According to The Chron...

Famed poker player "Amarillo Slim" was not injured when two armed men tied him up in his home and robbed him, police said.

Thomas Austin "Amarillo Slim" Preston Jr. 78, had been out, but found the men in his house when he returned Sunday night.

The robbers had two of his shotguns and took them as they fled, according to Preston.

No arrests have been made.

He co-wrote the book: Amarillo Slim in a World Full of Fat People: The Memoirs of the Greatest Gambler Who Ever Lived, with Greg Dinkin.

A number of local newspapers are reporting the results of a recent poll that say Massachusetts residents want gaming in their state.

The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Policy Analysis released the results of a statewide poll yesterday concluding that 56.5 percent of residents favor building a casino resort in the state.

Even the newly elected governor is jumping on the bandwagon. This was published this week in the Casino City Times...

As reported by the Cape Cod Times: "Gov. Deval Patrick has revived the gambling debate in Massachusetts, saying the state needs to seriously consider casinos or slots parlors to balance the state budget. But the question of expanding legalized gambling has simmered for a decade, kept warm behind the scenes by a cadre of lobbyists and gambling proponents who have long seen Massachusetts as a potential cash cow.

"With predictions of a money crunch at the Statehouse, another lobbying rush is about to hit Beacon Hill.

"Patrick recently extended an offer to meet with proponents of casino gambling before making a decision, saying he only heard from opponents during last year's gubernatorial campaign. Members of his administration are expected to meet with legislators Wednesday, and other meetings are still being scheduled.

"…Patrick says he has serious doubts about the social costs associated with gambling, but he told municipal leaders last weekend that gaming must be considered as a serious option to help boost state aid to cities and towns…"

Gambling 911 has published their updated list of state laws that pertain to Internet gambling. Here's summary...

Illinois - While a misdemeanor, the law currently on the books does apply to internet gambling (express internet prohibition). This is the only state that also strictly prohibits advertising within Illinois for online gambling venues (i.e. billboards, newspapers, etc.. that target residents of that state). Gambling911.com has had a strict policy in place for the past few years never to solicit Illinois state residents directly.

Indiana - There is express internet prohibition presented in Indiana's state law and - while never enforced against gamblers - the penalty is considered a felony only if the betting activity is via a syndicate or group, otherwise, placing simple wagers over the internet would be considered a misdemeanor. This state has long been a foe of online gambling since the industry really got underway in the late 90's.

Louisiana - State law prohibits placing of bets via the internet. Penalty is a felony only if betting through a syndicate or group, otherwise it is considered a misdemeanor. Recent warrants against certain principals in online gambling companies by the state of Louisiana show they are seriously enforcing this law and could potentially come after those who gamble online as well.

Montana - Oddly enough, Montana has made internet gambling expressly prohibited, punishable by a misdemeanor.

Nevada - Does not allow internet gambling across state lines.

Oregon - Expressly prohibits internet gambling by its residents.

South Dakota - Only applies to those in the actual gambling business so there is no explicit law prohibiting residents living in that state from gambling online who are not employed or otherwise acting as part of a gambling-related business.

Washington (State) - Last June, the state became the first to make betting over the internet a Class C felony regardless of whether you are betting as part of a syndicate or alone in your own living room. The law is currently about to be appealed. For now, Gambling911.com actively warns against betting over the internet if you happen to reside in Washington State.

Missouri, New York, Florida and New Jersey have in the past gone after online gambling operators or those facilitating money transactions via online gambling operators (New York's case against PayPal and Florida's attempts to stop Western Union transactions during the late 90's). None of the states have adapted laws that would penalize actual gamblers from betting online however.

Well known Canadian poker player and founder of Canada's first poker magazine, Dave Scharf, sent this chilling email out to his mailing list today...

I just had my Neteller account emptied out.

Last week Team Canuck’s Ralph had the same thing happen to him. Although warned, your password does not matter because to make a merchant withdrawal all that is needed is account number and security code.

Warning...

Since Ralph and I both had this happen one suspects that there is a significant breach.

Warning...

Take care of yourself. Last week I took $6K out of my Neteller account. I am glad I did.

A couple of weeks ago, the press reported that Stephen Lawrence and John Lefebvre, founders and formers execs of Neteller, were arrested on charges of money laundering. Apparently this is one of those stories that has gripped the nation enough to now refer to the NETeller Two by three names.

