Online Casino Edition – Casino News News about online casinos and gambling

November 18, 2013

According to Whistleblower Some Banks Are Laundering Poker Money Illegally

Filed under: Casino — Tags: — OCE News @ 2:53 am

Recently, a banker spoke about his knowledge of some online gambling operations laundering money. This came out during a conference on anti-money-laundering that took place in Las Vegas. The banker was Cathy Scharf, who is a compliance officer, and she spoke in front of many banking colleagues who showed varying degrees of shock. She spoke about her own experiences in a Utah bank in which she says at least $200 million were illegally processed for the gambling sites Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars. Both of these are offshore entities.

According to Scharf, her supervisors informed her that the bank needed to perform these services, illegal as they were, in order to remain solvent. They told her that the bank had to have this income and that they then brought in criminal lawyers who she said threaten her with arrest in the event she informed on the bank.

Instead of being intimidated, Scharf went to federal regulators and began working with them. They were able to expose SunFirst Bank’s relationship with the poker sites. She went on to say that there may be many other banks who are doing the same thing with offshore gambling operations.

For their part, her colleagues supported her actions. They did express some concern, however, on how the government will protect her, if that need arises. She told the audience that it only took one week for her to realize that her employers were dealing in illegal business and doing so in a big way. According to her, the bank made little effort to conceal its dealings from her.

The scheme was fairly simple. When a person who was gambling on these sites transferred money to one of the offshore card sites, that money came through the Utah bank where she worked. According to her, this bank was earning about $400,000 a month just in transaction fees. This is a violation of the 2006 law which states that it is a federal crime to accept payments if those payments are for illegal internet gambling.

Scharf went on the say that with the help of her colleagues she was able to hire a lawyer. She began writing down what she saw in a diary, and she started working with the federal authorities. She said she was often afraid during this time. The vice chairman of the bank went to prison in 2012 for his role.

Because of her actions, there are new policies being put into place to help stop this type of illegal behavior. Also the FDIC is now looking more closely at certain types of transactions. Her work is being seen as being very valuable in identifying some of the problems that regulators have been facing.

To date, no other news concerning any pending legal action against the bank or its officials is available. Also, no comment was put out by either offshore poker site (Poker Stars or Full Tilt Poker), both of which have had their share of problems in the past with other issues.

November 16, 2013

Florida Lawmakers Debating Options That Would Expand State’s Gambling

Filed under: Casino — Tags: , , — OCE News @ 2:51 am

Florida lawmakers are now looking at ways that they can expand the state’s gambling venues to bring in some needed revenue. They are hoping that they can find ways to lure residents of neighboring states such as Alabama and Georgia to come and wager in Florida. They are considering ways to bring gambling to some of the already well-known spots inside of Florida such as Daytona Beach and Palm Beach.

The idea of expanding its gambling locations is getting support from a variety of lawmakers and others. In exchange for these new locations, gaming promoters and willing to help close some of the loopholes that the state has seen an increase in during the last several years.

To get it started, hearings are being scheduled by the Florida Senate Gaming Committee. These will take place in Pensacola, Jacksonville, Lakeland and in Coconut Creek. They will listen to the public, and from there, lawmakers may attempt rewrite of the Florida gambling laws.

Already the state’s Legislative leaders have agreed and signed a $400,000 contract. This contract is with Spectrum Gaming Group of New Jersey. It will assess any economic impact that bringing in new locations will have on existing gambling locations. The report will also offer a variety of regulatory options that lawmakers may want to use when they draft the plan. There are ten options being looked at by Spectrum, but just only one will not expand Florida gambling. Some of the other options include allowing two destination resorts to be placed in South Florida and options that limit expansion in certain parts of the state.

It should be noted that in 2015, the state’s provisions and agreements with the Seminole Tribe of Florida will end. This will require that the state renew its current compact or that the state set up new rules that would allow the tribe to continue to operate table games exclusively. This is in exchange for providing a portion of its revenue to the state.

