The European Gambling and Betting Association, a trade body that includes most of Europe’s major online gambling operators among its members, has taken a step toward exploding some of the myths surrounding online gambling that are too often used by adversaries of the international industry and uninformed politicians.

The Association has devoted a page on its website – http://www.egba.eu/en/about/mythbusting – to some of the more common misinformation about the industry, and the real situation, along with links to relevant and supporting independent studies.

The following examples will give InfoPowa readers a taste of the rebuttals:

• There is a significant amount of money laundering taking place online.

No. Independent studies and surveys show that in a regulated sector the risks and amounts associated with online gaming are modest in comparison to other sectors. This is due to the high traceability and transparency of online gaming transactions, as well as the customer identification controls that make money laundering unattractive.

See 2007 report by the German Financial Investigation Unit

See 2008 study by Europe Economics for the European Parliament

See 2009 study by Professor Levi, Professor of Criminology at Cardiff University

Several recent studies by governments and universities – such as research by the highly regarded Division on Addictions, Cambridge Health Alliance, a Harvard Medical School teaching affiliate (see Harvad study link below)- have not produced any evidence to support this allegation. On the contrary, comparisons between a regulated and competitive market (UK – see link below) and a monopoly system (Norway – see link below; Sweden – see link below) show the figures have remained stable over the last decade (around 1% problem gamers) despite the development of online gaming.

EGBA’s members are not complacent, however, and have adopted a responsible approach to gaming (see link below to EGBA Standards) in order to protect vulnerable customers and to help ensure that games of chance remain pure entertainment.

• State monopoly sites are much more responsible than other EU licensed online sites and protect consumers better.

No. A 2008 benchmarking study revealed that 67% of the responsible gaming standards implemented by EGBA members matched or exceeded those applied by ten of Europe’s largest monopolies. The study, carried out by eCOGRA (see link below), was the first ever fact-based and comparative assessment. This clearly shows that it is the private sector that is leading in the important field of responsible gaming practices (see link below to EGBA study).

Link for eCOGRA study

Link to EGBA study

• Online gaming companies encourage children to gamble online.

Underage gambling is strictly prohibited. The online environment provides age verification opportunities that are not available in the offline environment (see below study of Belgian consumer organisation CRIOC). All online customers must provide information including their name and age on registration. This information is then verified using third party verification services.

Protecting minors is a challenge for all stakeholders (parents, public authorities and of course operators). All EGBA members strictly enforce measures aimed at preventing any form of underage gaming. This includes:

-Prominently displaying a ‘no under 18’ sign

-Ensuring that advertising is not targeted towards underage individuals

-Providing a link to a recognised filtering programme to enable parents to prevent minors from accessing our websites.

See CRIOC study

• Gamblers get a better return on state monopoly sites.

Quite the opposite, the average pay-out ratio (percentage of stakes paid back to players) on a state-owned site is significantly lower than that of the competitive private sector. In France, ratios for state operators FDJ and PMU currently stand at 75 and 78% respectively, while it stands at around 93% for online private operators.

Payback ratios are clearly a competitive differentiator and important for new market entrants to ensure they can offer more attractive games to customers.

• Online gaming companies are located ‘off-shore’ and don’t pay any taxes.

Members of the EGBA are all located, licensed and pay taxes within the EU. EGBA member companies make a valuable economic contribution in the EU Member States where they are licensed, including: investment in local economic activity, employment taxes, social contributions, corporate taxes as well as gaming and betting taxes and levies.

Forum Europe has organised an in-depth discussion on the European Commission’s consultative Green Paper on the European Union regulation of internet gambling, which will take place in Brussels on June 28,2011.

The European Gambling Policy Conference will gather key policy makers, national regulators and stakeholders for a full and frank discussion on the best way forward to achieve a market for online gambling services that is appropriately regulated.

The conference will also explore topical challenges facing the online and offline gambling industries including fraud and criminal activity, issues surrounding integrity, consumer protection, and problems and solutions surrounding the positive and negative social impacts of gambling.

Forum Europe says the gambling industry as a whole is fast becoming an integral part of pan-European culture due to its “omnipresent nature and ease of accessibility.”

