Do you think all Republicans support U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist in the question of banning Internet gambling? Jim Kasper, North Dakota State Rep., does not, and calls the proposal ridiculous. He tells: “The people of our nation want to do what they want to do in the privacy of their living rooms… People don’t want the Internet police in their living rooms”.

What Jim Kasper plans is to introduce bills that will make Internet gambling legal in North Dakota. It means that online casinos will bring their software, hardware and employees to the region. In Accordance with Kasper’s proposal age-verification protection will be provided by software mandates, and casino operators will pay taxes used to reduce property taxes – taxes on gross revenues.

This is actually the second time for Kasper to pass the bill. But in any case he is not going to give up.

Which cities come to you mind when talking, thinking of gambling? Chester in Delaware County and Bensalem in Bucks County are naturally not the ones. But they are sure that the situation will change as soon as the slots start spinning.

What are your associations with Chester? An industrial city? But that is not all. There is a new racing facility, the first one to open in Pennsylvania. Vince Donlevie, the general manager of Harrah’s Chester (the name of the casino race track), says that they will try to achieve their goal by opening the slot casino in January. It means that more than 2,700 slots will spin, and more money will come rolling in. It also means that more than 900 people will find their work there.

If to speak about Bensalem, they hope horses will revive their economy. More than 700 people will be employed for the track and casino. Greenwood Gaming is currently busy with building a slots parlor. As Dave Jonas, Greenwood’s president, says, their service should be perfect and should make Philadelphia Park casino an extremely attractive place. “We really want to make each person to feel like they are the only people on the property. The focus on the customer is how we think we can differentiate ourselves,” explains Dave.

As estimated, it is a $300- million project where you’ll be able to find a hotel, spa restaurant and a new casino.

The world’s economy, politics are not the only ones that seem to have changed. Gambling has changed as well. How would an artist picture gambling dozens of years ago? That would be wiry hounds in action. What can be seen now, is slot machines.

What is going on in the nation? There are a lot of debates concerning the rapid growth of the number of casinos and their huge impact on gambling addiction. At the same time slot machines may be brought to nine sites in Ohio in case they are endorsed. This may cause, as some studies suggest, an increase in gambling addiction, especially in the areas being close to casinos.

The researchers consider gambling addiction to be not only a personal financial problem, but a national health issue as well. It may be compared with drug or alcohol addiction, as it equally affects addicts’ families, jobs, health. Heather Chapman, a nationally certified gambling counselor in the Cleveland area says that “people become so involved with it; they lose themselves and lose being responsible in their lives”. Heather adds that “It has a higher degree of suicide than any other addiction, and the degree of financial devastation is so much greater than any other addiction or any other mental health issue”.

What is more dangerous: less quick forms of wagering or slot machines? It is difficult to say. But the thing to be noticed is that slot machines are more accessible what makes them totally insidious. You drop in a coin. As a result you may receive a small payout or near win. It cannot but reinforce the game.

The plan is offered by the South Korean government and is one of the latest moves to stop gambling in the nation. About 200,000 students and 600 schools all over the country will get educational materials on the subject of healthy Internet use. Besides, professional counselors will visit schools. Their aim is to assess the student’s addiction, and the students being in the danger of getting addicted will get counseling six times a year. To say more, 20 schools, that is approximately 17,000 students, have adopted a “no-internet day” on which students won’t be allowed to use Internet for their entertainment and recreation.

A collaboration of several ministries such as the ministries of Information and Communication, Education and Human Resources, Culture and Tourism and the Youth Protection Committee, is expected to take place. They intend to implement and promote a number of activities that will provide an alternative to the use of Internet for the sake of recreation.

