Monday, June 30, 2014

Online Gambling

Good article about Online Gambling.  Here is an excerpt:

calvinayre.com IGAMING DEVELOPMENTS – CHRIS CHRISTIE AND SHELDON ADELSON

BY RAFI FARBER

The news out of New Jersey hasn’t been stellar of late, and Chris Christie is taking the heat for it. He famously, or rather infamously, predicted last May that New Jersey would earn $180M a year from a 15% internet gambling tax. He ended up with only $12M, about 7% of what he expected. If Christie had understood basic economics, he wouldn’t have made such a prediction. But Christie doesn’t understand basic economics, just like most politicians and government bureaucrats who make their living interfering with the economy.

iGaming Developments - Chris Christie and Sheldon AdelsonThe first crucial thing to grasp about the gambling industry is that it is not productive on net, meaning it does not produce tangible wealth. Rather it is essentially consumptive of wealth. This is not to badmouth gambling, but just to explain the nature of the industry in that it is a consumer industry. Producer industries are farming, construction, technology, that sort of thing. It’s the same with the restaurant industry, supermarkets, and the entire entertainment industry. These are consumer services that consume wealth, not produce it. The only thing gambling produces on net is consumer satisfaction, which is not tangible wealth.

Understanding that, Christie’s woes stem from the fact that the only way a consumer entertainment industry can bring in net revenue to a given territory is by attracting foreign wealth from outside its jurisdiction. Otherwise you are only dealing with the same pot of money, and just dividing it differently between industries.

The reason Nevada and Atlantic City earn money for their state governments is not because gambling in those states magically increases revenue from within. It is because Las Vegas and Atlantic City attract capital from areas outside of Nevada and New Jersey, and a percentage of that capital goes to tax revenue. If theoretically Nevada and New Jersey were to outlaw gambling for non-Nevada and New Jersey residents, there would be no net gain from the gaming industry in those states.

Read More Here --> calvinayre.com IGAMING DEVELOPMENTS – CHRIS CHRISTIE AND SHELDON ADELSON

***WARNING*** 
Chairman Robert Smith, Chairman of the Pala Band of Mission Indians, Pala Band of Luiseno Indians, Pala Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of the Pala Reservation, is monitoring your comments.  He is going to track your IP address and "take action" against any tribal member posting comments he does not like.




Sunday, June 29, 2014

Bwin.Party Might Be For Sale Soon

The CEO of Pala Interactive LLC is Jim Ryan.  He was formerly Co-CEO of Bwin.Party.

bloomberg.com Bwin.Party Online Casino Said to Weigh Possible Sale

By Christopher Palmeri  Jun 26, 2014

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Plc, (BPTY) a pioneer of online gambling, is considering selling some or all of the company as part of a strategic review, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

The Gibraltar-based company, a partner in New Jersey’s new online betting market with Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, hired Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) to consider its options, said the people, who requested anonymity because the matter isn’t public. The company will decide within two months, one person said. In a statement today, Bwin said it has no plans to break up or sell the company.

The discussions follow a share drop, a change in board leadership and a disappointing start to online betting in the U.S. A new threat emerged this month when PokerStars, the world’s dominant poker website, agreed to be sold in a deal that could hasten its re-entry to the fledgling U.S. market after an absence of several years.

Read More Here --> bloomberg.com Bwin.Party Online Casino Said to Weigh Possible Sale

***WARNING*** 
Chairman Robert Smith, Chairman of the Pala Band of Mission Indians, Pala Band of Luiseno Indians, Pala Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of the Pala Reservation, is monitoring your comments.  He is going to track your IP address and "take action" against any tribal member posting comments he does not like.

Saturday, June 28, 2014

PokerStars Makes Progress In New Jersey

www.casino.org - PokerStars Could Return to New Jersey Market by Fall

JUNE 27, 2014 BY DAVID SHELDON

PokerStars’ carefully orchestrated sale to Amaya Gaming for $4.9 billion looks like it might well pay off for the world’s biggest poker site. The ink was still running down the page on that $4.9 billion contract when New Jersey gaming officials announced that they had met with representatives from Amaya, and this week they told the Associated Press that they were optimistic that PokerStars may be able to join the New Jersey market as early as this fall.


Also see:


By: Hartley Henderson - Exclusive to OSGA.com
Published: Jun 26, 2014 

The poker world was provided quite the shock recently when it was announced that Amaya Gaming will be purchasing PokerStars and Full Tilt poker for $4.9 billion. While there had been some speculation about the sale for a few months prior, most in the industry believed the sale would never be consummated due to the cost.

