuring player protection are developing systems that will keep players' money safe.

According to PlayPokerOnline.com, till recently, countries prohibited people to play poker online for money to protect them from the problems related to gambling. However, with the advancement of technology, measures can be taken at the national and site operator level to ensure player safety.

Legalizing Online Poker in 2012

At the national level, counties like the US are assessing whether online poker falls under the purview of laws that were passed decades ago. Till recently, the US had banned online poker sites from operating within the country on the basis of the Wire Act of 1961 which prohibited few betting activities.

In December 2011 the Department of Justice said that the Wire Act does not expressly ban poker. PlayPokerOnline.com stated that no one within the industry has come to a conclusion about whether online poker is legal. But this has not deterred some of the top poker site operators from entering the country.

Last year, several nations within Europe brought up the need for independent online poker legislations. The motives behind this were different. While a few nations wanted to allow offshore poker site operators to offer games to their players, others wanted to restrict online poker real money games to only their residents.

PlayPokerOnline.com clarified that though the nations are yet to announce their new legislations, they have to abide by a rule that the European Parliament has emphasized on - state-owned monopolies will not be allowed. Italy is the only country that has started offering online poker real money games. In the coming months in 2012, the European countries will announce their plans for online poker.

Player Fund Protection Systems

Kahnawake Gaming Commission, an authority on online poker recently made a few changes to its standards. These are to protect players. The commission now allows players to opt for self-exclusion. When they do this, players with gambling problems can inform the Gaming Commission about their needs. The sites that are regulated by the commission will be informed about the players' requests.

A few poker sites have joined hands with financial service firms to establish a system which will ensure that players' funds are protected. Through this system, the financial service provider will monitor whether poker sites have sufficient funds to repay people who have real money accounts with them to play poker online. According to PlayPokerOnline.com, more poker site operators from across the world are likely to adopt this system. The site also mentioned that a move like this shows online poker rooms' dedication to ensuring that its players are protected at all times.

On-Mobi.com has released a new application that should be a useful to PokerSoftware readers. The Poker Planner, which serves as an online tournament reminder, is now available at the Apple App Store. Once you have it, you can purchase notification bundles of 20 for $0.99 or 200 for a significant discount at $4.99.

In an exclusive statement by On-Mobi.com representative Buzi Gilon, the software producer told us, "Poker players can use this app to view poker tournaments hosted by the leading online poker brands ahead of time so they don't miss out.

The app is easy to set up and offers many different settings, allowing the player optimal control."

The application, which is iOS-ready and recently added Bodog tournaments, will allow online poker tournament players to be notified when their favorite events are about to start. The application is easily programmable and can be used for a variety of sites at one time. It serves as a real-time schedule of poker tournaments online.

Poker Planner's most recent update was implemented on October 20th and the application is currently on Version 1.2, which has a download size of 1.6 MB. As of press time, it is only available in the English language.

When you visit the Poker Planner app’s main page, you’ll have a customizable filter at your fingertips that allows you to sort tournament information by real money and play money, site, buy-in, tournament name, and start time. You can even tag individual events that you would like to receive notification of. The main display also has a search function, a "What's Hot" tab, and a "Cashier" tab. When you click on an individual tournament, its information pops up with the tournament name, start date, start time, game type, buy-in, limit type, tournament ID, and blind speed. All you have to do to have the application notify you is to press the green “Order Notification” button at the bottom.

The Poker Planner can make a nice addition to your mobile phone and provide a convenient reminder for upcoming events. With today's mobile communications environment, many individuals carry around their mobile devices at all times. With Poker Planner, you’ll never miss a much-anticipated online poker tournament again. And best of all, the application is 100% free to download onto your iPhone.

Overall, online poker players won't have to manually enter tournament information, but rather it will be automatically provided each day, around-the-clock.

Impress your friends and colleagues with real-time notifications about your poker job or hobby by ordering them from Poker Planner. Make sure you stay informed and on top of must-enter tournaments with Poker Planner by On-Mobi.com. The clear, crisp display makes Poker Planner a must-have for those who want to be reminded of poker tournaments on their mobile phone.

If you are a current user of Poker Planner, you can leave a review at the Apple App Store or post a comment below. Better yet, head to the PokerSoftware forum, where the Poker Planner staff will respond to you. Never miss an online poker tournament again with the online tournament reminder Poker Planner.

In a further attempt to bring the question of US online poker to the attention of the key decision makers on Capitol Hill, the Poker Players Alliance is urging its one million members to field questions on the subject to the top man, President Barack Obama.

The White House has embarked on a new campaign to listen to the people and has promised that the President will answer questions posed to him on YouTube in a special transmission this coming Monday. Obama adminstration officials have promised that their boss will answer top questions, and because only 120 questions out of the 100,000 already in line are about poker, more effort has to be made to get the issue of online poker on the agenda.

The Executive of the grassroots poker proponent group, John Pappas already has his own question waiting to be answered, and it reads as follows: “Regulating internet poker will establish strong consumer protections; create new jobs and revenues for states and the federal government. President Obama, will you support this common-sense public policy?”

