Dutch Secretary of State for Justice Fred Teeven: ‘I cannot let you know now that organizations will never be given 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 reality, in reaction to concerns in the Dutch Parliament about the total amount of online sports wagering advertising directed at Dutch residents into the run up to the World Cup, Teeven warned that such sites were ‘playing with fire.’
While Holland may have a liberal and socially modern attitude towards soft medications like cannabis, and prostitution, the same cannot be traditionally said of online gambling. There are no legal online video gaming sites in the nation, and the federal government holds a complete monopoly on gambling. The country’s only casino that is land-based, Holland Casino, which operates 13 venues across the country, is wholly owned by the state, with all profits going to the Treasury.
Breaking the Law
However, movements are afoot to alter this. Last 12 months, the Dutch Remote Gambling Act had been drawn up and passed by a round that is initial of in February. The bill is expected to be rubber-stamped later on this year and really should come into force midway through next year. Experts predict that the regulated online environment would bring in €200 million in gross 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 for the recent ‘cease and desist’ letters delivered by nj-new Jersey regulators to online gambling advertisers, the Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) recently penned to certain operators who possess been noisily marketing and advertising World Cup betting to Dutch citizens, warning them that they face sanctions should they continue to do therefore.
The question was posed in the homely House of Representatives by Mei Li Vos who asked: ‘If companies advertise, do they comply with the law or not? And performs this mean that Unibet and other large parties will not get a license when the law that is new been approved?’
Teeven said that the KSA mostly targets organizations who use such news as radio, TV, and sites ending in .nl, and those that have Dutch language options, in its fight illegal advertising, although he’d not be drawn into mentioning any businesses by name.
Bad Actors Frozen Out?
‘So far, things have gone quite nicely and only a few companies were active within the Dutch market. However, this is changing,’ said Teeven. ‘Companies which do so can be playing with fire as it pertains to licensing once the remote gaming law is implemented. Obviously, the KSA is in cost of licensing. We should however take into account the Bouwmeester Motion.’
The Bouwmeester movement is the equivalent of the ‘bad actor clause’ which is adopted by newly regulated states in the US, such as New Jersey and Nevada, and it is section of the proposed bill to legalize poker that is online California. Established in 2011, it stipulates that illegal gambling operators offering bets to Dutch citizens should really be excluded from a future regulated market. 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 declined to say definitively whether such operators would be frozen out forever: ‘I cannot inform you now that companies won’t ever be granted a permit, but they are using fire,’ he repeated. ‘It could be against all agreements we now have reached in days gone by.’
US Casinos Must Refuse Wagers from Medical Marijuana Proceeds
All bets are off: Medical marijuana workers are to be refused bets at casinos across the usa, on pain of prosecution, state federal regulators. (Image: ukcsc.co.uk)
America’s gambling enterprises must refrain from accepting bets from workers in the marijuana that is medical, a small grouping of federal regulators told gaming executives at the 2014 Bank Secrecy Act Conference in nevada recently. Just like the clash between federal and specific state law has hindered the processing of online gaming transactions within the newly regulated states, the federal stance on marijuana means that the US government will not let the casino industry to handle the proceeds of marijuana sales. How casinos are to determine that exactly, is clearly planning to be problematic all around.
Former White House consultant on cash laundering issues Jim Dowling, who is now a consultant to gambling enterprises, told executives: ‘Casinos can’t accept any money they have to comply with the new government guidance from them, or. This might be a problem that is federal has been brewing for some time, and now it’s coming to a head. State laws and laws that are federaln’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 number of time-consuming, expensive, and frankly unrealistic background checks, Dowling explained. In this respect, casinos are being told to consider a similar relationship attitude towards the medical marijuana industry as the banks, which may have essentially blacklisted anybody in that company from starting a checking or savings account.
No Pot Luck Allowed
Dowling said he desired to raise the issue during the conference in Sin City to ensure that casinos were aware of the new guidelines therefore that they could avoid any threat of prosecution.
‘It’s very controversial. We’ll probably get a complete lot of hate mail for bringing it,’ he said. ‘But if you put your self in a banker’s situation, would you want to do all that and place your self at unlawful risk?
‘ Bankers are all just saying, ‘We do not want those problems,’ ‘ said Dowling, who can be 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 employees are increasingly being treated like pariahs and denied basic rights.
‘ The government is once again saying people involved in the marijuana business don’t possess 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 seminar. She referred concerns to her media spokesman, Stephen Hudak, who appeared to verify Dowling’s assertion.
‘FinCEN’s guidance applies to any or all monetary organizations covered under FinCEN regulations, including casinos,’ said Hudak.
Calvery also really wants to enforce legislation more rigorously that could require gambling enterprises to get their high-rollers to divulge the supply of their bankrolls, a move that is unpopular the casinos. She called gambling enterprises ‘complex finance institutions’ that has to get accustomed to ‘thinking more like other finance institutions.’
The Nevada Gaming Control Board recently ruled that none of its license holders should have anything to do using the state’s legalization of the medical marijuana trade. Marijuana has been legal for medicinal purposes in Nevada since 2000, however in 2013 the law changed to allow companies to dispense the drug, giving the go-ahead for 66 outlets throughout the state.
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 lightning link slot gamble every year since it launched. (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 June 3rd 2013 and January 29th 2014 at the Sands Casino Bethlehem in Northampton County. Two 17-year-olds, a 19-year-old, and three 20-year-olds have been observed table that is playing or slot devices at the casino in this period. The total is brought by it to 20 individual incidents of underage gambling over the past five years, which has cost vegas Sand Corp. some $220,000 in fines.
Not Walking the Talk
While this means that the Sands Bethlehem has been penalized every 12 months 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 paid also higher fines within 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 has been penalized for underage gambling violations.
Ironically, Adelson’s Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling (CSIG) is fond of using rhetoric to declare that online casinos prey on underage gamblers, ignoring the truth that regulation means greater protection and brings with it age-verification that is rigorous. CSIG recently created a video spot showing a teenage boy playing on their father’s gambling account, as the Coalition steps up its campaign to push through a federal bill that would enforce a blanket ban on Web gaming.
‘I think the recent $32.5 million settlement by Apple over in-app purchases made by kids on their parents’ iPads/iPhones is merely the end of the iceberg if on line gambling continues to grow,’ said Coalition National Co-Chair and Senator that is former Blanche at the advertisement’s launch.
‘If kids can blow $2,600 in the app ‘Tap Pet resort,’ then consider what can take place when they get hold of their parent’s password and start playing blackjack? It’s a nightmare scenario for moms and dads.’
Hysteria and Hypocrisy
The incident at the Sands Bethlehem features the hypocrisy that many feel lies beneath the hysteria during the heart of the Coalition’s argument. Adelson suffered an additional blow to his cause recently when his ally that is closest in Washington, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, ended up being beaten 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 market the federal bill.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania is looking at a bill of a unique, backed by State Senator Edwin Erickson, that, if passed would, legalize and manage poker that is online the state. It comes hot on the heels of a study that is recent commissioned by the state’s Legislative Budget and Finance Committee and conducted by consultancy firm Econsult, which concluded internet poker would be considered a huge financial boon to Pennsylvania, producing $129 million in revenue each year.
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