Gaming Counsel

Non-Binding Legal Correspondent

TORONTO, CA - Stuart Hoegner is Managing Director of Gaming Counsel, PC. An expert in international gaming law, mergers and acquisitions, and taxation, his day job entails advising owners of internet poker brands, professional poker players, and operators of online skill games, casinos, auction sites, bookmakers, and media operations.

A member of the International Masters of Gaming Law, Stu began writing for Pokerati and otherwise being free and easy with opinions in 2010. In his spare time he enjoys playing golf, reading books about history and grammar, and shooting craps.

Posts by Gaming Counsel:

• Curious claims in Ivey v. Tiltware, LLC

  Black Friday fallout continued in Nevada courts

  05 Jun 2011

  Comes now Phil Ivey with a complaint against Tiltware, LLC and a number of as-yet unnamed individuals and corporations. The suit is dated May 31st and was filed in the Nevada District Court on June 1st. It sets out six of what are styled separate causes of action, inluding breach of contract and tortious interference with [...]

• IMGL Spring Conference Panel

  Ten Recommendations for Reform of the Gaming Industry - Mission Impossible?

  26 May 2011

  This past Monday, a panel at the IMGL Spring Conference addressed reform of gaming industry regulation. The session was moderated by Bob Faiss, Chairman of the Gaming Law Practice Group at Lionel Sawyer & Collins in Las Vegas and a leading gaming lawyer in the US. I found it fascinating and useful, with a view [...]

• CEM Audio Edge

  Podcast From CasinoFest 9 in Tulsa, Oklahoma

  25 May 2011

  I’m back in the office after a great CasinoFest 9 in Tulsa and a fantastic International Masters of Gaming Law Spring Conference in Napa, California. I want to try to put pen to paper in the coming days and do blog posts for both of those events, so stay tuned. For now, I’ll share the [...]

• O Canada?

  Thoughts on US Emigration Post-#BlackFriday

  02 May 2011

  Here are two worthy questions since the US Attorney’s indictments in US v. Scheinberg et al and related actions taken by the US Department of Justice were made public last month: Will the indictments and the fallout foreshadow an exodus of Internet poker players from the United States that wish to continue playing online? Should [...]

• Post-Indictment Restraining Order Now Available

  21 Apr 2011

  This document really doesn’t need much in the way of explanation from me right now, but it’s now available on PACER and continues to fill out the documentary record around the indictments and related proceedings. Happy reading.

• Poker Panic ’11

  Update on Domain Name Seizures

  15 Apr 2011

  The arrest warrant in rem in the parallel civil forfeiture case (11 Civ. 2564) involving PokerStars, FullTilt, and UB is out. This is the instrumentality through which the domain names were redirected by the FBI to the notices up on the sites. The only sites affected by this are: www.pokerstars.com, www.fulltiltpoker.com, www.ub.com, www.ultimatebet.com, and www.absolutepoker.com. [...]

• Bennett v. Cake Gaming

  New lawsuit names entities in Internet poker network

  11 Apr 2011

  Today I’m blogging about a Notice of Civil Claim against Cake Poker. You can see it here. The claim was filed last week with the Supreme Court of British Columbia in New Westminster (a suburb of Vancouver). I found out about this claim on www.calvinayre.com. I’ll make full disclosure up front: I have acted for a [...]

• Taxation of Gambling Winnings in Canada

  02 Apr 2011

  Time for a blog post about taxes. How are gambling winnings in Canada generally taxed? What if you play in a poker tournament in Canada? Are those winnings taxable? Does it matter if you’re a professional poker player or not? In each case it will depend on a factual determination of whether you are carrying on [...]

• Wait, Changes to Sports Betting in Canada off the Table (for Now…)

  02 Apr 2011

  On the advice of the Prime Minister of Canada, the Governor General (the Queen’s representative in Canada) dissolved the 40th Parliament on Saturday May 26th of this year. We are now in a general election campaign. Election Day is May 2nd. Dissolution brings to an end all business before both houses of Parliament. All government [...]

• H.R. 1174 (the #CampBill) Released on GovTrack

  23 Mar 2011

  The CampBill is now available on www.govtrack.us. A copy of the bill is here. (If you can’t download the copy from that link, you can view it in a number of formats here.) As mentioned in the press release by the House Financial Services Committee and in my blog post from this past Saturday (here), this [...]