Could the French monopolistic approach to online gambling be on the verge of positive change? The French press seemed to think so this week in reporting that the Sarkozy administration plans to liberalise the French online gambling scene by implementing a more open and competitive regulatory regime.

France has already been in detailed talks with European Commission officials about its protectionist policies, and has been the recipient of warnings from that EU enforcement body. The change in presidency could be the catalyst for real change, bringing France into compliance with European Union requirements for the free passage of trade and services between EU member nations.

Although the European Commission has not commented on the media reports, Patrick Partouche, head of the Partouche casino group, welcomed the news, although he cautioned that the legislation could take some time to be enacted, as it was likely that the French monopoly Francaise des Jeux would attempt to delay the move for as long as possible.

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An anticipated piece slated to air on CBS’ 60 Minutes regarding the online poker industry and a notorious “insider poker cheat” has much of the sector wondering what type of damage may occur as a result. Previous reports airing on 60 Minutes related to the industry have been fair for the most part though not entirely flattering. One investigation demonstrated “how easy it was for a minor to access an online casino with his or her parents credit card” even though the industry overall has addressed the issue of underage gambling quite well. It took a fourth attempt by the minor used to finally access an online casino that has not always proven among the most responsible - Golden Palace. They were later indicted we might add.

According to the Nat Arem Blog, 60 Minutes, in conjunction with a reporter from the Washington Post, contacted Arem regarding a story about the Absolute Poker scandal from last fall. Here is a quick recap of what transpired with this controversy:

In September 2007, Absolute Poker began defending itself following accusations made by members of several Internet forums that the online poker room has a “superuser” account which allows one player to read the hole cards of another during a game. By October, widespread Internet allegations of cheating led to the Kahnawake Gaming Commission opening an investigation. Kahnawake is the licensing arm of Absolute Poker and many other online gambling establishments, including Bodog Life.
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Although allegations had been made about several accounts, one of the most remarkable pieces of evidence was a complete history of a tournament in which a player called “POTRIPPER” played. This history was far more complete than normal, and included all hidden hole cards for all players. It was sent out, perhaps by accident, when a player complained about suspicious play.

Absolute Poker and Kahnawake would later confirm the “internal breach”.

The Kahnawake Gaming Commission issued its report on the incident in January 2008. Among other consequences, Absolute Poker was fined $500,000.

Absolute Poker also pointed their finger at AJ Green, whose real name is Alan John Grimard. The company insisted he was a mere “consultant”, and had no “management duties”.

Grimard was in fact a long time employee of Nine.com (formerly known as Grand Central Sports). He and a founder of Absolute Poker were friendly a few years prior to Grimard’s work with the online poker room. Nine.com and Absolute Poker shared an entire wing of a Costa Rican mall, though neither company was related.

This Can’t Be Good For Online Poker

While politicians and the powerful million plus member strong Poker Players Alliance appeared in Washington this week for a hearing on hopelessly bogged down Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act regulations, online poker players expressed concern over what direction the 60 Minutes piece might be taking.

60 Minutes has told Gambling911.com that much of what is being posted over the Internet is based on rumors and nothing more. They haven’t yet elaborated on the story.

But one thing is certain, exposing the Absolute “internal breach” to the masses will hurt not only Absolute Poker but all other online poker rooms - Full Tilt Poker, Poker Stars, Bodog and the list goes on. The average viewer will not differentiate one from the other. Bottom line: If it can happen at one Internet poker room, it can happen at all of them.

That’s not to say 60 Minutes shouldn’t venture into this territory. Gambling911.com finds it incomprehensible that Mr. Grimard is seemingly running around free and neither Absolute nor the Kahnawake Gaming Commission have filed a complaint against this individual. If the intention is to focus on Grimard, make no mistake about it - 60 Minutes will locate him. Absolute/Kahnawake or both would be wise to file a complaint against this person.

