Let’s face it, online poker and even something as innocent and fun as Internet bingo has risks — and not just the possibility of losing or becoming addicted. Because of the vast amount of money involved, there’s also the risk of becoming an Internet gambling scam victim. Here are some things to look for before choosing an online poker or gambling site, so you don’t become a target:

Make Sure the Site Looks Professional
Ask yourself whether the site looks like there was a lot of thought and money behind its construction. If you can’t find the answers to basic questions or there’s little or no information on the rules and how to play each game, be careful. In fact, if the site looks lacking in any fundamental way you should probably look for another place to play.

Check for Interactive Gaming Council (IGC) Membership
The IGC is a non-profit trade association for the interactive gaming industry. Before you put money on a site or even register, check their membership list to see if it’s listed. A site not being a member doesn’t mean they’re running a scam; but IGC members tend to be major players in the online gambling industry and have pledged to adhere to a code of conduct that protects players.

Make Sure the Site Has Player Support
It’s standard for legitimate online poker and general gambling sites to have 24-hour support with both a toll-free phone number and e-mail contact addresses. Some even have real-time, interactive support. If you want to be extra careful, send an e-mail or call their customer support prior to putting money on the site or registering . If you can’t think of a specific question, ask them what gambling software they use. If you don’t get a response or it takes more than 24 hours to get an answer, consider playing at another site. If you decide to play video poker on the site, keep all their contact information (including the physical address) in a safe location offline, so you’ll have it should the site suddenly go down — or worse yet — disappear.

Run a Test
If a site allows free play, start there to see if everything meets your expectations. If they don’t have a “play for free” section or if you’ve already decided you like what you saw while playing free, then start small. Don’t put large amounts of money on the site at first. Try several small transactions (deposits and payments) and make sure the transactions go well before you go onto betting big.

These are just some of the things you should be aware of to protect yourself when choosing an online gambling site. For more detailed information on what to look for, visit the IGC’s Beginner’s Guide.

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Ninety-year-old Florence Carey had been pouring money into casino gambling in the form of slot machines for years, to the tune of thousands of dollars in losses. She was considering just sticking to bingo, but that all changed last week when Carey hit a $459,400 jackpot at the Northern Lights Casino in Prince Albert, Canada. She said she was shocked when the bells started ringing.

“It was exciting, but I still can’t believe it,” said Carey, “…the bells were ringing and ringing…That tired me out a lot. I didn’t sleep at all that night, and I had to keep taking nitro because my heart is very weak.”

A Winning Strategy

Carey used to travel to the United States to gamble in casinos, because she didn’t have an Internet connection or even know how to play poker online like many of the people in her retirement community had started to do. But she hasn’t been able to come to the US to gamble lately because of health problems that have included two strokes, a heart attack, cancer and diabetes. So she confined her casino gambling to Prince Albert, which appears to have been a winning strategy.

The jackpot will allow her to continue her gambling lifestyle. “I’m going to keep $100,000 because I want to come back to the casino,” said Carey.

She said the rest of her winnings will be divided between her 10 children and her church, St. Joseph’s.

Sticking to Bingo

Not everyone can make it to the casinos to press their luck, and some don’t even make it to the bingo hall any more.  Seventy six year old Margaret Hamilton used to attend the Quayside Bingo Club regularly in Lossiemouth, Scotland, but when the UK put a ban on smoking in bingo halls, the lively and stubborn Mrs. Hamilton swore off going anymore.  “I promise you, I won’t go back to any bingo hall that doesn’t allow me to enjoy my cigarettes.  I didn’t start smoking until I was 52, and I feel I’ve the right to smoke and gamble at the same time if I want to.  Gambling my money and my health, what of it?”

She has instead opted to stay at home and try her luck at online poker and bingo sites like www.partybingo.com and others like it. “I can smoke and fill up the ashtray all night long if I want to, and I don’t have to bother with getting out in the wet and the cold and the bloody people all gadding about.  And I win money, oh yes!  I still win.”  Mrs. Hamilton has won a total of 780 GBP  in her time of playing bingo online, and says she will continue.  “I’m sticking to bingo, and I’m sticking to cigarettes. They make me feel on top of the world.”

You don’t often think of children being involved in casino gambling as a good thing. But it turns out it is — at least for the children of almost half of the 562 recognized American Indian tribes in the United States that operate casinos.

Tribal casinos bring in over $25 billion a year in revenue and some of that money is being put to good use to help tribal children. Casino revenues are paying for college scholarships, and also provides business development services and career counseling as they get older.

