Washington, D.C. to offer online poker

**msuduster** · 06-29-2011 09:18 AM

We briefly discussed this possibility when it first popped up and now it's closer to becoming a reality.

Here's an excerpt from Y! News
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While the dollar amount hasn't been finalized, gamblers will likely be barred from depositing more than $250 a week into their online accounts to begin play, lottery director Buddy Roogow said. There are no limits on what someone can win.

Such low stakes will make the district's online poker rooms unattractive to poker pros, and Roogow is fine with that.

"We don't think that this is the type of play that they're going to be excited about and interested in," he said. "We believe there's a much larger component of social, recreational and casual players who will be interested in a lower-stakes platform."

Online poker is similar to a real poker game in that players sit around a virtual table and wager their money against each other.

In addition to Texas Hold 'Em — which in the past decade has eclipsed all other poker games in popularity — the district will also be offering online blackjack, as well as games that are entirely based on luck. But no form of online gambling has attracted the interest of poker.

Some industry experts and poker players are taking a dim view of the D.C. venture's prospects. Players will have to be inside the borders of the district in order to participate, and some wonder whether a city of 600,000 has enough poker players for the site to sustain itself.

...

The online gambling will be run by Intralot, a Greece-based company that last year won a four-year, $39 million contract as D.C.'s lottery vendor. The contract included an option for online gaming, and the district simply exercised that option when it became available. The agency was not legally obligated to solicit separate bids for online gambling, said Ridgely Bennett, the lottery's in-house attorney.

Intralot has not operated an online gambling venture in the U.S. but has done so in Europe, lottery officials said. The company will receive a share of the revenue.

"The platform that they're building satisfies us that they have that experience to build a quality program for us," Roogow said.

While the rollout is still being finalized, the lottery plans to allow people to start playing certain games for free starting in late July. The paid site is expected to launch in mid-September. It will accept only debit transactions.

Roogow described the low limits and the refusal to accept credit cards as consumer-protection measures.
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Interesting that Roogow sees debit transactions as better for consumer protections when legally that is simply not true. You have far more protections using credit cards than debit. Now we don't know the details so maybe there will be more safeguards built in, but honestly this seems a little contrary to common sense.

As for only being able to deposit $250 a week, that can still add up over the course of a year. It'll be interesting to see how many people take advantage.

I know plenty of people who played on Stars or FTP, but I'm not sure if they'd trust the District of Columbia to do anything but screw up. Our city council is full of cronies (I would guess the DC City Council has had more indictments than the Detroit City Council) and with the whole Ultimate Bet / Absolute Poker shenanigans I wouldn't be surprised if a similar situation happened with this Greek company and the council of boneheads in DC.

**nature1970** · 07-14-2011 04:48 PM

Justice department booged down with all the details of the ongoing saga of how close the hand seperation of a bad beatto every aa gets beat post flop and thee player who had pocket aa but the thrust of the feds isnt about its the ability withi the system to effectively move money to other and ducking the all important irs laws

On a personal note hated to see erik that man had no money to buy in with and the boyscott in him lose face because full tilt couldnt pony up the entry fee due to a misunderstood nation

**msuduster** · 07-27-2011 11:07 AM

It'll be interesting to see if this becomes more than just talk. Maybe a big name online pro like Cole South (since he lives here) can become the face of online poker.

**msuduster** · 08-14-2011 10:36 AM

There will be a series of neighborhood advisory committee meetings open to the public in various DC wards. They were originally scheduled for August but have been postponed and will now take place in September.

There's nothing nefarious about the postponement. For those of you outside of the Beltway (outside of DC Metro), August is a dead period here. Congress is in recess and many people who work for the government (a huge portion of the workforce) leave for summer vacations and beach house rentals with friends, family, etc.

An August meeting would draw maybe 10% of the normal amount of attendees. In order to get as many people as possible they've decided to reschedule for September when people will be back in town.

Pending my work schedule I will definitely try and go. I'll post any reports, meeting notes, etc. in this thread.

**nature1970** · 08-28-2011 11:51 AM

I did know a world poker series 24th placed gentlemen from england bought an online poker company i did not see this expansion so quickly we voted for a cascino in oxford county it was approved by voters but has yet to be schedualed for constuction. that was last november....

**msuduster** · 08-28-2011 07:43 PM

Originally Posted by nature1970

I did know a world poker series 24th placed gentlemen from england bought an online poker company i did not see this expansion so quickly we voted for a cascino in oxford county it was approved by voters but has yet to be schedualed for constuction. that was last november....

Wow, that guy is making a serious investment in the potential of online poker. The initial overhead must be enormous, not to mention all the necessary legal, regulatory, fees, etc.

**nature1970** · 08-31-2011 06:50 PM

Originally Posted by msuduster

Wow, that guy is making a serious investment in the potential of online poker. The initial overhead must be enormous, not to mention all the necessary legal, regulatory, fees, etc.

with that much a few 100 million must be a team of investorrs....

**msuduster** · 08-31-2011 09:37 PM

Excerpts from the Washington Times
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A trio of D.C. Council members signaled their intent Wednesday to re-examine the $38 million D.C. Lottery contract and a plan to launch the nation’s first online poker system, an idea promoted by council member Michael A. Brown, at-large independent, and approved without public discussion in a supplemental budget bill in December.

Their remarks were made after The Washington Times reported Tuesday that Inspector General Charles J. Willoughby has failed to act on a request from two former Cabinet officials to investigate irregularities in the underlying lottery contract and the oversight activities of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Natwar M. Gandhi.

The inspector general revelations and council reaction raise new questions about where Mr. Brown will find support when the issue gets aired publicly this fall.

“The inspector general should be doing an investigation,” council member Jack Evans, Ward 2 Democrat, said of the request by former Chief Procurement Officer David P. Gragan and former Attorney General Peter J. Nickles, who raised concerns in July 2010 of an irregular contract approval and vetting process that handed a 51 percent stake in the lottery to a local businessman who never participated in the competitive bidding process.

...

A representative for council member Yvette Alexander said the Ward 7 Democrat, who had a fundraiser hosted for her last year by the local lottery partner, “will review the situation before she comments.”

Council member Harry Thomas Jr., Ward 5 Democrat and an ally of Ms. Alexander’s and Mr. Brown’s who is under federal investigation and recently agreed to refund more than $300,000 he raised to promote youth sports, said he hadn’t formulated any thoughts on the lottery contract.

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I have a couple thoughts on this.

1) The DC Council is a sham of good governance. We still elect Marion Barry for crying out loud. If online poker has a chance it's because of illegitimate dealings, and / or fundraising money given by the online poker operators.

2) I really don't think we're going to see online poker in DC before 2012. There's really just no time. Unless they already have the software finished and ready to go ...

3) which brings me to my next point. Nobody really knows anything about this company. I've heard it has Greek origins, but that's it. It would actually surprise me if they didn't have some sort of tie back to the Mayor's office.

4) Mayor Gray has been besieged, and rightfully so, with charges of nepotism. He's had more turnover than usual due to allegations and scandals from his appointees.