Gambling Blog

New Jersey on the Verge of Legal Online Gambling

Garden State lawmakers have long toyed with the idea of legalizing and regulating online gambling within the state of New Jersey. Back in 2011 the state legislative machine churned out a legal initiative which would have turned New Jersey into the first US state to legalize and regulate online gambling. Both the state Assembly and the Senate passed Sen. Raymond Lesniak’s bill, but the whole effort ran ashore when Governor Chris Christie refused to sign it into law. It should be noted that the bill vetoed by Christie was passed with a large bipartisan majority.

These days, the game seems to be on again. Lesniak is at it again. The ill-fated 2011 Bill was taken and amended into an entirely different type of animal, or so lawmakers on both sides of the political spectrum believe. The said bill is therefore yet again on Christie’s desk, awaiting his signature.

What exactly has changed besides the amended bill of course, since 2011? According to Lesniak and many of the other lawmakers supporting the new initiative, quite a lot. While the proposed bill was passed through an eerily similar bipartisan effort yet again, that is pretty much where the similarities stop. The economic circumstances are indeed radically different. Ravaged by hurricane Sandy, the economy of the Garden State is pretty much in shambles. It would be a mistake to fault Mother Nature solely for the current state of affairs though. New Jersey’s problems are much deeper and further reaching. The state, which viewed Atlantic City and its gambling-related revenues as a major economic engine for years, has been bleeding customers to neighboring states for quite a while now. With many of the other US states pondering laws and regulations in regards to online poker and online gambling, the pressure has gradually mounted and many Atlantic City businesses have been pushed to the brink of extinction.

Lesniak and his ilk obviously view online gambling and poker as potential lifesavers for the state’s besieged gambling economy. Furthermore, according to some of the rumors, the world’s largest online poker operation, PokerStars, may be looking to set up shop in Atlantic City by purchasing a land-based gambling operation there, a move which would not only bail out a single business, but may potentially end up turning New Jersey into the new focal point of the US online poker industry.

With the New Year more than a week old, and with Christie still not showing any signs of willingness to tackle the issue, some of the lawmakers behind the initiative are growing restless. Jim Whelan, Raymond Lesniak and Stephan Sweeney have apparently already written to the governor urging action on his part.

It now looks like the fate of legal online gambling and online poker in one of the United States’ most gambling oriented states rests in the hands of one Republican governor who has taken a rather anti-legalization stance in the past. Whether or not the circumstances are dire enough to convince Christie to finally pick up his pen and lift the shackles off the online gambling industry, remains to be seen. One thing is certain though: New Jersey lawmakers sure do have their minds set on getting this issue out of the way once and for all.

Online Gambling in South Africa

Is online gambling legal in South Africa or not? The question is a fully justified one in light of the fact that often contradictory rumors regarding the legal status of online poker and online gambling in South Africa do indeed abound, and that there seem to be sites out there which can be accessed from within SA and which still advertise their services to SA-based online gamblers. What exactly is then the legal situation concerning online gambling? While the situation seems to be rather murky at first glance on account of the different opinions and interests involved, when it comes to the law, everything’s as clear as the light of day: online gambling is currently illegal in SA and sites which continue to offer online gambling services to SA residents do so in clear contempt of the law.

The Supreme Court of Appeals handed down a ruling in September 2011, which once and for all spelled it out that online gambling was illegal, as was the advertising of any such activity in SA. The ruling had made it clear where online gambling took place from the perspective of the law, thus taking away an argument that supporters of rogue/unregulated online gambling had fallen back on for years. Another notorious legal ruling in the matter was the one handed down by the North Gauteng High Court which also placed online gambling outside of the law.

The ruling was appealed by Casino Enterprises, the company behind the notorious Piggs Peak brand. The appeal was rejected by the Bloemfontein Supreme Court of Appeals and thus Piggs Peak Casino (based in Swaziland) was forced to stop serving SA customers. Several other operators have also ceased peddling their services to SA-based gamblers then, among them the African Palace Casino.

On the homepages of the above said online casinos, SA players are greeted by a message which explains why they can’t deposit and play there. Still, despite the unequivocal nature of the legal rulings, there are sites out there with links to some of the major international operators, which not only accept players from SA, but also offer them the option to place wagers in rands.

It is indeed also part of the picture that in 2007, legislation was passed concerning the legalization and regulation of online gambling, but no licenses were ever issued based on that law and there were branches of government which still opposed regulation at that point.

A special commission was set up by the Dept. of Trade and Industry, which did indeed recommend that more than 10 online gambling licenses be issued, but the effort never came to fruition, and due to the lengthy legal process which is involved with such intricate legal framework, chances are we won’t see any regulation nor licenses issued for at least a good couple of years.

