60 Minutes Looks At Online Gambling
READ MORE: 60 Minutes, Gambling, Gambling Laws, Internet Gambling, Online Gambling, Online Poker
Last night, CBS’ 60 Minutes ran a short piece on Internet gambling. Did they cover any new ground? Hardly. CBS reported that online gambling is a huge industry, illegal in the US, and based offshore. We learned that the Vegas casino companies want in, but are hamstrung by our laws that prevent them from competing in this market. They also mentioned - repeatedly - that the government’s stance on Internet gambling costs our government billions in potential tax revenue every year. After the jump, we’ll loop you in to some of the buzz around the ‘Net this morning in the wake of this report…
EAR TO THE GROUND
Dan from Pokerati thinks there’s a distinct difference between playing poker and shooting craps online, and maybe we need to look at this as a society:
“I’m not sure it went far enough in differentiating online poker from other forms of online gambling. Maybe that’s relevant, maybe it’s not. But it does suggest that the masses are starting to be made aware of the need to change all sorts of outdated poker laws that make just about every person reading this site a criminal.”
Iggy at Guinness and Poker found a 2+2 Forums thread that sparked some conversation:
(Cribbed from the 2+2 Forums) This was great! Newbies learned that:
· Party Poker is the #1 most popular site. Guess that’s probably a good place to go then!
· Whenever I see a ‘.net’ ad, they really mean I should go to .com for real gambling!
· If I’m an underage minor, Golden Palace is an excellent place to get to play!
· 12 Million Americans are playing, and they haven’t complained - maybe this ‘internet gambling’ isn’t so shady after all!
Of course, laws would need to be changed for Internet gambling to be legalized. Make You Go Hmm raises the salient point about the winds of change (and provides the screen shot for this post):
Basically the terrestrial casino point of view: if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. One comment I found particularly curious: that when the US gets an “enlightened” President and Attorney General internet gambling will be regulated, taxed and legalized.
CBS’ News own 60 Minutes site features our favorite part of the discussion. Late in the interview, Nigel Payne, the owner of SportingBet.com and Paradise Poker, asks for one argument against regulating Internet gambling. Lesley Stahl replies, “Because it’s bad for you.” Here’s the outcome:
Payne doesn’t think people will ever stop gambling.
“Do you think the Internet’s suddenly going to go away? So what are we going to do in ten years time, when this industry is ten times bigger than it is today?” ask Payne. “I often say to people, ‘Please give me one solid plausible argument why you shouldn’t regulate it.’”
And Payne rejects the argument that it is bad for you. “If you regulate it, you control it. If you regulate it, you set limits. Is that bad, when the comparator is ‘Ah, just let them do what they want.’ Is that really bad? I don’t think it is.”
Did anything get solved? Not really. If you gamble online you probably know you’re breaking the law, and despite the US Government’s attempts to try and make gambling more difficult, there will be no way to shut off the spigot completely. So until the US Government finds a way to make this morally palatable to the voting public, we’re probably going to be stuck in the land of denial. With or without the government’s approval, keep tossing the cards. With millions of people gambling on the ‘Net on a weekly basis, there’s very little chance our government can do anything but create circumventable laws and continue to bark about this non-problem. See you at the tables.
War on Poker: CriminalPoker.com [Pokerati]
I Sure Like These Short Little Posts [Guinness and Poker]
60 Minutes special focuses on internet gambling [Make You Go Hmm]
I-Gaming: Illegal and Thriving [CBS News]
Check Your Panties At The Door
READ MORE: Gambling, Online Casinos, Online Gambling
Between Golden Palace and Nine.com, we thought all the good online casino gimmicks had been thought of already. Guess not. Enter the press release for new online gambling portal Lady’s Casino:
“Lady’s Casino also offers additional resources for the gambling lady, free of charge. Ladies can read the latest online casino news about female gamblers, or see what the stars have planned for them in the updated horoscope section. There is even a hunk of the month section where women can check out the hottest men around. And if that wasn’t enough, the Lady’s Casino directory has numerous links to many informative and up-to-date women’s sites. So, ladies, check out this online casino queen and visit Lady’s Casino at http://www.ladyscasino.com for the best time you’ll ever have in online gambling.”