It appears that many of the state’s lawmakers are now ready to look at new ideas. This was not always the case. Many believe that as more citizens of the state come to accept casino gaming as a good thing, newer changes to the law will be easier to get through the legislature. And that the time for making these changes in now.

Many of those who support the expansion say they are tired of seeing Florida residents go into neighboring states to play, taking that revenue with them as they go. They want to see that money stay in the state, which only makes sense.

However, not all lawmakers support the new ideas. The Senate President Don Gaetz as well as the House Speaker Will Weatherford are not supporting the new expanded gambling options. Other lawmakers are not sure if they will support or not, but the general consensus is if new bills are brought to the floor for a vote that expand gambling, those bills will pass. No word from the governor’s office on this.

November 14, 2013

Some Gaming Professionals Are Now Suggesting That Industry is Now Saturated

Filed under: Casino — Tags: , — OCE News @ 2:49 am

According to some gaming industry experts, the gaming industry is now saturated. They suggest that most areas of the country have reached their saturation point. The one noted exception is Texas. What they are saying, in simple terms, is that one would be hard pressed to find a location within the US where a player could not drive for a few hours (or less) and reach a gaming destination. This was suggested by a panel of executives all involved in the gaming industry.

According to Penn National Gaming President Tim Wilmott, “New England is saturated. The market is crowded in Ohio. It’s a little underserved in Florida.”

For those who may be wondering what all this means. According to some on the panel, it means that new casinos will not be built as quickly as they have in the past. Growth will come through other avenues such as mergers and acquisitions. There may also be some growth in the online gaming world once the issues it has are resolved.

The issue of saturation is not exclusive to the US. Many international markets are now becoming very crowded. Of those that still have some opportunities, Southeast Asia seems to be the best bet. Two major markets, Japan and South Korea, both are considering bringing in casinos into their countries. On a lesser scale, Mexico and South America may have some room for new growth as well. Europe, the panel suggests, is already as established as it is likely to be for some time to come.

The panel also suggested that with so little room left for brick and mortar outlets, gaming companies may turn to the online world for new opportunities. This may not happen soon as the online world has its own problems that need to be resolved before any large ventures can take place there.

Of the many problems facing online gaming is the issue of what the federal government is going to do. Many are still waiting for lawmakers to get around to forming a national gaming regulatory plan. Lawmakers do not seem to be any hurry to get this work done. Because national leaders are dragging this out, the panel suggest the next best bet is to work through states, one by one.

Of course, if online gambling is approved, what effect is that going to have on traditional casinos that rely on customers walking into the establishment? The panel agreed that no one really knows the answer to that issue just yet. Not everyone is pessimistic about online gaming biting too deep into brick and mortar casino profits. The problem, some suggest, is to use online venues to offer special incentives for visiting a brick and mortar establishment.

All in all, however, the panel says that consolidations and mergers will most likely be the wave of the future when it comes to gaming growth. For its part, Pinnacle is now finishing up a nearly $3 billion acquisition of Ameristar Casinos. And other companies are also into deals as well that involve mergers.

November 12, 2013

Two Cantor Execs Under Pressure From the Feds; One Pleads Guilty

Filed under: Casino — Tags: , — OCE News @ 2:47 am

In this first story: the Wall Street Journal has reported that Lee Amaitis, who is the President and CEO of Cantor Gaming, is under investigation by federal prosecutors. They are looking into whether Amaitis, who is Cantor Fitzgerald LP’s top gaming exec, was involved with the company allegedly taking illegal sports bets. These bets are said to have come a gambling ring known as Jersey Boys who are based out of New York.

Lee Amaitis, who is the one actually under investigation, started Cantor Gaming some nine years ago. According to the Wall Street Journal, Amaitis was suspected of being involved once a former director of Cantor Gaming pleaded guilty to accepting wagers illegally. This individual is Michael Colbert, who was a vice president of the company and director of the company’s risk management department. Colbert, who is 33, went to federal court on Sept. 21 and pled guilty in that New York court. It should be noted that according to the Wall Street Journal, no allegations have been made against Lee Amaitis to date.

