In the United States there’s a tug of war going on between proponents in favour of internet gambling and those who aren’t.

It’s inevitable that regular surveys will have to be taken soon in order to properly gauge peoples’ stance when it comes to the regulation and legalization of it in America. Ipsos a Lottery and Gaming Group recently conducted a survey just publicized its findings.

One of the key issues that came out in the research is the projected behaviour of U.S citizens toward internet gambling in general. During the last year only 9% of Americans admitted that they wagered at internet casinos. The survey pointed out that should the American government legalize and regulate internet gambling, only a mere 13% of U.S citizens said that they would wager online within the next 12 months. On the contrary, if regulated internet gambling services were offered by their favourite land-based …

In March this year a hacker forum has been closed down, four members including the site’s founder were taken into custody. Two teenagers, Zachary Woodham (19) and Louis Tobenhouse (18) both from Brighton in the UK managed to escape from prison this week.

They were found guilty of hacking into internet casinos and hosting websites by soliciting credit card details from players and selling it on a “black” hacker site. These raunchy teens also offered advice on how to hack into these websites and various other crimes. That’s why it’s important that one always stores your personal details, preferably not on your computer but in a safe place. Ince you’re done using your computer delete your cache and run your anti virus for any malicious malware.

Although they did not go to prison they must do copious hours of community service. Woodham has a one-year suspended prison sentence and 240 …

Bet365 has applied for a gaming license in the Land of Oz, its founder and joint chief executive notified Cassaon-casino earlier today. This internet casino (Bet365) would start operating in Australia hopefully before the end of this year.

Joint chief Executive, Denise Coates of Bet365 had the following to say: “The rumours are true we have applied for a license in Australia’s Northern Territory. Hopefully Australia’s regulatory authorities would approve our application soon, once we’ve received feedback concerning our application further details would be provided,” she added.

If Bet 365’s application for a license is approved by the Australian regulator, this internet casino’s aim is to start trading in November. This would be its very first sports betting license outside the United Kingdom’s borders.

In Stoke this internet casino presently employs approximately1,400 staff. It also has an office with 100 employees based in Gibraltar, where its casino, poker and bingo …

PokerStars (Based in the Isle of Man) refunded U.S internet poker players from its “past U.S-facing operations” approximately one month after ‘Black Friday’ with a $100 million.

PokerStars said in its latest press release it refunded players’ cash and it would “remain true” to its agreement reached on April 20th with the U.S Department of Justice-permitting players from the U.S to cash out their balances. It’s still unclear at this point in time whether PokerStars still owes American players money.

On the 27th of April PokerStars confirmed in an official statement that it started returning player funds and that “there is sufficient cash to cover the initial withdrawal requests”.

On April the 15th federal prosecutors indicted eleven people (founders of PokerStars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker) on the grounds of bank fraud, unlawful gambling offences and money laundering. The indictment and civil complaint aims to confiscate in excess of US$3bn …

Absolute Poker came to an agreement with the Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York, guaranteeing U.S players who deposited their cash with the internet poker site that they would be refunded.

Blanca Games stated in its press release this morning: “The US Attorney’s Office permitted third parties to work with Absolute Poker only to ensure that U.S-based players receive their funds.”

The release confirmed also that Absolute Poker and its sister site Ultimate Bet won’t be operating in the U.S anymore, therefore the settlement reached with authorities did not come with the return of dot.com domains.

Nevertheless, Blanca said, “Regrettably, there are still many legal issues that need to be iron out first before U.S players’ funds would be returned to them.”

Philadelphia law firm Blank Rome LLP represents Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet in the United States. Both these onlinet poker sites terminated their contracts with …

Schleswig-Holstein’s draft gambling law has been given the green light by the European Commission (EU). Germany’s northernmost state will begin processing its online gambling licenses this summer.

The Commission’s approval is a “step in the right direction” a Betfair spokesman said. bwin.party’s co-chief executive Norbert Teufelberger notified his publication that the newly amalgamated internet casinos are going to apply for a license too. Director of corporate communications, John Shepherd said: “We’re still pretty much in the same position. We would apply for a licence, if the Schleswig-Holstein law is approved.”

“Betfair congratulated the European Commission’s decision to approve the Schleswig-Holstein draft gambling law, paving the way in the political process to modernise gambling legislation in Germany. Betfair will apply for a licence in Schleswig-Holstein should the draft gambling law be approved by the Schleswig-Holstein parliament.”

A three month standstill period is given to peruse the draft law; the EC only …

The Spanish gaming law was passed by the Senate that would regulate and legalize internet gambling in Spain was okayed on the 5th of May. Within the next couple of days it would be confirmed by the main legislative chamber. It simply means that this new law would come into effect before this month is out.

However, upon its publication this new regulation must still be sanctioned by the European Union (EU), also expected this month. In addition, a further three decree laws stipulate the criteria, protocols and conditions that permit internet casinos and providers to apply for licenses and wade through the approval process. Hopefully this would be publicized at the end of June.

The necessary legal parameters are now in place, the new regulation is ready to be implemented and the licensing procedure for internet casinos can now begin in earnest, the first licenses would be issued before …

AGA (American Gaming Association) supports the U.S Department of Justice’s (DoJ) law enforcement.

Frank Fahrenkopf, CEO of the American Gaming Association (AGA), said in an op-ed article released this week came out in strong support for regulation of internet gambling in the U.S: “Americans like to wager online. Millions of Americans bet billions of dollars per annum at foreign-based sites.”

“A number of these operators are flouting US law. They are operated by unscrupulous individuals who, according to the Justice Department, engaged in various criminal activities such as bank fraud and money-laundering.”

He also stressed: “The American Gaming Association supports strong law enforcement oversight and also congratulated the Justice Department for coming down hard on those operators that disregarded the laws of the United States.”

“It was the proper course of action by the federal government to persecute the individuals who operate the three major internet poker sites. One thing …

The future looks drab for some operators in the US.

A couple of weeks ago the internet gambling industry in the U.S realised with a bang how fickle it really is. April the 15 or better known as Black Friday in the U.S. will forever be etched in the memories of those parties involved in the internet poker industry.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) seized many of the U.S’ major internet poker websites. Many top executives, officials of processing firms and the founders face indictments by U.S. authorities.

PokerStars, Full Tilt, Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet decided to close their business as a result of federal actions brought in against them by the U.S government and rather focus instead on their projects outside the United States. Just after exiting the U.S market, white-label Rival casino also decided to stop accepting new players from the U.S, existing players can still wager here. …

The Danish Gambling Authority (DGA) decided that under its supervision and in “unique cases” it will permit part of a “gambling system” or servers to be located in countries or jurisdictions outside of Denmark’s bilateral agreement framework.

The revised clause states: “In special cases, the Danish Gaming Authority will permit part of an internet casino’s gambling system to be located in a country not covered by a bilateral supervision agreement in accordance with subsection 2 if supervision by the Danish Gaming Authority of this part of the gambling system can be conducted in a suitable manner.”

Senior technical adviser at the DGA, Kristian Wind said the regulator’s present State aid case – is contemplated by the European Commission has hampered the process of legalising internet gambling will decide if it will allow or not allow internet casinos’ servers to be located outside of its borders.

To which this would apply …