Poker News – The Netherlands may be known for its liberal stance on soft drugs and prostitution, but it’s a whole different story when it comes to gambling and poker. There are no legal online poker sites, while state-owned Holland Casino is the only bricks-and-mortar operator available for card players to sharpen their skills in a live environment. However, legal and regulated online gambling is slowly coming to fruition in the country, although we’re still probably 18 months away from licensed operators opening their virtual doors to customers. iGaming legislation called the Dutch Remote Gambling Act was drawn up last…

iGaming Business – The social-casino game market hit $2 billion in 2013, and a good chunk of that came from women. A new survey from International Game Technology shows that more than a third of social casino poker players are women. IGT is the largest maker of slot machines, and its DoubleDown Interactive division is one of the biggest makers of social casino games. The number of women playing online social casino poker games was up 22 percent in 2013 compared to the year before, the survey said. That should be informative for the designers of social casino games, which…

Online Poker Report – When the Department of Justice rewrote its interpretation of the 1961 Wire Act in 2011, a number of legislators rushed to their state capitols and started hammering out ways to pass online gambling bills. One state that looked into online gambling was Rhode Island, which set up an exploratory committee. Nothing ever came of that precursor to a precursor to a bill, but Rhode Island Lottery Director Gerald S. Aubin made some interesting comments about online gambling that appeared in the Providence Journal this week. Aubin’s comments are just shy of being against online gambling, but…

Poker News – The UK Gambling Commission is targeting illegal poker clubs across the length and breadth of the United Kingdom in its latest campaign to curtail what is considered to be unlawful gambling. Under the terms of the Gambling Act 2005, members’ clubs can allow poker at them, but there are various restrictions in place depending on whether the venue has a gaming permit in place or not. There are also strict guidelines limiting stakes, fees and prizes, while the main purpose of the club cannot be gambling. Investigations by local authorities resulted in three members’ clubs having to…

NPR – After losing the bet, he had to change his name to one just shy of the 100-character limit for new names in New Zealand. The incident came to light recently because his passport expired… …he’s a 22-year-old from New Zealand who lost a poker bet a few years ago. He wagered his name. And after losing, he had to change his name to one just shy of the hundred-character limit for new names in New Zealand; this came to light recently because his passport expired. His full legal name, a mouthful, wait for it: Full Metal Havok More…

Borgata Poker, powered by PartyPoker, has announced the inaugural New Jersey Online Poker Championship, a 10-tournament series scheduled to kick off in April. The series is tentatively scheduled for April 19-27, with $500,000 in guarantees, including a $200,000 main event with a $50,000 first-place prize. The first event will be a $50,000 freeroll. The other nine events will have buy-ins ranging from $50 to $200. The series is open to poker players in New Jersey with a Borgata Poker account. If you are ready to play, but don’t have a Borgata Poker account, click the banner below. New player sign…