Here\’s a quick rundown of what\’s going on in one of the hungriest industries out there, and, game of skill or not, the parent biz of our beloved little poker world:
ALABAMA — A small little gambling fight is going down in the land Spencer Bachus represents, over a matter of semantics, technology, and the millions of dollars bingo machines represent. Bingo is legal in \’bama … but should video bingo be? The fight is a dirty — complete with one agency repeatedly trying to raid a well-monied operation that believes it\’s on the right side of the law.
CHINA — After a slow start, gambling revenues in Macau are reaching record levels.
IOWA — The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission\’s computer system got hacked, and they\’re blaming China:
Chinese foreign ministry officials strongly disputed the report, issuing a statement calling it \”full of bias and ulterior motives.\”
Personal information in the breach included names, Social Security numbers, home addresses and dates of birth. Most of the people in the licensing database are Iowa residents, but it also includes residents of Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin and other states, Ketterer said.
The list includes workers such as card dealers, slot machine technicians, jockeys, trainers and owners of horses and greyhounds.
LOUISIANA — The New Orleans-to-Shreveport casino-biz is in a definite recession, one not planned for when the state planned on becoming the central-coast alternative to Las Vegas and Atlantic City. They blame Texans for not gambling enough Oklahoma and Mississippi for cutting in on their action.
NEW JERSEY — Big fight going on over laws related to the building of Revel — the east coast\’s $2.5 billion version of CityCenter. Should be an interesting development to watch go up (or down) as New Jersey fights to stay competitive with the smaller casino operations set to open shop in Delaware and Pennsylvania, but not Maryland.
MARYLAND — Gov. Martin O\’Malley is saying Maryland\’s not gonna jump into the gambling expansion fray, despite assertions that his state is gonna lose out as neighboring locales up their casino offerings to include table games + poker.
OHIO — As we know, Lyle Berman has effectively bought himself a piece of all the newly legalized action to come in Cincinatti, Cleveland, and Toledo. But he\’s run into some blowback over the location of a new casino in Columbus. The constitutional amendment voters approved in November called for a full-blown casino-resort downtown, but now a referendum on a May ballot will decide if the Penn Gaming development should be moved to a blighted part of the city.
Related: \”It\’s Lyle\’s Ohio Now\”
UNITED KINGDOM — Once upon a time, Great Britain was leading the world in all things online gambling. But regulations and tax issues are messing that up — and it\’s turning into a battle of Labour vs. the Tories for the UK\’s gambling future. Good rundown on some British gambling-law history and where the different parties stand on gambling in the UK … as the rest of Europe catches up.