Barney Frank to introduce bill

It is being reported that Barney Frank has stated he will introduce a bill to legalize and regulate online gambling this year. This bill would also of course rescind the UIGEA.

This may actually get passed as there is a Democratic Congress and President. In addition, the amount of money it could bring in taxes would be welcome in the current economic climate. Especially since it would be taxing something that is not essential to a person's budget. There's also thought that the EU may help get this passed as the US has made promises of more free trade and allowing European sites to operate in the US may help make that a reality.

However, this bill will probably not get much immediate attention as there are more pressing matters at hand such as 2 wars and a struggling economy.

Super Bowl Round Up

Here are a few articles from around the internet with football ties:

Can adding a team in London change the NFL's stance on gambling?
Full Story

CentSports.com finds loophole in UIGEA for sports gambling.
Full Story

How much is being wagered today and who is betting?
Full Story

Rolling Stone inside info blows Springsteen bets
Full Story

UIGEA effect on Super Bowl gambling
Full Story

Kentucky Update

The Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled that the 141 domains cannot be seized by the state of Kentucky as domain names are not gambling devices. Full Story.

I cannot believe it took an Appellate Court to realize that. Now, even with that ruling, Kentucky is not giving up as they will take this to Kentucky's Supreme Court.

Anyone else feel like a state with a 7.8 percent unemployment rate should be worrying about something else?

Only the Beginning

The first of what will be many problems with the UIGEA has occurred in New Hampshire. The ambiguity of the UIGEA has credit card companies blocking transactions for the state's lottery. Now obviously, the lottery is legal. However, due to the language of the vague law, the credit card companies are erring on the side of caution. Full story here.

What does this mean? It means that our fearless moral crusaders who are looking to help and keep safe the children of our country have essentially pulled money out of the school system. Great job! Not only that, the off shore companies that run the very sites they were trying to hurt, have already found ways around this law. That's cool though, these kids will need something to do when their schools close.

Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is now set. The economic climate is possibly the worst it has ever been for a Super Bowl. In addition to that, the Cardinals may be the team with the smallest fan base in the NFL. It is essentially a city of transplants.

Most likely, the viewers outside of Pittsburgh and the small contingency of Cardinals fans in Arizona will be watching because of a bet, a square in an office pool, or just because it is a social event.

However, what I am interested in is the advertising. Super Bowl ads are probably the best commercials and definitely the most expensive. This year, they're having trouble selling that ad space. The usual suspects, Fed Ex, GM, etc. are not going to be there this year. If gambling had been legalized, these ads would have been bought up by the companies behind online gaming sites. This is yet another way our economy would be infused with money. Television, radio, and our struggling print media will be saturated with ads from these sites.

Make Your Voice Heard

Here's a couple links where you can go put your stamp on the push for legalized online gambling:


http://citizensbriefingbook.change.gov/ideas/viewIdea.apexp?id=087800000004m5M&srPos=0&srKp=087

http://ideas.obamacto.org/pages/general/suggestions/70112-set-regulations-for-online-gaming-in-the-us

Drinking Rules

News on the legalization of gambling is a little slow as the inauguration is coming soon and most people are simply speculating what will happen rather than reporting anything new. So I figured I'd share this link with you. This is from Modern Drunkard Magazine.

The 86 Rules of Boozing