Kentucky Seizes Gambling Domains

This is one for the legal books.

I'm not sure exactly how a ruling like this can happen. Maybe it is completely legal, but it just sounds sooooo wrong.

Anyway, the state of Kentucky has taken a page out of the patent industry's handbook and has used the courts to seize the domain names of 141 gambling sites.

Holy crap! If this stands, it could mark the end of the online gambling industry - at least the end of a somewhat-organized industry.

Just as Bodog had it's domain name stripped last year after losing a patent lawsuit, the state of Kentucky has successfully persuaded a stupid judge that since the sites in question are taking US business in contradiction of American law, they should lose their domain names.

As the Guardian notes: "In a statement welcoming the order, Governor Beshear said: "The owners and operators of these illegal sites prey on Kentucky citizens, including our youth, and deprive the Commonwealth of millions of dollars in revenue. It's an underworld wrought with scams and schemes." He described them as "leeches on our communities"."

You can actually see the hypocrisy dripping off this quote as it is widely known that Kentucky really is only interested in protecting its horseracing industry, as well as its proposed new casinos.

The story mentions that PokerStars will be sending a legal team to ... [More]

Biden's Son Lobbied on Behalf of Online Gambling

The Wall Street Journal reported the other day that Joe Biden's son, Hunter, has quit his job as a lobbyist in order to maintain a level of distance between his father and the lobbying industry.

What makes this story interesting to me is the fact that the younger Biden's company, Oldaker, Biden and Belair, lobbies on behalf of online gambling.

As the story says, "Hunter Biden was charged with lobbying House lawmakers on behalf of a law firm that represents online gambling magnate Russ DeLeon."

DeLeon and his wife, Ruth Parasol-DeLeon, were the founders of PartyGaming.

Biden's son did the smart political move of removing himself from the lobbying industry.

Regardless, I like the fact that he'll be able to educate his father on the pros of online gambling regulation.

EU Sends Delegation to Discuss Internet Gambling Stalemate

The UK-based Remote Gambling Association yesterday pushed out a press release announcing how excited they are about the EU sending a delegation to America to discuss America's unlawful stance regarding online gambling.

If you are not aware of the background of this issue, the article gives a half-way decent history of the dispute. I would urge you to browse my past blog posts for more in-depth information.

Now, I am usually somewhat optimistic about meetings like this. After all, discussion is good.

However, this time I'm not so sure.

Maybe it's the looming end of summer that is depressing me. Or the fact that my golf game has actually gotten worse this year. Or maybe I'm just a pessimistic person in general.

Either way, I just don't see what can possibly be achieved in this discussion.

Let's look at the facts:

- This is the second attempt at simply arranging a meeting. Back in June, the USTR re-scheduled by requested more preparation time. Yeah, right. Like they don't have a filing cabinet FULL of information on this topic. Simply put, America is not interested in discussing this.

- The WTO is a fading organization, and it really doesn't have the teeth necessary to enforce agreements. If you don't believe me, why not bro... [More]

Sports to be left out of Frank's Bill

Barney Frank's latest attempt to stymie the UIGEA, H.R. 6870, is due to be debated today.

During this initial "marking up" phase, bills are debated and discussed in order to possibly re-write any language to be voted on at a later date.

One topic which apparently won't be discussed is whether "sports gambling" should be included in this bill.

Here is the initial text for the bill...

The Secretary of the Treasury and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, whether acting jointly or separately, may not propose, prescribe, or implement any regulation under subchapter IV of chapter 53 of title 31, United States Code, or otherwise give effect to such subchapter or any such regulation, including the proposed regulations published in the Federal Register on October 4, 2007, except to the extent as any such regulation pertains to wagering of the type that is prohibited (as of the date of the enactment of this Act) under chapter 178 of title 28, United States Code (relating to professional and amateur sports protection) or except as provided in section 3.

