A University of Iowa senior, Devaney has been playing online poker for nearly six years. And, technically, he is breaking the law — but it’s one that’s rarely enforced.
Online gambling is illegal, untaxed, and unregulated in all 50 states, but that could change under a bill making its way through the Iowa legislature.

Federal law allows states to legalize online gambling within their borders. On March 1, an Iowa Senate subcommittee approved a controversial bill that would legalize and regulate intrastate-only online poker. It now need to pass the full Senate, and then the House, to become law. If passed, Iowa would be the first state to legalize online poker, though similar legislation is being considered in Florida and California.

Iowa would be the first state under Senate Study Bill 1165 to issue online poker licenses to qualified businesses. People wanting to participate in the legal online poker would register for an account at one of the licensed businesses, put money into an account at a local casino, and play poker on a regulated website. The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission would oversee the system.

Lobbyists say roughly 150,000 Iowans are illegally playing online poker; supporters contend that the move could bring in $30 million to $35 million in taxes each year. Supporters said the change could create a major source of revenue that the state is currently not getting.

Ned Chiodo, a lobbyist in favor of the bill said “The online poker industry now is not contributing monetarily to society in the United States or in Iowa, with the passage of this bill, the revenue that this industry will generate will be taxed.”

While it would likely bring helpful economic benefits, the bill has drawn bipartisan concern from legislators concerning the ethics of gambling.

“This issue reaches past party lines,” said Rep. Dave Jacoby, D-Coralville. “Democrats won’t want to vote for it because gambling breaks up families and causes social problems, and some Republicans are against it for religious reasons.”

Users can customize their own tournaments and cash games ranging from penny poker all the way up to $1/$2 stakes. The new feature is already live and running on PokerStars.net with plans to launch on the real money PokerStars.com site later this week. The clubs can consist of up to fifty players and will be completely private, with players not showing up on the search feature while seated at Home Game tables.

Club Managers can create and customize the club and invite players to participate by providing a unique Club number as well as a password. The Home Games are not subject to the IP requirements elsewhere on PokerStars, allowing players in the same household to sit at the tables at the same time.

The Home Games software marks the first time PokerStars has incorporated social media sites like Twitter and Facebook directly into the client. Club managers are able to create tournaments and cash game tables and immediately notify their Facebook friends and Twitter followers about the changes.

Private tournaments have been a part of both PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker for quite some time, this marks the first time one of the major sites has made it possible for all their players to customize and create their own cash game tables.

The first new 2011 poker bonus is the 2011 Pokerstars marketing code PSP1913. PokerStars.com now features a 100% First Depositor Bonus of up to $600.00! All players have to do to take advantage of the offer is make a first real money deposit and enter the bonus code ‘STARS600′. For added convenience, players can break up their deposits over three qualifying transactions to be completed in 90 days and still be eligible for the 100% bonus.

PokerStars is a well known leader in the online poker community. This company is committed to providing their players and the poker community at large with a quality online poker venue that provides the best gaming experience anywhere online. This $600 Deposit Bonus is one of the many ways PokerStars stands by its commitment.

Another major poker site to release a new 2011 bonus early is the Full Tilt Poker. The official 2011 Full Tilt Poker Bonus code is DP600 and it is already active. Full Tilt sponsored pros are probably the most recognizable in the game today. Because of this high quality of sponsorship, Full Tilt offers the possibility of a 100% first deposit bonus of up to $600. To start, simply sign up for a real money account with the 2011 Full Tilt Referral Code DP600, make a first deposit, and start playing some popular types of poker games on the site. Keep in mind that the maximum of the bonus is also the amount of your first deposit

While playing Full Tilt poker games, players earn Full Tilt Points, which will measure how much of a bonus is earned. Each type of game rewards points in a different way. In Sit & Go or tournament game, each player receives a number of Full Tilt Points equal to the amount of the entry fee. With a $5 tournament that carries a $.50 entry fee, each player will receive 5 Full Tilt Points for participating. Each Full Tilt Point is worth $.10 and earning the 2011 bonus is really easy for average players

The PCA, will run in early January, and will be highlighted by the $10,300 buy-in main event. Free-to-enter and micro-stake sit-and-go qualifiers are currently running non-stop for a chance to compete in one of poker’s most prestigious tournaments.

A qualifier finishing near the top will advance a player to one of the 12 weekly PCA Fantasy Final freerolls. One of 12 PCA prize packages will be awarded at each final, with each worth more than $15,000. Players finishing in the top 2,000 will also walk away with a share of more than $14,000 in added cash. The PCA Fantasy Finals take place on Sundays at 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. EST, from Nov. 7 to Dec. 12.

