Mega Millions Lottery Jackpot Odds Not Worth Chasing

Casino Watch Focus has consistently educated the public on the risks of gambling.  Each year the number of those trapped in gambling’s web increases and the amount of money gambled continues to climb.  One online source points to out that Global Betting and Gaming Consultants resent finding’s show that world wide gambling reached $419 billion in 2011.  Even though most people probably think of casinos, the lottery actually accounts for the most gambling at 28%.  Lotteries popularity always climbs as the jackpots increase.  One of the largest multi-state lotteries, Mega Millions, has an estimated jackpot of $540 million.  These large jackpots create a frenzy of gamblers, some of whom have terrible gambling addictions and some who just play on these types of occasions.  But how good are your odds at winning?  The USA Today points out, the odds are definitely not worth the chase:

Social media users were buzzing about the jackpot on Facebook and Twitter, mostly about what they would do with the money, but also about the tiny possibility of winning the top prize. The odds? About 1 in 176 million.

“I’m reading an article about what to do after you hit the mega millions jackpot. Next article, how to housebreak your unicorn,” says @scottbhuff on Twitter. Some posters link to a someecards.com poster that shows a man consoling a woman, and include this phrase: “Plenty of people don’t win the lottery the first few thousand times they play.”

To put your chances of winning the Mega Millions jackpot into perspective, you are:

About 176 times more likely to be struck by lightning in your lifetime.

About 3.76 times more likely to be killed by fireworks this year.

Almost 9 times more likely to die from a TV falling on your head this year.

Considering the article goes on to explain that people are spending $50 to $100 at time, its easy to see how people will use large jackpots as a time to loose control and spend beyond their means chasing the impossible.

For more information on the dangers of gambling, please visit CASINO WATCH & CASINO WATCH FOUNDATION

Zynga Looks to Use Facebook and Social Media Gaming to Incorporate Online Gambling

Casino Watch Focus reported that  Facebook was looking into online gambling in markets where online gambling is legal.  The tie into gambling stems from Facebook utilizing an online monetary system in the form of credits.  Those credits are usable in games or other various items from developers.  One of Facebook’s larger developers, Zynga, who also develops for various mobile platforms, has taken note of the possibilities of a recent Obama Administration ruling, that allows online gambling. An online source explains:

Zynga Inc. (ZNGA) Chief Executive Mark Pincus said Wednesday he sees “mind blowing” possibilities for weaving real-money gambling into social games pending regulatory changes in the U.S., and suggested the company may partner with a traditional casino company before the end of this year.

“We’re definitely talking to all of the players that you would suspect,” Pincus said, adding, “We have incredible respect and admiration for brands and groups like the Wynn… I would expect that you’ll see a lot of these players kind of figure out their go-to-market partnerships for sure before the end of this year.”

Pincus noted that real money gaming would be a natural fit for Zynga, which already draws tens of millions of players to its Zynga Poker game.  Unlike current games such as Zynga Poker, real money gambling games would involve more than just virtual currency that cannot be converted into cash.

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Obama Administration Ruling Allows Online Gambling

Casino Watch Focus reported that several states have been attempting to legalize online gambling in their own jurisdiction.  Even though many states were attempting to legalize such intrastate gambling, it was generally understood that a long legal battle would develop.  The current online gambling landscape is largely governed by the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UGEIA).  It regulates interstate and intrastate gambling at the financial level.  Given the almost impossible nature of regulating the internet, UGEIA looked to enforce the issue by going after the financial institutions where the gambling money would trade hands.

The basis for UGEIA is the 1961 Wire Act, which prohibits gambling over telecommunications systems.  This act effectively prohibited almost all online gambling, on both an inter and intrastate level.  Now, The Christian Science Monitor is explaining that a common Justice Department ruling on the Wire Act has been reversed by the Obama Administration, allowing for at least intrastate gambling and possibly even gambling between states:

Until now, the Justice Department had held that the Wire Act makes even intrastate online gambling illegal. Its new interpretation, written by Justice Department attorneys in response to requests for clarification from New York and Illinois, concluded that the law instead specifically outlaws such wagering on sports, not nonsports gambling within states or even across state borders.

“The ordinary meaning of the phrase ‘sporting event or contest’ does not encompass lotteries,” wrote Assistant Attorney General Virginia Seitz. “Accordingly, we conclude that the proposed lotteries are not within the prohibitions of the Wire Act.”

