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South Africa Nears Online Poker and Gambling ApprovalThu, Dec 14th, 2006 @ 12:00am A draft amendment bill was adopted by the South African cabinet last week which will legalize online and cellphone gambling, including online poker, if it is passed into law. Online sports betting was already legal in South Africa, as long as it was conducted on sites within the country. But online poker and gambling were outlawed by the National Gambling Act of 2004 because government wanted more time to research how to regulate and tax these sectors which were growing quickly at the time. The act gave Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa two years to draw up regulations to govern internet gambling. Mpahlwa and the provincial MECs responsible for gambling conducted research on how other jurisdictions such as Britain, the US and Australia regulated online gambling. Trade and Industry deputy director general Astrid Ludin said, "We do not believe outlawing will stop [online] gambling, therefore it is better to regulate it." This is also consistent with South Africa's existing approach to other forms of gambling. South Africa's attitude is more in line with the UK; both have chosen to create a regulated framework for online gambling. It is unlike the US, whose Wire Act of 1961 explicitly outlaws sports betting and whose recent Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) makes it illegal for financial institutions to handle online gambling transactions from US residents. According to Christiansen Capital Advisers, a US-based service that provides gambling and entertainment industry analysis, online gambling makes up about 5% of the global gambling industry. Last year land-based casinos in South Africa paid R2,1-billion in gaming taxes and VAT and the government received 37 percent (R777-million). An additional 5 percent would give the government R38,8-million in taxes. Online poker in particular is a major source of online gaming revenue. The proposed Gambling Amendment Bill, which was first submitted to the South African Cabinet this past October and adopted this past week, includes a licensing system for players and the online gaming Web sites. Ludin noted that it is yet to be determined how gaming proceeds will be taxed. She also said that a key challenge in drafting the proposed legislation was to find a way to effectively regulate anything on the internet, and how to prevent money-laundering. Brian Muthwa, director of legislative drafting for the Department of Trade and Industry, hopes the new law will be passed by the end of the first quarter of 2007. Read Related Articles on Regulating Online Gambling: Antigua Italy Europe Russia United Kingdom United States of America
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Moon and Cada Heads-Up, Ivey 7th at WSOP Main Event Final Table After a marathon session at the most esteemed table in the poker world, a 21-year-old and a logger are set to go one-on-one for the World Series of Poker Main Event bracelet.
PokerStars Launches New UK and Ireland Poker Tour PokerStars.com has announced the start of a new poker tour with stops throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland. The UK and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) will kick off in Galway, Ireland in mid-December, and the first event in the UK will be held in Manchester in February.
Peerless Media Agrees to Purchase World Poker Tour Enterprises According to a Monday press release, WPT Enterprises Inc., mothership of the World Poker Tour, is now the rightful property of Peerless Media, Ltd., subsidiary of online giant PartyGaming.
Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho Hit the Amazing Race Rail After surviving six legs of the Amazing Race by the skin of their teeth, poker pros Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho were finally eliminated in the CBS reality show's most recently aired episode. Michelle and Ho, the last women standing in the 2008 and 2007 World Series of Poker Main Events, gave reality television fans another chance to watch poker personalities compete away from the felt. Annie Duke garnered quite a following earlier in the year on another reality show competition, NBC's Celebrity Apprentice.
Isaac Baron Dominates Caesars Classic Main Event Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron ran over the final table of the Caesars Palace Classic $5,000 Main Event, amassing a huge chip lead and going home with the $246,928 first prize. It took two long days to narrow the 162-person field to the final ten. A very high percentage of the entrants were recognizable tournament circuit players, and unsurprisingly, the stacked field produced a tough final table lineup.
Tonight- ESPN shows Day Before WSOP Main Event Final Nine are Set- Oct 27 Tonight (Oct. 27) at 9pm ET, ESPN will broadcast highlights of action on the day before the Final Table of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event was set. Only 27 players remain when this one-hour show begins.
Frenchman Wins PokerStars EPT Warsaw Poker Tourney At the PokerStars European Poker Tour Warsaw No Limit Texas Hold'em main event that wrapped up yesterday, French businessman Christophe Benzimra finished first taking home 358,644 Euros in prize money, while Italian poker pro Alfio Battisti finished second in the tournament.
Vedes Conquers WPT Festa al Lago Final Table Tommy Vedes is the WPT's newest champion! Vedes outlasted 274 players to win the Festa al Lago title and the $1,218,225 first prize. Freddy Deeb, who began the final table with the chip lead, hoped to win his third WPT title and tie Gus Hansen's record. Instead, Deeb was forced to settle for 4th place, leaving room for a new WPT champ. Click here for in-depth coverage of the action and photos from the final table.
Will Hungarians Get Taxed on Poker Soon? Hungarian lawmakers have plans to tax poker winnings and regulate clubs to generate much-needed revenues during the country's worst economic crisis since the end of communism, reports Germany's Deutsche Weele.
Freddy Deeb Leads World Poker Tour Final Table The WPT Festa al Lago Main Event is down to the final six after five tough days of play. Two-time WPT champion Freddy Deeb brings the chip lead along with the benefit of his under-the-lights experience into Monday's televised final table. Deeb previously won the WPT Season III Aruba Poker Classic and the Season VII Celebrity Invitational. He also owns two World Series bracelets and has amassed over $6 million in tournament winnings. A win on Monday would add $1,218,225 to that total. Click here for photos from the felt and final table chip counts. |
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