Getting my gaming commentary game back on, with an appearance as a talking head-and-torso for a special Global Gaming Expo episode of APCW Perspectives, featuring venerable online gambling gadfly J. Todd at the mic.

My part begins at about 5:50, after J. and Becky Liggero talk about the American Gaming Association’s new push for nationwide legal sports betting. (Go teams!)

The TL;DR — Kahnawake Gaming Commission is pulling its casinos out of US markets to do business with New Jersey, further putting the squeeze on gray-market online gambling operators … and it’s probably not good that the Senate introduced SB 3376, a placeholder bill for a revised version of Sheldon Adelson’s Restoration of America’s Wire Act, um, Act, aka RAWA. Even if the new bill is going nowhere, simply having it in the legislative mix poses a threat. Oh, and happy soon-to-be 10th birthday UIGEA!

Some people in Congress believe American Indians struck it rich with the establishment of tribal gaming and the passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in the late 1980s.

But serious problems with education, health care, unemployment and housing remain. Tribes are also dealing with the effect of Internet gaming on their business, off-reservation casinos and political gridlock in Washington, D.C.

“They’ve been very busy in Washington this year,” John Gusik, founding partner of the Franklin Partnership, a Washington, D.C., law and government relations services firm, said Thursday at the Global Gaming Expo. He was moderating a panel discussion on tribal gaming on the final day of the expo at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas.

“There have been 4,500 bills in Congress this year; only 31 have been enacted,” Gusik said. “It’s a do-nothing Congress. Seventy-two bills dealing with tribal issues and none have been enacted. Internet gaming continues to languish in Congress.”

The fate of those bills has also been hurt by the Oct. 1 deadline to enact a budget or face a possible federal government shutdown.

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Pete Kirkham, president of Red Maple Consulting, a Springfield, Va., government affairs and political strategy firm, said Congress hasn’t passed any of the 13 appropriation bills needed to fund the government.

“If you represent tribes, they think you must work on Indian gaming all the time,” Kirkham said. “Gaming takes up some time but it’s also about health care, education and housing.”

Kirkham acknowledged that the vast majority of a tribe’s revenue is earned through gaming, but said those dollars go to providing services to the community.

The National Indian Gaming Commission reported $27.9 billion in gaming revenues in 2012, up 2.6 percent from $27.2 billion in 2011.

“Everything is now seen through the prism of gaming,” said Jana McKeag, president of Lowry Strategies, an Alexandria, Va., government and public affairs consulting firm. “Congress believes that tribes have all this gaming money … why do they need (federal dollars)?”

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Earlier this year, bwin.party Digital Entertainment co-Chief Executive Officer Jim Ryan was asked to deliver a Global Gaming Expo keynote address.

He thought the event would be a victory lap.

At the time, chances seemed to favor Congress voting to legalize Internet poker.

Gibraltar-based bwin.party had three partnership agreements in place to jump into the U.S. market.

However, it wasn’t meant to be.

“I thought it would be magical and we would be the toast of the town,” Ryan said Thursday following his G2E presentation at the Sands Expo and Convention Center.

The hourlong discussion turned into a giant $4 billion Internet poker game displayed on large screens in The Venetian’s ballroom.

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Passage of federal Internet poker legislation during Congress’ upcoming lame duck session will “take a little bit of gamblers luck,” the casino industry’s chief Washington, D.C., lobbyist said Tuesday in Las Vegas.

American Gaming Association President Frank Fahrenkopf Jr. said legalizing Internet poker in the U.S. continues to be an overriding issue for the casino industry, which officially kicked off the Global Gaming Expo at the Sands Expo and Convention Center. The four-day conference and trade show is the industry’s largest annual meeting.

Fahrenkopf, whose organization co-produces G2E with Reed Exhibitions, said Internet poker legalization is the most talked about subject among the gaming community. Most of the major casino companies and gaming equipment manufacturers have taken initial steps to jump into a legalized American Internet poker market.

