INTERNET BAN MAKES PHONE BETTING APPEALING
Czech are betting millions
The Prague Post carried an interesting story this week that claimed buoyant gambling business among the Czechs, with telephone wagering on the rise as a result on Internet betting bans.
Quoting Martin Hájek of online service provider esazeni.cz the article revealed that, "'The Czechs like betting, and the online form allows them to place bets virtually any time from anywhere. However, the government has outlawed betting via the Internet because it is a non-transparent business where money flows are hard to track. Phone betting is quickly taking its place."
The report also quotes a recent report by Hospodárské Noviny that the volume of phone bets is tens of millions of crowns a year and the market is growing quickly. And according to Milan Jelinek of Erika, the industry is attractive because providers don't need to build up a network of terminals as regular odds-betting and lottery providers do.
Prague Post concludes by reporting that over the past few years, the gambling industry has been growing. Last year Czechs spent a record 84.6 billion Kc on legal betting — 8.5 percent more than the year before, according to Finance Ministry statistics. The 2004 betting market included around 400 lottery and betting firms.
CANADIAN CALLS TO HALT POKER TV COVERAGE
Close the play money loophole, say critics
Online poker operators using the "play money" loophole to get publicity in the States and Canada (see earlier InfoPowa reports) may have to rethink their strategy if Canadian critics get their way. This week the Globe and Mail newspaper reported calls for broadcasters to close the loophole that allows online poker rooms to advertise on Canadian television.
With poker's recent surge in popularity, sports channels are filling their broadcast schedules with Texas Hold 'Em tournaments, and poker websites are eager to advertise. The Criminal Code makes it illegal to advertise Internet gambling in Canada, but many broadcasters welcome advertising from 'play money' versions of popular casinos like PartyPoker and PokerStars.
The play money sites typically have the same name as the real casinos but use a .net suffix instead of .com. These sites don't allow real gambling, but use e-mail to refer interested consumers to sites where they can actually gamble.
Rick Broadhead, a Toronto-based Internet consultant, said the practice makes Canadian regulations look ridiculous because online casinos and broadcasters have found a way around them.
Most private television broadcasters submit commercials to a self-regulatory industry association called Telecaster Services before they're aired.
The Globe and Mail says that material for seven 'play money' sites has been approved by Telecaster, while many ads have been rejected, quoting Jim Patterson, president and chief executive officer of the Television Bureau of Canada.
FOXWOODS "PLAYAWAY" DECLARED ILLEGAL
Indian tribe 'reviewing' official decision
Foxwoods' attempt to introduce the Internet-based PlayAway game suffereed a setback as we went to press on the news that Connecticut Division of Special Revenue has ruled that the game violates state and federal gambling laws.
The state informed the Mashantucket Pequot tribe, which owns and operates the successful southeastern Connecticut casino, that it may not offer the game on the casino's Web site and may not offer any other game online.
State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said he's prepared to defend the decision in court. "This game is a new game. It is a departure from the existing gambling practices that exist on the reservation," Blumenthal said.
The PlayAway promotion was advertised by Foxwoods as, "Our exclusive new way to play slots, card games and your other favorite games anytime you choose, anywhere there's a computer!"
It allowed gamblers to buy keno tickets with an Internet access code at the casino, check the tickets' status at home, and then play a number of games such as simulated slot machines or a hand of blackjack or poker. The results were predetermined by the keno numbers.
The state said the game illegally expands gaming off the reservation, promotes gambling to minors and deceives players into believing they're playing games of chance, such as poker, when they're actually playing a game based on predetermined results.
"The Web site play added nothing to the outcome, though it did appear to mislead the player to believe that he or she was controlling the outcome and the amount won," Paul A. Young, executive director of the Division of Special Revenue, wrote in a letter to the casino. "Simply put, PlayAway is a keno-based interactive game played on the Internet, off of the reservation, for promotional purposes. We have concluded that PlayAway, which utilizes the Internet, would be illegal in Connecticut.''
The PlayAway Web site did not explain that the fancy blackjack and slot machine graphics were just a way to heighten the experience of checking for a winning keno ticket.
George Henningsen, chairman, Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation Gaming Commission, said they were reviewing the state's ruling. He declined further comment.
Foxwoods is the first casino in the country to try this type of Internet venture. If it ultimately succeeds, members of the National Indian Gaming Association expect the idea will attract other interested tribes. Casino regulators in New Jersey have said they are also watching the Connecticut case.
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