The overall gross gaming revenue of the European Union accounted for approximately €82 billion in 2008; of this, the GGR from online gambling exceeded €6 billion and this is expected to double in size by 2013, the organisation claims.

The conference will include panel sessions focusing on the following issues:

• The Green Paper on online gambling: Is Europe on the right track?

• Gambling, Good Causes and Sports Integrity – Are the current rules appropriate for the 21st Century?

• Has the right balance been reached between consumer choice and protection?

Full details at: http://www.eu-ems.com/summary.asp?event_id=57&page_id=361&/

Checking in at the WSOP

The 2011 WSOP is now over two weeks old and 19 bracelets have been awarded, with players from the US, the UK, Canada, and Russia all striking gold with victories at the WSOP. Turnout has continued to be strong with some huge paydays for winners, topped by Allen Bari’s win in Event #4 that was worth $874,116.

After plenty of drama to kick off the WSOP action (including Phil Ivey’s bombshell announcement about sitting out the WSOP and suing Full Tilt as well as a confrontation between Full Tilt pro John Juanda and James Bord) things have settled down, with players getting into the groove of playing big events each and every day from early June well into July.

Fears that the US government’s crackdown on online casino and poker sites might hurt turnout for WSOP events has so far been unfounded, as nearly every event held so far as met or exceeded last year’s numbers.

As far as the big early winners, young British phenom Jake Cody won his first WSOP bracelet to go with his EPT and WPT titles, and John Juanda scored one for the big name pros when he won Event #16 (and denied Phil Hellmuth his 12th WSOP bracelet in the process when he defeated Hellmuth in heads-up play).

It’s been a good start for the UK, with three Brits so far taking down bracelets, which puts them well on pace to break their best showing ever in 2010 when they won five bracelets to put British poker firmly back on the poker map. The US typically dominates the bracelet count easy year and so far 2011 is no exception.

Below you’ll find all the winners for bracelets awarded so far at the 2011 WSOP, with 19 of the 58 total tournaments concluded:

Darren Wright, the second of two Canadians accused by US federal investigators of being the men behind alleged illegal online gambling activities at ThrillX-BetEd has denied any ownership, implying that the feds are mistaken. Wright has engaged the legal services of Californian law firm Ledger & Associates to assist in his defence.

Earlier this week his co-accused, Canadian David Parchomchuk, engaged prominent US lawyer Jeff Ifrah to present his defence that he was merely a supplier of software, and not the owner of the gambling companies targeted in the federal investigation.

The list of good, reputable online gambling sites for American customers continues to shrink. Some are under attack by the Justice Department and others have pulled out of the market out of fear of attack. Black Friday shut down three major poker rooms. Blue Monday shut the door for 10 online casinos. And now eleven more major online casinos, some of the best in the business, will no longer accept new customers. Here is the list of affected online casinos:

VIP Slots Casino

Millionaire Casino

Online Vegas Casino

Go Casino

English Harbour Casino

Crazy Slots Casino

Grand Vegas Casino

Caribbean Gold Casino

Silver Dollar Casino

Slots Galore Casino

Super Slots Casino

For now, the online casinos will still allow existing members to play, but will not accept any new customers. The expectation is that eventually they will close for good, possibly to later reopen under a different name (and avoid the U.S. market).

Those online casinos are part of several different casino groups, but they do have something in common. They all use Vegas Technology software. For that reason, there is speculation that the order to stop accepting customers came from Vegas Tech.

Any Americans who have accounts with those casinos would be wise to withdraw their money as soon as they can. If you have trouble doing so, due to wagering requirements or some other issue, contact customer service and explain the problem. With those casinos joining the crowd of companies avoiding the United States, it is quickly becoming slim pickings for American online gamblers. It is likely that this will have a cascading effect, with casino after casino, group after group, and software after software bowing out of the market. Of course, some may want to stick around to take advantage of decreased competition, but they would do so at a risk. The best hope the American people have is that legislation comes through to clarify the law or regulate the industry.

Tags: Black Friday, casino closing, Vegas Technology