QuadJacks » The Gaming World Unknown

The day after the news that Pokerstars might be buying Full Tilt Poker Marco sits down with Scott Yeates aka @VIPScottY former Pokerstars employee to talk about the inner workings of stars and what might be in store for American poker players. full report coming soon. Right click save as to download Subscribe in a reader Subscribe to QuadJacks » The Gaming World by Email

Gaming policy overlord Joe Brennan Jr skips goose hunts and talking points in favor of actually getting things done.   While New Jersey lawmakers like state Senator Ray Lesniak and Governor Chris Christie are getting all the credit in the local, national and even international press, D.C.-based lobbyist Joe Brennan Jr. is widely recognized by the industry’s cognoscenti as the indispensable choreographer of the state’s happy march toward unprecedented gambling liberty. Right click save as to download Subscribe in a reader Subscribe to QuadJacks » The Gaming World by Email Brennan is the director of IMEGA (Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association), a “professional association dedicated to fostering cooperation between the online gaming industry and government at all levels, and to promote innovation, openness and freedom on the Internet.” Brennan’s first and, for a year, only appearance on QuadJacks Poker Radio had memorably been in May 2011, just a few weeks after Black Friday. After a very impressive showing at iGaming North America this year, it was a privilege to have one of the industry’s brightest thinkers and game-changers on The Gaming World for this extended interview on Tuesday, April 10, 2012. The Brennan Method While many other states are still just toying with the idea, New Jersey has been sprinting toward intrastate online gaming, especially after the DOJ memo, in remarkably rapid fashion. Brennan’s standout success, hopefully replicable elsewhere, lies in a calculated yet sincere pragmatism that wins the hearts and minds of the legislators far more ably than methods tried elsewhere. He explains: “Gaming affects legislators all over the state, not just in Atlantic City. We came in and listened to them first, and then responded in ways that were meaningful to them. Gaming taxes and revenue may not be key issues for politicians in the north of New Jersey, but what might be key issues to them are jobs and quality of work. North Jersey, for example, has the highest IT infrastructure density than anywhere else on the planet. The igaming industry is an industry that could use an awful lot of this unused capacity. In North Jersey, that means jobs, investments, ribbon-cuttings for these politicians. That’s something they can bring back to their constituencies.” This approach is refreshingly different from the broken record of The O’Jays’ “For the Love of Money” looping on the iPods of most other swaggering lobbyists. “Most of the rhetoric,” continues Brennan, “both at the federal and state level, is based on this idea that, well, this is the kind of money that you can make from online gaming, and everybody else is already doing it, so why don’t you do it?” Why doesn’t this work more often? “Despite what many citizens think, you don’t actually get too far by making legislators feel filthy.” States vs Federal Brennan has been described as a champion of states’ rights at a time when most of the big boys are pushing heavily for what Brennan believes to be a dreamy but unlikely federal bill. On...

After co-founding iGaming North America in 2011, BolaVerde Media Group director Mark Balestra plays an important role in uniting and educating the industry. In 2011, a team of representatives from four different companies – Steven Rittvo (The Innovation Group), Tony Cabot (Lewis and Roca LLP), Sue Schneider (eGamingBrokerage) and Mark Balestra (BolaVerde Media Group) joined forces to organize the inaugural iGaming North America conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Right click save as to download Subscribe in a reader Subscribe to QuadJacks » The Gaming World by Email   Over a +15 year long career in interactive gaming, Mark Balestra had been a longtime collaborator of Sue Schneider at the River City Group, a publisher with Clarion Gaming, and an advisor to numerous conferences including the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) and the Global Interactive Gaming Summit and Expo (GIGSE). With iGaming North America, however, Balestra and his colleagues were trying to create a unique foundation. “We had it in our heads that it would be great to do something for the igaming industry in North America. We had done a lot of events in Canada, and had moved things around to Europe at one point,” Balestra told The Gaming World on March 27, 2012. “In around 2007 and 2008, things started coming together in the United States, and the time had become right to base an event in the U.S. focused on interactive gambling.” As the co-founder and co-director of what became known as iGNA, which held its second conference earlier this month (March 2012), Balestra and his team are helping to bring the online gaming industry together in the United States at one of its most defining periods. This puts Balestra in a position to intimately witness the behind-the-scenes of the gaming world. Things are already looking quite distinct than they did as recently as one year ago, in 2011, when the first iGNA event took place hardly a few weeks after April 15. Black Friday was certainly one of the turning points and may have cast a shadow over much of the 2011 conference. But this year, the legal momentum that has been taking place since then was the real star of the show. EURO-AMERICAN RELATIONS “There are always certain developments taking place in the industry that take precedence in the conference discussions, regardless of how the program is designed. One of the big themes this year was the DOJ letter, which became public in December and certainly remained a story to be looked at for how it will affect the industry in the next several months.” Sometimes the conference must not only catch up with the most recent developments preceding it, but adapt to breaking ones during it. This was definitely the case when Las Vegas-based Shuffle Master Inc. announced on Monday, March 5 – in the middle of day 2 of iGNA 2012 – that it had officially acquired the poker network Ongame. But Balestra and the team were prepared. “The formal announcement brought up a great...

