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The whole thing started on an online gambling message board, moved on to trans-continental phone calls, then daily emails and non-stop IP messaging. It all sounds pretty hi-tech and sophisticated, but in fact it was two people living thousands of miles apart with a common online gambling interest who made it a permanent arrangement this week when their marriage was announced. They met on the message board in the Casinomeister Internet gambling information portal and forum in June last year and romance blossomed. They share common views on their gambling pastime and on life in general. He was in Sweden and she in the US. Long distance "Swede" and his new bride "Cynthial," who runs a construction products company in the States, finally met on neutral ground in London, spent a week together, visited shows and restaurants and generally got to know one another. "Swede" made up his mind to join "Cynthial" on a more permanent basis, and quickly closed his antiques auctioneering business and planned his move to the United States. He landed in April. Now the happy couple has a new project - opening a restaurant on the historic Route 66 in Albuquerque, New Mexico later this year. Casino weddings Gambling and romance are no strangers. In most of the US the month of June marks traditional wedding season. But getting hitched is never out of season in Las Vegas, where over 100,000 marriages are performed every year. These are not elopements: the scale of the biggest Las Vegas hotels means they are prepared to handle a gathering of any size at any time, to fit any budget or desire. Would you think of starting off married life as a gamble?
Port Irene, in the Cagayan province of the Philippines, under the jurisdiction of the Cagayan Export Zone (CEZ) is now setting its sights on fostering a new gambling business to overtake the current second-hand car business in place. The American Chamber of Commerce recently sent a team to Port Irene to inspect the car business and came away with the conclusion that closing down the lots would have little to no impact on the local economy and the people employed could find work in the new gambling business set to grow larger in the coming year. Citing the Republican Act Number 7922, signed into law by Republican Juan Ponce Enrile in 1995, the CEZ has the "right to operate or own directly, indirectly or through a third party any tourism related activities including...gambling casinos...under priorities and standards set by the CEZA." So this means... Port Irene is now the only free port legally allowed to run and host online gambling businesses and also license offshore companies which gives the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) a strong run for its money; quite literally. Only open to foreigners, Port Irene charges less than their Pagcor counterparts in the Philippines and Macau which draws many visitors from the local area to Taiwan, Hong Kong and even further. Plans to expand Currently there are 195 rooms dedicated to gambling with plans for an additional 400 this year alone. Future plans include a total of 800 rooms and 2 brick and mortar casino buildings. Why stop there though? Also in the works is the possible building of an international airport slated for construction later on this year. I wonder if jet fuel is more economical than the fuel prices we're paying now?
A poll conducted on the website of major American newspaper USA Today has found resounding support for the legalization of online gambling, with 97% of almost 2500 respondents answering yes to the question, "Is it time to legalize online gambling?" The poll was published on the newspaper's "Game on!" blog, a blog dedicated to "Bringin' the buzz on sports". It accompanied an article on the latest efforts by pro-online gambling lawmakers to roll back the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which effectively banned Internet gambling by outlawing the transfer of funds from a financial institution to Internet gambling sites (with the exception of certain things such as online lotteries and horse racing). In the latest efforts, Washington Democrat Jim A. McDermott introduced legislation to US Congress last week that would legalize, regulate and tax online gambling. Based on research by Price Waterhouse Coopers, McDermott believes as much as $40 billion could be generated over the next 10 years. McDermott's rationale is that online gambling can also be of benefit to the country by bringing in such tax revenue. "We have gambling on horses. All of a sudden we say you can't gamble online. What's that about? If we can take revenue from horse racing we certainly can take revenue from online," he said.
The first betting shops in Spain's Basque Country look set to open in September, to coincide with the beginning of the European football season. The openings were originally supposed to take place in July. In spite of the slight delay, the plan to open betting shops seems to carry on. In 2007 the Basque Government, which governs an autonomous community encompassing three provinces in Spain's north - Alava, Vizcaya and Guipuzcoa - granted licenses to three companies to open the betting shops. Two local Basque companies - Ekasa and Kirol Jokoa - were handed licenses, as was Garaipen Victoria Apostak SL, a joint venture of British bookmaker William Hill and Spanish group Codere SA. The three companies were each handed licenses for 25 betting shops; twenty-nine are expected to be open by the end of the year, with four in region's largest city - Bilbao. The move follows recent openings of betting shops in other parts of Spain, with the capital Madrid handing out 70 licenses for betting shops alone. The first was opened by the company Victoria, also a joint venture of William Hill and Codere SA. Spanish gambling Gambling has become increasingly popular in Spain, with an estimated 670 euros per person spent on the pursuit annually, and analysts tipping the betting market to grow to 39 billion euros in 2010. Yet before the liberalization of betting laws by the Madrid and Basque regional governments in February, Spaniards could only gamble online. Now, with betting shops opening in these two regions and potentially in the rest of the country in the near future, Spanish punters can enjoy the best of both worlds.
