Two more states introduce online poker poker legislation while Everleaf releases a statement on their departure from the U.S. market. Check out these stories and more in this week's edition of the PAS Weekly Industry Update. California and Mississippi Introduce Bills: The last week saw two more states join the recent wave of states interested in online gambling. On Wednesday, a bill was introduced in Mississippi by House Minority Leader Bobby Moak. If passed, the legislation would take effect on July 1st. Meanwhile, in California two lawmakers introduced a bill on Friday dubbed the Internet Gambling Consumer Protection and Public-Private Partnership Act of 2012. The Calfornia bill faces obstacles from Governor Jerry Brown and tribal casinos. With over 37 million residents, a passage of a bill in the state would bring regulated poker to over 10% of the United States. Full Tilt Poker Update: Like last week, there were no major developments from Full Tilt Poker. See our update from two weeks ago for the last news on the ongoing situation. I'd also recommend checking out a good blog from Matt Glantz this week that details his opinion of where he sees things after discussions with Full Tilt Poker insiders. The theme: not good. Everleaf Releases Statement: Everleaf broke their silence on Friday with a statement explaining their departure from the US market and commitment to the non-US market. In a follow-up statement released on Friday, Everleaf also reiterated that player funds are segregated from operational are "ring-fenced." Shuffle Master Set to Purchase Ongame: Since June of 2011, bwin.party has been in discussions to sell their "surplus asset" after the two online gambling heavy heavyweights joined forced. According to the Sunday Times in England, a sale of the network to Shuffle Master is at an advanced stage. Shuffle Master is among more than a dozen operators who have applied for licenses in the state of Nevada. PokerScout Traffic Update: According to PokerScout online poker traffic decreased 3% over the week with 9 out of the top 10 sites seeing loses, the second decline in as many weeks. Merge Gaming and Boss Network are two sites mentioned by PokerScout as sites moving up the traffic rankings over the last week. PAS News: RedKings Revenue-share commissions have increased to 35% at PAS. Publishers who generate more than $5,000 in MGR will receive the new rate. Stay tuned for exclusive promotion news coming this week. Jottings: PKR launches .it site...Businessman accused of illegal payment processing...Boyd Gaming says federal legislation could be further off than hoped...Meanwhile, MGM expects online poker federal legislation in 2012...Germany online poker developments...Phil Ivey enters first U.S. tournament since Black Friday.
We know that Nevada will bring regulated online poker to the state very soon with games possibly only months away. It was also speculated that when the U.S. Department of Justice amended their opinion on the application of online poker to the Wire Act that many states might be compelled to reexamine the prospect of online poker in their states. Indeed, only three weeks after the earth-shattering ruling, a handful of states are already signaling progress or changes in position. It is estimated that the online poker industry is worth billions of dollars a year, and now that the legal position is more clear, regulation efforts are likely to further accelerate. Marketwatch calls it the the online poker gold rush. The New York post says several states could have online poker in the works by the end of the year. Online poker in the U.S. now seems like an eventuality, the beginning of a new era, and potentially a very exciting time to be an online poker affiliate. I imagine we will be covering this topic extensively over the coming weeks and months but I thought for now, I could give readers a run-down of some of recent chatter from state representative since the DOJ’s December 23rd announcement. We certainly can’t count on federal regulation over the next year (generally considered more favorable by the industry vs state regulation) but it appears clear that at least a couple states will be well on their way to intrastate internet poker by the end of 2012. New Jersey - Christie Changes Tune: New Jersey now appears to be on the fast track to moving on online poker. Last year State Senator Raymond successfully passed a bill that was subsequently vetoed by Governor Chris Christie. Lesniak says New Jersey “can be the Silicon Valley of internet gambling.” Now Christie says that he favors regulation and thinks New Jersey should be in the business. Calfornia: It is estimated online poker could bring $1.4 billion to Califiornia over 10 years. Governor Jerry Brown has doubts about that estimate, however. “ I would be skeptical that there are huge amounts of revenue in that, although there certainly could be some.” Connecticut: “It appears that [online] interstate and intrastate gaming is going to be allowed” said Governor Danniel P. Malloy in late December. Because gaming is an important part of the Connecticut economy, online poker could be coming to Connecticut. "It