This week, the press is referring to the boys as Stephen Eric Lawrence and John David Lefebvre. They have now joined the ranks of other notorious three named villains like John Wilks Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, and John Wayne Gacy. Congratulations, guys... you are notorious!

NETeller will no longer allow members to use their gold ATM cards. Up until today, members had this as the only option to withdraw money from their accounts. Also, they announced that no new gold ATM cards would be processed for members. Here's the official quote from the site...

Why can’t I use my Gold NETELLER Card anymore?

The Gold NETELLER Card is not available as a withdrawal option at this time.

We are doing our best to restore our withdrawal options but don't know how long this will take. In the meantime your funds are safely maintained in trust accounts. We will communicate any updates as soon as possible.

Why can’t I get a Gold NETELLER Card anymore?

We are temporarily not issuing Gold NETELLER Cards. The Gold NETELLER Card is not available as a withdrawal option at this time.

Comically, the very next item on the Frequently Asked Questions list is this one...

Is my money safe in my NETELLER account?

They go on to answer the question with a bunch of mumbo jumbo about how your money is safe, but you just can't have it right now.

After a week of support telling players that their cashouts would be arriving in 7-10 days, it seems that Neteller is now painting a much more grim picture. An RGPer is reporting that he received this letter from Neteller support today...

"At this time, our ability to provide US members with withdrawals is significantly reduced. We assure you that restoring withdrawal options for you is our top priority. In the meantime, your funds continue to be safely maintained in trust on your behalf.

"Unfortunately, we cannot determine how long it will take to restore our withdrawal systems, but will advise you of any changes at updates.neteller.com."

Another on RGP posted this cry for help...

"I am totall frustrated by this bitch named "Mira - (badge #1270). She wasas illiterate as they come and would not tell me why it will take aminimum of 4 to 6 weeks for my eft to clear. I asked to speak to asupervisor and she said no one else will take your call. I asked for anaddress to write a complaint and she said there was none. She refusedevery request that I asked for. I then asked about an ATM card and shesaid it takes 3 months to have it mailed. What kind of bull shit is this? Are there any options at all to do anything? Letter to an authoritiveagency or anything?"

Maybe they will give you piece of the interest they are making on your money. Don't hold your breath, though!

Bill Frist was responsible for sneaking the UIGEA into the SAFE Port Act and in return he got all kinds of headlines in the Bible Bangers Daily Gazette. "Hooray", yells the far right 700 Club watchers. "Gambling bad! Bill Frist good!"

Well, we now all know what a crock that was. As his campaign contribution list shows, Bill Frist isn't against gambling in general, just gambling that hurts his supporters' interests.

I made the prediction on RGP today that when the smoke clears, big dogs like Harrahs and MGM will emerge as the first online gambling license holders.

Party Poker was the first to take head of the UIGEA and get out of dodge, so I think that they will be not so far behind while the other online sites will still be in court.

The UK is saying yes to poker.

A new law is paving the way for clubs and pubs to legally host gambling events.

Under the new law, establishments will be allowed to offer poker prizes worth up to £100 a night and up to £500 a week as long as they do not take a cut of the winnings or charge gamblers to play.

Private members' clubs can offer tournaments paying £200 a night and up to £1,000 a week.
That means pubs could stage a tournament where 20 people pay £5 to enter, or 100 people pay £1 to enter on five nights of the week.

Clubs and bars will no longer have to apply for a formal licence to stage gambling events as they do at present.

Experts say that this type of legislation would work well in this country, but all of those numbers may prove too confusing for lawmakers to get into an actual bill.

In an address to attendees of CAP Euro recently, Casino City Press CEO Michael Korfman spoke of a scenereo in the U.S. that involves personal checking accounts being scrutinized and closed. According to a report on Gambling 911, he says that banks are already looking into various types of ACH transactions and have the right to close accounts that they feel may be associated with online gambling.

He goes on to say, "this is just the tip of the iceberg and I am afraid things are going to get worse."

On a brighter side, the site reports Korfman as saying that he has been in talks with various state legislators whom are expressing an interest in regulating online gambling. Korfman says that he is sworn to secrecy as to which states he is in talks with, but claims that these are "significant states".

So, to sum it up... Millions of Americans may have their checking accounts and credit cards cancelled for gambling online and there is a good possiblity that the state that you live in is insignificant.

