In this week’s episode: The Washington State Gambling Ban heads to court! See the only first hand coverage on the web! Plus the Rally for the Poker Players Alliance and other industry news!

In this episode:

Jon Kyl is Facing Reality!
It’s Lonely at the top of Morality Mountain…
There are still no regulations for UIGEA… Banks don’t want to police UIGEA… and others in Congress want to overturn UIGEA… I guess it’s time to face facts, Jon.

Chuck E Cheese is Facing Prison?
Pizza Selling Rat also promotes illegal gambling…
The great legal minds of South Carolina have concluded that the Skee ball and Whac-a-Mole games at Chuck E Cheese are a slippery slop to illegal gambling… and they must go!

News from both sides of the Atlantic
Lottery to Tennis… Texas to France…
In Texas, lottery officials are warning consumers about buying tickets online… and with good reason! And out of France, a judge has returned a ruling in the French Open vs Online Gambling case.

In this week’s episode:

The Man Behind Poker Dream… Meet John Dutchak…
The “dream” is over, but the nightmare has just begun. John Dutchak swears he’s not the owner of the now destroyed Poker Dream Network, but family, friends, and former co-workers all say differently. And did we mention that the hundreds of thousands of dollars in player deposits are missing as well? Yea…

Tusk Gaming Gone… Players Money is Safe… APCW Member Saves the Day…
We tried to tell players not to worry! Even though the Tusk Gaming group folded, we knew that MicroGaming would honor the player’s cash on deposit. What we didn’t expect was that Rewards Affiliates would step in and manage the casinos left homeless by the collapse… but that’s just what they did!

UIGEA Enforcement to be Debated Within Weeks… Barney Frank Expected to Speak…
It only took one year, six months, and five days, but it looks like Congress will finaly discuss how to enforce the regulations they passed into las on September 30th, 2006. Barney Frank is expected to speak, and we know he’ll remind them all just how stupid this law is… we just hope he uses really small words to do so…

In last week’s episode:

Online Gambling: US National Security Threat?
YES! Online Gambling is a threat to National Security! This according to the United States Trade Representatives office, and it’s one of the most unbelievably stupid stories of 2008… so far. You will not believe this bull stink. It’s good to know we always have American government to make us laugh and keep us on out toes.

Online Gambling Executive Shot in Costa Rica…
One of the founders of BET US was shot in his car in Costa Rica last week. Details were sketchy for a while and other, than the name of the victim and where he works, it hasn’t been cleared up much. We’ve been told he’s ok, but this is a strange story… and Costa Rica is an interesting place to live and do business.

Continuing Coverage of CAP Euro Awards…

We wrap up coverage of the event with a run down of the APCW Members and Supporters who took away awards!

Perspectives Now! Live Radio Call-in Show…
The APCW hosts Perspectives Now on Rounder’s Radio every Tuesday night ! Rounder’s Radio is dedicated to poker talk and industry news, and our show is live every Tuesday night at 10pm eastern. Listen live and call in!

Visit Rounder’s Radio!

In this week’s the February 1, 2008, episode:

Complete Coverage of the CAP Euro Conference in London…
We went… We saw… We drank our butts off! Yea yea, I know that sounds unprofessional. But this event had some great parties! And both had an open bar… for a few hours at least! LOL!

In all seriousness, however, there were many things to learn, and many meetings to attend. See our highlights from the event, including an interview with CAP staff!

Positive News from America? That’s a change…
We’re following two interesting stories from the States… and both have a connection to Washington State, where former professional poker player turned lawyer Lee Rousso says he will make a run for governor! And Mr. Rousso is already challenging the states online gambling ban!

Also, Representative Jim McDermott is floating an online gambling study in the US Congress!

Finland Makes Online Gambling News… AGAIN!
Here’s the absolute proof that government has no clue… Just a week ago, Finland was talking about a new online gambling ban that would allow players in that country to pursue civil recovery from online gambling websites, players at those sites, or credit card companies that process payments for those sites.

This week, they want to run an online poker room?

In this week’s episode:

The United Kingdom, where they LOVE this industry…

Better late than never, right? Sorry it’s taken a few days to send a “simple” email, but this time difference has been kicking my bum, as they say… =0)

Well this weeks show is here, and it is the first APCW show brought to you from two continents! Watch J.Todd’s race to London as it unfolds!

China, where they LOVE TO HATE this industry…

What are they doing now? We know they are not the greatest when it comes to human rights, and that intolerance extends to online gaming as well, where this industry is viewed as “undesirable”.

Hope the US Government is proud to emulate one of the most repressive nations in history when it comes to playing online poker.

Finland, where they have NO CLUE about our industry…

Imagine that you’re sitting at home… and you get a letter from the government of Finland! They say you owe one of their citizens money because you beat them in online poker!

Don’t laugh! This is real! And the government in Finland wants to allow players there to recoup losses from other players, credit card companies, and online gaming sites!

In this week’s episode:

The EU Cuts & Runs with a $100 Billion Deal…
The European Union’s $100 Billion compensatory claim against the US over the online gambling ban was a great source of hope for many online gamers. It is no more. This week, the EU reached an agreement with the American government that will allow the UIGEA to go unchallenged by the Europeans, thus preserving the ban on internet gambling and the potential for a future US monopoly of the industry within it’s borders.

So what do Americans do now???
Although losing the potential leverage of the EU is a tremendous setback, we still have five additional things working in our favor. What are these five powerful forces that could still get online gambling back to the US in the near future? Watch and see!

Perspectives Now! Live Radio Call-in Show…
The APCW hosts Perspectives Now on Rounder’s Radio every Tuesday night! Rounder’s Radio is dedicated to poker talk and industry news, and our show is live every Tuesday night at 10pm eastern. Listen live and call in!

Part 1:

Click here to watch Part 2. Brought to you by APCW.org.

Good stuff from J Todd and friends, as is generally the case, to those of us interested in the socio-political-economic waves (and butterfly effects) of the poker biz.

• New British gambling laws go into effect. The moralists fear “normalisation.”
• APCW takes on NPR for their gambling-law coverage.
• New American tax on poker winnings chaps some hides.
• Brokeback Harbor.

Yeow. The tax thing is pretty big, I think. (It’s gotta be enough to make Eskimo Clark’s heart skip a beat, yo.) From what I can tell, it doesn’t seem to take into account losses. And the 25 percent … perhaps a tax-minded Pokeratizen can clarify for us … is this in addition to standard income tax that all poker players dutifully report on their W-2Gs?

I mean it’s hard enough for low-stakes players to beat the rake. Now high-stakes players face a juice that seems almost impossible to successfully swallow.

UPDATE: Found a little more good information via Lou Krieger. His take makes it seem just that all casinos have to be like Harrah’s now, and automatically withhold the taxes, that’s all. Sucks, sure, but understandable? Unacceptable? Undesirable?