British casino profits go up in smoke

Britain’s biggest casino operator has reported losses of £129 million in its 46 UK casinos due to the smoking ban coupled with the increase in gaming duty earlier this year.

Genting Bhd (a gaming company owned by a wealthy Malaysian family) bought Stanley Casinos last year for £639 million, thinking it would be a platform for expansion in the UK’s gambling industry after the government announced that 17 new casino licences would be awarded, including a supercasino.

But instead the government has delayed its decision over the new casino licences amid internal bickering and the smoking ban in July plus the rise in gaming duty in April has hit Genting hard.

In a statement, the Malaysian-owned company said the rise in gaming duty, “took the UK gaming industry by surprise as it was made without any prior consultation and indication”.

In addition rival casino operators Rank has already announced estimated losses of £8 million, which is also being blamed on less custom due to the smoking ban and the unexpected gaming duty hike.

America Avoiding Billions in Online Casino Tax

In America, a Congressman has testified that regulating and taxing online gambling could generate up to $42 billion for Federal coffers over the next decade.
The data, based on a detailed tax revenue analysis conducted by an independent accounting firm, was provided in testimony submitted to the House Committee on the Judiciary recently by Representative Jim McDermott. The Washington Democrat also detailed policy refinements to his legislative proposal, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act (IGREA).

‘Even under the most conservative estimates, licensing and regulating Internet gambling and collecting the taxes will provide much-needed revenue to the US Treasury,’ said McDermott.

McDermott stated that $3.1 to $15.2 billion in revenues could be generated by taxing online gambling over the first five years followed by $8.7 to $42.8 billion over the first decade.

‘This is money we are currently losing to other jurisdictions because some of my colleagues’ think we can actually stop people from gambling online,” said McDermott.

The Congressman stated that IGREA had been refined to provide better protections against tax cheats to increase Federal revenues from permissible online gambling activity. In addition, a proposed fee in the legislation would see licensed online gambling operators pay two percent of player deposits to the Government.

‘Most of the revenues generated would come from taxes required under existing law that we currently lose because of a misguided belief that we can actually stop Internet gambling,’ said McDermott.

Norway to copy USA with Online Casino Constraints

According to numerous press reports this week, Norway’s Minister of Culture and Church Affairs is pressing ahead with plans to constrain online gambling by halting payment systems to online gambling companies.
Trond Giske reported plans last month to introduce a Norwegian version of America’s Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) but it now looks as if he has opted to amend existing gambling legislation to encompass payment processors.

Giske has proposed a ‘clarification’ that would see existing gambling laws applied to the processing of payment transactions from online gambling. If passed, the ‘clarification’ would effectively criminalize any Norwegian financial institution that processed such payments as current law prohibits the marketing, promotion or facilitation of Internet gambling services.

The proposal went forward late last week and is now open to public comment until mid February before it is put before Parliament.

The justification for the ban is that it would help protect Norwegian problem gamblers but many critics suggest that it is nothing more than a sneaky way to protect the State gambling monopoly, Norske Tipping. Giske was a proponent of legislation last year that banned all land slot machines not owned by this monopoly. As a result, all slot machines in Norway are now Government-run, generating revenues that have grown by 4.6 percent.

Online poker is a popular pastime among Scandinavian players and many, including 19-year-old prodigy Annette Obrestad, have shown world-class talent by winning tournaments and large prize purses at events online and around the world.

Full Tilt security ensures another Superuser fiasco will not be duplicated

In the wake of the super user scandal that has engulfed Absolute Poker, another major online poker room has responded that history will not be repeating itself when it comes to safety.
In an informal survey of numerous major online poker rooms this week, Earl Burton of Poker News asked specifically if a reprise of the Absolute Poker debacle would be possible and Kahnawake-licensed Full Tilt Poker responded with a vociferous ‘no’. Full Tilt Poker stated that keeping its games safe and secure was of paramount importance and it continually monitors to ensure safety.

“Due to the potential security risks, we made sure there was no way for a user, internally or externally, to see another player’s hole cards in real time,” said a company security and fraud spokesman.

‘We do store hole card information, though not in real time, so our Security and Investigations Team can later review any suspicious or questionable activity. In over three years of dealing cards, there has never been a security breach on Full Tilt Poker.

