The latest budget unveiled for New Jersey by Governor Chris Christie has reduced expected state gaming revenues—online and casino—by $126m. The new figure implies online gaming revenue receipts of around $34m.
The figures were given to the press in a session with state Treasurer Andrew P. Sidamon-Eristoff, and relate to New Jersey’s fiscal year that ends on June 30. He said that the new figures reflect “the fact that despite a very promising start, and with almost 200,000 new patron accounts established through January, the introduction of online gaming was somewhat delayed.”
The $160m figure which has been widely reported, was based on an analysis by Wells Fargo and assumed that online gaming would start at the beginning of the financial year not mid way through.
The December and January figures which have been released by the Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) imply an average tax take of around $1.5m a month until the year end. That number could increase if the rate of growth in the industry is sufficient to offset the usual seasonal decline experienced at this time of the online poker year. Despite the best marketing efforts of the new New Jersey online operators, the restated revenue figure may still be tough to hit.
In a budget which plans the highest spending in state history at $34.4bn, online gaming revenues appear to be relatively insignificant. $2bn of that total figure is an extra payment to make up for the state’s pension shortfall, and although representing over 7% of the state budget, it is still well short of the $4bn recommended by the pension fund actuaries. In this environment, online gaming revenues may look small, but their contribution is even more welcome.
http://pokerfuse.com/
Poker News
The Illinois Executive Senate Committee held a hearing Wednesday to discuss the pros and cons of online gambling.
John Pappas, Executive Director of the Poker Players Alliance, testified that regulation of online gaming was the most effective way of protecting consumers. He also argued that evidence from 10+ years of regulated online gaming in Europe showed that it would not “cannibalize” existing gaming business.
Longtime gaming opponent Anita Bedell also offered testimony before the committe but—as has become common in the war on igaming—she relied on misstatement of fact and missteps in logic.
Bedell was careful to point out that cannabis use was higher among internet gamblers.
Senate President John Cullerton, who has been pushing for online gambling in Illinois for the last two years, told reporters after the hearing, “the point is people are already gambling, and we’re not making any of the money.”
On the prospects for the bill, Cullerton noted, “there’s a lot of complications as to how it affects the existing gaming industry. That seems to be where the hang-up might be right now.”
Cullerton proposed legislation in 2012 that would have allowed existing casinos and horse racing interests to operate on a network controlled by the state lottery, similar to the structure that gas been adopted by Delaware.
Cullerton also backed an effort to include online gambling in a gambling expansion bill introduced in the spring session last year. However, following remarks by Governor Pat Quinn that online poker was “a brand new idea” that received much “review,” online gambling was stripped from the broader gambling expansion bill in an attempt to make it more passable.
While Illinois legislators continue to eye gambling expansion in the state, a bill has yet to be introduced in this session that includes internet gaming.
http://pokerfuse.com/
Charles Coppolani has been named the new President of French regulator ARJEL, filling the vacancy created when Jean-François Vilotte left for the private sector.
Coppolani is a former head of the Observatoire des Jeux (ODJ), which has the mission of researching the social, health and economic impacts of gambling in order to inform government decision making.
“Conscious of the absolute necessity of protecting players against the risks of addiction which are particularly relevant in online gambling and concerned to arrange the best economic conditions for the operators who have made the decision to agree to and comply with the legal requirements, he will work to find the best balance between the two objectives during his tenure,” reads his appointment statement.
The new man faces a challenging period. The French Parliament is hostile to gaming reforms, but hungry for increased gambling tax revenues. It is protective of French businesses, but not prepared to make the changes that will enable them to operate profitably in the regulated gambling sector. Online poker appears to be in inexorable decline.
Villotte tried to get taxes changed and create international shared liquidity pools to stem the loss of poker players to the gray market, which would give licensed operators a chance to make a profit in the regulated market.
The Socialist Party-dominated parliament rejected his legislative proposals.
Coppolani’s background is as a lawyer in government service, rising through a variety of public service roles to be simultaneously the Président of the ODJ and head of financial and economic control at the French Ministry of Economics and Finance. He also lectures at the University of Law, Economics and Social Sciences in Paris.
http://pokerfuse.com/
UK professional cash game player and co-founder of Black Belt Poker has announced that the online poker room will shut by the end of the week.
“It is with heavy heart that I have to announce that the Black Belt Poker skin will cease to [exist] from midnight this Friday, February 28,” Channing wrote on his forums.
Channing assures player funds are safe, held by parent skin Boyle Poker “in a ring-fenced bank account.” Players are recommended to log-in to their accounts by Friday and request a withdrawal.
After this date, players can contact Boyle directly and request a withdrawal, but there the process is manual and the cashout may take a while longer.
