Online Casino News and Information

This week, after the shock demise of ChanPoker, WSOP legend Johnny Chan’s poker room closed its doors forever. At the same time fellow poker legend Doyle Brunson strengthened his own brand, adding Doylesroom Online Casino, to his long standing poker site, Doylesroom.com.

Since the implementation of the UIGEA back in 2006, it has been difficult for online gambling sites to survive in what is now, a fiercely competitive industry. It now looks like a case of, only the strong and the versatile survive. With the recent addition of Doylesroom Casino, Brunson has taken major steps forward and it looks as if, with his direction, the site will be around for the long haul.

Last year Doylesroom switched networks. This switch allowed US players to return to the poker room, and they have swamped back in droves. Doylesroom didn’t just opt for any network, they teamed up with Microgaming.

Microgaming is the world’s number one gaming software company, and it is no real surprise that Doyle Brunson has called upon their gaming expertise to create and develop the recent new addition.

Doylesroom Casino, powered by Microgaming has an exciting selection of games to choose from. You have the option to play recognizable bricks & mortar casino games such as roulette (both American and European style), blackjack and three card poker. For slots fanatics, you have a wide selection of games to choose from, both three and five reel slot games.

The progressive jackpot games have awesome potential payouts. With over $6million worth of jackpots there for the taking, it may be worth a lucky spin of the reels. Unfortunately, I have never managed to get to Las Vegas to try my luck on their slots. With Doylesroom’s new Casino, I can still play for a life changing amount. Ok, I don’t have any showgirls dancing around in my living room, but I can assure you, this will change if I hit the jackpot.

Possibly, the most famous online progressive slot game is the Mega Moolah. Unlike many other slot games, when the Mega Moolah Jackpot lands, the progressive jackpot resets at a healthy $1million. So even if you hit after a big win, you will still have enough to bring a little Vegas lifestyle into your living room.

Doylesroom Casino offers games for all. For the low rollers, you can try your luck for as little as 10c, up to $1000 a spin for the high rollers. With a bad run of luck, all is not lost; Doylesroom Casino offers a superb cash back bonus of up to 30% on any casino losses. Beat that Vegas!

Doyle Brunson is a larger than life character, both online and off. Back in 2003 a consortium offered him a prop bet at 10/1 odds, on $100,000 that he couldn’t get his weight down below 300lbs. Doyle took up the challenge. Using the fiercely competitive nature that brought him 10 world poker titles, and a little help using his own version of the Atkins diet, Texan steaks, he took the bet and collected a cool $1million!

This is a BIG news story. This could and will affect a lot of poker sites and Casinos!! Just how much so is yet to be seen.
POKERTRILLION.com has been successful in its Application to Seize Boss Media Servers in Malta

Malta August 18, 2008 –The online poker site POKERTRILLION.com has announced that on 18th August 2008 at the First Hall Civil Court, Malta (Court record and Complaint Number 755-08), Judge Gino Camilleri issued a judgment authorizing Trillion Ltd to enforce seizure of the Boss Media Malta Limited and Boss Media AB servers, and that these servers cease being used for any commercial activity as from 18th September 2008 with Boss Media not being allowed to appeal the court’s decision any further.

This judgment, which relates to Trillion Limited’s multi-million Euro law suit for breach of contract against Boss Media AB and their associated companies, comes off the back of a number of successful applications made to the courts in Malta by Trillion Ltd. POKERTRILLION.com C.E.O Andy Pyrah explains, “Today’s decision will in effect bring down Boss Media’s operation in their licensed jurisdiction of Malta on September 18, and any partner still on the Boss (IPN) Poker Network at this stage will see their service closed down too”.

The judge further ordered that the cosignatory which is now responsible for the equipment also provides full accounts of the revenues being generated from this equipment.

Pyrah comments further, “It should also be noted that despite appeals from Boss Media, we’ve been successful in every one of our applications that we’ve filed with the courts in Malta and this includes having our initial garnishee order increased from €5million to €20million earlier this month, this in turn means that there is now a €20million freezing order on all Boss Media’s assets within this jurisdiction, and in accordance with European law we will be applying for this to be executed all over Europe”.

Stay tuned for all the news as we get it!!

In a Federal court on Wednesday, three Florida men plead guilty to gambling related charges.

Read the full story:

http://www.stltoday.com/

stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/9AED2B189BD9E23C8625749E0007BF4E?OpenDocument

Note the part about, The RVs had computers and mobile phone so gamblers could place bets, and one was parked at a Ram’s home game on Oct. 20, 2002. THAT Makes it Illegal Bookies!!! BetOnSports once was one of the largest gambling companies in the world.