Head of the most powerful gaming industry lobby explains the view from Capitol Hill and the American Gaming Association’s vision for federal online poker legislation. AGA President Frank Fahrenkopf Jr. talking to QuadJacks from his office in Washington D.C. In 1995, in response to a proposed tax increase for casino revenue nationwide, the imperiled operators opted to momentarily put competition aside and band together to form the American Gaming Association and defend their interests. Its founder, Frank Fahrenkopf Jr., a seasoned gaming attorney who had also been Republican National Committee chairman for most of the 1980′s, volunteered to serve as the CEO of the trade organization for a period of one year. In 2012, he is entering his 17th consecutive year. The AGA’s position on online gaming, which for years has mirrored the one taken by most of the casino industry, has gone from one of explicit disapproval (“The AGA is opposed to all forms of Internet gaming because we do not believe the technology exists to properly regulate it with appropriate law enforcement oversight.”) to one of active support and lobbying for federal online poker legislation today. Although much of the work it is doing is ultimately for the benefit of American poker players, the AGA is primarily a lobby for gaming companies (it represents over fifty of them), without a grassroots element. Mr. Fahrenkopf’s appearance on The Gaming World on March 21, 2012, marks the first time the American Gaming Association has addressed the online poker community so directly and extensively since the events of Black Friday. Listen to Frank Fahrenkopf Jr.’s 3/21 interview on The Gaming World Right click save as to download Subscribe in a reader Subscribe to QuadJacks » The Gaming World by Email A FEDERAL MODEL WHICH RESPECTS STATES’ RIGHTS IS THE BEST SOLUTION The perception that the American Gaming Association, along with its mainstream casino clients, wants a fully nationalized regulatory framework is false, says Fahrenkopf. As a lifelong Republican, Fahrenkopf says he is a strong supporter of the 10th amendment and states’ rights, and under an ideal federal model, licensing and regulation would and should be the responsibility of the states almost entirely. Why, then, is there a need for a federal presence? A very important reason, says Fahrenkopf, has to do with tribal support, which is necessary for the success of any legislative step forward. “There has to be a federal involvement for a number of reasons. We must remember that we’re talking about all aspects of the legal gaming community in our country. This involves Native Americans. Tribes, in their just defense of sovereignty, will never agree to be subject to a state for licensing and regulation.” As for interstate compacts, Fahrenkopf reminds us that even these require federal approval, and he is concerned with “whether or not the Commerce Clause is broad enough in its scope, because these signals cross state lines, regardless of the Justice Department’s opinion.” Could the federal government and the states co-exist on online poker?...

Today semi-retired, Sue Schneider continues to keep herself active in the gambling industry, but even if she wished to retire completely, she would still be leaving behind an impressive legacy. Ms. Schneider has been a witness to the online gaming industry since it first began entering the Internet in the early 90’s. She worked with numerous gaming consultants and ran a number of industry media outlets, until she helped found egamingbrokerage.com. She is also involved with the organization of the iGNA conference (iGaming North America), the second event of which is happening this month. Appearing on QuadJacks Poker Radio for the first time, Ms. Schneider provides a professional overview of the gaming industry, from the way she lived it throughout the year to what she sees it has become today, and finally, how she expects it to develop in the future, especially at such a historic time in the United States due to the Wire Act’s reinterpretation and the advent of online gaming. She also explains the history and purpose of the iGNA conference, which Marco is very excited to attend for the first time this year. Right click save as to download Subscribe in a reader Subscribe to QuadJacks » The Gaming World by Email

If you’re in America, chances are you’ve heard of Betfair but not actually bet on there. In Europe, Australia and other regions, however, Betfair’s popularity and presence as the largest Internet betting exchange in the world is prominent. The company’s success has much to do with its unique and original business model, but the brand is all the stronger thanks to its clever publicity campaigns. Richard Bloch is the head of international PR for Betfair, and in this interview, he tells Marco – and any other oblivious American who will listen – more about Betfair, the company he has represented since 2008. Speaking on behalf of Betfair, Richard explains how the company began and how it got to where it is today. Of particular interest is Betfair’s current outlook on the future of the American market and how the company plans to get involved in it. Richard also shares some interesting tips on social media, and how it can be specifically used in the gambling industry for max effect. The two men end up getting along quite affably. Right click save as to download