Showing results for: ""
After three years of steady weakening against the British pound and Japanese yen, it looks like the US making a comeback. In the last 9 months, it has shown continuing strength against the world's other major currencies. But how will this affect the online and land-based gambling industries? The greenback is essentially reveling in bad news that appears elsewhere - in particular in Europe, where business slowdown has been dramatic. Slower business means lower European interest rates, and therefore a stronger US dollar. However, visitors to the US, including those frequenting the casinos of Nevada, will feel the pinch as their foreign currencies will buy less US dollar-denominated casino chips. Online gambling aficionados will also feel the pinch as a stronger US dollar may affect income generation. During the course of the last two years, many US online casino operators have moved their operations overseas, resulting in a huge increase in online betting activity. This gambling exodus followed US legislation known as the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act. Many ex-pat online gambling operators have been able to ride the currency exchange wave and make some good profits. Time will tell whether they can now adjust quickly enough to take advantage of the character of the new and improved US dollar. Finally, online banking has been another important aspect to the new European operations where former US online casinos had great difficulty with stuffy US gambling legislators. Their European counterparts are much more willing to permit the free flow of cash through online payment systems and banks, which can only be good news for online casino fans.
Star surprise Famed X-Files actor David Duchovny shocked America with news that he was the latest celebrity to grace a rehabilitation clinic. But his story has a little twist: Duchovny is an admitted sex-addict. Now the heat is on both Chad Hills and James Dobson of Focus on the Family. Everyone wants to know if they will include sexual addiction alongside online gambling, as another societal evil. Torment Without any shadow of doubt, Duchovny's family are suffering from his condition. By deduction, Hills and Dobson should propose the banning of sex - except of course if the lunatic fringe approves specific conditions. Parallels must be drawn between problematic gambling and sex. Double standards More pain and misery has been wrought by sex than anything else. The Trojan War is a case in point. Millions too have perished in the name of religion, but it remains hands-off territory. Spencer Bachus and Focus members have made untrue statements regarding gambling. Perhaps if Hills and Dobson determined the specifics of allowable sexual conduct, society might be better off? Despite plans by the Focus on the Family website, controlling sex is out-of-bounds. With all due respect to their abstinence program and advocation of sex within marriage, people prefer to make their own decisions - not blindly accept Hills and Dobson's prescriptions. The intolerance of Focus is a worrying phenomenon.Internet gamblers do not coerce churchgoers into patronizing online gambling sites - nor should Focus impose their will upon others. The verdict Over zealous punitive behavior on either online gambling or sex is worrying. Should voters fear that the Focus group impose their will upon our sex lives? Freedom of expression ensures our right to hear the opinions of others without necessarily having those views forced down our throats.
Baptist Standard newspaper unveiled an incensing article that while has some merit as far as statistics go and reports of studies, had some pretty strong opinions on youth gambling. One of them indicating that youths from age 14 to 21 must have started gambling because they may or may not have come from broken homes or were sexually active at an early age. A compilation of studies were used as the basis of this article. Broken homes and sex "The Prevalence of Problem Gambling Among US Adolescents and Young Adults: Results From a National Survey," which was released in 2007, randomly surveyed youths from age 14 to 21. It showed that 68% of those in this age bracket have gambled in some form in the past year. This could be from poker tournaments to a friendly bet on who would win the Super Bowl. 11% admitted to gambling at least twice a week. While this may be alarming for sure, one writer at Gambling911 jumped upon this and stated that this percentage of youths are those "who are not parented properly and quite possibly those who roam the streets late at night selling drugs and playing loud music... the study does not ask how many are sexually active, which would determine the type of moral upbringing and therefore all but eliminate 'gambling' as a core issue." How is that for cheekiness? Correct me if I'm wrong, but this makes this writer very angry. While concurring that youth gambling is fast becoming a problem that must be addressed, it is unfair to say that youths who already gamble must have had improper parenting and that their sexually decisions must mean they have little to no morals and therefore fell into gambling. So what to do? Further studies are being compiled and released as the year goes on. However, until then - be sure to enroll your child into sex education right away, for this just may be the answer to ending future gambling problems before they start, and bonus (!) you'll be a good parent, right?