Card Player is reporting tonight that the relationship between 2006 World Series of Poker champion Jamie Gold and Bodog has come to an end.

According to the magazine's web site, Bodog released the following statement:

“In light of our decision to cease all offline marketing initiatives in the U.S., and instead refocus our efforts on growing our entertainment brand in Europe and Asia, Bodog has ended our business relationship with Jamie Gold. Bodog has enjoyed our association with Mr. Gold and wishes him the best of luck in his future endeavors.”

Ya think there's more to this than just that? The fact that David Williams, Evelyn Ng, and Josh Arieh will remain on their pro endorsement team pretty much answers that question.

Perhaps Calvin Ayre decided that there was too much negative publicity surrounding Jamie's WSOP win. You probably recall that he was sued by a business acquaintance who claimed that Gold promised him half of his winnings for helping him to recruit celebrities to endorse Bodog.

No word yet if Calvin hired the services of Donald Trump to deliver his message.

On the surface this looks like a good thing for the online gambling world, but I'm afraid that the reality is that it doesn't mean shit.

Here's the latest from Reuters on the World Trade Organization's ruling on the United States' Internet gambling ban...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has suffered a new setback in a four-year-old legal battle with Antigua and Barbuda over U.S. restrictions on Internet gambling, a U.S. trade official said on Thursday.

At issue is an April 2005 World Trade Organisation ruling against U.S. prohibitions on online horse race betting. Since then, the U.S. Congress has passed additional legislation to ban betting over the Internet.

Gretchen Hamel, a spokesman for the U.S. Trade Representative's office, confirmed press reports that a WTO panel "did not agree with the United States that we had taken the necessary steps to comply" with that ruling.

At the same time, Hamel downplayed the decision contained in a preliminary, confidential report to the two parties.

"The panel's findings issued today involve a narrow issue of federal law" and the United States will have opportunity to submit comments to the WTO before it issues its final, public report in March, Hamel said.

"Nothing in the panel's interim report undermines the broad, favourable results that the United States obtained from the WTO in April 2005," she said.

The issue is a touchy one for the Bush administration, which supports free trade but whose conservative allies in Congress pushed through a bill late last year to ban most forms of Internet gambling.

Antigua and Barbuda, with few natural resources, has sought to build up an Internet gambling industry to provide jobs to replace those in its declining tourist industry.

It argued in a case first brought to the WTO in 2003 that U.S. laws barring the placing of bets across states lines by electronic means violated WTO rules.

An April 2005 ruling by the WTO's Appellate Body, which both sides claimed as vindication, focussed on the narrower issue of horse racing, saying that foreign betting operators appeared to suffer discrimination.

Antigua and Barbuda complained the United States had not complied with the decision and the WTO agreed in July 2006 to look into the matter, resulting in the ruling on Thursday.

The United States will decide after the final panel decision ruling in March whether to appeal.
The Bush administration may not have to ask Congress to pass new legislation in any case, Hamel said.

"The panel report clarifies that compliance does not necessarily require new legislation, but could instead involve other steps, such as administrative or judicial action," she said.

I always like to find a brightside and perhaps there is a brightside of this latest downward spiral... people are taking notice.

The arrests of the Neteller Two have been widely reported in mainstream media outlets and that has caused a bit of a spotlight to be shined on the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA).

Here's what one non-gambler posted on the Dailytech website...

"I don't gamble and I think doing it is usually stupid, but the anti-gambling laws are absolutely ridiculous. The more relatively harmless activities that you outlaw, the more "criminals" you create. It's so hypocritical of them to specifically outlaw online gambling just because they can't tax it."

"As a member of the Poker Players Alliance, you will be given the necessary tools to become an advocate for poker."

That is a statement from the PPA's About Us page. I 'm not sure that I understand this correctly. If I pay you a yearly membership fee, then in return you will give me the necessary tools to become an advocate for poker? What tools could that possibly be? A t-shirt? The phone number to my Congressman?

The idea of a centralized voice is certainly not a bad thing. I think that the poker world needs this but I don't think that poker players should have to fit the bill for it... not when the online poker sites are the ones making billions of dollars each year.

One has to wonder why the sites are not funding the PPA entirely. They are the ones that stand to lose the most by fascist regulations that outlaw their businesses. Perhaps it's not that they do not want to fund a legitimate lobbyist group... perhaps it's just that they haven't found one yet.