As we have anticipated in the recent Weekly Edition, the South Africa National Gambling Amendment Bill was finally signed by the nation's president, Thabo Mbeki. The bill to license and regulate online gambling which was approved on May 9, 2008, was signed earlier this week. For reasons not yet clear, legislation will not be implemented "until a date chosen by the President." International study The bill to set up regulations for the online gambling was introduced to the South African parliament more than a year ago. It followed intensive international study of Internet gambling commissioned by South Africa's National Gambling Board. The Board concluded "that there is a need for licensed and regulated online gambling for the African nation." Long discussions The bill has been hotly debated up and down, and makes provision for player protection and disputes, the protection of underage and problem gamblers, advertising and marketing controls, a tough licensing and regulatory regime and anti-money laundering precautions. It is, of course, accompanied by taxation considerations. The United States government continues to dither on the subject of online gambling while other countries move ahead towards legalizing and regulating the industry. In many cases taxation is the strong magnet pulling decisions along. The South African government went to great lengths to ensure that every base was covered. What's next What's left to do now is to implement the rules and guidelines. It is still unknown when they will move on to the implementation stage of the bill. In the meantime the online casinos of the world are lined up and waiting to enter this attractive new market. Online Casino Reports has already launched a sister site, catered specifically for the South African gambling community. It includes information - including legal updates - on the South African online gambling market, as well as reviews of online casinos, poker rooms, bingo sites and other gambling products that support the Rand currency. History's course South Africa got into the casino business some time in the 1960's when the government sanctioned the opening of land casinos as a means of financing the homelands, the parts of the land set aside for the black population. The casinos were a stunning success attracting white gamblers in droves. No casinos were allowed in the white areas of South Africa. When online gambling appeared, third world countries cast envious glances at this new means of solving the national debt. South Africa got the picture as well.
Senator concerned over scandal The uncovering of two online cheating scandals at Absolute Poker and UltimateBet has not gone unnoticed by former US Senator Alphonse D'Amato. The New York politician who is the current chairman of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) has brought the incidents to the attention of the US Senate in an effort to legislate against this new breed of Internet crime. Both poker sites resided in the jurisdiction of the Kahnawake Gaming Commission which initially did not permit inspection of these sites in order to present a clean bill of health. Kahnawake The Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC) grants gaming licenses to a range of online poker, casino, and sports book websites. A number of these websites are managed and hosted by Mohawk Internet Technologies (MIT), an Internet hosting company located on Kahnawake territory near Quebec. MIT has created a name for itself in the North American casino game hosting market and is currently the most convenient source of online gambling sites for the majority of US citizens. Poker Players Alliance Senator D'Amato is particularly sensitive to issues such as cheating of any kind. The fact that the recent scandals occurred on online websites suggests that regulation is required of the Internet media that enables such events to take place. D'Amato's concern is reflected by the fact that while the incidents took place outside US jurisdiction, many US citizens have been affected. Software flaw The websites that enabled the cheating to occur had allegedly allowed some of the online poker players to see the cards of other players in the game. The KGC declared their innocence and announced that any players who lost money would be refunded. Additionally, they announced that those employees involved with the scandal had been dismissed. The KGC also stated that the software had been corrected, although the whole incident has left a bitter taste in the mouths of all concerned. Disappointed Senator D'Amato expressed concern that no members of the KGC or of the websites in question were charged with criminal action. D'amato released a statement that condemned the online poker cheating scandal and further blamed the KGC for not taking legal action against those concerned. Regulation, not banning Most significantly, Senator D'Amato used the incident to push for federal regulation of the Internet gambling industry. Falling clearly in line with those calling for regulation, D'Amato is convinced that a ban on online gambling would be counterproductive and unworkable.
