At the close of business on Thursday, Amaya Gaming stock was trading at 35.06, an increase of nearly 400% from the stock’s value in mid-May (around 7/share), when the first rumors of a potential major acquisition emerged, an acquisition that turned out to be PokerStars.

Needless to say, early Amaya investors had to be feeling really good as they sat down for dinner on Thursday evening.

And then all hell broke loose.

A late-breaking report on Thursday evening by Forbes’ Nathan Vardi linked Amaya to an ongoing investigation by the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), the financial regulators for the Province of Quebec.

Speculation was rampant across the Internet, and despite issuing a brief statement to Forbes (which was in the original article), Amaya later issued a lengthier statement on what was at the time termed a “raid.”

In the statement, Amaya indicated the investigation was in regards to trading leading up to their purchase of PokerStars, but to their knowledge, “does not involve any allegations of wrongdoing” by Amaya:

“To provide clarification on a media report, Amaya Inc. (the “Corporation”) (TSX: AYA) confirmed that the Corporation and its officers are cooperating with the Autorité des marchés financiers, the securities regulatory authority in the Province of Quebec (the “AMF”), in an investigation with regards to trading activities in Amaya securities surrounding the Corporation’s acquisition of Oldford Group in 2014.

To the Corporation’s knowledge, this does not involve any allegations of wrongdoing by the Corporation. Amaya will continue to cooperate, if and as requested, consistent with our practice to always cooperate with regulatory authorities.

The Corporation will continue to monitor the investigation if and as it proceeds. The investigation has had no impact on Amaya’s business operations, employees or companies.”

A routine investigation

Considering the size of the Amaya/PokerStars deal, and the fact that the sale was a historic reverse acquisition, and one that required billions of dollars of capital to be raised, an investigation isn’t all that surprising. The scope of the deal, coupled with the stock surges prior to the official announcement, almost made an investigation inevitable.

In the run-up to the official announcement of the sale of PokerStars’ parent company The Oldford Group to Amaya Gaming, Amaya stock rose over 100% and volume was up over 200%. Even before the first rumors that PokerStars might be Amaya’s target, the stock had already jumped from 7/share to 10/share.

It would have been more surprising if there wasn’t an investigation into the $4.9 billion sale of a private company to a small publicly traded gaming company valued at around $177 million.

Along these same lines, Canaccord spokesperson Scott Davidson used the term “routine request for information” when describing the investigation in a statement given to TheStar.com.

And on Monday, Cannacord Chief Executive Officer Paul Reynolds sent a memo to the company’s employees which stated, “I can assure you that Canaccord Genuity is not the subject of this investigation, nor is any member of our capital markets group. This is strictly a request for information related to individual trades in our client accounts.”

Additionally, as Chris Grove of OnlinePokerReport.com noted, the initial Forbes article and a subsequent follow-up originally contained the word “raid,” this language was later softened to “showed up” and “investigation,” perhaps indicating there was less smoke than was first thought.

Or was there? Despite the public statements, investors still seem leery of Amaya stock.

Anticipated stock fluctuations

Despite their attempts to quell the speculation and tamper down any fears, on Friday morning Amaya stock plummeted, losing 25% of its valuation before the opening bell finished ringing. The stock leveled off and fluctuated between 25 and 30/share throughout the rest of the trading day, first rebounding up past 30, before once again falling back down to around 25, which is where it ended on Friday.

This drop wasn’t unexpected, and there was a glimmer of good news on an otherwise dreary day, as trading of Amaya stock wasn’t halted at any point.

On Monday, the stock started off strong, bouncing back up to over 30/share, before once again dipping down into the mid twenties. At the end of the day on Monday, Amaya stock once again rebounded and was trading at 29.50 at the closing bell; a 3% gain on the day, and perhaps more importantly, a fairly steady day of trading considering the massive fluctuations experienced on Friday.