A statement was released by Cantor Gaming official Robert Hubbell. It said: “We feel compelled to address this irresponsible and baseless rumor. The notion that Lee Amaitis is a target of federal prosecutors or that he participated in illegal bookmaking is baseless and false.”

The story on Colbert broke a few weeks ago.

According to press releases, Colbert, who is the former director of risk management for Cantor Gaming, pled to one felony charge. The charge was being involved with a conspiracy to take illegal sports bets on a national level for a betting ring based in New York. That ring was busted last year by police.

Colbert entered his guilty plea on Sept. 21. This was done in federal court in the state of New York and it came after the U.S. Attorney began to prosecute the case. This is according to court records.

Court papers say that Colbert was accused of knowing and allowing the New York-based betting ring to place illegal sports bets using what is called runners. It was said that runners are individuals who take and then place these illegal bets as part of their work with the ring. In Oct of 2012, police took into custody some 25 people who were alleged to be part of the bookmaking ring. Of those arrested, 8 were from Vegas. And of these, Colbert was among the most prominent.

It is no secret that Cantor Gaming is known for revolutionizing the then sports betting industry within the state of Nevada. Colbert played a major role in this when he was with M Resort in Henderson.

It is known that Colbert was very inventive with coming up with new betting options that were then offered by Cantor Gaming. One of his most popular ideas was with starting fantasy-sports wagering for football and basketball in 2012. Colbert never shied away from the media and would often analyze games and as well as betting patterns. He will be sentenced on Dec 9.

November 10, 2013

Culinary Union May Try to Provoke Members to be Arrested

Filed under: Casino — Tags: — OCE News @ 2:45 am

It seems as though the troubles between the Culinary Union and the Cosmopolitan will continue for some time to come. It was recently announced that over 100 members of the union are now planning to have themselves arrested by Metro Police when they next protest on the Strip. This will be the second time that the union has done this in their protest with the Cosmopolitan over stalled contract talks.

The union is calling this an act of civil disobedience. As of right now, the protest is scheduled to occur on Nov 1 sometime between the hours of 5 and 7 p.m. What was not released by the union was just how the members who plan on being arrested will accomplish that goal.

If this happens, the new arrests will be the second time the union has taken this kind of action. The last time it happened was on March 20. At that incident, some 98 union protesters were arrested for sitting in the Strip and blocking traffic. At some point, Metro police officers stepped in and arrested the people, loading them into a police bus and taking them away from the scene where in excess of 2,000 Culinary union picketers continued to demonstrate. They were protesting for nearly 2,000 workers of the Cosmopolitan who have been showing up for work now for over two years but have not been able to get a new contract from the hotel.

According to union officials, the union is attempting to get a new contract with the Cosmopolitan that will include work weeks of 40 hours as well as conditions that will provide better job security. They are also seeking to get certain health care contributions. In addition, union members are also asking for new contracts that would include certain clauses that will promise that the new contract would remain in effect even if the hotel resort is sold to another entity. This particular clause is being asked for because the hotel resort which is owned by the Deutsche Bank is struggling financially and has been struggling for some years now. The Cosmopolitan opened in 2010.

As for the union, it is said to represent nearly 60,000 food servers, maids and bartenders. It has made no secret of its intention to get this new contract for these workers. In recent weeks, video has come out of some disturbing behavior by some of its members. Posted on the internet, the video that was taken shows a member of the union shouting at people who are entering the hotel, calling them names and causing some disturbances among other people who were on the property. When asked about this, union officials made no apologies, saying that they believe these types of tactics are fair game in a situation such as this. They say that their members are only taking advantage of their First Amendment rights and they see nothing wrong with their members being vocal on this issue. They vow to continue the protests until they get the new contract.

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