‘We work hard around the clock to ensure the highest integrity and security of our games. Rest assured we investigate any suspicions from our players that someone may be using prohibited software on our site.’

Absolute Poker has admitted that a flaw in its software enabled a company consultant to view other players’ hole cards and win up to $800,000 unfairly. The company’s Kahnawake licensing jurisdiction ordered an investigation into the incident by Gaming Associates, which is ongoing.

Even the best players have bad days…

Final Table: Bad Beat

What are the chances !!!!

Great Call, Bad Beat

Antonio is a great player but not when he’s up again Canadian-born Daniel Negreanu… Ouch!

My Top 5 Favorite & Worst Poker Sites

There are literally hundreds and maybe even thousands of online companies all offering potential players bonuses, promotions and a slew of other nicknack’s to entice us to play with their site. Most of us are attracted to the initial bonus we are awarded upon our first deposit, some are attracted to the poker software’s functionality and the rest of us are bonus whores going from site to site trying to get as much free money as they can by signing up and making initial deposits just so they can cash in. Some companies however have gone over all of these details to customize their bonuses and promotions in a effort to retain or keep their players coming back (a term known as Customer Retention in the gambling world). If players come back, they’re playing… If they’re playing, they’re spending… If they’re spending, they’re loosing and winning, if they’re loosing and winning, they’re making the company money. It’s a well thought out and planned method that keeps players coming back to the same site over and over again. In any case, that’s the way the game works.

Personally, I’ve played with many different sites and I’ve been enticed to continue playing with certain sites and not with others. My reasons vary from poker client functionality, presentation of the company and their products, bonus/promotion offerings, customer loyalty programs, etc. and I’m sure your reasons vary as well.

Below are my current Top 5 Favorite Poker Sites:

#1) FullTiltPoker.com – These guys are one of the largest and most popular online poker companies for a reason! Great poker client, great support and super fast server response.  To build on this rather bold statement, let’s first talk about their custom poker client.  Unlike so many other players in the online game, FullTilt is a strictly for poker enthusiasts.  The spend millions of dollars a year on marketing and promotions that it’s no wonder they’re a household name.  If you play with another site, I recommend you play for free on FullTilt just to experience their uniquely different poker client.  Fun, highly customizable and easy-to-use.

#4) PokerRoom.com – I’ve been playing with these guys for just over 4 years. What sets this company apart from the rest is their uniquely satisfying poker software. It’s both extremely functional and I like the fact that I am identified by a character at the table instead of just a handful of cards. This might not matter to some of you, but for me, it’s a nice added touch. During special occasions (ie: Halloween, Christmas, etc), the characters are displayed wearing different costumes and adds a sense of humor to what can sometimes be a tense table. I was also drawn to them by their customer support. It’s always nice to have the option to speak directly to a customer service representative via online chat or telephone which case this company offers both. They also allow offer email support for less critical issues. When I first signed up with them, I had a really buggy poker client which I was able to get straightened out via online chat.

The actual poker client is very easy to navigate through and find what you’re looking for with respect to games. Each game lobby offers a chat window which allows to you to chat among friends or fellow players while you wait for your game/tournament to start. One thing I must bring up is that I have noticed, at times, their random number generator buggers up and I end up getting the exact same cards two or three times in a row. This has happened on several occasions but not as frequently as it use to. I’m guessing I wasn’t the only one experiencing this problem as they were made aware of this glitch.

With regards to payment processors, they offer the standards that most others do. Moneybookers, Visa, Mastercard, Click2Pay and a few others. A good selection of different payment options is always a good thing. Tournaments are well structured and overall they give their players an enjoyable poker experience.

CasinoCritic’s Rating:

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Top5 Worst Poker/Casino Sites Ever!