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It wasn’t enough that slot machines with the likenesses of Judge Judy, Spider-Man, Dolly Parton, top NASCAR drivers, and the Oompa Loompas will be unveiled at this week’s Global Gaming Expo.

The legendary rock band Kiss didn’t want to be left out of the picture.

No word, however, if band members Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons will be decked out in full Kiss makeup and costume when they introduce the machine Tuesday at the WMS Industries booth at the Sands Expo and Convention Center.

Gaming equipment manufacturing industry leaders believe this year’s four-day trade show and conference is focused more on the game, rather than the economic downturn that has depressed sales of new slot machines going back four years.

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LAS VEGAS–This week J Todd travels to the Global Gaming Expo. In his exclusive video interview with Andre Wilsenach, the CEO of Alderney Gambling Control Commission, Mr Wilsenach clearly points the blame at Full Tilt Poker for their ‘deceptive’ reporting and business practices. However, this leaves many to wonder if the AGCC really believes they are free of blame in this situation, and how “regulation” will change in the evolving online gambling and poker industry.

One guy I was hoping to find at G2E this year but did not was this guy …

I don’t remember his name and certainly not his email address … but I met him last year at the same conference, where he was trying to sell his Nevada Gaming license … plate! I seem to remember him saying something about acquiring it back in the 90s. And I recall he was asking $5,000 — for the set! Or maybe that’s what he paid for it, and definitely wanted more? I know I’ve got those notes somewhere … but guessing if he wasn’t trying again to sell them this year he musta found a buyer?

I’ve heard it can be kinda cut-throat in the high-risk-high-reward Nevada license plate futures market.

Just a few days ago, someone put up a Nevada REALTOR license (plate) on Craigslist for $3,000 obo.

Have a listen to the premiere episode of Pokerati “all up in” @G2EVegas. Still workshopping the title … but come along for the ride as I find a sucker friend and colleague to fill me in on what’s been going on at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas.

In this first episode, Mike, aka Lavigne in Austin aka @AustinML, discusses a session titled:

Online Gaming: The Legal Landscape, Part 2

download
[audio:/tao/g2e-2011-aga-online.mp3]

It featured Frank Fahrenkopf from the AGA, Caesars’ DC powerhouse Jan Jones (the former mayor of Las Vegas is recipient of this year’s lifetime achievement award), a lobbyist for companies looking to do business with licensed casinos, and a guy representing Native American interests. Here why they all seem convinced that intrastate online poker is going nowhere, but interstate online poker is right around the corner.

Some of you probably remember Mike Lavigne. He’s not much of a player (lol), but the former Texas state director of the PPA and fellow co-founder of the Texas Poker PAC, has been part of Pokerati since way-back. And with my government and public relations cronie in town for G2E … well, it made me think we needed a cheap knock-off of Tao of Pokerati, obv — not just to keep me posted, but to let the busy people out there doing real work get a taste of the wonk-fest and sales orgy going on at the Sands Convention Center this week.

G2E is arguably the biggest annual confab of gaming industry brainpower in the world … and though some may find it hard to get interested in a Las Vegas convention that doesn’t even include a poker tournament … what goes on here will be affecting your poker (and overall casino) experience in the future whether you like it or not.

The 11th annual Global Gaming Expo kicks off next week in a new location, the Sands Convention Center, in Las Vegas. Of all the gaming expos worldwide (there seem to be about two a month these days) G2E is one of the big ones (if not THE big one) … not just for vendors hawking comfortable casino seats and slot-machine rides, but also for the sessions in which casino industry leaders gather to chat about everything from gaming technology to online regulation to Indian nations to rewards programs.

Check out the lineup for G2E ’11 here.

Just got the press release about what AGA/G2E chief Frank Fahrenkopf plans to speak on in his media address: (Yay. Looking forward to it.)

ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE CASINO INDUSTRY, ONLINE POKER TO BE
KEY TOPICS AT FAHRENKOPF’S ANNUAL G2E MEDIA BRIEFING
Preliminary Topline Results of Major Economic Impact Study to be Unveiled

Also got word that this year G2E has very clear “no audio or video recording” rules for their extra-informative sessions. (Crap, there go Pokerati’s plans for recording as many as possible and sharing them with you and others who didn’t pay to attend.)

Either that wasn’t policy last year or I mighta missed the memo. (Oops?)

From Pokerati’s vast archive of yet-to-be-seen-or-heard content … have a listen to Fahrenkop’s 2010 G2E media pow-wow. And hear, now with the benefit of hindsight, what the AGA leader had to say about how some wanted to work with (or against) online poker sites such as Full Tilt and PokerStars … and what the vision was (and presumably still is) for a combination of state and federal regulations being the future path for legalized online gambling in the US.

AGA’s “new reality” (circa 2010): 1. Doing the Macau-rena; 2. “Hey Harry, pull my finger!”; 3. Poker (only) face.

MEDIA BRIEFING: Frank Fahrenkopf at 2010 G2E
40:22
[audio:http://pokerati.com/av/Fahrenkopf-G2E-X.mp3]

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Tonight’s semi-random collection of websites that have recently caught my eye for various reasons is brought to you by Suited Cribs — your 2011 WSOP housing hookup and VIP services connek!

OK, the links:

G2E Asia — the AGA brings its trade show to Macau, prepping Western gaming industry round-eyes for a new level of expansion in China and across Asia.

PokerGrump — an accidental low-stakes Vegas grinder, respected colleague on the license plate beat, and another guy I read often but don’t link up enough … generally thoughtful insight, and fun “guess the casino” posts, though few are as hard as this one:

highlight for answer

Mandalay Bay

PokerGives.org — Mike Sexton, Linda Johnson, and Jan Fisher’s philanthropic endeavor has undergone a website redesign as they continue efforts to make sure charity poker tournaments give back as much as possible.

DFW Gambler — don’t know who runs this site, but it kinda-sorta picks up where Pokerati left off upon skipping town, keeping the Dallas/Fort Worth poker scene up to date with solid, regularly updated info on local charity tourneys, big events in Oklahoma and Louisiana, and different free games — whether they be WPT Amateur Leagues or lesbian bar poker at Sue Ellen’s. Bingo, too!

The Poker Life Coach — Jen Dunphy was once responsible for keeping Harrah’s employees on their A-game, and now brings her motivational services to MGM Resorts. Not sure if she’s more happy drill sergeant or corporate therapist … but for poker players needing to work on their life skills (she won’t give up names of clients? Balls!) it seems she’s no Sam Chauhan … but then again, she’s also no Sam Chauhan.

Live Poker Training — Not sure if Shaun Deeb needs a life coach or just a mom. But either way, he’s got a boot camp March 26-27 … for players wanting to learn how to win so much money it doesn’t matter if you never learned to throw away pizza boxes or lift the toilet seat.

Zynga PokerCon 2011 — you know they are new to poker when they call their inaugural event Poker CON. But the best we can tell, even though the folks at Zynga supposedly have made millions without paying out any winners, they aren’t the second coming of UB … but they could well be proof that recreational players are more valuable than online pros. And they’ve hired me (along with Michele Lewis and BJ Nemeth) to tell you all about the Zynga version of BARGE — so already we think they’re great, obv!

Allied Service

Suited Cribs — The guys to handle your WSOP housing needs, and all variety of poker services, from laundry runs and VIP transportation to nightclub line passes. Say you heard about them from Pokerati for a special surprise AND to have me personally check out your summertime Vegas rental to make sure the internet works and no pillows smell like urine.

From APCW.org:

Coverage of the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada. Interviews with the President of the American Gaming Association, the Executive Director of the Poker Players Alliance (about the possibility of legal online poker in California), and a major industry announcement from the APCW, the GPWA, Affiliate Guard Dog, and Poker Affiliate Listings.