British Prime Minister Thwarts Gaming Reform

In the US, Bill Frist became the gambling prohibition poster boy, defined by his role as online gambling's personal escort into the Dark Ages. The global envy of US gambling minded citizens and free market philosophers was heightened by the UK's apparent rational response to online gaming; seeking to legislate and regulate the terrain. Well, the US need not be jealous any more. The UK has its own gambling Dark Ages' poster boy and it's none other than new Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

The UK has been working for seven years on comprehensive gambling reform embodied in the Gambling Act of 2005, which was due to take effect in September 2007. Along with regulating remote gambling via the internet, they constructed a responsible gambling advertising policy, as well as paved the way for highly regulated Vegas-style casino operations.

Governments across the globe waited in anticipation for the UK's planned enactment in the hope that they could emulate the policies that finally harnessed offshore online gaming into a regulatory framework. Large casino operators eyed some of England's more economically mired municipalities as fertile ground for new investment. And although heavily regulated, lifting the ban on gaming advertising represented a potentially huge infusion of cash into media-related industries. But most of what took years of work and sizable investment by the government and private entities alike, has been undone by PM Gordon Brown in just a few short months.

On June 27, 2007, Gordon Brown assumed the office of British Prime Minister, but his heavy hand on gambling reform was felt even before he assumed the office. In his previous office as Chancellor of the Exchequer, it was Brown's job to establish the government's budget, including associated tax rates. The lynchpin to regulating online gaming hinged on being able to set a low enough tax rate to lure offshore companies into the UK's legal framework. Government pundits and industry analysts were banking on a proposed remote gambling duty in the range of 2-3%. But when Brown pitched the budget to the House of Commons earlier this year, he tagged the remote gambling duty at 15%; a tax everyone knew, including Brown, would be prohibitive. John Coates, chairman of the Remote Gambling Association, said that instead of attracting offshore gambling companies to the UK, the 15% duty would effectively penalize companies that chose to operate in the UK. "The UK has effectively turned its back on the industry. It will now be almost impossible for a UK-based operator to compete with offshore businesses."

If people thought that Brown's only mission was to derail online gaming reform, they were shocked by his July 11th announcement to suspend awarding the UK's first super casino license. Particularly dumbfounded were the MP's and businesses from the north-west. In January 2007, Manchester was selected as the site of a Vegas-style casino. After a lengthy and expensive bidding process, Manchester is now kissing goodbye it's hard fought and won effort to secure 2700 new jobs and £200 million in new investments. Also stymied were large casino operators like Harrah's and Genting who had both made sizable acquisitions in the UK late last year. Harrah's acquired London Clubs International, a company that operated seven casinos in the UK and had four more under development. In October 2006, Genting picked up Stanley Leisure, the UK's largest casino operator. The strategy for both Harrah's and Genting was basically the same; to get a foothold in the UK's evolving gaming industry. But with Brown's recent gambling-related decisions, there looks to be less evolution and more retraction on the UK gambling policy front.

In March 2007, the UK regulators rolled out their new rules for gambling advertising with predictably strict guidelines for advertising to children and the "vulnerable members of society." But last week, just days after the dropping the super casino bomb, the British government announced that it was reviewing its decision to lift the ban on gambling advertising. The ban was to be lifted in September, coinciding with the enactment of the Gaming Act of 2005. The review timetable is less than encouraging as a government spokesperson announced it would take "as long as it takes."

The UK's gaming reform experiment was seven years in the making and was poised to be an interesting counterpoint to current US policy. But what took seven years to plan took one man only four months to unravel. And in that context, the UK's gaming policy experience is starting to mirror our own; the exercise of one man's will.

Italian gambling market report highlights success of liberalization

A report by Research and Markets entitled "The Italian Gambling Market - A Forerunner in the Liberalisation of European Gambling Markets" favourably portrays Italy as one of the most promising online gambling sectors in Europe.

Italy recently reversed its state-run monopoly policies in favour of a more liberal and regulatory online gambling industry. The about-face has been a talking point in many online bingo hall chat rooms and caught the attention of online bingo operators looking for new markets.

