On June 4th, Pokerstars CEO Mark Scheinberg signed a consent order of forfeiture of $50 million dollars in a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice. The settlement is a final resolution of the Black Friday case where the U.S. allegedly claimed Scheinberg’s involvement and the CEO refutes said allegations of receiving “PokerStars Distributions,” directly and/or indirectly, from the PokerStars Companies.

The settlement states that Scheinberg agreement to resolve this dispute and forfeits to the United States the sum of $50 million (the “Forfeited Funds”), as full and final resolution of any and all claims by the United States.

The consent order of forfeiture also releases the possibility of admission of wrongdoing, culpability, liability or guilt on behalf of Mark Scheinberg or any of his respective agents or employees past or present.

It was also made clear that Scheinberg’s consent of forfeiture was not a part of the settlement resolved with Pokerstars and the DoJ from July 2012 and that the CEO is barred from making claims against the United States or any of its agents or employees that probable cause was not sufficient in regards to the forfeit the Forfeited Funds.

The Kings Bill

The news of the “King’s Bill” has been getting quite a bit of attention as it proposes to states or Native American tribes the right to opt-out of a federal system and keep their own internal gaming practices plus allowing online lotteries for U.S. states.

The Internet Gambling Regulation, Enforcement and Consumer Protection Act of 2013 claims that “Absent Federal limitations and enforcement, State regulation of Internet gambling, including consumer safeguards, could vary widely from State to State, and States could have difficulty enforcing Internet gambling restrictions within their borders, especially against out-of-State operators.”

In regards to the “King’s Bill” Sen. Harry Reid thinks that the bill that authorizes everything, weakens any chance of a strong online poker bill revival and doubts King’s bill would pass.

“I felt for several months now that I don’t see any movement on this,” Reid said. “I don’t see anything happening.”

Ohio Looks to Online Poker?

Internet cafes ban pending, a decline of over 5% combined from April in land based casinos, a revenue decrease as outlined by the Ohio Casino Control Commission reports revenue from its four casinos reached $72 million for the month of May. This significant decrease from the previous month may result in the state missing its projected gambling revenue for the year by some $350 million.

Ohio’s expected revenue from land-based gambling operations is used to meet budget regulations and with the state’s racetracks are also failing to reach the winner’s circle with regard to annual revenue projections could mean the possibility of poker regulation for the state.

WSOP Up to Date Results

• Jonathan Taylor Wins Event #14: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em ($454,424)
• Tom Schneider Wins Event #15: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. ($258,960)
• Mark Radoja, Winner of Event #16: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em ($331,190)!
• Athanasios Polychronopoulos, Winner of Event #17: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em ($518,755)
• Taylor Paur Wins Event #18: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em ($340,260)
• Davidi Kitai Wins Second Career Bracelet in Event #19: $5,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em ($224,560)

Perspective’s Weekly update for June 3rd has J Todd taking a look at New Jersey’s newest consultant, as the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement hires Mario Galea, former Malta Lotteries and Gaming Authorities, LGA Chairman. Plus industry news from Holland, WSOP and more.

bwin.party is moving ahead in Nevada after its initial plan of focusing solely on New Jersey has broadened. The online gaming company once believed that the primary intent should be with New Jersey with the enacted Internet gaming laws that had been initiated.

However, in recent statements it seems that their intention and go to plan is to now enter both states with licensing in Nevada to operate Internet poker websites with MGM Resorts International and Boyd Gaming Corporation.

Suggestions as to why the company has switched gears is due to the fact of a 17 percent decline in earnings for 2012 and upon projected profits for 2013. bwin.party is hoping to capitalize on the potential that both states have to offer as well as splitting potential online gaming market with Caesars Entertainment Corp which owns four of the 12 casinos in Atlantic City and is planning to launch a World Series of Poker branded website in New Jersey.

In recent news about the World Series of Poker, the opening event attracted a history making number of entrants smashes records with 6,344 entries and $8.56 million prize pool. Events have been underway all week long, last we reported were the conclusion of the first three events.

