A United States Federal judge ruled Tuesday that online poker is a game of skill, a ruling poker players and fans hope is a step towards the game eventually becoming completely legal in the country. The ruling was enthusiastically welcomed by the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the grassroots poker advocacy organization that played a major role in shaping the judge’s decision in the case.

The case at hand, United States of America v. Lawrence Dicristina, was heard before Judge Jack Weinstein of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Dicristina was charged with operating an illegal gambling business, an underground poker game of sorts, which was said to be in violation of the Illegal Gambling Business Act (IGBA) of 1955. He had originally been convicted by a jury, which was instructed that operating a “poker establishment” was illegal under the IGBA.

Fortunately for Dicristina, Judge Weinstein eventually reversed the ruling, agreeing with the defendant’s two-pronged argument. First, he argued that even if poker was deemed to be “gambling” under New York law, it was not necessarily “gambling” according to the IGBA. Second, he defined a “gambling business” as one in which players are competing against the house and that the game offered is predominated by chance, neither of which, he maintained were the case with poker.

The PPA’s lawyers wrote the principal briefs and presented the principal oral arguments and the PPA provided expert witnesses for the defense. After considering everything presented, the judge agreed with the defense. Of note was the definition of “gambling” in the text of the IGBA, which read, “…including, but…not limited to pool selling, bookmaking, maintaining slot machines, roulette wheels or dice tables, and conducting lotteries, policy, bolita or numbers games, or selling chances therein.”

The defense argued that while poker need not be included in that list to be considered gambling, it is nowhere close to the types of games listed. Additionally, poker was a very popular game at the time the law was written, so its omission was purposeful. Wrote the judge:

Both the defendant’s and the government’s interpretations of the statute are plausible. It is unclear from the text and legislative history of the IGBA whether every state gambling offense would permit a federal conviction…It is equally uncertain whether, in enacting the statute, Congress foresaw that poker businesses would be prosecutable under it…In light of these ambiguities, the rule of lenity requires that the defendant’s interpretation be adopted, and his conviction be dismissed. His acts did not constitute a federal crime.

As one might surmise from the above, the rule of lenity states that when dealing with ambiguity in a statute, the government has the burden of proof. Should the government not clearly convince the judge of its side, the “tie” goes to the defendant, in a manner of speaking.

The judge also wrote:

Poker is, for the purposes of this case, an elephant—or perhaps an eight hundred pound gorilla—that Congress would have been unlikely to ignore. The fact that card games like poker, pinochle, gin rummy, and bridge were so widely played by law-abiding individuals in noncriminal settings may explain its omission from the IGBA. As Sherlock Holmes would describe the clue, it is the dog that didn’t bark.

As for the defendant’s skill argument, Judge Weinstein sided with him, as well:

The average poker player is not so highly skilled as to take advantage of an advanced player’s techniques and knowledge; yet skill, when sufficiently honed, makes the difference between winning and losing in poker. See Fig. 2-3, supra, and accompanying text. As in bridge, the champions who can consistently demonstrate that skill underlies success in the game are few. Dr. Heeb (the defense’s expert witness) has shown persuasively that skilled players will predominated over the less skilled in a relatively short time.

The judge summed it up nicely when he said, simply, “The government must demonstrate that it is more probable than not that poker is predominated by chance rather than skill. It has failed to do so.”

Needless to say, the PPA was thrilled about the ruling, especially considering the deep involvement the group had in the case. In a press release, PPA executive director John Pappas said, “As we worked for years defending players against vague gambling laws, we have patiently waited for the right opportunity to raise the issue in federal court. Today’s federal court ruling is a major victory for the game of poker and the millions of Americans who enjoy playing it.”

SOURCE: Poker News Daily Online Poker Game Of Skill

Online Poker Game Of Skill

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Money. It’s what drives people to achieve more, reach higher and fight for what they deserve. It fuels our society and yet, causes immeasurable heartache if you don’t have any. What does it take to get money? Investing is one avenue you can take to gain profits, but only if you know what it takes to do it right, so read on.

Act like an owner of your stocks. Stocks aren’t merely items to simply be traded. Stocks represent ownership in a company. So, if you are purchasing a business, you should act as an owner of this business. Therefore, you should carefully analyze financial statements regularly, and make predictions about trends that will occur in the future. This also means acting rationally and not impulsively.

Make sure that your investments regularly have the opportunity to grow by setting up an automatic payment from your daily account to your investment account. Set up an automatic transfer to occur on payday so that you are effectively paying yourself like any other bill. And then watch your investments monies grow.

Think small to grow big. If your aim is growing your money substantially over the years, aim for smaller and medium-sized companies that have serious growth potential. A retail chain with a superstore in every neighborhood, might be a safe place to park and keep your investment at its current value, but in order for it to have growth, the growth would have to outmatch a Fortune 500 company. A small firm can double in size and still have plenty of potential market.

