Here’s the deal.

New Jersey seems poised to become the FIRST state to legalize online poker …. at least within the state.

But Atlantic City casinos are putting the pressure on legislators to kill the bill.

Who’s kidding whom?

Folks, this is a smokescreen.

You’ve gotta know that the second online poker is legalized the casinos will be right there, ready to take advantage.

What they DON’T want is competition.

They want to monopolize the online poker industry in NJ.

It’s a useless battle.

And they know it.

But they also know that stalling will keep the millions flowing into their accounts.

OK, here is what is happening now: the New Jersey Casino Association, which represents the 11 casinos in Atlantic City, is reportedly opposing a referendum on allowing sports betting and online poker and gambling in land-based casinos.

The Association said in a statement that it opposes the referendum, as a positive outcome would mean that the introduction of intrastate gambling could violate federal bans.

“As the industry seeks to work with government to revitalize the economic engine that the Atlantic City casinos bring to the state of New Jersey, the last thing that the state needs at this time is to undermine the destination resort model by expanding gambling to other parts of the state,” wrote Joe Corbo, president of the Casino Association.

Say it ain’t so, Joe.

This new hurdle means that a review of the referendum has been delayed in the Assembly, and there are fears that this delay could impact the chances of its passage.

You are delaying the inevitable people.

Let me spend my money where I WANT to.

OK?

Anyone who agrees with me, let me know.

Here’s a dispatch (from China’s news agencies) that I found incredibly interesting and I want to share it all with you.

I’ve been wild about the World Cup, watching every match I could, while I’m not at work.

China, it seems is going wild over the cup too. Only thing is, they don’t have a team competing in it.

No matter. They are gambling, illegally it would appear, online. In record numbers.

As of this past Saturday, one day into the tournament, Chinese police said they already confiscated $102 million in illegal funds and arrested some 3,600 suspects for illegal gambling in connection with the World Cup. This from a report by the state-run Xinhua news agency.

“The state of our country’s online illegal gambling activities is still a very grim situation,” a police official told reporters, according to the Legal Daily. He largely blamed offshore gambling syndicates for “infiltrating” the country, according to the report.

While Chinese officials like to blame foreigners for the illegal activities, corruption has a long history in Chinese soccer.

Traditionally, national-team hopefuls had to pay tens of thousands of yuan in bribes, said Rowan Simons, author of a book on soccer in China, according to CNN.

“Players have come out and said they can’t play for the national team because they can’t afford it,” he said, according to the report.

Surely, neither China’s soccer skill nor its level of corruption is the worst in the world. In both areas it falls somewhere in the middle: According to FIFA, Chinese soccer ranks 84th in the world, just ahead of Mozambique.

Yeah, China didn’t qualify for the World Cup, but the government is heavily promoting the competition. CCTV, the state-run television network, airs the matches each night along with pre- and post-game commentary, while a number of domestic newspaper reporters have made the long flight to South Africa.

From my correspondent in the U.K., comes this delightful story.

OK, it’s a warning to watch your granny.

She might be gambling it all away.

A grandmother who stole from her employer to feed her gambling habit wagered £2m ($2.9 million in U.S. Dollars) on a single internet gaming site, it has been revealed.

Eileen Evis, 61, from Colaton Raleigh, Devon, was jailed in March last year for stealing £140,000 from building firm TAG in Sidmouth.

A confiscation hearing at Exeter Crown Court heard police were still trying to claw back any assets Evis may have.

The judge adjourned the hearing for more information to be provided.

The prosecution has claimed between £20,000 and £30,000 of the money remains unaccounted for – although the defence lawyers have disputed this.

Employers ‘ruined’

Evis worked as a £50-a-week bookkeeper at the family-run building company in Sidmouth, Devon.

The offences took place over 10 months from March 2007 after Evis was left in charge of the company when its owners Terry and Lin Green moved to Canada.

Prosecutor Howard Phillips said she had “effectively emptied” the firm’s accounts.

“She physically laid her hands on just under £140,000,” he said.

“She had a massive internet gambling problem – she wagered over £2m on one site.”

Evis had lost £127,000 in total on her gambling addiction, Mr Phillips added.

The court was told Evis had transferred about £18,000 to her daughter who lives in Australia and £2,000 to her son, which she claimed was the repayment of a debt.

Figures ‘disputed’

She had also received £35,000 in a divorce settlement from her husband since the case.

Mr Phillips said any money confiscated will go to the victims “who are effectively ruined”.

