William Hill might be one of the biggest bookmaking brands in the UK, but when they heard that the USA might be making online gambling legal in the near future, they were madly keen to get into this market. First off, gambling online will start intrastate, and this means individual states will be responsible for making their own laws in this regard.

One of the first at the starting gate for state-legislation was Nevada, and William Hill took a very big gamble by investing $53.25 million in three Nevada gambling concerns. These acquisitions are; Brandywine Bookmaking, American Wagering Inc and Club Cal Neva Satellite Race and Sportsbook.

It appears as though this gamble has paid off and will continue to pay off big time, as the need to supplement state coffers through additional tax revenue schemes, spreads like wild-fire throughout the USA. Nevada state administration has ensured that they are now legal to offer online gambling licenses, and William Hill is one of the first to be granted a license from the Nevada Gaming Commission.

William Hill has a wealth of experience in the online gambling business; this brand is not only about High Street retail betting shops. They have been offering super services online for a good deal of time in the UK. The UK as we know has a well-developed infrastructure for the Internet gambling industry. They offer online sports betting, online bingo, a casino, virtual gaming such as Rugby Union, snooker and more; poker, financials, skill, mobile, Arcade and Vegas-type games. UK customers have developed an eclectic and sophisticated taste for these types of games, so, William Hill is well placed in Nevada to offer a superior online service.

It made good sense for this brand to get into the US at the very beginning, as getting a foothold in the US market while legislation is under review, is the way to make sure they get in on the ground-floor with a chance to win. Online gambling was extant in the USA prior to 2006; however, the promulgation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act (UIGEA) changed all of this. So, essentially the USA is six years behind the UK in relationship to this virtual industry – we all know just how fast technology advances, so, they are way behind.

This is a significant step by William Hill as the ban is expected to be relaxed in the future state-by-state. To date we have no idea if UIGEA will change Federally, but according to Federal Government. It is up to each state to decide whether they wish online gambling to be made legal.

The acquisitions of the three Nevada-based gambling concerns were dependent on the outcome of the William Hill license applications being granted. Now that this has taken place, we can expect it to be all systems go. Obviously the sooner they get websites up and running, the sooner they can expect a return on their investment.

The brand new restaurant at the Genting Club on Portland Street Manchester is now open, following the completion of the first phase of the major refurbishment which is currently underway at the venue.

The restaurant, which is called the Fahrenheit Grill and has space for 80 diners, offers a new, premium dining experience in the heart of the city. The restaurant name is inspired by the unique Josper Grills used in the preparation of some of the dishes, which can reach temperatures of up to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Dishes which feature on the new menu include; 35 day matured "Mathers Black Gold" fillet of Scotch beef; seared sea bass fillet; and Josper roasted lobster and monkfish loin.

Fahrenheit Grill also boasts an impressive wine list available by both the glass and bottle.

Head chef at Fahrenheit Grill at Genting Club Manchester, James Manham, says; "It’s really exciting to have the Fahrenheit Grill open and ready for business. The Josper Grill we have in the kitchen is a delight to cook with. It combines the features of an enclosed oven with the traditional characteristics of a barbecue to maintain the high cooking temperature. It is this unique cooking method which really helps to enhance the flavours, particularly when preparing the high quality steaks we source.

"You won’t find a better steak in Manchester." He added.

The food and drink offering at the Genting Club Manchester, and across Genting’s provincial estate, has been masterminded by ex Head Chef at Claridge’s, Paul Farr. Paul joined Genting earlier this year after nine years at the famous London restaurant. He said of the new restaurant at the Genting Club; "People don’t generally tend to associate casinos with a quality dining experience, however that is exactly what you will get at the new Fahrenheit Grill in Manchester. We have invested a lot of time and effort in to developing the very best cooking techniques and sourcing the highest quality ingredients for the menu, and have worked equally hard to create a stylish, premium, but relaxed ambience in the restaurant.

"The atmosphere is only heightened by the nearby gaming floor and casino surroundings. If you haven’t dined in a casino before I think you will be very pleasantly surprised."

Paul added; "Diners at the Fahrenheit Grill do not have to be members of the Genting Club and there is no requirement for diners to game, although they are of course very welcome to do so if they wish."

Work on phase two of the refurbishment at the Genting Club continues, with a new bar and work to update and modernise the gaming floor and reception area, still to be completed. The whole project will be completed later this year.

To find out more, to see a menu or to make a booking please visit www.gentingcasinos.co.uk/club/manchester/restaurant/

Currently the Spanish economy is really not doing well. In fact a good number of European countries are struggling and some are looking at internet gambling as an additional revenue stream. Spain is hoping for windfall from online gambling, but as this industry will be brand new, it is hard to say that will actually take place. One thing we can be assured of is that the Spaniards love a gamble, just as much, if not more than the rest of us do – especially considering their love of sports; in particular football.. Whether they will have the money to spend…well that remains to be seen?

The online gambling shake-up takes place this week, and the Government is hoping it will capture and audience as well as some much-needed tax income into their state coffers. Newly licensed companies are currently slugging it out to win to win market share, and there is definitely a sense that online poker and sports betting fans are lining up to take part. The Spanish government is heavily indebted to the EU and others, so, awarded licenses to operators for the first time on Friday the 1st June.

According to the outgoing central bank head – he recently warned that income tax in this country may really fall short as they struggle to refinance €98 billion in debt and deficit of €52 billion.
While the amount of tax to be raised from this new industry is bound to be small in comparison to the size of its debt and deficit, we all know every little bit helps. Online gambling firms will be taxed on gross profits, at between 10% and 25%. There will be no tax on individual wagers, so, it is not at the point of sale.