appears that the only thing the Justice Department has ruled is off the table is sports betting. So with that one exclusion, everything is up for consideration by the states.” Maine: Sen. Nichi Farnam, co-chair of a committee that has jurisdiction over gambling issues told the Bangor Daily News, “This is giving us the motivation now to get something in place so that when, or if, this comes to Maine we have regulations in front of us.” Ohio: Ohio Lottery Commission interim director told the Cincinnati Business Courier that the regulator body is exploring internet gambling. “We want to be in the forefront of being able to generate revenue for the lottery commission. But it’s a policy decision that we will not make on our own .” Utah: Utah is one of the few states without any gambling at all and doesn't plan to change that position with internet gambling. Rep. Stephen Sandstrom of Utah says that he will sponsor a bill that would opt Utah out of any federal gambling. “It has a detrimental effect on society. People get addicted to gambling or drugs or pornography. I think it’s completely prudent and constitutional to limit gambling.” Utah isn't the only one against online gambling. Casino companies with much to gain are also coming out against the momentum to regulate. M Resort President is pushing back on regulation by stating he agrees with recent comments by Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Alelson, who voiced his concerns about online poker last month. “I agree with him 100%, we’re pushing this way too far.” His concerns against internet gambling seem to be related to potential social issues. In the article Marnell acknowledges that he may be on the wrong side of history. He notes that M Resorts is looking at participating in the regulated markets despite his position on the matter. Indeed, it is becoming clear that proponents and opponents of regulation need to prepare for the eventuality of online poker returning in the United States. Not only are the usual suspects involved in the discussion (Nevada, New Jersey) but also some states that have never shown much interest public in regulation. Make no mistake: there is still an uphill battle that many states must face, but maybe online poker on a state level can gain more traction than previously thought given the DOJ's new position on the Wire Act. 2011 was an interesting year that many of us wouldn’t mind forgetting. Let’s hope that 2012 turns out half as good as the optimism is suggesting.
In the last week, the industry received updates from three U.S. states in their efforts to regulate online poker. From existing online poker sites, the industry received a long awaited statement from Full Tilt Poker, while Party Poker announced rake changes. These stories and more are a part of this week's Industry Update from PAS. Intrastate Legislative Updates: Casino regulators in Nevada have proposed new rules for internet gambling should the United States congress pass a favorable bill. The proposals can be read on the Nevada Gaming Commission site. In California, a bill to legalize online poker, SB40, has been declared dead for 2011 by the state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg. On the other side of the country, Raymond Lesniak has reintroduced a bill in New Jersey, the same bill that was previously vetoed by Governor Chris Christie. Party Poker Rake Changes: Earlier this week, Party Poker switched to the weighted contributed rake calculation system. Also planned with the update was an increase to rake caps at many high limit games. The move unsurprisingly turned out to be unpopular with players, who staged a protest by sitting out of real money cash games to protest the move. After the outcry, Party Poker overturned the new rake caps but has kept the industry standard weighted contributed method. Full Tilt Update : Full Tilt Poker released a statement on the status of investor negotiations last week. They stated that the exclusive negotiations with European investors had ended but that discussions are still ongoing with the European investors and other potential investors. Full Tilt Poker also apologized for the lack of communication and maintained that communication would be improved in the future. Meanwhile, Subject Poker reported that Full Tilt Poker's shortfall -- from credited funds that weren't collected from U.S. player deposits -- may be larger than first thought. Latest Traffic Update from PokerScout: Nine out of the top ten online poker sites were down last week in an expected seasonal decline. The only network from the top 10 that saw an increase was Merge Gaming, which hasn't even started to accept new U.S. players yet. PokerScout also reported that Bodog and the Cake Poker Network, two other top U.S. facing sites, also saw weekly gains. Jottings: Facebook eases gambling advertising restrictions... The Poker Pros Network will be leaving the Cake Poker Network and move to a proprietary network in the "early Fall." The site will also stop accepting new U.S. players as of August 31st...Phil Helmuth adds to the skepticism over online poker in D.C....PKR data shows 89% of online poker players men.
