So imagine this: they are more progressive than the U.S., when it comes to online gambling. Or so it would appear.

It has taken three years, but a commission  has recommended that it’s time for South Africa to regulate, license and taxinternet casino games in South Africa.

Prohibition simply has not worked.

Well, duh.

This I heard from my in-laws in S.A.

Every form of online gambling in South Africa (as well as poker) should be regulated, taxed and licensed the commission said.

“The big elephant in the room is the online casino in South Africa and we must sharpen our spears. Any one of us can log on at night and place hundreds of bets. I know I do,” explained Mr. Louw, a warrior chief and gambling commissioner.

American politicians still fail to comprehend this logic.

The commission recommends Italy to become the model for online gambling regulation in South Africa.

Banks will become the enforcers of the new South African gambling laws by withholding transactions from online gambling establishments in South Africa who do not possess a valid gambling license.

Pretty cool, huh.

Men generally have no problem going to pubs on their own and propping up the bar, while women will usually only go out in pairs.

If you get invited to a dinner party, it’s a pound to a penny that it’s been initiated by a woman.

One of the things that women enjoy about bingo is that it gives a chance to meet up with friends, whether that be in a land-based bingo hall or an online bingo site.

Because so many people have broadband these days, and signing up to play bingo online is so easy, groups of friends or family members will often arrange to play at the same time.

It means that friends get to celebrate each others’ successes, and commiserate with the near-misses. Perhaps a group will decide to pool their resources and share whatever they win between each other – this was always a common practice with the football pools, when it was common for friends or work colleagues to have a syndicate which kept the costs down and maximised the potential winnings.

Bingo online is a very social activity because most people chat while they play. Unlike playing bingo in a hall, where you are expected to keep quiet while the game is in progress, it’s commonplace to “gossip” while playing.

For one thing, you don’t have to keep such a close eye on your bingo cards, because you can click the “auto-play” feature which means you don’t have to mark your cards. That allows you the time to chat with friends, finding out about their family or their work lives.

Another thing women enjoy about bingo is that it is all about luck. Whether you’ve been playing for decades or have just started playing, you still have as much chance of winning big money as anyone else.

Written by Dean Scriven, a blogger interested in the psychology of bingo whose research took him to redbusbingo.com, bingo halls and other places to experience the depth interest in bingo.

That pissed me off.

But now the feds are going too far.

It appears that the US Government have stepped up to pressure on Online gambling websites that offer Bingo.

That’s right.

Bingo.

The game played in churches and American Legion Halls and at countless other fundraising events…. BINGO.

Funtime Bingo customers met with the same image when logging into there accounts on Funtime Bingo.com this week that says that the website has been seized by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations. The Seizure notice explains that a warrant has been obtained with the assistance of the US Attorneys Office and issued by the US District Court of Maryland.

Funtime Bingo have reopened using a different domain name and are keeping customers updated by using a Facebook page, and look not to be too concerned with the seizure of there Dot.com website.

Other online bingo providers are taking this seizure as a sign of things to come and the World Bingo Network announced they were to close there entire network giving customers the following statement:

“It is with great sadness that we announce the closure of World Bingo Network and all sites. A challenging environment and circumstances beyond our control have made it impossible for us to continue operations. It is our intention to ensure that all players are taken care of and deposits refunded at the earliest possible time. All players will be receiving letters in this regard. We have fond memories of great people, wonderful staff and fun times while they lasted.”

I am totally outraged.

Give me back my online bingo.

NOW.

In a letter to US Attorney-General Eric Holder, NJ Senator Raymond J. Lesniak – one of the sponsors of New Jersey’s proposed sports betting and Internet gambling legislation – said “(t)he State of New Jersey should not be impeded in any manner from exercising our rights under our state constitution and under federal law.”

Earlier this year, New Jersey’s legislature overwhelmingly voted for a bill to permit casinos in Atlantic City to offer intra-state Internet gambling on casino games and poker.

Though Gov. Chris Christie vetoed the bill, both he and the legislature indicated a desire to make New Jersey the first state in the US to legalize Internet gambling. A new bill is expected to be introduced sometime later this year.

Lesniak’s letter was in response to one sent a week earlier to USAG Holder by US Senators Harry Reid and Jon Kyl.

