Free Republic

Earlier this month, the U.S. Justice Dept. asked seven U.S. attorneys across the country to step down from their positions. Critics of the Bush administration, including California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, have since questioned the move, noting that it seems to have been politically motivated. The Bush administration counters that these U.S. attorneys were fired because their priorities were out of line with administration policy. Specifically, the DOJ told the New York Times that the prosecutors were being replaced "based on a review of their performance in carrying out Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's violent crime priorities." According to the DOJ, one...

The Justice Department has issued subpoenas to at least four Wall Street investment banks as part of a widening investigation into the multibillion-dollar online gambling industry, according to people briefed on the investigation. The subpoenas were issued to firms that had underwritten the initial public offerings of some of the most popular online gambling sites that operate abroad. The banks involved in the inquiry include HSBC, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and Dresdner Kleinwort, these people said. While online gaming sites like PartyGaming and 888 Holdings operate from Gibraltar and their initial public offerings were held on the London Stock Exchange,...

The gaming industry is this week holding its annual convention in Las Vegas, and slot-machine makers are optimistic that new technology that provides "community gaming" and "sensory immersion"...will soon become as standard as the classical "three cherries" on traditional, winning slot machines. "The products are the stars this year," said Brian Gamache, president and CEO of gaming-technology developer WMS Gaming. Gamache said that the new slots feature graphics and sound that rival the X-Box. What is more, the next generation of slot machines will be able to "talk" to each other, to players and to casino executives. Gene Koprowski, UPI

According to Centrebet's Chairman and CEO Graham Kelly told shareholders, at the company's annual meeting, that online gambling revenues will continue to rise now that the Republicans are out of power in Washington D.C. Online Executives Think Democrats Will Change U.S. Gambling Law A leading executive of a publicly traded Internet casino this week raised questions as to whether the new U.S. Congress, which, when it convenes in January, will be run by Democrats, will repeal the anti-Internet gaming laws enacted by Republicans during the waning hours of their scandalous tenure in October. Gene Koprowski, UPI

Research by Nielsen//NetRatings, a leading name in Internet market research, disclosed this week that Web traffic to several popular online gambling sites increased dramatically during the month of October. At exactly the same time that U.S. President W. Bush signed the restrictive Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) into law. Gene Koprowski, UPI

The government of the Caribbean nation of Guyana may enact legislation similar to that in the Bahamas, which will allow casino gambling, and Internet gambling, President Bharrat Jagdeo said. The politician, and his party, is hoping to pass the new legislation before the Cricket World Cup (CWC) matches next year. The legislation will allow four-star rated hotels with 250 rooms and above to be granted gambling licenses. There are already two hotels under construction that may meet the requirements, which will be completed to cater for the more than 30,000 visitors and tourists coming to Guyana for the Cricket World...

In Clark County, Indiana voters approved the referendum by "a wide margin" yesterday, after having previously defeated a similar ballot measure in both 1993 and 1995, said Jeffersonville City Council member John Perkins. Voters in the suburbs of Louisville, Ky., one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the U.S., on Tuesday overwhelmingly voted to legalize gambling, and are now seeking to open a riverboat casino there, from Caesars or another major international gaming company, during the next year. "I'm not surprised," said Perkins. Perkins and other politicians publicly supported the gambling referendum; saying. he did so for the quite...

The government of the Caribbean nation of Guyana may enact legislation similar to that in the Bahamas, which will allow casino gambling, and Internet gambling, President Bharrat Jagdeo said. The politician, and his party, is hoping to pass the new legislation before the Cricket World Cup (CWC) matches next year. By Gene Koprowski, UPI

Republican Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida is leaving office in three months -- due to term limits -- and gambling industry insiders are predicting that there will be a "significant expansion" of slot machines and off-track betting at Indian reservations throughout the state when the next governor comes into office. Bush, the younger brother of President Bush, unsuccesfully oppossed the proposed Las Vegas-style slot machines at Broward County' pari-mutuel facilities, but when voters approved the proposal, he signed the law, nonetheless. Either Republican Charles Crist or Democrat Jim Davis will be chosen by voters to succeed Bush next week, and...

