Not only that, but any millions you make in a country that is trillions in debt is pretty good.

Mickey has fought to keep poker rooms away from Orlando and casinos out of Florida, but they're okay with gambling as long as it's not brick and mortar and they get a cut...

Disney to Invest $250 Million in Fantasy Site DraftKings [wsj.com via google news]

Quote:

...

In return for Disney’s investment, DraftKings has committed to spend large sums of advertising dollars – just north of $500 million – on ESPN’s platforms in coming years, the people said. That provision is a major attraction of the deal for Disney.

...

There is still some uncertainty in the media world as to whether such services constitute online gambling. DraftKings says on its website the business it is in is a “game of skill” and is 100% legal under U.S. and Canadian law.

...

Sheldon Adelson Rep Drowned Out at Pennsylvania Online Gaming Committee Hearing [cardschat.com]

Abboud Ignores Davis

This was too good an opportunity to pass up for Representative Tina Davis, herself a primary sponsor of one of Pennsylvania’s three online gaming bills.

Davis asked Abboud about recent fines imposed on the Sands Bethlehem by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. Abboud declined to answer the question...

Pennsylvania Hearing Provides Positive, Insightful Testimony in Favor of Online Gaming [pokernews.com]

Chief Adelson lackey and Las Vegas Sands executive Andy Abboud spewed so much nonsense at the hearing that the Poker Players Alliance produced an eight-page document [.pdf] [theppa.org] directly refuting 18 of his points.

The positive reviews are from pro-poker sites only. What I wonder is how many of those in a position of power actually read the 8 page document and took it seriously, well...more serious than how they take their wealthy anti-Ipoker backers anyway. Are there any from the opposition that wrote articles about this hearing? Would be nice to hear both sides, or at least some kind of semi-honest response from some of these politicians.

Sheldon Adelson calls allegations over casino dealings 'delusional' [theguardian.com]

Adelson’s claims ran into problems when he was confronted with emails that showed other members of the company board had a high opinion of Jacobs.

One email to a company director written by Adelson’s deputy, Michael Leven, described Jacobs as having saved the Macau operation from going under.

...

In court, Adelson responded by saying Jacobs had “hypnotised” Leven.

Combative Adelson rails against 'greedy bosses' in entertaining court testimony [theguardian.com]

Steven Jacobs negotiated a deal for millions of dollars in stock options on top of his salary. Adelson was outraged. He said bonuses and stock options were like being paid two or three salaries when one would be perfectly fine.

There was an appellate reversal in a case involving the Ho-Chunk nation regarding their video poker machines and their designation under IGRA. This ruling declares them as Class II gaming.

http://host.madison.com/news/local/h...0fd0fc46e.html

Might there be implications here for internet poker?

Comes down the same grey area of whether or not Internet poker is a technologic aid to playing poker (Class II gaming) or an electronic facsimile of poker (Class III gaming).

The "video poker" referred to in the article in regards to this court decision is not actually video poker machines. It is electronic poker tables (e.g. PokerPro tables by PokerTek), with players competing live against each other.

There was never a question in the case as to whether or not these tables were non-house-banked. It was a question as to whether or not it is illegal to everyone else in the state to offer poker. In 1999 the state changed its laws to make these poker tables at taverns a civil offense rather than a criminal offense. The appeals judge ruled that thereby poker is not prohibited to everyone in the state (i.e., its not a criminal offense), and therefore these tables would be allowed to the tribe as Class II (non-house-banked) poker.

There is also the requirement under IGRA that Class II gaming is only allowed to be conducted "on Indian lands". Internet poker probably violates this injunction as the players are placing their wagers from outside the Indian lands.

These are the legal issues that still have to be determined. I don't think this ruling changes much for online poker.

Texas congressman presses push to legalize online poker [reviewjournal.com]

Barton, who is supporting former Texas Gov. Rick Perry for the GOP presidential nod, also believes President Barrack Obama would sign a bill legalizing Internet poker. Barton said the president told him so a few years ago.

“It’s not binding but we had a phone conversation and he told me to get an Internet poker bill on his desk and he would sign it,” Barton said. “He hasn’t said that publicly, but I think he would sign it.”

I've gone from missing online poker to missing the big sweats we used to have when there was a federal bill introduced. Let's sweat this one.

lol This sucks. Online was so fun

Go Go Go!!!

Repeat after me, it's a skill game....


Yahoo Will Enter Daily Fantasy Sports Market [nytimes.com]

Fantasy sports operate under an exemption to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, which outlawed online poker and sports betting. Lobbyists from the National Football League, as well as from other professional leagues, successfully pushed to have fantasy sports deemed a “game of skill.” Most states permit the games, but the betting is illegal in five: Arizona, Montana, Louisiana, Iowa and Washington.

Ken Fuchs, Yahoo’s vice president for publisher products, said that fantasy sports were different from gambling because they relied on the skills of the player. Yahoo already runs cash leagues for fantasy sports that last the length of a season, and the daily games are no different.