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AlunB

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Posts posted by AlunB

    I might need to start looking for another job...

    in Poker

    Posted

    Re: I might need to start looking for another job...

    Back to the original topic, gambling is a problem that I would prefer my children not overexposed to(rich as its my only income) yet its part of computer games and TV programs suggesting it is the only way to live a luxury lifestyle. Thankfully my son still thinks he's Wayne Rooney's next replacement at Man Utd plus he can see through me that gambling online is a far from healthy lifestyle. The figure might not be 1,000,000 but whatever it is, its too many.
    Agreed we should be careful about allowing gambling advertising to be too widely available. And poker is definitely included in that. For most people who play it, poker IS gambling.

    I might need to start looking for another job...

    in Poker

    Posted

    Re: I might need to start looking for another job...

    Thinking more of the early 90's( or late 80's was it) when the government refused to abolish betting tax forcing our established bookmakers to move offshore.(think thats what happened) We were miles ahead in the bookmaking industry then and if we had moved fast enough we would have had set up all the internet forms of gambling under our worldwide brands. I'm sure in the early days of online casino's they were all operated from banana republics and there must have been some reason why we couldn't locate in the U.K. We might not have had the poker software technology but I am sure people would have preferred to play at established names like Ladbrokes rather than unknown entities like Paradise poker and Virtual city poker were I started out.
    Gotcha. I was still young (ish) at the time, but I think you've got it a bit backwards. Firms starting with VC began moving to Gib because then the punter didn't have to pay any tax on his bets. Remember that? When Lads and Hills and the rest started following suit they abolish it and replaced it with a gross profit tax. William Hill launched an online casino in 2001 (based in curacao) and ladbrokes launched a poker room in 2002 (based somewhere offshore). So right at the peak of the boom times. But as it turned out people preferred to trust online brands such as Party/Stars etc. They didn't miss out on the chance, they just didn't make it work as well as some others. The reason you couldn't base your online servers in the UK is there was no licensing system. The only places offering online casino licences were offshore (and mostly still are). The UK brought in a licence in the 2005 gambling act. And nobody applied for one as it would have been too big a tax burden.

    I might need to start looking for another job...

    in Poker

    Posted

    Re: I might need to start looking for another job...

    Personal dislike of mine the fact that so many jobs and so much income was lost to the U.K during the early years of online and telephone gambling. We were a million miles ahead of the rest of the world in preperation for the boom and failed to capitalise. Now your saying that the government and the industry connived to create the situation?
    Depends what you mean by that Ed. The early years of online gambling was the late 1990s when the government did all it could to stop everyone going offshore. The gambling act wasn't in place until the late 2000s. At that point the government chose to go for the white list approach for reasons that seemed sensible at the time and seem a bit silly now. But that the industry (who have poker and casino servers offshore) agreed with.

    I might need to start looking for another job...

    in Poker

    Posted

    Re: I might need to start looking for another job... That's such an intentionally misleading article, but as it's the Daily Mail that shouldn't really surprise me. "Experts say around a million children are addicted to gambling and Labour’s lenient gaming laws are largely to blame. They warn that vulnerable children have become hooked after casinos, bookmakers and betting websites were allowed to advertise on TV." That's such a ridiculous statement I don't even know where to start. Any bit of truth in that is lost in the ludicrous hyperbole. "And a loophole in the law means that countries across Europe – and others in a so-called ‘white list’ – can advertise their services in the UK without being subject to strict regulations. They include Alderney, the Isle of Man, Antigua and the Australian state of Tasmania." It's not a loophole. It's something that was intentionally placed into the law after a long consultation with the industry. It was the prevailing wisdom at the time. Then France and Italy came along and showed you could be hardline and it would still work, suddenly that's the prevailing wisdom. Anyway, yes the feeling in the UK goverment is they now look hugely out of step with regulation of online gambling and need to change the law. But changing the law is a long and difficult process.

