This Week in Gambling

An Orange County lawmaker has introduced legislation that, if passed, would legalize certain legalize internet poker, but only types of online poker games that are deemed to be contests of skill rather than luck. Currently, online poker is considered a game of luck and is illegal in New York state. The bill seeks to “amend the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law and the penal law, in relation to allowing certain interactive poker games.” According to the language of the bill, New York would authorize 10 online poker licenses. The licenses would come with a $10 million price tag and…

Poker News – While the company risks becoming the first operator to ever be charged with criminal sanctions in Belgium, Betclic Everest has announced its decision to pull out from the country. Starting Monday, Betclic Everest’s four different brands including Betclic and Bet-at-Home will no longer be available to Belgium residents. The decision comes while Belgium’s Public Prosecution Office (PPO) carries an investigation on Betclic operations that could result into a €1.2m fine for the company. As reported by eGaming Review, a spokesperson from Betclic confirmed the group’s withdrawal from the Belgian market, but refused to issue any further statement…

Totally Gaming – David Cameron, the UK Prime Minister, is preparing a crackdown on FOBT machines in betting shops this week, alongside fresh penalties for companies if they fail to enforce new limits on playing times and betting losses, according to the Guardian newspaper. The paper reported that in correspondence between Downing Street and the gambling industry in March, David Cameron said the bookmakers’ new code, introduced in February by the Association of British Bookmakers, needed to be “strengthened to minimise harm”. The Tory leader is due to announce a clampdown on the terminals, with a range of regulatory and…

Daily Star – In 2004, FC Paderborn, team in the Bundesliga second division, came back from two goals down to win against Hamburger SV in the German cup knockout competition. By the final whistle, Paderborn had reversed the score of the match, which ended 4-2, after being awarded two penalties by referee Robert Hoyzer, who also sent off one of Hamburger’s players. Later investigations revealed that Hoyzer had taken money from Croatian gambling syndicates to fix the match, and he was sentenced in 2005 to two years and five months in jail. Hoyzer’s cooperation in investigations led to the indictment…

Reuters – Pachinko hall operator Dynam Japan Holdings is in talks with several Asian casino operators to build a casino in Japan as the country readies to debate a bill that would legalise casino gambling. Yoji Sato, Dynam’s chairman and one of Japan’s wealthiest businessmen, said the company wants to announce its partnership with an Asian operator after the passage of an initial bill towards legalizing casino gambling. SOURCE

CBS – A statewide ban on video gambling means that South Carolina’s only federally recognized tribe cannot have a casino on its York County reservation, the state’s highest court ruled Wednesday. In its unanimous opinion, the South Carolina Supreme Court disagreed with the Catawba Indian Nation, which has argued that a state law allowing gambling cruises to leave from South Carolina ports also means the 2,800-member tribe can offer the same games at a reservation gambling hall. The tribe had been appealing a circuit judge’s 2012 ruling that, not only does the law that allows cruise ships not give the…