“The casinos are a model that are now being used by state governments to show the impact casino gambling could have on a community,” said observer Harold Braley.

States have good reasons to pay attention, because Indian-owned casinos are paying states upward of $100 million annually, which usually goes to the education system in the state, especially higher education.

“The tribal casinos have been as much a part of the casino wave we’re seeing in the US as any politician,” said Braley. “When lawmakers saw the amounts of money that could be generated, and the minimal problems the tribes were having where the casinos are located, it became a no-brainer to expand casino laws in many states.”

Fortunately, that expansion is also happening with online gambling, thanks to efforts by Representative Barney Frank and other government leaders.

Online gambling image by befuddle via Flickr

Representative (Rep.) Barney Frank has recently picked up two more supporters for his online gambling bill, which would bring an end to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). Mike Thompson from California is supporter number 50 and Rep. Daniel B. Maffei from New York is number 51.

“Rep. Frank has received major support from both New York and California in his efforts to change Internet gambling laws,” said observer Mike Ralley, “already, there are 13 co-sponsors from New York and five from California.”

California lawmakers are already considering legalizing online poker, which could potentially bring in millions of dollars in revenue for the state. And New York Governor David A. Patterson, who is a proponent of allowing more options for gambling in his state, has recently expanded New York’s land-based casino gambling options.

“These lawmakers are starting to realize just how out of touch previous lawmakers were when they adopted the UIGEA,” said observer Mark Freely. “The new administration seems much more in tune with what people in the U.S. want, and clearly, people want the right to gamble online legally.”

Rep. Frank understood this from the beginning and has fought hard over the years for people’s right to do whatever they want with their money in their own homes. A Republican-led Congress held Frank back in his previous efforts to get rid of the UIGEA but Frank has political numbers in his favor this time around, now that Democrats hold the majority in both the House and the Senate. Frank is also receiving a lot of support from Republicans who want to position their party as more friendly to the growing number of online gamblers.

Needless to say, online gambling site owners and trade associations are in full support. Even sites that offer free online roulette and other non-paying games of chance have a dog in this fight, because those sites provide gateways to paid games, such as online video poker (or online pokies, as it’s called in Europe and Australia), slots, black jack and many other forms of Internet gambling. All eyes are watching the progress of this initiative, because there’s a lot of money at stake.

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Democratic Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey fired another salvo in the battle to legalize online gambling, by unveiling S 1597, the Internet Poker and Games of Skill Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act. He’s taking us one step closer to enabling all those grandmothers and just plain folks who want to play bingo online or even get adventurous and learn to play video poker.

The legislation would explicitly legalize and regulate games of skill, clarifying that the U.S. government views poker, bridge, mahjongg, backgammon and chess as games in which a player’s skill dominates the outcome.

According to the bill text, which is 89 pages long: “While each of these games contains an element of chance, over any substantial interval, a player’s ultimate success is determined by that player’s relative level of skill.”

Menedez’s bill focuses heavily on online poker, stating that “Poker is part of the cultural and recreational fabric of the United States and has been since the founding days of the United States. United States poker aficionados have included presidents, judges, and statesmen.”

The move comes a few months after Representative Barney Frank proposed HR 2267, legislation that would both legalize and regulate all online gambling. Like Frank’s HR 2267, S 1597 would establish a licensing and regulatory framework for the online casino gambling industry in the United States. HR 2267 was introduced exactly three months ago and now has 54 co-sponsors.

Rep. Frank and Senator Menendez are both actively pursuing the reversal of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006, which has caused more than its share of confusion and problems because of its lack of clarity about what constitutes online gambling. Frank is already on his second attempt to overturn the UIGEA; the first was denied by a Republican Congress. But this year Democrats Frank and Menendez have the majority in their respective chambers, in addition to wide Republican support. Many GOP leaders are beginning to understand that legalized gambling is the will of the people.

Believe it or not, the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) is just around the corner. In fact, the schedule for the 2010 WSOP has been released and contains several interesting changes made that should benefit both pro and amateur players looking to get their share of WSOP glory.

More $1,000 Events
In addition to the customary $1,000 Seniors and Ladies events, this year there will be six $1,000 No Limit Hold’em events. Last year’s $1,000 “Stimulus Event” drew such a positive reaction from players that Harrah’s decided to keep this level of buy-in for the WSOP. It’s hard for many people to come up with the $1,500 or more that most WSOP events require, and by cutting the price down by one-third, the door is opened for many more players. (If $1,000 is still too much for you, there are single table satellites at the WSOP for these events that start at $125.) As can be expected, the fields will be huge for these events.

