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Tag Archives: Online Poker
Texas Representative Supports Interstate Licensing, Regulation
“Poker isn’t predatory gambling – it’s the All American game and Texas Hold’em is a natural for Texans to play. In fact, I learned to play in Boy Scouts. It is a game of skill, not one of chance.” – U.S. Rep. Joe Barton
Rep. Joe Barton (R)
That quote gives you a pretty good idea of where Rep. Barton stands on the issue of online gambling. He’s calling on colleagues and hoping to legalize online poker by creating interstate licensing. His proposal has drawn a variety of sponsors from both parties as well as support from the general poker-playing industry.
But naysayers will say nay. The Stop Predatory Gambling-Texas group sent Barton a letter and asked him to back off.
“We oppose the expansion of gambling,” said Stephen Reeves, a lobbyist affiliated with the group. “We don’t want gambling through the internet going into every home, office and smart phone through the country.”
But Barton says it’s all about the money, and plenty of it. Interstate licensing means more money coming into each state and that means more jobs. And if it stays within our nation’s borders—SURPRISE!—you can TAX it.
“People are playing poker on the internet for money in the United States today,” Barton said. “They are playing on overseas sites that are outside the reach of U.S. law—leaving the consumer unprotected and the government without the ability to tax the winnings.”
Barton’s bill would create a program that would let states be licensed for Internet poker and give participating states a share of the revenue generated.
So what are we waiting for? Let’s get this done.
Stratosphere Owner Targets Online Poker
In another clear effort to link online paying customers to physical Vegas locations, Bally Technologies has reached a deal to provide their online poker platform to American Casino and Entertainment Properties, LLC, the company which owns the Stratosphere Casino.
Vegas property owners are increasingly pursuing online poker licenses as a means to bring business to brick-and-mortar locations. ACEP’s director of gaming development Alec Driscoll called online gambling a “player acquisition tool,” and is especially useful when you load up the user experience with advertisements and promotional content to draw folks to the Strip.
Last week, the NGC granted ACEP an online poker license along with WMS Gaming Inc. ACEP also operates the Aquarius Casino Resort in Laughlin, plus two Arizona Charlie’s properties in Vegas. The platform that Bally Technologies is going to offer to ACEP must be vetted through a testing phase before allowed to go public.
According to ACEP CEO Frank Riolo, “We are pleased to be involved in the leading edge of this emerging segment in the U.S. This partnership with Bally will allow us to establish a play-for-free poker site by the end of the year, which we plan to use to further enhance our brands and enable us to be poised to launch a real-money poker site at such a time as permitted.”
IGT Shutting Down European Online Poker Operations
International Game Technology is currently shutting down online poker operations in Europe. Regulatory changes resulting in some countries barring residents from playing outside their own borders has convinced the company’s CEO Patti Hart that it’s no longer feasible to conduct business in the area.
The business “shifted from dot-com to dot-country,” Hart said. “There’s less profitability and the product becomes less interesting.”
The Reno-based IGT paid a handsome $115 million last year for a Swediwh online poker provider called Entraction Holing AB. The company still plans to use elements of that acquisition in order to continue offering online bingo, slot machines and sports betting in Europe.
IGT fell 1.2 percent to $12.86 at the close in New York. The stock has declined 25 percent this year.
Is the development of international regulations against online poker in Europe a foreshadowing of the future here in the United States? So far, we’ve been proceeding on a state-by-state basis (and the Democrats want to keep it that way, while the Republicans want to ban it all together) Patti Hart issued some words of wisdom to companies planning to offer poker in the United States, which will “have to look at their own economics,” she said. “It’s much more challenged when it’s a single state.”
Proposed Bill Represents Significant Threat to U.S. Online Gambling
The most evil picture of Harry Reid I could find. Actually, I’m sure he’s a very nice guy.
There’s a new bill by Senators Harry Reid and Jon Kyl that would prohibit all forms of unlicensed gambling in the United States except for lottery tickets and horse racing, and but for a few special cases, online poker as well.
In its present form, a summary of the proposed Internet Gambling Prohibition, Poker Consumer Protection and Strengthening UIGEA Act of 2012 has been sent to Congress.
If approved, the legislation would establish the Office of Online Poker Oversight which has a really clever acronym—OOPO—as part of the Department of Commerce. According to iGamingBusiness, the office would:
“…supervise the control of online poker while additional regulators could be appointed to help with the issuance of licenses. It would also require that states wishing to offer online poker and off-track betting opt-in via an election involving a majority vote in both local legislative chambers. Doing nothing would see a state opt-out while aboriginal groups could apply only if the state in which they operate has selected to take part.
The act would continue to authorize online lottery ticket sales, but would prohibit states from offering games that emulate casino or slot machines and—here’s the scary part—also ban international online poker pools.
