Mondaq – In our article “Gaming Machines and Pre-Commitment: National Gambling Reforms Become Law“1 we summarised the Federal legislation2 (the National Gambling Reform Package) regulating the operation and use of gaming machines and addressing other issues associated with problem gambling. The National Gambling Report Package, among other things, required: all gaming machines to be equipped with pre-commitment capability by 31 December 2014; ATM’s located at gaming venues to have a 24 hour $250 withdrawal limit; and the introduction of a ‘double voluntary’ pre-commitment system by 31 December 2018 (or 2022 for smaller venues). Victoria has chosen to take a more…

Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer filed suit Thursday against a internet cafe software developer, accusing it of supplying these cafes in Los Angeles with illegal gambling programs. The company, Figure 8 Technologies Inc. in Greenville, N.C., is one of the major developers of software used by Internet “sweepstakes” cafes across the country. The increasingly popularity of the internet cafe claims to offer promotional sweepstakes, but have been accused of violating gambling laws. In addition to Figure 8, the City Attorney’s suit also names owners of five Internet cafes in Los Angeles. Though they are no longer operating, the suit…

Tulsa World – The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribe is betting on the outcome of a federal lawsuit to re-establish its Internet gambling website. The tribe, based in Concho, north of El Reno, wants to operate pokertribes.com with international players, which the state agreed to under its gaming compact. But the U.S. Department of the Interior put a stop to it last month. The site is currently inactive. The tribe filed the lawsuit Thursday in federal court in Oklahoma City, asking a judge to prevent the Department of the Interior from interfering. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and Kevin Washburn, assistant secretary…

Tribal gaming in Wisconsin is looking for revenue sources. The Lac du Flambeau Chippewa’s online payday loan centers are there for you. Want to place an online bet? The tribe soon hopes to handle that for you as well. Three years after the Lac du Flambeau defaulted on a $50 million bond — a move that remains the subject of a court fight — and five years after it considered mortgaging portions of its reservation, the Vilas County tribe is aggressively looking at the Internet for ways to increase its revenue. Tom Maulson, the tribe’s blunt-talking president, dismisses critics who…

iGaming Business – Tim Adam, secretary of the Cayman Islands Tourism Association (CITA) has insisted that the island group should not ‘rush’ into a decision on gambling despite fellow British overseas territory Bermuda having announced plans of its own. According to the Bernews.com website, Bermuda Premier Craig Cannonier recently said that rather than holding a referendum on gambling, the subject would instead be decided by a vote in parliament. Reports in the local media suggest that legislation is likely to be passed as a result of the proposed parliamentary vote. Despite Bermuda’s moves, Adam said that the issue of gambling…

iGaming Business – Gaming entertainment products supplier WMS Gaming, a wholly-owned subsidiary of WMS Industries, has been assigned a patent in the US for a ‘multi-game video poker machine and system with asymmetrically accessible customisation features’. The patent application was first filed in November 2, 2011 and was assigned on December 24, 2013 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The patent was awarded to WMS Gaming staff and machine’s inventors, game designer, Dion Aoki, vice-president and design chief, Allon Englman, and senior director of games, Joel Jaffe. The agency also released a notice that outlined the details of…