All we’re thinking here is “Please have a poker room.” Hell, if a lady wants to base her check/bet/fold decision on whether her moon is waning into Aries, we want a piece. Seriously, we want in. And it’s not just because we happen to enjoy the feel of satin panties.
Jesse Ventura To Take One For The Team
READ MORE: Gambling, Gambling Laws, Jesse Ventura, Online Gambling
Think of all the ways celebrities brighten our dreary little lives. We laugh at their little peccadillos, their petty atrocities, their shocking acts of criminal self-indulgence. If kept at a distance, it’s all good clean fun. But how often has a celebrity actually touched your life in a positive way. For far too many of us, that answer is, sadly, not often enough.
But thay may change for those of us who like to partake in the occasional online game of chance. After the jump, we’ll dig in and cut through the shit and tell you why Jesse Ventura is going to end up as the Rosa Parks of online gambling…
JESSE “THE GUINEA PIG” VENTURA
We’ve already brought to your attention the fact that Jesse Ventura, Brooke Burke, Jim Kelly, and other famous people have signed on to act as pitchpersons for various online casinos. They’ve done this though there might be a wee question of these casino’s legality:
“[T]he government has said in the past that it could prosecute Americans who promote and assist such foreign operations for effectively aiding and abetting their illegal activities.
“There’s a good chance they are criminally liable for the crime itself,” said I. Nelson Rose, a professor at Whittier Law School in California and the author of “The Law of Internet Gaming.” For celebrities who draw attention from law enforcement officials, he said, “the downside danger is enormous.”
That’s a bit ominous. But there’s no such thing as a stupid question, right, so let’s ask the government what they think of the idea:
The Justice Department declined to comment for this article.
Hmm. The Federal Government, which recently came up with the wacky idea that they should have the power to detain any American citizen and transport them to a tropical island for a permanent vacation, is keeping mum about their intentions? Go figure.
But come on, these are celebrities we’re talking about. Nothing bad happens to them! No one would let anything bad happen to them! Right?
“For his part, Mr. Ventura said he was not aware that federal law prohibits Internet gambling operations; his management company, he said, told him that the deal would not be a problem.”
Whew! His management company said there would be no problem! His managment company, which is tasked with finding opportunities for a man with rather a wide-ranging resume. I’m sure they did the proper due diligence. But perhaps this isn’t fair to Jesse the Body. After all, who among us consulted with an attorney versed in this section of the law before we plunked down $100 bucks to play a little online blackjack?
Which is why we should perhaps be grateful for Gov. Ventura’s actions. Remember, back in the good old days of the Industrial Revolution, coal miners would take a canary in a cage along with them into the depths? A canary was the most high-tech warning system available at the time—so long as Tweety kept tweeting, the miners knew the air wasn’t contaminated. If their little yellow friend was lying unconscious at the bottom of the cage, it was time to boogie upwards. Well, it’s possible that these celebrity spokesfolks may act as a canary for we degenerate gamblers. If you flip on CNN some morning and find shotgun-toting federal agents frog-marching Jesse Ventura toward an anoymous black van, it might be time for you to cash out of Party Poker and invest those funds in a manner the government finds more palatable. Like, Halliburton.
Celebrities Taking a Gamble [NY Times}
Previously: Stars May Get The Big House For Offshore Gambling Promotions [Oddjack]
Online Gambling: State of the Circuit Address
READ MORE: Online Gambling
Web research magazine eMarketer offers up some interesting stats on the state of online gambling:
· “(W)orldwide online gambling revenues will top $10 billion in 2005 — and that’s just the vig, which means there was probably well over $200 billion in play over the course of the year.”
· “(W)orldwide consumer spending on gambling is some ten times higher than that other well-known vice — online porn.”
· “US consumers spending on gambling is roughly twenty times the amount they spend on digital music downloads.”