According to the gaming association, the Spanish market in this industry sector could be worth more than €800 million 0r $1 billion by 2014. So far the sector has been dominated by foreign players, even within Spain, and this includes with Codere – a large Spanish betting concern. With others about to enter into the fray we can’t wait to see what will take place.

Spain has no limit on the amount of licenses it will award, which unlike most European countries. Take for example Germany which is only allowing seven for the time being. So far, fifty-nine gambling firms have applied for these licenses. Only a small portion of the fifty-nine applicants have been turned down, and only those which have not met all the necessary requirements need have fear of being turned down.

Sportingbet and Bwin.party digital (both London Stock exchange listed) are already active in the unregulated Spanish market, and are expected to be main contenders. Betfair, Ladbroke and 888 will be joining the crowd. Currently his online gambling sector is considered to be ‘on fire’. People are also fully aware that if you don’t have an online presence, then there is probably no future for your business. This tenet does not only apply to the Internet gambling industry, it basically applies to us all.

When people think of gambling, the first thing they envision is the bright lights of Nevada’s sin city casino strip. Yet for a country whose economy is given a major boost by the flocking tourist visiting Las Vegas, there is much controversy and talk about whether online gambling should be restricted or legalised as a whole.

Gambling Games have long since been described as being games of chance introduced to the new world by its British settlers. From the start of its introduction into this new land, gambling has always split the values and believes of communities in half.

As, whilst on one hand gambling can be seen as a great and valuable way to boost a country’s economy through a revenue increase, the other half see gambling as a viciously addictive vice which ruins people’s lives.

However, in an effort to reduce the amount of taxes American citizens would have to pay in order to fund some much needed national services, the government concluded that authorising certain forms of gambling would be in the nation’s interest for a greater good.

In order for the greater good to be maintained in the eye of the state, an American Gaming Society was established. This society was set up to depict a list of gaming options which would be made permissible by governmental law, these where to include charitable gaming, lotteries and commercial casinos.

With categories detailing the breakdown of gambling as per the authority of the American Gaming Society as bestowed unto them by the government, gambling as a whole, is deemed legal under the federal law of the United States. Nevertheless, each individual state us encouraged to regulate and even prohibit gambling in both the physical and online form of gaming.
The most liberal and pro gambling state in the whole of the USA is Nevada, where for years the local governing body and the state law have worked harmoniously together to allow gambling as a state wide legal enterprise restricted only by licenses and zoning restrictions.

Yet, whilst the pro gambling debate wages on between states, the regulations of online gambling have been closely enforced and adhered to. However, the major cause of the online gambling debate in the USA still remains that of the release and enforcement of the 1961 Federal Wire Act. This legislation served to outlaw all betting between states with regards to sports, yet failed to address any legal standing against any other forms of gambling.

Due to its ambiguous nature the Federal Wire Act has been greatly contested and its failure to legally acknowledge and regulate all forms of gambling rather than just those between interstates, led to the requirement of new legislation brought in its place as that of 2006’s unlawful internet gambling act, which served only to confuse the nation further as rather than prohibit any form of online gambling it outlawed any financial transaction made between a US citizen and the online gaming provider.

In 2010 UK gaming site woke up and rejoiced as news broke out that the four year ban which had been imposed upon US online gamblers was soon to be lifted as per the government’s reviews of its 2006 legislations and its prohibition of online real money betting.

As the 2006 legislation was enforce in September of 2006 across the USA, the UK’s multibillion pound gambling industry came close to collapse at the overnight loss of one of its largest online clients.

And, with the economy well on its downward spiral already, the last thing the British economy system needed was another attack on its annual revenue income.
Yet the loss of the US players to such profitable and reliable UK gaming sites like 888 Limited and Party Gaming meant that their shares saw a drastic drop of between 26% and 54% for each site respectively which equated to an overall loss of £4billion in stock shares.

And whilst the UK tried and failed to make the best of a bad situation by exploring wider gaming opportunities further afield than the scope of the US, nothing has been able to come close to the amount of revenue that US patronage produced which has in turn meant the inability of the gaming industry to recover fully from the revenue deficit the loss of the US backing cost.
However with the repeal on the mind of many a US governing body, a new hope was instilled amongst a struggling yet slowly re-growing online gaming industry as that age old controversial discussion on whether or not online gambling should be made legal was once again sparked off.

Nevertheless whilst UK and US Online Gambling supporters remained hopeful that the band would soon be lifted, expert predicted a drastic stall in repeal proceeding as midterm elections swept the nation and seats changed hands.

Yet when the stall experts predicted finally did came it was a surprised that its consequence was not that of any governmental election taking place, but rather that of the US states realising that the same legislations they had been abiding by and upholding since the 1961 Federal Wire Act could actually be used to help their own internal state economy without having to seek legal online gambling in overseas places like the UK.

Once again, the UK along with the rest of Europe were left to weigh the pros and cons of the US government lifting the ban on online gambling in the USA and realising the possible negative implications that lifting such a ban would have on their economy if US casinos and gaming halls chose to exploit this new freedom and establish themselves as rival gaming providers for US players within the actual US.

Two years on from the initial discussion to quash the 2006 prohibition of online gambling legislation in the US back in 2010, and still no decision has as yet come to fruition as the online gambling US drought continues.