3% is not the greatest uptick after losing 18% on Friday, but it was a positive sign for Amaya nonetheless.

As trading opened on Tuesday, the stock once again tumbled, losing a further 7% as of 11 AM EST.

You can play along at home with Google’s real-time stock tracker here.

What happens next?

It’s unlikely the full investigation will be wrapped up in the near future, but Amaya seems to already be distancing itself (or at least trying to) from any wrongdoing by its own statements.

Furthermore, the statements from the principles such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who indicated their presence was one of security only and not investigative in nature, and the AMF, who told the Globe and Mail, the search “was part of a wider investigation on which we have no further comment.”

For Amaya, the sooner this book is closed the better, as the company continues to try to make inroads in both New Jersey and California, and regardless of how routine the investigation is, an open investigation into possible securities trading violations doesn’t help their chances with the NJ Division of Gaming Enforcement.

Reports are coming in on the 2+2 forums that Merge Gaming and the Winning Poker Network (WPN) — two US-facing online poker networks — were hacked on Tuesday evening and were taken off-line for a short period of time.

The attack was so severe that it forced Merge Gaming to cease running its regular tournament schedule for approximately two hours.

Hack Announced on 2+2 Prior to Occurring

Merge specifically seems to have been announced as a target in advance by 2+2 user “Disrespect=D/C,” who posted this a few hours before the attack:

“Protect your players Merge! In exacly 5 hours Merge will be going down forever until they have fixed their Security! Everybody should withdraw their money!”

It is unknown what additional steps, if any, were taken by the Merge security team to protect players on the site following the statement.

The post has now been deleted by 2+2 moderators.

Online Poker Sites in the Cross-hairs

This is another in a long string of hacks directed at online poker sites in both the United States and abroad.

WPN was forced to cancel a major $1,000,000 scheduled tournament just this past weekend after persistent DDOS attacks made it impossible for players to maintain stable connections and compromised the integrity of the event.

Afterwards, a clearly frustrated CEO of the network, Phil Payton, had this to say in a live stream on Twitch.tv:

“Call it a conspiracy, call it what you want, a lot of online poker sites have had Internet connectivity issues.”

Merge also faced sharp criticism from players at the end of last month when a server crash granted third-parties access to player accounts and caused hole cards to change mid-hand during the slate of major Sunday tournaments.

In addition to the US facing sites, Sweden’s nationally regulated site — “Svenska Spel” — has also been the victim of crippling attacks. It too has been disrupted to the point of having to cancel several high-profile tournaments with large guaranteed prize pools.

Is There a Pattern Here?

Whomever is behind the recent attacks is very good at what they do. This raises the question of why a skilled hacker would want to waste his/her time causing problems for online poker sites?

It’s a question that doesn’t have an obvious answer. However, there does seem to be a very loose pattern that may point to where the motivations of the people responsible lie.

For starters, Svenska Spel is owned by Sweden and currently enjoys a monopoly position in the Swedish market thanks to government legislation forbidding the issuance of licenses to private actors. This policy has actually caught the attention of the European Union (EU), and the country is due to be hauled before the European Court of Justice to defend itself against accusations of violating the EU principle of free-markets.

It is known that hacking conglomerates such as “Anonymous” tend to look down on government control of Internet activities, as well as increases in the concentration of state power, generally. So, it is not implausible that the attacks are actually somewhat political in nature.

Looking over to Merge Gaming, the site has constantly endured withering criticism that its security measures are not up to the task of keeping players safe. For a group of Internet hackers, this may be something akin to a moth being drawn to a flame.

Take these two things and throw a bucket of money into the mix, and it’s less astonishing that there has been so much trouble recently.

I’m just thinking out loud here, but it seems as though the closest thing to a common thread is hackers looking to make a high profile statement about an issue that is on their radar (everybody likes a crowd, after all, even anonymous hackers).

