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This week Democratic Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey fired another salvo in the battle to legalize online gambling, by unveiling S 1597, the Internet Poker and Games of Skill Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act.

The legislation would explicitly legalize and regulate games of skill, clarifying that the U.S. government views poker, bridge, mahjong, backgammon and chess as games in which a player’s skill dominates the outcome.

According to the bill text, which is 89 pages long: “While each of these games contains an element of chance, over any substantial interval, a player’s ultimate success is determined by that player’s relative level of skill.”

Menedez’s bill focuses heavily on online poker, stating that “Poker is part of the cultural and recreational fabric of the United States and has been since the founding days of the United States. United States poker aficionados have included presidents, judges, and statesmen.”

The move comes a few months after Representative Barney Frank proposed HR 2267, legislation that would both legalize and regulate all online gambling. Like Frank’s HR 2267, S 1597 would establish a licensing and regulatory framework for the online casino gambling industry in the United States. HR 2267 was introduced exactly three months ago and now has 54 co-sponsors.

Rep. Frank and Senator Menendez are both actively pursuing the reversal of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006, which has caused more than its share of confusion and problems because of its lack of clarity about what constitutes online gambling. Frank is already on his second attempt to overturn the UIGEA; the first was denied by a Republican Congress. But this year Democrats Frank and Menendez have the majority in their respective chambers, in addition to wide Republican  support. Many GOP leaders are beginning to understand that legalized gambling is the will of the people.

Online gambling image by befuddle via Flickr

Representative (Rep.) Barney Frank has recently picked up two more supporters for his online gambling bill, which would bring an end to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). Mike Thompson from California is supporter number 50 and Rep. Daniel B. Maffei from New York is number 51.

“Rep. Frank has received major support from both New York and California in his efforts to change Internet gambling laws,” said observer Mike Ralley, “already, there are 13 co-sponsors from New York and five from California.”

California lawmakers are already considering legalizing online poker, which could potentially bring in millions of dollars in revenue for the state. And New York Governor David A. Patterson, who is a proponent of allowing more options for gambling in his state, has recently expanded New York’s land-based casino gambling options.

“These lawmakers are starting to realize just how out of touch previous lawmakers were when they adopted the UIGEA,” said observer Mark Freely. “The new administration seems much more in tune with what people in the U.S. want, and clearly, people want the right to gamble online legally.”

Rep. Frank understood this from the beginning and has fought hard over the years for people’s right to do whatever they want with their money in their own homes. A Republican-led Congress held Frank back in his previous efforts to get rid of the UIGEA but Frank has political numbers in his favor this time around, now that Democrats hold the majority in both the House and the Senate. Frank is also receiving a lot of support from Republicans who want to position their party as more friendly to the growing number of online gamblers.

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Ninety-year-old Florence Carey had been pouring money into casino gambling in the form of slot machines for years, to the tune of thousands of dollars in losses. But that all changed last week when Carey hit a $459,400 jackpot at the Northern Lights Casino in Prince Albert, Canada.  She said she was shocked when the bells started ringing.

“It was exciting, but I still can’t believe it,” said Carey, “…the bells were ringing and ringing…That tired me out a lot. I didn’t sleep at all that night, and I had to keep taking nitro because my heart is very weak.”

Carey used to travel to the United States to gamble in casinos but she hasn’t been able to lately because of health problems that have included two strokes, a heart attack, cancer and diabetes. So she confined her casino gambling to Prince Albert, which appears to have been a winning strategy.

The jackpot will allow her to continue her gambling lifestyle. “I’m going to keep $100,000 because I want to come back to the casino,” said Carey.

She said the rest of her winnings will be divided between her 10 children and her church, St. Joseph’s.

You don’t often think of children being involved in casino gambling as a good thing. But it turns out it is — at least for the children of almost half of the 562 recognized American Indian tribes in the United States that operate casinos.

Tribal casinos bring in over $25 billion a year in revenue and some of that money is being put to good use to help tribal children. Casino revenues are paying for college scholarships, and also provides business development services and career counseling as they get older.

“The casinos are a model that are now being used by state governments to show the impact casino gambling could have on a community,” said observer Harold Braley.

States have good reasons to pay attention, because Indian-owned casinos are paying states upward of $100 million annually, which usually goes to the education system in the state, especially higher education.