· Which country has the most gambling-mad people on average? The French, with 22% of their population averaging seven sessions per year at over one hour per person, per session. The US? 15%, seven sessions, thirty-three minutes per. Thanks for the attention span MTV!
All this info is just a tease to get you to buy their full report, which clocks in at a ridiculous $695. Of course, they’re offering over sixteen pages and over thirty six charts worth of information, so we’re sure it’s a bargain at the price.
Wanna Bet? Click Here [eMarketer]
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The Ins-And-Outs Of Online Gambling With Gratuitous Boobage
READ MORE: Gambling 911, Jenny Woo, Lisa Perry, Online Gambling
So, still confused about this whole internet thing and wondering how you can blow all your money with one gentle keystroke? Fear not, young credit destroyer! The lovable scamps at Gambling 911 offer up a handy how-to today about the best online gambling sites and how to go about opening account. And the best part is that the retard tutorial is presented by the sauciest little gambling vixens on the internet, Jenny Woo and Lisa “That’s Not Peyton Manning In My Shower” Perry. If only the SAT study guides were this visually stimulating, we may have gone on to a more prestigious community college and not made our parents regret ever having us.
Where Are The Best Online Sporsbooks? [Gambling911]
How Do I Bet Sports Online? [Gambling911]
Gambling Online Is A Grey Area… Unless You Live In North Dakota
READ MORE: Laws, Legalities, Online Gambling
Think you got it bad when your mom won’t send you $20 via Neteller to get your football picks in for the week? While that does suck, at least you’re not North Dakota’s own Jeffrey Trauman, who’s profiled for his dumb luck on Poker Player Newspaper:
Jeffrey Trauman has made history. As best I can tell, he is the first, and only, person who has actually been charged and convicted of online gambling…
According to Jeff, he was charged with “placing a wager over $500,” a misdemeanor in North Dakota. Rather than fight it, he pleaded guilty, was fined $500 and given a one-year deferred sentence, and split to Kentucky…
Assistant Cass County State’s Attorney Bud Myers is reported as saying that Jeff “went a little beyond” the $500 minimum. The police searched Jeff’s house in April 2003 and discovered $43,000 in cash in one desk drawer… (and he) had another $300,000 in overseas accounts. Jeff thinks his problems started because he was too honest. Since sports betting was his major source of income, he put “professional gambler” as his occupation on his federal tax return.
Lessons learned? Don’t move to North Dakota, don’t tell the IRS you’re making big money in Antigua, and when Bud Myers comes a knockin’, make sure you hide your $43K a little better than Jeffy did.
Busted for Betting Online [PokerPlayer Newspaper]
Anyone Want To Believe A Chat Spammer?
READ MORE: Online Gambling
If this is true and legit, which it very well may not be at all, go now and bet it all on one hand of blackjack, then cash out. There’s no way it’s going to be that simple, but it might be worth a look if you’ve got the time:
…for a limited time 7 Sultans Casino have setup a server to see how new players move around the games lobby of the Casino, but obviously we need the players to come in and not worry about purchasing or credit, so to over come this 7 Sultans will give them $500.00 to play with for 15 minutes, whatever the players makes during their 15 minutes over and above the $500.00 is theirs to keep up to a maximum of $500.00. The site goes live on Monday 3rd October 2005 !! You can play any game that they have including slots, blackjack, poker, craps, roulette, texas hold em feel free to share this offer withyour friends. Good luck.
We found this via some poker blog chat spam, so use the info at your own risk. Make sure you read the offer before clicking into any commitment, and if they ask you to deposit first, run away fast.
Zombies, Your Sportsbook, and You
READ MORE: Denial of Service, Extortion, Online Casinos, Online Gambling
Ask any owner of an offshore online sportsbook what one of their biggest concerns is, and it’s not necessarily making up the difference when they’re a half point off on the Jets/Ravens line. It’s Internet extortion, which can shut down their sites for hours or days at a time. The New Yorker has a pretty nifty article about these “denial of service” zombie attacks, and since we’re geeky like that, we’ll throw you a link and a quote:
In the late spring of 2003, Mickey Richardson, the general manager of Betcris, a Costa Rican-based gambling firm, received an extortion e-mail… The letter requested five hundred dollars in eGold—an online currency—and was followed by an attack that crippled Betcris’s Web site, its main source of revenue. Richardson couldn’t afford to have the site disabled. He paid the five hundred dollars.
