Online poker prohibition could be overturned
Poker Lobby & AGA groups aim to end Online Gambling Bill


The Poker Players Alliance and executives for the American Gaming Association (AGA) say they are hopeful that the recent political changes in the U.S. Congress will help them overturn the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA).

You may recall how the UIGEA was appended onto to the sure-to-be-passed Safe Port Bill when most Senators had already cast their votes and left, in the final hours before the Republican-controlled Congress adjourned for mid-term elections.

The UIGEA, while not making online poker illegal, did made it illegal for banks and financial institutions to process transactions for online gambling sites from U.S. customers when it was signed into law on October 13. Regulations that banks need to comply with have yet to be defined. A Government board has until July 2007 to define them.

AGA President Frank Fahrenkopf said the AGA previously opposed online gambling, saying, "Our policy changed back in April when we took a position that we thought the best way to go was to have an independent commission look at it."

Many analysts around that timeframe noted how online gambling actually lead to previously hesitant players coming to the physical casinos, swelling the number of overall casino visitors, which likely helped change AGA's perspective.

So the AGA board of directors will meet December 6, said Fahrenkopf, to consider whether "to support legislation in the new Congress calling for an independent study of Internet gambling to see if it can be properly regulated, controlled, taxed and licensed here in the United States."

Fahrenkopf pointed out, "My guess is that they are going to say let's go ahead and do it."

This past week Terry Lanni, chief executive of MGM Mirage who is an AGA board member, said the UIGEA is "ridiculous" because it was signed into law Oct. 13 as part of a larger port security bill -- and because it exempted horse races and lotteries, and online bets placed while on American Indian land.

Nevada Representatives Jon Porter and Shelly Berkley had previously introduced a bill to create a Congressional Commission to study Internet Gaming this past May. But the bill died. Noteworthy is that both Porter and Berkley were re-elected last week.

In contrast to the prior Congressional Commission proposed, if the AGA votes for a study it has already said it prefers an independent commission such as the National Academy of Sciences to do the study, noted Fahrenkopf, so results are free from the influence of lobbyists.

AGA's board includes CEOs from some the biggest live casinos in Las Vegas, such as Boyd Gaming CEO William Boyd, Harrah's Entertainment CEO Gary Loveman, MGM Mirage CEO Terri Lanni mentioned above, and Wynn Resorts CEO Stephen Wynn, amongst others.

Many bloggers have remarked if these well known casinos launch their own online gambling sites then a large majority of players will play at them because of brand recognition and huge marketing budgets, causing yet another re-alignment in the online gambling industry.

In an interview with Reuters news service, Fahrenkopf also remarked how the stated goal of the UIGEA was to protect American citizens. Instead, he noted, it caused many legitimate and responsible operators to pull out of the U.S. opening the way for unregulated companies to fill the void, since most US players were likely to continue gambling online.

He did not go as far as many others have to call the legislation Prohibition II, as did Pulitzer Prize-winning writer George F. Will in Newsweek's Oct 23rd edition and U.K. culture secretary, Tessa Jowell.

President of the 120,000-member Poker Players Alliance (PPA), Michael Bolcerek, said that results of the Congressional election have emboldened the PPA.

"Our members and other poker players went to the polls. They influenced the federal election," he said. "In the next 12 months we're confident that we'll get a study commission bill. We think an exemption [for online poker] is in order, as well."

Legal expert professor I. Nelson Rose, of the Whittier Law School, harshly criticized the UIGEA, saying how it is confusing and contradictory with all its exemptions, and noting how a portion of the bill even sanctions Internet betting conducted within states and tribal lands.

"It's a public embarrassment...it's a mess," said Rose. "Eventually I think they'll get Congress to change the law to do for Internet poker exactly what they did for Internet horse racing. It's an exemption but (based on) states' rights."

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Gambling911.com News Wire

Originally published November 20, 2006 1:28 pm ET

Greetings all .

The speed roller coaster ride in the sp is making me very indecisive.

When it goes down ....... I think it's going down further .... and when it goes up .....
I don't buy ....... cos I think I've already missed the boat ...... and yet it continues to rise.

It's certainly jangling my thought processes.

More views welcome.