I have to admit that I have not done enough research to say whether the PPA is a good representative of the poker community or not, but some others in the industry certainly have voiced their opinions. One example is Mason Malmuth of Two Plus Two Publishing. Malmuth hired the services of Greenberg Traurig, an international law firm, to look into the PPA. Here is a link to their findings.

Without giving my yay or nay to the PPA, I will offer some advice: You don't need to pay anyone for the right or "the tools" to be an advocate of anything. Your telephone book, your pen, and a good pile of facts are all the tools that you need to begin.

The Malibu Times printed another boring Neteller scandal article this morning, but this one painted an even more bizarre picture of one of the Neteller Two that is much more interesting than all of the other "he became a hippy musician" stuff that I've read.

"One of the reasons I didn't get dragged into the downtown, upper-crust, law-circle things is, I never really did concede to working the long hours, as much as I could have or maybe should have," he is quoted in the U of C newspaper. "It was always more compelling for me to get home to see my daughter."

Facing a midlife crisis in his '40s, he quit his job as lawyer and then begged in the train stations of Calgary for change to buy food, according to the campus newspaper. He ended returning to legal work to pay back friends and then met up with a former client, who later became chairman of NETeller, Stephen Lawrence. Lawrence was operating an online casino in Costa Rica, and wanted a more efficient money transfer system. Lefebvre worked with a computer programmer and built NETeller. The company gained a percentage off each transaction from the casinos, smaller than what the casinos had to pay credit card companies, and it provided better security against fraud.

Just to clarify... we have been trusting our money (by the billions) to a guy that was begging for loose change in a subway.

In 2006 the state of Washingtone made it a Class C felony for participating in any form of online gambling - including as a player. Their law designed to protect me from me carries stiff penalties: as much as five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Lovely.

They're Not All Crazy Though

Last week State Rep. Chris Strow, R-Whidbey Island, introduced House Bill 1243 on Jan 15, 2007 to correct what he considers an inappropriate penalty for an activity responsible adults should be allowed to do in the privacy of their home.

"While I do see the need for protecting our citizens from online gaming that may be scamming innocent victims, I do think that there is also a level of accountability, as an adult, to do as he or she chooses in his or her own home," Strow was quoted by Poker Pages as saying.

Just to revisit how out of hand things got in Washington, here is a June article from Danny Westneat that appeared in the Seattle Times. It was titled "This Column May Be Illegal"...

The first casualty in the state's war on Internet gambling is a local Web site where nobody was actually doing any gambling.

What a Bellingham man did on his site was write about online gambling. He reviewed Internet casinos. He had links to them, and ran ads by them. He fancied himself a guide to an uncharted frontier, even compiling a list of "rogue casinos" that had bilked gamblers.

All that, says the state — the ads, the linking, even the discussing — violates a new state law barring online wagering or using the Internet to transmit "gambling information."

"It's what the feds would call 'aiding and abetting,' " says the director of the state's gambling commission, Rick Day. "Telling people how to gamble online, where to do it, giving a link to it — that's all obviously enabling something that is illegal."

Uh-oh. This is starting to get a little creepy.

I hadn't been all worked up about the state's crusade against Internet gambling, including the new law that makes most online betting a felony.

Yes, it's insincere. This is the same state that's happy to enable your online wagering if you're playing the ponies.

But mostly it seemed the law was unenforceable. And passé. A society steeped in televised Texas Hold'em and Indian casinos is suddenly supposed to recoil at the idea of placing bets with a mouse? I figured the law was a bluff.


Then I heard about Todd Boutte. He's a former Wal-Mart worker in Bellingham who started a casino review called IntegrityCasinoGuide.com. He worried about the new law but figured he'd be OK because his site has no actual gambling.

Not so, said the state. Writing about online gambling in a way that seems promotional can earn a cease-and-desist order, and potentially, a criminal charge. Boutte learned this when a Bellingham Herald article featured state officials saying his site was illegal. He later shut it down and is trying to sell it out of state.

"1984 has finally arrived," Boutte says. "I can't believe this is happening in a liberal place like Washington."

More may be on the way. The state plans to hire an investigator to enforce the new law.
Gambling officials told me The Seattle Times may be afoul of the law because we print a poker how-to column, "Card Shark," by gambler Daniel Negreanu. He sometimes tells readers to hone their skills at online casinos. And at the end of each column is a Web address, fullcontactpoker.com/news, where readers can comment.

