Ahead of a scheduled vote wherein Dutch legislators will consider UIGEA-style legislation designed to restrict access to the Dutch online gambling market for international court, a Netherlands Court has denied an appeal...
PPA launches Litigation Support Network
Each week there seems to be another poker raid making the news as police target games in homes, taverns and even charity events. Now the players being targeted have the Litigation Support Network to get advice and help from.
"As both the popularity of poker and the membership of PPA continue to grow, the Litigation Support Network is an opportunity to provide even more value to our members," said PPA Chairman Former Senator Alfonse D'Amato.
"With the myriad local, state and federal laws impacting poker, the Litigation Support Network is an important service that our members can and should use, and I encourage attorneys who want to defend poker players and this great American game of skill to join this effort."
The Litigation Support Network set up by the PPA provides its members with a free legal resource if they have questions as they organize a charity poker tournament, start a poker league or get arrested.
PPA members can contact the Litigation Support Network via the PPA Web site and obtain free preliminary legal advice over the phone. The organization can also provide a list of attorneys in the member's area who are willing to take their kind of case and provide more advice.
Additionally, the network of attorneys will be tapped to help prepare the PPA in the event the organization needs to litigate that poker is a game of skill, not a game of chance.
Patrick Fleming, an attorney and also the PPA state director for New Hampshire, is spearheading the Litigation Support Network.
"The patchwork of state and local laws relating to poker is leaving PPA members confused about what is legal and what is illegal," Fleming said.
"In our ongoing efforts to protect the rights of Americans to play poker, the establishment of the Litigation Support Network will provide members with an added level of security as they enjoy the game in their homes, at their local pub or as a way to help a local charity. I am honored to be leading this important effort on behalf of the PPA."
The Poker Players Alliance is a nonprofit membership organization with more than 900,000 online and offline poker players and enthusiast members from around the United States. They have joined together to promote the game of poker and ensure its integrity, and to protect poker players' rights.
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GamCare, eCOGRA preach responsible gambling
Both the U.K. problem gambling charity GamCare and eCommerce and Online Gambling Regulation and Assurance (eCOGRA) met in London last week with 40 online casino managers.
Delegates from around the world came to attend the two-day intensive training course, which featured lectures, case history studies and interactive training exercises supervised by expert GamCare officials Andrew Poole and Amy Webster.
Former U.K. Gaming Board Chief Inspector, GamCare Trustee and eCOGRA Independent Director Bill Calston said it was an important step for the industry.
"For both humanitarian and ethical reasons - and to correct adverse misperceptions by some - a comprehensive responsible gambling policy is a critical investment for any online gambling operation," he said. "eCOGRA has made huge strides in this area in developing a set of best practice requirements for online gambling operations and this third course on the subject will coach managers in how to apply these tools."
Poole, who is the managing director of GamCare's Trade Services Limited company, was responsible for conducting a review and explanation of the eCOGRA's procedure.
"This course will give you sufficient information and insight to set up a solid responsible gambling program at your companies if you have not already done so," he said, stressing the need for training and for making responsible gambling a part of corporate culture.
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Study: Massachusetts loses gambling revenue to neighbors
Just last week, the Massachusetts House of Representatives shot down a bill that would have licensed casinos in the state. A timely study may have some rethinking that decision. The study by researchers at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth found Massachusetts residents spent $1.1 billion at gambling ��...full article
Just last week, the Massachusetts House of Representatives shot down a bill that would have licensed casinos in the state. A timely study may have some rethinking that decision.
The study by researchers at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth found Massachusetts residents spent $1.1 billion at gambling establishments in Connecticut and Rhode Island last year. The two New England states generated more than $230 million in tax revenues from gambling conducted by Massachusetts residents.
According to a Boston Herald story:
[The study] found that Bay State citizens spent $846 million at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, and $195 million at Twin River and Newport Grand in Rhode Island in 2007.
The fifth annual study by professor Clyde Barrow says Massachusetts residents made more than eight million visits to gambling facilities in other New England states in 2007.
U.S. may offer settlement to Antigua
According to the Antigua Sun, it's hoped the proposed settlement will put an end to the five-year trade battle over Internet gaming between the two nations.
Antigua and Barbuda had filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization with regard to the United States' ban on Internet gambling. The WTO ruled that the U.S. laws obstructing online gambling are in violation of trade agreements it made as a part of the WTO.
Since then, Antigua has been battling for compensation in the matter. It was awarded $21 million per year in trade sanctions by a WTO arbitration panel in the initial ruling.
Rather than changing its laws to comply with the trade regulations, however, the United States chose to change its commitments to the WTO, which opened the nation up to compensation claims from other nations with an online gambling industry, as well as to a second claim from Antigua.
Antigua once again requested arbitration by the WTO to settle the claim, but the proposed settlement due on Monday, according to Mark Mendel, Antigua's attorney in the WTO dispute, could bring both aspects of the trade dispute to a close.
Mendel told the Antigua Sun that the proposal, if it is submitted, will address both the initial trade dispute as well as the withdrawal of the United States' commitments to the WTO.
"Any settlement that we do would be comprehensive. It would take in everything," Mendel said in the article. "They are (two separate issues) if we have to litigate them, but if we can settle something then it should all be settled in one go."
In previous news reports, Mendel had said that the United States had stopped efforts to negotiate a settlement. However, if the two parties can come to an acceptable agreement, they are not bound by the WTO arbitrator's previous decision.
Mendel indicated that he had no idea what might be in the United States' proposal, and they are just waiting to see what the proposal is and re-evaluate their position.
Several other countries have filed claims against the United States since it announced its withdrawal of online gambling from its WTO agreements. Costa Rica was the latest to reach a settlement agreement with the United States, along with Canada, Japan and the European Union.
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