The Online Poker Pro

States can no longer ignore the revenue generated from internet gambling and online Canadian casinos. Lawmakers are taking the lead by consulting with the US Department of Justice (DoJ) to explore the possibility of expanding their lottery to include online gambling.

Proposed legislation in Illinois aims to expand gambling in bars and legalize video machines. Additionally, there is a proposal to allow off-track betting on horse races. Illinois lawmakers have also introduced controversial legislation that would permit residents to play the lottery from home by accessing the internet and selecting numbers electronically.

Challenges Faced by State Lotteries in Online Gambling

While other states offer internet lottery options through subscriptions, these require residents to play the same numbers every month. Until 2006, these states faced no issues with this form of internet gambling. However, the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act created confusion as it prohibited online gambling without specifying which forms were illegal. Financial institutions were burdened with determining the legality of transactions.

Consequently, state lotteries faced problems as credit card companies started refusing payment for subscriptions, fearing legal implications. The affected states have since filed lawsuits to compel credit card companies to pay these charges and stop blocking residents from accessing lottery subscriptions.

Critics of online lottery gambling in Illinois argue that the generated funds would not justify changing state law. However, proponents await the DoJ's opinion before deciding whether to proceed with the legislation.

Interesting Facts about Lotteries

Lotteries have a long and captivating history, with their roots tracing back to the Han Dynasty in China around 205 BC, where they were used to finance major government projects like the Great Wall. In fact, the word "lottery" comes from the Dutch word "lot," which means "fate" or "luck".

In the United States, lotteries have played a crucial role in shaping the nation. The Continental Congress used lotteries to fund the Revolutionary War. Later, in the 19th century, lotteries were used to finance public infrastructure, including the construction of colleges and canals.

Interestingly, voluntary taxation from lotteries contributes significantly to state revenues today. For example, in Fiscal Year 2019, U.S. lottery sales totaled $81.6 billion, generating $23.9 billion in gross revenues for the states.

It is not uncommon for lottery jackpots to reach astronomical figures. The largest lottery prize ever won on a single ticket was a $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot claimed in 2016. However, the odds of winning such a jackpot are incredibly slim, often compared to getting struck by lightning. Yet, the allure of winning big continues to attract millions to participate in lotteries every year.

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Democratic Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey introduced S 1597, the Internet Poker and Games of Skill Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act, bringing Internet gambling one step closer to legalization. The proposed legislation aims to legalize and regulate games of skill such as poker, bridge, mahjongg, backgammon, and chess, defining them as games where player skill plays a significant role.

As stated in the bill text, while chance is a factor in these games, a player's long-term success depends on their skill level. Under the new legislation, both federal and state governments would receive 5 percent of licensees' deposits as tax revenue every month. Unauthorized gambling would be subject to a 50 percent fee.

S 1597, introduced by Menendez, is similar in scope to last session's S 3616, the Internet Skill Game Licensing and Control Act, but with a focus on consumer protections. It also shares similarities with HR 2267, proposed by Rep. Barney Frank. However, HR 2267 seeks to legalize and regulate all forms of online gambling, not just games of skill.

Frank and Senator Menendez are united in their efforts to overturn the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006, which has caused confusion due to its lack of clarity regarding online gambling. While Frank previously attempted to overturn UIGEA without success, this time they have the majority support in their respective chambers, including significant Republican backing.

The First Licensed Casino in Canada

The first online casinos to receive a license was actually InterCasino, which has been in operation since 1996. It was licensed by the government of Antigua and Barbuda, which was one of the first jurisdictions in the world to recognize the potential of online gaming and establish a regulatory framework. The casino was powered by CryptoLogic, a pioneering software company in the online gambling industry, placing it in a unique position to capitalize on the early adoption of Internet gambling. InterCasino has since proven itself as a major player in the online casino world, having won several industry awards for innovation and customer service.

