Archive for the ‘Casino News’ Category

New Jersey Legalizes Online Gaming

Wednesday, March 6th, 2013

New Jersey became the third state in the country to legalize online gambling on Tuesday. The state Senate and Assembly passed an online gaming bill before hearing Governor Chris Christie’s budget address.

The bill included several recommendations Christie made to lawmakers. Christie asked the state Congress to increase taxes on online gaming services and impose a ten year trial period to gauge the impact of online gaming on the state. The Senate and Assembly agreed with his recommendations and included them in a revised version of the bill. Christie was content with the new version of the bill and signed it the same day.

The new bill allows New Jersey casinos to offer online gaming versions of their games within the state borders. The bill could be later amended to allow for interstate gambling as well.

Members of the gambling community are ecstatic that New Jersey has finally legalized online gambling. Senator Raymond Lesniak, the primary sponsor of the bill, said New Jersey made the right move by legalizing online gaming. Lesniak said that online gambling will be extremely beneficial to the state and a “huge lifeline” for Atlantic City’s nearly bankrupt casino industry.

However, New Jersey citizens realize that they may have to wait a long time before they can actually gamble over the Internet. Nevada passed a bill to legalize online poker eight months ago and has issued a number of online gaming licenses within that time. However, none of the providers in the Silver State have launched officially an online gaming site. Experts caution that it may be another year before New Jersey actually offers online gaming.

 

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US Gaming Survey Confirms Online Gaming Should Benefit Land based Casino Industry

Thursday, February 28th, 2013

Many critics have stated that legalizing online gaming would be detrimental to land-based casinos. They argue that lawmakers should oppose any bill that would regulate any form of online gaming. However, a new statement from US Gaming Survey found that online gaming would most likely benefit casinos throughout the country.

US Gaming Survey conducted two polls of people in the casino industry. The vast majority of casino owners said they would not change the way they operated their casinos if online gaming was legalized. Jim Ryan, former CEO of Bwin.party, said that the changes won’t have nearly as much of an impact on the casino industry as people suggest. Most respondents also felt the new legislation would probably increase revenue for land-based casinos.

Proponents of online gaming legislation have stated that regulation would help them reach a number of new customers who currently are not participating in online gaming. Many younger respondents who do not currently gamble or purchase lottery tickets have said that they would do so if a bill was passed that made it legal.

Advocates said that there is no reason to fear online gaming would detract from the revenues of land-based casinos. Most people who visit land-based casinos are doing so for the experience. They would probably continue to do so even if they had the option of playing over the Internet instead. This position was validated by the respondents in the two surveys.

The online gaming community hopes that this new survey will encourage more lawmakers to support legislation that would enable citizens to play poker and other games over the Internet. US Gaming Survey is a well-respected research group with over 30 years of experience. Gaming advocates believe that their research will carry considerable weight for lawmakers considering legalizing online gaming.

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Nevada Assemblyman Horne Supports Sandoval’s Online Gaming Bill

Tuesday, February 26th, 2013

Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval is pushing for a new law that would allow Nevada to offer interstate poker within the next month. Assembly Majority Leader William Horne said that he supports Sandoval’s efforts and is willing to sponsor a separate bill if revisions to the existing law can’t be made.

State lawmakers were previously waiting for the federal government to pass an online gaming bill that would allow them to provide interstate gambling. However, Sandoval and Horne feel that they can’t afford to wait for the federal government to pass an interstate gaming bill. Many other states are working on legislation that would allow them to offer online gaming across state lines.

Sandoval recently stated that the state needs to make legalizing online gaming a top priority. New Jersey governor Chris Christie issued a conditional veto on an online gaming bill last week. Sandoval said that Nevada will need to make haste in its efforts to lead online gaming market. Horne agreed with the governor’s sentiments and believes that Nevada can lead the future of online gaming in the United States.