The saga continues between the US and Antigua. Yet again the US put it off. The new date of OCT. 1st has been set for an agreement on the online gambling dispute.

Mark Mendel, the Attorney for Antigua, at the WTO, had an interview with the Antigua Sun, and stated that he hoped they could achieve a resolution, but did not predict any possible results on the matter. He just stated that both parties were attempting to work things out.

Mendel also said that Antigua is still holing all the cards, and he is ready for anything.

Antigua is challenging the UIGEA Act of 2006, in which prohibited the transfer of funds from financial institutions in the US. Antigua claims the act is in violation of the WTO.

So now the US is trying to shirk those obligations.

We will wait and see if any agreement will be reached Oct 1st. In my opinion that is very doubtful, but we will see.

Could this be a start to a new beginning for the online gambling Industry?

A Republican from Texas Pete Sessions, a US Congressman has introduced Bill HR 6663. This bill hopes to clarify the UIGEA as to what is legal and not legal in the US. This Bill may allow companies that willfully left the US market to re-enter the US market.

Currently the UIGEA says that banks must stop allowing transactions to illegal gambling sites, but does not define what is illegal, thus making it impossible for banks to implement the law.

With this new Bill Sessions attempts to to clarify this by defining illegal gambling to only relate to sports betting.

Below outlines the purpose of this Bill:

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

(a) Findings- Congress finds the following:

(1) Prior to the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (hereafter in this section referred to as the ‘UIGEA’), Public Law 109-347, on October 13, 2006, Federal law was both vague and outdated regarding Internet gambling activities, as Federal criminal gambling statutes were passed decades before the commercial use of the Internet.

(2) To date, all Federal Internet gambling prosecutions have involved sports betting, creating a lack of authoritative court decisions on the applicability of other federal criminal statutes to Internet poker and casino-style gambling.

(3) Sports betting, which is illegal in 49 of the 50 States, is viewed as particularly harmful because its potential adverse impact on the integrity of professional and amateur sports, and is the one form of gambling where there is settled Federal case law clarifying it as illegal on the Internet.

(4) Many European Internet gambling companies offering services not including sports betting to persons in the United States were fully listed on the London Stock Exchange, and thereby subject to high standards of transparency and scrutiny, but upon receiving clarification of United States law regarding Internet gaming through the enactment of the UIGEA, these companies closed their sites to persons in the United States.

(5) Continued legal jeopardy for companies that made a good faith effort to comply voluntarily with clarified United States law following the passage of the UIGEA punishes behavior that the law intended to foster and inadvertently rewards continued noncompliance by other foreign entities.

(6) In light of the foregoing and in deference to long-standing constitutional requirements of fair notice and transparency in the criminal law, the Congress finds it necessary to clarify that criminal statutes applicable to gambling do not apply to any person who offered Internet gambling services that did not include sports betting prior to October 13, 2006, and who ceased offering Internet gambling services to persons in the United States upon passage of the UIGEA.

(7) To effect the purposes and intent of the UIGEA, it is the sense of the Congress that the Attorney General should focus any prosecutorial efforts on those persons who–

(A) offer Internet sports betting in the United States; or

(B) process payments for illegal Internet sports betting in the United States.

The Bill is a non-partisan one, because Sessions is a Republican and is supported by Jesse Jackson Jr, Marion Berry and Bill Delahunt, who are Democrats.

We shall see how this Bill does, could it end with a tie vote also? We shall see!!

Four Republican Congressman sent a written letter to the Federal Reserve Board and the US Treasury Calling for more clarity on what the laws really are in the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

Here is the body of that letter:

Dear Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke,

We are writing to request that you bring clarity to the Federal Reserve Board’s (Board) and U.S. Department of the Treasury’s (Treasury) proposed regulations to implement the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA).

As proposed, these regulations do not provide clear guidance to the public, in particular those that engage in online skill games, or regulated industries regarding what constitutes “unlawful internet gambling.” We believe that implementing such vague law and regulations, while holding the public and regulated industries liable for noncompliance, is an abdication of the federal government’s responsibility to both the public and unregulated industries. In addition, vague UIGEA law and regulations could be unnecessarily burdensome and costly to the public and particularly small businesses.

Therefore, we urge the Board and Treasury to, before finalizing UIGEA regulations, clarify the specific activity that constitutes “unlawful internet gambling,” providing guidance to both the public and the regulated industries that are tasked with blocking financial transactions related to “unlawful internet gambling.” It is our understanding that the UIGEA intended to uphold state and federal laws regarding “unlawful internet gambling” that existed prior to UIGEA’s date of enactment. Nevertheless, we encourage the Board and Treasury to confirm our understanding in its UIGEA regulations. To accomplish this, we request that you take the following actions.

