This Week in Gambling

National Journal – God wants us to have the right to play poker online. So said Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, during a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing Tuesday called to review the state of online gaming in the U.S. The session often had the feel more of an old Western saloon—poker challenges and all—than a stately governmental affair. Barton began the hearing with some cheerleading for his Internet Poker Freedom Act, which he introduced in July. He said that God must want his bill passed because Barton safely traveled from Texas to D.C. this morning, braving two icy storms…

iGaming Business – UK bookmaker Ladbrokes has launched its new mobile sportsbook on Mobenga’s platform, Playtech’s mobile gaming subsidiary. The new sportsbook features a new interface and navigation menu, ‘push’ notices to promote relevant and timely prices, live streaming of horseracing and a quickbet option that allows players to place single bets almost immediately. The full launch follows a limited release in August to a small number of customers to gather feedback and test functionality. The announcement also comes shortly after the formation of an exclusive partnership between Ladbrokes and the mobile technology specialist Chelsea App Factory, which has a…

Boston Herald – A law under consideration in South Korea’s parliament has sparked vociferous debate by grouping popular online games such as “StarCraft” with gambling, drugs and alcohol as an anti-social addiction the government should do more to stamp out. The bill is winning support from parents, religious groups and doctors but has alarmed the Internet industry and enraged gamers. The legislation includes provisions to limit advertising while a separate bill would take 1 percent of the gaming industry’s revenue to create a fund to curb addiction. The uproar over the legislation highlights conflicting social and economic priorities in technology-soaked…

Press of Atlantic City – Legislation that would allow gamblers to bet on pre-recorded horse races could revitalize New Jersey’s slumping horse racing industry while bringing an unexpected boost to Atlantic City. Known as “instant racing” in a proposal being floated in Trenton, the state’s horse racing industry wants to offer gaming that would allow players to bet from terminals on previously run horse races with identifying information removed from the jockeys and horses. The bets would have to flow through Atlantic City casinos to avoid any challenges to the state’s constitution, much like the state’s Internet gambling industry, lawmakers…

Press of Atlantic City – David Rebuck, director of the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, said in an interview that the original total of players for Internet gambling programs was more than 50,000. As of this past Monday, that number has increased by 3,000 daily, for a total of 71,000. The majority of them are from near the borders of New York state and Pennsylvania, Rebuck said in the interview, which will be broadcast at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 21, on WMGM-TV 40. He also noted that there were thousands more who attempted to play but couldn’t because they…

iGaming Business – PokerStars has had its application for online gambling in New Jersey suspended for two years by the US state’s Division of Gaming Enforcement due to ongoing concerns about the company’s founder, Isai Scheinberg. Scheinberg is still under indictment from the Department of Justice for PokerStars’ activities in the US after the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. The DGE confirmed in a notice to the operator that the decision was based on Scheinberg’s activities and the involvement of other unnamed PokerStars executives with online gambling operations in the US. Lisa Spengler, DGE’s spokeswoman, said the application for a…