Black Belt Poker is a skin on the iPoker network. Though not a top-tier skin, it built a UK-centric online community through its blogs, forums, and the continued engagement and promotion by Neil Channing, who took the role of sponsored pro and blogger, and wore the Black Belt patch to live events.
The fate of existing player points is less clear. Black Belt Poker is currently “in discussions with another iPoker skin” to allow players to redeem their accrued VIP points, said Channing.
“It’s now almost six years since I came up with an idea which I thought at the time could lead to a shake-up in the UK online poker market,” Channing wrote. “Since that time I have worked tirelessly to try and develop the project and to build the Black Belt brand.”
“Sadly sometimes in life you just have to accept that things are not working and you need to move on. That time has come with Black Belt Poker,” he further explained.
“All that remains is for me to thank everyone who invested, who worked hard for us, who were sponsored by us, who participated in poker discussions on our website and particularly those who played on Black Belt Poker.”
http://pokerfuse.com/
A history-making online poker interstate partnership between Nevada and Delaware is set to be signed by the governors of both states later today, Delaware Online reported.
Delaware Gov. Jack Markell and his Nevada counterpart, Gov. Brian Sandoval, will reportedly get together in Wilmington, Delaware and officially forge an agreement that will allow both states to combine their player pools. The deal will boost the online poker regimes of both states, increasing liquidity and perhaps prompting more signups as a result.
Revenue numbers released by the Delaware State Lottery for January reveal that a combined 1,006 new players signed up at the state's three online gambling sites operated by Harrington Raceway, Delaware Park and Dover Downs. The new registrations allowed the state's online gambling scheme to experience increased revenue only slightly, from $140,009.22 in December to $145,276.23 in January.
With regard to poker, a significant decrease was seen. While $106,922.76 was earned in rake from the online poker tables in December, 2013, only$88,390.48 was reported in January. That decline approaching 20% is likely a huge factor in Markell deciding to team up with Sandoval and the Silver State.
Nevada's two sites of WSOP.com and Ultimate Poker typically average less than 200 players combined on the cash tables, according to PokerScout. A third site, Real Gaming, launched last week, which may siphon players from the two that have co-existed since mid-September. This appears to be a fine time for both Delaware and Nevada to make their play and increase liquidity.
The interstate agreement comes on the heels of a recent announcement by Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) that he expects an online poker-only bill on the federal level to be introduced in a matter of weeks. The proposal will reportedly rewrite the Wire Act to exclude online casino gambling, but allow Internet poker to be regulated by any state that chooses to opt in on the federal scheme.
The expected alliance of Nevada and Delaware later today is what many had envisioned for online poker throughout the U.S. once state-by-state regulations began taking hold. Perhaps New Jersey will also join the mix in the near future, to be followed by a number of other states who are said to be considering online poker and gambling legislation.
http://www.pokerupdate.com/
Infiniti Poker’s soft launch appears to have been halted. The poker client has been inaccessible for ten days and the infinitipoker.com website is unavailable.
Infiniti Poker has experienced a series of failed soft or beta launches, but the latest attempt to get up and running in December appeared to be serious. The site offered real money poker accepting deposits in Bitcoin and $US, and offered Bitcoin withdrawals.
Since then banking difficulties halted withdrawals, and after going offline for three days and returning, the site has now been closed to players for ten days. Pokerfuse emailed CEO Michael Hajduk for comment, but has received no reply.
Twitter traffic and comments on a Reddit thread have virtually ceased and Edwardo “Swag” Jackson, Social Media Director, has not posted in the Infiniti Poker thread on 2+2 for over a week. His last post explained: “I have no problem delivering bad news. However, I have a problem delivering no news…. The second I hear of any concrete development that leads directly to you all getting your money, I will be more than happy to update this forum.” On Twitter, his last tweet was on February 3.
Hajduk has funded the site from external investors, seeking to create a new “paradigm” for online poker where it would be a more visual experience akin to a home game played with friends. To this end his team developed the “Peripheral Resolution Interface” webcam system, which was deployed on play money tables for December’s soft launch.
Gavin Smith came on board as Team Pro, but in mid January, Smith and Infiniti parted ways.
http://pokerfuse.com/
U.S. Full Tilt players who have been waiting nearly three years to be reunited with their account balances will be pleased to know that the first batch of payments in the remission process are due to be released this Friday, Feb. 28.
The funds will be distributed via ACH to players with undisputed account balances provided that those players have also "passed the preliminary testing process" with regard to their bank account information, the FullTiltPokerClaims.com website stated today. That testing process, in which player bank accounts were to receive a dummy deposit transaction in the amount of zero dollars in order to make sure the account was valid, began on Feb. 13.