First, transition the current rulemaking process to a formal rulemaking process involving an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) or a similar official who can provide legal advice. This official should examine the various federal and state laws and determine precisely what constitutes “unlawful internet gambling” as well as which financial institutions a regulated industry is required to block under UIGEA law and regulations.

Second, we request that undertake Regulatory Flexibility Analysis to clearly evaluate the regulatory burden that would be imposed on businesses of all sizes but especially small businesses.

Simply put, we believe that it is possible that if UIGEA law and regulations are implemented with the vague language we described above, a judge may be eventually required to answer the question of “what is unlawful internet gambling.” It makes fiscal sense to resolve this question before saddling the public, regulated industries, small businesses, and courts with uncertain UIGEA law and regulation.

We voted for UIGEA and support it now. As such, we have resisted legislative efforts which may have the effect of delaying interminably the implementation of UIGEA and its regulations. However, we are concerned about the legal and operational viability of a rule that leaves so much to interpretation and, accordingly, urge the Board and Treasury to take a more deliberative path to a workable rule as we have outlined in this letter.

Thank you for your consideration of our request. We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Judy Biggert
Jim Gerlach
Christopher Shays
Kevin McCarthy

Does this tell the Industry who to vote for? It sure tells me who, We the People, that don’t want our freedom taken away, who to let know how we feel about the whole UIGEA Bill!!

What next? First Neteller now PayPal. What do we expect form the US Government? They are taking more and more of our rights to privacy away. And they will continue to do so, till the American people stand up and fight!!!

This is an email PayPal are sending out to their customers:

Dear ()

PayPal has received a summons from the United States Internal Revenue Service requiring us to produce various records, including data related to your PayPal account. PayPal understands the summons relates to the IRS’ offshore compliance program in which the IRS has sought information about offshore credit card accounts from a number of companies.

Your Privacy is extremely important to PayPal. PayPal is obligated, however, to turn over the requested data. PayPal has been ordered by the United States District Court for the Northern District of California to provide the information to the IRS, and PayPal expects to begin providing this information to the IRS on January 10, 2008. The United States District Court in an action is entitled: In the Matters of the Tax Liabilities of John does, Case No. CV-05-04176-JW.

If you have any concerns about the disclosure of this information, you should consult with your tax or legal advisor. You may have rights in connection with the summons, including the right to seek to prevent the IRS from obtaining some or all of the information. The statute of limitations that limits the time in which the IRS may assert tax liabilities against you may be suspended beginning on the date which s six months after the IRS served the summons upon PayPal and continuing until PayPal finally resolves its response to the IRS. See 26 U.S.C.

PayPal cannot provide you with legal advice. If you have questions concerning the summons and court order, we encourage you to contact the IRS, your tax advisor and or your attorney.

If you wish to contact the Internal Revenue Service regarding this matter, they can be reached at (215) 516-4777.

Thank You,
The PayPal Legal Team

You can read all this and more about it:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/taxes/paypal.asp

One of the most respected sites on the web, www.GamesandCasino.com is proud to announce the sponsorship to Online Players Union. Their goal is to make you online experience the safest and best it can be!!

This is a Press Release:

Ending a year of speculation on various online message boards, one of the oldest and most extensive online gambling information sites, GamesAndCasino.com, has announced it’s sponsorship of the OnlinePlayersUnion.com/forum/.
 
The CEO of GamesandCasino.com, Dominique, said: “We decided that Gamesandcasino needed to provide a place for players to exchange experiences and help each other with their game play.  We have taken a long look at the OnlinePlayersUnion.com, and found the name to express exactly what we wanted to create.” Dominique further commented: “So many online portals forget about the most important people, their visitors. At GamesandCasino, we have always put the players first, and it’s about time we provided a platform for players to exchange their experiences.”
 
The Online Players Union provides discussion areas for strategies for all sorts of games, from casino games to skill games, bingo, poker and fantasy sports. So whether you like chess or slots, texas holdem or exotic bingo patterns, the Union is the place to exchange strategies, experiences and ideas.
 
GamesandCasino also upgraded the Union to include social networking software, so in addition to using the forums one can form private groups that concentrate on particular favorite games, set up blogs and all sorts of fun things.
 
For additional information please contact Dominique or visit www.OnlinePlayersUnion.com/forum
 
About GamesAndCasino:   
 
GamesandCasino recently celebrated it’s “Lucky 7s anniversary”, having been online for 7 years and 7 months. It has been a Mecca for game players of all descriptions for many years, providing all possible information about every type of game. Soon to come is an extensive section with strategies for dozens of skill games. It will include many card games, such as spades and rummy, board games like backgammon and checkers and arcade games such as tetris and bejeweled. A comprehensive section on Las Vegas is also in the works.
 