This week the conclusion of ten events saw,

• John Beauprez Winning Event #4: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em (Six Handed) ($324,764)!
• Event #5 – Mike Gorodinsky Wins Omaha/Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low 8-or-Better ($216,988)!
• Event #6 – Benny Chen, $1,500 “Millionaire Maker” No-Limit Hold’em ($1,198,780)
• Event #7 saw Matt Waxman go heads up against Eric Baldwin in a No-Limit Hold’em that won Waxman is first First Gold Bracelet.
• Winner of Event #8 goes to Michael Malm, $2,500 Eight-Game Mix ($225,104)!
• Event #9 – Won by Cliff Josephy, $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout ($299,486)/
• Event 10 – and the winner is Brent Wheeler, #10: $1,500 Limit Hold’em ($191,605)
• Event #11 – Levi Berger, Winner of the $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em Six Handed (473,019)!
• Event #12 Lev Rofman Wins Event #12: $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em ($166,136)
• Event #13 Proved lucky for poker veteran Mike Matusow, Wins 4th WSOP Bracelet & $266,503 First-Place Prize in Event #13: $5,000 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low

And to round out this edition of the Dirty Stack recap we catch up with J Todd as he discusses the new consultant hired by the state of New Jersey to help with regulations for their online gambling business. Plus find out who blame for the failure of federal online gambling legislation in the U.S.?

Aristocrat Approved

Through a unanimous vote and upon recommendation by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, Aristocrat Technologies received its interactive Gaming License to provide online poker tech services to Nevada-licensed interactive operators.

Through the nLive virtual casino solution, a service of operators of B2B solutions in social gaming, wager-ready online gaming, managed services and online poker, they will now extend their brand beyond the limitations of the brick-and-mortar casino and into the online space.

Louisiana Gambling Bill

Moving over to Louisiana, Mike Huval’s proposed legislation of  online poker has been approved by the Louisiana House of Representatives and is now awaiting the attention of the state Senate.

The bill for now will be o hold as input from the Louisiana Senate’s Judiciary Committee is awaited. Upon Judiciary Committee approval, the next stop for the bill will be the Criminal Justice Administrations Committee collaborating with the Judiciary B Committee “to study the feasibility and practicality of authorizing internet gaming in Louisiana”.

Tribes, California and Poker

The Indian Country Online: 2013 Congress opened up on June 3rd at Pechanga Resort and Casino here in Temecula, California. The tribal conference was held over two days with discussions centered on issues pertaining to tribal interests in the legalization of online poker.

The conference, themed, “No Tribe Left Behind,”  took a comprehensive look at the next wave of business opportunities that technology, e-commerce, and iGaming will create for the tribes and entrepreneurs of Indian Country.

For the most part during the conference tribes were split with some wanting an intrastate model that will keep the nation’s most populous state from forming compacts with other states. Other tribes believe that a federal scheme may prove more worthwhile in the long run.

American Gaming Association

The American Gaming Association (AGA) represents the commercial casino industry and they want a few good senators from outside of Nevada to join onto legislation to legalize online poker.

After losing Former Sen. Jon Kyl to retirement last year, Kyl is a huge supporter of online poker, Frank Fahrenkopf, president and CEO of the American Gaming Association says “It just makes sense that this important legislation has bipartisan support.”

Since Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey all have legalized forms of online gambling, legislators in states like California and Texas, are considering bills this year to do the same.

The American Gaming Association strongly supports a

“federal online poker-only bill,” according to Fahrenkopf, and plans to review King’s legislation when it’s introduced. “If it is more than online poker, we would take it to our board and let our board make a decision on whether to support it or not,” Fahrenkopf said.

Online Casinos Closures

An investigation that involved over 150 investigators from the Dutch Prosecuting Authority, the gaming authority KSA and the tax authority lead charge in a raid against a group of individuals centered around drug trafficking, money laundering and illegal gambling charges.

Seven online casinos were shut down, bank accounts and assets were seized following raids at Bubble Group BV premises in Eindhoven. Two brothers, Maurice and Michel Gregoire along with Stijn Flapper, part owners online payments company Teletick BV, are alleged to have involved with dealing drugs and operating seven online gambling sites.