Horne said that Nevada’s population isn’t large enough to sustain an online gaming industry on its own. The state’s gaming providers will need to work with gaming companies in other states to reach a larger player base. Other states would also benefit from these compacts, because Nevada has much more experience running a complex online gaming industry.

Horne believes that Nevada will be at the forefront of the online gaming industry if they take these steps. Horne is ready to pass a new bill if necessary, but he may not need to take the initiative to do so. The Nevada Gaming Control Board intends to introduce a nearly identical bill in the next month.

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Vera&John Introduces Live Dealer Casino

Monday, February 11th, 2013

Vera&John Casino is one of the best online gambling venues in the industry, especially now that the online casino has added a live casino into its portfolio of online gaming products. This gives new online casino players a bigger than ever reason to register for real play at Vera&John Casino.

Vera&John Casino’s new live dealer casino runs on Bodog Gaming software and the portfolio includes online slots games, table games, and video poker games.

Speaking about the latest move, Bodog Gaming MD Will Hu said that Vera&John Casino has an excellent “soft gaming” platform, which has grown so rapidly that it has attracted the attention of several operators. He expressed hopes that Vera&John Casino will continue to grow with Bodog Gaming’s live gaming software platform.

Vera&John Live Dealer Casino has almost everything an online live casino player could hope for, including Sic Bo, Baccarat, Dragon Tiger, and Roulette.

Vera&John Casino Director Johan Konigslehner said that, as the casino gaming company expanded into several countries all over the world, it realized that it ought to introduce a live casino product. The company, when it was launched, focused on the Scandinavian market, but today caters to a wide range of markets such as Spain, Japan, and Portugal.

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Casino Owner Fertitta Fined for Breaking NJ Gambling Laws

Wednesday, January 30th, 2013

Tilman Fertitta, owner and president of Golden Nugget Casino in Atlantic City, was caught violating New Jersey’s gambling laws and fined for the same.

According to the gambling laws of New Jersey, casino owners are not permitted to gamble in any of the casinos in Atlantic City. The rules clearly state that it is illegal for those who hold key casino employee licenses issued by the state of New Jersey to gamble in any of the 12 casinos in Atlantic City. It simply means that casino owners cannot gamble in any casino even if it is not their casino.

The gaming enforcement division prepared a five-page report, in which it stated that Fertitta played real money blackjack a few times last year. However, he played low-stakes blackjack and authorities noted that he did not purchase chips worth more than $3,000 throughout his gambling spree. Reportedly, the billionaire was not aware of this aspect of the state’s laws.

Golden Nugget GM Tom Pohlman informed the press that New Jersey is the only US state that makes it illegal for casino owners to gamble. He also stated that the casino informed law-enforcement agencies about Fertitta’s gambling at the Revel and Borgata as soon as it came to know about it.

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United States Condemns WTO for Authorizing Piracy to Antigua over Gaming Restrictions

Tuesday, January 29th, 2013

United States officials have stated that they intend to act against a decision passed by the World Trade Organization six years ago. The World Trade Organization authorized the small nation of Antigua and Barbuda to pirate more than $20 million worth of United States intellectual property rights after the United States passed laws banning online gambling.

Antigua said that the United States violated the General Agreement in Trade and Service (GATS) passed by the World Trade Organization in 1995. They allege that the GATS included provisions for online gambling, which the United States violated when it prohibited gaming providers from offering their services to U.S. citizens.

U.S. officials said that the inclusion of online gaming was introduced by mistake when the industry was first born. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act wasn’t passed for over a decade after the United States joined the GATS.

The United States has protested the moral basis of these laws since the beginning of the century. They have raised several hearings with the World Trade Organization since they first joined the new treaty. The WTO has rejected every complaint that they have filed.

Antigua waited six years before considering enforcing the WTO’s decision. They hoped that they could negotiate a settlement with the United States instead. However, they have engaged in countless meetings with U.S. officials failed to lead to a compromise both countries would agree to.