As I have discussed before, there are a lot of factors that must be considered when determined what makes a site fun to play on over and over again. Presentation, functionality, bonus/promotions, etc just to name a few. Most companies strive to at least factor in most of these when trying to gain a share of this multi-billion dollar industry and others fail miserably. Below are my list of least favor sites to play on and why…

1) Casino-For-Me.com and A-Winning-Hand.com (same company, same owner)

This Boss Media based poker site have not been around for long. A friend of mine had told me about their high paying bonuses and promotions for new customer sign-ups which brought me to their site in the first place. My first impression of the company left little to be desired. Their website was, and still is, crude to say the least. There is nothing eye catching or remotely professional about the presentation that would make anyone sign up based on first appearances. In reality, it looked very amateur but in any case, I signed up just to see what they had to offer. I wasn’t impressed with any of their offers and this company shows all the signs of a fly-by-night type operation. Rumors have been circulating within the gaming industry that the owner Alexander Duffy has been involved in many other illegal online activities with his most recent being selling illegal Viagra out of Dubai and is only using these sites for the laundering of money. I would strongly recommend that you stay FAR WAY from this company as there are many legitimate companies out there that are much safer to deal and play with.

Genting writedown of £130m on UK casinos

The Malaysian owner of Britain’s biggest casino operator says it has lost almost £130 million as a result of a rise in gaming duty and the smoking ban in England.

Genting yesterday reported an 897.3 million ringgit (£129 million) impairment loss against the value of the Stanley Casinos business it bought 14 months ago for £639 million, or just over £700 million, including debt.

The company said: “The impairment is largely attributable to the increase in gaming duty rates [from] April 2007.”

Echoing comments made by many of its rivals, Genting complained that the duty increase “took the UK gaming industry by surprise as it was made without any prior consultation and indication”.

It said that profits had also been adversely affected by the introduction of the smoking ban in England on July 1. Genting did not break down the reduction in profits resulting from the duty increase, although it is likely to have been higher than the £8 million decline predicted by Rank Group, the second-biggest operator.

Stanley, whose portfolio of 46 casinos includes Britain’s oldest, Crockfords in Mayfair, contributed revenue of 376.3 ringgit in the three months to September 30.

Many of its 41 casinos outside London trade under the Circus, Maxims and Mint brands.

When it took Stanley private last year, Genting said it saw the company as “a platform for expansion in the soon-to-be deregulated UK gaming industry”.

However, delays to plans to award 17 new casino licences under the Gambling Act have been delayed by the controversy surrounding the single supercasino envisaged under the new legislation.

Genting had also hoped to acquire London Clubs International (LCI), in which it held a 29.8 per cent stake. LCI opted to accept a $669 million (£325 million) takeover by Harrah’s Entertainment, the Las Vegas gaming behemoth, just a few weeks after the Stanley deal.

Harrah’s, itself the subject of a recommended $27.8 billion takeover by Apollo Management and TPG Capital, the buyout firms, that is due to be completed next month, has yet to post a writedown on the value of its British casino business.

Antiguan Legal Counsel Critical Of DoJ Involvement In WTO Case

Antigua’s legal counsel during its online gambling dispute with the United States at the World Trade Organization has been sharply critical of American motivations and Department of Justice (DoJ) involvement this week.

Mark Mendel from Texas-based solicitors Mendel-Blumenfeld told iGaming Business that outdated impressions of online gambling by some in the US DoJ are behind America’s stance, adding that the position taken by the DoJ has been detrimental to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

“What I have finally concluded is that this case is almost 100 percent about the DoJ,” said Mendel. “One or more DoJ members have been present at almost every meeting we have held with the United States over the past four years, at almost every WTO session – their footprint is big in this case.”

Mendel revealed that one DoJ representative in particular still speaks as if he is in a bad 1950s gangster film with mobsters ruling the world and buying politicians. “This may sound odd but I think that this issue, remote gambling, has been hijacked of sorts by a kind of dated old crowd in the DoJ who are still lost in the days of Bugsy Malone and smoky backrooms when gambling was run by the mob,” the lawyer said.

The Internet gambling case with the WTO had been damaging to the continued success of the organization but that, with the European Union (EU) becoming involved, the United States will ultimately have no choice but to fold its hand.

“While Antigua is going to have to work hard and be creative to find ways to effectively retaliate against the United States, the EU won’t have any trouble at all,’ said Mendel. “The United States is literally facing multi-billions of trade retaliation from the EU in all sorts of trade completely unrelated to gambling. All of a sudden, for example, American exporters of auto parts, electric guitars or cotton sweaters to the EU are going to be shut or priced out of the market.

“All of those sectors stand to be sacrificed or at least severely compromised by the United States in this case. All so the United States can protect its domestic gambling industry or perhaps, even worse, to satisfy some dated little constituency in the DoJ.  Simply boggles the mind.”