Biggest Jackpots in Online Casinos

Online casinos are renowned for their enormous jackpots that occasionally shatter records and create instant millionaires. One of the most striking examples is the €17.86 million ($20 million) prize won by a Finnish player in 2013 on the NetEnt's Mega Fortune slot game. This hefty fortune remains the largest online casino jackpot ever awarded, as confirmed by the Guinness World Records.

Another significant win occurred on Microgaming's Mega Moolah slot game, where a British player scored an impressive £13.2 million ($17.2 million) in 2015. This jackpot became known for transforming the player into a multimillionaire with a minimal 25p bet.

Progressive jackpot games, in particular, are known for their colossal jackpot potential. Every bet placed contributes to the ever-increasing prize pool until one lucky player hits the winning combination. As these games are often shared among multiple online casinos, the pooled effect allows the jackpots to reach astronomical sums quickly. These record-breaking jackpots demonstrate the immense potential for substantial winnings in online casinos, captivating the attention of players worldwide.

Responsible Gambling

Responsible gambling is an essential aspect of online betting, underscored by the potential risks associated with uncontrolled gambling behavior. Adherence to responsible gambling principles safeguards individuals from harmful practices and promotes a healthy, enjoyable gaming experience. It entails setting reasonable betting limits, understanding the odds of games, and recognizing that losses are a part of the experience.

Online platforms often provide resources and tools to help players maintain control over their gambling habits, such as self-exclusion options, cool-off periods, and deposit limits. Gambling should always be viewed as a form of entertainment rather than a means to financial success. Players are encouraged to treat any winnings as a bonus and never to chase losses. Importantly, individuals should never bet more than they can afford to lose.

Recognizing the signs of problematic gambling, such as increasing amounts of time and money spent on betting, can help in seeking timely support and preventing gambling addiction. Responsible gambling ensures that the thrilling world of online casinos remains a safe and enjoyable pastime for all participants.

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We seem to be getting closer to online poker being legalized in the United States, because Representative Barney Frank just picked up another supporter for his online gambling bill last week. Michigan Democratic Representative John Conyers has been added as a co-sponsor, which means Frank has now secured 49 supporters.

“Politicians are really being forced by the people they represent to get behind this legislation,” said observer Lenny Gray, “online poker players want their freedom to play without government interference, and they are starting to contact their representatives with that request.”

Rep. Frank currently has two pieces of gambling legislation in the works. The first would establish a basis for the legalizing and regulating of Internet gambling. The second seeks to stop the the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) from taking effect in December 2009.
Frank tried once before to overturn the UIGEA. He wasn’t successful at that attempt but he may have a better chance this time because the Democrats control both the House and the Senate.

New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez is introducing comparable legislation in the Senate that would legalize Internet gambling, and it is thought that it may actually move quicker than Frank’s bill. If both are approved, the only other step would be to have them ratified.

China and the United States are the two most influential countries in the world when it comes to free trade and World Trade Organization (WTO) commitment compliance. Ironically, both countries claim that compliance is essential, yet neither has demonstrated that through their online poker and Internet gambling laws.

The U.S. is already in trouble with the European Commission, which has given our lawmakers a grace period so they can clean up Internet gambling legislation and be in compliance with European Union trade agreements. The U.S. has yet to heed the warning, though, and the next step would be for the European Union to bring the case to the WTO.

But if Representative Barney Frank has his way, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) will be repealed and the U.S. will be on its way to a more progressive policy on Internet gambling. Frank has long recognized that millions of people in the U.S. want to be free to gamble online legally — no matter whether they want to play pai gow poker, slots, roulette or any of the other games of chance available online — and that taxation of the online gambling industry could provide financial windfalls at every governmental level. He’s been busy gathering support in the House of Representatives for his bill and just added his 50th and 51st official supporters last week.