Be sure to follow the Poker Affiliate Solutions Twitter feed for the latest industry and marketing updates. Friday morning, Full Tilt Poker began making rakeback payments to US players that earned rakeback in the last few days before they closed their doors to US real money play. In this week’s Online Poker Industry update, we take a look at this development plus the latest from Cereus and the most recent traffic updates. Full Tilt Poker Update: US players reported receiving rakeback payments on Friday morning for play from April 12th to April 15th. This is for rakeback that would have normally been paid on April 22nd (non-US players have continued to be paid as normal). Players funds still of course remain in limbo, but this news presents a positive step…Could player funds be next? The last statement released on May 15th said the following Since April 15th and the days immediately following, Full Tilt Poker faced numerous challenges and hurdles to ensuring the smooth operation of its international business and the orderly return of US player funds. FTP has worked tirelessly to address these issues and has made significant progress on both fronts. FTP's international business operations are returning to normal while we focus on ensuring the safe and orderly return of US player deposits. We are absolutely committed to making sure that US players are refunded as soon as possible. We apologize for the delay and the fact that we underestimated the time it would take to work through these issues. We will update our US players when we have more specific information to provide. Cereus Network Blocks US players: Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars blocked US players from the tables almost immediately after April 15th. Absolute Poker and UB.com, on the other hand, gave players a warning in their client that US play was no longer allowed. Despite the warning, players were still able to sit down and play. On Thursday that changed, as players are now greeted with a message saying that games cannot be found. California and Nevada New Urgency to Regulate?: One positive that could end up coming as a result of Black Friday is that states may be in more of hurry to get intrastate regulation done. We saw some more evidence of that this week in Nevada and California. EGR reported that AB258 has passed the Nevada state Assembly and now moves on to the Senate. In California, State Senator Lou Correa posted a press release on his site that SB 40 will be amended as an “urgency bill.” Correa stated “with federal action looming and the market wide open, we have to quickly authorize online poker in California.” Lederer and Ferguson Leave PPA: The PPA announced on Monday that Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson have decided to step down from the PPA board. Because of the poker pros’ connections to Full Tilt Poker, many saw the affiliation post-Black Friday as a conflict of interest. Traffic Update: PokerScout has released their latest traffic report. The Merge Gaming Network is up over 80% since Black Friday and reached 3,000 peak players for the second time on May 16th. Cereus network saw another 29% decline in traffic over the week bringing their total to a 83% decline. Jottings: Doyle Brunson has left Doyles Room… Merge Gaming is no longer accepting new players from the state of New York…Usemywallet has halted withdrawals. If you would like to see all the Black Friday updates from PAS over the first month, check out our last Black Friday post with a convenient summary.