Sites currently offering online gambling services to South Africans can do so because the law – in its current form – features no provisions regarding penalties against illegally operating sites. In a word: those who now ignore the law can still hope to gain a license when regulation occurs.

The risks assumed are thus far mostly shouldered by the players. According to the Gauteng Gambling Board, players who gamble illegally may be required to forfeit their winnings to the state.

Sign up for a deal like the pokerkings rakeback or the purple lounge rakeback and start being rewarded for the time and money you spend at the online poker tables.

How to Play Ace High Flops in Three-Bet Pots

Learning to play ace-high flops in three-bet pots is a crucial basic strategy in a game of poker.

Imagine that you are playing a $1/2 six-max cash game in the Satellites for WSOP 2012.

Your opponent raises to $6 from the button, and you decide to three-bet from the big blind, making it $20 with [Jh] [Jd], and your opponent calls. The flop is [Ac] [7h] [2s]. What do you do next?

It is important to note that on boards such as this, you should be c-betting 100% of your range, and this includes a pair of jacks.

If you have been showing the propensity to three-bet a lot, then this can still be a bet for value. But more importantly, if you check-call, then you turn your hand face up, and this makes it so much easier for a good opponent to apply pressure.

You also get caught up in something called the reverse bluffing vortex. This is when you start out-thinking yourself. You realise that you could be floated in this spot, and so you call down all three streets, only to see your opponent turn [As] [Ts] for top pair.

So if you are c-betting 100% of flops in these situations, wouldn’t it be safe to assume that your opponents on Betfair Poker are doing likewise? Of course they are, and this is why they create excellent spots to float in position.

When deciding to float, it is always better to choose hands with good equity; this makes barreling the turn much easier, because you still have outs to hit the best hand.

On the [Ac] [7h] [2s] example, a hand such as [Kc] [8c] gives you a backdoor flush draw, thus making it a great choice to float.

Getting Started At Online Bingo

You might be a pro at traditional bingo and a regular at the local bingo hall and have now decided to give the online version of this great game a go. Perhaps you are home-bound for a while and want to be able to carry on enjoying your favourite pastime from the comfort of your living room or perhaps time commitments mean you can’t always get to the bingo hall when it’s open? Maybe you just want to squeeze in a few extra games between visits or brush up your bingo skills at home!

Whatever the reason, online bingo is great fun and you will soon get the hang of it. Read on for some simple tips to get you started.

Choose the right site

The first step is of course to choose which site to play online bingo. You can win huge jackpots on Online Bingo Room websites and there are plenty to choose from, so where to start? A good tip is to take personal recommendations from friends or use a site which has a trusted name. You can also use the sign-up cash bonus offered by many sites to try out the games and visit the chat rooms for free, to see if you like the place before you start playing for real.

Signing up

Once you have chosen an online bingo site to join, the next step is to sign up. You will need to fill in some basic details on a registration page before depositing money into your online bingo account. Many sites will require you to deposit a certain amount of money in order to receive your cash sign-up bonus.

Buying cards

You can buy online bingo cards to play with for as little as 1p, which could see you winning huge jackpots on Online Bingo Site at chitchat! The bingo games on offer at online bingo sites follow the same rules as traditional bingo and include 75 ball bingo, 90 ball bingo and progressive bingo, as well as other fun games.

So what are you waiting for? Give it a go today!

England Reveal India Plans

The England Cricket Board has revealed England will face India in four Tests and two Twenty20s before Christmas and five one-day internationals early in 2013.

England will travel to Dubai on October 25 for a three-day training camp before arriving in Mumbai for their first tour match on October 30. They will play two more first-class matches ahead of the Test series.

Andrew Strauss’ men face India in the first Test in Ahmedabad on November 15 before travelling to Mumbai (23-27), Kolkata (December 5-9) and Nagpur (13-17) for the remaining Tests.

England have a quick turnaround ahead of the T20 internationals in Pune and Mumbai (December 20 and 22). The tourists fly home for Christmas on December 23.

Following a short break, England arrive back in India on January 3 and play two 50-over tour matches as they prepare for the one-day series, which begins in Rajkot on January 11.

England take on India in the second ODI in Kochi on January 15 before heading to Ranchi (19), Dharamshala (23) and Mohali (27). England continue a busy winter in New Zealand in February.

"This will be England’s first full tour of India since 2008 and I am sure that cricket fans in both countries will be eagerly anticipating an exciting series of contests in all three formats of the game, " said ECB managing director Hugh Morris.

"ECB will also be seeking to finalise an England Performance Programme camp in India before Christmas which will help prepare members of both our Test and T20 squads."