The key part is where it says, "except to the extent as any such regulation pertains to wagering of the type that is prohibited (as of the date of the enactment of this Act) under chapter 178 of title 28, United S... [More]

Online Sports Betting Primer ... Part IV: Payment Processing Explained

NOTE: This article is basically a re-hash of another I did several weeks ago, during a period when there was an exceptional amount of anxiety going around due to a couple of high-profile operation having major payment issues. I've updated a few things, but in general, I'm just re-posting so that football newbies can have a look and hopefully have a few questions answered regarding payment processing. Also, the subject has become relevant again because, as predicted in the article, some other operations (ones which previously were being hailed as "always reliable") have now been affected by payment problems - proving that it can happen to anybody.

The point of this post is really to give people a short bit of background on how payment systems work online, how they can get messed up, where the government interference hurts, and hopefully a few ideas on how to mitigate their exposure.

I'm not going to delve too deeply into the methods that a lot of companies use - mainly because I don't know a lot of it - but I will try to give you all a good overview of the situation that your average online gambling company has to deal with on a daily basis.

Question: How come sites seem to have no problem accepting my money, but then can't seem to pay me?

This is a great question, as it cuts to the very nature of the problem.

First of all, the methods companies use to accept your deposits are completely different from the methods used for payouts. ... [More]

How McCain and Obama will affect YOUR taxes

I can't believe the mainstream news sites don't do this more often... that is, reporting actual facts that people can use.

This is the first I've seen it, but apparently a few months ago, CNN Money did an analysis of McCain and Obama's tax plans, and how they would affect people in different income brackets.

The bottom line isn't that surprising... Obama is grabbing more from the rich and giving more back to the lower brackets, while McCain is giving something back to everybody, but the rich get the most. In my opinion, neither plan looks sustainable in the longterm, but I'm not an economist either.

I'm not American, and since this doesn't affect me, I won't bother to comment, other than to say that this is information every voter should have.

Barney Frank Tries Again

MarketWatch yesterday reported that Barney Frank has announced his Payments System Protection Act of 2008.

According to the article, this Act "would direct the Department of the Treasury and Federal Reserve System, in consultation with the Attorney General, to create a formal process to define what types of online gambling are unlawful to make it possible for the U.S. financial services industry to comply with the current ban on Internet gambling, as required by the Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, or UIGEA."

Interesting.

It seems that Frank has learned from his last attempt, and is becoming more pragmatic.

I think anybody, even Republicans, would agree that the UIGEA is a flawed law that needs reworking so that it doesn't bog the banking industry down by asking them to monitor their transactions according to rules that don't exist. In these harsh economic times, banks need to concentrate on staying afloat, rather than being Internet cops.

Frank's last bill failed because, much like the UIGEA, it was too vague and broad. Therefore it was easy for opponents to gang up and fight it with equally vague and broad arguments.

This bill will be hard to ignore.

Not only is this discussion necessary, but it forces a dialogue reg... [More]

PKR Poker Claiming 2 Million Players

This from the "I Find This Hard To Believe" Department... lots of sites last week were publishing the news that poker newcomer, PKR Poker, is claiming to have 2 million players.

While it is not out of the realm of possibility that PKR has 2 million players, I question anything that site says or does.

Why?

Because I refuse to trust any sites that deal, directly or indirectly, with spyware and adware companies.

If you don't know what I am talking about, it probably means that your computer is thankfully clean of spyware and adware.

If it isn't, then you probably have seen a fair number of PKR Poker ads popping up and generally ruining your viewing experience of this site and others.

That is because PKR, and/or some of its affiliates, are more than happy to deal with the hackers and other scumbags that produce spyware and adware to completely ruin the Internet for everybody else in their quest for a few cents here and there.

I ask you all: Would you trust your money with any site that does business with hackers and spyware companies, potentially putting your personal information at risk?

I wouldn't.

NOTE: ...And before anybody from PKR Poker decides to call me up and complain about this post, I suggest you find yourself a barebones PC without spyware protection and see how long it takes before you suddenly find yours... [More]

Dutch Senate Taxes the Impossible!

I've been getting a kick out of this news item:

Dutch Senate Sets Online Gaming Tax at 40.85% (Registration necessary)

Since some of you might not be up for registering, I'll describe the article.

Basically, the Dutch Senate has decided that since they have no idea of how to stop online gambling, they will instead tax it - exorbitantly!