Las Vegas is not the place where morality is the topic to be openly discussed. People, moralists to be called, who considered gambling to be a sin, used to be the gambling industry’s enemy 1. Nowadays they have different targets, such as stem cells, gay marriages, etc. Nevertheless, people feeling bad about gambling don’t live in Las Vegas, as here gambling is everywhere: at the cinema, at the grocery store, practically at any place you may go to. Either you or people surrounding you in Las Vegas are the ones involved in risking money playing games: tourists, hobbyists, professionals, etc. There is one more category of gamblers – people with life-destroying problems who often destroy not only their lives, but the lives of their families.

The companies investing millions and millions of dollars to build, market and operate the Strip resorts are afraid of changes as still an impact of gambling moral and legal history is felt there. Resorts involved in that business are often said to be merciless in politics and gaudy in charity because of the hall’s shadowy legacy. They try to be aware of everything that might influence them and that even often means coming down hard on opponents.

Coming back to gambling addicts, it is necessary to say that all casinos have some programs to help them, like “sign up to not be mailed flyers, to get yourself banned from the casino or to be contacted by a support group”. But no plan to get your money back is offered by the casinos.

Not only the society is anxious about addicts, the gambling industry has some fears as well. And they are not only connected with social pressure and lawsuits. One more fear is connected with the bill offered by Bill Kearney, a Philadelphia mortgage broker. The idea is centered upon casino customers to be sent somewhat like a credit card bill or 401K statement that would let you know how much money you lost and won. Casinos consider this idea to be extremely expensive and unjustified. Experts are confused and their opinions are mixed. But still it is true that there is some sound sense in this offer.

After his trip to Johannesburg, South Africa, a well-known TV commentator and a senior employee in the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Sackey Namugongo, was arrested at Windhoek International Airport. He was criminated with fraud-related charges, i.e. production and issuing of fake gambling licenses.

The Director of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Paulus Noa, claims that Namugango was suspected in issuing unauthorized gambling licenses and “…it could be that he is not the only one involved”. Noa explained that Namugango had made a few copies of one and the same document and issued licenses under the same number. This was in practice for quite a long time. So, Noa appealed to the people who had received the gambling licenses to help in this case with related information.

The thing is that earlier this year a moratorium on licenses was lifted. No new licenses have been issued since 1996. At that time Cabinet established a Commission of Inquiry investigating the impact of gambling on society and the ease with which gambling licenses were being issued.

As it is claimed, licenses were sold at the price of $100,000 each. So, illegal gambling has received a wide spread, and to say more, only those who wished to run a gambling house needed a license.

As they say, there is a chance to improve the state’s transportation system in Virginia by a subsidiary of millions of dollars. The source of money is believed to be a pari-mutuel game, called “Instant Racing” that people would be able to play at Colonial Downs and nine off-track betting parlors located around the state. The game is believed to raise as much as from $660 million to $934 million dollars. This money will definitely help to deal with all the transportation problems. To say more, the game has already been adopted in Arkansas.

People are sure that there will be some amendment in the pari-mutuel game to allow the game to be played. The game is to be played on machines resembling ATMs. The players will be featured races of the past years. Moreover, records of horses, jockeys and trainers will be available for them. The only thing that is supposed to be left behind the players’ knowledge is when and where the race took place.

Actually, the bill has already been introduced in the House by Del. Phillip A. Hamilton, R-Newport News. The same bill has been introduced in the Senate by Sen. Thomas K. Norment, R-James City. The implementers are sure to face long odds in the legislature. Here’s what Hamilton worries about: “I haven’t started working the bill. There’s a little bit of concern from horse breeders. They would receive only 2 percent of the profits and Colonial Downs would take away 49 percent. So far, the House and Senate have not even gotten out of the gate, much less finished the race to raise substantial new cash for transportation”.

What has already been proposed by the governor and the Senate is increasing some taxes and fees to deal with the transportation problems, but the House has declined the offer. The other proposal deals with the punishment of reckless drivers causing serious accidents and resulting in delays on highways, tunnels and bridges. Besides fines and possible jail time, these drivers shall get a fee not exceeding $10,000. The fee will go to Virginia’s Transportation Find, and will be used for road building and transportation.