China has not come quite as far as the U.S. when it comes to overhauling their Internet gambling laws. The Chinese government has mandated filters, which prevent citizens from accessing Internet casino gambling sites. In fact, the Chinese government’s stance on Internet gambling is so oppressive, as recent as February of 2010 a Chinese Web site developer was sentenced to six years and ordered to pay a fine of 5 million yuan ($735,000 dollars) for his role in building casino gambling Web sites. Nineteen other Chinese men who were involved were also given prison terms ranging from one to five years and fines of 20,000 yuan to one million yuan.

Now that there’s a marked shift toward legalizing many forms of Internet gambling in the United States, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has granted $3 million to revisit a study done in 1999-2000 that identified where and how often problem gambling was happening and the consequences. The grant was spurred by concerns that greater access to Internet gambling will produce greater chance for gambling addiction to take root.

The University of Buffalo Research Institute on Addictions (BRIA) is the recipient of the grant. Senior Research Scientist John W. Welte, Ph.D., of the BRIA conducted the original investigation and will once again be heading the research project. The study will consist of Welte and his team conducting phone interviews and other behind-the-scenes research to see how online gambling expansion is affecting problem gambling figures. Welte will incorporate data from his previous research project with new research to reach his conclusions. Research topics will not just be limited to Texas Hold ‘em poker and other popular forms of online and casino gambling, but also on the more informal worlds of fantasy sports and office betting pools.

According to Welte: “This research will examine trends in gambling behavior and gambling problems among adults in the United States since 1999. Most importantly, we also will examine the relationship between gambling trends and changes in the social approval of gambling, changes in neighborhoods and changes in state gambling laws.”

The focus on local gambling is key because cities and states control casinos and lottery outlets, in effect giving voters and policy makers influence over the rates of problem gambling in society at large.

A Gambler Gambles

An argument for legalizing online gambling, is that there will always be and always has been forms of gambling. For centuries people have gambled. Ancient cave drawings have depicted people playing dice; dice made of the bone of ancient and extinct dogs have been found that date back 40,000 years. Mahjong, the Chinese tile game is a game of chance that dates back to 2300 B.C., and archeologists have even found gambling artifacts in what was ancient Greece, even though gambling at that time was forbidden. It is said that the universe was split into heaven, hell, and the sea by a game of dice between Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon. Gambling has been around a long, long time.

“The thing is,” says long time risk taker David Giordano, “that there are those that gamble, and there are those who just don’t. Take my wife for example. She’s never bought a lottery ticket in her life. She doesn’t know how to play poker. I take her to the casino, she goes to the spa. She won’t even let the gas needle get lower than half a tank. She doesn’t risk anything!” He takes a drag off his cigarette and continues, “Me? I’m a gambler. I play the stocks, I bet horses, blackjack. I’ve lost some on the Knicks. That’s just me. A gambler gambles. Hey! I may lose just as much or more than I win, but that don’t stop me. Why would that stop me? And why should I be stopped by the Congress? It’s America, I’m free right? And I want to gamble online without repercussion. And I know what I’m doing, so they should just let me. No two ways about it. Legalize it. Legalize online gambling.”

Playing card photo by Chris Withers

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If you write or blog about poker or gambling in general, chances are you want some artwork to go with your stories. There’s plenty of fee-based art but chances are you don’t want to pay for it if you’re just doing something for yourself. Quite frankly, there isn’t a whole lot of free casino gambling clip art on the Internet — at least not that’s of much use. But I managed to round up some resources that are professional looking and also completely free. I actually created some of them, so it wasn’t too hard to compile the list!

I’ve listed these free gambling clip art and photo resources below. Please let me know if you have any others you think should be included on the page.

Stock Xchng
Searches for “gambling,” “poker,” “casino gambling” and other related terms will bring up some great images. The photos in one section are affordable stock images but there is another section where you’ll find plenty of free images. Please review the terms for each image, which is located under the green bar that reads “Availability.” Even if the terms don’t require it, providing a photo credit is considered good etiquette because Stock.Xchng photographers take the time to upload quality images for no charge.