For those unfamiliar with the Quebec based company, Amaya entered the online gaming market in 2004 supplying software for electronic poker tables. In 2006 they hired David Baazov a 26 year-old entrepreneur as CEO and he made it quite clear at the time that his goal was to make Amaya a major player in all realms of legal government regulated online gambling through acquisitions. The company did have a few small acquisitions at first but really made a splash in 2011 and 2012 when they made several major purchases. First in early 2011 they purchased gaming software company Chartwell Technologies for $22.8 million; later that year they purchased Cryptologic for $36 million; late in the year they purchased Cadillac Jack for $167 million; and finally in 2012 they bought bwin.party's surplus Ongame poker Network for $15 million. As well, Amaya inked a partnership agreement with Australian based Aristocrat gaming and not surprisingly revenues at Amaya soared by over 200%.

But as successful as those deals had been the purchase of PokerStars and Full Tilt from the Oldford Group (parent company of the Rational Group) puts Amaya in a position to be the biggest online gambling company in the world.

Read More Here --> osga.com - Does Amaya Gaming’s purchase of PokerStars and Full Tilt open the way to the U.S. market?

***WARNING*** 
Chairman Robert Smith, Chairman of the Pala Band of Mission Indians, Pala Band of Luiseno Indians, Pala Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of the Pala Reservation, is monitoring your comments.  He is going to track your IP address and "take action" against any tribal member posting comments he does not like.

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Cristy Fajardo KCBS Video On Disenrollments

I was asked to repost this video since apparently many people have not seen it.  Robert Smith is briefly interviewed.



In other news:

washingtonpost.com - Grocery bags full of cash, a missing jet and the armed fight for a Native American casino


***WARNING***
Chairman Robert Smith, Chairman of the Pala Band of Mission Indians, Pala Band of Luiseno Indians, Pala Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of the Pala Reservation, is monitoring your comments.  He is going to track your IP address and "take action" against any tribal member posting comments he does not like.


Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Paskenta

There's been much going on at Paskenta.  If you have been reading the news then like me you have probably had a hard time trying to figure out exactly what is going on.  Dueling press releases have also clouded the issues.  As things stand right now it appears the BIA is recognizing the ousted Executive Committee members while the current Committee headed by Andy Freeman seems to have the support of the tribe.

Here are some articles that go into detail:

Press Release - Paskenta Nomlaki Indians Try to Resolve Tribal Dispute Peacefully

Excerpt:

The members of the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians emphatically demonstrated their support of their newly elected Tribal government this week.
On Wednesday, about 100 Tribal Members gathered at the entrance to the Tribe’s Rolling Hills Casino to show that an overwhelming majority of the Tribe supports recent General Council actions on membership issues and the replacement of four members of the former Tribal Council. They were also there to rebuff a threatened effort by the ousted Tribal Council members to take over the Casino. 

Read More Here - Press Release - Paskenta Nomlaki Indians Try to Resolve Tribal Dispute Peacefully


SacBee - Northern California tribe splits into armed camps over casino profits

Excerpt:

On May 2, Freeman issued a statement saying the new Tribal Council “has discovered substantial hard evidence of massive embezzlement of funds from the tribe by members of the suspended family and former Tribal Treasurer Leslie Lohse, Tribal Administrator Ines Crosby and Tribal Economic Development Director John Crosby.”
Freeman produced canceled checks to support his allegation that Crosby misappropriated $1.4 million from tribal accounts to pay for his house, swimming pool, basketball court and remodeling work.
The connection between Paskenta and Pala is the California Tribal Business Alliance.  Paskenta's ousted treasurer Leslie Lohse is Chair of the California Tribal Business Alliance.  Robert Smith is treasurer of the California Tribal Business Alliance.
http://www.caltba.org/who/boardofdirectors




***WARNING***
Chairman Robert Smith, Chairman of the Pala Band of Mission Indians, Pala Band of Luiseno Indians, Pala Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of the Pala Reservation, is monitoring your comments.  He is going to track your IP address and "take action" against any tribal member posting comments he does not like.

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Amaya Gaming Buying PokerStars

Amaya Gaming is in the process of buying PokerStars for $4.9 Billion.

What exactly does this mean?  Well, PokerStars has been a bit of fly in the ointment stalling legislation in California that could legalize online poker in the Golden State.  Some California tribes have insisted on Bad Actor language in legislation which would essentially lock out PokerStars from the California Online Poker Market.  At the same time Morongo, Card Parlors, and Horse Tracks have partnered with PokerStars to develop online poker in the event it becomes legal in California.

With PokerStars being bought by another company perhaps now they would be able to participate in the California Market.  If this is the case then some of the last road blocks preventing online poker from being legal in California could be removed.  If the Bad Actor clause is no longer an issue then presumably Morongo, Card Parlors, Horse Tracks, and the rest of the tribes in California could agree on some form of the current proposed legislation.

For more information you can read the following:

Forbes - Amaya Gaming In Deal To Buy PokerStars For $4.9 Billion



***WARNING***
Chairman Robert Smith, Chairman of the Pala Band of Mission Indians, Pala Band of Luiseno Indians, Pala Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of the Pala Reservation, is monitoring your comments.  He is going to track your IP address and "take action" against any tribal member posting comments he does not like.

