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a source for latest news, developments and reputable documentation and research on gambling. You'll find many helpful resources and links for anti-gambling advocates.
2/9/2009: PhD candidate looking for survey responders - online gambling
A Swansea PhD candidate is looking for people to participate in research on effective responsible gambling features in cyberspace:
The emergence of Internet gambling has been one of the most significant and controversial developments in gambling over the past two decades, however little is known about this sector and its social and economic impacts. This study seeks to investigate the system of checks and balances to prevent problems from arising and to explore the responsible gambling environment which should promote integrity, ethical values and competence. The survey is live between 1 February to 1 July 2009. The research forms the basis for a PhD study and will be published by the University of Wales.
The more respondents, the better the results. You can participate at one of two sites.
The student is a member of The Society for the Study of Gambling. Research results will be published by the University of Wales
10/27/2008: Kentucky and internet gambling
In 2006 the US government enacted the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.
The law was attached to the Safe Port Act Conference Report by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.).
U.S. banks and credit card companies are required to block electronic transactions to Internet gambling businesses.
A Kentucky state judge seized over 140 internet domains earlier this month.
In the Kentucky case, Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wingate concluded that gambling Web sites were “virtual keys” that provided access to places where one could play online versions of gambling devices such as slot machines and roulette tables, which are illegal in the state.
None of the online businesses — such as PokerStars. com and UltimateBet. com — are based in Kentucky or rely on technical equipment located in the state. Still, the sites readily accept bets placed by users in Kentucky and process payments from banks based there.
That is what triggered Judge Wingate to seize control of the Web addresses.
“Seizing,” it should be noted, sounds more ominous than it is when applied to the Internet realm. It prevents an Internet registrar that issues Web site names from transferring a Web address to a different registrar, even if the owner of the address, such as a gambling site, requests it.
The gambling sites will remain operational until the judge issues a forfeiture order, at which point they will become state property.
The court said it will lift its seizure order for online casinos if they implement technology that would block Kentucky residents from accessing their sites.
Groups affiliated with the online casinos are worried about the precedent the ruling sets.
Some of the gambling site domains operate in the US. The sites have to prove they can block their business to residents of Kentucky or have their URL’s forfeited to the state. The gambling industry is appealing the ruling it has been pushed back to December. Governor Steve Beshear has come out in favour of the court’s decision.
Kentucky has horse racing and bingo, it is estimated residents spent 171 million dollars.
Governor Beshear’s statement, October 16th, 2008.
“I am very pleased with Judge Wingate’s ruling. The court validated our concern that there is illegal and unregulated Internet gambling in Kentucky. He has given these parties 30 days to effectively block any access to this illegal activity within the commonwealth of Kentucky or they may be forced to forfeit those domain names to the commonwealth.
No one has been willing to step up and do anything about illegal Internet gambling until now. We must protect our people, especially our children, from this illegal and unregulated activity while also protecting our legal and regulated forms of gaming in Kentucky.”
Franklin Circuit Court October 16th, 2008 Case No. 08-C1-1409
6/3/2008: The lure of online gambling
To the casual viewer, it may seem curious that big dollars are being spent promoting sites where you can play poker for free. What the ads never mention is that these dot-net sites all have dot-com doppelgangers where you can play poker with real money. Lots of it. Or that online gambling, worldwide, is a $15-billion-a-year business — up from $12 billion two years ago.
And while these ads do not appear to be aimed at any particular age group, some observers are concerned this marketing juggernaut will lead to an alarming increase in the number of young gambling addicts.
Jeffrey Derevensky is co-director of McGill University’s International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems. He says a recent study revealed “25 per cent of kids who gamble on the Internet are what we call probable pathological gamblers.”
- there are estimated to be between 1300 and 1900 online gambling sites
- young people see gambling as a sport
- online gambling is a 15 billion dollar a year business
- young people are four times more likely than an adult to become addicted
10/21/2007: Absolute Poker - Absolute cheating?