Shady dealings Only in July did we report on 888 having altered the terms and conditions of their site. The changes drastically affected the relations between the operator of Casino on Net and Pacific Poker and affiliates who partner with it. Especially since none of these changes was ever reported by 888. The lack of information had affiliates and customers spooked. If it can happen between webmasters and 888, it can happen to online gamblers too. Contrast this with the Millionaire Poker's Club that has offered affiliates up to 100% commission for starters. Clive Archer of MPC has joined Playsafe AS to fulfill his dream of creating a series of next generation poker sites. He added, "We are also satelliting players into competitors' online tournaments and enlisting their stars to teach our players. Playsafe will break any rule that is not in the best interest of our players and if our competitors don't like it tough!" Skimming off the top 888 want more of the pie and they've certainly got their fingers all over it. Their online gambling revenues previously provided up to 40% revenue share to webmasters. That's now down to a mere 10% if the "one new client a month requirement is not met." Frustrations are rife - J Todd of the APCW reflected that the change "borders on theft." The MPC on the other hand wants their affiliates to benefit from online gambling and they are they are creating a storm in the online gambling teacup. 888 silent while MPC gloats 888 stated that the alterations are not going to be retroactive - hardly solace for wounded team players. Suspicions regarding the sincerity and credibility of 888 abound. On the other hand MPC is making enemies from within who fear they will lose their vice-like grip on the online gambling market with dwindling profits. The verdict Transparency and accountability are required. 888 will have learned a hard lesson and MPC will have to fight the urge not to dip into the coffers of their affiliates, if and when the time arises.
Legendary poker player Doyle Brunson – the Texas Dolly – has delivered a blow to the Obama campaign. Brunson is siding with the Republicans in November. Maverick senator John McCain from Arizona hedged his bets when he appointed Alaskan governor Sarah Palin as his VP. Even Doyle Brunson commented that the appointment of Sarah Palin as McCain's running mate was - using craps parlance - a "seven," the best roll in that dice game. The gamble paid off for team McCain. Doyle Brunson has reneged on his earlier statement to vote Democrat and instead thrown his weight into McCain's corner. He was quoted as saying, "It's hard not to be in McCain's camp after listening to his life story. He really is an American hero...” But it's not all strawberries and cream for the Republicans because Brunson added that he wished Hillary Clinton was still in the fold, because that would mean Bill would retain some influence and he was good for business. McCain loves a gamble The Republican Party platform is against legalizing online poker, but McCain has no interest in pursuing such issues. Palin too is rumored to be a skilled poker player, as is the Democrat frontrunner Barack Obama. And chances are that the UIGEA may remove poker if Obama is elected, but it's all up in the air. Poker for Obama and Craps for McCain Multi-millionaire poker player and MIT and Harvard graduate, Andy Bloch, knows a thing or two about the game. The World Series of Poker champion is fully behind Barack Obama, mainly for his poker skills, which can assist him in leading the nation, as he was quoted saying on the Telegraph.
Groundbreaking The PSPA was passed. Now the US Treasury and Federal Reserve have just sixty days to draw up regulations to prevent sports betting transactions from being processed online. Financial institutions in the US are prohibited from processing payments to online sports betting sites. Already the Federal Wire Act is in place trying to prohibit this type of activity. This is bad news for online sports bettors, but there is more to this story than meets the eye. Online casinos and poker rooms are thrilled by this news, but Major Sports Leagues are concerned that money will be transferred from these sites to online sports betting sites. If a situation arises where sports betting sites are connected with online gambling sites, it is not in the best interest of sports to be associated with gambling. Corruption or the risk of corruption is exactly what the authorities are trying to avoid. Integrity versus freedom There is currently no federal law against online casinos and poker rooms. The PSPA says that these entities cannot be regulated, outlawed or prohibited until a federal judge has determined their legality. But the sports league authorities don't benefit from a blanket ban on betting. The concerns arise when sports stars start wagering on their own performances. Then the integrity and credibility of these institutions is lost forever. It's a tough choice between personal liberties and these moral concerns.
While the opinion polls continue to fluctuate, indicating that the 2008 US Presidential Election is going to be a close one, Democrat candidate Barack Obama remains the firm leader in odds with bookmakers. The Obama-Biden ticket is 1/2 at leading UK bookmaker Ladbrokes, ahead of the Republican ticket of John McCain and Sarah Palin, listed at 6/4. Voter turnout Ladbrokes is also taking bets on whether the election turnout will top 60%, offering 5/6 on both the yes and no scenarios. The last time a US Presidential elections achieved a 60% voter turnout was in 1968, during the height of the Vietnam War, when Republican Richard Nixon ended the Democrats' 12-year grip on power. Political apathy gradually increased over the next few decades, with the voter turnout reaching a low when Bill Clinton was elected in 1996 from a total turnout of 49.08%. But interest looks to be on the way up, with almost 57% turning out for the 2004 ballot, paving the way for the possibility that 60% voter turnouts will once again be the norm. Electoral college Proving just how close the race will be, the odds on both McCain and Obama winning 270-289 electoral college votes are 10/3. The 270 figure is the minimum needed to claim victory, with 538 electoral college votes on offer in total. Obama is also considered a possibility to win 290-309 electoral college votes, at 5/1. But McCain appears less likely to score a big victory, if indeed he does win the White House. His odds drop sharply over 290 votes, listed at 14/1 to win between 290 and 309.