If you type in that address, you whiz off to Negreanu's digital casino based in the Antilles.
It's a tangled Web, isn't it? The state says we'd best do our part to untangle it.

"My suggestion to you is to remove from your paper any advice about online gambling and any links to illegal sites," Day said.

So even this column could be illegal?

The state's gone from trying to control gambling, which is legit, to trying to control people speaking about gambling.

It's hard to take coming from a state that bombards us with pitches for the biggest sucker's bet of all. You know, the one they call the lottery.

Here's an article from a Palm Springs newspaper called the Desert Sun about the politics of this mess. I left out the last line, which contained a link to the Poker Players Alliance.

Poker is a democratic game. Whether you are male or female, young or old, rich or poor, black or white - it makes no difference at the poker table. If you like playing for pennies, thousands, or matchsticks, you can become a student of the game and improve your skill level.A truly American pastime, it's been enjoyed by presidents, generals, Supreme Court Justices, members of Congress and average citizens for more than 150 years.

Poker can be played at home, in clubs, on cruises and in casinos. And until the United States government began intruding on our right to play poker online, that was accessible also.

Unfortunately, even as public support for poker grows, some over-zealous government officials have decided that, while betting on horse races and buying lottery tickets online is okay, playing poker is not. In October 2006, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) became law. While not out rightly banning online poker, it makes criminals out of many of the entrepreneurs who bring it to us.

Last week, two of these businessmen, the Canadian founders of NETeller, were arrested, detained and charged with violations of the 1961 Wire Act, the progenitor of the UIEGA. They face 20-year prison sentences if convicted. Reverberations from the arrests have severely curtailed online poker operations in the United States.

Some say that money, being made offshore and not on our soil, is the reason for this crackdown. The obvious answer is regulation. According to an economic analysis, $3.3 billion in incremental federal tax revenue could be raised annually if the government regulated Internet poker. It's been successfully done in the United Kingdom, to the benefit of the gaming sites, the players, and government coffers.

Others say that "morality" is the reason for the screw tightening, and that those who presume to decide what's right and wrong for us to do in the privacy of our homes believe that playing poker on a computer compromises John Q. Citizen's decency. The obvious answer to that is activism.

A preliminary hearing date of February 14th was set today for the two founders of Neteller Plc. The pair are being charged ilegally handling billions of dollars in online gambling wagers.

Canadians John Lefebvre, 55, and Stephen Lawrence, 46, are currently free on $5 million bail. Both have surrendered their passports to authorities and are limited to restricted travel as a part of their bond.

Neteller acts as an online wallet allowing online gamblers to fund a Neteller account and then move that money into an online gaming site. The arrests prompted Neteller to suspend all operations to U.S. citizens and has left a number of online gamblers wondering if they will ever see their account funds.

A group of webbies decided that it was a good idea to pay PRLeap to distribute this press release. Their web site goes even further and tells you to find a Canadian with a similar name as yours and pretty much take on their identity so you can play online poker. Here's the presser...

Americans who want to play online poker are doing so through a loop hole that employs Canadian based servers. The exploit masks American based ip addresses with Canadian ones as to evade the self imposed US ban by the various online poker sites.

"This ban only affects American citizens and not Canadians", says Ryan, a member of pokerbandits.ca. "Many online poker rooms now do not allow members from the States, however if you appear to be Canadian then you are free to register and play."

Under this loop hole US players find Canadian residential addresses that contain a common last name and then utilize findnot.com ip redirecting service. "It’s pretty easy once you have installed the program and most sites do not even verify your address or telephone number when you register", says Ryan. The program masks American based ip with Canadian ones so that to the online poker site it appears that a user from Canada is trying access their site.

Under the US ban gamblers are not allowed to use credit cards and online gambling houses are prohibited from accepting credit cards, checks or electronic fund transfers to handle wager transactions. However many players get past this by using third party payment processors. As Ryan points out, "The ban makes it illegal for poker sites to accept direct money transfer from and to your US bank account. However, you can get past this by using Click2pay or Epassporte".

Poker fans in the US are already talking about a new era of prohibition similar to the 1930s. When asked about the effectiveness of the ban Ryan tells, "this law will not stop Americans from gambling. If someone wants to play in an online poker game they will find a way. This law has just pushed the online poker community underground."