Online gambling is a gamble in itself.
A popular poker site called Absolute Poker may be dealing with criminal charges after players figured out some inside cheating. If you believe online poker is about trust, then perhaps you need to re-evaluate your stance. Freakanomics:
Some opponents became suspicious of how a certain player was playing. He seemed to know what the opponents’ hole cards were. The suspicious players provided examples of these hands, which were so outrageous that virtually all serious poker players were convinced that cheating had occurred. One of the players who’d been cheated requested that Absolute Poker provide hand histories from the tournament (which is standard practice for online sites). In this case, Absolute Poker “accidentally” did not send the usual hand histories, but instead sent a file that contained all sorts of private information that the poker site would never release. The file contained every player’s hole cards, observations of the tables, and even the IP addresses of every person playing. (I put “accidentally” in quotes because the mistake seems like too great a coincidence when you learn what followed.) I suspect that someone at Absolute knew about the cheating and how it happened, and was acting as a whistleblower by sending these data. If that is the case, I hope whomever “accidentally” sent the file gets their proper hero’s welcome in the end.
Then the poker players went to work analyzing the data — not the hand histories themselves, but other, more subtle information contained in the file. What these players-turned-detectives noticed was that, starting with the third hand of the tournament, there was an observer who watched every subsequent hand played by the cheater. (For those of you who don’t know much about online poker, anyone who wants can observe a particular table, although, of course, the observers can’t see any of the players’ hole cards.) Interestingly, the cheater folded the first two hands before this observer showed up, then did not fold a single hand before the flop for the next 20 minutes, and then folded his hand pre-flop when another player had a pair of kings as hole cards! This sort of cheating went on throughout the tournament.
So the poker detectives turned their attention to this observer. They traced the observer’s IP address and account name to the same set of servers that host Absolute Poker, and also, apparently, to a particular individual named Scott Tom, who seems to be a part-owner of Absolute Poker! If all of this is correct, it shows exactly how the cheating would have transpired: an insider at the Web site had real-time access to all of the hole cards (it is not hard to believe that this capability would exist) and was relaying this information to an outside accomplice.
If this is all true, I presume that the two cheaters are looking at potential prison time. I would also guess that if Absolute Poker continues to argue that nothing out of the ordinary happened, they will take an enormous hit to their profits. Online poker is a game of trust — players send their money to a site believing that they will be playing a fair game, and trusting that the site will send them their winnings.
Internet gambling grew by 28% in 2005 and profits are estimated to have been 14.71 billion dollars.
3 reader comments - add yours See related articles: General, Online Gambling, Wisdom and its absence 
Administrator8/9/2007: Online Gambling - Addiction a click away?
Online gambling is easy to access and they do not engage in fair practise. The object of the exercise from an online gambling site is to part you with your money.
Younger and younger people are getting hooked, it is too easy to remember virtual money is real money. Sites stack the odds, giving new players free money and initial big wins to draw them in.
Like all forms of gambling, online gambling can become an addiction, but it has some challenges unique to it. The most significant challenge is how easy it is to access. All you need is an Internet connection through a personal computer, cell phone or electronic organizer. And online gambling is available anytime, day or night.
…Virtual casinos don’t always have a guarantee of fair practices. A site that allows you to play for free could have inflated odds of winning, making it look easy to win and giving you false encouragement to play for money. Not surprisingly, these play-for-free sites often contain links to pay-to-play sites, parent sites that fund the free sites in the hope of luring new gamblers to them.
How do you know if one of your children are becoming addicted? Some signs to watch for.
spending large amounts of time gambling
· beginning to place larger bets and betting more often
· growing debts
· trying to cut back on gambling but can’t seem to do it
· lying about or hiding gambling habits, or refusing to talk about it
· frequent, obsessive thoughts about gambling
· preferring gambling to family occasions or other social activities
· pinning hopes on the big win that will solve financial or other problems
How to you stack up? Responsible gambling is an oxymoron for many people.