The Kentucky Derby is big business, but so is illegal Internet gambling in a state characterized by supposed double-standards. Internet gambling is outlawed in Kentucky, just as it is across the rest of the United States, but in this southern state online horse-racing is fair game. Governor Steve Beshear admits his state relies heavily on the betting sport of horse racing - one that is afforded special online gambling privileges - but he is against online gambling of other kinds for several reasons. These include the inability to regulate illegal operations already running; the inability to tax these concerns and the inability to protect the youth from readily available online gambling. Most notably though, is the competition that online gambling poses to the state money-spinner - horse racing. How it unfolded A Franklin County Circuit judge recently ordered 141 illegal, unregulated Internet gambling sites to be taken over by the Kentucky Commonwealth. Now that the domain names have been seized, these companies will have to use available technology to restrict access to Kentucky users or face forfeiture. That hearing will be held by Judge Thomas Wingate on September 25. It's all about money, and lots of it. Millions of dollars and child-protection issues are at stake. Underage gambling and competition against the existing horse racing industry are the major issues. However the anonymity, accessibility and unregulated nature of online gambling means it cannot guarantee that even winners are being paid out, let alone who gambles. The law According to KRS Chapter 528 any gambling devices in websites for Internet gambling will be forfeited by the state. Any profiting from such activity is equally deemed illegal. Governor Beshear is against gambling that allows free choice to individuals, but he is all for gambling that puts money in his budget - that is from activities that can be conveniently taxed. Those online sites that were registered outside the US and inside "safe"' zones will be okay. Others will no doubt struggle for survival as the long-arm of the law reaches ever deeper into cyber-space. Already affected Casino affiliate program Star Partners has already had to respond to the Kentucky Court ruling. It has made changes to its websites domains, and released a notice to its affiliates by email, suggesting basic steps to be taken to minimize the effects. Surely further reverberations will be felt around the online gambling industry, which we will keep an eye open for.
A ballot question for the state of Maryland, to allow limited gambling, has created a furor with special-interest groups. Leading the charge is the Stop Predatory Gambling group which has hired big name activists, like Taylor Branch (Pulitzer Prize winner author of the biography of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.), Bishop John R. Schol and activist Peter Franchot (D), among others. Along with others, the group is determined to see their two-day anti gambling conference at National Harbor, Prince George's County, Maryland succeed. Up to 15,000 slots in 5 locations in Maryland could be approved come November. Marylanders United to Stop Slots Taylor Branch, a member of the more than 100-strong steering committee of MUSS, is against gambling as a means of funding government revenue. The group comprises business, community and labor leaders. It's bipartisan and they reject statewide commercial gambling in Maryland. They fear that inaction by government in trying ease the plight of working-class Americans - through tax cuts - is the core issue, and that gambling is not the answer. Why National Harbor The location has been hailed as a pristine environment, one which protest organizers view as gambling-free. The conference, set to begin on Friday, will feature workshops warning against allowing gambling in Maryland and especially how state government departments tend to rely on gambling revenue to fill their coffers. Among many vested interests is Tom Smith, the deputy campaign manager for MUSS and surprisingly a former member of Maryland Governor O'Malley's team. Smith was retrenched from O'Malley's office after a year as part of a departmental reorganization. He has recently been quoted as saying, "It's time we stop betting on Annapolis politicians and vote no on slots."
An independent study in the scientific journal Psychology and Aging suggests a surprising finding: exposure to gambling at a young age is far less likely to yield detrimental effects on individuals than that same exposure later on in life. Those ill-effects include chronic gambling disorders and suicidal tendencies. This flies in the face of purists who advocate a totally censored approach to internet gambling with regards to children. In fact the danger is 300-400% more likely for older folks becoming problem gamblers than for the younger generation. In the USA, the National Research Council (NRC) suggested that most young people engage in online gambling on a regular basis. For these young folks, the popular types of gambling appear to be sports wagers and card games. Authorities are deeply concerned about preventing illegal online gambling, especially where minors are involved. Several studies have been commissioned and the results are astounding. Findings Director of the Center for Gambling Studies at Rutgers University, Lia Nower, compared people of different ages and found that seniors were most likely to use strategy, while the 60+ group fell into the compulsive gambling bracket. The only notable difference between the sexes was that women started at a later stage in life. Surprisingly, the studies found that many seniors entertained suicidal thoughts at least four times more than young people, and they used gambling as a primary means of social exchange.
Blackjack
Slots
Roulette
Baccarat
Craps
Poker