The odds betting already has England as outsiders for their winter tour given their inconsistent record on the sub continent.

They endured a nightmare tour of India four years ago – with public fallouts and terror attacks overshadowing a 5-0 ODI whitewash and a 1-0 Test series defeat.

They also had mixed results and scores in the UAE and Sri Lanka last winter, with the hot and humid conditions as well as the hard, dry pitch, making life tough for Andy Flower’s men.

Tiger Moth Flight

Although Topboss Blog is mainly a gambling blog – sometimes we feel the need to try something different – so in March 2012 some of the Topboss staff decided to venture out on a Tiger Moth flight. What an experience that was. The Tiger Moth in question is a bright yellow, 1940 Tiger Moth ZS-OSS1941 called “Tweety” who was quite an active little plane during WWII.

We all had to be up at 5am to be at the Jack Tayler Airfield in Krugersdorp by 6:30. It turned out to be quite a misty morning and visibility was very poor on the drive there, but it was a spectacular scene from the cockpit of the Tiger Moth. We each had our 30 minutes in the air with “Tweety” and her masterful pilot Martiens Steyn, who gave us interesting information during the flight about the Cradle of Humankind, the majestic Magalies Mountain Range and game that we flew over.

In between the flights, Peter who is Martiens’ son made sure we were safe at all times while standing next to the runway. Peter was also very helpful in answering all sorts of questions we had about the Tiger Moth. We learned that she was used by trainee pilots in WWII who were training to become Spitfire and other fighter pilots.

Flying in this little plane gave us a sense of what it must have been like back then, and you can’t help but stand in awe of her.

All in all it was an awesome experience and definitely worth doing again.

Click on an image above to view below

Getting Ready for Flight In The Tiger Moth

Flights are from the Jack Tayler Airfield, Krugersdorp, over the Cradle of Humankind and the majestic Magalies Mountain range with game viewing included! The flight is weather dependent, therefore flights are normally early Saturday or Sunday mornings, but can also be accommodated during weekdays.

Prices are from R1750.00 per person per half hour. For group bookings, there is a discount available.

For further inquiries/bookings, contact Martiens Steyn at 0837766667 or Wendy Steyn at 0829226387
The Jack Taylor Airfield is situated at no 7 Bartastreet, Delporton, Krugersdorp

Choose Best No Deposit Sportsbook Bonus

Why Choose No Deposit Sportsbook Bonus?

Choose No Deposit Sportsbook Bonus The online betting market is very competitive and this is why many sportsbooks use different Bonuses to attract as many new players as possible. The No Deposit Bonus is one of the most interesting promotions a player you can get at sportsbooks. It awards players with a certain amount of free cash for placing bets without any deposits.

The No Deposit sportsbook allows players to try online betting with free cash. This enables gamblers to relax while playing their favourite games without losing any money. First time players on online sportsbooks, need to try out different tactics, betting styles, odds and other sports betting options. The No Deposit Bonuses usually have to be played through several times.

How to Get No Deposit Bonus at Sportsbook?

Players should visit several betting sites with reviews of no deposit sportsbook bonus before choosing a reputable site they would like to try out. Players must then register an account to claim their Bonus. Usually, the free cash is claimed from customer support, but some sportsbooks award it automatically after registration.

Sportsbook No Deposit Bonus Options

Sportsbook No Deposit Bonus Types There are several types of No Deposit Bonuses at sportsbooks and these Bonuses are awarded in the form of free bets, but there are some differences. The Bonus will only be awarded for a certain sport, which is what players must look out for when choosing the sportsbook although players may use free bets anyway they like with any sport and market.

Betting sites also offer players different amounts of free bets, which usually start with the lowest limit of $25. Sportsbooks reward players with free cash within botha a limited time, and an unlimited time. Limited time means that players have to meet the wagering requirements within a certain amount of time, and an unlimited time, means that players can take their time when using the free bets.

There are also two types of No Deposit sportsbook Bonuses. The first takes the initial promo sum back, and sportsbooks will credit all their winnings that were won over the initial Bonus amount into their account. The second Bonus type doesn’t take it back at all, but awards players with both free bets and all their winnings.

Betfred player scoops £5.1 million jackpot!

For a simple £1 stake, the press of a button and the long wait for the reels to settle on their final positions, the £1 turned into a whopping £5.1 million!

The Beach Life slot game has done it again and made one VERY lucky player an instant millionaire at Betfred Online Casino! And what makes it even more amazing is that it happened after just six spins on the progressive Beach Life slot game. This win makes the player the single biggest winner in the UK of an online progressive jackpot and the third biggest ever worldwide!