“The United States Department of Justice has given the online gaming community a big, big present,” writes I. Nelson Rose, a Whittier Law School professor who blogs at gamblingandthelaw.com. “My bet is that … Congress will continue to do nothing, while Internet gambling explodes across the nation, made legal under state laws.”

While the Justice Department ruling does not specifically address interstate gambling, legal experts say it’s likely to be allowed, at least between states that specifically regulate online gambling.

There are a multitude of concerns with the actions of the Obama Administration’s new ruling.  In an Op-Ed piece by the Christian Science Monitor, they argue that such actions amount to a tax on the poor and that the regulation issues will be too severe to offer anything other than potential harms to children and families:

[B]ig doubts remain over whether states can indeed restrain such digital games of chance to residents while also keeping children from playing them. State lotteries, for examples, have a poor record of preventing retailers from selling tickets to minors.

And even if states can outsmart tech-savvy teens or out-of-state gamblers, once enough states jump into Internet gambling they will likely be able to work together and create a national scheme for such activity. That would violate the spirit if not the letter of a 2006 federal law banning such interstate activity.

Most of all, bringing Internet gambling to America would hurt the poor, who are most affected when people lose money in government-approved games of chance such as state lotteries or casinos – not to mention the way it would reinforce a belief that one’s future depends on “luck” instead of individual merit.

In effect, President Obama and his appointed Justice officials have bowed to political pressure from states that seek a new source of revenue in Internet gambling rather than taking the difficult decisions to raise taxes or cut spending.

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Washington DC to allow online poker in September

Casino Watch Focus reported  that several states were in a race to be the first to legalize online poker.  New Jersey was the first to pass a bill to legalize it, but then the Governor vetoed the bill.  California considered full online gambling, but as an online source reported, California decided to partner with  PlayTech to provide online gaming, but it will only allow people to play for free, not for actual money.  They are laying the foundation for a possible change in federal policy that has effectively made online gaming illegal. Washington D.C. joined the mix and passed a measure to allow online gambling back in April.  Now, a different online source, is now reporting that they plan to go live with their online poker bill in September, but there is a catch:

Washington, D.C. will begin allowing poker players to play with real cash online beginning in September.  There’s one catch.  They’ll have to be in Washington, D.C. to play.

The District of Columbia is in the midst of rolling out the first legalized online poker room in the US.  It will be overseen by the D.C. Lottery and is considered a precursor to other states such as California and Florida jumping into the fray.  Nevada’s Governor signed a bill into law allowing Web poker in his state but the law only kicks into effect when similar legislation is passed on the federal level.

Congress did not object to the District’s efforts during its 30-day review period of the law, though legality issues remain unclear especially in light of recent federal crackdowns. 

For more information on the dangers of gambling, please visit CASINO WATCH, & CASINO WATCH FOUNDATION

Obama Administration expands Tribal Gambling

Casino Watch Focus reported that the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act allows for off-reservation casinos.  In January of 2008 the U.S. Dept of Interior denied a claim to build a casino 293 miles away from the reservation explaining the casino was too far to be of benefit to tribal members. Then, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) passed a rule that the casino must be within 25 miles of a reservation headquarters, but it did allow for a few exceptions.  Now, The Miami Herald is reporting that the Obama administration has removed the rule:

The Obama administration announced Tuesday it has rescinded a rule that blocked Indian tribes from building casinos far from their reservations, reviving hopes among local officials for casino gambling in the Catskills.

The change overturns the so-called commutability rule, created in 2008 by then-Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne. According to the rule, a casino beyond reasonable commuting distance from a tribe’s reservation was damaging to life on the reservation because its residents would move to follow the new jobs.

This rule change could dramatically expand casino gambling.  In 2008 from January to July, 10 tribal casino applications were rejected alone. For more information on the dangers of gambling, please visit CASINO WATCH, & CASINO WATCH FOUNDATION

Federal Gov’t looks to hault state welfare abuses tied to gambling venues

Casino Watch Focus reported that California welfare recipients withdrew $1.8 million in government benefits at casino ATM’s across the state.  Other states have reported similar issues.  Most recently, an investigation revealed that welfare recipients in both Illinois and Missouri withdrew government provided aid from their welfare cards in Las Vegas.  Most of the ATM’s in Vegas Casino’s block EBT withdrawls, but there are still too many gambling venues across the country that have no safeguards.  Cases like this have now drawn the ire of Congress as they look to pass legislation to solve the problem.  The LA Times reports:

Welfare recipients nationwide would be barred from using their government-issued debit cards at casinos, strip clubs and liquor stores under a bill to be introduced Wednesday by leaders of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee.