    American players banned until 2012

    in Poker

    Posted

    Re: American players banned until 2012 Well there seems to be bad news and bad news. The bill seems to still be on the agenda, and it's just as bad as feared. Essentially if it passes under the draft I've looked at then you can kiss goodbye to US players for the next 5 (five) years. The only bright side is that as nobody will be allowed to operate a site in the US for 15 months after it passes there will be an even bigger focus on Europe by everyone. That said if we keep getting closed networks in more European countries we're going to end up with very limited liquidity in the dot com world...

    American players banned until 2012

    in Poker

    Posted

    Re: American players banned until 2012

    Isn't this a good thing? Obviously there would be some short term pain with the black out period' date=' but after that there should be a lot of good games - assuming the American casinos know how to put a poker site together...[/quote'] It depends if you're American or not. The draft bill would mean US players could only play against other US players.

    American players banned until 2012

    in Poker

    Posted

    Re: American players banned until 2012 I wouldn't assume anything at the moment. It's far from certain that the bill will be attached to any 'must pass' legislation and indeed it's not even certain the 'must pass' bill will pass the Senate and House anyway. Even if it did pass then it's still unclear if that blackout period would be from the date the bill passes or the date it is enacted, which is often some time after the bill becomes law. Either way we should find out one way or another by the end of this week.

    Poker skill or luck ?

    in Poker

    Posted

    Re: Poker skill or luck ?

    Nade agree with you 100 % and that is the exact point i was giving in my argument . Skill will beat luck over a long period of a time .
    Yep, but we rarely play over a 'long period of time' with friends and this is what gets missed in a lot of these game of skill debates.

    Monte's Specialisation - Manity Saintained (+335pts)

    in At The Races - Racing Forum

    Posted

    Re: Monterosso's Specialisation - Winning! (+201pts)

    3:45 Newmarket - Zaidan - 2pts @ 9/2 (Bet365) Unexposed 2 year old who made great strides when winning the Chesham Stakes at Ascot in June, beating some classy 2 year olds in the process. He was over 5 lengths ahead of the highly progressive King Torus who finished 4th that day, he has went on to win 2 Group 2 races since including one demolition job when winning by 6 lengths. My selection then bombed out on softer ground next time out in the Listed Washington Singer at Newbury. That was only a 4 runner race which was run at a very fast gallop, he tried to keep up with the pace setter early on which put paid to his challenge and he found little in the final couple of furlongs. The soft ground was put forwards as the main reason for his poor showing but I don't believe that to be the case. He certainly appeared to be traveling nicely throughout and in my opinion he suffered due to the pace. There's no real speed merchants in this race that will take the field along at 100mph so I'm expecting things could go in the favour of Zaidan. He brings the best form to the table and is officially rated as the best horse in the race, 3lbs clear of his nearest challenger, The Paddyman. There is a possibility that the ground may not be overly soft tomorrow as it's expected to be fairly sunny at Newmarket and if it dries up a bit it'll suit my selection perfectly, if not, I still think he has the ability to go well with a bit of cut in the ground despite that being the excuse for his run last time out. The Newmarket course should suit his galloping style perfectly and he's a big strong colt who should still have a lot more to give. Zaidan holds entries in the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes and the Racing Post Trophy. He's clearly held in high regard and I consider him a very exciting prospect for next year if all goes well. It may be a bit risky backing him on this ground but I really thought he was traveling well on it when last seen and he may find everything a little bit easier this time around. Seb Sanders is on board again and he has taken the ride on all 3 of his career starts. Sanders rides the course excellently and shows a massive £106 profit to £1 level stakes. He has a good 13% strike rate when riding for Clive Brittain and shows a tidy profit too. Sanders comes here for only 1 ride which is interesting and I think he's a great partner for the potentially top class Zaidan. I had him priced up as 5/2 joint favourite with the Hughes/Hannon horse and I feel the 9/2 available is quite a lot higher than it should be. All in all I'm expecting a big run and hopefully my judgement of the ground doesn't come back to bite me. He's worth smallish stakes at a price I consider too big.
    Zaidan is a non-runner.
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