Free Republic

It has long been known that over the past decade Chinese oligarchs who wanted to bypass Beijing's capital controls and anti-money laundering firewall, would smuggle billions of dollars outside of China by using the Macau casino money-laundering infrastructure, prompting Beijing to crack down aggressively on this popular firewall loophole, with mixed success.What is less known is that as the capital controls game of cat and mouse escalated in recent years, so have Chinese money laundering tactics and now according to Caixin, Chinese citizens launder as much as $153 billion per year with the help of online gambling and such cryptocurrency...

Two Republican senators running for president reintroduced a bill Wednesday that would effectively ban Internet poker and other forms of online gambling—legislation that has long been championed by casino magnate and GOP mega-donor Sheldon Adelson. Both Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio joined a handful of Republicans and one Democrat in reviving the Restoration of America's Wire Act, a measure that proponents say would "restore" the proper interpretation of a decades-old federal ban on some gambling operations by expanding it to include Internet gambling.

Judicial Watch is investigating yet another Obama Justice Department scandal this time involving the reversal of a law passed by Congress decades ago banning all forms of online gambling, a move that allowed companies—and big Democratic Party donors—with connections to Attorney General Eric Holder to amass huge profits. It involves the Wire Act, enacted by Congress in 1961 as an antiracketeering measure to prohibit the use of wire communications for the interstate transfer of bets or wagers. When the internet came around years later the law was naturally applied to online gambling and U.S. courts, as well as the Department...

We need to have a debate about whether we really want a full casino attached to every smartphone in America. With the wave of the executive branch magic wand, unfettered Internet gambling could soon be imposed on all 50 states. When the Department of Justice (DOJ) unilaterally reinterpreted the 1961 Wire Act in December 2011, the DOJ circumvented the democratic process and opened the door for a massive policy change absent any significant public debate. We unequivocally oppose the legalization of online gaming.

Agents quietly working with Utah prosecutors to make case in DOJ absenceFBI agents working alongside Utah state prosecutors in a wide-ranging corruption investigation have uncovered accusations of wrongdoing by two of the U.S. Senate’s most prominent figures — Majority Leader Harry Reid and rising Republican Sen. Mike Lee — but the Justice Department has thwarted their bid to launch a full federal investigation. The probe, conducted by one Republican and one Democratic state prosecutor in Utah, has received accusations from an indicted businessman and political donor, interviewed other witnesses and gathered preliminary evidence such as financial records, Congressional Record statements...

Strip poker is one of Attorney General Eric Holder’s favorite games. As in, he evidently enjoys stripping online poker entrepreneurs of their Fourth Amendment rights. Holder is the head of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), which is currently stripping online gaming entrepreneurs of their intellectual property rights. Technically, online gambling has never been declared “illegal” in the U.S. and yet the DOJ is citing a hazy law in order to allege that online gambling is a crime. On Monday, July 2, the federal government arrested Los Angeles native Ray Bitar as he landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport...

When you've turned nothing into something once already, you tend to feel like you can do it again. There's faith your luck will turn. Perhaps it's delusion. But for a professional poker player, self-confidence is essential. So it is for Walter Wright, who now finds himself in Costa Rica. He left his wife and two children behind to redeem their failing finances and faltering marriage by doing something that's now illegal in the United States—playing poker online. Wright's life began to change in 2005, when he followed his then-girlfriend from New Orleans to Virginia, where she was beginning law school...

Reuters reports that the Obama administration has reversed a long-standing ban on Internet gambling, clearing the way for states to legalize and regulate it: The Obama administration cleared the way for states to legalize Internet poker and certain other online betting in a switch that may help them reap billions in tax revenue and spur web-based gambling. A Justice Department opinion dated September and made public on Friday reversed decades of previous policy that included civil and criminal charges against operators of some of the most popular online poker sites. Until now, the department held that online gambling in all

Last week, while many people reported their income to the Internal Revenue Service, others suddenly found their source of income shut off. On a day now known among online poker players as “Black Friday,” the Department of Justice did us Americans the favor of saving us from ourselves by shutting down the three most popular and trusted online poker platforms. Not only did the department seize the three domain names, it also froze 77 accounts around the world and charged the founders of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker, among others. What’s there crime? While the charges very carefully...