The news sites are buzzing tonight with stories about France's decision to ban online gaming. There are even reports of some establishments putting a ban on images of Chris Moneymaker. I guess that has to be kind of cool for Chris. Not many of us can say that our images were banned.

Here's scoop about the EPT in France from Casino Times...

French authorities have forced the European Poker Tour to cancel the 2007 French Open, according to a statement on the European Poker Tour Web site.

The popular EPT tournament was scheduled to run from Feb. 20-24 at the Casino Barrière de Deauville.

"This is as a direct result of last-minute intervention by the French authorities making it impossible for the Lucien Barrière group to run a poker tournament on their premises in Deauville," said tour CEO John Duthie.

Duthie also said he is considering appealing the decision to "the highest authority," but added that the tournament is currently postponed indefinitely.

The EPT has not said what prompted French authorities to shut the tournament down. PokerStars, the tour's official sponsor, has made no official statement either.

Casino City is investigating reports that a new French law prohibits online gaming advertisements. That would prevent PokerStars from advertising at the French Open.

The new law may also prohibit financial institutions from transferring money to online gaming sites in a fashion similar to the American Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.
Casino City has tried to contact the French Ministry of Finance, PokerStars and the EPT, but received no response.

France has a history of fighting online gaming, arresting BWIN executives Manfred Bodner and Norbert Teufelberger in September of 2006.

The EPT had been booming until the cancellation of the French Open. Season-three player participation has risen 36 percent from Season 2, mostly because of PokerStars satellites that pump players into the EPT events.

EPT officials added two more tournaments to the third season because of its recent success. Dortmund, Germany will hold an EPT event on March 3 and Warsaw, Poland will host the country's first major poker tournament on March 14.

The 2006 French Open was the largest event in the second EPT season, drawing 434 players and a prize pool of 1.6 million Euros.

The 2005 competition was the second largest tournament in Season 1, drawing 234 players and a prize pool of 468,000 Euros. Only the EPT-Austria tournament was larger (297 players).

New York - A Texas hold 'em player on a run of bad luck led feds to bust up a high-stakes underground poker game with links to the Russian mob.

According to court papers, the illegal poker game was run out of Rasputin's - a garish Sheepshead Bay supper club where the player racked up a $70,000 tab and refused to pay because he said the game was rigged.

Michael and Alex Mitselmakher - who recently sold Rasputin's - and reputed Russian mobster Arkady Seifer were arrested yesterday and charged with extorting the unnamed player.
The trio, who were arraigned in Brooklyn federal court yesterday and held without bail, also allegedly threatened another player who they said encouraged the loser not to pay his hefty debt.

According to the indictment, the Mitselmakher brothers ran an illegal Tuesday night poker game in the restaurant, helping themselves to a percentage of every pot.

Here are some excerpts from an article that orginally appeared in The Register. If this doesn't make you feel all warm and mushy inside I don't know what will.

On Friday, the Federal Government issued subpoenas to major European banks, including Credit Suisse and HSBC, demanding copies of all business records, correspondence, and emails related to internet gambling transactions.

The subpoenas are the latest extraterritorial assault by the American government on foreign institutions involved with online gaming. Earlier in the week, two former executives of NETeller, a British payment processing service, were arrested on money laundering charges in connection with NETeller's online gaming financial transactions, although neither was currently involved with the company in any managerial capacity.

The fact that neither of them were currently involved with NETeller deepened the paranoia among those involved in the online gaming industry, even among those whose companies are no longer soliciting business in the American market, as the arrests concerned transactions dating back to 2005 when the status of American law on online gaming was still in question.

We know where you live...

It raises the possibility of widespread American criminal charges against anyone who has ever been involved with the online gaming industry, even if in a peripheral way.

After all, banks such as Credit Suisse that underwrote initial public offerings for online gambling companies are not necesarily those that have been processing retail transactions for the online gambling industry. This means companies previously considered safe from American bullying must now see themselves at risk - regardless of where they are headquartered.

It gets worse. Since indictments may remain sealed under American law, anyone in a decision-making capacity with any investment bank that has involved itself with what the Department of Justice (DoJ) described last week as a "massive criminal enterprise" should be particularly careful about travelling in any American jurisdiction, including places such as the American Virgin Islands or American Samoa that are involved with offshore banking.