“The tribal casinos have been as much a part of the casino wave we’re seeing in the US as any politician,” said Braley. “When lawmakers saw the amounts of money that could be generated, and the minimal problems the tribes were having where the casinos are located, it became a no-brainer to expand casino laws in many states.”

Fortunately, that expansion is also happening with online gambling, thanks to efforts by Representative Barney Frank and other government leaders.

Lotto balls used in online gambling

Some say that people who have never managed to win anything above $5 in any form of online gambling can actually win decent amounts by picking their lotto numbers through Windows LottoPro 2008, because  Windows Lotto Pro 2008 software is user-friendly, easy to learn and can be implemented for all types of lottery games.

Based on previous drawings, LottoPro’s Smart Number Wizard picks your numbers for you. The software computes the winning numbers and prints them directly on betting slips to save your time. The pre-built filters discard unlikely combinations and check errors in your  numbers before printing.

The software consists of an updated drawing history of all the North American and European lotteries, along with some other international lotteries. Although the program has histories for several countries, you can create a drawing file if your country is not listed in its built-in drawing list. Updating and downloading of new results are done automatically and updates are free.

The software was developed by Data Solutions, Florida, a software company that has been offering lottery software since 1989. The Windows Lotto Pro has received many awards and is rated very highly by Tucows, Rocketdownloads.com and ZDNet. A single-user software license retails for as low as $40, which includes a well-designed user manual. The free trial version is good for 15 days and if you’re not satisfied with the product after purchase, there’s a money back guarantee if you request a refund within 30 days.

Support The Red Cross – Liechtenstein Lotto has a guaranteed jackpot of EURO 20 million and is the only lotto that sponsors the Red Cross. Buy a lotto ticket today, knowing that some of your money will be going to fund much-needed aid work all over the world!

Let’s face it, online gambling has risks — and not just the possibility of losing or becoming addicted. Because of the vast amount of money involved, there’s also the risk of becoming an Internet gambling scam victim. Here are some things to look for before choosing an online gambling site, so you don’t become a target:

Make Sure the Site Looks Professional
Ask yourself whether the site looks like there was a lot of thought and money behind its construction. If you can’t find the answers to basic questions or there’s little or no information on the rules and how to play each game, be careful. In fact, if the site looks lacking in any fundamental way you should probably look for another place to play.

Check for Interactive Gaming Council (IGC) Membership
The IGC is a non-profit trade association for the interactive gaming industry. Before you put money on a site or even register, check their membership list to see if it’s listed. A site not being a member doesn’t mean they’re running a scam; but IGC members tend to be major players in the online gambling industry and have pledged to adhere to a code of conduct that protects players.

Make Sure the Site Has Player Support
It’s standard for legitimate online gambling sites to have 24-hour support with both a toll-free phone number and e-mail contact addresses. Some even have  real-time, interactive support. If you want to be extra careful, send an e-mail or call their customer support prior to putting money on the site or registering . If you can’t think of a specific question, ask them what gambling software they use. If you don’t get a response or it takes more than 24 hours to get an answer, consider playing at another site. If you decide to play on the site, keep all their contact information (including the physical address) in a safe location offline, so you’ll have it should the site suddenly go down — or worse yet — disappear.

Run a Test
If a site allows free play, start there to see if everything meets your expectations. If they don’t have a “play for free” section or if you’ve already decided you like what you saw while playing free, then start small. Don’t put large amounts of money on the site at first. Try several small transactions (deposits and payments) and make sure the transactions go well before you go onto betting big.

These are just some of the things you should be aware of to protect yourself when choosing an online gambling site. For more detailed information on what to look for, visit the IGC’s Beginner’s Guide.

Dice and poker chips photo licensed through Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike

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It’s pretty much common knowledge that online gambling has taken off. Since Texas Hold-em poker became popular, online gambling is more in demand than ever. And poker is just one game of many. There are so many others you can play at online casino gambling sites — roulette, slots, craps and blackjack are just some of them.

The Online Gambling Report seeks to cover relevant news from the world of online gambling, as well as give you tips for playing safely on the Internet. We will also bring you website reviews, so you can see what you’re going to get before you register for an Internet gambling site. We hope you find the information we provide helpful!

Craps photo is from the public domain