And to top it all off, the winner was taken by private jet to meet betfred.com‘s founder, Fred Done, who presented him with the winners cheque.

“As a bookmaker I get a real thrill out of turning somebody into a multi-millioaire at the click of a mouse. The jackpot has been growing for a while now and we were all hoping that it would be a Betfred.com customer that won this life-changing jackpot. It just goes to show that it’s always worth trying your luck!” said Fred at the congratulatory meeting.

We are sure the multi-millionaire player is looking forward to long and relaxing days on the beach spending his new found fortune!

Whilst it isn’t everyday that someone wins a jackpot of this size, there are plenty of other chances to hit a big jackpot. Currently the progressive jackpots total over £2 million, with the Gold Rally Progressive Jackpot currently sitting at an incredible £832 thousand, just waiting to be one by someone!

Online Gambling’s Second Chance

Not so long ago, the odds looked dim for legal online gambling in the US. Online poker lobbyists were pushing their own interests, which often meant denouncing online gambling as exclusively luck-based and therefore not in the same league with online poker which is skill-based. The dark days of illegal online gambling on offshore sites and at shady online casinos may soon be over though. An interesting DoJ ruling, which came just before Christmas last year, opened the way to the potentially legalization of online gambling, possibly this year. The DoJ’s ruling concerned the 1961 Wire Act, which – together with the 2006 UIGEA – formed the legal basis of the online gambling and online poker prohibition of recent years. As the legal haze around the whole thing was far from translucent, specialists often speculated that both online poker and gambling were in fact still legal in the US under the existing framework. No legal authority ever troubled clarifying anything in regards to the online gambling/poker case. It appears though that the DoJ has finally had enough of the legal ambiguity and decided to make a few things clear for everyone. According to the above said December ruling, the 1961 Wire Act does not prohibit real money wagering through online channels across state lines. It only prohibits sports betting wagers, and that was indeed the target of the lawmakers who had drafted the Wire Act back in the days.

Nevada had already passed legislation aimed at regulating online gambling and poker and so did DC, and with New Jersey eyeing a similar move, this may all just be the tip of the iceberg.

The question now no longer seems to be whether or not online gambling will be legalized and regulated in 2012, but rather on what level this will happen. The DoJ ruling has virtually unshackled states in the matter: any state that wants to can now legalize and regulate online gambling. Federal lawmakers are currently well aware of the fact that they need to make a move soon if they intend to push through federal regulation, otherwise the states may just beat them to it and regulate things for themselves. Federal-level legalization and regulation would be the preferred way to go according to many, as it would offer better safeguards against illegal and problem gambling and it would tackle regulation issues much more efficiently.

The path that led to the above said DoJ ruling was an interesting one: the ruling came in response to a question the states of New York and Illinois addressed to the DoJ. The two states were seeking clarification in the matter of lottery tickets and the Wire Act’s applicability over the online trading of these tickets. The resulting response was obviously a blessing for the online poker and online gambling industries. The possibilities opened by the ruling are truly bewildering indeed. Sites legalized and regulated in the US will not only be able to accept players from other states, they will also be able to accept players from outside the US. The potential for growth for such operations will therefore be quite limitless.

Affiliates will pop up too and old affiliates will be revived. The entire industry will finally breathe a sigh of relief, like a poker prop does when the monthly rake rebate lands in his poker account. He’s a smart online poker player!

Vote For Your Favourite Bingo Site of 2011 at Which Bingo

WhichBingo UK have just launched their search to find the best UK bingo sites for 2011.

The annual ‘Online Bingo Site of the Year Awards’ are seen as one of the most prestigious in a very competitive industry. For 2011 WhichBingo has introduced two brand new awards, taking the total up for grabs to four. In addition to the usual Bingo Site of the Year and New Bingo Site of the Year, there are the new awards for TV Campaign of the Year and Promotion of the Year. The extra awards are recognition for how far bingo has come in 2011 and it’s now very much a part of the mainstream gaming industry in the UK.

Sites such as JackpotJoy and Tombola will be hoping to do well in the awards after both sites spent heavily on marketing during the year.

Last year the award was won by Sun Bingo, and after they used it in their newspaper promotions it has made the award even more sought after thanks to increased public awareness.

In the new sites category, of which there are around 50 candidates, there are once again a large number of Dragonfish skins (sites which are essentially the same, but have a different appearance). Some of the more innovative sites to launch this year will be hoping their unique features will help them win the award. These include Wonder Bingo, who also have a successful Facebook game, and Popstars Bingo, which features live bingo callers.

You can vote for your favourite sites at http://www.whichbingo.co.uk/online-bingo-site-of-the-year/ until December 31st. Winners are being announced in January 2012.