About the OnlinePlayersUnion:
 
The Online Players Union was previously involved in much contoversy, notably for the membership of “cipher”, whose blackjack strategies and business dealings caused much uproar online on message boards with related topics. The Union was also embattled with several other message boards. With a new face and focus, and the full support of GamesandCasino, the OnlinePlayersUnion is off to a new start and bright future.
 
Contact:
 
Dominique, CEO
dominique@thegoodluckcharm.com
http://www.GamesandCasino.com
http://www.OnlinePlayersUnion.com/forum/

We want to Thank GamesandCasino, for thinking of the PLAYERS first and foremost!! They care about the players and do their best to keep everything up to date and easy and informative for the players!

This is a press release from eCOGRA today from Brussels. eCOGRA continues to bring higher responsible gaming standards of protection for all players.

Brussels, 15 July 2008 - The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) today launches a comprehensive set of standards that covers all aspects of player protection, fair gaming and responsible operator behaviour in the online gaming and betting environment. These standards complement stringent legal requirements already imposed by EU licensing jurisdictions.

Over 170 technical requirements have been adopted on a voluntary basis to take into account all aspects of online gaming and betting associated services.  As part of their membership criteria, EGBA members are required to comply with all standards. Compliance is verified by a compulsory annual audit carried out by eCOGRA, a leading standards and player protection body, which itself is annually subjected to a comprehensive quality assurance review by one of the world’s leading firms of auditors.

This initiative builds upon EGBA’s (then EBA) code of conduct, which was already adopted in 2003 and follows other industry initiatives. Self-regulation is vital in the online gaming and betting industry in order to continuously take stock of this fast developing eCommerce sector and stay ahead of slower legal developments. It also ensures, given the cross border nature of the sector, consistency of standards across Europe to guarantee consumers can play in a safe, secure and reliable environment.

EGBA Chairman, Norbert Teufelberger said: “These standards are a sign of our commitment to an exemplary level of corporate and social responsibility. They could serve as a basis for reflection at a time when governments and regulators across Europe are trying to find ways to best protect consumers in the online gaming and betting environment.”

 These responsible gaming and betting standards include measures such as:

Promoting responsible gaming, preventing underage gaming and problem gaming;
A zero tolerance approach to fraud or criminal behaviour;
Protecting customers’ privacy and safeguarding their information;
Ensuring prompt and accurate customer payments;
Assessing rigorously and independently the fairness of games;
Committing to responsible and ethical marketing practice.

eCOGRA CEO Andrew Beveridge added: “Our goal is to ensure that EGBA has a meaningful professional review process for determining each member’s compliance with agreed and consistently applied standards, which consumers and regulators have come to expect in the online gaming and betting industry.”

When you see the eCOGRA seal on a site, you know you are safe and well protected. They continuously monitor for consistent high standards.

After the setback to repeal the UIGEA billed failed by a tie vote, in the House Financial Services, Casino City had an interview with Congressman Wexler and PPA Chairman Alfonse D’Amato. In the interview they discussed the situation and what to do next.

Here are parts of their conversation:
H.R. 5767 and the King amendment failed in committee. What’s the status of legislative efforts to repeal the UIGEA, and what happens next?

Wexler: The (32-32) vote is the strongest support any Congress has shown for an online gambling measure. It shows that awareness of the absurdity of the status quo has never been greater. I’m confident, in the short term, we’ll be able to do something. Declaring poker a skill game and getting a regulated environment are more long-term goals.

D’Amato: Congressman Spencer Bachus (R-Alabama) twisted the arms of five to six members who had indicated support for the (King) amendment and the need for clarity of what illegal gambling was. There’s a good chance we’re going to re-introduce the measure before Congress goes into recess.

When you sit down with people, what obstacles are you running into?

D’Amato: One Congressman from New York told me that the NFL is pushing hard to keep the UIGEA in place. They want to make sure that sports betting does not spread on the Internet. That’s fine. But not for poker.

The UIGEA allows for states to run online casinos and poker rooms if they restrict play to residents of that state. Recently, Native American tribes in California have been actively opposing attempts to form online poker rooms in order to protect their revenue streams. What do you think of those attempts?

Wexler: I support the right of all Americans to play online when and where they want. This isn’t about special interest groups or lobbyists. This is about the right to play poker.

D’Amato: Congressman Wexler is being very brave here. He’s fighting for the rights of individual Americans. Poker has been played in the White House, the Supreme Court, the Senate and the House. It’s a game of skill and the government should get off the backs of regular Americans and the let them play wherever they want.

We all need to get behind our Congressmen and stand behind what we believe is our rights!! Don’t just sit home and complain, when we can all do something!!