Archive for April, 2010
A proposal to legalize online casinos for USA citizens will be heard by the United States Congress on Friday.
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) has lobbied hard for more than a year to legalize online gambling in the United States, arguing that it does no harm to anyone and restricting peoples’ ability to participate in online gaming is a violation of their privacy.
Frank has met many obstacles along the way, but is excited to know that his proposal – which could ultimately lead to legalized online gambling – - will be heard on Friday.
“This hearing will provide further evidence that UIGEA is a poorly crafted law that simply does not work,” says Michael Waxman, a spokesperson for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative.
The UIGEA laws are expected to be implemented in June, and during the hearing Congress will address specifics of Frank’s bill that would delay that implementation until next June. Frank’s bill is specifically designed to delay the implementation of the UIGEA laws so Congress has more time to look over the details of the legislation and perhaps make changes.
Frank’s bill has inspired other lawmakers to also take up the cause of legalized online gambling. There are currently several bills sitting in state congresses waiting to be heard they would also allow legalized online gambling in those particular states.
According to recent reports, Full Tilt Poker is under investigation by a federal grand jury in Manhattan. The grand jury is allegedly investigating whether the poker room has broken any gambling or money laundering laws. According to these reports, the grand jury investigation is centering on Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson, two of the site’s well-known poker pros.
Apparently, the investigation began after two people complained to FBI agents and prosecutors that there was possible money laundering violations occurring and it was connected to the poker room. If the government can substantiate the money-laundering claims, it would be able to investigate online poker playing and online gambling in the United Kingdom, where Full Tilt is registered.
“We are not going to comment about a speculative grand jury investigation that we are not aware of,” said Lederer and Ferguson’s attorney Eric Jackson. Jackson said his clients have not been contacted about any inquiry by the grand jury and neither pro has addressed the investigation directly.
There are bills circulating both in the United States Congress and in local municipalities and state congresses that would legalize online poker rooms & online casinos for USA players, but the activity remains a grey area in most of the United States.
Some believe the government is conducting investigations like the one currently underway against Full Tilt Poker (www.fulltiltpoker.com) as a way to intimidate online poker rooms, but the increase in interest by American citizens is likely to bolster the online gaming industry, rather than the investigations hurt it.
It might be a small nation, but Lithuania will likely be known among poker players as a forward-thinking nation.
Lithuanian officials announced this week that it will officially recognize poker as a sport. This will allow sports leagues the right to organize tournaments and allow Lithuanian citizens to play poker without the fear that they are breaking any laws or engaging in illegal gambling.
Government officials and those involved with poker in Lithuania are hoping that this announcement will be a breakthrough for other countries to also consider poker an important game and not just another form of gambling.
“This is an extremely important step in our work,” said Andrius Tapinas, president of the Lithuanian Sports Poker Federation. “We are receiving congratulations from many of our colleagues abroad and I know that we are breaking thick ice with our progress for similar international initiatives.”
Many hope that this new edict by Lithuania will prove to naysayers that poker is a game of skill that simply has an element of luck, not an activity that is based entirely on luck like many other basic casino games.
Tapinas said that the Lithuanian Sports Poker Federation plans to launch poker tournaments by the end of April.
New microgaming online casino is pulling out all the stops to get players to its virtual tables and slot machines.
The stops in this case involve Bengal tigers, and the site’s promise that it will give away 15 great Bengal tigers to celebrate the Chinese Year of the Tiger.
The new site, Golden Tiger Casino, is allegedly promoting this contest as a way to drive new visitors to the site and to, oddly, award 15 of those visitors a Tiger.
The site warns that you should “keep your fridge fully stocked” because depending on where you live, the Tiger may arrive “hungry.” The site even offers a video explaining the contest in brief, and offering comments from one Rory T. of Essex, England, who says that he was the first winner of one of the tigers, and that it currently lives in his garage.
Of course, much of this is done tongue-in-cheek, but it is rather entertaining and will likely drive new traffic to this new casino. According to the information at the casino’s website, all you need to do is download the casino software, register your account, and deposit your initial playing money, and you will be entered to win a Tiger.
Golden Tiger Casino (www.goldentigercasino.com) offers nearly 350 casino-style games and, it says, six-figure jackpots. It also offers a casino depsoit bonus, which can be used to “finance your grocery bill” should you win one of those tigers.
There seems to be a crime trend in Europe these days, and casinos are the target. Last month a German casino was the victim of a heist by armed gunmen, and that was followed by a heist at a Swiss casino.
On Easter Sunday, a casino in France was robbed of more than $50,000 by armed robbers who wielded assault rifles and even fired several warning shots.
The “Le Pharaon” casino in Lyon was the subject this time as the four robbers wielded Kalashnikov rifles, used a side grinder to make their way into the cashier’s cage, and used a black BMW at the getaway car.
According to news reports, nobody who was playing in the casino was injured, though two security guards did report minor injuries.
One week ago a Swiss casino was also the victim of a heist, and authorities believed that those robbers were from France because they were seen headed toward France after the robbery; their getaway vehicle also had French license plates.
Many believe that these casinos have become targets for these robberies because gambling is a cash business, making it easy for robbers to walk away with a good stash of money. This is why many online casinos will argue that gambling online is safer, because there is no currency being exchanged in a fashion that would lead to either the player or casino becoming a victim of crime.
We know this is a casino blog, but we just had to write something about the Apple iPad, which comes out on Saturday since every other blog is doing it.
On Wednesday, one man decided he was going to be first in line for the iPad and began waiting outside the Apple NYC store (he was also first in line for the iPhone). We then thought about what goes into being a line legend of apple products. So we made a flow chart for people aspiring to be #1.
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