“There is £20,000 to £30,000 not obviously accounted for…it doesn’t immediately appear where it’s gone.”

Barrister Nigel Wraith, defending, said: “Some of the facts and figures are in dispute.”

The Greens said their lives were a “total mess” and they are still being targeted by debt collectors over fraudulent loans taken out by Evis in their name, as well as bank debts racked up by her.

The couple say the ordeal has left them feeling suicidal and has cost them a total of £400,000.

Don’t you just love google?

As some who enjoys real life gambling … and someone who occasionally goes to online sites, google is introducing a site that will make finding the best online casinos easier.

The google TV feature is launched with Sony and Logitech as partners. Viewers will be able to  combine their television experience with the easy access of the Internet.

The special devices will enable web browser Google Chrome to be accessed via the television, opening up access to the entire web rather than just restricting customers to the usual range of TV channels.

Sure, this will be TV viewing (and choices) easier. But the truth is, it will also enable a new and improved online gambling experience – on a high definition television.

The Google TV announcement comes not long after the company resumed accepting advertisement for online casinos on their search engine.

Television gambling is already available in some countries, such as the United Kingdom, where interactive television gaming company Netplay already offers their product.

If Google TV really takes off (and it will, given their track record), the phenomenon should spread to millions of people around the globe.

According to Google, the Google TV device should be on sale in the United States by this fall, and will be compatible with televisions, Blu-ray players and companion boxes.

Awesome man.

I mean, don’t you just freaking love google? [I know...I repeated myself]

News from one of my correspondents in New York prompted this posting.

Man, sometimes help comes from strange places.

Those who have been in favor of making Online Poker legal in the United States got a big supporter from New York.

Alfonse D’Amato, a former senator of the state and current Chairman of the Poker Players Alliance, stated that he is in favor of allowing the practice.

“Why is it OK for a group of friends to sit around the kitchen table and play a friendly game of poker, but not OK for people to play over their computers?” remarked D’Amato.

Good point Al.

D’Amato was quick to point out that the basic structure of online poker does not violate any current federal laws.  Citing the Interstate Wire Act of 1961, which relates to sports betting, and not poker as those opposed to the notion have said.

D’Amato and Poker Players Alliance Director John Pappas have now joined forces in favor of a bill that would legalize the industry. Strange bedfellows I’d say.

Pappas said that banks are discouraged to do business with online poker companies, making sure no illegal activity is occurring.

“There is what amounts to a safe harbor already embedded in the law, so that any bank that does want to transact with an online poker business simply needs a reasoned legal opinion that it their client is not involved in restricted transactions,”  Pappas said.

Online gambling has been outlawed since 2006, but a new bill sent to the floor to be debated and passed would be a huge victory of online casinos, as they could potentially see a giant leap forward in terms of revenue, despite the struggling economy and difficult times that casinos are having.

Since my wife and I are planning to move to Vancouver, Canada, I found this bit of news very interesting.

Particularly as someone who loves to play online.

It looks like Canadian provinces are thinking about legally offering online betting. That’s sure to come up at the Canadian Gaming Summit, which is happening in Calgary right now.

At the Summit Canadian operators will be exposed to a massive variety of topics and a large iGaming sector.

At the summit people there will be experts talking about how lucrative online gambling can be. Plus, how to regulate the industry, should they decide to go in that direction.

Explaining how Canada fits into the multi billion dollar internet gambling industry is one topic explored by various regulatory professionals.

It is estimated that Canadians spend about $1 billion a year on electronic gambling.

Provinces will have the challenge of making an e-gaming environment that is safe secure and responsible yet still entertaining and fun.

The Canadian Gaming Summit is the only conference and exhibition in Canada that serves the entire Canadian Gaming Industry.

One of the most interesting topics at the Summit will be online casinos and gambling the newest edition to Canada’s gambling history.

We’ll keep an eye on what comes out of the Summit.

But you all know where I stand. I say let the market be free. If people want to gamble online or anywhere else, let them do so.

Interesting things going on in the great state of Alabama.

Seems like the Governor’s task force on illegal gambling continues to lash out against illegal operations.

Well and good, we say.

The fight over bingo machine versus slot machine has been running rampant, but a change in the winds has been detected.

The Alabama Senate is meeting this week to discuss a proposed bill that would legalize gambling in Alabama.

It’s about time.

Twenty-one votes are required to move the Bill forward, but constituents are not entirely sure whether or not the Democrats in the state can manage to pull through and achieve the needed votes.