A co-sponsor of the measure says he was inspired by the fact that nearly $5 million in cash benefits issued in California and meant to help struggling families feed and clothe their children, was spent or withdrawn from ATMs at casinos and poker rooms between January 2007 and May 2010.

Tens of thousands of dollars in Temporary Aid for Needy Families assistance was accessed or spent with the debit cards at Los Angeles-area strip clubs in the same period.

The bill has financial consequences for those states who don’t come into compliance and has bipartisan support.   The LA Times continues:

This bill will hopefully put an end to egregious abuses that have happened in many states, not just California,” said co-author Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah). Under the measure, states would have two years to demonstrate compliance with the bans or face a 5% cut in the federal contribution to their welfare programs, Hatch said.  The bill has bipartisan backing: Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, is also listed as an author.

For more information on the dangers of gambling, please visit CASINO WATCH, & CASINO WATCH FOUNDATION

New Online Gambling Bill Filed – Identical to other past failed attempts

Casino Watch Focus reported that U.S. Rep. Barney Frank’s desire to regulate online gambling was all but shut down after the midterm elections.  Then, a last minute effort was made by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, but Casino Watch Focus reported that he was unsuccessful at his attempt to attach the pro-gambling bill to sure-to-pass legislation during the lame duck session.  Now, an online source is reporting that Rep. Frank is attempting to legalize gambling again, this time teamed up with Republican John Campbell:

Congressman John Campbell (R-CA) along with Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) introduced today The Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act.

The legislation comes in response to the enactment of Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), which restricted the use of the payments system for Americans who gamble online.

“The bill is identical to H.R. 2267 that was passed out of the House  Financial Services Committee on July 28, 2010 with bi-partisan support.”

Time will tell if this next attempt to legalize online gambling will end in failure like its predecessors.  Some bi-partisan support was not enough in the past, and with no reports of a greater level of bi-partisan support, it will interesting to see what this bill’s supporters plan to do to truly make it different than years past.

For more information on the dangers of gambling, please visit CASINO WATCH, & CASINO WATCH FOUNDATION

Largest Law-Enforcement Mob Bust in History made Possible by Illegal Gambling

Often times organized crime bust are a result of alleged mobsters not paying taxes or due to some type of racketeering.  Occasionally those arrests are the result of murder charges.  However, most of the time when reading about organized crime, illegal gambling is mentioned as the reason for arrest.  An online source is reporting on the largest mob bust in history and illegal gambling is sited as one of the main charges used to facilitate this historic event:

It is being called the biggest mobster roundup and, when all is said and done, the single most aggressive organized crime bust to ever take place in New York City. The charges range from gambling to racketeering to murder.  More than 100 suspected mob associates were being arrested throughout the early morning hours Thursday as part of several federal investigations.  Law-enforcement officials said members and associates of all five New York mafia families – as well as New Jersey’s DeCavalcante family – are among those being arrested, NBC New York reported.  Other families included the Gambino, Genovese, Lucchese, Bonanno and Colombo.

And for more information on the dangers of gambling, please visit CASINO WATCH, & CASINO WATCH FOUNDATION

UPDATE: Senator Reid’s Online Gambling Bill is dead

Casino Watch Focus reported that Senate Leader Harry Reid was attempting to legalize internet gambling by attaching a bill during the lame duck session to important legislation that would almost certainly pass.  However, ESPN has reported that his bill is dead and that Internet Gambling will remain illegal:

It’s been a whirlwind of excitement since the first rumors that Sen. Harry Reid would be passing online poker legislation during the lame-duck session of Congress, but that excitement halted immediately Wednesday night. According to multiple sources, the bill will not be voted on or attached to another bill during the last few days of this session.

Three anti-online gambling supporters — Spencer Bachus, Dave Camp and Lamar Smith — will be heading some of the most powerful committees in Washington when House of Representatives reconvenes for business in 2011. As mentioned on ESPN Inside Deal, the key to the industry will be the availability for payment processors to do their jobs and if the Department of Justice amps up their enforcement regarding the UIGEA, those processors might be too cautious to serve the U.S. market.

