Online gambling company PartyGaming has reached a settlement to get the US authorities off its back, it was reported today in the UK press. According to the news reports, the online casino company PartyGaming has agreed to pay the USA government $105 million in exchange for a non-prosecution agreement, i.e. the US will stop hustling the UK-based online gambling company for accepting bets from Americans prior to the 2006 passage of the UIGEA and the subsequent withdraw from the US internet gambling market.

The $105 million will be paid in 6 monthly installments, according to the reports. The popular online casino, which at one time had 80% of its players from the United States, will continue to block USA residents from gambling with the casino website. Last year Anurag Dikshit, the co-founder of the online gambling company PartyGaming agreed to a settlement with the US authorities and paid $300 million as part of the settlement, although he could still face jail time when his 2010 sentencing arrives.

Online gambling proponents may have to wait a little longer for the passage of federal legislation that would legalize betting on the Internet. Congress is tied up with other pressing issues.

Macquarie Securities gaming analyst Joel Simkins told investors not to bet the house on Internet gambling becoming legal anytime soon. Share & Save
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His prognosis comes despite a White House that is seemingly friendlier toward Internet gamblers and the support of Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who plans to reintroduce a bill after the Easter holiday that would legalize and regulate Internet gaming.

After checking with Washington, D.C., lobbyist contacts and casino company operators dialed into Capitol Hill, Simkins put steep odds on the issue seeing any light.

“We see little reason for investors to try to play this near-term,” Simkins said.

Online gambling has long interested the casino industry, mainly due to the reported revenues the activity has produced. Estimates by Internet gaming advocacy groups peg the amount of money annually wagered online at anywhere from $20 billion to $25 billion.

MGM Mirage took a short-lived stab at running an Internet gambling site in September 2001, but abandoned the idea after 21 months. The casino, which was licensed by the Isle of Man, did not accept wagers from U.S. citizens.

Some Internet gaming advocates believe there is still a market for U.S. online gamblers despite a 2006 law signed by President George W. Bush that prohibits banks and credit card companies form making payments to online gambling sites.

Simkins saw the revenue estimates and asked his sources whether the Federal Wire Act, used to stop Internet gambling in the United States, could be overturned. Unlikely, he said.

“Given the more pressing economic concerns of industries that currently employ considerably more potential voters than online gaming ever will, we think the odds are very slim that online gaming will be supported on Capitol Hill,” Simkins said.

The American Gaming Association, the industry’s Washington, D.C., lobbying arm, has taken a neutral stance on Internet gaming, based on the “divergent views” of its members.

This is a switch from the organization’s past support of a study of Internet gambling by the National Academy of Sciences, which is backed by Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev. The bill, introduced in 2007, is still sitting in Congress.

Simkins said casinos will eventually face competition from online gaming, possibly through “intranet” gambling on a state-by-state level.

“Several of the suppliers we follow could capitalize on Internet gaming opportunities, particularly on the slot machine content side,” Simkins said.

A book has warned that a surge of legalized gambling in the last two decade is affecting security and military readiness in the United States.

The latest volume in the three-part United States International Gambling Report Series points out that casinos drain money from consumer products and services, weakening the economic engine that ultimately drives defence spending.

He’s claimed his check and ready to begin life as a millionaire.

Damian Flournoy of Holland won a million dollars in the Michigan Lottery’s Million Dollar Mega Play instant ticket in online casinos.

Damian and his family claimed their prize Friday in Lansing.

The lucky ticket was purchased at the Wesco on West Lakewood Boulevard in Holland.

The store clerk who sold Flournoy the ticket says even though he is now a millionaire he still seems pretty grounded to her.

“They all had big smiles on their faces, that’s for sure, but they were just shopping around and he mentioned how lucky Wesco is to him,” said Phaula Chhoy, the store clerk. “They had slushies, it was a nice warm day.”

Money from the state lottery goes to support the school aid fund.

Last year more than 740-million dollars was contributed to schools.

Gambling revenue on the Las Vegas Strip fell 23 percent in February from the prior year, according to recent data.

But much of that was due to a plunge in revenue from the baccarat tables, 50 percent. The reason, according to UBS analyst Robin Farley: Lunar New Year. In Vegas, Chinese New Year tends to draw out the VIP crowd, which often means more baccarat play. This year, the Year of the Ox, the holiday fell on Jan. 26; last year, it was Feb. 7.