The extortionists began hitting other offshore bookmakers. One firm after another paid up, anywhere from three thousand to thirty-five thousand dollars, which they wired to addresses in Russia and Latvia.
Just for fun, check this article out next. Arguably, a hacker or virus-writer does more true economic damage than a murderer does, so why aren’t we frying them too?
The Zombie Hunters [The New Yorker]
The Economic Logic of Executing Computer Hackers [Slate]
2005 World Series of Slots - Spin Em To Win Em
READ MORE: Online Gambling, Slots
Are you a button pusher? Do you enjoy letting a random number generator do the gambling for you? Are your dreams permeated by sets of things in threes? Bars, cherries, bells? If so, we have just the event for you:
The Jackpot Factory (www.jackpotfactory.com), a leading online casino group, has announced the launch of the World Series of Slots, a month-long promotion sure to score a home run with their casino players.
We prefer to play our online slots at the Jackpot Factory Outlet. The jackpots may have a scratch, dent, or ding, but they’re all at least 30% off retail.
Jackpot Factory Introduces the World Series of Slots [Pressbox]
Jackpot Factory
Playing The Ponies Online: YouBet.com
READ MORE: Horse Racing, Online Gambling, YouBet.com
There are plenty of places to gamble online. Plenty. Most are even trying to go down the full-service route, with sportsbook, casino gaming, poker, and a horse/dog book lumped together to keep your dollars in one place. If you’re a casual horseplayer, or one that is lucky enough to have the TVG Network and HRTV (Horse Racing TV) on your cable/satellite lineup, you probably can be satisfied putting your pony action down at Golden Palace or Nine.com.
That being said, some of us need something more specifically dedicated to online thoroughbred betting. After the jump, we’ll take a look at one of the most popular and robust online OTBs, YouBet.com…
WHY DO WE NEED ANOTHER GAMBLING ACCOUNT?
Our Horse Racing Editor BG is an avid horseplayer, and doesn’t have access to live racing on his cable TV lineup. While he certainly could make wagers via the sportsbook to which he’s signed up, there are a few problems a horseplayer would have with that approach:
· Live odds matter. A horse that seems like a good bet can turn into a bad bet (or vice versa) in mere seconds when the odds fluctuate. Most horseplayers like to file their bets with less than two minutes to post time, ensuring they are making their decisions with the most complete information they can gather.
· Live updates matter. What’s the track’s condition? We’ve seen freak rainstorms turn a fast track to a sloppy one as the race card progressed, and that should make a difference in your selection. Notifications about last minute jockey, equipment and medication changes are a factor, as are weight changes from what was in the program to what the horse is actually carrying. Most of the time, the little things don’t make a huge difference, but it’s better to know and consider these changes than it is to not.
· Call us crazy, but we actually like to watch the races as they happen too.
These aren’t little things to a horseplayer - especially the live video. The average horseplayer is probably unique in the sports betting world, as a pure team sports bettor could bet on hockey without giving a crap about it, while the horseplayer is usually a fierce fan of the sport alongside the gambling opportunity. For everything your online sportsbook can offer, they just can’t give you streaming video of horse races.
YouBet.com can. There really aren’t very many dedicated racebooks out there, but the lack of competition hasn’t hurt YouBet. We’ve been using the web-based software for a couple of years, and can clue you in to what we like and what we don’t about the service.