Royal Flush Clip Art
This royal flush clip art was created by yours truly, using Picnik.com, the free online graphics software. A link to the page where the clip art resides would be appreciated but isn’t mandatory.

Playing Cards Clip Art
I also created this collection, which features every card in the deck in three patterns: regular, puzzle pieces and a wavy look. The same linking request goes for this as for the royal flush clip art.

Vintage-look Poker Hands Clip Art
I also created these vintage-looking poker hand images that give an Old West feel that’s perfect for articles related to the origins of poker. The same linking request goes for this as for the royal flush clip art.

I hope you find this list of free Internet gambling photos and clip art helpful!

Aficionados of online casino gambling in general and online poker in particular will now have to wait until June 1, 2010, to see their fate in the United States. December 1, 2009, was supposed to be the deadline for implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), a mangled mix of regulations that put the onus on U.S. financial institutions to enforce who can and cannot gamble online in the United States. This regulation doesn’t affect non-paid Internet gambling, such as free blackjack, bingo or poker that just pay out play chips, but it’s literally do or die for gambling sites that deal in U.S. dollars.

It’s not surprising that the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the Department of the Treasury jointly announced the six-month delay, because financial institutions were in an uproar over how to implement it. The UIGEA, which was hastily tacked onto the Safe Port Act in the last session of Congress in 2006, forces financial institutions to block unlawful Internet gambling transactions. Yet the bill did little to define what would be considered unlawful. The result was that in the absence of clear guidelines, financial institutions would have no choice but to block their customers’ transactions with online gambling sites, including wagers placed on horse racing and the purchase of state lottery tickets.

Proponents of UIGEA modification now have until June 1, 2010, to convince Congress that not only is the bill unfair, but that it also blocks a huge source of tax revenue at a time when the country could really use it. As John Pappas, the executive director of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), an advocacy organization with a major stake in the outcome of this fight, says, “In these trying economic times, we’re the only industry that’s coming forward and saying, ‘Here’s a pile of money!’”

The six-month delay came about because of a petition filed by the PPA, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and the American Greyhound Track Operators Association, which would all face similar problems if the UIGEA were implemented as is. But the PPA and many others realize that altering the UIGEA won’t provide strong enough regulation for the online gambling industry. That’s why they also stand firmly behind Representative Barney Frank’s H.R. 2267 and Senator Robert Menendez’s S. 1597, which would provide protection for underage and compulsive gamblers.

You can be sure that all stakeholders will be busy for the next six months trying to convince any lawmakers not already on-board that online gambling is not a crime and that it’s time for realistic legislation that benefits everyone involved.

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There’s no question that online poker is getting more popular by the day. And with U.S. gambling regulations being called into question right now in Congress, the game could get an even stronger foothold in the future.

In the coming weeks, hearings will be held in Washington to see whether the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) should be overturned. Representative Barney Frank has led the charge to overturn this law that provides hindrance to players, yet little protection. Many, including Parry Aftab of the Internet safety group WiredSafety, believe that legal online gambling governed by well-thought-out regulations would protect players better. Online players are currently falling victim to unregulated companies that rip them off and clear regulations could potentially circumvent a lot of this cybercrime.

Frank and many others who support overturning the UIGEA have taken their stance because it’s clear that online poker and other forms of gambling are not only here to stay, but they’re on the rise. Statistics show that so much money can be made by players that people will find a way to play, legal or not.

According to the PokerListings Traffic Report, the top four poker sites currently have nearly 100,000 players on their sites at peak times. And out of 3,757,629 players being voluntarily tracked by PokerListings, there are at least 100 recent players who have made more than $300,000 playing online poker, five who have made over $1 million, one who made over $3 million and one who brought home a whopping $4.5+ million — and those are only the players who are being tracked.

The opportunity to make so much by playing oline casinos is no doubt is due to the hordes who came online after learning to play Texas Hold’em while watching the many TV shows about it, or by participating in ubiquitous local tournaments. Transferring those skills to the online arena was simply a natural progression.