It’s a Matter of Trust

The most important issue for any online gambling site is trust. Sites must be able create trust that the game is fair, and trust that money and personal information is safe. These attacks are beginning to cast an increasing shadow over the confidence that players can have in the online version of the game.

Not to mention that no one wants to be playing on a site where they have no confidence that the tournaments being run will play down to their conclusions. Nothing is quite as soul crushing as making a deep run in a tournament, only to have it cancelled on you. As 2+2 poster Wonecks said following the crash tonight:

“Was chipleader in the $33 early bird with 9 left. So gross.”

Sites will need to seriously consider how many times things like this can occur before people decide it is no longer worth the trouble to play online.

Conclusion

It remains to be seen if the seemingly premeditated nature of this attack — and the grandstanding beforehand — is an isolated event or will become the new norm.

However, given how quickly sites have been forgiven so far in markets where the player base has no other option for play — whether due to government monopoly or government prohibition — it seems unlikely that the serious investment required to ensure game security will be forthcoming anytime soon.

I’ve heard rumblings over the last few years about a ranking system for live tournament players. Something that tracks every buy-in and every cash and reports statistics like ROI (Return On Investment) and average finish position. My first thought on hearing about this idea was that it would be neat to have the best players rewarded with accolades for having the best ROI rather than rewarding rich players who can afford to play a huge number of tournaments. I thought that way for about three seconds.

Then I realized that this kind of system would be a terrible disaster for the poker world. It’s not just conjecture, I have seen it happen. I used to play online sit and go tournaments, and back in the days of Party Poker I made a lot of money doing it. Playing four tables at a time (hey, it was 2003, we couldn’t even resize the tables back in those days), with an ROI of nearly 15% in $100 buy-in sngs was a good living.

When a site called Sharkscope appeared, I was able to start looking up my opponents and taking notes on them before the sng even started. Soon I had notes on all of my regular opponents. And then, not even two days after I heard about the site, I saw it mentioned in a conversation in the chat window (names changed to protect the guilty).

‘Bluffer420’ – “You are terrible dude, you are down $3,000 in less than 100 games. You are awful.”

‘Sh@rkB1te’ – “No I’m not, I’m up in these games.”

‘Bluffer420’ – “Really. That’s not what SharkScope says…”

And then he posted a link to the other player’s Sharkscope profile which indeed proved to everyone that ‘Sh@rkb1te’ was terrible. I already knew that, I had notes on him from his play as well as from his Sharkscope profile. But he didn’t know that I knew. And now he knew that everyone knew. And I’m sure he was embarrassed. And I never saw him again.

I wanted to reach through the computer and choke the life out of ‘Bluffer420.’ As soon as ‘Sh@rkb1te’ was gone, I attacked him, telling him how stupid it was to be chasing away fish. He didn’t care. He was a break even player who blamed bad players for all of his losses. He loved Sharkscope.

And then I Went Looking For New Games

Within weeks I noticed a drop in my ROI. I noticed a drop in the results of every winning player. The games were getting tougher and I wasn’t running into bad players nearly so often. Sharkscope was mentioned again and again in the chat window, and very few players cared when I berated them for it. Within a few months, the ROI for a big winner was down to 6%. My income was cut by more than half.

When the UIGEA passed in the United States and players started to have trouble getting money on and off the sites, things got even worse. When players had to redeposit each time they ran out of money, instead of cashing in and out on a regular basis, they were forced to recognize their losses. They couldn’t lie to themselves anymore and they couldn’t simply enjoy poker like any other entertainment. Now they had to face exactly how much it cost them. This caused even more recreational players to leave the games and soon it was tough enough to beat the rake that making serious money playing sngs required 16 tables or more and perfect play, and even those people weren’t breaking six figures.

Do You Like Movies?

If a frequent moviegoer were to see the amount of money he spent on movies in a year, it might compare to what a poker player would lose in that time. And if it were a significant portion of his income he might cut back on his movie habit or even stop going and get a subscription to Netflix. That is what Sharkscope did to sit and go tournaments, and it is what a national rating system would do to live poker tournaments if ROI or average finish position were included in the statistics.

