Featured Articles Archive - Page 774

Will The Internet Gambling Prohibition Act Actually Prohibit Internet Gambling?

The campaign to outlaw Internet gambling in the United States is inching toward victory. It was given a boost by the National Gambling Impact Study Commission's Final Report, which had nothing nice to say about at-home betting of any kind. But politics is the art of compromise...read more

The Myth of the Level Playing Field

All things being equal, do gamblers prefer riverboats or land-based casinos? Slot machines or Video Lottery Terminals? Indian bingo or charity bingo? The answer, of course, is, "It depends." The question is unanswerable, because all things are never equal. Why not ask, "Do patrons prefer playing blackjack in Atlantic City casinos or buying California State Lottery Scratchers?" The forms of gambling are radically different...read more

New Slots Send Up Caution Flag

On one of our trips to Las Vegas, my wife, Georgette, and I came across a variety of slot machine we had never before seen. We found them at the Rio Suite Hotel & Casino and The Orleans Hotel & Casino. The machines were SO new, in fact, the Rio had not yet had a chance to install their "Play Rio" player card tracking boxes in them. The machines were developed and are manufactured by the slot industry giant, IGT (International Game Technology), makers of the most popular reel slots in the world, including Red, White, & Blue Sevens, Double Diamond, Triple Diamond, and Five-Times Pay...read more

To Avoid Gambling Pain, Remember Your Driving Lane

Usually I like to offer gambling tips based on the psychology of the individual and (un)common sense, rather than mind-numbing mathematical analyses, and fortunately for the mathematically-challenged, I’m sticking to form today. Like most Californians I’m highly dependent on my car to go anywhere, and like most Californians, I face the prospect of heavy traffic anytime I’m on the road between 5 a.m...read more

The Ten Most Important Events In Gaming Law

Years ending in zeros have magic powers. They make us do strange things. Like draw up lists. Of course, we do this whenever New Years draws near. But, the turning of a decade seems to have extra significance. So, we begin making our lists even earlier in the year. This New Year's Day will have triple zeros...read more

Setting the Record Straight on Progressive Slots

There's a certain mystical aura associated with slot machine play. This mystery, in turn, serves to perpetuate the myths and superstitions that continue to be connected with doing battle with the infamous "one-armed bandits." One such rumor about Megabucks that surfaced recently was that there was a jackpot "signal" that was sent through the system by the powers that be every 29 days...read more

Will Congress Kill Horse Racing?

Over a hundred years ago, America's railroad industry was offered the opportunity to participate in the commercial development of a new invention--the internal combustion engine. Railroad executives turned down the idea of using the device for transportation, creating a "horse-less carriage," not because they thought it would not work, but because they thought it would! The train operators declared that they were in the railroad business, not the transportation business. And so they remained, until they all went bankrupt. The Internet has the potential to create, and to destroy, businesses on a scale not seen since the invention of the automobile. Until this year, the thoroughbred racing industry was following tracks laid down by the defunct railroads. In January 1993, I was the keynote speaker at a conference of the leaders of California's thoroughbred horse racing industry...read more

100 Percent Legal Gambling On The Internet?

Over the past six years, the number of websites which will accept money bets has grown from zero to more than 350. You can bet on baseball, basketball and bowling; play blackjack, baccarat and bingo; buy lottery tickets from an Indian tribe near Boise and a principality in Bavaria...read more

But Is It Gambling?

"I imply no criticism of the Court, which in those cases was faced with the task of trying to define what may be indefinable... I shall not today attempt further to define [hard-core pornography]... But I know it when I see it..." Justice Potter Stewart, Jacobellis v...read more

Don't Blame the Judges

Legislatures and voters may make the laws, but judges have to decide what those laws mean in actual, real-world controversies. Technological advances make their job even more difficult. Take a look at these two cases: Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon v...read more