Now, in most situation, I would consider this a logical and laudable compromise. If only the American government were so clear-headed that they could realize that prohibition just doesn't work.

Of course, the next question for the Dutch Senate becomes: Exactly how do you tax something that you have no control over and consider illegal?

Well, they haven't figured that out yet. This discussion was more of a moral question about whether or not to tax something considered illegal.

Regardless, at least they are heading in the right direction, even if the tax is exorbitant and unenforceable.

The highlight of the article is this section:

"Senator Leijnse of the Labour Party took a more practical, rather than moral approach. His primary concern was how to block American online gaming providers from offering their games via the internet in The Netherlands."

Hmmmmmmmm.....

American lawmakers please take notice!!! This is what happens when you try to comment a... [More]

Online Sports Betting Primer ... Part III: Choosing a Sportsbook

Choosing a sportsbook is a controversial subject.

Think about it. Websites come and go in our lives, but once you choose your sportsbook you are making a decision you will likely second-guess several times per week (or day) for an undefined period of time.

On top of that, you are also entrusting that site with your hard-earned money. You can always withdraw your funds, but that can be when the troubles start.

All of this means you need to find a sportsbook that provides you with the right combination of the following services, features, or perks (in no particular order of importance):

Ease of deposit Ease of withdrawal Trustworthiness Perks, bonuses, etc. Site navigation and ease of use Odds Coverage of preferred sports Availability of different betting features and types Customer service Reputation Service to your locale (ie. do they take business from your country?)

It's a lot to consider. And you will never find a sportsbook that does everything perfectly. What's right for your friend might not be right for you, so taking recommendations can be tricky.

You might be looking to just drop $10 or $20 on whatever football games are playing on the weekend. You probably aren't going to withdraw anything till the end of the season if you have any money left. You really don't need a whole lot of features and the difference between betting at -110 and -107 is really just pennies to you.

So why would you care about signi... [More]

Online Sports Betting Primer... Part II: Are You a Gambler?

Most people would probably start their Online Sports Betting Primer by assuming that most of their readers are already ready to gamble. And they would probably be correct.

However, I have been in this business for a long time, and I know that there are many people who simply can not handle this activity.

I am not necessarily referring just to those people with a potential gambling addiction. Rather there are many people for whom gambling is simply not an activity they would find pleasing or enjoyable, without even the added potential misery of losing money. And if you are not going to enjoy it, why even start?

So, before you even think about signing up for a sportsbook or casino, why don't you just ask yourself these questions:

1) How much money can you lose without going insane? (Part I)

This is not a money management (which we will get into later) question. Rather, there are some people who simply can not stand to lose any money whatsoever.

My wife is a great example. If she buys a $15 dollar vase and then breaks it a year later, she is livid at herself for wasting $15 - even if she got a year of use out of it. She'll whine about it for an hour. It drives me nuts. I don't see the point in dwelling on $15, but to her it is a major issue.

My wife shouldn't gamble. And if you find yourself sympathizing with her, then maybe you shouldn't gamble either.

Why? Because YOU WILL LOS... [More]

Online Sports Betting Primer... Part I: Intro

A couple of weeks ago, I posted an article giving some basic information about how online casino payment processing works, and how it can run into problems. At the time, I was simply reacting to a situation that had developed where a number of online casinos had suffered major processing problems, and I wanted to clarify the situation and quell some of the unease.

After posting that article, I received a surprisingly large number of appreciative comments - on top of the usual insults - which made me realize that there was a general lack of information out there explaining the basics of how to gamble online without getting hurt.

Too often the experienced people in this industry, who have all been doing this for years, automatically assume that everybody browsing the gambling sites must already know the ins-and-outs of gambling online. We leave it to the forums to explain to the newbies how they must proceed. This lack of proactive education really does our customers a disservice.

And with that, I realized that I had just given myself a new task. This will be the first of a series of informational articles with one goal in mind: explaining the industry, and how to navigate it, to the people who need it most.

Stay tuned as I add a few posts over the next few days.

Oh, and needless to say, feel free to comment - not that you would ever hesitate anyway.