Free Republic

Thompson might still be hanging in there in national polls , but those trading money on the probability of Thompson becoming the nominee are increasingly bearish on his chances. At one point, the probability of Thompson winning the GOP nomination was trading at 35% at Intrade . Over the last month his position has deteriorated, and in the last several days crumbled. At Intrade Thompson is trading at 8.4%. At Iowa Electronic Markets 7.1%, The validity of future’s markets is sometimes questioned. No one was questioning them, however, when Fred was trading at 35% .

But then there is nothing run-of-the-mill about the case that Mr. Mendel, a Texan who was born and raised in Southern California, has been waging against his own government before the World Trade Organization, the body in Geneva that sets the ground rules for global trade. The dispute stretches back to 2003, when Mr. Mendel first persuaded officials in Antigua and Barbuda, a tiny nation in the Caribbean with a population of around 70,000, to instigate a trade complaint against the United States, claiming its ban against Americans gambling over the Internet violated Antigua and Barbuda’s rights as a member...

The Skill Game Protection Act Defines Poker as a Skill GameA Florida politician who believes poker should be considered a game of skill has introduced a bill that would allow people to play online poker legally with government protection in the United States. The Skill Game Protection Act had been introduced by Representative Robert Wexler (D-Fla.). The bill would make several games, including poker, mah-jongg, bridge, and chess, exempt from current laws aimed against online gambling. Basically, the bill aims to clarify which games are skill games and which games are not. The bill specifically calls poker a game of...

On March 16th the United States government asked for and was granted a continuance in their case against NETeller founders Stephen Lawrence and John Lefebvre. The schedule hearing will now take place on April 16th, 2007 according to an announcement by the Information Office of the United States Attorney in New York. Department of Justice spokesperson Rebecca Carmichael informed reporters that the extension had not been opposed by the two NETeller founders, both of which posted bail bonds of $5 million following their arrests by the FBI. Lawrence and Lefebvre are still confined to the New York City limits until...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Miami executive and his wife pleaded guilty to participating in a $3.3 billion (1.7 billion pound) illegal Internet sports gambling operation in New York on Friday, the Queens District Attorney's office said. Daniel Clarin, 32, and his wife Melissa Clarin, 31, pleaded guilty in court to enterprise corruption and conspiracy charges for taking part in the operation that ran over a 28-month period, according to a news release. Sentencing was set for April 26. The operation took bets on sports including horse-racing, football, baseball, basketball, hockey, NASCAR races, PGA golf and professional tennis, the release...

The FBI has frozen funds held in customer accounts at Neteller, the "virtual wallet" payment processor, as part of its case against the firm's two Canadian founders who were last month arrested and charged with racketeering and money laundering. Neteller refused to disclose how much had been frozen but company filings make clear huge sums were flowing between its US customers' "e-wallets" and online merchants - particularly gambling websites - up until the firm was pressured to close its American operations in the wake of last month's arrests. Over a six-month period last year the company processed transactions worth $5.1bn...

THE US Department of Justice has ordered the world’s biggest investment banks, accountants and law firms to hand over all e-mails, telephone records and papers connected with internet gaming firms as part of an investigation into illegal online gambling in America. HSBC, Dresdner Kleinwort, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank are known to be among the banks that have been issued with subpoenas — official requests for information — as part of a worldwide hunt to build a case against those who benefited from illegal online gambling. Britain has been the fundraising centre for many internet gambling companies, with a number...

Stephen Lawrence and John Lefebvre Detained while Traveling Separately Two former NETELLER executives were detained while traveling separately through the United States yesterday (Jan. 15) in "connection with the creation and operation of an Internet payment services company that facilitated the transfer of billions of dollars of illegal gambling proceeds from United States citizens to the owners of various Internet gambling companies located overseas," according to the U.S. Attorney General's office of Southern New York. NETELLER suspended trading its shares on the London Stock Exchange in lieu of the detention of founding members Stephen Lawrence and John Lefebvre. Besides owning...

