As the recession that Ben Bernanke and Timothy Geithner won’t admit exists shows no sign of getting better, states are looking at ways to make more money. Right now, most states are hemorrhaging cash and every little bit of revenue is needed. For that reason, Iowa and Kansas are the latest to look at their current gambling laws and discuss whether they need to be changed.

Right now lawmakers in Iowa are considering expanding their legal gambling by expanding the areas where it can occur. Currently casinos can only offer gambling on the gambling floors. The new legislation would allow gambling to occur in other rooms in the casino. The advantage would be that casinos could open poker rooms and start hosting major poker tournaments, which in theory could be a big source of revenue for the state. So it seems that in 2010, the politicians in Iowa finally realized that poker is big and involves a lot of money. In related news, the state legislature has said that they believe that the Internet is starting to catch on. If only there was a way of making money off of the Internet…

Meanwhile, Kansas lawmakers are basically asking for a do-over. In 2007, the Democratic-led Congress passed a law to bring in four state-owned casinos. As early as 2008, they realized that they wrote a terrible law that gave no incentive for anyone to actually buy property, build a casino on it, and open the business. Basically, the state charges way too much upfront for everyone involved and in a bad economy, no one is willing to risk paying that money. This is why Democrats should never try to have anything to do with business or economics. They simply have no understanding of either.

As a result of the bad bill, though the casinos are legal in the state, none exist. Last year, the lawmakers realized that they badly needed the casino revenue due to the recession, but were unwilling to take the time to discuss changing the law because they were too busy dealing with the recession and trying to find ways to help the economy (no, I’m not making this up). So now that, according to the federal government, the recession is over, they want a do-over.

Some Republicans are against amending the law. Republican House Speaker Mike O’Neal said that “they got the deal they wanted. They can live with the deal they got.” The Democratic response was something along the lines of, “Look, we’re Democrats. We always write terrible bills. That’s what we do! (It’s also why we don’t bother reading them). Don’t hold that against us. Let us try again and I assure you we’ll come up with a good one this time!”

The proposed changes in the law are aimed at making it more affordable for companies to come in and start up a casino. Among other things, there would be a drop in the investment that is required of developers from $225 million to $100 million. There is also a fee that must be paid up front to the state for the privilege of allowing the state to run your casino. That fee would drop from $25 million to $11 million. Another change would be to give the developers a larger cut of the profits from the casinos.

It will be interesting to see if the Kansas lawmakers do end up rewriting the gambling bill and if so, whether it will bring any casinos to the state. If not, they can always try again. If at first you don’t succeed…

This weekend, Americans took the time to reflect on the things for which we are grateful. For some, it’s a loving family. For some, it’s a great job. For some, it’s turkey, stuffing, sweet potato casserole and pumpkin pie. For me, it’s all of those things in addition to a rare good decision made by Obama appointees.

Obama appointees make wise decisions that are in the best interest of the country about as often as I turn down sex with a beautiful woman, so it was surprising indeed when the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve granted the petition to delay the implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA).

Most Gambling Review readers are aware of the UIGEA and its significance in the world of online gambling. Many, however, may not have known that it was not set to take effect until December 1, 2009. However, a bipartisan petition for a delay of the law was submitted to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Barnanke.

There were two main reasons for seeking a delay. From some, such as Representative Barney Frank, who want the law repealed, they are simply trying to buy more time to take down the law. For others, it is a financial and economic reason. Right now, in the middle of a recession that we haven’t seen since either the Jimmy Carter years or the Great Depression (depending on who you ask), would be the worst possible time to place a new burden on the financial industry. It is interesting that Geithner and Bernanke granted the petition for that reason, though, since both have gone to considerable trouble trying to convince the country that the recession is over. Are they finally admitting that it’s a lie?

Implementation of UIGEA is now delayed until June 1, 2010. In the meantime, Frank and others will seek to repeal the law. Since it’s unlikely that our economy will be in much better shape by then, an interesting question is whether or not, if it isn’t repealed, there will be a second petition.

Thus far, Gambling Review has published roughly 7 million stories (or at least it seems that way) about the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) and Representative Barney Frank’s attempts to overturn it. Frank thus far has been less than successful. In 2008, Frank introduced a bill in the House that would have repealed UIGEA and was defeated, despite having a Democratic majority in the House. Once President Obama and the new Congress were sworn in back in January, Frank introduced a new bill to repeal UIGEA. The bill so far has 60 co-sponsors, though many are not confident that Frank will succeed his second time around. For various reasons, not the least of which is skyrocketing unemployment and an administration focused on passing healthcare reform, flooring of the bill has been delayed.

In the meantime, some representatives would like to stall. Though UIGEA was passed in 2006, regulations for the law weren’t passed until 2008 and the implementation of the law isn’t set until December 1, 2009. Who says Congress doesn’t get things done quickly? Now a group of representatives, led by Frank and Republican Peter King, have sent a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernake and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner asking for the implementation of UIGEA to be delayed. Their reason is that with the economy still in a deep recession, now is not a good time to place more burdens on the financial institutions.

It will be interesting to see if Bernake and Geithner listen to the request. After all, both have claimed time and again that the recession is over, despite all evidence to the contrary. Therefore, agreeing to delay the implementation of UIGEA on the basis that the recession, which they say is over, is putting too much of a burden on the financial industry would seem to be an admission that they are lying, or at least wrong, about the economy. For that reason, like the passage of Frank’s bill, I think this attempt will fail.

Anyone who has ever gone to school knows how crazy rumors can spread. It starts with someone seeing you talking with Ms. Jameson after class and then before you know it the whole school is reporting that you are getting special lessons “Hot For Teacher” style. It’s the kind of thing that makes the reputation of a young man and leads to the firing and arrest of the lovely teacher. Poor Ms. Jameson.

A recent poll* found that 42% of people believe the story about Richard Gere and the gerbils. The same poll found that 65% of the country believes that Timothy Geithner is part elf and 83% of the country believes that I am amazing in bed. Only one of those three has been confirmed.

It seems that the online gambling community is not immune to the spread of rumors. For some time, people have been talking about the possibility of Betclick buying out Everest Poker. Recently, though, the rumor has gotten stronger, with at least one media outlet reporting that a deal between the two would be announced next month. When asked about that, Betclick refused to comment. Of course, that is only fueling more speculation that the report is accurate.

Betclick, a company that primarily deals with sports betting, would certainly benefit from acquiring Everest Poker. They are not the only suitor, though. PartyGaming, among other online casinos, have been in talks with Everest. Only time will tell if the rumor is true. In the meantime, I might as well start another rumor. Have you heard that Bodog casino is owned by communists?**

*Note: This poll was unscientific poll and only people in my office were surveyed.

** This should go without saying, but I made up that rumor. To my knowledge, there is no truth to it. But then again, I can’t disprove it, either…