I know it can be frustrating to see players who can afford to play all the huge tournaments all over the world get a high rating on the Global Poker Index when a better player with a smaller bankroll would never stand a chance. I know you may want to see how well you stack up against the great ones. But a national rating system is not the way to go. This would not only destroy the profit in live tournaments, it might threaten their very existence.

Poker rooms are not crazy about poker tournaments. They are one of the least profitable uses of floor space in a casino, and unless we are going to get poker out of casinos, poker tournaments will never get significant sponsorship dollars or a lower fee system. If we are going to beat high juice numbers and pay travel costs, we need to be beating these tournaments for big numbers. If the ROI drops significantly, many of those big name pros won’t be playing at all and you won’t ever find out how you compare to them.

So far the idea seems to have been put on the back burner, and all we can do is hope that it stays there.

A rash of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks that have been plaguing the online poker industry as of late have also included the Equity Poker Network (EPN).

Following the cancellation of the “Winning Millions” tournament at the Winning Poker Network (WPN) on Sunday due to DDoS attacks, as well as similar actions by hackers that caused both WPN and the Merge Gaming Network to be shutdown on Tuesday, EPN and flagship skin Full Flush Poker issued press releases confirming that the network has also been under fire from computer miscreants.

Q:The DDOS attacks at EPN have occurred intermittently across the past six weeks, causing some short-term disruptions to Network connectivity, and frustrating poker room outages,” stated the EPN press release.;

Players at EPN have been subjected to disconnections that typically last no longer than 60 seconds. While that amount of time is relatively short, it certainly is long enough to seriously affect tournament play, as well as action on the cash tables.

Network in Motion to Fight Hackers

Full Flush informed that the DDoS incidents were small in number and that customer support was able to satisfy player concerns over the issues “quickly and efficiently.” EPN pointed out that account information of players “remains uncompromised,” and that efforts have been made to combat the actions by the hackers.

Q:We are working behind the scenes to strengthen the Network mechanisms and structures necessary to deal with such assaults on our operations, and we hope to reach a solution shortly that will fix the outages our Network’s Operators and their players have had to endure during recent times,” an EPN spokesperson said.;

The DDoS attacks have been quite troubling and come at a time when many sites throughout the online poker industry have undertaken steps to attract more recreational players to the tables. The negative press that comes from such attacks may cause some of those players to turn their backs on Internet poker, as trust and security are of utmost importance.

Q:We apologize to you, our players, for these recent disconnections caused by nefarious outside sources,” said an FFP representative. “We understand how frustrating this has been for our players, but we ask that if you experience a disconnect to be patient, wait 30-60 seconds for our mitigation devices to kick in, and the service will be restored as normal.”;

The holiday season finds many online poker players hustling, bustling, and rushing around purchasing gifts for friends and loved ones to place under the Christmas tree.

While the rush may be on at malls and shopping centers, it is also in full force at the Full Tilt Rush Poker tables. Full Tilt is doing its part in this season of giving by rewarding its fast-paced players with cash and prizes up to $10,000 in value.

The new “Gold Rush” promotion is set to kick off on Friday, December 19 and last through January 1, 2015. Players at the Rush Poker and Adrenaline Rush tables at all stake levels can win Full Tilt Point bundles, free entries to tournaments or ring games, and cash prizes.

Depositing or opting in is not required, as participating in Rush Poker action is all that’s needed to have a chance to win. After contributing to a pot, you could find yourself at a Gold Rush table where prizes will be revealed to lucky winners who select a hidden prize among three choices.

Some of the prizes to be awarded are tickets to Gold Rush Freerolls that take place on Saturday, December 27, as well as the following Saturday, January 3, 2015. The Gold Rush Freerolls feature prize pools of $5,000 and $2,500 on both Saturdays played under a Flipout format.