Walk away. As a stock trader, it’s vital that you take time out of each day to step away from the markets. It’s very easy to become overly attached to watching minute changes during the day. Your stocks aren’t going to do any better because you’re staring at them. Take a break and refresh your mind, and you’ll feel better and trade better too.

Base your portfolio on a steady foundation of strong, solid stocks when investing for the long-term. Active trading can prove profitable in the short-term, but it requires a great deal of time and dedication. If you cannot pay constant attention to the market, purchase reputable, consistent stocks and hold onto them.

If you are investing at a serious level, you may want to consider looking into technological advancements. Many people that made a huge return after investing considerable little in the stock market, were the ones that believed in a new idea or invention. The growth on a new product is often exponential. This technique is somewhat risky, but pays off very well if you pick the right stock.

Remember that stock prices are reflections of earnings. In the short term immediate future, market behavior will flucutuate depending on news and rumor and the emotional responses to those, ranging from enthusiasm to panic. In the longer term picture however, company earnings over time wind up determining whether a stock price rises or falls.

You should always make sure to do your research on any company that you plan on buying stock in. This includes looking at their financial standing, their prospectus and any SEC reports that are available. Not doing this could cause you to invest in a company that is not doing, as well as they seem.

Whatever your original investment portfolio size might be, and no matter how large your end goals are, you can do it. The insight you now have, after reading this article, hopefully, has given you the power to take your financial future into your own hands and mold it into everything that you have dreamed of. Now all you have to do is to just do it!

A new report released Sunday estimates that the United States Treasury loses $280 billion a year in tax revenue from wealthy Americans and companies keeping their money in off shore bank accounts in tax havens. The report estimated between $21 trillion and $32 trillion is held in these offshore accounts.

The Tax Justice Network report says this means that the income inequality in the U.S. if far worse than economists suspected.

The research was carried out by James Henry, former chief economist at consultants McKinsey & Co. He used data from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, United Nations and central banks

The U.S. taxpayer is not the only victim of this practice, it impacts developing countries as well depriving them of revenue that could go a long way toward alleviating their national fiscal problems, the report’s authors suggest. The research estimates that since the 1970s, the richest citizens of these 139 countries had amassed $7.3 to $9.3 trillion of “unrecorded offshore wealth” by 2010.

The report considers the impacts of a range of offshore accounts abuses, including unreported capital flows and under-taxed corporate profits. It places considerable blame on big multinational banks and other financial institutions that are integral to the process of shifting money to offshore tax havens.

The “huge, secretive offshore industry has truly become the dark side of globalization,” the report concludes. It urges renewed efforts by developed countries to gain a handle on the problem.

The Obama administration has been putting pressure on governments like Switzerland to cooperate with the IRS in recovering money held by tax cheats offshore. Credit Suisse ahs settled a lawsuit from the government regarding its complicity in allowing depositors avoid U.S. taxes. The Treasury Dept. has collected several billion dollars in money from Swiss banks thus far, but it is just the tip of the iceberg.

This report is going to fuel new pressure on Mitt Romney to release tax returns so voters can determine how much he has in offshore accounts and whether those accounts allowed him, legally or illegally, to avoid taxes.

There is one standard for a businessman to keep money in offshore accounts, but there is another standard for someone who wants to be President of the U.S. Clearly, these offshore accounts are hurting our economy. A President who keeps his money in offshore accounts raises serious questions.

The bigger issue, however, is how our tax policy facilitates or encourages this tax evasion. We have a huge national debt and we need tax dollars to invest in infrastructure, education, and other priorities. $280 billion a year would go a long way towards helping our economic recovery.

Republicans have killed Democratic bills that would take away tax breaks for companies to move offshore.

The Romney campaign wants to pivot away from discussion of his offshore accounts but don’t expect that to happen any time soon.

Source: Offshore Accounts

Offshore Accounts

The USA has long thrown around figures of “losses” of tax revenues due to Offshore Accounts and while I do not doubt there are some abusers, the reality is, offshore accounts and offshore banking are completely legal in all free nations for those who are in compliance with their local tax laws. Further the USA and other OECD nations like to claim that Offshore Accounts are used for money laundering, when the reality is more money is laundered through New York financial institutions than has ever been in Offshore Accounts.

The rhetoric has always been about control and control is gained by instilling fear through misinformation and propaganda.

What are your thoughts on Offshore Accounts? We welcome your comments below

Insisting that no lessons have been drawn from the crisis of 2008, despite the fact that the stakes are high, the Communist rapporteur of the inquiry committee said that he had been “surprised” by the extent of the phenomenon.

The senator explained that losses to the treasury are estimated at between EUR40bn (USD48,644) and EUR50bn every year, and that at European level the figure is considered to be around EUR1 trillion, five times the European Union (EU) budget.