The report says the Italian decision was largely influenced by the European Court of Justice’s decision regarding the Placanica case. The decision resulted in allowing European online and land-based gambling operators to enter the Italian market. This, says the report, has resulted in Italy becoming a major focus for the online gambling industry.

Italy has subsequently issued 14 000 betting licenses to leading international gambling operators including Ladbrokes, Intralot, William Hill, Betfair and Gala/Eurobet.

The study points to several reasons why the Italian market is now identified by online gambling operators as attractive. These include an expected extra phase of liberalisation and the growing market relevance of foreign operators.

Chef Cooks Up Scheme To Pay Gambling Debts

A Rochester chef got burned on charges of insurance fraud and attempted grand larceny in connection with a scheme he allegedly cooked up so he could pay off $5,000 in gambling debts, the New York State Insurance Department has reported.

Hung Tran, 24, of 99 Villa St., was released from jail pending a future court date following his arrest by the New York State Insurance Frauds Bureau and Rochester Police. He faces up to seven years in jail if found guilty.

According to the charges, Tran, an executive chef, filed a false report that his car had been stolen so he could obtain insurance money. He filed the report after allegedly giving the car to a bookmaker for gambling debts.

Challenge coming to new gambling device law

Several Clinton County businesses are considering suing the state over a reinvigorated state law forcing a crackdown on electronic gambling machines because they say it is unconstitutional.

Indiana House Bill 1510, in effect since July 1, clarified the use and possession of electronic gambling machines, such as the so-called Cherry Master and digital coin slots, as illegal.

Clinton County prosecutor Anthony Sommer's enforcement has business owners fuming because his 2006 election campaign suggested turning a blind eye to the issue.

The revision clarifies a person or business operating an electronic gaming device where one is risking money or property for gain as a Class D felony when the device owner profits, said Sommer. He estimated 19 businesses have been affected.

"I am looking at shutting down," said Bill Eldridge, who removed three machines from his Ganderville Diner in Michigantown. "That revenue helped the business and the community."

Fair Gaming Committee, a contingent of businesses represented by former Clinton County prosecutor Louis Evans, is seeking clubs and businesses statewide to fight the law. They says the law is unconstitutional because it allows game machines only in state-licensed casinos and race tracks.

The goal, they say, is a state-regulated system, such as Illinois' tax stamp, in which a yearly fee allows business owners to provide electronic gambling. Now violators there can lose their alcohol, tobacco or retail permits.

"This bill affects the entire state of Indiana, not just Clinton County," said Jim McDaniel of Frankfort, committee president and Two Bit Coffee Shop owner. "We don't want preferential treatment, just equal treatment."

The previous law's ambiguity about what machines were allowed let businesses believe they were legal and made enforcement spotty, Sommer said.

"Now I think it is clear under the law that these devices should be used by places that are licensed," he said. "And those are riverboat casinos and horse race tracks."

Committee members contend games such as video poker provide enjoyment for patrons who can't afford traveling to riverboat casinos. And, they say, the revenue often helps cover business costs or is given to charity.

That is cause for enforcement, said Jerry Long, executive director of the Indiana Council on Problem Gambling.

"Anyone can get access to these machines," he said, calling the revenue hidden money.

Tom Click, owner of Main Street Smoke Shop in Frankfort, said he donated heavily to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, thanks to regular players on 10 gaming machines.

"We gave a lot of money," he said. "Now we can't."

Since the law, Main Street reduced operation to 12 hours a day. It had been a 24-hour-a-day business.

But, like McDaniel, Click said he will stay open despite lost business.

Push to expand gambling hits snag

House Speaker Michael Madigan said Monday that no gambling expansion will emerge from the General Assembly because of a disagreement over how the money should be used, a setback to lawmakers hoping gambling money would help resolve the budget impasse.

With the legislature in its seventh week of overtime, the Southwest Side Democrat's prediction came after a meeting on gambling with other legislative leaders and officials representing Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

"Based on this meeting, there's a lack of an agreement," Madigan said. "That means there won't be a gaming bill."

The speaker has co-sponsored legislation with House Minority Leader Tom Cross (R-Oswego) to expand the number of gambling positions on current riverboat casinos and use the new proceeds for a capital program for schools, roads and other projects.

