Online gaming now counts tens of millions of real money players, many in the coveted Asian markets, but as gambling plays an increasingly important role in the virtual worlds it is becoming clear that technology is outrunning regulation on payments, money laundering and player protection. Alex Wade looks at the ways in which Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) cut across conventional gambling laws.

01/02/2008

Poker might not yet be quite as popular in Spain as it is in other European countries but Spanish participation in both online and land-based poker tournaments is becoming increasingly commonplace. Despite this, a large number of these tournaments are illegal under Spanish law, at least in theory.

14/11/2007

In the four years since Texas Hold ‘Em swept the world, online poker has become a licence to print money for a vast number of operators, as high stakes and humble dollar buy-in players alike took the game on trust. Now, thanks to the scandal engulfing www.absolutepoker.com, that trust has been severely dented, if not, in Absolute’s case, irreparably shattered, and legal remedies are scarce.

26/10/2007

If Scandinavia as a whole represents an area of seemingly limitless opportunity for online poker operators, it is in Sweden that the game has found its strongest footing.

22/10/2007

A quirky legal framework for gambling in the once brutal and isolated nation has created an apparently free market allowing the establishment of casinos and online sports betting but exemptions abound and tax hikes remain hard to predict.

16/10/2007

Although Dutch players are revered on the world poker scene, restrictive legislation in Holland limits opportunities for Dutch nationals to play the game outside of state-owned casinos.

11/09/2007

Belgium’s poker devotees are currently limited to playing only in the country’s casinos but rules regarding tournaments have relaxed and liberalisation of online play may yet be on the cards.

13/08/2007

Stereotypes of Teutonic rigour and the outlaw world of Texas Hold ‘em do not, at first blush, make for easy bedfellows but the game is poised to boom in Germany, beyond land based casinos, providing the law is prepared to accommodate the realities of card rooms and online play.

06/08/2007

Poker players in Scandinavia are suffering more than their brethren around the world, thanks to the zero tolerance policy that appears to have been tacitly agreed to by the authorities.

30/07/2007

As part of Gamblingcompliance.com’s series exploring poker’s legal status throughout Europe, Alex Wade notes that whilst poker was recently authorized in French casinos, the game’s online incarnation continues to be stifled by prohibitive legislation.

28/07/2007

As part of a series of exclusive articles exploring poker’s legal status throughout Europe, Alex Wade examines the gradual softening of the Italian authorities’ stance on tournament poker, and the European Commission’s concerns regarding the ‘black-listing’ of foreign online poker sites.

24/07/2007

Libel might be the last thing in the minds of the online poker executives as they count the profits from innumerable raked games, but defamatory remarks added by players in the realtime chat areas of their sites have the potential to join the operators as joint publishers and co-defendants in legal proceedings.

27/06/2007

As Federal scrutiny of Second Life’s virtual gambling activities continues a consensus is growing that virtual currencies are just as prone to money laundering abuses as real ones, and know your customer rules are impossible to enforce.

15/06/2007

Mobile gambling has been nothing if not a 21st century case of the Emperor’s new clothes, and its stop-start-stop history has given the cynics plenty of ammunition. But according to Peter Karsten, the CEO of Cecure Gaming, times are changing and he sees compliance as key to its success.

11/06/2007

With the 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) underway as of last Friday, organisers are anxious to avoid a repeat of last year’s tournament, which ended in a mire of lawsuits and recrimination.

07/06/2007

Pressure to report suspect transactions has increased in the UK, but the uneven implementation of the EU’s third Money Laundering Directive has laid bare some crucial differences among the practices adopted by member states, with online casinos and poker rooms largely overlooked by the new rules.

04/06/2007

Poker has long gloried in its status as the outlaw pursuit par excellence but competition law issues now being contested in US courtrooms are threatening to bring the game into the legal mainstream.

16/05/2007

With online casinos and poker rooms outside the definition of the UK money laundering rules, and DCMS research highlighting the dangers of money laundering through online accounts, UK gambling regulators have yet to demonstrate that they have a plan in place to deal with the problem.

27/04/2007

A London jury took just two hours to dismiss arguments that would have redrawn the landscape of UK gaming. Alex Wade looks at the consequences of a case that many in the legal profession believe should never have been brought, and is now heading to appeal.

06/02/2007