That’s $15,000 in tourney prize money available, in addition to the huge $10,000 prize and other goodies at the cash Rush Poker tables. Play-money players are also part of the Gold Rush bonanza at Full Tilt, with prizes up to 1,000,000 in play chips set to be awarded at the play-money Gold Rush table.

The Las Vegas City Council voted 4-3 on Wednesday to approve a term sheet for the construction of a new soccer stadium in the city.

The public-private partnership calls for a 20,000 to 25,000 capacity facility to be built in Symphony Park, and is contingent on Major League Soccer (MLS) awarding the city an expansion franchise slated to join the league by 2020.

Las Vegas’ Investment Reduced From Previous Proposals

The stadium is projected to cost a total of $200 million.

Private investment in the facility will be provided by two entities: Findlay Sports & Entertainment (Findlay) and the Cordish Companies (Cordish). The groups saw their contributions triple from $49.25 million in a September draft of the agreement to $143.5 in the final version.

That allowed Las Vegas (City) to reduce its own financing of the project from a September estimate of $129 million, down to the ultimate figure of $56.5 million agreed to yesterday.

The City will now issue $50 million in recreational bonds to cover its portion of the cost. This debt will be financed through hotel room taxation. Additionally, Finlay and Cordish will be entitled to $10 million in “New Market Tax Credits.”

Finally, the $102 million franchise fee — as well as “all other costs associated with bringing a team to Las Vegas” — will be covered by Finlay and Cordish, according to a post on the City’s tumblr page.

Once completed, the stadium will be privately owned and operated.

MLS Applauds Approval

MLS Commissioner Don Garber released a statement through the league on Wednesday, praising the approval of the partnership and stadium construction.

Q:We applaud Mayor Goodman and the Las Vegas City Council for approving the measure to support a public-private partnership to build a new soccer-stadium in downtown Las Vegas,” Garber said. ”We look forward to continuing our discussions with the Cordish Company and Findlay Sports and Entertainment regarding a possible expansion team for Las Vegas.”;

The City is currently competing with the cities of Sacramento, California and Minneapolis, Minnesota for an MLS franchise as the league seeks to expand to 24 teams by the year 2020.

The league anticipates reaching a decision on its expansion plans by June of 2015.

Interest in Professional Sports for Las Vegas Growing

MLS is not the only league toying with the idea of expanding into Sin City. There are, however, concerns that need to be addressed.

Besides location, the two factors working against the City being awarded a sports franchise are the transient nature of the city’s population, and the possibility of sports betting for (or against) the home team.

According to the Las Vegas Sun, the National Hockey League (NHL) recently gave permission for businessman Bill Foley to test the market for season ticket sales — a pilot run which Foley states garnered interest from 1,500 people in just two days. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly is quoted as citing support from local residents as a key factor in the hesitation of the league to expand into the City.

That sentiment ties into fears that gamblers would be the ones to flock to games — gambling tickets in hand. Match fixing (which can be done anywhere in the modern day) is not the major concern, but rather the idea that bettors rooting against the home team could create a negative experience for hometown fans.

Therefore, it is likely that any league expanding into the City would only do after assurances that gambling on the home team would be prohibited in local casinos.

Conclusion

Las Vegas has come a long way from its humble origins as a sleepy gambling outpost in the middle of the desert.

What has kept the City vibrant, relevant, and growing is its ability to constantly reinvent itself, and the idea of establishing a professional sports franchise there has been discussed for a very long time. It is perhaps the last and only thing that eludes it in its search to permanently cement its status as not just a gambling and entertainment outpost, but a large US metropolis on par with any other.

Given the longevity of the City, its status as an international destination, and the enthusiasm of government, industry, and residents alike, there is no reason to believe it would not be a success.

It is without a doubt an idea whose time has come.

With the European Poker Tour (EPT) in Prague coming to a close, all eyes turn to the World Poker Tour (WPT). You don’t want to blink. There’s a lot going on.