The casino involved are AmsterdamsCasino, AmsterdamsPoker, JackpotRed, TripleGold, Golden10Casino, Tanzoo and FruitLuck.

Its been reported that the Alderney Gambling Control Commission has launched a special investigation into one of its licensees, online casino games developer Sheriff Gaming. Sheriff Gaming has been under a watchful eye following allegations that certain individuals connected to Sheriff’s parent company Bubble Group NV may have been involved.

Sheriff Gaming has issued the following statement in response to this recent series of events.

“Until now the justice department has not given any inside information on the evidence on which the allegations in the press are based. Therefore it is still uncertain whether there are any (direct) links between the allegations and Sheriff Gaming/Bubble Group. We have requested the justice department to provide more information regarding the position of Sheriff Gaming/Bubble Group. We are confident that Sheriff Gaming/Bubble Group will soon be fully discharged of all possible accusations.”

Unregulated Gambling Enterprises

In other news, Liberty Reserve has US authorities accusing the Costa Rica-based digital currency purveyors of laundering more than $6bn (£4bn) in criminal cash. The DOJ has called Liberty Reserve the “largest international money-laundering prosecution in history”, accuses the group of acting as “the bank of choice for the criminal underworld.”

Allegations include seven people involved in running the operation set up the digital cash service as a “criminal business venture” designed specifically to “help criminals conduct illegal transactions and launder the proceeds of their crimes” that include credit card fraud, identity theft, investment fraud, computer hacking, child pornography, narcotics trafficking and “unregulated gambling enterprises.”

The DOJ has said that 45 bank accounts used by Liberty Reserve have been seized and action has been taken to take over the assets of 35 other sites that fed funds to Liberty Reserve for laundering.

Illegal Gambling Proceeds

In South Florida, four individuals were arrested in a federal gambling and money laundering investigation as U.S. Attorney Richard S. Hartunian brought charges against Philip Gurian, Michele Lasso, Jay Goldman, and Alan Gould. Gurian and Lasso were charged with conspiracy to launder money while Goldman and Gould were charged with transmission of wagering information.

Authorities report the group ran an Internet sports betting operation, Gurian has been said to give illegal gambling proceeds to owners of gambling websites, amassed about $150,000 per day from October through December 2012. Lasso helped Gurian move gambling money between the United States and Panama where Lasso owns beauty salons.

Authorities intercepted phone conversations between the two she allegedly agreed to wire $4 million to a bank in Panama. Gurian and Lasso could face up to 20 years in prison.

Sportsbetting Monopoly

According to a report from the Reuters news service, Stanleybet has accused Greece of rejecting a request it filed in 2004 to offer sports-betting in Greece and now intends to seek damages for lost revenues amounting to approximately €240 million ($311.5 million). The lawsuit stems from a long-running legal battle over the monopoly of gaming firm OPAP.

“The Greek authorities seem resolved to maintain an illegal framework benefiting a company that is not 99 percent private,” Stanleybet’s Chief Operating Officer John Whittaker said in a statement. “With this action (Stanleybet) is legitimately stating its intention to claim its legal rights to be compensated.”

Closing this weeks recap, we turn to the APCW and J Todd as they bring you news on “Regulators in New Jersey roll out the first draft of online gambling rules, while The Netherlands plans to end their stats-run gambling monopoly by 2015.”

Until next week, “Play Smart from the Start” and remember to read the terms and conditions as they DO apply!

This week on “The Dirty Stack” were taking a look at the biggest news in online poker right now, the 2013 WSOP 44th Annual Event. The 62 bracelet event kicked off this past week and the winner of Event #1, ($500 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold’em ($84,915)was Poker News regular staff writer Chad Holloway. The Reedsburg Wisc player beat out a total of 898 other players to emerge the winner, taking home a total of $84,915. This is Holloway’s second biggest win, with his first win ($3,719) coming from the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em event at the WSOP in 2012.

