Cameron Diaz is hooked on to poker Source: New Kerala Newspaper London : Hollywood beauty Cameron Diaz has revealed that she has become a self-confessed poker addict, after being hooked on to the game by comedienne Ellen DeGeneres. The actress, who is dating singer Justin Timberlake, admits she now attends casinos and tournaments on a regular basis. “I’m addicted to it. I do like the casino a bit. I find myself at a casino every once in a while just walking through going: ‘What am I doing here?’ That’s so desperate - I’m in Tunica, Mississippi (at casinos),” she was quoted by the Sun, as saying. “I remember the fateful night (Ellen introduced me to the game) as well. I remember the phone call: ‘Come over and play Texas Hold ‘Em.’ I said: ‘I don’t know how to play Texas Hold ‘Em.’ She was like: ‘None of us do, come on over.’ We sat around a big table. What time did we get done, like four o’clock in the morning? I took everybody’s money that night!” she added.
U.S. Ordered to Clarify Online Casino Rules By Roy Mark For InternetNews.com The World Trade Organization (WTO) has given the United States until April to clarify its laws permitting Internet betting on horse racing but banning all other types of online gambling. Washington hopes the clarification will end the long-running trade dispute with the tiny Caribbean island nation of Antigua, which is attempting to rebuild its hurricane ravished economy with online casinos. Don't bet on it being resolved anytime soon, experts say. Antigua, the smallest member of the WTO, says the apparent inconsistency serves as a basis for Americans to legally gamble through online, offshore gambling casinos. More than two years ago, it filed a trade complaint with the WTO against the United States. For Washington, it's the trade complaint that won't go away. In April, the WTO issued a ruling that widely agreed with the United States. The decision said Washington has the right to keep gambling services off its list of free trade obligations to other WTO members under the organization's rules permitting countries to refuse to deal in goods and services it bans at home. Antigua, though, gained some measure of satisfaction in the decision when the WTO noted that the United States does permit online wagering when it comes to horse racing. It ordered the U.S. to clarify its current online gambling rules. Factoring in that congressional action might be necessary, the U.S. told the WTO it would have an answer in 15 months. Antigua insisted on a shorter time frame for the U.S. response and the WTO agreed, giving Washington until April 6, 2006. If Antigua is not satisfied with Washington's response, it can continue the trade dispute. In its April ruling supporting the U.S. ban on gambling, the WTO found "the possibility that the [Interstate Horseracing Act] exempts only domestic suppliers of some remote betting services for horse racing from the prohibitions" on remote gambling in pre-existing federal laws. "The one narrow issue we have to resolve is this: When a WTO member invokes a WTO exception, such as public morals, WTO rules say they have to do it without 'arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination,'" Neena Moorjani, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), told internetnews.com. Moorjani added, "We have to clarify is that there is no arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination in the treatment of horse racing." The dispute dates back to 2000, when Congress changed the language in the Interstate Horseracing Act to accommodate national betting through simulcasts at tracks throughout the country. As part of the change, Congress expanded the definition of an interstate off-track bet to include pari-mutuel wagers transmitted between states by way of telephone or other electronic media such as the Internet. According to the American Gaming Association (AGA), 11 states currently allow Internet gambling on horse races. In April, Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr., president and CEO of the AGA, called the WTO decision "very confusing and very interesting." Monday, Fahrenkopf issued a no comment on the latest WTO decision. In hearings before Congress two years ago, the House Banking Committee was told Americans will gamble more than $2 billion every year through offshore gambling sites. It is estimated that as much as 60 percent of all offshore gambling dollars come from Americans.
Poker bill hurdles House By Liberty Dones For Saipan Tribune After months of postponements, the House of Representatives passed on Thursday a bill that allows poker shops only on Beach Road and Middle Road, extending to As Terlaje and As Lito roads. House Bill 14-267 aims to ban poker operations in inner villages such as Koblerville, Dandan, San Vicente, and Kagman, and other villages up north like Tanapag and San Roque. "There would be nothing in the villages. No[thing in] Chalan Kanoa, Koblerville. Nothing inside the villages. It's limited to the main roads," said bill author Rep. Clyde K. Norita. Norita, in an interview yesterday said that, the amendments made to the bill includes changing signages from "poker" to "game room." "The signage won't say poker. It's just game room," he said. The amended bill also provides that no amusement machine shall be operated within 250 feet from the closest boundary of any public or private school, childcare center, nurseries, and churches. It also prohibits operations of these machines adjacent to or within the same facility or complex and under the same roof where commercial Laundromats or grocery stores are located. Earlier, Rep. David Apatang had moved to amend the bill to reduce it from 250 feet to the existing policy of 100 feet, but this motion was defeated. Norita said, though, that House members voted on Rep. Jesus Attao's proposal to allow existing poker shops that would violate the 250 feet guideline to continue operating until they close shop. "Those existing operators can't sell or transfer their license. Say, if they go bankrupt or stop operations, that's the end of the license," he said. Lawmakers said that there are at least two major poker shops that are located near schools. Norita said the bill provides that all existing poker operators would be given 180 days to comply with the law once enacted. Meantime, he said that the amended bill took out the provision to raise the poker fee by $4,000 in view of an earlier passed bill authored by Rep. Arnold I. Palacios, which aims to raise the fee by $4,000 for fuel surcharge payment. The bill, he said, carries a provision now that 25 percent of the raised fee would go to National Honor Society and Junior Statesmen program. Norita said H.B. 14-267 calls for upfront payment of poker license fee. Currently, poker fees are paid on an installment or quarterly basis.