Antiguan officials tried to bring the matter up again in last month’s WTO meeting. They were unable to get their concerns on the docket, but the WTO has agreed to hear their position before the end of the month.

The United States has said that it intends to help resolve the issue. Officials claim that they have already settled with several other countries that have copied Antigua’s argument. However, they also said that Antigua has refused to accept every offer they have tendered and the Caribbean nation needs to accept responsibility for the failed negotiations.

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Nevada Lawmakers Will Consider Revisions to Online Gaming Legislation Next Month

Wednesday, January 23rd, 2013

The entire world has been waiting for a federal bill that would regulate online gaming in the United States. They have grown increasingly frustrated with the fact that federal lawmakers have not been able to pass a bill since the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was first passed.

Nevada has already passed its own online gaming bill that allows citizens to play intrastate poker. However, some experts fear that the player pools aren’t large enough for gaming providers to make sustainable streams of revenue through online gaming. Nevada gaming providers may need a federal bill that is going to allow them to market their online poker services to citizens in other states. The Nevada gaming industry is watching developments in Washington more intently than anyone else.

In addition to a federal bill, Nevada lawmakers are going to need their own legislation that will own legislation that will allow them to form compacts with other states. They realize that they can’t wait for their colleagues in Washington to pass a bill that will regulate the industry. Several congressmen in the Silver State are discussing a new bill that would allow them to sell their services across state lines when a federal bill is finally passed.
Assembly Bill 5 is scheduled to go before the state Congress next month. State lawmakers realize that this bill will need to be a priority, because they want to have a system in place if the federal government passes its own bill that allows casinos to offer their services across state lines. The bill will need the support of Gov. Sandoval. The governor’s office has still not confirmed whether or not he intends to support Assembly Bill 5.

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Blackjack On Plane Flights Faces Legal Barrier

Tuesday, January 22nd, 2013

There was much excitement over the possibility of having a casino based blackjack table on an in-flight casino. Passengers saw it as an opportunity to have fun and enjoy themselves on fourteen hour flights, while airlines saw it as a means of profit and of course raising their brand value.

Although there are two designers, Jean-Pierre Alfano of AirJet Designs and Frédérique Houssard, from Designescence, who are currently working on designing an in-flight casino lounge that will cater to luxury travelers. Both designers hope that the Casino Jet Lounge will soon become a feature on long haul commercial flights with a fashionable bar area and a blackjack table.

According to Frédérique Houssard, from Designescence, “We’re trying to bring back the glamor of the ’50s and ’60s a little bit; the kind you see in the James Bond movies.”

However, while airlines are more than willing to experiment with this, the laws in the US do not allow gambling in their airspace and as of now, this project is on hold. There are several ideas coming out as to how to circumnavigate these laws but so far nothing has taken off the ground.

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Facebook Launches Live Blackjack Gambling App From Vivo Interactive

Monday, December 3rd, 2012

Facebook, the ultimate social network on the internet and recognized internationally, recently announced that it had added four interesting gambling apps for its members. The four apps were taken from Vivo Interactive’s recent offerings and permit for live dealer social casino gambling.

This is the first time that Facebook will be launching a live gambling app. The four apps provide players with live roulette, live blackjack and live baccarat. This set of social gambling apps on Facebook from Vivo Interactive (VIVOi) has been described as the “world’s first suite of live dealer social casino games.”

Prior to this, Vivo Interactive (VIVOi) had released four apps on Facebook; however, these apps were in their trial stage in the Beta version. Now that the apps have been found to be working smoothly, both Facebook and Vivo Interactive (VIVOi) have decided to deploy the apps. Players will now be able to try Live Blackjack Early Payout, Live European Roulette, Live American Roulette and Live Baccarat. Facebook and ViVoi also announced that the transition from beta to actual deployment was a smooth move.

It must also be noted that there are other social apps that will be added to Facebook later from the same company.

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