Stephen Lawrence, a Canadian citizen and former CEO of NETeller (who has held no managerial position whatsoever for over a year), got snapped up by American authorities last week in the American Virgin Islands. The FBI grabbed the other former exeuctive, the guitar strumming lawyer turned philanthropist John Lefevbre, at his home in Malibu, California.

Apparently, the former NETeller execs had been the target of an FBI probe since June 2006, which means the money laundering allegations thrown at them pre-date the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA).

Maybe the former executives were only the low hanging fruit due to their proximity to American justice, but one shudders to think what the American government intends to do once the 270 day waiting period ends before the UIGEA takes effect.

Although the arrests of the former NETeller executives shocked the gaming industry, the almost unlimited scope of the American subpoenas proved even more jaw dropping. After the arrests, NETeller almost immediately ceased accepting payments from American citizens, providing a link on its website offering instructions on how to withdraw whatever funds currently resided in those accounts.

A Canadian rival, ESI Entertainment's Citadel processing system, also ceased collecting payments from Americans in the aftermath of the arrests. However, NETeller PLC was not formally charged with anything, leading many to wonder when the other show would drop. Drop it did, but nobody expected anything of this magnitude.

According to public filings cited by the United States Attorney's office in a statement following the arrest, in the first half of 2006, NETeller derived approximately 95 per cent of its revenue from online gambling sites, 85 per cent of which came from North America and 75 per cent from the United States. NETeller pulled in over $5bn in revenue in the first half of 2006. The government also cited information in the filings that NETeller knew its transactions could be "illegal under current or future US law", (emphasis mine) in an attempt to satisfy the "intent" element of American money laundering charges.

The UIGEA board terror

NETeller proved to be a major thorn in the side of American authorities obsessed with staunching the flow of American dollars to overseas online gambling sites, and was frequently cited by critics of the UIGEA as an easy workaround in the wake of the passage of the UIGEA. No more. Unfortunately, as always, darker elements will move in to fill the gap, those that can pull up stakes at a moment's notice.

Although the legality of certain forms of online gaming was hotly debated in American legal circles, even in the aftermath of the UIGEA - only wire transactions involving sporting events have been explicitly prohibited since 1961 - the DOJ has seen fit to prosecute those who had previously operated in a kind of legal limbo. Anyone with any doubts about their involvement in this controversial business would be wise to stay away from the United States and its possessions for a long time to come.

Offering a flicker of hope to the online poker community, whose television popularity belies the illegality of its online presence, the gaming trade publication Gambling911.com reported last week that the National Council of Legislators from Gaming State, at a conference in the Florida Keys, responded favourably to comments by the head of the Poker Player's Alliance, Michael Bolcerek, regarding the benefits of legalised online poker.

What influence state legislators will have over federal policy is unclear, and he might well have been preaching to the converted, but legalisation of truly intrastate (rather than interstate, which would fall under federal law) online gaming could at least provide evidence that the online gambling industry can be tamed and controlled, not to mention taxed.

According to Igamingnews.com, Juniper research released a revised report last week estimating that the mobile gaming market will expand from $1.35bn per annum this year to $16.6bn in 2011. The downwardly revised forecast accounts for the American Justice Department's ongoing legal crusade against the online gaming industry, in which any transactions that touch the American market are fair game for prosecution. Caveat emptor.

A close source has just revealed to me that Wayne Allyn Root has been invited to participate in a series of panels designed to bring out the next Libertarian Party presidental candidate. The panels will take place this March in Orlando, Florida.

Wayne is a long time friend of mine and has even co-hosted an episode of Poker Updates with me. He is best known as being one of the nation's leading sports handicappers and host of Spike TV's King of Vegas.

"Both parties are a huge disappointment to the average American," Wayne told the Las Vegas Review Journal last week. "It's time for a third party. I can feel it. I'm a gut instinct guy. I'm a handicapper."

The world's largest legal oddsmaker, England-based Ladbrokes, has put odds at 2-to-1 that Root will get the Libertarian nomination, and 1-to-2 that he will get the most votes of any Libertarian presidential candidate.

In a statement released earlier this month Wayne said, "Both parties support ever bigger government and less freedom for Americans- what I call "The Nanny State." It's time for a serious, competitive third party on the national level that supports the message of STAY OUT OF MY WALLET AND MY BEDROOM."