Now that the holidays are a distant memory and most Congress and state legislators are back in session, intrastate bills are starting to take a bit more shape. Some states are coming to the realization that the federal government may not do anything in the near future, so they are looking at taking the initiative in helping solve their revenue problems as they look to their future budgets. So I thought I could give everyone a run-down of the status of each state bill. We will likely be doing this feature periodically to keep publishers and players up to date as much as possible. New Jersey Text of Bill- S-490 Status: The e-gambling bill is all but officially passed -- the online gambling community simply awaits the signing of the bill by Governor Chris Christie, which must take place by the end of February. If the bill is vetoed for some reason, it could be overridden by a 2/3 vote in the legislature. Given the landslides or the original vote, an override of a veto is likely. If the bill is not addressed by the deadline the bill would automatically become law. Two other gambling related bills were signed last week by Christie that legalized betting exchanges to help the struggling horse racing industries. He clearly wants to help the New Jersey gaming industry, but he is hesitant to do so in the name of expanded gambling. What The Bill Would Do: The bill would allow for Atlantic City based casinos to offer poker and casino games to players within New Jersey. S-490 would also make it a crime to offer games to players in New Jersey without a license. Sites such as Full Tilt and Stars would be expected to leave New Jersey unless a creative solution can be worked out. Final regulations would likely sort most of the unknowns. California Text of Senate Bill- SB 40 Status: On December 6th, while the Reid bill was gaining steam during the lame duck session in the US Congress, California State Senator Louis Correa introduced SB 40, the latest attempt to legalize internet poker in California. Earlier efforts to pass similar bills were derailed as some Indian tribes threatened to withhold slot machine payments to the state if internet poker was allowed. Supporters are for the bill in the name of job creation and helping balance the state budget, which is in a dire situation. Because there would be a higher tax involved with the legislation, the bill would need to pass by a 2/3 majority. What The Bill Would Do: SB-40 would allow certain tribes and existing card rooms located in California to run state endorsed online poker. The state would operate one poker network and provide licenses to the existing card rooms (they would effectively act as skins). Players would be required to be located in California when they are playing, so residents and visitors alike could play. The bill would make it a misdemeanor to play on unlicensed poker or casino sites. This would almost certainly apply to any current operator unless they can somehow partner with an existing site. Penalties for players could include fines up to $10k and a year in jail. The bill even specifically mentions that the state will opt out of a future federal interstate poker program. While many players would obviously be upset about this, it wouldn’t be as big a deal in California -- in relation to other states -- due to California’s large population. Florida Text of Florida Bill- HB-77, SB812 Status: HB-77 was first unveiled in mid-December by Joseph Abruzzo for consideration during the spring 2011 session. On February 3rd, a companion bill was introduced in the Senate. The Internet Poker Consumer and Revenue Generation Act, or SB 812, was brought to the Florida State Senate by Senator Diaz de la Portilla. The current bill is an exact copy of HB 77. The current session ends on June 30th. What The Bill Would Do: Passage of the bill would create a single state poker network that would be operated by up to three hub operators. Look at it as a single network with the possibility of multiple software operators. The hub operators would be able to license to Florida-based card rooms. Florida players would then sign-up through a card room site and would have to be located in Florida when they are playing. Current poker sites would be illegal under the law, but the bill would not make it illegal for players to play on offshore sites unless regulations specifically addressed the issue. Cliff Notes For those of you wanting a tl;dr version (cliff notes): Status of Intrastate Online Poker BillsState Name Type Status Games Offered By: Existing Sites Illegal for Players? New JerseyS-490Casino, PokerAwaiting Governor SignatureAtlantic City CasinosNoCaliforniaSB 40PokerUnder ConsiderationCalifornia card rooms and tribesYes- Fines, JailFloridaHB-77, SB812PokerUnder Construction- Deadline June 30thFlorida card roomsNo Final Thoughts If these bills do pass, players and poker affiliates wont likely see exactly what online poker looks like in each of the states until regulations are drafted and games are running. The possibility does exist that when states pass internet gambling legislation within their borders that the Department of Justice STILL may take the position that e-gaming is against the law, despite that no federal law exists that expressly forbids e-gaming. Not only does the often cited Wire Act arguably not apply to online poker, but it only mentions interstate commerce. Still, it remains to be seen whether they will have objection to any state passing internet poker legislation within their borders. One can be sure that if there is no objection, that many more states will join the online gambling bandwagon. In the event of resistance from the DOJ, we could end up seeing decisive court battles.
Updated 02-17-2011 at 02:11 PM by TimPAS
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