There was no jackpot winning ticket sold for Saturday’s Powerball Lotto drawing.  The winning numbers 8, 12, 17, 35, 49, Powerball 18, Powerplay 4 generated over 450,000 winning tickets including 2 ‘Match 5′ winners, each worth $200,000 cash.  The jackpot for the Wednesday, January 2nd drawing is expected to exceed $52 million.

In the wee hours of Saturday morning, Congress has passed a measure that looks to have irrevocably changed the face of online gaming in the United States. The passing of the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act, sponsored by Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Arizona) and pushed-heavily by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., has made it illegal for financial institutions in America to process credit cards, checks and other electronic fund transfer mechanisms to settle online wagers. The bill is the Senate’s version of a similar House bill passed in July, which was sponsored by by Rep. Jim Leach (R-Iowa) and Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Virginia). The bill will now go before President George Bush to be made law, and is expected to be signed into legislation within the next two weeks.

The measure was supported by various anti-gambling groups as well as the National Football League, while opposed by banking groups. Although the vast majority of internet gambling companies are headquartered outside the U.S., the majority of its customer base comes from within the country. The measure – not expected to affect gambling at tracks or casinos – was attached to a bill aimed at beefing-up port security.

Frist, who is eyeing a 2008 presidential bid,, had lobbied unsuccessfully of late to attach the measure to a bill involving military funding, but was shot-down as critics countered that a Defense Department bill was not the appropriate place for the gambling measure. Although similar arguments were put-forth with this bill, nonetheless, it passed.

Of note, with essentially legislating a prohibition on online gaming, conventional bookmakers are reportedly rejoicing over the news, with business expected to quadruple given the latest measure similar to how alcohol prohibition led to an unprecedented rise in illegal bootlegging.

- Rex Harris

A request by video poker machine operators to postpone the first phase of a ban on video poker in North Carolina has been denied by Superior Court Judge Narley Cashwell today. 

The North Carolina Amusement Association had originally requested that Cashwell issue a temporary restraining order to prevent the first stage of a video poker phase-out, which is set to take effect this weekend, while they are still challenging the legality of the ban in court. The group had  filed a suit two weeks ago, questioning the constitutionality of the law approved by the General Assembly last June. The ban was passed partly due to the urging of sheriffs and state law enforcement agencies which argued that commercial video poker machines lead to crime and corruption.

The association members have countered that the ban is unconstitutional, in part because the state has entered into the gambling business with its “educational lottery� and therefore can’t have a monopoly. “The attorney general says the law is good public policy,� said the plaintiffs’ attorney, Gene Boyce “Our position is that driving people out of business is not good public policy. Everybody else, including the state, can engage in games of chance, but my clients are criminals if they continue to do so in disobedience to this new law,� Boyce added.     

Cashwell heard arguments from attorneys representing both the association and the state for less than half an hour in a closed-door meeting in his office yesterday. On Thursday afternoon the judge refused the group’s request according to North Carolina Department of Justice spokesperson, Noelle Talley.  “The court finds that (the) plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate that they are likely to sustain immediate and irreparable harm, or that they are likely to prevail on the merits of the case,� Cashwell wrote.  

Boyce, who is representing approximately 100 businesses, said he planned to seek a hearing on a preliminary injunction soon because he feels that his clients stand to lose out on a lot of revenue when the law goes into effect on Sunday.

-Ryan Wallace

Lawyers representing the North Carolina Amusement Machine Association had a chance to state their case on Wednesday as a Superior Court judge heard arguments privately as to whether to avert the first phase of a newly approved legislation, that will eventually lead to the banishment of video poker machines next year. The North Carolina Amusement Machine Association, a slew of its member companies and some poker players filed a lawsuit approximately two weeks prior, questioning the constitutionality of the law that the General Assembly had approved in June.

The attorneys representing the association have requested that Wake County Judge Narley Cashwell issue a temporary restraining order that would block enforcement of the first phase of the new law until the lawsuit is heard in court. Cashwell listened to attorneys representing both sides of the argument for less than one half-hour in his Raleigh office. Gene Boyce, a Raleigh attorney for the lawsuit’s plaintiffs, commented that the judge plans to come to make a ruling on the matter no earlier than Thursday afternoon.

The machine operators want the restraining order before Sunday, which is the day that the number of video poker machines in operation is to be reduced from the current three to two as according to the new legislation. That number will be cut in half by March 1, 2007 with no machines to be left operating by July 1 of the same year. Repeat offenders or those who are caught operating with five or more machines will face felony charges.   

The lawsuit contents that the planned phase-out will deprive video poker machine owners of compensation for their banned machines ; violate equal-protection rights and void a state compact with the Cherokees that allows for the operation of a video gambling casino on their reservation. State attorneys have presented affidavits to Cashwell form at least two sheriffs arguing for the elimination of video poker machines in the state. Their reasoning being the difficulty in seizing the machines that offer illegal cash payouts. They also contend that families are being hurt by relatives who are addicted to playing such machines. “This should not continue, and if ratified legislation survives judicial review, it will not,� wrote Sidney Causey, the sheriff of New Hanover County, in his affidavit.

Association members maintain that they are operating  legal machines and that they have stayed within the limits of the law ever since a new round of restrictions had taken effect in 2000. According to the court officials, Carolina State law and Wake County court rules didn’t require Cashwell to hear arguments on the temporary restraining order in open court.

-Ryan Wallace

The World Poker Tour announced  today that the Fallsview Casino Resort in Niagara Falls will play host to the first-ever WPT Canadian Open. The tournament is set to take place on Oct. 22-24, with the WPT North American Poker Championship to follow at the same locale on Oct. 25.“We recognized the need for a major national televised poker event that Canadians could call their own,� explained WPTE founder and CEO, Steve Lipscomb. “Canada is rich with poker fans, both new and long-standing, who have already embraced the WPT on their TV networks.�

Lipscomb added, “They have watched several of their own rise to the top on the World Poker Tour, including Gavin Smith, the Season IV WPT Player of the Year, and Daniel Negreanu, the Season III WPT Player of the year. We look forward to working in concert with the Fallsview Casino to establish the WPT Canadian Open as the premiere poker event in Canada.�

The WPT Canadian Open will offer lower buy-in events to give amateur poker players the chance at experiencing big-time professional poker action. The tournament itself however, will be run precisely as the WPT North American Poker Championships. The buy-in for the event is set at $2,700 CAD, with several satellite tournaments available, including $50 events which will run Sundays thru Thursdays, as well as $330 events on  Fridays and Saturdays until Oct. 21. A win at the $50 level will earn the player a seat in the $330 and a victory in that event will send the player into the main event. Satellite events are currently underway at the Fallsview Casino and in poker rooms at participating Ontario Lottery and Gaming casinos as well as charity casinos. 

“Players taking part in the WPT Canadian Open will experience everything the professional WPT players experience, the bright lights, the TV cameras, the pressure, everything,� said the Fallsview Casino’s manager of corporate communications, Greg Medulun. “Playing online and in regular casino games is one thing, but sitting where the stars sit with all eyes on you is quite another.�

The Canadian Open final table will be recorded for television. At the end of Oct. 24 there will be six players left remaining in the tournament. The remaining six will then have to wait until the completion of the North American Poker Championship before taking a seat at the televised final table, giving the players the total WPT experience.

-Ryan Wallace