WHAT’S GOOD
Obviously, having live odds and streaming video is crucial. We like that all the late changes (equipment, track condition, rider changes) are all in one place, and that the full menu of wagering options (Pick Fours, ten-cent Superfectas, etc) are all at our disposal. The interface is clean and updates itself moment-by-moment without being a system resources hog. The video, provided you have a fast Internet connection, is usually pretty clear and usually not at all choppy. Usually. The system tracks all your wagers in a variety of ways, allowing you to examine your wins and losses historically, and your open action either by race or as a whole. The wagering module is really easy to use, and processes last-minute bets quickly and efficiently. The service also gives you access to their telephone wagering system, which is something we’ve never had the chance to use. The best feature though? Because wagering on horses online is not illegal, you can use your credit card to make a deposit. Awesome.
WHAT’S NOT
Nothing drives us more nuts than watching a race, seeing your horse making a break for the front going into the final turn, and then having the video freeze up. This isn’t a frequent complaint, but on a busy Saturday afternoon, you’re rolling the dice if you’re one of the majority of their users trying to access the big-track feeds. If you’re playing the podunk circuit, you’re usually okay. Another drawback, and we’re nitpicking here, is that you can only run this site via MSIE, so Firefox users have at least one thing to complain about. Cashing out is easy, but not quick. They’ll send you a check, and you’ll pay a bunch if you want that check in less than three weeks. The last, and probably biggest problem with YouBet? It’s not cheap. $17.95 a month gets you the full membership, but if you give the site enough action ($350) over 30 days, they’ll comp you on the price. And yes, we usually get comped. We’re bigshots, doncha know.
LAST WORDS
So why YouBet over the TVG service, or Xpress Bet? Honestly, we don’t have those two as options. For some strange reason, BG’s state of residence prevents him from using TVG or Xpress Bet, which makes no sense at all. Still, if you’re serious about learning the game and finding an online racebook to use, you can’t go wrong with YouBet.
Table Games: Can’t Get Enough Of The Hold ‘Em
READ MORE: Online Casinos, Online Gambling, Poker
Nothing beats taking a hot trend and pounding it squarely into the ground. So it goes with poker. We’ve seen the table game for Texas Hold ‘Em at a nearby casino, and it was only a matter of time before the online casinos rolled it up into their offerings. Here’s the rules:
To play there is a $3 mandatory blind ante wager. Also, a one-time raise bet is a minimum five-times bet, or $15. Bets pay even money against the dealerīs cards. Thereīs also the option to place a $3 side bet making it much like a real version of video poker. The winning odds are as follows: 2 to 1 for three of a kind and 500 to 1 for a royal flush. The side bet on hole cards is better, paying 8 to 1 for jacks or better pairs and 20 to 1 for aces. Also all side bets remain in play even if the player folds before the game is done.
If you try to bluff the “dealer” in this game, you’re a retard. It’s the side bets here where the casino makes their money, our guess is you don’t have to hit a “Jacks or Better” type hand to get paid on the ante/one-time raise wagers. Still, we’re firmly of the opinion that blackjack and craps are the only table games worth playing, so give this a shot at the risk of looking stupid and losing a few side bets along the way.
New Version of Texas Hold ‘em May Hit The Online Casino [Online Casino Reports]
High Stakes Games of Skill Coming To The Intraweb
READ MORE: Online Casinos, Online Gambling
File this under “ideas whose time has come.” Royal Vegas Casino is coming to the market with games of skill you can gamble on. Finally, we can get our Gin Rummy Jones satisfied:
Fortune Lounge plans to roll out the new software which is the first of its deployment of the skill games to their impressive Royal Vegas Casino. GameAccount has agreed to provide its full range of skill games including Backgammon, Gin Rummy and Pool to Royal Vegas Games. This is in an effort to attract more players and to up the stakes and credibility within the online casino industry.
This is awesome, and obviously the first step to high stakes gaming on things like Uno, Go Fish, and Slap Jack. By the way, stay out of our way on the Crazy Eights tables when those come up, we’re like the Omar Sharief of that shit.
Skill Games Offered at Online Casino [PR Leap]
One day, everything will be a wager, from a hand of poker to the likelihood you'll be struck down by a bioterror attack before the next brain backup. One day. For now, there's Oddjack. It's a sneak peek at the future of gambling.
