Since the passing of the Unlawful Online Gambling Act, the online casino industry has had a difficult time recently, especially to those with customers in the United States.

Although it has been a tough for some companies, a report by the European Commission suggests that online gambling, online casino business is still booming in Europe despite the losses by their US-facing counterparts. Continua qui

ANTIGUA GAMING DIRECTOR OPTIMISTIC

In the Antigua Sun, Patricia Campbell, wrote that the Antigua’s top regulator for online gambling is hopeful that changes in the political situation of the US Senate and House of Representatives are the start to a more favourable position on Internet gaming from US officials.

“By and large, I am encouraged. I am hopeful that this can present some positive dialogue and some positive actions for Internet gaming, not only on our front, but for the industry at large. I am hopeful that we will be able to see some positive movements with respect to our [World Trade Organisation] trade dispute and the US compliance in that regard, given the change in the House of Representatives and the Senate,” McDonald said, adding that it is important to be realistic in such expectations, in light of the overwhelming three to one vote cast when the recently passed restrictive legislation moved from the House of Representatives into the Senate.

She also noted that the United Kingdom has embraced Internet Gambling and expects to fully get onboard as regulators in December 2007. The UK called the first international summit on remote gaming earlier this month.

McDonald expressed some concern about how the entrance of the UK could affect Antigua & Barbuda, but concluded that this was generally a positive move. “We’ve been in it for the past 10 years and it has been like a go-alone situation, so I am encouraged, as a regulator, to see that international regulators are coming together in a forum and trying to establish common principles and protocols. We have been doing that as part of the International Gaming Association for the past two years, to try to establish common standards for Internet gaming jurisdiction, so I am very pleased that a first world economy like the UK is on-board.”

The November 2006 issue of Bluff Europe (www.bluffeurope.com), the European version of America’s leading poker magazine, is now available across the United Kingdom and Europe featuring all the action from the European poker scene.

This month’s feature story is an interview with Daniel Negreanu, one of the world’s most popular and successful poker stars, as he talks about life at the top and his future plans for a continued success in the game. Other big names to be found in the November issue include Mike Caro, Phil Laak, Antonio Esfandiari, Jennifer Tilly, Roy ‘The Boy’ Brindley and Neil Channing amongst others.

Bluff Europe also includes all the latest from the European Poker Tour, including reports from the big tournaments in London and Baden, plus an exclusive interview with EPT London winner Victoria Coren on her £500,000 win.

The magazine also carries out an investigation into the European side-effects of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) which was passed in the US at the beginning of October.

Until recently, the only place you could go to get a live game of poker in the United Kingdom was in a land-based casino (unless of course you knew of a private game) and most of these casinos didn’t even have poker rooms. Just before the poker boom started, one of the big UK casino chains closed most of its cardrooms. One of the rooms to be closed was at a casino in Russell Square, London, leaving its regular players unhappy and looking for somewhere else to play. Disgruntled, they set up the Gutshot poker club, so the players could meet a few times a week in the upstairs room of a nearby pub to play their favourite game. The membership of this private club grew so much that the founders of the club decided to lease their own premises, open a bar and restaurant and run a 24-hour poker room with cash games and daily tournaments to suit all bankrolls.

However, the legality of the club has always been questioned as UK gaming law states that poker games can only be run for profit in licensed venues, i.e. casinos. Three years later they have ended up in court and are fighting for their survival. Their defence is based on the premise that poker is a game of skill not luck, so it should be exempt from outdated gaming laws that seek to regulate other games of chance.