Calling gambling a less noxious term such as gaming does not lessen the chance of addiction or the harm caused.
This BetCheck online quiz can give you an indication if you are headed toward trouble.
BetCheck
From World of Psychology
No reader comments yet - add yours See related articles: Addiction and Recovery, General, Online Gambling
Administrator5/6/2007: US Internet Gambling Ban
The United States will maintain a ban on Internet gambling services despite an adverse World Trade Organization ruling, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office said on Friday.
The move opens the door for other WTO members — ranging from tiny Antigua and Barbuda to the 27-nation
European Union — to seek potential damages at the WTO.
However, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative John Veroneau told reporters the United States did not believe there was any basis for other countries to receive compensation.
Veroneau argued that a case brought by Antigua and Barbuda several years ago took advantage of a drafting error made by the United States as part of its commitments in the early 1990s to open its recreational services market.
Even though U.S. law has banned interstate gambling for years, the United States failed to make clear its commitments “did not extend to gambling,” Veroneau said.
“Neither the United States nor other WTO members noticed this oversight in the drafting of U.S. commitments until Antigua and Barbuda initiated a WTO case ten years later,” Veroneau said.
The Caribbean islands, which have built up a $130 million online gambling industry to make up for declining tourism revenues, argued that the U.S. measures hurt them while leaving some U.S. domestic operators alone.
The United States has argued at every step of the case it never intended to open its gambling market. Last year, the U.S. Congress passed additional legislation to ban online gambling.
5/6/2007: The Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act proposed is a little different to a repeal of the UIGEA
via: The National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling
The chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Congressman Barney Franks has launched his much anticipated proposal to amend the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act….and it’s not the repeal most industry people were expecting.
The bill does not challenge the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act 2007 directly. Instead it seeks to establish a regulatory and enforcement framework for licensed gambling operators to accept bets and wagers from individuals in the US.
At a press conference in Washington today (Thursday) the Congressman introduced his long-awaited Internet gambling bill, taking a completely unexpected approach not unlike the recent Washington State amendment that provides an “affirmative defense” for online gamblers (see previous Online-Casinos.com/InfoPowa report). However the Frank proposal is considerably more complex and introduces the possibility of licensing and regulation….and taxation.
The Franks bill, titled the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act, does not seek to set aside the UIGEA but leaves it in place, together with the Wire Act.
The ban against financial transactions with online gambling companies stays, qualified by its application to sites regarded as “illegal” or in other words unlicensed in the USA. However, Section 5370 of the new proposal provides a defense against the UIGEA regulations that have yet to be promulgated following interaction between the Treasury and the Attorney Generals office.
And Franks proposes to introduce a system of federal licensing and regulation that will be open to suitable offshore Internet gambling companies.
This aspect is handled through legislation that seeks to amend Chapter 53 of Title 31, United States Code (Monetary Transactions), by adding a new sub-chapter titled Regulation of Lawful Internet Gambling.
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is to be given exclusive authority to issue and enforce licenses and regulations, if the Franks proposals are accepted. Applicants would be subject to both financial and corporate probity scrutiny - including criminal background checks of corporate officers - during the licensing process. And applicant companies will have to set up a corporation in the USA for taxation purposes.
The taxation provision is no surprise (see previous Online-Casinos.com/InfoPowa reports) Industry observers expected to see tax used as a sweetener to bring politicians on board, and some experts have anticipated that the harvest from taxation could be of the order of $20 billion over a five year period, given the continued growth of a regulated and licensed market.
The Franks bill proposes a 1 percent license fee, and a 1 percent user fee paid to the U.S government during each 30-day period of operation, based on revenues received from player deposits. The fees, however, are drawn and paid from company funds and not from customer funds. It also requires the US licensed companies to adhere to federal and state income tax laws.
In another move to head off opposition, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act stresses that licenses will only be granted if appropriate safeguards are in place for preventing underage gambling, fraud and money laundering.