"If you're interested in passing a gaming bill, it's going to be a coalition of Democrats and some Republicans," Madigan said. "It will not be all Democrats. And so Cross and I have worked on a gaming bill for capital, came to a position, set that position out. There's a lack of agreement with the Senate and the governor's office."

Senate President Emil Jones (D-Chicago) said more gambling could provide money for capital and education operations. He wants a casino in Chicago and more boats elsewhere.

The gambling meeting ended abruptly when Madigan, Cross and Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson (R-Greenville) made it clear that gambling revenues should be used only for capital projects, prompting Jones to say the meeting should be shut down if that restriction is put on the money, said Rep. Robert Molaro (D-Chicago).

"Then Mike said, 'Well, then let's shut it down,' and we got up and left," Molaro said.

A governor's aide said Madigan had been open to using gambling proceeds for school operations, but Madigan's spokesman strongly disagreed.

Madigan has pressed for a budget adding $105 million a year to Chicago schools.

The governor's office said it wants more gambling talks.

Neteller official pleads guilty in online gambling case

A Canadian man who helped create a company to process Internet gambling transactions pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge Tuesday, about two weeks after another founder of Neteller PLC entered a guilty plea of his own.

John David Lefebvre, 55, a Neteller co-founder, entered the plea in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, where prosecutors are trying to stop companies that operate overseas from violating U.S. laws against Web-based gambling. Neteller PLC is based in the Isle of Man.

In a plea deal, he agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and testify if necessary. He also agreed to be partly responsible for the $100 million (€73 million) the government is seeking in restitution.

Although the conspiracy charge carried a potential prison term of up to five years, cooperation in the case was likely to greatly reduce any potential sentence.

The government has said that nearly all of the $5.1 billion (€3.7 billion) in transactions processed in the first half of 2006 involved online gambling — and most of the revenue was generated by U.S. customers.

Lefebvre said he agreed in 1999 to help create a set of companies that became Neteller.

Although the companies were originally created to enable the transfer of money online, the majority of the business eventually focused on Internet gambling transactions, he said. By March 1, 2004, the company had nearly 170 employees, 600,000 member accounts and 1,000 merchants registered.

He said he later "came to see that providing online services for gambling customers in the United States was wrong."

Neteller co-founder Stephen Lawrence previously pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy, saying he learned as well that providing payment services to online gambling Web sites serving customers in the United States was wrong.

Both men were arrested in January after a probe of the company. Days after the arrests, the company, which was founded in 1999, stopped handling transactions for U.S. customers.

Lefebvre and Lawrence are no longer on the company's board of directors.

Brown hints at gambling u-turn

Manchester felt like it had won the lottery but lost the winning ticket, after the Prime Minister poured cold water on its Supercasino victory.

The city was the surprise winning bidder to house Britain's first Supercasino, bringing a cash bonanza of £200 million investment and 2,700 jobs to east Manchester, which has some of the country's most deprived communities.

But the Prime Minister dropped a heavy hint in the House of Commons that he was thinking about a U-turn on using gambling to regenerate deprived areas. His comments were met with "shock and surprise" by the city's business leaders.

Chris Fletcher, policy director of Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, said: "I think following the announcement today we are amazed and a bit shocked about what Mr Brown has said. The idea behind the Supercasino in east Manchester was that it would lever further private investment money into the area as a catalyst for the regeneration already going on.

"Manchester won fair and square. It also brings into question how much time and money has it all cost? There has been an awful lot of time and money wasted. We are waiting with baited breath what these other proposals might be.

"These areas are desperately in need of significant investment to kick-start crucial regeneration work. If we are hearing it's not going to happen, what has Mr Brown got to replace it to make sure these people have access to jobs?"

Earlier, the Prime Minister told the Commons that regeneration may be a better way of meeting the economic and social needs of hard-pressed areas than the creation of supercasinos. Answering a Commons question from Labour's Andy Reed (Loughborough), Mr Brown said there would be a period of "reflection" over the summer.

Mr Brown added: "This is an issue on which there is no consensus found in the two Houses of Parliament. And it is an issue now subject to reflection over the next few months. In September we will have a report that will look at gambling in our country - the incidence and prevalence of it and the social effects of it.

