POKER/GAMBLING NEWS

"In the waning hours of his presidency, George Bush is pushing to effectively outlaw online gambling in the United States. These efforts have met strident opposition by Democrats, proponents of Internet betting, and even some financial institutions.

The Bush administration's pursuit of these prohibitive laws follows on the coattails of a rider vaguely prohibiting online betting that was included in a piece of 2006 legislation ostensibly dealing with the security of U.S. ports. While that rider did, in fact, become law, its unclear language -- leaving open the question of what constitutes online gambling -- has left it largely unenforceable. President Bush and Congressional Republicans hope to clarify that language and outlaw the Internet practice before President-Elect Obama and the slew of newly elected Democratic Congress members take office."

Hmm - surprised no USA players commented on that bit of news.

Anyway - here is another bit of poker news.  Pokerwize poker site is ceasing to exist as of 15th February 2009.  One of the few 3D poker sites - this was great fun to play at.  Some of the emotes were good fun - you could even put your feet on the table!

What a shame its going.  ::)

Interesting ruling in Kentucky regarding 141 gaming sites that were trying to be seized.

The ruling said that a doman name is not a gambling device i.e. it is not mechanical.  Apparenty 13000 people in Kentucky use online casinos.  Until a doman name is classed as a gambling device, the state of Kentucky cannot seize the domains.

From the Associated Press

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina judge has ruled that Texas Hold 'em poker is a game of skill, a ruling that could prevent police from arresting people taking part in a friendly game of poker.

Mount Pleasant Municipal Judge Larry Duffy on Thursday wrote that there is "overwhelming" evidence that the card game is one of skill, not chance. State law outlaws gambling on games of chance with cards or dice.

In the past several years, police in South Carolina have raided homes to break up poker games.

Still, Duffy's order doesn't help the case of five men he found guilty of operating a gambling house, who must now pay fines.

About 20 people were arrested in that raid almost three years ago. The others settled their cases by paying fines.

Boy im glad that fool of a president is finnally out of there good luck Obama , and poker for life woooohooo ;D

UIGEA better get repealed (or else I might just move to Canada!).

Join the PPA, write to Congress, donate time or money--anything you can do to stop the government from taking your rights away!

Yep - what happened to Human Rights?

I thought Canada were suffering the same problems though??

The latest news could affect your ability to get at your money be it poker or casino.  Please do read the below from Poker news daily.

Minnesota Department of Public Safety Discusses Internet Gambling Ban

By Dan Cypra for POKER NEWS DAILY | Posted on April 30, 2009

John Willems, Director of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division, is leading the effort to compel internet service providers (ISP) to block state residents' access to at least 200 websites. He sat down with Poker News Daily to discuss the written notice served to ISPs this week.

Poker News Daily: The basis for the blockage is that internet gaming sites are illegal under the Wire Act, which has traditionally applied to online sports betting. In addition, the list of 200 websites has not yet been made public. What can you share with us about what sites will be affected?

Willems: The Wire Act has been used in other arenas as well. The list, which is only 200 out of literally thousands of websites, was selected at random without regards to what type of internet gambling each site is engaged in. Online poker would fall within that possibility.

This is a new process for everyone involved. There are differing opinions on the issue and we respect that. We initiated a civil notice. We haven’t seized property or discontinued service. We requested that the telecom companies not allow Minnesota customers, and only Minnesota customers, to be able to access them. Online gambling has been held to be illegal by the past three Attorney Generals and Minnesota is one of the first states to take action.

PND: Do you plan to pursue any of the internet gamblers directly or just use ISP blockage to stunt the industry?

Willems: We’re not pursuing any of the bettors and we’re not keeping people from accessing their money. We wanted to let everyone in the world know what we were up to in order to be transparent. We wanted to let them know that if we were successful, it might impact their ability to get funds they may have online. The last thing that we wanted to do was surprise everyone. Our actions have also increased the level of conversation on this topic.

PND: Minnesota has tribal casinos, card rooms at racetracks, and a state lottery, among other forms of gambling. Is the move, at least in part, due to wanting to protect the explicitly legal versions?

Willems: The motive is to deal with sizable illegal gambling activity and to use the most reasonable tool we can to deal with it. We are an enforcement agency that has very few tools available. As the contraction of the telecom industry has occurred, this statute seems much more viable today than it was before.

PND: What feedback has the Department of Public Safety received so far?

Willems: I hope we’ll have a mutually satisfying outcome to whatever occurs and I hope we’ll get good public policy because of it. It appears to me, based on voice messages and phone conversations, that the Poker Players Alliance must have contacted their membership because I’ve gotten a lot of feedback. I respect their viewpoint and understand it. As much as I can, I try to take the calls, but there are too many of them. I do understand their concerns and I’m not disrespectful of that, but there is a difference of opinion. If they want to make their case, they should also do so to the state’s policy makers.

PND: The press release notes, “U.S. code cited [for] first time in effort to halt illegal online gambling.” Talk about being the first such state to take action.

Willems: We can’t find any precedent elsewhere and we are doing it in a different way, on a different scale, and with a different attitude than has been done in the past. We understand there is a controversial aspect to it and we’re sorry for that. We’re enforcing the laws. If there is illegal gambling, we have to do our best to deal with it. That’s created some pushback by some people. Even in our own state, we have social card games, which are given direct instructions as to how they can operate, but they have not yet expanded online. The policy makers of Minnesota may want to dive into it.

Hi Members,

Due to Minnesota's ban on Online Casinos (see full story under "Casinos"), some poker sites are effected.  Fulltilt Poker and Players Only are on the list to ban. Although Bodog is on the list...it targets the casino side and not the poker side.

Poker sites that are not on the list: Absolute Poker, Cake Poker, Carbon Poker, Doyles Room, Poker Stars and Ultimate Bet.

Sigh....what state is next?

Lipstick

Lawmakers Bet on Internet Gambling Legislation

Reps. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Peter King, R-N.Y. unveiled legislation Wednesday that would enable Americans to legally gamble online.

You can read the full story here

blue

GOOD INFO BLUE!!! THANKS

Hi Poker Players,

Since President Obama was elected in office his website (change.gov) began taking citizens thought's on issues where a change is needed. Under the "Technology" category on the site......header "Boost the Economy with Legal On Line Poker" took first place in this catergory!

This ranks number 11 in issues for this site. WTG  US poker players!

Lipstick

Darn right too- I was horrified when the proverbial axe fell on US poker players.  It was never the same on the poker sites after that - I hated it and Im glad all poker players in the US are fighting for their right to be free to play "however they so wish" online.

blue

this is why payments from pokerstars and fulltilt were bouncing!

the gov. is trying to seize the money saying it's illegal gambling money.

full article in the  Huffington Post.

Hi Phantom,

I have read that it is still unclear why the checks are bouncing....and it is speculation whether the feds are responsible or not. Only after hundreds of complaints about bounced checks did the feds step in. If you could post the link where you read this article....i would like to read it.

thx,

Lips