And for more information on the dangers of gambling, please visit CASINO WATCH, & CASINO WATCH FOUNDATION

** ALERT ** Senate Leader Harry Reid is attempting to legalize internet gambling

Casino Watch Focus reported that with the midterm elections swinging the balance of power back to the republicans, Rep. Barney Frank’s bill to legalize Internet gambling was essentially dead in the water. The Wall Street Journal reported that Senate Leader Harry Reid will pick up where Rep. Frank left off in an attempt to make good on those who helped financially pave the way for his recent election:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s year-end to-do list includes top priorities for the constituencies that helped him eke out a narrow victory last month over former Nevada state legislator Sharron Angle.

Gambling interests and casino executives gave the senator more than $700,000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, ranking fifth among all industry contributors. His biggest single benefactor: MGM Resorts International, whose executives and political action committee gave Mr. Reid more than $190,000 in combined campaign donations, according to the same data. Harrah’s Entertainment ranked fourth, with more than $83,000 in campaign contributions.

Senate Leader Reid is proposing a bill to repeal the ban on internet gambling and it ensures that casinos and horse tracks have the right to exclusively operate online gambling sites for the next two years. The Wall Street Journal also reported that Senate Leader Reid is considering attaching his bill to “must-pass legislation” before the end of the legislative session:

Several other people lobbying for the bill said they believe Mr. Reid may still try to get it attached to must-pass legislation. “Until Congress adjourns I am not saying it’s dead,” said John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance.

Mr. Reid’s idea of moving an online poker bill that would heavily favor Nevada casino companies  has stirred up a tempest in Congress’s final days. While investors in casinos and slot machines grew excited, several Republican lawmakers disparaged the legislation as preying on “the weak and the vulnerable.”

Now, an online source is reporting that Senator Reid has decided to leave the tax extension bill alone and will instead use a spending bill that could pass to push his legislation.  For more information including urgent action steps, please visit the Casino Watch Internet Gambling Alert page here or at:

http://www.casinowatch.org/internet_gamb/sen_reid_attaching_gambling_bill_to_tax_cuts.html

And for more information on the dangers of gambling, please visit CASINO WATCH, & CASINO WATCH FOUNDATION

Mid-term elections deal a blow to pro-online gambling interests; Rep Barney Frank is out of power

Casino Watch Focus has reported on the ongoing saga by Rep. Barney Frank to attempt to legalize online gambling.  Now that the Mid-term elections have change the balance of power in the house, an online source explains that some major changes are imminent:

Online gambling’s biggest ally is expected to be replaced by the industry’s most outspoken opponent.  With the Republicans taking control of the House, Alabama Congressman Spencer Bachus would probably be named the new Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, currently chaired by Barney Frank.

Bachus has been in staunch opposition to legalized online gambling, including Internet poker.  Frank has attempted to pass legislation that would license and regulate the multi-billion dollar industry within the United States.

It is not a guarantee that Bachus would take over the position, but if he does, he has a track record in various leadership roles of obstructing attempts to legalize gambling related activities.  It seems quite clear that internet gambling will remain illegal for the next few years.

For more information on the dangers of gambling, please visit CASINO WATCH, & CASINO WATCH FOUNDATION

Florida election could be key to online gambling legislation

Casino Watch Focus reported that Rep. Barney Frank is pushing a bill to legalize online gambling and that it was voted out of committee and opened up to debate.  The bill is expected to be tabled until after the new year because of the mid-term elections.  One area of concern for Rep. Frank is Florida.  An online gambling site explains:

Representative Barney Frank has introduced legislation that would overturn the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. Frank’s bill would lay the groundwork for a regulated Internet gambling industry in the US, and the legislation has already passed the House Financial Services Committee that Frank chairs.

With mid-term elections coming fast, it is expected that Frank will table the online gambling bill until after the new year. If that happens, he would have to start over from scratch, which is when the Senate seat from Florida will become important in the issue.

Marco Rubio, who is firmly against gambling, will represent the Republicans in the Senate race and Kendrick Meek won the Democratic primary.  Both will run against Florida Governor Charlie Crist, who turned independent and clearly supports gambling.  This election clearly represents a swing vote as a vote for Rubio helps to preserve current legislation making online gambling illegal and a vote for Crist, and possibly Meek, represents a pro gambling position that could lead to the passage of Rep. Frank’s bill.