Next up, WSOPs second event brought a win for Trevor Pope, Pope won the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Eight Handed Event with prizes totaling $553,906. Another Wisconsin native, Pope eliminated six of his seven competitors at the final table to win first WSOP bracelet.

Event #3 was one that watched players exit as fast as they came in as Charles Sylvestre played an aggressive AJ against Seth Berger to finally capture the bracelet in the $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Event winning a total of$491,360.

The weekend is still full of ongoing tournaments and we will be here to update you with a recap of each event as it happens, so stay tuned.

In other WSOP news, the Las Vegas Review reported on the glitch that caused quite the stir this past week as players were able to access the real money poker client and participated in a live game.

Caesars Interactive Entertainment, operators of  the World Series of Poker, immediately informed gaming regulators of the error, Seth Palansky, a spokesman for Caesar’s Interactive said, we were able to “immediately detected it and stopped the activity and closed our system to prevent further activity.”

Gaming Control Board Chairman A.G. Burnett said Caesars officials reported the incident quickly after it was discovered. “They addressed it immediately, and we are working with them to see how the mistake was made,” Burnett said. “They notified me right when it happened.”

Caesars hopes to launch the Nevada-based pay-to-play website during the World Series of Poker, currently Caesars is awaiting final approval from Nevada gaming regulators before the official launch takes place.

If you haven’t heard of the Mega Fortune™ online slot from Net Entertainment then the news that in recent history it has made players into millionaires will be very intriguing to say the least.

The way Mega Fortune™ is a part of Net Entertainment’s jackpot network, where the liquidity from players from many of the largest European online casinos are pooled. Net Entertainment’s progressive jackpot portfolio consists of Arabian Nights™, Mega Fortune™ and Halls of Gods™ video slots.

A month ago today, we reported that the fourth million euro win in recent years for Hall of Gods™ was paid out on April 20th in the amount of 6.7 MEUR to lucky Swedish winner from the town of Norrköping.

This month the Mega Fortune™, paid out an astonishing 5.3 MEUR jackpot over the Bank Holiday weekend making it the fourth biggest in Net Entertainment’s history with the World Record jackpot of 17.8 MEUR in January 2013 remaining the largest to date.

Per Eriksson, President and CEO of Net Entertainment shared his comments on the latest win,

“We are very happy to congratulate the lucky Mega Fortune jackpot winner and BetVictor for this life-changing win. The high liquidity that Net Entertainment’s progressive slots offer helps drive player acquisition for operators through the ability to quickly build up jackpots. We look forward to making many more players millionaires in the future.”

Mega Fortune™, Net Entertainment’s glitzy 5-reel, 25-bet line video slot features a free spin bonus with up to a x5 multiplier on wins, includes the largest online progressive jackpot in addition to the pooled Mega Jackpot with an expected value of €4,000,000 the game also features two local jackpots.

Players can enjoy the thrill and excitement of Mega Fortune™ online at any one of the following approved online casinos, Mr Green, Tropezia Palace and Vera John!

Twenty seven days in and Nevada’s first online poker site, Ultimate Poker is still going strong. But as the first legal online poker room to allow gambling in the state, great demands and all eyes are on you as to how well you can uphold to the pressures.

Ultimate Poker’s every move is under a watchful eye. Reports broke and headlines were made when the online poker room dealt its millionth hand. And now there are just a few days left days before Ultimate Poker’s 30-day trial ends and it will go before a review of the Gaming Control Board.

Caesars Interactive (World Series of Poker), partnering with 888 Holdings, is hoping to be second in the opening of Nevada’s next legal poker site. A Spokesman for Caesars Interactive, Seth Palansky spoke with Reuters confirming that they are preparing to go live with online sites in the United States as early as summertime this year.

On May 29th, the World Series of Poker will kick off and Caesars may use WSOP’s popularity and exposure to launch its online service, much like Ultimate Poker, will only be available to players in the state of Nevada.

Shares of Caesars Entertainment have been on an upward climb, jumping 122% to lead the gaming industry. The stock has easily surpassed its closes competitor MGM Resorts, and is outperforming Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts both who have a lot of exposure to Macau.

