GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 3 - January 2008

GPWA TIMES | Making a Difference 26 gary and the Netherlands were all trying to protect state-run gambling mo- nopolies on sports betting and wanted to out freeze out online competition. But one man wouldn’t stand for it – European Commissioner Charlie Mc- Creevy. And that makes him GPWA’s 2007 Newsmaker of the Year. The 58-year-old McCreevy, who joined the European Commission in 2004, is best known for being a wildly successful politician in Ireland. He was first elected to Parliament by his hometown of County Kildare in 1977 and over- saw Ireland’s explosive economic growth from 1997-2004 as finance minister. When he was appointed to the EC, he was asked to oversee the European Union’s internal markets and services. “Trade is one of the main pillars of our prosperity and the major driver of economic growth,” says McCreevy. “As Commissioner for the Internal Market and Services I want to ensure that remaining barriers to trade within Europe are dismantled over time.” And McCreevy hasn’t shied away from applying that philosophy to online gambling. “The Commission has an obliga- tion under the Treaties to ensure that member states’ legislation is fully compatible with EU law,” said McCreevy when he first an- nounced the EC was targeting several countries for restrictive online gambling laws. “This is an important responsibility which it takes seriously. It has received a number of complaints from oper- ators in the area of sports betting, and it feels obliged to respond.” And the EC’s response was force- ful. It spent 2007 chasing down France, Sweden, Denmark, Fin- land and Hungary in an effort to force them to comply with EU law by opening up their markets to other operators from Europe. None of these countries have complied so far, but there are signs that 2008 may be the year that it happens. France, by far, has been the most militant of the bunch. In 2006, France ar- rested bwin co-CEOs Manfred Bodner and Norbert Teufelberger for violating French gambling monopoly laws. In 2007, Team Unibet was barred from participating in the Tour de France because of a law that prohibits gambling entities from sponsorships in sports. PROFESSOR CHARLES NESSON The idea for a “poker thinking society” sounded far fetched at first.But then some of the bigger names in the poker industry got behind it and before you knew it, Pro- fessor Charles Nesson’s Global Poker Stra- tegic Thinking Society (GPSTS) was born. “Professor Nesson is an amazing guy,” explained Howard Le- derer, one of the most widely known poker players in the world. “He has this knack of saying something to you and your first instinct is to say, ‘What?!?’But then two days later you say to yourself,‘Hmm.That’s brilliant.’That’s what happened with this one. The more I thought about it, the more I thought it was something that would be great to be a part of.” In October, Lederer joined poker pioneer Crandell Addington on the campus of Har- vard Law School for a forum titled,“Poker:A Game of Truth in Life and Law.”One month later poker historian Jim McManus joined Mike Sexton, considered one of the most skilled poker players ever,for another forum on using poker as an educational utility. The events helped Nesson bring credence to his GPSTS,which was formally approved by Harvard as an official student organiza- tion. Chapters are also being formed across the U.S. on campuses such as Penn State, UCLA and Stanford as well as at uni- versities in Singapore,Finland and the U.K. “Poker teaches many lessons that are transferable to challenges in life, including strategic understanding of risk, resource management and self control,” said Nes- son, a tenured Harvard Law professor for almost 40 years.“It’s also a way of teaching people how to think liberally. It forces you to see things from someone else’s view. That’s the essence of the game.” PETTER NYLANDER Outraged. Unacceptable. Extraordi- nary. Those were just a few of the words that were used to describe the situ- ation in October when Unibet CEO Petter Nylander was detained by Dutch authorities as he boarded a plane to return home to the U.K. for allegedly violating French gambling laws. The arrest related to a warrant filed in 2006 by the French state-owned lottery company, Française des Jeux, and horse betting monopoly PMU against Unibet, alleging breach of French laws from1836 and 1891 pro- tecting state-owned monopolies. Nine days after being detained, Nyl- ander was released on € 200,000 bail. Following his release, he issued a statement to defend himself and his company. “Unibet, the company that I run, has always abided by the law,” Nylander said.“The fact that there are numer- ous legal proceedings ongoing against responsible operators such as Unibet doesn’t make sense at a time when the French government has publicly referred to the opening of its online gaming market. “Such proceedings serve only one purpose – the commercial interests of France’s two state-owned monopolies.There is an ur- gent need for reform of this market where these monopoly operators’ actions are in complete disregard of EU Treaties and the in- terests of French players.” € €