There would also be a five-year ban on any operator or service that offered online gambling to Americans after 2006 in violation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.
And lastly, for anyone lucky enough to get an online poker license, they’d have to pay a 16 percent tax, split into two percent for the federal government and 14 percent for the state or tribe in which the license is issued. Also, if you do get a license, you have to wait 15 months before you can actually start dealing the cards.
That is all. Raise your hand if you want this bill defeated.
Rock Band Developer 3G Applies for Online Poker License
Love the game or hate the game, there’s no doubt that 3G Studios, the developer behind Rock Band, certainly knows how to produce a popular hit. As the company is based in Nevada, it is very logical to hear that they’ve now applied for an online poker license with the NGC.
The news of another major U.S. video game company, this time a maker of triple-A console titles—as opposed to the biggest player entering this arena, the social gaming titan Zynga—is applying for a license is no doubt encouraging to online gambling proponents. It indicates that such companies are exploring other options and looking for opportunities to cash in on an emerging industry. Still, I do think it will be a while before we see someone like Activision or Blizzard hop on board.
“Mobile and online gambling will revolutionize the U.S. gambling industry,” James Kosta, CEO of 3G Studios said. “With our extensive experience in video game development, mobile gaming, social gaming and gambling technology, 3G Studios is uniquely positioned within this emerging industry. We plan to leverage that experience to deliver the next-generation gambling experience to a much wider demographic.”
3G Studios has already been doing business with two big-name device manufacturers, International Game Technology and Bally Technologies, which we reported earlier are both interested in getting into online poker.
Feud Develops Around Online Poker Bill
Dean Heller
As you know by now, Nevada has started to issue licenses to online poker operators. Presently, there is an online poker bill championed by Nevada Senator Harry Reid, which would generally establish a federal system to regulate online poker, and in the process, scale back a revised Justice Department opinion on the 1961 Wire Act that gave states the go-ahead to offer online gaming within their borders.
But there’s a rift opening up between the two Nevada senators. Harry Reid (D) and Dean Heller (R) are at odds over the bill. Heller objected to the deadline that Reid proposed, saying “this was not a strategy we discussed” and said the best bet would be for the Senate to step back and allow the House of Representatives to act first on online poker.
The Las Vegas Sun featured an excellent breakdown of the developing feud.
“His direction might sound like a simple scheduling switcheroo. But for the controversial poker bill, it is a potentially devastating change with ramifications that could undermine the Nevada economy—and, top Democrats charge, a clear indication that Heller dropped the ball.”
This is not good news for the online poker scene. The Republicans are notoriously against the practice and the Democrats are pretty much silent on the issue. With the election coming up, we’re not sure what the future holds for online poker legislation. But we’ll be keeping our eyes on it.
Judge Deals Winning Hand to Poker Advocates, Absolves Card-Shark by Deeming Poker a ‘Game of Skill’
In a landmark ruling yesterday, a New York federal judge declared that poker is predominantly a game of skill, not chance, and therefore cannot by prosecuted by a law designed to stop organized crime.
The decision by Judge Jack Weinstein could be a major boon for advocates of legalizing online gambling in the United States. In his ruling, Weinstein relied heavily on the testimony of an expert witness who analyzed Internet poker games.
“Chance [as compared to skill] has traditionally been thought to be a defining element of gambling and is included in dictionary, common law and other federal statutory definitions of it,” Weinstein wrote in his 120-page decision. “Expert poker players draw on an array of talents, including facility with numbers, knowledge of human psychology, and powers of observation and deception.”
On the Way to 100 Billion Hands of Online Poker at Poker Stars
In its Road to 100 Billion promotion, PokerStars is celebrating every 5 billionth hand it deals. The next milestone coming up is 85 billion, and PokerStars expect it to be dealt sometime Tuesday morning. Of course, if we all jumped on right now we can probably make this happen by quitting time this evening. Come on, let’s go!
Why, you ask? Because the sooner we get to the 85 billionth hand, the sooner some lucky dog wins a million bucks. PokerStars has paid out more than $1 million over its last three milestone hands at 72 billion, 75 billion and 80 billion. Kind of makes you wonder about what reward the 100 billionth hand will win.
Michael Phelps Goes for Gold in Online Poker
Michael Phelps, as you might expect, is a fairly rich man. After winning 22 medals over the course of three Olympic games, his earnings total about $45 million and endorsements could push that number up in the wake of the star swimmer’s retirement from the sport.
Phelps’ competitive edge has shown up in his personal life as well, as the athlete is apparently quite the poker fan. When he first started playing, Phelps began working with the $1/$2 level tables but now buys in to a weekly $25,000 game.