It looks like Caesars is off to a good start and with Ultimate Poker leading the way by example, we can expect to see additional casino companies follow suite. As it stand as of right now MGM Resorts International has received their online gaming license since the state legislature adopted regulations in 2011.

Other casino companies licensed by the state for online gaming include, South Point, Golden Nugget Poker, partnering with Bally Technologies, Treasure Island, partnering with 888 Holdings, American Casinos and Entertainment Properties Interactive, Arizona Charlie’s, Sartini Synergy Online and Monarch Interactive.

As I sat watching UFC 160 with friends last night I felt proud to be a poker enthusiast, fan and player as Antonio Esfandiari stood on a PPV and spoke freely about online gambling and the legalisation of online poker.

As a representative for Ultimate Poker owned by the UFC and a division of the Ultimate Gaming company, Esfandiari proved to be a good face for the online poker room speaking intelligently and candidly on the success thus far of Nevada’s first legal online poker site.

After all, the headlines read on a daily basis, “Its Not a Question of if Online Poker Will Be in Your State, It’s When!” States like New Jersey and Nevada are at the forefront of these headlines in their charge to projecting just what type of budget they can prepare for. For example Governor Chris Christie is projecting a $180 million tax take from gambling.

Its also been reported the that “troublesome twelve” casinos in Atlantic City reported a first quarter profit of $41.4m in 2013 thus far, I’m sure PokerStars would argue part of that profit was due to its $11 million investment into the failed partnership deal with the Atlantic Club Casino; who posted a Q1 operating loss and still was $5m in the red.

Despite some setbacks New Jersey continues to move forward, this week hiring Mario Galea, former head of Malta’s Lotteries and Gaming Authority, as the state’s official consultant on online gambling regulations. Galea will assist in the implementing of any proposed regulations governing online gambling activities.

Earlier this week New Jersey announced plans to publish a draft of proposed Internet gambling regulations in the New Jersey Register on June 3. Some analysts believe this will give the state the upper hand getting more players down the shore and more importantly logging online as they push to offer online bets by the end of the year.

New Jersey definitely seems to be heading in the right direction with its plans of legislation of online gambling, even having the lead over Nevada, who only offers poker. New Jersey will have the advantage in online gambling, offering all the games currently in its 12 casinos.

John Kempf, managing director of RBC Capital Markets, estimated Internet gambling could be a $500-million-to-$600-million-a-year market for New Jersey.

As far as PokerStars, I don’t believe they are out of the equation, with an overwhelming 54% share in the global online poker market, you can expect something to happen soon.

There are several “rules of engagement” in Galaxy Gaming’s guiding principles that seem to conflict with a recent ruling made against the companies CEO Robert Saucier.

Administrative Law Judge Catherine Frink made no bones about her ruling deeming the CEO as “evasive and, in some instances, intentionally dishonest.”

The Las Vegas manufacturer of casino table games, was denied the right to doing business in California due to a lengthy and ongoing investigation calling into question several unsavory business practices that could have an unfavorable outcome of the companies Nevada gaming license.

Saucier is under scrutiny for misleading and misrepresentation of information regarding business ventures, signing unapproved licensing deals with California tribal casinos, lawsuits and even information that may have been false about his own personal past.

In 2002 Saucer applied for a gaming license with Tule River Tribe Gaming Commission, at that time the Commission began an investigation with the help of the Bureau of Gaming Control. The investigation uncovered that Saucier did not give full disclosure of very pertinent facts and what could be harmful business ventures that are very relevant to approval by the state of California.

