Gaming leaders are looking at leveraging the release of a feature film that depicts the seedier side of illegal Internet poker to raise awareness of the need for proper regulation of online wagering.
American Gaming Association President Geoff Freeman, in an email to the organization’s board of directors last week, said the Oct. 4 release of “Runner Runner” presents the Washington-based lobbying group an opportunity to state its case for Congress to pass regulations governing Internet gaming in the United States.
The movie, which stars Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake, centers on illegal offshore Internet poker and the cheating of U.S. gamblers. According to the plot summary on IMDb.com, Affleck portrays an online gambling tycoon in Costa Rica who is confronted by Timberlake’s Princeton graduate school student who believes he’s been swindled by the website.
“This film provides our industry with an opportunity that the AGA will capitalize upon,” Freeman said. “The AGA will leverage the certain coverage this film will receive to raise awareness about the need for proper regulation of online gaming.”
Freeman, who became the association’s president in June, said tactics could include releasing research data on the amount of illegal Internet gaming that is estimated to be taking place in the U.S.
Raids at the Absolute Poker offices in Costa Rica, and big Las Vegas casinos are now in favor of regulating online gambling? Also, J Todd interviews Betfair about the future of online gambling!
Gary Wise from ESPN fame joins the The Rabbit Hunt as their guest panelist of the week on an all-UB news cycle. We discuss the state of the company, the raids that occurred over the weekend, their recent deal with the DOJ, and the continued fallout their recently laid off pros might feel going forward. True to the subject matter, we had a lot to talk about, so we hope you enjoy!
We have two major news stories in online gambling. The first is that former BetOnSports CEO David Carruthers has withdrawn his guilty plea in Missouri. And the second is the closing of Pitbull Poker, with rumors of criminal activity and arrests in Costa Rica. Those stories and other industry news.
According to this Bluff Latino America piece, there were some arrests made when the night shift employees grew suspicious and asked the police to stop it.
According to, now former employees of Pitbull Gaming, the owners decided to tell the night shift that they were going to make maintenance to the building. The night shift crew were suspicious about this and decided to stay to see what was really going to happen. The employees saw how a truck started gathering all the office equipment. This is the moment when employees went to the police and explained the situation and went back with the police in order to stop the process. Apparently, there are some arrests and right now the employees are in court explaining the situation to the authorities, to explain them that he is in a “flight risk” situation and should not let the owners out of Costa Rica.
Pitbull Poker has seemingly closed its doors for business.
Players can visit the website but are unable to login to the poker client, and sources say the owners in Costa Rica were seen moving out computers in the middle of the night.
Pitbull was originally launched under WSOP.com, a domain registered by former Binions employee Federico Schiavio … Recently Pitbull Poker had been accused of having “superuser” accounts, similar to the Absolute Poker scandal, in which one player can see everyone else’s hole cards.
WSOP.com was one of the first big post-boom poker lawsuits … with Harrah’s successfully wrangling the domain name from the old Binion’s tech guy who held onto it after Binion’s handed over the keys to the WSOP.
Funny, here in the USA we’re screaming, “tax us! tax us, dammnit! for all in the name of freedom!” Elsewhere around the world they’re saying, yeah, we should tax … which has some companies considering new homes.
Costa Rica plans to officially introduce a bill this week that has been brewing for a few months to tax and regulate the many online gambling entities with operations there. The assertion is that a 2 percent tax would generate $100 million in revenue. There also was talk of a 1 percent tax on the end users, though it’s not clear if that provision is included in the legislation.
(Does anyone notice how much faster bills seem to move through Congress in Latin American countries?)
The Hollywood Reporter is, well, reporting from Hollywood that Leonardo DiCaprio is pegged to star in a film about online casinos based in Costa Rica. Not only does the star currently aligned with the film give us hope that it won’t be another Deal, but the writers – Brian Koppelman and David Levien – are the same ones who penned Rounders. And Paramount Pictures has picked up the script. (Note to self: Check in with former employer Paramount for possible consultant positions available. Cha-ching!)
Hmmm, Costa Rican-based online casinos…like UltimateBet and Absolute Poker? Scandals and cheaters and Russ Hamiltons, oh my.
Since the movie is yet untitled, let’s throw out a few gems for Paramount to consider:
Titanic (ooooh, sorry)
UB and Me
Rounders 2 (or Part Deux for my French friends)
Rounderaments
What’s Eating Russ Hamilton?
Gangs of Costa Rica
The 11th Hand
In this week’s episode of Perspectives Weekly, J. Todd tries to get to the brass tacks of what’s going down with Bodog — and he confirms that as of right now, American players can’t get their money out (and the APCW is temporarily withholding any support of the site). But this is not a matter of greedy-corp malfeasance, Todd explains … but rather a situation created by the US Government’s seizure of $24 million from Bodog bank accounts and pressure put on American payment processors.
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!