Friday, June 13, 2014

Flora Brittain 1928 Application

This is the 1928 Application for my Great-Grandmother Flora Brittain, wife of James Brittain.  James Brittain was Margarita Brittain's son.  Flora lists James as 1/2 and all of their children as 3/4.


1928 App No 2101 Flora Brittain



***WARNING***
Chairman Robert Smith, Chairman of the Pala Band of Mission Indians, Pala Band of Luiseno Indians, Pala Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of the Pala Reservation, is monitoring your comments.  He is going to track your IP address and "take action" against any tribal member posting comments he does not like.

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Regarding Comments

I received an email last night informing me this blog came up at last night's General Council meeting at Pala.  Chairman Robert Smith, Chairman of the Pala Band of Mission Indians, Pala Band of Luiseno Indians, Pala Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of the Pala Reservation, is monitoring your comments.  He is going to track your IP address and "take action" against any tribal member posting comments he does not like.

I just thought all of you should be aware.  I have also deleted all the prior comments.

Pala is governed through fear and this is just another example of that.  To be fair, it's not just Pala.  Really, it's nearly every country in the world.  Pick one:  Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Afghanistan, and even the United States are governed through fear.  I don't want to single out Pala as the only place in the world that uses fear and intimidation to govern.  It's a tactic as old as humanity itself.

The United States as a whole is largely governed through fear.  The biggest fear I had as a kid was the fear of Nuclear Annihilation.  During the Bush Administration the fear of terrorism was used to justify all sorts of erosion to our freedoms.  If one was critical of the war in Iraq you were branded as a traitor.  The Obama Administration is using the fear of the NSA and monitoring of everyone's activities to govern.  Everyone knows by now we are all being watched, tracked, recorded, our emails read, and internet searches logged.

Also I have to say that all the anonymous comments were as usual getting out of hand.  If you are going to post something mean and nasty at least have the courage to use your own name.  Talking tough anonymously isn't really tough.  It's chickenshit.  If you are not willing to say something to someone's face perhaps you shouldn't say it at all.

I thought about closing the comments as I have done in the past but I will leave them on for now.  I thought about requiring registration or at least making it required to provide a name and email address in order to comment but for now I will just leave things as they are.

So feel free to comment...or not.  You are free...I think.  Or are you?

Going forward each post will come with the following warning.  I don't want anyone claiming they were not aware Chairman Robert Smith was going to take action against them for commenting on this blog if he happens to not like the comment.

***WARNING***
Chairman Robert Smith, Chairman of the Pala Band of Mission Indians, Pala Band of Luiseno Indians, Pala Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of the Pala Reservation, is monitoring your comments.  He is going to track your IP address and "take action" against any tribal member posting comments he does not like.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Cody Schalter Clarification

I am not sure where this is coming from all of a sudden but several commenters have made reference to a "packet" delivered to the Executive Committee by Cody Schalter.  This happened over two years ago.  The packet contained documents demonstrating Margarita Brittain to be 4/4.  I believe Cody dropped off a copy of the 1913 Pala Allotment Roll for Kilma at this time which shows Margarita Brittain to be 4/4.

Here are the Executive Committee meeting minutes from October 2011.

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Sheldon Adelson


Forbes - Sheldon Adelson Is Winning His War Against Online Gambling

By Nathan Vardi, Forbes Staff

When Sheldon Adelson’s campaign against online gambling in America emerged last fall, some Internet gambling supporters dismissed his effort as misguided and confused. They pointed to the fact that the entire gambling industry except for Adelson was united in its support of extending gambling to the Internet. Some felt that few would take objections to online gambling on moral grounds seriously from a man who had made a huge fortune off of land-based casinos. Even Adelson’s comment that he was ‘willing to spend whatever it takes,”‘ to stop online gambling was seen by some as a hollow threat given his inability to push his man into the White House by spending tens of millions of dollars.

But half a year later, Adelson appears to be winning his war against online gambling. In the fall of 2013, proponents of online gambling felt the wind at their back with states like New Jersey, Delaware and Nevada launching regulated online gambling and high expectations that big revenues and tax receipts generated in New Jersey would push other states to embrace online gambling. But as of June, online gambling efforts in key states like California appear to be stalled and the best that online gambling supporters can say about the federal level is that Adelson is no closer to implementing a federal online gambling ban than they are to pushing through a federal regulatory regime for online gambling.

Read Full Article Hear Forbes - Sheldon Adelson Is Winning His War Against Online Gambling

Other News:

New California Online Poker Bill Likely Ready Next Week

Pennsylvania Online Poker Bill Details

Jamaica Seeks Online Gambling Regulation

Early Bird discounts set to close on North America's leading iGaming events