According to the 2002 report Saucier list of information that was never disclosed included:

• Failure to mention an order to pay a $1.5 million judgment to Sherron Associates, a creditor in a hotel-casino project.
• Failed to reveal gambling taxes owed to City of Spokane in WA State by his Mars Hotel and Casino, a hotel that eventually failed.
• Misrepresented his past drunk driving conviction stating it was dismissed
• Failed to list a valid address. He filed his personal federal income tax returns in Washington, listed a condominium in Mexico as his home and had a license for a home-based business in Las Vegas.
• Failed to disclose multiple businesses: Galaxy Gaming of Nevada, LLC; Galaxy Gaming of Oregon, LLC; Bonus Blackjack, LLC; Intergalactic; and others.
• Failed to mention gaming licenses from other states, including Washington and Nevada.
• Did not reveal that he pays child support.
• Did not disclose his involvement in past lawsuits. For instance, he sued the Mars Hotel for $1.6 million in 1998. “In essence, he sued himself and received a default judgment,” Frink wrote.
• Failed to mention a foreclosed house and two personal credit card bills that were sent to collections.
• Had no Nevada business license, as required, from 2001 to 2004. He blamed the missing license on an “oversight by staff.”
• Claimed to have graduated from UNR, but he did not.

“In a highly regulated industry such as gaming, the failure to be forthcoming with relevant information was inexcusable,” commented Frink.

Saucier’s case was assigned to the Attorney General’s Office in 2007 for prosecution and is still pending further investigation. Mired in lawsuits and controversy, it still seems as though that Saucier may not have to answer to his past when it comes to his Nevada.

Apparently different states in the US have vastly different laws and regulatory standards. Nevada’s Gaming Control Board chairman, Burnett stated,

“Other states sometimes have vastly different laws and regulatory standards than we do.”  “There are cases when a ‘denial’ doesn’t mean the same thing as it does in Nevada. For example, in some states in the Midwest, there have been denial proceedings but they’re for various transactions and don’t necessarily relate to the integrity or the suitability of the company itself.”

May 10th was a historical day for Jason A. from New Zealand as he became a Mega Moolah Millionaire winning nz$1,062,335 on his mobile phone!

Yup you heard it right, Jason A., is the latest Mega Moolah Millionaire and he won big time playing at Royal Vegas Mobile cashing in on a 1,200 free New Player Welcome Bonus.

More details on Jason’s big win still to come so stay tuned!

Next up is Jörg T, another Royal Vegas winner, however this time the lucky player won playing Break da Bank Again, the feature slot that help to deliver €125,000 to Jörg just this week!

Joining both these lucky gentlemen are Robert R.’s win of AU$12,266.54 playing Gypsy Queen, Sebastian S.’s win of €8,204.26 playing Premier Roulette, and Mardi Gras Fever paid out AU$6,156.04 to Robert R. making him a two time winner at 32Red online casino!

In other casino news, the following lucky slots players can tout a bit about their wins, M.C. won over half a million dollars during multiple sittings at Casino Kingdom on Atlantic City Blackjack Gold, proving that with a bit of gaming know how, you can swing the odds in your favour. Plus, P.R. won €40,518 on Cash Splash 5 Reel at sister site Golden Tiger Casino.

But the best win so far this month that really got us all straight to the heart was the great win from M.W. who hit one of the Mega Moolah progressive jackpots.

After suffering the loss of one of my dogs earlier in the week I decided to cheer myself up a bit and have a go at a few slots, I used a match bonus offer and made a small deposit. I had a good initial run playing Mark of Medusa but decided to go to one of my favourite games, Mega Moolah. I was playing for about half an hour when I got the bonus ‘spin the wheel’ feature. I have had this before and the most I have won is $100. I spun the wheel expecting a possible small payout only to see it fall on the second biggest prize of close to $30,000! I was numb at first and couldn’t believe it. I had to double check and emailed support straight away. They replied very quickly and yes I had won the jackpot. I received payment today into my account and I am very happy with the outcome. I am not a big gambler – I don’t bet large amounts but enjoy a few spins on the slots from time to time. I also always play on Golden Reef Casino and have for a few years now. Payouts are very fair and I enjoy the free bonus points I get sent from time to time, so Thanks so Much Golden reef, you made my week!

M.W. won $30,000 playing Mega Moolah at Golden Reef Casino and we couldn’t be more happier for him!

Congrats to all this month’s winners so far and here’s to more players winning more often, CHEERS!