"I hope that during these summer months we can look at whether regeneration in the areas for the supercasinos may be a better way of meeting their economic and social needs than the creation of supercasinos."

A British Casino Association (BCA) spokesman said British casinos had been making an "important" contribution to the UK's leisure industry for more than 40 years. He said the industry looks forward to continuing to provide "many millions of customers" with "first rate facilities" when the Gambling Act comes fully in to force later this year.

Online Gambling Big Business in Burma

Despite vigorous official attempts by the authorities to stamp it out, o­nline gambling in Burma has become a multimillion kyat business among the country’s better-off middle class.

The risk of heavy legal penalties is ignored by bookmakers cashing in o­n the love affair between the typical Burmese punter and the twin attractions of football and gambling. Financial restrictions, such as the lack of a credit card system, are also overcome by cash-only operations. Even ceasefire groups are involved, a sports journal editor told The Irrawaddy.

The Burmese bookmakers are so successful at skirting the law that during last year’s World Cup football contest Thai operators slipped in from neighboring Thailand, where o­nline gambling is also outlawed.

With the qualifying rounds of the 2008 European Football Championship contest under way and the start of Asia Cup matches, big money is being posted o­n Internet sites accessed by Burmese gamblers. Mandalay bookmaker Aung Ko told The Irrawaddy about 20 regular customers place bets with him worth 80 million kyat (US $62,400) a week. The minimum stake is 100,000 kyat (about $90).

Aung Ko said he is o­ne of at least four Mandalay bookmakers running their business o­nline. “My business has made me very rich in a short period,” he said.

Other o­nline bookmakers operate in Rangoon, Taunggyi and Monywa. All deal through a leading Rangoon operator. Because of the difficulty of handling o­nline currency dealings and the lack of a credit card mechanism, debts are collected and payouts made in cash.

Support Grows for Antigua in US Internet Gambling Dispute

The small island nation of Antigua and Barbuda has gained support from fellow members of the Caribbean Community (CariCom) economic bloc in its online gambling dispute with the US.

In June, the Caribbean nation filed suit in US District Court against America’s Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, the US Federal Trade Commission and the US Federal Reserve to stop the enforcement of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA).

The Antiguan suit claimed formal annual trade sanctions of $3.4 billion for the nation’s 80,000 citizens to offset losses to the islands’ Internet gambling community and overall economy.

CariCom is a 15-member organisation created in 1973 to give small Caribbean nations trading leverage against larger markets. It is currently holding its 28th Heads Of Government conference in Barbados and has thrown its weight behind Antigua in calling on the American Government to respect a recent World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruling, which stated that UIGEA restricts access to foreign trade and should be brought in line with international trade agreements, a stance the United States is fighting.

“This matter has been fully ventilated at the conference and the position of CariCom is that Antigua and Barbuda should be fully supported by CariCom in this matter because it should have serious implications for the region going forward as we seek to develop the financial services sector in the region,” said Baldwin Spencer, Prime Minister of Antigua.

Text Message Gambling?

Can a rubber ducky keep NBC dealing in dough from cellphone messages?

During each episode of the NBC game show, “Deal or No Deal,” a contestant tries to guess how much money is in 26 briefcases. Viewers at home on their couch can also participate by text messaging in guesses. The on-air contestant has the chance to win $1 million; at-home viewers have the chance to win $10,000.

Only catch: at-home viewers pay a 99 cent charge each time they send in a premium text message to enter.

Some of the most popular television shows like “Deal or No Deal,” “The Apprentice” and “One vs. 100″ have been raking in cash from similar text message contests. (They share the revenues with cell phone carriers.) The 99 cent charges are clearly disclosed to viewers. Yet, some viewers are upset about it.

Two game show fans in Georgia, a hairdresser and a secretary, have filed a class-action suit in Los Angeles alleging that these shows’ contests equate to gambling. The suits, reported in Advertising Age in late June, were first dismissed by a judge in Georgia before being filed in federal court in Los Angeles.