Those players whose bank accounts passed should be receiving an email from claims administrator Garden City Group (GCG) today or tomorrow advising of the payment amount ahead of the actual deposit that is set to arrive on Friday. Players with bank accounts that failed to pass the test due to incorrect or incomplete information were sent emails last Friday, February 21, with instructions on how to rectify and update their banking information.
That update should be completed by March 13. If the GCG fails to receive the required updated bank account information by that date, checks will be issued to the mailing addresses that players listed on their Petitions for Remission. Those who do successfully rectify their bank account information by March 13 will receive their funds via ACH in the second batch of payments at a date that has yet to be announced.
About 30,000 accounts have been approved for payment and are due to receive a combined $82 million. The GCG's latest update does not break down exactly how much of that $82 million will be dished out this Friday and how much will be held back due to the failure of player bank accounts to properly receive the ($0.00) test transaction.
The first round of payments on Feb. 28 will not include Full Tilt pros, affiliates, or players with account balances that are in dispute. Affiliates have until March 2 to submit their Petitions for Remission. The claims of players labeled as pros and those whose balances don't match with that of the GCG are still under review and further instructions will be announced in due course.
The GCG's update of January 24, 2014 promised payment by the end of February to players without problematic issues and the first batch will apparently be finding its way to player accounts right on time. After a shaky start to the remission process when claims were first accepted in mid-September, the GCG has gotten its act together and now seems to be operating rather efficiently.
http://www.pokerupdate.com/
Every other online poker site would be ecstatic at hosting a tournament with 211,619 entrants. For PokerStars, that was not quite enough as an attempt to break its own world record missed the mark yesterday.
Aiming for 230,000 players at a buck a piece to buy-in, PokerStars attracted some 18,000 players less. But not to worry. The world's top poker site still holds the Guinness World Record for the largest poker tournament with 225,000 set last June.
Yesterday's tourney guaranteed a $300,000 prize pool, meaning an overlay was in the cards for the low-stakes players who took part. The top 60,000 players landed in the money. But the big prize went to Germany's "Dal2009," who overcame the huge field to earn a massive ROI on a $25,000 payday.
PokerStars allowed no late registrations, which may have played a part in attracting "only" 211,619 players. Odds are that the online poker king will one day crack that 225,000 record, but yesterday was not the day. Look for PokerStars to announce another attempt in the future.
http://www.pokerupdate.com/
A study by the French Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (OFDT) and the Observatory of games (ODJ) has found that 23.5% of poker players play at sites not regulated by ARJEL.
The study puts a frightening figure on what was previously suspected. French cash game poker has been in decline almost since regulation was introduced in 2010. Former ARJEL President Jean François Vilotte blamed the trend on high volume players “either moving out of the country or playing on illegal websites.”
The French system taxes every pot at 2%, whether there is a flop or not. ARJEL reports that this is the equivalent of 37% of gross gaming revenue, the highest in any regulated country. Due to this burden, operators have had to raise the rake, reduce VIP programs, and cut marketing budgets. Gray market operators avoiding such tax rates can offer attractive alternatives to French players.
The exaggerated impact the taxes have on online poker is visible in the figures for horse race betting and sports betting, the other two regulated gambling activities in France. Only 8.9% of horse race bettors and 4.5% of sports bettors use “gray” market sites, according to the study.
The big two regulated sites in the French market are Winamax and PokerStars France. Most other major European rooms and networks have a French-regulated presence, including PartyPoker and iPoker. But smaller sites and networks without licenses that have continued to allow French players to play have proliferated, according to the study.
By French decree, ISPs are required to block sites that operate without an ARJEL license, but the order is apparently ineffective. As a result, the regulator has taken to humorous advertisements to try and encourage players to play on legitimate sites.
The Garden City Group announced on Thursday that petitioners that confirmed their Full Tilt Poker account balance in a timely manner may start to see zero-dollar transactions hit their bank accounts as soon as February 13.
The GCG cautions petitioners that the test transactions are a part of the standard process in preparation for payment via ACH transfers.
It also warned that some banks do not publish zero-balance transactions, so you should “not be concerned if you do not receive such a notice and believe you are eligible to receive payment in the upcoming initial distribution.”
Late last month, the GCG confirmed that the first round of payments for victims of Full Tilt Poker would be made by the end of February.
In January, the GCG sent petition information to 8,400 former affiliates of Full Tilt Poker. Those affiliates have until March 1 to file for remission.
A review of the eligibility of former Full Tilt Pros is still ongoing. An announcement regarding the Pros is expected in the coming weeks, after which those deemed eligible will have 30 days to file their claims.