Staffers for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are circulating a bill to legalize poker playing on the Internet that's backed by large casino interests. The Nevada casino companies pushing the measure were among the Democrat's biggest donors during his fierce re-election fight. They argue the bill would provide consumer protection for poker players and would provide some tax revenue for federal and state governments.

Bipartisanship is in short supply in Washington these days, but a diverse coalition ranging from liberal Democrat Barney Frank of Massachusetts to conservative Republican Joe Barton of Arlington is uniting in a high-stakes push to legalize Internet poker gambling.

When the liberals are seen as being on the side of economic liberty, and conservatives are seen as opposing it, something has gone seriously awry. But such is the case right now on at least one issue: online gambling. And Barney Frank (of all people) is the voice of reason. U.S. Representative Barney Frank will unveil legislation on Wednesday to roll back a U.S. ban on online gambling, he said in a statement on Tuesday. The Massachusetts Democrat said his legislation "will enable Americans to bet online and put an end to an inappropriate interference with their personal freedom." And...

U.S. lawmaker to push repeal of online gambling ban Fri Feb 20, 2009 3:35pm EST By Doug Palmer WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior Democratic lawmaker will push legislation this year to repeal a U.S. ban on Internet gambling that has hurt trade ties with the European Union, a congressional aide said. "The bill introduction should happen in the next month," a spokesman for House of Representatives Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank said. On Thursday, Reuters reported the EU could file a complaint about U.S. enforcement of the gambling ban at the World Trade Organization. "Mr. Frank will bring back...

To say that the online gaming community is happy about the outcome of November's presidential election results would be the understatement of the year. On Tuesday, the US, the world, and the online casino industry, all put their hopes and dreams for the future in President Barack Obama's hands. There are many pressing issues for Obama to begin tackle. first and foremost is the economy, and that is what has the online community thrilled. In order to help fix that economy, the new president may need to turn to online gambling for money. It has already been documented by representatives...

WASHINGTON: Microsoft, Yahoo and Google agreed to pay a total of $31.5 million to settle a government probe into their role in promoting online gambling dating back to 1997, officials said.

Even as Governor Deval Patrick seeks to license three resort casinos in Massachusetts, he hopes to clamp down on the explosion in Internet gambling by making it illegal for state residents to place a bet on line. He has proposed jail terms of up to two years and $25,000 fines for violators. The provision, buried deep in Patrick's bill to allow three casinos to the state, puts the governor at odds with a fellow Democrat: US Representative Barney Frank, the sponsor of federal legislation to license and regulate online gambling nationally. Yesterday Frank strongly criticized the governor's plan to punish...

The Absolute Poker Scandal October 16th, 2007 · 5 Comments Is AbsolutePoker.com rigged?Either way, the company is in big trouble. What follows in this post is huge news in the world of online poker and online casinos.Our story begins in 2003. Absolute Poker’s software is in development and many test accounts are created to make sure the program is working correctly. One of these test accounts, known as account #363, can see the hole cards at any table. This test account can not be used to play in real money games, it is only used for development purposes to see...

%-John McCain, Sam Brownback, Alan Keyes, John Cox >1%-Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Tom Tancredo, Duncan Hunter 12%-Fred Thompson 73%-Ron Paul

When Americans evaluate today's political landscape, most feel something between impotence and disapproval. So, while citizens shake their heads or shrug at the mainstream media's “top tier” presidential candidates, it is extraordinary how many are becoming overjoyed about one lesser covered candidate. Tens-of-thousands have joined the appropriately named Ron Paul Revolution, joining Meetup.com groups, putting up signs, and crossing states to attend rallies. Congressman Ron Paul's genuine message and untarnished record of promoting individual liberty for everyone, a free-market economy of wealth and abundance, and a foreign policy of non-intervention, peace and free trade, has attracted vast support from diverse...

I just received the transcript to my testimony before Congress earlier this month on Internet gambling. I thought you might enjoy one of the odder exchanges I had at the hearing. The exchange was with Rep. Spence Bachus, and I guess this was supposed to be his "gotcha" question for me. To be honest, I was so floored by the sheer ignorance of the question, I didn't quite know how to respond. To set up the exchange, one of the points of contention during the hearing was the reliability of age verification systems. Enjoy. Mr. Bachus: Mr. Balko, in your...