Legislators have tried this before, and failed.

We’d like to see voters cast their opinions on the issue.

Meanwhile, closing casinos in the state has NOT helped the local economies, and left many out of work. With the new found string of unemployment, the state is prepared to pick up the tab through taxpayer’s money. Legalized gambling,would not only reemploy these workers, but also generate tax revenue for the state.

We’ll check with our sources in Alabama and see if any progress is being made.

China plans to crack down on the online gambling industry, including the banks and websites that support it, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement posted on its website.

The statement clears says a campaign against the industry is in their plans.

From our correspondent in Hong Kong, I got this report:

The campaign will “concentrate on investigating major and important cases of online gambling, knock out domestic and foreign groups that organize online gambling, and severely punish the criminal elements”, the statement said.

The crackdown, to be conducted between February and August, was agreed to by eight government bodies including the Supreme Court, Propaganda bureau, the Central Bank and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Gambling was banned in China right after Mao took over in 1949.

Oddly enough, China runs two lotteries.

Not that this has stopped underground and illegal sites run by nefarious syndicates.

The statement said it will severly punish those who run underground banks and third-party payment platforms that provide banking services needed for gambling.

As in pornography crackdowns, website operators will also be targeted.

The move is the latest in a series of curbs on the country’s relatively free-wheeling online world, one of the few arenas for people from across China to interact in large groups, share information and criticize the government.

China has banned Google’s Youtube since March 2009, when a Tibetan exile film documenting the injuries and death of a Tibetan protestor was published on the video sharing site.

The government began blocking Twitter, Flickr and Facebook last summer.

This is crazy. Online gambling, online casinos are being created by the hundreds these days.

Good ones. Cools ones.

Honest ones.

In Europe, many countries are making their own laws regarding online gambling, ignoring European Union trade agreements in the process.

Belgium (see their FLAG above) is the country now where legislators have enacted laws in an effort to regulate online gambling in the country.

I’m all for regulation.

Just let me play.

Belgium lawmakers felt that the current Internet gamblingsystem was being corrupted by organized crime. They believe that regulations would keep the crime out of the industry, but what they have come up with is in direct violation of EU agreements.

We’re talking mostly about online poker.

Some of the top online poker players in the world live in Belgium.

With the new laws in place, major poker sites such as PartyPoker, Full Tilt, and PokerStars, would not be permitted to accept players from Belgium.

That means that the top players could only play while putting themselves at risk of arrest.

How crazy is that?

The US, the biggest online gambling market in the world, has been in violation of EU agreements since they enacted the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in  2006. U.S. lawmakers, however, are trying to overturn the UIGEA and set up a regulated Internet gambling industry in the country.

I’ll keep you posted on their progress.

Mea Culpa.

I like to play the slots.

I’m not an 80 year old granny, although there is nothing wrong with being an 80 year old grandmother.

And I’m not a hot chick (see above).

But I like the quick action of the game. Slot in your coins, hit a button, pull a lever and watch the figures spin and voila, you win or lose instantly.

It’s like the casino version of an instant scratch lottery game.

Instant gratification. And since I love to scratch, I also like the slots. I love the sound. The vastness of a casino hall with bright lights, its bells and whistles at 4 a.m.

I was in Vegas recently, at the Bellagio, to watch a game show being taped there, and I was just amazed (I shouldn’t be, after all these years) at the action in the slots area. Not just women. Men.

So obviously, men don’t just play poker and craps anymore.

But for those who can’t get to Vegas, Atlantic City or your nearest riverboat casino or Indian Reservation casino, I have news for you. I suggest online gambling at online casinos that are so cool and slick they will knock your socks off and give you a great slots experience at home.

Sure, you’re not sitting there with a bucket of coins, but the effect is almost the same. The sound effects, the bells and whistles. The games. The instant gratification.

With all the advanced technology available, online casino software providers can emulate any slots machine and make it available to play online.

It’s impossible to list all the different online slots for fans of the game to play. I like Playtech software, for instance, for the quality of the games they produce.

Me, I like the 7 reels with more than 100 paylines slots, but some prefer simpler 3 reels. It’s all there.

I am not in the habit of promoting one over the other. Let’s just say, check them out, and go with the more well known casinos if you are afraid of gambling online.

The better casinos are totally secure. I think most newbies worry about that.

I don’t anymore.

There are some totally cool online slots on the Internet and I’d like to hear about some of your favorites. Drop me a line.

In the meantime, have fun, play on and see you online.