For more information on the dangers of gambling, please visit CASINO WATCH, & CASINO WATCH FOUNDATION

Congress debates legalizing and regulating Internet Gambling

Casino Watch focus reported in April that Rep. Barney Frank was attempting to legalize and regulate Internet Gambling by introducing the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act. Many groups including all the major sports organizations, expressed their opposition.  Now, the New York Times is reporting that steps are being taken to bring the bill back up for debate:

On Wednesday, the House Financial Services Committee approved a bill that would effectively legalize online poker and other nonsports betting, overturning a 2006 federal ban that critics say merely drove Web-based casinos offshore. The bill would direct the Treasury Department to license and regulate Internet gambling operations, while a companion measure, pending before another committee, would allow the Internal Revenue Service to tax such businesses.

This vote is an early measure that simply opens the bill up for debate and its far from being passed.  There still exits huge opposition to such a measure.  The Times continues:

Opponents, who only four years ago, when Congress was controlled by the Republicans, secured a law that banned the use of credit and debit cards to pay online casinos, said they were aghast. “People sometimes resort to drastic things when they are strapped for cash,” said Representative Robert W. Goodlatte, Republican of Virginia, who called the new proposals “unfathomable.”

The committee’s top Republican, Representative Spencer Bachus of Alabama, noting the passage of far-reaching changes in financial regulation this month, said that “after all the talk last year about shutting down casinos on Wall Street,” he was incredulous that members would vote to “open casinos in every home and every bedroom and every dorm room, and on every iPhone, every BlackBerry, every laptop.”

The bill would allow each state government to opt out of the legislation.  Many State Attorney Generals oppose Online Gambling from a law enforcement perspective.  The New York Times explains:

In 1999, the National Gambling Impact Study Commission urged the prohibition of Internet gambling. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has said he would not support efforts to legalize online gambling, a view shared by most state attorneys general.

“Because Internet gambling is essentially borderless activity, from a money-laundering and terrorism-financing perspective, it creates a regulatory and enforcement quagmire,” said James F. Dowling, a former special agent with the Internal Revenue Service.

And Mr. Bachus released a November letter from the F.B.I. in which Shawn Henry, the assistant director of the cyber division, said it would be difficult for companies to verify the age and location of their customers.

For more information on the dangers of gambling, please visit CASINO WATCH, & CASINO WATCH FOUNDATION

Casinos expect revenue increases as Obama extends Unemployment Benefits

Casino Watch Focus just recently reported that California welfare recipients withdrew $1.8 million from public aid debit cards in casinos across the state.  It’s all too common for casino’s to take advantage of the poor.  Too many people accepting public assistance attempt to gamble away the money for a chance to win big, only to hand the money over to the casinos in the process.  Given the current economic climate, families are at even more risk as casinos continue to prey on the desperate.  An online gambling source is reporting that casinos are expecting to make money off needy families as Obama has just extended unemployment benefits:

It is an unfortunate situation that occurs when the economy tanks in a country. In the US, thousands of citizens have turned to gambling as a way to make a quick buck and help themselves through the difficult economic times.

On Thursday, President Obama signed the Unemployment Extension Bill that is expected to bring relief to tens of thousands of Americans. It is inevitable that some of the unemployment benefits will end up in the hands of gamblers who will try to parlay their good luck into future security. With more gaming options than ever in the US, problem gambling, especially in light of the rough economy, may soon be picking up.

The casino industry will take their revenue any way they can get it these days.

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Rep. Barney Frank’s bill to regulate Internet gambling comes under fire

Casino Watch Focus has reported many times on the opposition to legalizing online gambling. Now it appears that Rep. Frank’s bill has caught the ire of Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.  An online source reports:

Frank has already indicated his intention to seek committee approval for his Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act, H.R. 2267, which already has 66 co-sponsors across both Republcan and Democrat parties.

In his letter to committee members, Land noted that his ERLC is particularly disturbed that the Frank proposal would:

(1) release license recipients from state and federal control by granting “complete defense against any prosecution”;

(2) grant authority to the Treasury Department to regulate gambling and thereby remove this power from the states, where it traditionally has rested; and

(3) transfer the ability to criminalize online wagering from a state’s citizens to its governor, who can effectively reverse anti-gambling laws by deciding not to withdraw from legalized Internet wagering as regulated by the Treasury Department.

The article went on to explain that Land also views the bill as serving the financial interests of gambling companies while complicating our international trade commitments.  Groups including the NCAA, MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL also expressed their opposition in a joint letter to the committee.

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