One of the problems inherent in being just one voice in 300 million is that it's easy to believe that individual votes do not matter. Not only do individual votes matter, but the mainstream has noticed that the voices and votes of gamblers may have had a crucial impact in a few key races in the recent mid-term elections. On Wednesday, Robert Novak of the Evans-Novak Political Report published his morning-after overview of the wave that washed many Republicans out of office. Here's his quick take on the unexpected defeat of Representative Jim Leach, (R-IA), who was the original author...

“Online gambling is on the rise, and there is a need to do something about this at a global level'' Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell told reporters, during a conference outside of London, at a famed, 300 year-old horse racing track. Internet gambling revenues have more than doubled in the U.K. during the past five years, a study for the government, released this week, demonstrates. The report bolsters the case that online gaming regulation -- as practiced by the British government -- works, experts are telling Onlinecasinocrawler.com. Gene Koprowski, UPI

A new poll, sponsored by the Mountaineer Race Track and Gaming Resort, shows that a majority of West Virginia residents support legalized "table gaming," including poker and blackjack throughout the state. The survey indicated that 64.9 percent of state residents "favor" table gambling, while 42.1 percent are set against it. In Hancock County, where the state capital of Wheeling is located, 67 percent of residents are in favor of legalizing gambling, and 26 percent are now against it. Gene Koprowski, UPI

Internet gambling companies are preparing to cash in their dollar chips as the impact of a new US law sinks in, with many preparing to suspend access to real money gambling by US customers. Last week Congress passed the Safe Port Act, which also included the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, aimed at cracking down on online gambling companies by making it illegal for banks and credit card companies to make payments to online gambling sites. After the act was passed, senate majority leader Bill Frist said: "Although we can't monitor every online gambler or regulate offshore gambling,...

A new survey, released this week, by the Munich-based consulting company, MECN, indicates that the recent woes afflicting the online gaming industry are likely to be short-term to medium-term threats, not long-term woes. According to Martin Oelbermann, an analyst with MECN, his firm surveyed close to 100 gaming experts from around the globe for this new report.

The U.S. Congress should postpone all legislation planned for online gambling until a study is conducted to examine the impact of the $12 billion industry on the American economy, leading legislators on Capitol Hill are now telling OnlineCasinoCrawler.com. Congress Eyes Study of Online Gambling, Deferral of Legislation Led by Rep. Jon Porter (R-Nevada), a total of 49 Congressmen are calling for the Senate to postpone acting on its version of an online gaming prohibition. What’s more, Rep. Porter this week said he is planning to visit the Isle of Man, a small island, between Ireland and England, to learn more...

Locked in a federal prison in the Nevada desert, tortured by the distant lights of the Las Vegas strip, Jay Cohen couldn't stop thinking about getting even with the government that had put him away -- and his revenge fantasy had a unique twist. U.S. prosecutors put Cohen behind bars in 2002 for running an Internet gambling site in the Caribbean country of Antigua and Barbuda. Not long before the prison gates clanged shut, he had learned that the federal crackdown on online betting might violate global trade rules. So he got Antigua and Barbuda to instigate a complaint at...

The House of Representatives voted 245 to 159 to pass the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act of 1999. Because of a rule requiring two-thirds approval, the measure didn't pass. Its sponsor, Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., plans to introduce it again when only a majority is needed for passage. If enacted, it would "Amend the Federal criminal code to make it unlawful for any person engaged in a gambling business to knowingly use the Internet or any other interactive computer service to: (1) place, receive or otherwise make a bet or wager; or (2) send, receive, or invite information assisting in the placing...

In this article, the author makes "possibly desperate, and most definitely futile" attempt to save Internet gambling. He calls Internet gaming an "inalienable freedom" protected by the US Constitution. He also claims that regulation is the best way to keep tabs on minors, money launderers and compulsive gamblers. A good little read.

Amended Bill Doesn't Mention Online Poker Players Confusion in the Press There seems to be some confusion in the press regarding what bill just passed in Congress. It has been reported that the “Goodlatte” bill passed in the House. Actually what is referred to as the Goodlatte Bill, introduced by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va, is H.R. 4777, which was fraught with problems previously reported by CardPlayer. Click here for that article. The common name of that bill was the “Internet Gambling Prohibition Act.” Another milder bill was introduced by Rep. Jim Leach, an Iowa Republican. That bill, commonly known as...