Licenses are to be renewable each year and may be revoked if the company fails to comply with the regulations or any U.S. federal laws.
The proposal shows sensitivity to the important aspect of individual state authority over gambling laws and does not target any specific form of gambling. This too was expected, and the poker sector appears from recent statements to be prepared to shift its stance of trying for an exception for the game.
Individual states can choose to regulate certain forms of gambling and not others, and if the powerful national sports leagues don’t want any form of wagering to occur on a particular sport this is possible, too. Tribal gambling authorities, another strong lobby, are given equal rights to the states.
These sensitivities - a wide diversity of gambling is available in over 50 of the states of the Union - will make the amendments more palatable to a wider range of politicians. America accounts for around 48 percent of the total world gambling market of approximately $260 billion annually.
4/2/2007: Online gambling company founder arrested
Gary Stephen Kaplan, was arrested late on Wednesday in the Dominican Republic, a US attorney in Missouri said on Friday.
Kaplan is the founder of the UK-based online gambling operation BetOnSports.com.
Kaplan was indicted in June by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Missouri, the US attorney’s office said in a press release. The indictment accuses Kaplan and 10 others of engaging in racketeering, conspiracy and fraud, arising from the operation of Costa Rica-based internet gambling businesses, including BetOnSports.com.
Following Kaplan’s arrest in the Dominican Republic, the US attorney said he was sent by Dominican authorities to Puerto Rico to make an initial appearance before a US Magistrate Judge.
The US attorney’s office in St. Louis plans to ask the magistrate judge to order that Kaplan be sent to St. Louis immediately or be held in custody pending a hearing to remove him to St. Louis, and that he be held without bond.
BetOnSports, which once traded on the London Stock Exchange, was forced in August 2006 to close down its US business, which accounted for 95 percent of its profits.
The US crackdown on online gaming began last July with the arrest of BetOnSports chief executive David Carruthers during a layover at a Texas airport.
1/22/2007: US Justice Department and online gambling
Wall Street Investment banks have received subpoenas from the US Justice Deparment as part of a probe into online gambling. Millions of Americans engage in online sports betting with off shore casinos.
The subpoenas were issued to firms that had underwritten the initial public offerings of some of the most popular online gambling sites that operate abroad. The banks involved in the inquiry include HSBC, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and Dresdner Kleinwort, these people said.
While online gaming sites like PartyGaming and 888 Holdings operate from Gibraltar and their initial public offerings were held on the London Stock Exchange, companies that do business with them and have large bases in United States have come under scrutiny by regulators in Washington.
None of the biggest United States banks like Goldman Sachs or Citigroup underwrote the initial public offerings in London, in part because of the legal ambiguity of the sites; they are illegal in the United States, but still accessible to residents.
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was signed by President G.W. Bush in October 2006.
New York Times
More in The Sunday Times London
No reader comments yet - add yours See related articles: General, Online Gambling, UK, USA
Administrator1/19/2007: Online gambling costing UK companies
30 per cent of workers gamble at work or know someone who does in the UK.
The Internet has opened up a whole new world for workers looking to waste time and many workers in England are taking the opportunity to gamble while on the job.
The habit isn’t only potentially harming workers’ pocketbooks, but businesses as well, according to a new survey. The survey, commissioned by consultant firm Morse, found that online gambling in the workplace is costing firms more than 300 million pounds ($692 million Can) each year in lost productivity.
…Researchers claim 30 per cent of office workers nationally had either placed a bet online or knew someone who had. The survey of 664 office workers across England also found that those who gambled on the Internet at work were likely to spend 13 hours a year doing so.
Northern England had the most gamblers, with 35 per cent making bets compared to 29 per cent in the South and 27 per cent in the Midlands.
The survey said 38 per cent of the men questioned admitted to gambling online, compared to 21 per cent of women.
The most common form on online gambling at work was The National Lottery, followed by sports betting and poker.