By most accounts, Absolute Poker has not been seriously hurt by the incident. Real cash player numbers have remained steady according to PokerSiteScout.com.

One of the reasons for this - despite a slow response time on the part of Absolute, they eventually reacted in the proper fashion by paying back any players who may have been affected by the breach. They also flew down two of the individuals who were especially vocal about the incident, supplied them with hookers, booze and more hookers - then everything was great. Not so - Grimard has yet to be held accountable to the best of our knowledge.

Gambling911.com refused to take part in this “dog and pony show” but Absolute Poker was eventually allowed back onto the G911 website as a sponsor after a one month period once they assured us this matter would be rectified and such an incident must never happen again. The assumption of course is that “engaging in such activity again would be the Absolute dumbest thing imaginable. Make no mistake about it, the principals behind this poker room weren’t exactly celebrating their names and photos being plastered all over the Net.

Regulation Needed

Having Absolute Poker on a short leash is one thing. Gambling911.com has no way of knowing whether customer accounts continue to be jeopardized. That’s up to the regulators who - we can presume - is Kahnawake.

While the relationship between Kahnawake and Absolute Poker seemed a “little too cozy” to some industry observers, it should be pointed out that Kahnawake has come a long way from the time when their only licensee was Sports Interaction, known for their notoriously poor customer service and slow pays. When concerns over a Kahnawake licensed establishment appear on the Gambling911.com website, their response time is often less than 10 minutes. The same cannot even be said of Antigua, which has yet to address the issue of Alladins Gold Sportsbook shutting down and stiffing all its customers. Alas, the owner is the richest man on the island.

So while regulation isn’t perfect, it is present to some degree and there is of course plenty of room for improvement.

Unfortunately, the US Government has expressed little interest in regulating what is now a billion dollar industry.

The best thing that could have happened to the online poker industry is the Absolute debacle. Operators are now placed on notice. Poker players are smart. They will eventually catch onto any monkey business that might be occurring and it could be said they are watching very closely these days.

But the worst thing that can happen in this industry is when an online gambling establishment abruptly shuts down and stiffs all of its customers. We here at Gambling911.com can name dozens over the last 10 years that have done just that. Absolute Poker did not go that route.

Grimard - and we suspect others - need to face the music however.

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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher CCostigan@CostiganMedia.com

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Apparently, the ban on online poker and gambling advertising in Sweden is over.

Prosecutors in the Scandinavian country were told to stop prosecuting cases against media outlets that were publishing or airing ads related to online poker and gambling from foreign sources.

According to pokerpages.com:

The order came from UC Malmo, a department of Sweden’s Prosecution Authority, according to reports by Gaming Intelligence Group. The decision arises from an appeal made on behalf of Aftonbladet and Expressen, two Swedish newspapers who were previously found guilty of breaching Sweden’s lottery laws by accepting such advertising, and who have been fighting for the past four years to appeal the court verdict.

In January, the former and present editors-in-chief of Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, Anders Gerdin and Jan Helin sent an open letter to European Commission (EC) head Charlie McCreevy, stressing how Sweden’s law did not permit free movement of trade and services relating to online gambling between the 27-member nations, particularly in the fields of poker and sports betting, as guaranteed by EU law. Following that open letter, the Swedish Court of Appeals was directed to examine the verdict. The appeals court ruled that the Swedish lottery laws were possibly in contradiction with certain articles of the European Court pact.

This news may mean online poker sites may start advertising in the country, which has generally taken a protectionist attitude against foreign online gambling and poker operations.

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UK gambling group Ladbrokes has delivered an impressive set of full-year results revealing a 60 percent rise in pre-tax profits and an almost 30 percent growth in gross wins.

The firm stated that its remote gambling division produced a 20 percent surge in pre-tax profits with the telephone service action generated by high roller wagering making a significant contribution to these results.

Online sportsbook operations were also strong performers with John O’Reilly, Head of Online Gaming for Ladbrokes, stating that these profits would enable more marketing activities in the future.