The first piece of news to bring you concerns an extended relationship with the Swiss Luxury Watchmakers, Hublot. The pair have done business before, with Season XII WPT World Championship winner Keven Stammen winning a Hublot Power Unico watch, but the new deal strengthens this relationship even further.

Hublot will become the official timekeeper and official watch of the WPT (images of a Hublot Shot Clock have already sprung to mind). The partnership was announced during the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic, WPT Alpha8 at The Bellagio in Las Vegas.

Q:Hublot has once again proven itself to be first, unique and different, as the first luxury brand to become Official Timekeeper and Official Watch of the international professional poker circuit,” said Hublot CEO Ricardo Guadalupe. “We chose the World Poker Tour because its global presence, televised tournaments and quality of its players make it a benchmark in the game.”;

Hublot is no stranger to the world of sport and gaming. They have a heavy presence in the world of football, motor racing, and cricket. They were also the official watch of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Winners of every televised Main Tour Event and Alpha8 events will received a Hublot timepiece; the WPT Player of the Year (POY) will receive a specially engraved watch, and Hublot have also created a new watch called the Big Bang World Poker Tour watch that is available to anyone with enough diamond-crusted jewels to pay for it.

Q:Hublot is a Swiss luxury brand renowned across the globe for its sports watches with an instantly recognizable design,” said WPT CEO Adam Pliska. “This partnership will bring even more value to each and every televised event of the World Poker Tour.”;

WPT Partner with Ourgame

When the People’s Republic of China (PRC) creates a fully-regulated online gambling network, the WPT will be in fine position after announcing a deal with the Asian gaming specialists Ourgame International Holdings Limited.

The Beijing-based outfit, who own more than 300 Internet and mobile games and have more than 15 million active users per month, now have the right to use the WPT logo and trademark exclusively in the likes of Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Laos, Korea, Nepal, Macau, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, Philippines, and Vietnam. They will also have non-exclusive rights in Japan.

Q:The World Poker Tour has worked hard to expand its footprint throughout Asian territories over the last few years with much success,” Pliska added. “By working with Ourgame to expand the WPT brand in Asia, we are assuring that the recent strong growth of the WPT in the region will continue for many years to come.”;

Ourgame CEO Frank Ng stated, “As China’s leading card and board game platform, we are very pleased to have found a great global partner in the World Poker Tour, as we start to expand from China to Asia. The WPT is a true global leader in organizing world-class poker events around the globe, and we share a common vision of promoting poker as a genuine mind sport.”

There will be an official announcement made during a press conference scheduled for January 2015.

Is Carl Icahn a villain or the savior of the Trump Taj Mahal? It depends on whom you ask, but for now, the Taj will stay open for the immediate future following the commitment of $20 million in financing from the billionaire. This funding comes just two days prior to the casino’s scheduled closure.

The financing commitment comes after a deal between Trump Entertainment and the union fell through on Wednesday night. The Press of Atlantic City reported that the union had agreed to the deal, but Icahn pulled out at the last minute. Instead, he will continue to fund the Taj through bankruptcy proceedings and continue to work to keep the casino open.

Icahn Will Not Shy Away from Challenge of Keeping Taj Open

Despite a last minute deal with the union failing on Wednesday, Icahn agreed to provide $20 million in bankruptcy financing for the Taj. This will help keep them open, but a new potential closure date was not set. Icahn sent a formal commitment letter to Trump Entertainment CEO Bob Griffin on Wednesday and explained his position in providing the financing.

He opened by telling Griffin that he does not “typically shy away from a challenge. In fact, I take great pride in my ability to successfully rebuild failing businesses.” He then went on to explain how the Taj is one of the most distressed companies that he has come across in over 50 years of investing. According to Icahn, part of the reason he considered the request was because of “the tremendous integrity” Griffin had displayed throughout the process.