The issue at hand, whether the text message contests are promotions or lotteries, is a tricky one. Advertisers and media companies routinely run promotions where users pay to enter contests. Take the famous bottle cap contests long run by Coca Cola and Pepsi. Consumers buy a soda to see if they can win the grand prize. The difference here, the lawsuits say, is that losers in those contests still get to drink the soda whereas losers in premium text message campaigns are left with zero. They gambled - like they would in a lottery or at a casino - and lost.

It’s unclear if the lawsuits will go anywhere, but in the meantime, Limbo, a cell phone entertainment company, is promoting its Web site as a solution to the problem. Limbo has created a point system for text message contests, which lets people who participate in contests earn points that can be redeemed for CDs, magazines, toys and other goodies. Limbo says that the game shows should offer all viewers who participate in their text message contests something in exchange.

It’s not quite $1 million, but maybe the rubber ducky on Limbo’s site will do.

Playboy Mansion to launch in gambling resort of Macau

The Playboy Mansion is coming to Macau.

After opening a club at the Palms Resort in Las Vegas in October, Hugh Hefner plans to take on gambling's next frontier with a Macau venue complete with revealingly dressed female "bunny" dealers, his daughter said Tuesday.

The 40,000-square feet (3,600 square meters) Playboy Mansion Macau will feature a pool and grotto, restaurants, several dozen gaming tables and a villa-style hotel, drawing its inspiration from the original Playboy Mansion in the U.S., known worldwide for its glamorous parties, Playboy Enterprises Chief Executive Christie Hefner told reporters.

She said the new mansion, scheduled to open in late 2009, will take up twice the space of the new Las Vegas club.

Playboy, which sells clothing at 620 outlets in China and runs boutiques in Bangkok and Tokyo, hopes to capitalize on the brand appeal in Asia and the rosy prospects of the world's biggest gaming market.

Macau, located an hour by high-speed ferry west of Hong Kong, has seen its gambling revenue grow rapidly since the government ended a monopoly in 2002, letting in Las Vegas casino brands like the Wynn and Sheldon Adelson's Sands and Venetian.

It overtook the Las Vegas Strip in gaming revenue last year.

"Asia ... is a very important region for us," Christie Hefner said. She said Playboy, which reported a loss in 2005 and earned profit of only US$2.3 million (euro1.7 million) in 2006, sold US$800 million (euro594 million) in retail consumer products last year, with 40 percent coming from Asia.

Hefner, who declined to say how much the new mansion will cost, said gambling fits with Playboy's core adult entertainment business.

"Well-regulated gaming, whether it's in Las Vegas or Macau, is a natural adjunct of the Playboy lifestyle," she said.

The executive dismissed worries that Playboy's presence in Macau will feed into the seedy image of a city also known for its shady nightlife and prostitution.

"Whatever negative connotations that may have existed in the past around Macau have long been supplanted by this rebirth," she said, noting the Wynn and Venetian casinos.

Playboy Mansion Macau will be part of the planned US$2 billion (euro1.5 billion) Macau Studio City, a 333,000 square meter (3.7 million square foot) complex that combines casinos, shopping malls, hotels, movie sets and TV studios.

Macau Studio City is a joint venture between Hong Kong-listed eSun Holdings and U.S.-based New Cotai LLC.

Taubman Asia, a unit of U.S.-based retail mall developer Taubman Centers, will develop its shops, and U.S.-listed Melco PBL Entertainment (Macau) Ltd., one of six gambling license holders in Macau, will help manage the casino.

Playboy's new Las Vegas and Macau properties mark its return to a once-successful club operation as its traditional businesses -- video sales and magazines -- struggle.

At its height, Playboy ran 22 clubs in cities from Chicago and New York to Tokyo and Manila. The clubs had all closed by 1991, with interest dampened by feminism and proliferation of adult content.

E.U. Internet gambling sanctions against other countries

United States may not be the only country getting a pounding from the E.U. via sanctions because of their Internet gambling laws.

According to new reports, the European Commission will censure France, Greece and Sweden this week for restrictions they have placed on sports gambling.

"There will be some decisions made probably tomorrow by the college (of commissioners) on a number of member states. This concerns France, Greece and Sweden for the moment. Those are the decisions on the calendar for tomorrow," Oliver Drewes, a spokesman for the European Union's executive arm, told a regular briefing.