An advocate of regulating and legalizing online poker, Wayne hopes to gain political momentum from within the poker community. Maybe a "Grass ROOT Campaign" is what we need!

According to "leaked information" that is being reported at Two Plus Two, Poker Stars says that they received just one hour notice prior to Neteller pulling out of the U.S. market.

According to the source Poker Stars was under the impression that Neteller had given their word to alert sites at least 90 days prior to any such decission, but such was not the case. Within hours, E-Checks followed suit, leaving Poker Stars players with very little (if any) choices to deposit or withdraw funds from their accounts. It is believed that both companies withdrew as a result of recent arrests of the Neteller founder and chairman.

The "leaker" goes on to report 'Stars as saying, "We are working hard on trying to establish and add new solutions, and assesing the situation with banks, processors, other partners, and regulators. The dust didn't settle down yet."

Michael Bolcerek, president of the Poker Players Alliance, felt that yesterday was a good day for the organization to release their first "State of Poker Address". Personally, I think they should have brough Sally Struthers in for the closing paragraphs. Here's the transcript...

"Tonight, in an annual tradition, the President of the United States will address the Congress, his cabinet and our country on the "state of the union" and the goals of the government for 2007. It is not likely the president will include the "state of poker" among his crucial national issues. Thus, I would like to take this moment to provide an update on where poker sits today and examine how you and the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) can continue to work together to preserve and protect the game we love.

"As we know painfully well, poker has come under vicious attack over the past year. We continue to learn on a regular basis about home and tavern poker games being raided by law enforcement and how charitable Texas Hold 'Em tournaments are being shut down. Perhaps even worse, we have seen the federal government's full force efforts to curb this American tradition from the Internet. Legislation aimed at prohibiting you from funding your online poker accounts passed the U.S. House this summer, then was quietly slipped into a port security bill, literally in the dark of night, which was signed into law on October 13. During these troubling times, the PPA has given you a voice to express your opposition to the government's intrusive actions and to rally in a united fashion against these constitutional incursions.

"The impact has been jarring, as the largest, publicly traded online poker operators shut down services to U.S. players. While many reputable sites still offer services to U.S. players, recent actions to close down payment processors and to subpoena banks are clear indications that the federal government is aggressively pushing the online gambling prohibition.

"We don't have to tell you that a prohibition won't work, and in fact will likely cause many more problems than it aims to solve. The unintended consequences will soon be apparent and all the good intentions of protecting children, helping problem gamblers, and ensuring the integrity of financial transactions will be lost as rogue sites and unregulated payment methodologies surface to replace the trustworthy operators the government is driving out of business.

"The PPA is not standing idly by. Poker should be exempt under the new law and that exemption is our primary goal. I have spent a good portion of January in Washington, D.C., meeting with lawmakers and others to get support for legislation that would provide a "skill game" exemption for poker. We hope to have a bill introduced very soon and then bring to bear the voice of more than 135,000 members of the PPA to push Congress to do the right thing. This would be a very positive development for the game. For the past year, we have been on the defensive, but now is the time to go on the offensive and get a bill introduced.

"This year we will also be taking the issue directly to Members of Congress in their home districts, to truly nationalize the debate. We had a tremendous response from our members about becoming PPA grassroots representatives on the state and regional levels. Soon we will be announcing our positions across the country and engaging U.S. Representatives and Senators where they used to feel safe from facts and spirited debate.

"While we are working toward the short-term goal of a poker exemption, the PPA will also be laying the foundation for the eventual U.S. regulation of online poker. This is the only proven public policy for online gaming. Licensing, regulating, and taxing online poker is technically feasible and the sensible and fiscally responsible thing to do. We will be working with others in Washington to move Congress in this direction.

"Finally, we not only rely on your active participation but also on your active support to achieve our goals. Our new site now offers no cost introductory annual memberships. Please help us build our membership to enable us to deliver a full house to Congress and stop further threats to our game. Tell your friends, family, and fellow players to become members of the PPA. We also offer an ability to upgrade your membership from introductory to full membership and beyond. Our new and improved Web site, http://www.pokerplayersalliance.org/, gives you tools and information to help our cause, as well as make it easier for you to donate to the PPA. I hope you will make a contribution at http://www.pokerplayersalliance.org/donatenow.php.

"2007 will be an important year for poker. With your help and continued support we are optimistic that poker will remain a great American tradition."