While acknowledging that measures aimed at combating tax evasion already exist, Bocquet lamented the fact that these are currently “totally disorganized”.

The cornerstone of the fight against tax evasion must be the setting up of a high commission to protect public financial interests, to coordinate and steer the various bodies that currently exist and to lead a “really efficient” policy.

Bocquet underscored the need for politicians to regain political power to combat tax evasion in the general public interest.

Senators have therefore proposed that a statistical tool be implemented and that large companies in France be required to provide detailed accounting in each country, indeed for each project, noting in the interests of transparency what they pay for, how much and to whom.

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Source:Tax-News.com.

Antigua’s Finance and Economy Minister Harold Lovell announced on Tuesday (February 14), that the Baldwin Spencer-led administration is considering taking the dispute back to the WTO due to the US’ failure to comply with the judgment.

“In the coming days, the government will be consulting with appropriate officials and legal counsel to determine the best way forward for our people and industry,” the minister said.

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[1] Click on link to view The Wall Street Journal article mentioned above: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204468004577168972507188592.html?fb_ref=wsj_share_FB&fb_source=home_multiline

Negotiations in the case have reached a critical stage, with an indictment possible though the bank is seeking a deferred prosecution agreement, which would be less damaging. The outcome depends on how prosecutors, the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Treasury Department agree to treat the matter, the sources said.

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Ah, the holidays. If you’re a poker player, the Justice Department has given you a pretty nifty gift in the way of this little-noticed legal memorandum made public Friday.

In a nutshell, the department’s Office of Legal Counsel has determined that the Federal Wire Act, the 1961 law that had been interpreted to outlaw all forms of gambling across state lines, actually only applies to “a sporting event or contest.”

Well, what does this mean? It means that Internet poker isn’t barred by any federal statute.

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Act, a separate statue, allows federal authorities to prosecute people who knowingly accept most forms of payment in connection with unlawful Internet gambling. But the key word is “unlawful.”

Washington, D.C., and now Nevada allow Internet gambling within their borders, for example, and other states are considering legalizing it. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. A poker player in D.C. couldn’t automatically place bets in Nevada unless the two states had some sort of agreement or reciprocity clause in their their laws.

But you can bet the Justice Department’s new position will hasten other legislatures considering Internet poker laws to act. And what about Congress, which is considering Internet gambling legislation? Could the Justice Department’s new position create an alliance between the anti-gambling set and the pro-poker set? Who knows!

Now, back to the OLC opinion, which was signed in September but only made public on Friday. Previously, the Wire Act was thought to capture any and all interstate gambling. The opinion by the OLC says that reading of the law stemmed from an error of syntax.

Read more…

According to Nashville NewsChannel5, the TSA personnel will be divided into “viper” teams. Personally, I think it’s a rather fitting name.

Also – and this is just conjecture – I think it’s easier to convince the prototypical goon to actively violate people’s Constitutional rights when the team they’re on sounds cool.

“Where is a terrorist more apt to be found? Not these days on an airplane – more likely on the interstate,” claimed Tennessee Department of Safety & Homeland Security Commissioner Bill Gibbons.

On Tuesday, Tennessee was more than happy to deploy VIPR at five weigh stations and two bus stations across the state. Hell, they’re even asking truck drivers to keep an eye out for terrorists or strange behavior by joining the First Observer Highway Security Program. Because why not, right?
The whole operation is geared toward getting drivers to call the authorities if they see something “suspicious.”

Read More….

Giving a glimmer of hope to the potential revival of significant online poker operations in the United States, a House of Representatives subcommittee is set to hold a hearing next week regarding the legalization and regulation of the online gambling industry, including poker, in the U. S.

The hearing will take place in front of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade, a sub-panel of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, on Tuesday of next week. This particular subcommittee focuses on interstate and foreign commerce, consumer affairs and consumer protection, all areas that covers potential online poker legislation. A member of the committee is Texas representative Joe Barton, who has proposed HR 2366 – titled the “Internet Gambling Prohibition, Poker Consumer Protection, and Strengthening UIGEA Act of 2011” – and considers the hearing a significant step towards enacting such regulation.

“I am pleased that Chairman (Mary) Bono-Mack is holding a hearing on the important issue of Internet gaming,” said Representative Barton to The Hill following the announcement of the hearing. “It’s a first step to showing why the current law is a lose/lose for everyone – the public, the taxpayer, the banking industry, and the people who want to play poker openly and honestly on the Internet. I look forward to an open exchange of ideas.”

The hearing isn’t necessarily about Representative Barton’s bill but is examining the larger issue of internet gambling as a whole. The theme of the hearing has been titled “Internet Gaming: Is There A Safe Bet?” As Barton’s is the only legislation at this time to be introduced to the House, this does look to be a referendum in the House on the online poker question, however.

Read More…..