Icahn also reminded Griffin that many have argued that it would be better financially to allow the Taj to close and let someone else deal with the problem. His response to that was that he “cannot be so callous as to let 3,000 hardworking people lose their jobs while a global settlement with the State and Union, which would enable us to turn the Taj around, as we’ve done with so many other failing businesses, remains a possibility.”

Icahn closed the letter stating that he would grant the $20 million in financing and that he will continue to “work collaboratively with the State, the City and the Union to try and forge a global settlement that will bring real stability to the Taj and its employees.”

Union Blames Icahn for Failed Deal

From reports, the Local 54 of UNITE HERE and Trump Entertainment had reached a deal in principle on Wednesday and that both parties had even signed the deal. The only person that would not sign is Icahn. Bob McDevitt, Local 54 president, expressed his frustration on Thursday regarding the failed deal.

Q:We thought that he had come to an agreement with all parties that would resolve all the issues of the Taj Mahal,” McDevitt said. “We signed it, and the Trump CEO signed it as well. At noon today, we were told that Carl Icahn had gone back on his commitment and would not enter the agreement.”;

McDevitt continued, “We are disappointed that Mr. Icahn’s whims are going to add the feelings of uncertainty and instability that the workers have had to live with and have to endure during this holiday season and beyond. We and everybody else thought we could start moving Atlantic City forward, but it is unfortunate that one person could put the brakes on all that.”

The union currently has 1,110 employees at the Trump Taj, just over a third of the workforce. They have been working without a contract since mid-September after a bankruptcy judge allowed the Taj to terminate their contract. The union is appealing and Icahn has been working to get them to drop the deal. It is uncertain at this time why he backed out of the deal.

Internet cafes may become a thing of the past in Kentucky if a new bill is successful. On Thursday, State Senator Mike Wilson pre-filed BR229, an act that will specifically target Internet cafes and any businesses that facilitate online gambling. WKBO first reported the story and Wilson’s concern on the issue.

Wilson admits that at present, Internet cafes are a bit of a grey area in Kentucky law. His bill would clear up any ambiguity and make the activity illegal. According to Wilson, “What they’ve done is they’ve taken away the charitable gaming from people like our veterans who are the VFW and the American Legion, which I’m a member there also. As well as, the Knights of Columbus, it’s really hurt them big time.”

Bill Would Modify KRS 528.010

The purpose of BR 229 is to modify the Kentucky Revised Statues Chapter 528.010 (Gambling Definitions) to include devices used by Internet cafes that have cropped up in Kentucky and other states over the years.

The first change comes under section 4, the definition of a gambling device. The bill would modify this to include any mechanical or electronic device located in a business establishment that is used to provide simulated game play for direct or indirect compensation. Some cafes had contended that indirect compensation, such as free Internet access or sweepstakes entries, allowed them to offer gambling games. This modification would make that illegal.

The bill would also define a simulated gambling program. According to the bill, a simulated gambling program is one in which “any method intended to be used by a person playing, participating, or interacting with an electronic device that may, through the application of an element of chance, either deliver money or property or an entitlement to receive money or property.”

Finally, the bill would permit devices selling combination or French Pools on historical races at licensed, regular racetracks. This was added under the section for devices not considered to be gambling devices.

Kentucky Has History of Leaning Toward Anti-iGaming

This bill should come as little surprise to anyone that has followed the iGaming industry in the last few years. Back in 2008, Kentucky tried to seize 141 domains from various online poker sites. Some of those sites included PokerStars, FullTilt and UltimateBet. No domains were seized, but some sites did settle with the state. The attempts at domain seizure resulted in most U.S.-facing sites at the time pulling out of Kentucky.

This bill could see some modifications to ensure that some parties don’t accidentally get banned. Online horse racing is one industry that may have language added to ensure an exemption. The state lottery is another. The lottery is expected to start selling online tickets by the end of 2015 and they would likely seek an exemption.