This is not the PPA’s first attempt to get the Obama administration to listen to the demands of the country’s players for a safe, legal and regulated online poker industry. Last year, the PPA got nearly 10,000 people to sign its “We the People” online petition regarding the issue, however the group has yet to receive a response to the petition by the administration.

Efforts are being made to bring about changes to online poker laws on a federal level before individual states start adopting their own internet gambling laws, which the PPA believes could be detrimental to their efforts to go down the federal lane.

It seems like I still have a month to prepare. Good luck to everyone.


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One hell of a game😡

Proponents seeking to rein in the unregulated environment of illegal online poker in Iowa are girding for another legislative battle this year.

Critics, however, worry about a new post-Touch Play gaming expansion that could spread addictive forms of electronic gambling from casinos to living rooms.

Iowans on both sides of the gambling issue say last year's federal crackdown on major illegal offshore poker operations has increased the pressure on Iowa lawmakers to set regulations for online players.

There also was a separate Justice Department opinion that narrowed prohibitions for forms of Internet gambling to primarily sports betting.

"It was a real surprise when (the U.S. Department of Justice) reversed what's been a long-standing precedent on that, which I think potentially throws the door for Iowa not only to be one of the early states into the arena but even to go beyond their borders," said Tom Coates, an official with Consumer Credit of Des Moines who has been a leading gambling opponent in Iowa. "I was not worried before, but I am more worried now that it might go and that it will be a viable model and you will damage an increasing number of players and young players."

State regulators who studied the issue last fall were able to verify that illegal online poker is going on in Iowa, but they could not corroborate gambling industry estimates of 150,000 players.

The Iowa Racing & Gaming Commission study also projected that legal online poker operations - if authorized - could generate $13 million to $60 million in yearly activity, which could produce an estimated

$3 million to $13 million in tax revenue annually.

For now, that money and the jobs and economic opportunities that go with it are leaving Iowa, say lawmakers such as Sen. Jeff Danielson, D-Waterloo. He plans to offer legislation as early as next month that would authorize the commission to establish a framework for hub operators and state-licensed casinos to provide online poker to Iowans via an intrastate network or join multi-state partnerships to attract more players and bigger wagering pots.

"Over the last year or so, we've had a tremendous change in the dynamics around online poker, and I believe it's the responsibility for us to have a thoughtful, responsible gaming policy when it comes to online poker," Danielson said. "The challenge for us is right now we have a do-nothing policy by default.

"I don't believe do nothing is the appropriate answer. To do nothing means it is the wild, wild West and no ability to account for the costs if you're not thoughtfully engaged in what policy you have."

Critics say, however, Internet poker will be the gateway to other forms on online gambling in a state that has shown a lack of restraint since pari-mutuel wagering, the state lottery and riverboat gambling were legalized.

"Everybody can see the handwriting on the wall: We're moving toward legalization of online gambling," said Rep. Jeff Kaufmann, R-Wilton, a gambling opponent.

He attended a House State Government Committee meeting last week where state gaming officials conceded that the advent of online poker might mean more people will gamble or those who currently play will play more. State regulators also said software exists to combat cheating and underage gambling but the technology is not 100 percent foolproof.

Coates said the argument to legalize something because it goes on anyway unregulated is "the rationalization and the mantra of the scoundrel." Kaufmann argued that adding another form of legalized gambling will mean an increase in the social and financial problems associated with gambling.

"I don't buy the arguments that it's happening anyway, so let's legalize it," Kaufmann said. "I've heard that same argument on the legalization of marijuana. I've heard that same argument on a whole host of vices. If the premise for legalizing online gambling is that it's happening anyway, there is a huge slippery slope on what we're going to legalize in this state, and I know we would go places where the vast bulk of Iowans do not want to go."

Danielson said he plans to work off a concept introduced in the Senate last year that authorized the creation of an intrastate online poker network and provided a regulatory structure for its implementation, operation and taxation. The poker hub operator or operators would be under the control of the state Racing and Gaming Commission, which would contract with state-licensed casinos to operate affiliated online sites within a "closed loop" in Iowa for registered players ages 21 and older.

"You will not be able to play online poker in Iowa should this become law unless you sign up with your local casino," Danielson said. "We want to make sure the trusted professionals in our own communities who have all sorts of accountability and have to be responsive to their local voters - we want to make sure that they're the gateway to the online poker."

He said the focus is only on Iowa's safe and secure regulation of online poker, which he differentiated as a game of skill that is apart from other forms of gambling.

"This isn't a free-for-all. People need to know that. I'm focused only on poker," he said. "We will close every loophole, including the lottery's ability to do online poker if we have to. We will close every loophole so that the policy is crystal clear and air tight."

Danielson said he also would be willing to sequester the revenue the state gains from online poker for a time so people understand it's not about making money for government.

Wes Ehrecke of the Iowa Gaming Association, an umbrella group that represents 18 state-regulated casinos, said the American Gaming Association and members of his Iowa group prefer passage of a federal law to address online gaming from a national perspective.

Absent that, however, the Iowa industry generally favors a plan to allow Internet poker "on the casinos' platform," regulated by the