Internet gambling continues its astounding growth pace, growing by 50 percent every year for the last eight years, and today constitutes 5 percent of all global gaming revenues, a new report indicates. The study, by London-based Global Betting and Gaming Consultants, said that for 2005, Internet gambling brought in $13 billion in revenues, $1 billion more than previously believed. Overall, global gaming revenues are $258.3 billion from resorts in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Macau and elsewhere around the globe. "Online gambling is one of the fastest-growing segments of the gaming market at a compound annual growth rate of more than...

The U.K.'s cultural secretary Tessa Jowell is this week calling for an "international agreement" on the regulation of online gaming, as leading industrialized powers seek a way around the draconian law against online gaming signed by U.S. President Bush earlier this month. Jowell is on Tuesday leading an international summit at Royal Ascot, the famed horse racing track, in the English countryside, near Berkshire, frequented by royals and the global glitterati, and founded in 1711, as delegates from 30 countries meet this week on international gaming standards, as well as methods for protecting players and keeping the industry well-regulated. Secretary...

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. The polling figures were discussed this week during a public forum, in Wheeling, said state Sen. Ed Bowman, D-Hancock, following the forum...

“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.

A new software program debuted this week which helps online casinos more easily build multi-lingual sites, and settle gambling transactions in a variety of international currencies. The software was developed by CyberArts LLC, and is an upgrade of its "Foundation" software platform for developers of online gaming services. The new version helps developers "minimize the risk" associated with the U.S. government's recently-passed Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), which includes certain provisions that would prohibit America-based banks and credit card companies to make payments to online gambling sites, said Chris Derossi, co-founder and CEO of CyberArts.

Pennsylvania's House of Representatives this week unanimously approved changes in a proposed law governing slot machines in the state, and sent the new measure to the state's Senate for its approval. If the changes are assented to by the Senate, the bill will be sent to Gov. Ed Rendell (D), the former mayor of Philadelphia, and a power player in national Democratic politics, often considered a potential vice-presidential nominee, for his signature. House Majority Leader Samuel Smith (R) said many in the House were quite "dissatisfied" with the Senate's earlier version of the bill. But time is running out for...

Taxes collected from the city's six licensed operators rose to $1.77 billion during the first three quarters of the year, up from about $1 billion last year, according to statistics released on the Financial Services Bureau of Macau. Gaming revenues received by the Macau government rose 13.4 percent during the first three quarters of this year, as tourists from China and overseas traveled to the former Portuguese colony, after the opening of the first "Las Vegas style casino" in nearly three years, experts said. Casinos have been investing heavily in Macau since its government opened its gaming market to foreign...

The conservative Midwestern state of Nebraska -- birthplace of famed American comedian Johnny Carson -- is poised to legalize "Video Keno." Video Keno is a digital version of the regular casino game of Keno. The game begins by placing one's wager -- whether coins or tokens -- into the machine's slot. Then, as is in conventional Keno, the player is presented a screen with eighty numbers, numbers 1 through 80.

All of the candidates running for governor of the state of Texas, the second largest American state, support the expansion of gambling there, adding Las Vegas-style slot machine, their repective campaigns tell Onlinecasinocrawler.com. Every Candidate for Governor of Texas Supports Gambling Expansion Republican incumbent Gov. Rick Perry has proposed allowing Texas racetracks and Indian reservations to operate slot machines, has state Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, and even Democrat Chris Bell who is totally "open" to casinos, as the tax revenue could pay for education and social services.

"Political betting is not only incredibly popular, but is also being seen by more and more observers as a new and highly accurate means of polling” said Calvin Ayre, founder and CEO of Bodog.com. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) -- the arch-foe of online gambling -- is retiring, and his seat, along with 32 others, is up for election this Nov. 7 in the U.S. Senate elections. Now, rather than just making an office pool, like the Toby Ziegler character did on TV\'s "The West Wing," and wagering on who will win, and who will lose, you can place...

A fascinating snapshot of Washington political practice - but is it democratic? Many online gamblers were infuriated by the political sleight-of-hand by which Senator Bill Frist managed to get the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act attached to a must-pass but totally unrelated Safe Ports Act in last minute political manouevering at the end of September. The tactic worked - the primary bill was passed with the attachment riding through on its skirts. This practice of attaching stalled bills to more important laws in order to ram both through is apparently not unusual in Congress. In fact the U.S. Senate Web...