A final warning was issued to France and Sweden last week by the European Commission. Greece was also warned, but for a first time.

However, the E.U. will not seek a legislation to be adopted by the entire Union, instead they will seek sanctions, just as they would do in the similar case against the United States and its Internet gambling laws.

The Commission has opened legal actions against many EU states, saying a string of European Court of Justice rulings have given it the basis to crack down on national restrictions to competitors.

Swansea all of a flutter over casino

Steps to get Swansea ready for a small casino licence are being examined this week.

Swansea Council Cabinet is being asked to support proposals on Thursday (June 28) aimed at preparing the way for securing a casino operator in the city under new legislation.

Swansea was one of several cities in the UK backed by the Secretary of State to receive a small casino licence under the Gambling Act 2005 only to see the recommendation turned down by the House of Lords.

But indications now suggest the rejection will be reconsidered and that another order will be brought back to Parliament for approval.

Small casino licences under the new legislation would allow a minimum total customer area of 750 square metres and would permit up to 80 gaming machines with a maximum jackpot of £4,000.

Bingo would not be permitted but other betting services would be allowed.

Draft guidelines currently in consultation would allow licensing authorities to invite applications from casino operators in order to consider which development would bring the greatest economic benefit to the area.

The report going before Cabinet for approval recommends that a process for inviting applications is prepared and that guidelines are put in place to assess them.

The proposals also suggest that Swansea Council officers continue to participate in a network set up by the 17 Authorities subject to Parliamentary consideration and that consultation takes place to determine what benefits the public would expect from a new small casino licence.

Swansea Council Leader, Cllr Chris Holley, said:
"We would welcome a reconsideration by Parliament of the new casino licences as the new licence would allow Swansea to broaden its leisure offering while ensuring better regulated gambling conducted in a fair and transparent way.

"There has already been considerable interest in Swansea expressed by operators and this is why it's important to have processes in place to determine applications if the small casino licence gets the go-ahead.

"We need to establish what benefits people think such a development would bring and what the social and economic impact of an application would be.

"These recommendations, if backed by Cabinet, would ensure comprehensive procedures are in place prior to any reconsideration in London and the applications that may follow."

Gambling Industry Will Be Worth $144 billion by 2011

A report published by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP has predicted that the global gambling industry may be worth as much as $144 billion in 2011 following an annual compounded growth rate of 7.2 per cent.

According to the report, the value of the industry, which is currently worth $101.6 billion, is set to soar thanks to a surge of new casinos being built worldwide and the revamping of existing casinos.

The Asia/Pacific region will be the main catalyst behind the increase, especially the Chinese resort of Macau. Revenue is expected to increase from $14.6 billion to $30.3 billion, a 15.7% improvement.

Revenue in the U.S will rise by 6.7 percent a year from $57.5 billion to $79.6 billion, allowing the country to hold on to its title as the world’s largest casino market.

Gambling revenue in the Europe, the Middle East and Africa will see a slight increase of 1.9 per cent, rising from $25.2 billion to $27.8 billion.

Gambling in the Unites States

American gambling came a long, long way in the 20th century. In the early 1900’s, legal gaming was virtually non-existent in this country. Gambling was widespread among people of all races and classes, but it was almost always illegal in nearly every form thanks to the moralists who succeeded in eliminating state sanctioned gambling at nearly every level. Even the state sanctioned lotteries that financed the government in the formative years of the USA were outlawed, a byproduct of Victorian age thinking. Luckily, this nationwide anti-gaming stance wouldn’t last long.

Nevada was the lone state that remained a wide open gambling haven at the turn of the century, but even the Silver State was under pressure from the federal government and it’s neighbor to the West, California, to close down their gambling houses. By 1909, the anti-gamblers triumphed, finally gaining the support of enough lawmakers to eliminate gambling houses. The new legislation, signed by Governor Denver Dickerson, made it illegal to deal of play a wide range of card and dice games; outlawed slot machines; and ended a brief period of legal bookmaking on horse races.

Gamblers struck back, slowly but surely repealing the bans. In the roaring 1920’s, as American around the country drank illegal liquor in defiance of the government, pro and anti gaming forces used Nevada as a battleground. In the end, money talked. With the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, the widespread economic malaise in the state led many prominent Nevada businessmen to support the legalization of gaming.

