A powerful group is pushing to set high tax rates to online gambling activities in order to make it non-viable in the state.US.- A group within the Pennsylvania State Senate is attempting to trample down the intent of regulating online gambling in the region. Online Poker Report (OPR) reported that the small but powerful group is demanding ridiculously high tax rates in order to divert the interest in the online gambling activity. The state budget has already included over US$100 million worth of license fees but, in case that said intentions succeed, another US$300 million would be lost in additional…

Luminescent signboards flashed across the streets and alleyways as colossal skyscrapers soared upwards to speak with the heavens. The jingle of coins and the rumbling of roulette wheels approached the ear from all directions. Inside, you could hear the flamboyant cheers of players soaked in adrenaline-filled mirth. Drinks poured in one glass at a time as the many LCD screens cast a depiction of the latest baseball game happening halfway across the country. A trip to Las Vegas is the idyllic fantasy of every bachelor in the free world, but not everyone can afford the expensive and timetaking trips miles…

The National Governors Association Economic Development & Commerce Committee sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions this week explaining that the group is “concerned with legislative or administrative actions that would ban online Internet gaming and Internet lottery sales.” Based on the wording, the impetus for the letter appears to be Sessions’ comments during his confirmation hearing: “I did oppose [the 2011 DOJ opinion] when it happened, and it seemed to me to be unusual,” Sessions said during the hearing. “I would revisit it or make a decision about it based on careful study.” While troubling, Sessions’ remarks aren’t…

The Colombian Gaming Control Board (Coljuegos) is currently waiting for the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications and the police to enforce the blocking of around 300 gaming websites which currently offer their services locally. Among the sites which the government plans to block are PokerStars, bwin, Bet365, Playbet, Foxfoxbet, Betmotion and Casinobet365. According to the board online gaming laws will be toughened after legislation was passed in 2015 and 2016. Operators offering their services locally will now have to meet with a number of requirements including the obligation to pay a licensing fee of $600m pesos and must meet…

This week West Virginia became the seventh state to introduce legislation seeking to legalize and regulate online gambling in 2017. This is West Virginia’s first online gaming bill. The legislation is surprising, but not wholly unexpected. West Virginia was selected as one of Online Poker Report’s “dark horse” states to pass an online gambling bill this year. The bill, H 3067, sponsored by Delegate Shawn Fluharty, would “authorize Internet gambling through managed and licensed through existing authorized gaming facilities in West Virginia.” Per the bill: “Developments in technology and recent legal decisions have created an opportunity to legalize interactive poker…

Not everyone in the Pennsylvania legislature is on board with the idea of legal online gambling. That became abundantly clear at last week’s joint hearing of the House Gaming Oversight Committee and the Senate Community Economic & Recreational Development Committee. Now there’s even a bill to make online gambling explicitly illegal in the state. Five Republicans in the PA House of Representatives made their opposition to online gambling crystal clear. They introduced a bill, HB 801, that would prohibit and criminalize online gambling in the Keystone State. That came just a few days after the iGaming hearing. Per the legislation,…