
Dutch Secretary of State for Justice Fred Teeven: ‘I cannot tell you now that organizations will never be issued a permit, but they are playing with fire.’ (Image: ANP)
The country’s Secretary of State for Justice, Fred Teeven, has made it very clear that operators currently targeting the Dutch market illegally are unwelcome while the Dutch may well open up their online gambling market next year. In fact, in reaction to questions in the Dutch Parliament about the quantity of online sports betting advertising directed at Dutch citizens within the run up to your World Cup, Teeven warned that such sites were ‘playing with fire.’
The same cannot be traditionally said of online gambling while Holland may have a liberal and socially progressive attitude towards soft drugs like marijuana, and prostitution. There are no legal Internet gaming sites in the united states, and the government holds a complete monopoly on gambling. The nation’s only casino that is land-based, Holland Casino, which operates 13 venues around the country, is wholly owned by the state, with all profits going to the Treasury.
Breaking the Law
Nevertheless, movements are afoot to change this. Last year, the Dutch Remote Gambling Act ended up being drawn up and passed by an initial round of lawmakers in February. The bill is expected to be rubber-stamped later this and should come into force midway through next year year. Experts predict that a regulated online environment would bring in €200 million in gross video gaming income in its very first year.
Teeven has made it clear, however, that overseas operators are breaking Dutch law by targeting the Dutch market. With echoes of this current ‘cease and desist’ letters delivered by New Jersey regulators to online gambling advertisers, the Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) recently published to certain operators who possess been noisily advertising and marketing World Cup betting to Dutch citizens, warning them they continue to do so that they face sanctions should.
The question was posed in the homely House of Representatives by Mei Li Vos who asked: ‘If companies advertise, do they comply with regulations or not? And does this imply that Unibet and other large events will maybe not get a license once the new law has been authorized?’
Teeven said that the KSA mostly targets companies who use such news as radio, TV, and web sites ending in .nl, and those that have Dutch language options, in its fight against illegal advertising, although he’d not be drawn into mentioning any organizations by name.
Bad Actors Frozen Out?
‘So far, things have gone very well and merely a few businesses were active within the Dutch market. However, this is changing,’ said Teeven. ‘Companies which do so are playing with fire when it comes to licensing once the remote gaming law is implemented. Obviously, the KSA is in cost of licensing. We ought to however take into account the Bouwmeester Motion.’
The Bouwmeester movement may be the equivalent of the ‘bad actor clause’ which was adopted by newly controlled states within the US, such as New Jersey and Nevada, and it is element of the proposed bill to legalize poker that is online California. Founded in 2011, it stipulates that illegal gambling operators offering wagers to Dutch citizens should be excluded from a future market that is regulated. This list would include industry giants such as PokerStars (although the latter’s recent buyout by Amaya Gaming should be a game changer in that arena) as is the case in the United States.
However, Teeven refused to state definitively whether such operators would forever be frozen out: ‘I cannot tell you now that companies won’t ever be granted a permit, however they are using fire,’ he repeated. ‘It would be against all agreements we now have reached in days gone by.’
US Casinos Must Refuse Wagers from Medical Marijuana Profits
All bets are down: Medical marijuana workers should be refused bets at gambling enterprises across the US, on pain of prosecution, state federal regulators. (Image: ukcsc.co.uk)
America’s casinos must refrain from accepting bets from workers in the medical marijuana industry, a small grouping of federal regulators told gaming executives at the 2014 Bank Secrecy Act Conference in Las vegas, nevada recently. Just as the clash between federal and state that is individual has hindered the processing of online gaming transactions in the newly regulated states, the federal stance on cannabis means that the federal government will not permit the casino industry to handle the proceeds of marijuana sales. Exactly How casinos are to exactly determine that, is clearly planning to be problematic all around.
Former White House consultant on money laundering issues Jim Dowling, that is now a consultant to gambling enterprises, told executives: ‘Casinos can not accept any money they have to comply with the new government guidance from them, or. This is a federal issue that has been brewing for a bit, and now it is coming up to a head. State legislation and federal laws and regulations don’t match up.’
Should a casino knowingly accept a bet from a person working in the marijuana that is medical, they could face prosecution, unless they perform a series of time-consuming, high priced, and frankly unrealistic background checks, Dowling explained. In this respect, casinos are being told to look at a similar relationship attitude towards the medical marijuana industry lightning link slot app as the banks, that have essentially blacklisted anybody in that company from starting a checking or savings account.
No Pot Luck Allowed
Dowling said he desired to boost the issue during the conference in Sin City to guarantee that casinos were conscious of the brand new guidelines therefore that they could avoid any danger of prosecution.
