Group items tagged

"Boom… Prior to 2006, Internet-based gambling was effectively legal in the United States. Although the Federal Wire Act from 1961 prohibited transmission of sports betting information using telecommunications services, in 2002 a U.S. appeals court ruled that the sports-related provisions in the Wire Act did not preclude Internet gambling. Although some states and jurisdictions did have laws on the books specifically prohibiting online gambling, many did not - and so started a bit of an online gold rush as online gambling companies tried to capture chunks of the lucrative U.S. market."

The world's largest Internet poker company, PokerStars, is settling with the government to the tune of $731 million more than a year after a crackdown on online gambling. And, in possibly the best part of the deal, the company is also buying former competitor Full Tilt Poker and paying back its customers, who were left locked out of their accounts after the site's U.S. operations were shut down last April. In the agreement with the Manhattan branch of the Department of Justice, PokerStars will forfeit $547 million to the government over three years. The payment will settle civil charges that the company engaged in fraud to sidestep U.S. regulations on online gambling.

Let's start with the obvious: When it comes to the green stuff, no game company is, well, playing games. But Zynga is about to enter a whole new playing field. CEO and co-founder Mark Pincus recently announced that his social gaming giant will enter the real-money gaming (or online gambling) business outside the U.S. in 2013. In fact, Zynga already has products in the pipeline. "What we've said, and what we have to announce today, is that we have our first products in development and that we intend to release them in markets that are regulated and open, subject to our getting licensing," Pincus said during an unfortunate analyst conference call, TechCrunch reports.

Full Tilt Poker CEO Raymond Bitar says he will do "whatever is required" to return millions of dollars to online poker players who lost access to their cash after the site was closed down by the government. Bitar, 40, was arrested on Monday at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, according to Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. Bitar was charged last year with gambling, bank fraud and money laundering in connection with the operation of Full Tilt Poker.

"Big Fish Games Inc. is introducing a version of its gambling application Big Fish Casino with real-money betting in the U.K., where it is legal, the Seattle-based company said. It will arrive in Apple Inc. (AAPL)'s App Store in the coming weeks, and Betable Ltd., a London-based partner of Big Fish, will process bets in the program."

"I started playing at 6 p.m. on a Friday and found myself still going at 9 a.m. the next morning…But wait, I needed to get a job! Hold on I had just found one! The low buy-in tournament I entered with my promo money was coming to a close - and I was in second place! $1850! Not bad for a night's work. And so, that's how I entered the online poker world. Back in 2006 these sites had so much traffic and the U.S. market was so wide open that the sites would essentially just give players free money to get them to play on their site"

Brent Beckley, 32, joined Costa Rica-based Absolute Poker in 2003 and became its head of payment processing. Last December, he pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to conspiring to break U.S. laws against gambling on the Internet. He also pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud. [ID: nL1E7NKCPP]

Mark Pincus, chief executive of Zynga, said in a conference call with analysts today that the company will launch its first real-money online gambling poker game in the first half of 2013. The game will likely be launched outside the U.S., since real-money online gambling is still illegal in the vast majority of states. There are regulatory roadblocks in many countries, but Europe is pretty open. Pincus said the launch will be subject to online gambling regulatory reviews. Zynga's non-real-money poker game, Zynga Poker, accounted for 18 percent of revenue. In that game, users purchase poker chips with real money, but they cannot cash out any winnings

The answer to the question posed in the title of today's hearing - "Is There a Safe Bet?"- is a clear yes. That safe bet can be found in the licensing and regulation of online poker. The risky bet would be to leave unchanged current law that leaves consumers, minors and those with gambling problems vulnerable to unregulated offshore companies.

"The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Zynga is working hard to try and push online gambling in the United States. The company has spent as much as $75,000 to lobbying policy which would make online gambling legal in the US."