Both Reid and Kyl insisted that the DOJ crackdown on efforts by states to pass intra-state Internet gambling legislation, claiming it violated federal law including the Wire Act of 1961.

Lesniak pointed out that under the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), intra-state Internet gambling was permissible, and cited the specific passage in the law’s text:

“The term ‘unlawful Internet gambling’ does not include placing, receiving, or otherwise transmitting a bet or wager where…the bet or wager is initiated and received or otherwise made exclusively within a single State.”

Lesniak also pointed out that “intermediate routing” of Internet network traffic across state lines by Internet service providers (ISPs) did not violate either UIGEA or the Wire Act. UIGEA specifically states that intermediate routing did not affect the location of the bet, Lesniak wrote, and the Wire Act was intended for criminal enterprises using telecommunications to conduct illegal interstate sports betting, and was not intended for state-licensed and regulated intra-state gaming.

Both Reid and Kyl voted for UIGEA with the intra-state exemptions included in the final text of the law.

Lesniak also contradicted assertions by Reid and Kyl that all Internet gambling, including intra-state, was illegal.

“Were you to accept Sens. Reid and Kyl’s letter on its merits, you would have to prosecute the Nevada Gaming Board, which this year approved sports betting via mobile Internet within the confines of the state of Nevada. Nevada has also approved other forms of Internet and remote wagering on casino games, poker and sports within Nevada by firms like Las Vegas Sands and Station Casinos.

Lesniak went on to write, “(f)or that matter, New Jersey and 37 other states would also have to be prosecuted for permitting online wagering on horse races, which has existed for years.”

A Minnesota Capitol undercurrent for months has suggested gambling as a way to help solve a budget impasse.

“The governor wants more revenue, Republicans want no new taxes,” Rep. John Kriesel recently tweeted. “Enter racino and Block E. True compromise. Both sides win. Minnesota wins.”

So, OK…what is the holdup?

Many state lawmakers oppose more gambling or have said little about using it as a way to bring more money into the state treasury, that’s the problem.

On Monday, the idea of adding slot machines to horse-racing tracks, known as a racino, gained a radio campaign and support of a major agriculture group.

The Running Aces harness-racing track in the northern Twin Cities began running pro-racino radio commercials in the Twin Cities, Brainerd, Fergus Falls, Mankato, Marshall, Rochester and Willmar.

Running Aces and Canterbury Park in the southwestern Twin Cities asked for permission to become racinos.

Also Monday, the Minnesota Agri-Growth Council announced its racino support. The council, which promotes the state’s food and ag industry, only said it backs a Canterbury racino.

Besides helping the state budget, the council said the ag industry would benefit from higher purses paid at tracks with racinos.

The trouble for gambling supporters is lack of widespread legislative support.

“We have very divided caucuses,” House Speaker Kurt Zellers, R-Maple Grove, said. “We have folks who want to repeal the lottery and gaming in the state, period. And we have folks on every one of the gaming bills who say open it up: racino, block E, slots in bars, you name it. We have a wide variety, to say the least.”

And, the speaker said, he is not sure Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton would accept gambling as a replacement for all or part of his proposed tax increase on the best-earning Minnesotans.

“We need to know if the governor would sign it before we go to our caucuses,” Zellers said.

Dayton on Monday said that gambling arose in budget talks a couple of weeks ago, but it appeared legislative leaders did not think they could convince members to pass any expansion.

Also, the governor said, it would be tough to count on gambling money in the current budget because court actions could be expected to delay any new gambling program’s implementation.

On the other hand, a former Senate GOP leader and racino supporter felt good about its chances.

“I have this embedded feeling that it will come up before it’s over…” Sen. Dave Senjem, R-Rochester, said. “It has got to be a player in the end.”

The major gambling expansion proposals come nowhere near the $1.8 billion Dayton wants in new revenue in the two-year budget. Racinos would bring in an estimated $250 million over two years, a bit more than pegged for a downtown Minneapolis casino in an area known as Block E.

Most other gambling proposals would bring in less money and appear to have less legislative support.

”It is not a cure-all for the problem,” one legislator added. “I am not excited about the idea about expanding gambling.”

And a big one.