Players can win an entry to more than one final, providing the possibility to play in all 12. Each final will be capped at 20,000 players
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To get control of the situation offshore sites are brain storming to find new ways to keep their establishments exciting and easy for online gamblers to use over land-based sites that enter the online industry. With that in mind, a sports betting site has introduced a brand new and fantastic option for online players. Northbet.com has created the “instant payout” option via your own debit card to be used at their sports betting site! This is unheard of in the sports betting world, usually you have to wait to get paid or you have to travel to the casino to pick up your winnings, but this new idea and addition to Northbet gives the player the leisure of going to their nearest ATM machine to withdraw their winnings instantly.

This new payment option is amazing for any online gambler. Normally you have to wait a day or two to get your winnings out of even the best online gaming site, but with this new debit card, you can have your cash in as little as 120 minutes! Same day withdraw, same day cash in hand, now that’s a concept everyone will love.

September 11th, 2001 is the day that the world’s most reputed poker site was launched. The site has been up and running for nine years now and is now reputed to be the largest poker room online owning 70 percent of the US poker industry’s market shares.

Pokerati.com, also commented on this fact saying, “At a time when Americans weren’t sure who was their friend or enemy, what was safe and not safe, there was a certain peace in being able to sit down at a table with people from countries all across the world and play a game. It was just for play money at first, but the timing would prove fortuitous. People seemed to enjoy the software and were telling their friends … as online poker seemed to provide a much-needed escape from the every day stress going on in the world.

PokerStars made history in the online poker industry, when it became the first poker site to send an online player to the WSOP. Chris Moneymaker from PokerStars made it all the way to the 2003 World Series of Poker and took home the grand prize title.

One of their players received a email this week: Stating that they regret to inform them that because of recent announcements by the British Columbia Lottery Corporation, Loto-Quebec and Atlantic Lottery Corp. in regards to the move of the online gaming industry with regulated online gaming provided by Canada, our download casino vendor has decided to block all Canadian players from using their software.” “Only operators licensed by Canadian authorities will be allowed to offer online gambling sites to the residents of Canada.” The email goes on to say that with regret this decision was made and access to any of their download casinos will be terminated and blocked because of the ongoing legal issues.

We are still waiting on Boss Media to make a statement on how they came to this unexpected decision.

Rushmore Casino has never faltered in their support of American players and have dedicated their casino and support team to making all players feel welcomed and appreciated They always had the US players back in these tough gambling law times and USA players cannot and will not find a more loyal online casino to gamble at and one that has so much to offer players from world wide as Rushmore Casino.

This video slot game is a great new addition to their “Real Series” slot games, which offer the popular exclusive random jackpots as well as bonus rounds, wild symbols, scatter symbols, free spin rounds and themed slot games that are original and unique. Mount Rushmore video slot has some awesome graphics with symbols that celebrate the American heritage. All the faces on the mountain are featured in Mount Rushmore slot and they are also wild which makes it possible to hit four different wild symbols in each spin! Enjoy Mount Rushmore slot at Rushmore Casino and experience online gaming in a friendly and relaxing atmosphere.

Other high traffic sites included retail toys and travel information – although Google remained at the top of the list. Twitter was Number 50 on the list of the most visited sites in July, while Yahoo was still near Google at the top.

On August 20th the North Gauteng high court reached this controversial decision. They’ve imposed a heavy fine of R10 million ($1.354 million) and imprisonment of up to 10 years, or both, as punishments for breaking this new law. Also advertising an online casino or poker room in the media is prohibited. The players, online gaming room, and even Internet service provider may all be held responsible in an illegal online gaming case.

South Africa’s land-based casinos may have pushed this move. However, there are some gaming companies in South Africa that operate both brick & mortar and online casinos. Additionally, the new law makes no distinction between local and foreign providers of online gaming. This means South African casino companies, such as South Africa’s Piggs Peak, that hold brick & mortar and online entities are especially in jeopardy by this new law. Lew Saul Koor, Piggs Peak Operations Director, has gone on record to say: “Until the appeal has been heard and the outcome determined, our business will continue as usual as agreed with the Gambling Boards.”

As poker organizations around the world go for newer, more updated laws from their governments, South Africa seems to have taken a step in the wrong direction. Hopefully the appeal overturns this strict law and allows players to continue enjoying their favorite online poker games.