When Washington, D.C. passed a law allowing intra-district online gambling, it was heralded as a success by the gambling community. After all, D.C. became the first jurisdiction in the United States to regulate online gambling. Though the market is not yet up and running, it is already becoming more controversial. Michael A. Brown was the District Councilmember most responsible for passage of the gambling legislation. He pushed hard for it last year and eventually had the council include the gambling amendment in a supplemental budget bill. The bill passed last December and the time period for the federal government to [ Read More ]
Another Try at Legal Online Poker in the US It’s been a rough year for online poker fans in the US with both PokerStars and Full Tilt removed as options due to a crackdown by the US government, but there may be a glimmer of hope with the introduction of a new poker bill last Friday by Rep. Joe Barton. Barton’s bill is similar to past efforts to legalize, regulate, and tax online poker in the US but one major difference is that he has the support of both Democratic and Republican politicians, which makes passing the bill into law [ Read More ]
On Tuesday, the Obama administration made a move that could allow for more casino expansion in the United States. The Interior Department rescinded a rule passed by the Bush Administration in 2008 that limited the ability of Native American tribes to open casinos. The 2008 rule required tribal casinos to be within commuting distance from the reservations. That limitation led to the rejection of many casino applications because the proposed site was too far away. In New York alone, 22 applications were rejected due to the rule. Chuck Schumer, a New York Senator, lobbied to have the rule overturned and [ Read More ]
Well, John Kasich got some of that money and he didn’t even have to break any knee caps. I guess when you’re the governor of Ohio, you don’t have to resort to such violent tactics. Instead, you resort to dirtier but legal intimidation and coercion tactics to get your way. Over the weekend, Governor Kasich successfully shook down one of the casinos set to open in the state, Rock Ohio Caesars. After closed-doors negotiations between the two parties, the casino agreed to what is being called a “significant payout” over several years to the state of Ohio. No details were [ Read More ]
November 4 – 32 Red online casino players now have the choice of playing in Australian Dollars, using a variety of secure banking methods, including NETeller, Moneybookers and credit and debit card systems. 32 Red’s transactions are processed by Barclays bank. The Gibraltar-based online casino already claims to have a large ustralian player base, despite the fact that most of its marketing efforts are UK centric. Said Mark Quayle, Head of marketing for 32Red, "With over 250 online pokies in our casino, as well as hundreds of other casino game classics, the addition of Australian Dollars was a natural development [ Read More ]
In Nova Scotia, ads have been running that show young athletes playing their sports. The reason for the ad is to show people that their gambling money is being used in a positive manner. The children in the ads have received funds from gaming revenue to help in their training. It is part of the reason that the gambling system is in place, but an anti-gambling group is making waves over the ads. The group, GameOverVLT’s, suggests that Nova Scotia Gaming, “is using underage and youth athletes to promote gambling.” That is according to the group’s director, Terry Fulmer. As [ Read More ]
Researchers at the University of Washington (UW) have studied the building blocks of a neurobiological link between alcohol use in the adolescent years and later decision-making impairments with adults. The results of the study were published last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences website, and indicate a link between heavy drinkers and adult decision-making. Ilene Bernstein and Nicholas Nasrallah are the authors of the study, Nicholas is a psychology doctoral student at the UW and Ilene a professor of psychology and faculty member of the neurobiology and behavior program. Nicholas said: “We know early exposure to [ Read More ]
Governor Pat Quinn has brought Illinois into the twenty first century earlier this year in regards to their gambling laws. The governor signed a law that will allow video gambling machines for establishments with liquor licenses. Many towns and cities have already stopped the video gambling machines from entering their area. The law gave these areas a grace period during which they could ban the machines. Once that grace period is over, establishments can apply for the rights to operate the machines. That is where the change over will take place from the current video gambling options to the new [ Read More ]
The long-running litigation between Austrian online gambling giant Bwin and the Portuguese state betting monopoly Santa Casa has entered a new and negative phase following a ruling from the European Court of Justice. The Court has found that the Portuguese government’s gambling monopoly may comply with European Union law, ruling that the prohibition which Portuguese legislation imposes on operators such as Bwin of offering games of chance via the Internet may be regarded as compatible with the freedom to provide services, if it is designed to combat fraud and other crimes. The case has its roots in an attempt by [ Read More ]
Launched late last year with massive publicity and plenty of commercial hype, the online banking operation Ivobank – owned by the Indonesian billionaire Sampoerna family – appeared to be going from strength to strength with a list of gilt-edged online gambling clients that included some of the top companies in the business. It came as something as a shock, therefore to learn this week that the bank is apparently turning away new business without a clear explanation for its motives or its future, now the subject of intense speculation. The bank’s advisory that new business was being turned away was [ Read More ]
