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EC Gives France & Greece More Time to Reply to Official EU Gambling QueriesThu, Aug 30th, 2007 @ 12:00am France and Greece received a two month extension to reply to official steps taken by the European Commission (EC) over alleged protectionist behavior creating barriers to foreign sports betting, online poker and gambling firms, a European Union executive said on Tuesday. The EC, an executive arm of the European Union (EU), has been targeting member nations whose national gaming regulations are contrary to higher level EU laws that permit companies licensed anywhere in the EU to freely move goods and services across EU state borders (Article 49 of the EC Treaty). Sports betting, gambling and/or online gambling are state-owned monopolies in many EU countries, generating large amounts of revenue for governments. To protect that revenue, governments have created roadblocks to thwart attempts by private-sector rivals to enter or grab a share of the lucrative business. EU Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy has said that there is no agreement among EU states to adopt pan-EU rules on gaming due to a wide range of views. However, McCreevy has repeatedly said that he intends to use his legal powers to stop unjustified restrictions on the free movement of services within the EU bloc. WARNINGS ISSUED In June, the EC had issued final warnings called 'Reasoned Opinions' to France and Sweden after rejecting their explanations for their protectionist gambling monopolies. If corrective action is not taken, the countries will be sued by the Commission in the European Court of Justice (ECJ) (click here for related article).
At that time it also gave Greece an initial warning, called a Letter of Formal Notice, saying that it too was at risk over its protectionist national legislation restricting the supply of sports betting services (click here for related article). The Greek betting monopoly OPAP is a public listed company and one of Europe's biggest betting firms. The EC requested information from Greece about criminal proceedings against Greek market makers. OCT 29 IS NEW DEADLINE "The deadline for Greece and for France is now 29 October," said Oliver Drewes, a spokesman for McCreevy, on Tuesday. "We have not seen anything from Sweden so far but they did not ask for an extension so we assume it's on its way," Drewes said. HOW EC DEALS WITH GAMBLING VIOLATIONS The EC can take three distinct steps to deal with countries they think are breaking the higher EU law (defined under Article 226 of the Treaty on European Union): CHANGE IN FRANCE? Drewes did note that the situation in France had changed since a court ruling last month was favorable to EU law. France's top court overturned a ruling that banned a Maltese firm, Zeturf, from offering online horse race betting in France, adding to pressure from Brussels for France to end the state's lucrative monopoly (click here for related article). Drewes also said they had good contact with Greek authorities. Read Related Articles:
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Asia Pacific Poker Tour's Next Stop: Auckland New Zealand Oct 4-12 After its successful PokerStars.net APPT Seoul event, the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) has just announced the schedule for its third stop of Season Two at SKYCITY Casino in Auckland. The PokerStars.net APPT SKYCITY Auckland Festival of Poker will run from October 4-12 with both a NZD$3,000 Main Event (October 9-12) expected to have the largest prize pool ever for a poker tournament in New Zealand, and a NZD$10,000 High Rollers Event (October 11).
Disappointing Turnout for US Poker Championship Main Event Day 1 of the United States Poker Championship's $10,000 Main Event began Sunday afternoon. Although this event attracted 164 players last year, only 52 turned out to play this year, creating a prize pool of $504,400. The lack of television coverage since ESPN discontinued their contract is the most frequently cited issue, but recent developments in the financial markets and high gas prices may have also contributed to the low turnout.
Duplicate Poker Closes October 5th Duplicate Poker closed this past Sunday, which is strange, since only two weeks ago they announced that they were thriving and celebrating player number 250,000 (see below). Apparently their idea to offer poker fashioned after duplicate bridge, where tables competed over how the same hands were played out, didn't catch the fancy of enough of the poker playing masses to weather their current financial storm. But they do say when the climate changes, they may reopen.
Summit to Discuss Online Poker Domain Seizure Oct. 6th in Frankfort Kentucky Today, Oct. 6th, the Bluegrass Institute, which is an independent, non-partisan association of writers and speakers who analyze state and local public policy in Kentucky, has teamed up with the Poker Player's Alliance (PPA) and several other state and national groups to host an 'Emergency Summit' in Frankfort Kentucky to discuss the dangerous and far-reaching implications of Kentucky Governor Beshear's attempt to seize 141 online poker and online gaming domains.
Matt Brady Captures Aruba Poker Classic Title Saturday marked the close of the 2008 Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic from the Radisson Casino and Hotel. Poker pro Matt Brady was able to outlast 550 other players, including Swedish pro Johan Storakers heads-up, on his way to a payday of $1 million.
Dramatic Comeback Earns Martin European Poker Tour London Win By Satuday, they were down to eight players in the 2008 European Poker Tour London Main Event. After one last day on the felt, American Michael Martin would put together one of the biggest comebacks in recent memory to capture the GBP 1 million first-place prize.
Dutch Professor Challenges Poker's Chance Classification with Formula This past Friday, Professor Ben van der Genugten, an expert in probability and mathematical statistics, challenged the Dutch Supreme Court's classification of poker as a game of chance, citing how a formula he co-developed and is used by the courts pegs poker at a higher skill level than most fantasy sports, which the court rules are a game of skill. Because of this inconsistency, the Professor is calling for the court to revoke the classification of poker as a game of chance.
Boss Media Launches Italian Poker Network, Skill Gaming Platform Taking advantage of online poker being allowed by Italy's gaming regulator, similar to Playtech's recent announcements, Boss Media announced the launch of an Italian poker network at the European iGaming congress and Expo in Barcelona. Boss, with sister company St Minver, will offer Italian players online poker through parent company GTech and GTech owners Lottomatica.
Marathon Leaves Juanda World Series of Poker Europe Main Event Champ More than 21 hours of final table play was required to find the 2008 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event champion, but the wait proved worth it. In the end, one of the games greatest would emerge victorious from a 7 1/2 hour heads-up match and the WSOP's longest final table ever to grab WSOPE gold.
Negreanu, Juanda Headline World Series of Poker Europe ME Final Table Day 4 has been completed in the 2008 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event and they're down to the final nine. A couple of American poker studs lead the way, but a young Russian pro has already made history, becoming the first player to double dip in WSOP Main Event final tables on both sides of the pond. |
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