$50,000 Event Gets Face Lift
Many poker sites have some version of a mixed game that includes No Limit Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha. For the first time in World Series of Poker history, the WSOP has decided to change the $50,000 HORSE Event to a $50,000 Players Championship and switch the format to 8-Game. The format for this event will be HORSE, plus No Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha and 2-7 Triple Draw Low-ball.

New $25,000 Event
For those wanting an event with a prize larger than $10,000 but not as massive as $50,000, there is now the $25,000 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em event. Six-handed events have become popular online, as they require greater skill to play. This event is expected to have a lot of online stars take part and should prove to be action-packed.

Re-buys are absent yet again from this year’s schedule and the November Nine will make a return for the third year in a row. For a complete breakdown of the schedule, head over to the WSOP website.

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Bob Stupak, the infamous Las Vegas entrepreneur and poker player, lost his battle  at age 67 with leukemia on September, 25, 2009. He was well-known not only for his ambitious 1,149-foot-tall Stratosphere Tower, but also for his charm and mischievousness.

According to Las Vegas mayor, Oscar Goodman, “Bob was an impresario, a ringmaster in the mold of the promoters who made Las Vegas the great town that it is. His ingenuity got him into trouble sometimes, but that happens to folks who try to grab the brass ring. I’ll miss his impishness.”

He was renowned for that “impishness,” which manifested itself in many forms. Just one example of many was the time he slapped a TV reporter who asked him if he was drunk while interviewing him about his failed run for Las Vegas mayor in 1987.

Stupak also raised eyebrows when he proposed the Stratosphere, which opened in 1996, went bankrupt and was sold soon after. As he put it, “They thought I was a complete, oh, for lack of a better word, fruitcake — and maybe they were right.”

“He had a really big idea with the Stratosphere, but it was a little before its time. Love him or not, he wasn’t afraid of anyone or anything,” said former Las Vegas mayor Jan Jones.

But Stupak backed up his bravado with some real poker skills. And he had the hardware to prove it: he entered World Series of Poker (WSOP) history when he won a bracelet in 1989 for a deuce-to-seven lowball event. His skills got him a place at the table on the Game Show Network’s High Stakes Poker, which put him back in the limelight after some time away to take care of his failing health.

But Stupak wasn’t all flash; he had a soft and charitable side too. In the mid-1990s he offered $100,000 for information to help solve the case of a Las Vegas child who had been shot to death on Halloween. He also gave money to homeless organizations and personally fed meals to thousands of homeless people. While his charitable acts served to balance out his wilder side, it also made him even more of an enigma.

But he knew his reputation well. As he said, ”The last thing I’ve ever been all my life is normal. I’ve accomplished what I have by being nothing close to normal.”

Stupak requested that his body be cremated and that there not be a funeral. His family has asked that anyone who wants to honor his memory send contributions to the Stupak Community Center:

The Stupak Trust
300 South Fourth St., Suite 701
Las Vegas, NV 89101

The Tropicana Casino in Las Vegas was once one of the hot properties on the Vegas Strip and a great place to play poker. But hard times and bankruptcy proceedings slowly whittled away at their image and until earlier this month, they were considered yesterday’s news.

But new owners the Onex Corporation; along with the Tropicana’s new CEO,  former MGM Mirage President Alex Yemenidjian; don’t accept that fate. In fact, they expect be able to return the Tropicana to its former glory.

Yemenidjian knows they face an uphill battle with the Tropicana, which just came out of a one-year Chapter 11 bankruptcy period the first week in July. But according to him, there’s “nothing more rewarding than watching people who say something can’t be done being interrupted by people who are doing it.”

Having a fresh infusion of cash will certainly help Yemenidjian and company achieve that goal though. The Tropicana emerged from bankruptcy with more than $10 million in cash and $75 million in commitments from its new owners and other equity holders. This means funding is in place for major renovations, which are planned for all aspects of the Tropicana, including pool, spa, casino and poker room upgrades, a nightclub and expanded dining options. Renovations are expected to begin later this year be complete in 2010.

So, if you go to Vegas in 2010, stop by the Tropicana and say “shuffle up and deal!” With all the money being poured into the restoration, the newly posh casino will probably attract some poker stars like Annie Duke, Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson and others. You never know, it might just be a good place to go poker-star gazing.