Overall, the firm reported full year earnings for 2007 of $833.36 million, up from 2006’s $520.25 million, leading to pre-tax profit increasing by impressive 60 percent. Gross wins rose almost 30 percent to $2.57 billion from the previous year’s $1.96 billion while remote gaming pre-tax profits grew to $109.14 million from 2006’s $87.91 million. Total e-gaming gross wins came in at $310.58 million up from the previous $286.55 million.

The firm’s sportsbook activities increased net revenues by 14.7 percent to $103.59 million and delivered a 7.2 percent margin while casino net revenues rose 5.1 percent to $85.33 million. However, revenues from poker dropped 11.4 percent to 61.52 million, which the company attributed to the ongoing competitive environment in the European market.

Ladbrokes also stated that its acquisition of Nordic partner Sponsio in January of 2007 helped it to increase profit conversion rates from 33 percent of net gaming revenue in 2006 to 38.3 percent last year and it intends to maximise the brand and technology advantage it has acquired in the online sector and boost investment levels during the year to acquire greater numbers of players.

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Award winning CasinoClassic.com internationalizes online gambling with new European language support. Increasing its global presence, Casino Classic is one of the few online casinos now accessible to players in English (casinoclassic.com: free casino), French (fr.casinoclassic: casino en ligne) and German (casinoclassic.de: online casino) with Spanish, Danish and Italian coming shortly. In addition, toll-free support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in each of the respective languages. Nothing is lost in translation at Casino Classic.

Casino Classic was launched five years ago, winning several prestigious awards along the way, including Best New Online Casino and Best Casino Service. As with all the other online casinos in the Casino Rewards group, players can chose from over 255 state of the art Las Vegas style casino games, with everything from table games to slot machines. Read the rest of this entry »

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The number of Britons who regularly gamble online has risen 600% in the past five years to 3.5 million, according to a Gambling Commission report. Around 7% — or 250,000 — of those who bet on the Internet are considered “problem gamblers,” according to different accounts.

The government is considering introducing an addict tax on gambling companies to help those who find themselves in serious debt because of the extent of their online gambling. Read the rest of this entry »

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The self-proclaimed “Principality of Sealand” today opened what it claims is the first ever UK national online casino. The Sealand Casino is located on a decommissioned military fort six miles off the east coast of Great Britain. The self-proclaimed world’s smallest state claims to operate under its own sovereign jurisdiction.

Sealandcasino.com’s opening coincides with the ’state’s’ upcoming 40th year anniversary on 2 September. The Principality of Sealand proclaims its own constitution and has adopted its own national flag, anthem and stamps, as well as gold and silver coins denoting the Sealand Dollar. Read the rest of this entry »

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The New York Post has learned that FBI agents will descend upon disgraced NBA referee Tim Donaghy’s home town of Philadelphia this week to meet with friends in hopes of gathering more information.

Donaghy, 40, is expected to plead guilty to gambling charges linked to betting on NBA games he refereed. Read the rest of this entry »

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Surveys carried out in the year to June 2007 indicated that 8.6% of adults had taken part in at least one form of remote gambling during the previous month, up from the 7.4% seen in polls for the 2006 calendar year.

Experts said the increase could mean that new groups are at risk of addiction due to the broadening accessibility of different gambling forms. The latest statistics, compiled from the Gambling Commission’s quarterly surveys, showed that taking a punt on the national lottery remains the most popular form of remote gambling, followed by online poker. Read the rest of this entry »

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In America, support for House of Representatives (HR) Bill 2046, also known as the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act (IGREA) 2007, has grown this week with five more Congressman voicing their support and agreeing to sponsor the legislation.

IGREA was introduced in April by Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank, also Chairman of the influential House Financial Services Committee, and would license and regulate online gambling in the United States. Online poker and gambling companies licensed under Frank’s bill would be exempt from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), which was passed in October. Read the rest of this entry »

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