With any luck, the U.S. Congress will see the handwriting on the wall and understand that trying to block online poker and other froms of Internet gambling will be about as effective as Prohibition was in the 1930s: a lot of money will be spent in enforcement and not a lot will be achieved.

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Hearings have been held for years to try to convince United States lawmakers that online gambling companies have the technology to regulate themselves. But the conversation is about to shift toward the billions of dollars the U.S. could gain by enacting online gambling regulations and allowing Internet gambling fans to play on U.S.-owned sites.

Representative Barney Frank has worked since 2006 to push forward two bills designed to eliminate the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) and establish regulated online gambling. The recent economic recession has slowed Frank’s plans regarding Internet gambling, however, because the House Finance Committee that Frank chairs is understandably focusing on general economic recovery in the U.S. But now Representative Jim McDermott is breathing new life into Frank’s efforts by re-introducing a companion bill, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act (IGRTEA), which seeks to tax licensed Internet gambling in the U.S. Hitting lawmakers where they live — in the coffers — the IGRTEA bill highlights the tax revenue the U.S. could make if online gambling became regulated .

According to McDermott, “The current prohibition of online gambling has failed and made countless Americans vulnerable to fraud, identity theft and money laundering. This revised legislation will help states—which are facing budget crises all their own—collect much-needed revenue, and will help provide the foster care system with more resources as well. This legislation will help protect consumers and help both the federal and state governments recoup billions of dollars that now flow offshore.”

His bill includes incentives for states and tribes to participate through implementation of a 6 percent tax on gambling deposits that will flow to them. It also includes two new revenue set-asides that would designate 0.5 percent of the funds generated for historic preservation and the arts, and 25 percent for foster children. The bill would further increase revenues for states and the federal government by encouraging current illegal gambling sites to operate legally, and ensure that Internet gambling is not tax-exempt like horse and dog racing and Jai-alai.

Congress is expected to review McDermott’s new proposal during the week of May 17th, 2010. One of the key legislators scheduled to attend those hearings will be Minority Whip Eric Cantor, who has clout with his fellow Republicans. If he can be swayed in favor of the Internet gambling regulations proposed by Frank and McDermott, both proposals may receive the votes necessary to pass.

This is the third in our series of notable poker hands from television shows. This hand is from High Stakes Poker, which has done quite a bit to improve poker strategy implementation for players everywhere, by providing access to poker pros in action. For those who are unfamiliar with it, High Stakes Poker can be seen on the Game Show Network.

We begin with David Williams opening the pot by betting $1,800 after receiving the jack of spades and 9 of clubs.

Brad Booth then raises to $5,800 with the 4 and 2 of spades.

Phil Ivey is next and he re-raises to $14,000 with the king of hearts and the king of diamonds.

David Williams folds and Brad Booth calls, making the pot $31,100 before the flop. The flop is the 3 of diamonds, the 7 of spades and the 6 of diamonds.

Phil Ivey, with his pocket kings, is way out in front and bets $23,000, making the pot $54,100.

Brad Booth, with nothing but an inside straight draw and back-door flush draw implements a very gutsy poker strategy and goes all in. The pot is now $354,100 and Phil Ivey would have to go all in to call. Even though Booth probably put Phil Ivey on exactly what he had, an overpair, it was still a tremendous play against one of the best (many say, the best) player in the world. Ivey, concerned that Booth had flopped trips, folded and Brad Booth took down a large pot with very little.

This is one of those poker hands that make you truly respect the experience and poker strategy at work when the pros play. For those attempting to learn to play poker, High Stakes Poker and other television shows can be invaluable sources of poker tips, because poker theory literally comes to life and plays out right in front of you.

Check out these other High Stakes Poker hands:

• Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu and Antonio Esfandiari
• Tom Dwan, Peter Eastgate and Barry Greenstein

Playing card clip art courtesy of Dave Schloss

Brad Booth image © High Stakes Poker and the Game Show Network