Two Israeli businessmen, Nochi Dankner and Yitzhak Tshuva, are planning to build a 5-7 billion Plaza hotel and casino complex on the Strip in Las Vegas. Odds not in favor Now, in the uncertain financial tsunami engulfing the world, there are concerns that the project is "high-risk" and the banks are taking a step back, talking about the project's risk to size ratio, exposure to the falling real estate market in Las Vegas exposure to liquidity risk related to financial institutions' willingness to extend credit in view of the credit crisis in the US. Work still needed Construction is expected to take 4-5 years after building permits are obtained. The companies have yet to sign a financing agreement for the project. Current data reveals that Nevada is experiencing its first earnings drop since 2001. The casino industry of Las Vegas and the state's casino industry at large have seen a nearly 5 percent decrease in their revenue in January, compared with the same month last year. Their take, however, was still exceptionally high, at $1.06 billion. The decrease elsewhere around Nevada, in places such as Reno and North Lake Tahoe, was even more dramatic, down 9.4 percent. The bottom line It seems that on this progress report, the bottom line is that there is no significant progress. A closer look through a financial perspective could lead to an even less favorable conclusion, namely that progress is reversed altogether.
The Weekly Edition, an OCR Live! production in which Kate brings you the headlines for the past week, with four of the top news stories and special gambling events of the week. Party Poker Celebrates Birthday with Players Party Poker offers a $1,000,000 prize in a tournament that highlights their 7th birthday. Original Thinking on the Hill US congressman suggests in a bill to tax profits and winnings from online gambling. Are the days of tax-free gambling over for US punters? Is PayPal Action Cause for Concern? PayPal cooperates with one investigation held by the IRS, but places online gamblers' privacy in peril. Or does it? Wild Hens, Wild Bets Eggycam is the latest online gambling craze, with the aim to raise money for charity.
We all get those emails. They come from the First International Bank or the Morgan Stanley Corporation or from e-Bay, and they ask you to confirm your account, which includes sending back your personal information. The minute you do this they, the thieves, that is, have your full identity on their computer. Next, you will find that someone else collected your social security check before you got there or someone is buying very expensive shoes on your credit card account. How it works Phishing is planted into your system by a Trojan Horse, but it's not that heroic wooden horse out of Troy. In the context of computing and software, a Trojan horse, also known as a trojan, is malware (computer-esque for malicious ware) that appears to perform a desirable function but in fact performs undisclosed malicious functions. Therefore, a computer worm or virus may be a Trojan horse. This Trojan Horse sits somewhere deep in the belly of your computer and broadcasts you personal secrets to anyone who asks. Industry on black list The latest activists in the phishing world are the online gambling casinos. Online gamblers are becoming the No. l target for identity thieves, says IBM's X-Force Report, which analyzes trends in data security threats. The four most common Trojan horses designed to steal passwords target gamers, though financial institutions remain another top target for phishing scams. Mainly, hackers set up a dummy Web site to steal user names and passwords. Prone countries Spain is the No. 1 origin of phishers with 16.7%, Italy is second with 15.1%, Korea is third with 11.3% and Brazil is next with 7.3%. Our tips for you Remember to play it safe when you are in the Internet. There is no limit to the information that the unscrupulous collect. Don't give your personal information to anyone and be careful with your credit card information. Visit our casino reviews to see which casinos we recommend, float your concerns on our Discussion Forum, and read the safe and responsible gambling pages on our School section.
The Tasmanian Treasurer and Minister for Racing, Michael Aird, said he was pleased with the progress made at last week's Ministerial Council on Gambling (MCG) meeting in Melbourne. The MCG was convened to discuss way to develop a uniform national approach to problem gambling. It came shortly after the publishing of a study into gambling in the southern island state. Problem gambling study The Social and Economic Impact Study into Gambling in Tasmania, made public on July 22, found that gambling is not a significant contributor to economic growth in Tasmania, and also drew a link between problem gambling and serious crime and substance abuse. The report by the South Australian Centre for Economics Studies found that total gambling expenditure in Tasmania increased 133 per cent over the past 25 years, from $123 million to $287 million. Most of that growth was credited to the introduction of electronic gaming machines into pubs and clubs. The study found the largest contributor to gambling expenditure was gaming machines, with 38.1 percent of total spending, followed by casino gambling at 34.7 percent and lotteries at 17.2 percent. Ministerial Council on Gambling Aird tabled the report at the MCG meeting, and said that the meeting recognized that Tasmania is leading the way with regulations such as a cap on the number of poker machines allowed in clubs and pubs. "The outcomes of the meeting demonstrate what state and Federal governments working together can achieve. I am confident the national approach that has been embraced here today and a subsequent range of new initiatives will enable us to make further headway." He said a study like the one just published would be carried out every three years.
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