Cheers
Amar

easy .... if in doubt, stay out!

hi there cynic and amar I will tell you my story. Yesterday afternoon when I cam back from work I had a look on the computer at prty. They where showing to buy at .55p so I bought 30,000. A little later I looked again they were all over the place, so I bought another 14,586 at .5425p. At close I was something like 1,650 for the afternoon. They closed at .51p or round abouts. This morning when I had a look they were .49p. so, I bought another 30,000 at .49p. I am now holding 64,586 shares in prty. They now average out at .5248p per share. This is okay now providing they do not take another plunge. I feel okay now with this holding. Now lets hear your stories on this one. Good luck all holding. from jan

I think this latest news will settle with no dramatic effects. The US has cleared the way for the US firms but left out the europeans and others! They could have said the Sept 06' law would stay in place causing all sorts of trouble for all online gambling co's ! The Europeans and the larger online sites will fight for the high value licences in the US and support those applications claiming it is 'unlawful for a US based only system'. (we have McDonalds in Europe, we should be able to trade in the US under the same rules) I will sit tight on my 100k holding and see..........

Or, are there any U.S. companies which PRTY would be able to acquire or merge with to get a foot in the door?

we should do like the french...burn all mcdonalds down..teach the yanks a lesson on fair,free trade

yep great example of free trade that maestro burning all the mcdonalds down..................................... I ask you.

Janet ............ Can't understand why others don't share their stories on this one.......... either they're nursing losses or have made great gains ......... but don't seem to want to share their experiences.
And I thought the bb wasfor doing just that.

Well .... I don't mind.
Over the last 2 months I've had a couple of losing trades ....... overall have made a substantial gain on trading party.

Don't hold any at the moment ............... but that could change Monday morning.

Cheers all
Amar

888 and SBT move north on 666 results but PRTY falls 53 to 48p. Why? PRTY is not on the same planet. MM and D-traders play the moving averages/deviations and any and every excuse is served up for the movements. USA will release (sarcasm for those who can't read between the lines) NETELLER EXECS will be the next rise at the end of MAY! Also worth mentioning is the regular sell off of thousands/millions of shares by the directors. YOYO is an inadequate description for this share.

The AGM is due this week I think so perhaps we will get some stabilising information then!

is alan's post actually in English????? .... could have fooled me!!!!

That could be awkward if alan turns out not to be english! :o)
I think we get the gist.

Ive taken the plunge and made an additional purchase today at 46.985p. Here's to hoping that the rollercoaster decides to go up again over the next few days so I can make a few pennies !!

quite a brave move, but would recommend that you set a target and stick to it

Oh dont worry I have, stop loss at 45p take profit at 52/53p and then review whether to dabble again following that

sensible chap!

I bought in yesterday on the strength of 888 results ............. nursing a loss at the moment ............... when will this turn?

It always appear that after I sell the stock climbs up!!

Cheers
Amar

Well sell then Amar then I can make some money !!! lol

I reckon they will turn upwards again by the end of the week. Suprising thing is that there are more buyers than sellers around for prty at the mo ??

Hi all

I'm begining to take these buy / sell figures with a pinch of salt ................ often I have seen my own trades being shown opposite to what I have done.

I can't help feeling that the mm's do it deliberatly, to make it more difficult for us, to second guess what's really happening.

Janet ...... how are you doing?

Good luck to all holders
Amar

I am on a big loss at the moment. It is good time for you to buy. I would have topped up again yesterday. If I had some spare cash. They will prob. be on the way back up again today. Does anyone know why 888 and sbt have not fallen in line with prty. Prty was .60p a week ago, now they are .46p. good luck all and keep breathing.

Keep away...profit warning out today. There will be more to come as more legislation in place. Will head towards 30p


Severe profit warning from PartyGaming
MoneyAM

PartyGaming warned that underlying profits for the current year will be well below current market forecasts due to higher than expected distribution costs.

The company reported first quarter group revenue rose 26% to $94.8m.

It said the rise in distribution costs was related to a 117% surge in player sign-ups for 'real money' gaming to 233,900, which was substantially ahead of expectations.

For the first quarter, it said its active player days rose 129% to 7.1 mln from a year ago.

However, the online gaming company said it was comfortable with current full-year market forecasts for revenue. The higher numbers of active players and new player sign-ups achieved in the year to-date is expected to benefit future performance.