A lot of legislators talk about finding ways to legalize online gambling (as a way to collect more tax money). Now, two Congressmen have put their reputations on the line legalizing online poker, and possibly other games.

Of course, there are always pitfalls, for example the number of regulatory measures that would be put in place as a result.

The bill would let states choose whether they want to allow residents to play poker on the Internet and require operators to already have gambling licenses in at least one U.S. state.

The three biggest online poker companies were indicted by the U.S. Justice Department this past April, ending online poker in the U.S.

“This bill is indeed good news, but for now, if you’ll pardon the pun, I’m keeping a ‘poker face’ on at least one part of it,” said Maureen Martin, senior partner at the Heartland Institute.

“Legalizing online poker is an outstanding idea, but establishing still another federal agency to regulate it is where I’m going to hold, for two reasons. First, many online poker platforms are based in foreign countries, and thus are beyond the regulatory powers of the United States. Second, if these platforms cheat customers, that’s fraud. It’s already illegal in the United States and such laws are enforced by the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission. Enough is enough.”

“We’re going to try to get a bill on the President’s desk in this Congress,” Barton said.

We shall see. We shall see….

Well, let me tell you, it’s an awesome twice a week, big jackpot game.

Whenever I’m in Europe on a gambling junket (last time was a year ago, in London), I always play EuroMillions, the Powerball-like multi-country game that is NOW played on both Tuesday and Fridays (the draw takes place in Paris).

It’s a cool game that takes the Powerball concept and gives it a bit of a twist.

You pick five balls correctly and then two more lucky balls.

Pick them all and you win the jackpot, millions of euros.

The game began in February 2004, with nine participating countries, including the U.K., France, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, and Belgium.

The jackpots start at 15 million euros, depending on the U.S. rate exchange, that comes to about 19 million U.S. dollars. And when no one wins, it rolls over. And over. And over.

After many years of an unchanged format, Euro Millions changed it’s matrix on the 9th of May, 2011.

Originally a 5/50 and 2/9, the new matrix is a 5/50 and a 2/11, with the added excitement of an additional weekly draw held on Tuesdays, along with the Friday draw.

Add to this this a new prize level and improved overall odds, and Euro Millions has continued its reign as one of the world’s most exciting lotteries.

I love playing it. AND, if you read this web site regularly, along with my www.lotterymoments.com, you’ll often find stories about Euro Millions winners.

So if you’re in Europe, and love to gamble, as I do, playing the game might just bring you riches beyond your fondest dreams.

Because the state needs the tax money from those who run the sites.

But there is no guarantee that having more casinos and slots will result in bigger payoffs to the industry, given gambling trends during this GREAT RECESSION.

Consumer spending on casino gambling fell 4.2 percent in Illinois in 2010, to $1.37 billion, according to the American Gaming Association.

Revenues are down 32 percent over the last three years, said Tom Swoik, executive director of the Illinois Casino Gaming Association.

Swoik told the Chicago Sun Times newspaper that he worries the market will become oversaturated.

“Going from 12,000 gaming positions to 39,000 doesn’t make a lot of sense,” he said.

Revenues could fall an additional 20 to 30 percent under the expansion approved by the Legislature, Swoik contends.

Legislation awaiting Gov. Pat Quinn’s signature would allow for five new casinos, including sites in Chicago, the south suburbs, in Lake County and downstate. It also would allow slot machines at racetracks and possibly the city’s two airports.

There will be winners and losers under the expansion, experts said.

“Chicago will definitely be a winner,” Swoik said. “The local communities where the other new casinos are located will be winners.”

But the outlying gambling sites will lose Chicago business.

Stay tuned as things develop even more.

States need money.

So why not allow people who WANT TO GAMBLE the opportunity to do so?

Take the great state of Illinois.

Lawmakers may take yet another look at expanding gambling across Illinois, and this time the State Fair is in line to get slot machines.

Rep. Lou Lang, of Illinois state House of Representatives  said this week that  he has introduced a new version of his often-rejected proposal to authorize more gambling as a way of filling the empty state treasury.

Horse-racing tracks could transform into “racinos” by adding slot machines.

The track at the state fairgrounds in Springfield would be added to the list of places allowed to operate slot machines. And racing there would no longer be limited just to the 10 days the State Fair is open.