If you are a Bluff Magazine reader or a poker fan, you can take part in Bluff Magazine’s Annual Readers Choice Awards by visiting either www.bluffmagazine.com or www.bluffmagazine.com/readersChoice/ . Online voting began in the 12th of January and will last up to the 20th of October. The 2006 Bluff Reader’s Choice Awards voting includes the following categories: Most Entertaining Player to Watch, Best All-Around Online Poker Room, Best Online Customer Service, Best Live Poker Tournaments and Best Poker Commentary. The results of the voting will be revealed to the public on the 20th of December in Bluff Magazine’s World Series of Poker preview issue. Five random voters will get an IPod Nano.

So, the readers of the Bluff Magazine are again given a chance to influence and shape the future of poker. “…the Bluff Magazine awards will be a true testament to the companies who receive various accolades,” said Eric Morris, Co-President of Bluff Magazine.

According to some opinion, Macau – the only territory in China that allows casino gambling – soon will compete with the world’s gaming capital – Las Vegas. In 1999 former Portuguese enclave Macau returned to Chinese rule. Stanley Ho held the monopoly in the gambling industry in Macau for 40 years, but in 2002 the government began to invite competition from Las Vegas. So, Ho’s monopoly was over.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. and Las Vegas Sands Corp were the two companies allowed to run their gambling business in Macau. The launch of Sands Macau in 2004 was very successful and attracted lots of visitors. Last year the income Macau got could be compared with the $5.3 billion earned on Las Vegas strip.

Stephen Wynn, an American billionaire, opened a $1 billion hotel casino in Macau on Wednesday. As Wynn believes, his amazing, lavish, trendsetting crescent-shaped complex will attract huge masses of people ready to wager their money. Still, some of Wynn’s critics doubt it.

To attract lots of visitors to Macau, casino owners should not concentrate only on gambling. The entertainment should include places to shop, to see shows, fancy restaurants as well. Only then Macau will be transformed into an Asian Las Vegas.

Looking for a long time for decent legal work at home jobs, three housewives – Jennifer 26, Kandice 29, and Nikki 28 (out of Toledo) – have finally found them. They are online poker affiliates.

They never had an idea of becoming ones until they learnt about affiliating through Jennifer’s husband, Eric by name, who is also an online poker affiliate, owning the website www.pokerbonusworld.com .

“It really never crossed my mind to become an affiliate for poker rooms because I’m a woman, I’ve always thought of my husbands business as something only men do” – says Jennifer. It used to be so at the time when poker only appeared, but many women have already proved that poker is not only for men. Females can also make money in this business. And there is lot of things to do.

Affiliating for poker rooms is a financially promising thing to do. There are more than 600 poker rooms to affiliate for, and most of them offer $65 – $150 to their affiliates for every poker player who signs up and makes a cash deposit. E.g., in 2005 Partypoker.com paid out over 75 million dollars to their marketing partners with their top paid affiliate generating close to 1 million dollars. Doesn’t it sound rewarding?

There are many ways to become a successful affiliate for online poker rooms: to own a website dedicated to online poker, banners, online and offline campaigns. Besides, a lot of poker rooms offer free promotional flyers and software CDs that you as an affiliate can place on counters in stores.

At the moment Jennifer, Kandice and Nikki are busy with designing a website for women who are interested in this type of work. And there is a web page that you can visit at www.largestwebsiteever.com . Obviously their goal is to teach women “how to affiliate for online poker rooms instead of wasting their time sinking money into get rich quick schemes”.

The women have already proved to be a success by having earned in the past month over $3000. Jennifer explains their success: “We go to local poker games and pass out software CDs to the players, I’m pretty sure that’s where we get most of our sign ups, but we also distribute flyers to privately owned mini-mart stores, it’s working out very well so far and we are very pleased”.