Le Monde du Poker.

February 20 2012, Chad Holloway

An Iowa legislative subcommittee is meeting today to consider Senate Study Bill 3164, which is “an Act authorizing licensees authorized to conduct gambling games on an excursion boat, gambling structure, or racetrack enclosure to operate internet wagering on poker and making penalties applicable.”

The study, conducted by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, reveals that $13 million to $60 million dollars a year could be raked by operators. That creates the potential to generate up to $13 million in tax revenue for the state at a tax rate of 22 percent.

Staunch critics of legalized online gaming in Iowa believe it would cause addiction to surge, though the new bill has included language to help alleviate such concerns. For example, the bill requires “for internet wagering licensees, the process shall allow players to limit the maximum amount of money that may be transferred by that player into an internet wagering account in a 24-hour period.”

The bill also explains that “Internet wagering shall be limited to wagering on poker and all of its variations,” and that the licensee must verify that players are at least 21 years old. Any existing or new gaming operation also must submit an application and meet established criteria before being allowed to conduct internet wagering.

Finally, any licensee must make the following information available upon request:

Monthly auditable and aggregate financial statements of internet wagering transactions.Calculation of all fees payable to government.The identity of registered players.The balance on a registered player’s account at the start of a session of play.The wagers place on each game time stamped by the games server.The result of each game time stamped by the games server.The amount won or lost by a registered player.The balance on a registered player’s account at the end of the game.

To view the Senate Study Bill 3164 in its entirety, click here.

Iowa is now the fourth state in two years to consider an intrastate poker bill, joining Hawaii, New Jersey, and Nevada, with only the latter having adopted the bill and taken steps to make online gaming a reality.

PokerNews will have more on this story after the Iowa legislative subcommittee has finished discussing the bill.

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October 11 2011, Chad Holloway

On Tuesday, Antanas “Tony G” Guoga, primary shareholder of PokerNews, announced his intention to pursue legal action against the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC). Guoga claims the commission was negligent in the handling of the Full Tilt Poker (FTP) situation, failed to exhibit due diligence for their licensees and should be held responsible.

The legal action being considered hinges on the fact that the AGCC knew there was a problem involving player funds prior to the Black Friday indictments, were negligent in their handling of the situation; and therefore, ought to be held responsible.

The AGCC was established in 2000 and is "independent and non-political, and regulates gambling on behalf of the States of Alderney. Consisting of the Chairman and three members, it includes people with international experience in the fields of gaming, regulation and licensing. The single most important policy of the Commission is to provide a regulatory environment that meets the highest international standards and thereby both protects the reputation of Alderney and attracts 'world-class' operations."

According to the AGCC, its mission is "to ensure and maintain the integrity of the electronic gambling industry in Alderney." And its objectives include ensuring that "all electronic gambling on Alderney is conducted honestly and fairly, the funding, management and operation of electronic gambling on Alderney remains free from criminal influence, and electronic gambling is regulated and monitored so as to protect the interests of licensees' customers as well as the young and vulnerable."

“We believe they knew about it a long time ago,” Guoga said in regard to the AGCC, “That security for the players’ money was not there, they hid this fact together with their auditors for years, benefiting in return. We raised it with them and they knew then and there.”

Jon Sykes, CEO of Vont Limited confirmed that "The security statement for the players’ money was not there, this was raised with them, and they knew that FTP was in breach of regulations back in December 2010."

Not having a designated clause in FTP’s Terms & Conditions was against AGCC regulations, a fact Tony G and company claim the AGCC ignored for many months, constituting negligence.

FTP did add a statement, regarding player funds, to its site around the end of February or beginning of March 2011, stating they were not segregated: "Customer funds are not segregated from company funds, but it is the intention of Filco Ltd to meet its liabilities as they fall due."

Guoga said: "Surely such a breach of the regulations for such a long period prior to the omission being highlighted to the AGCC by Sykes in late 2010 must have initiated a full review of the operator and its financial position by that stage, which then begs the question, how long did they know about the precarious financial position before they finally pulled the plug following the DOJ indictments? We want to prove that they have responsibility, we are coming after them.”

As Sykes contends:

“It appears likely that this statement was added to the site as a result of my contact and the Commission’s subsequent investigations. Obviously, before the issues with the indictments this was perceived to be more of a minor clerical issue for the Alderney Regulators and FTP but now I wonder if there was more to it.”

Sykes and Vont Limited will manage the claim and are currently in discussions with legal advisers. In addition, it is expected that a channel will be opened for players to join the complaint and submit information regarding their balances, though such specifics have not yet been determined.

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