777 Online Gambling

On March 16th 2007 the Russian Sports Minister Vyacheslav Fetisov announced that poker has been classified as a sport in Russia. This is to a large extent the result of intense lobbying activities from Dmitry Lesnoy, President of the Russian Sport Poker Federation.

An important part of these efforts was the pro-gaming conference organized by Lesnoy in November 2006 where the Sport Poker Federation was formally established. Lesnoy’s argument, which seems to have caught on with state officials,…

Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank has been repeatedly quoted to the effect that “Why anyone thinks it is any of my business why some adult wants to gamble is absolutely beyond me.”

That’s a praiseworthy pronouncement. So is another time-tested Frank soundbite: “I spend a lot of my time trying to protect people from other people who are trying to treat them unfairly.”

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The merging of Paradise Poker into the Boss Media fold is now, finally, on the doorstep: the software shift is to be completed in May, and once done the network will be one of the busiest in Europe, with over 10,000 active, real-money players a day.

Considered one of the original online poker sites and a market leader since its launch in 1999, the shift for Paradise Poker will see Sportingbet retain the Paradise brand but give players access to a whole new realm of possibilities.

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There seems to be a general feeling that this new Internet gambling bill, HR 2046, doesn’t have much chance of passing. I think this and other controversial bills have a pretty good chance of becoming law. The Senate voted just the other day to deny funding the war in Iraq without setting a time limit for troop withdrawal.

The President has said this is unacceptable and he will veto this measure. At this point, the political process kicks in. Congress will agree to a more fluid date on the tr…

Sportsbook.com (Jazette Group) and its family of books remain in full slow pay mode; new worrisome information surfaced as the group downsizes by laying off personnel.

Even when part of publicly traded Sportingbet plc, Sportsbook.com and its family of books were known to provide some of the worst customer care in the industry. The situation significantly worsened when the group was privatized following U.S. congress approval of the UIGEA.

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But still abundant potential for online gambling, says consultancy report

The British company Global Betting and Gaming Consultants (GBGC) published an interesting market report this week, examining the impact of the US Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. And it concludes that this controversial legislation passed late last year may have had a slightly bigger effect on online gambling than was at first thought.

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Responding to the proposed legislation to legalize Internet gambling by Congressman Barney Frank on Thursday, Chad Hills, a Focus on the Family action analyst, stated in an interview with CNBC’s Melissa Francis, that internet gambling is at best, “social cannibalism”.

Mr. Hills is taking the far right religious position that internet gambling is bad because it entices young people to act irresponsibly, causes suicide, tears apart families, and ruins communities. Although this may occur in rar…