‘It’s extremely controversial. We’ll most likely get yourself a complete lot of hate mail for bringing it,’ he stated. ‘But in a banker’s situation, would you want to have to do all that and put yourself at criminal risk if you put yourself?
‘ Bankers are all just saying, ‘We don’t want those problems,’ ‘ said Dowling, whom normally a banking consultant. ‘One banker called them toxic.’
There have been protests from civil liberty groups over the federal federal government’s stance they claim that workers are being treated like pariahs and denied basic rights.
‘ The authorities is once again saying people involved in the cannabis company do not have legal rights,’ reported Dale Gieringer, director of California marijuana advocacy group NORML.
Pot Control
Meanwhile, Jennifer Shasky Calvery, Director of FinCEN, the branch of the Treasury which regulates gambling enterprises and banks, was also present at the meeting. She referred concerns to her news spokesman, Stephen Hudak, who appeared to confirm Dowling’s assertion.
‘FinCEN’s guidance applies to any or all financial organizations covered under FinCEN regulations, including casinos,’ said Hudak.
Calvery additionally wants to enforce laws more rigorously that will require casinos to have their high-rollers to divulge the supply of their bankrolls, a move that is unpopular the gambling enterprises. She called gambling enterprises ‘complex banking institutions’ that has to get used to ‘thinking similar to other finance institutions.’
The Nevada Gaming Control Board recently ruled that none of its license holders should have any such thing to accomplish because of the state’s legalization of the marijuana trade that is medical. Marijuana has been appropriate for medicinal purposes in Nevada since 2000, but in 2013 the statutory law changed to allow organizations to dispense the medication, offering the go-ahead for 66 outlets throughout hawaii.
Pennsylvania Sands Penalized for Underage Gambling
While Sheldon Adelson is fond of scaremongering rhetoric about underage gambling online, the Sands Bethlehem in Pennsylvania has been fined for enabling minors to gamble every 12 months since it started. (Image: osga.com)
The Sands Bethlehem in Pennsylvania, has been fined for allowing teenagers to gamble and consume alcohol on its premises for the fifth time in as many years while Sheldon Adelson rails against the evils of online gambling, stoking fears that it will irreversibly corrupt America’s youth, one of his casinos.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control slapped an $85,000 penalty on Sands Bethworks Gaming for six incidents of underage gambling between 3rd 2013 and January 29th 2014 at the Sands Casino Bethlehem in Northampton County june. Two 17-year-olds, a 19-year-old, and three 20-year-olds had been observed playing dining table games or slot machines at the casino during this period. The total is brought by it to 20 individual incidents of underage gambling over the previous 5 years, which has cost Las vegas, nevada Sand Corp. some $220,000 in fines.
Not Walking the Talk
While this means that the Sands Bethlehem has been penalized every year it should be noted it’s not the only casino in the state to fall foul of the authorities in Pennsylvania since it opened in 2009. Mount Airy Casino in Paradise Township has compensated even higher fines in the past, and recently Valley Forge Casino Resort in Montgomery County was handed a $35,000 fine for two incidents that occurred year that is last the second time Valley Forge is penalized for underage gambling violations.
Ironically, Adelson’s Coalition to get rid of Internet Gambling (CSIG) is fond of utilizing rhetoric to declare that online casinos prey on underage gamblers, ignoring the fact regulation means greater protection and brings with it rigorous age-verification procedures. CSIG recently created a video spot showing a teenage boy playing on his father’s gambling account, as the Coalition actions up its campaign to push through a federal bill that would enforce a blanket ban on online gaming.
‘I think the recent $32.5 million settlement by Apple over in-app purchases made by kids on their parents’ iPads/iPhones is the tip of the iceberg if on the web gambling continues to grow,’ said Coalition National Co-Chair and Senator that is former Blanche at the advertisement’s launch.
‘If children can blow $2,600 in the app ‘Tap Pet resort,’ then think of just what can happen when they get hold of these parent’s password and start playing blackjack? This is a nightmare scenario for parents.’
Hysteria and Hypocrisy
The incident at the Sands Bethlehem shows the hypocrisy that many feel lies beneath the hysteria during the heart of the Coalition’s argument. Adelson suffered a further blow to their cause recently when his closest ally in Washington, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, had been defeated in Virginia’s Republican primary. Cantor will now stand down, meaning the Coalition has lost a strong backer, and that could hinder its efforts to promote the bill that is federal.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania is evaluating a bill of its own, backed by State Senator Edwin Erickson, that, if passed away would, legalize and regulate online poker in the state. It comes hot on the heels of a current research, commissioned by the state’s Legislative Budget and Finance Committee and conducted by consultancy firm Econsult, which concluded on-line poker would be considered a huge financial boon to Pennsylvania, creating $129 million in income each year.
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