(AP) WASHINGTON Gamblers who prefer their laptops to blackjack tables won't like what Congress is doing. On Tuesday, the House plans to vote on a bill that would ban credit cards for paying online bets and could padlock gambling Web sites. The legislation would clarify existing law to spell out that it is illegal to gamble online. To enforce that ban, the bill would prohibit credit cards and other payment forms, such as electronic transfers, from being used to settle online wagers. It also would give law enforcement officials the authority to work with Internet providers to block access to...

WASHINGTON, March 15 (Reuters) - A U.S. House committee on Wednesday approved a bill aimed at stamping out the $12 billion Internet gambling industry by stopping businesses from accepting credit cards and other forms of payment. The bill, cleared by voice vote in the House Financial Services Committee, would prohibit a gambling business from accepting credit cards, checks, wire transfers and electronic funds transfers in illegal gambling transactions. Unlawful gambling, under the legislation, would include placing bets on online poker sites, for example, and any other online wager made or received in a place where such a bet is illegal...

February 19, 2006 -- A Virginia Congressman is trying for the fourth time to outlaw most forms of Internet gambling. Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) reintroduced the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act last week, in hopes of wiping out what has become a $12 billion a year industry — off-shore casinos taking bets from Americans.

WASHINGTON - More than 100 lawmakers in the House of Representatives introduced a bipartisan bill Thursday to outlaw the $12 billion Internet gambling industry. "The explosive growth of the Internet has provided a means for gambling operations to evade existing anti-gambling laws," said Rep. Rick Boucher, a Virginia Democrat. "These Internet gambling Web sites typically operate offshore and often serve as a prime vehicle for money laundering and other criminal enterprises." Rep. Bob Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican and chief sponsor of the bill, said Internet gambling has mushroomed into a $12 billion industry that also threatens minors. The bill would...

GENEVA (AFP) - The United States has until April 2006 to comply with a ruling about US restrictions on cross-border gaming on the Internet, the World Trade Organisation announced. In an arbitration decision, the global trade referee set the "reasonable period of time" for Washington to adapt its legislation in line with the ruling, which was issued in April this year after the tiny Caribbean state of Antigua and Barbuda brought the US before the 148-nation WTO. "The United States has already announced its intention to comply with the WTO findings," said Neena Moorjani, a spokeswoman for the US Trade...

<p>WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration said Wednesday it would vigorously fight a preliminary ruling by the World Trade Organization that could open the United States to offshore Internet gambling.</p> <p>The preliminary decision came in a trade dispute with Antigua and Barbuda. The tiny Caribbean nation had contended that U.S. restrictions on Internet gambling violated trade commitments the United States has made as a member of the WTO.</p>

The Caribbean state of Antigua and Barbuda has beaten the US in a dispute over internet gambling. The country relies on online gaming for much of its foreign currency earnings but was shut out of the US market by laws banning cross-border gambling. It took the US to the World Trade Organisation, claiming that the ban was designed solely to protect the huge US betting business - and won. The US says it will appeal against the WTO decision. Federal law The ruling at the WTO is only a preliminary one, and will now go to a seven-member appellate panel....

Congressman Backs Ban On Internet Gambling Bill Awaits Consideration In Senate POSTED: 3:44 p.m. CDT June 12, 2003 BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Alabama Rep. Spencer Bachus says he backs a House-passed bill aimed at prohibiting Americans from gambling on Internet virtual casinos. The measure, approved on Tuesday, would make it illegal to use credit cards, checks or make electronic transfers for Internet gambling. The Vestavia Hills Republican says some gambling operators have set up Web sites from offshore locations to operate out of the reach of U.S. law. The Senate version of the bill awaits consideration.

The Christian Coalition is urging its members to contact Congress during the Easter recess to push for action on a bill that seeks to effectively ban gambling on the Internet by anyone in the United States. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Funding Prohibition Act (H.R. 556), introduced by Rep. Jim Leach (R-Iowa), would prohibit any person engaged in a gambling business, with the participation of another person, from knowingly accepting as a payment for Internet gambling services: - credit, including credit extended through the use of a credit card; - electronic fund transfers or funds transmitted by or through a money...