On March 19th, 1931, Governor Fred Balzar signed a bill that allowed Nevadans to gamble freely at all sorts of games, many of which we still play today, as long as they were played at a licensed establishment. Roulette, blackjack, poker, craps, keno and slots were all legitimized; licensed and regulated by the government. The acceptance of gambling had begun.

Sportsbetting flourished in the 1930’s, after suffering a major public relations disaster following the ‘Black Sox’ World Series scandal of 1919. Every major boxing match drew more action in bets than it did at the gate. Famous racehorses like Seabiscuit, immortalized in a recent film of the same name, attracted enormous wagers from rich and poor alike. Para-mutual wagering ensured that the bookmakers would profit regardless of which horse emerged victorious, making that form of gambling even more attractive to the house.

I’ve written about the development of the pointspread before, in my article about the early days in the NFL, a league built by gamblers, for gamblers. You can read that article RIGHT HERE. Suffice it to say that sportsbetting just got bigger and bigger throughout the 1930’s and 40’s, with the pendulum swinging towards gambling liberalization at the time.

Bingo took America by storm in the 1930’s as well, a cultural craze for rich and poor alike during those tough economic times. Legal, state sanctioned lotteries regained popularity around this time as well, in an effort to take the ‘numbers game’ out of the hands of organized crime. Why should the mafia profit instead of the government?

Poker was always big, but it got even bigger during World War II. Soldiers worldwide are reknown for their love of gambling. Heck, with their lives on the line, they were gambling for far bigger stakes than money every day.

Tomorrow, I’ll write about some of the more famous poker players of this era – guys like Richard Nixon, who earned the money for his first congressional election onboard his Navy boat in WWII.

Ohio gambling: all bets off but lottery

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland's vow this week to quash any attempts at expanded gambling in the state - including a new electronic horse-race betting scheme at the tracks - is welcome news to Ohioans concerned about the corrosive creep of glitzy "gaming opportunities."

In particular, he called for a stop to cash payouts from gambling machines, whether they're deemed to be games of skill or chance. Strickland and Attorney General Marc Dann cited some solid reasons for the proposed bans:

Voters have rejected proposals to expand gambling, and the state shouldn't allow operators to "circumvent the will of the voters."

No argument on those points. But still, I'd hold the applause after reading the other rationale Strickland floated, almost as an aside: The new machines are starting to eat into state lottery profits. Bingo! So to speak. It doesn't take too much of a cynic to see the real, not-so-noble motivation here - protecting state government from those who would muscle in and threaten its monopoly on the misery market. Ohio is protecting its turf through the statutory equivalent of breaking a few kneecaps - and rescuing us from the likes of "Tic-Tac-Fruit."

If Strickland were really that serious about following the voters' will and promoting Ohioans' well-being, he'd push to end the lottery altogether. After all, it never delivered as promised (listen to the school-funding debate lately?), and it amounts to a regressive tax that takes a disproportionate toll on lower-income Ohioans.

The state persists in the sorry business of making suckers out of what are very often its poorest citizens. Now that's immoral. Is it too much to ask that government come by its revenue honestly and honorably?

California Gambling Market Up For Grabs Due To Casino Expansion

It used to be that if people wanted to gamble, they took their vacation time and fled to the hollowed ground of Las Vegas, Nevada. The rest of the states are now catching up, and Vegas will soon face its biggest competition for the California market, as a Sacramento casino is trying to keep locals home.

The United Auburn Indian Community runs The Thunder Valley Casino, a gambling facility, that, four years ago, began challenging Las Vegas for patrons from california. Now, the casino is planning on renevations that could further deter these patrons away from Vegas, and towards Sacramento.

Thunder Valley announced plans to add a performing arts center, ballrooms, a 23 story hotel, and most importantly, more casino space to the already existing casino.

Although many believe this expansion will put pressure on the Reno casinos, Thunder Valley officials do not see Reno as a rival.

Spokesman Doug Elmets said,"Thunder Valley does not look at Reno as a competitor. We see Reno as complimentary to what we do and plan to do."