How Safe Ports and Online Poker Are Related

In the past year there has been a lot change in the online poker industry. The executives of the biggest operators have found themselves indicted by the United States Department of Justice after enforcement of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA) and the sites they operate no longer allow USA players.

So what does all this mean and where do we go from here? Before we answer those questions we wanted to take some time to explain the full ramifications and state facts as it relates to the UIGEA.

The UIGEA was passed in September 2006 and signed by then President George W. Bush. The law basically made it illegal for banks and credit cards to knowingly process transactions for Internet gaming purposes.

The law was passed as part of the "Safe Ports Act" which was passed to basically protect US ports from falling into the hands of foreign owners. In true American Political form, the UIGEA was added to the bill last minute to a completely unrelated piece of legislation. Parties voting on the "Safe Ports Act" really had no idea what they voting for when the UIGEA was added to the bill last minute. The Safe Ports Act was something that would pass easily (and did), and some ambitious representatives added the UIGEA last minute. Reps. Leach and Goodlatte authored the UIGEA and snuck it in.

The law came into effect January 19, 2009, but compliance was not required until December 1, 2009. In May 2009, Chair of the House Committee on Financial Services Barney Frank introduced 2 bills. The first to overturn the implementation of the UIGEA and the second to delay the implementation of the UIGEA for one year. The second bill was enacted but only extended the implementation until June 1, 2010.

At this time we saw many, if not all publicly traded poker, casino and sportsbook operators leave the US market. The biggest and most regulated poker sites and casinos could no longer accept USA players.

This leaves us where we are today, with FullTilt Poker, Poker Stars, Absolute Poker and UB.com no longer accepting new or existing USA players. Americans can no longer enjoy a pass time at the most respected online poker sites that were available to them.

So I thought this was the United States of America, home of the free? Well maybe home of the tax paying free. The United States government did not receive a cent in revenue from taxes from online poker and gaming sites. In fact, the United States now has to give the island nation of Antigua concessions in trade after a World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling.

A major employer and revenue generator for Antigua is/was gaming. Antigua went to the WTO with a complaint that the US was in violation of treaty obligations by not allowing Market Access to its residents and the WTO agreed. Antigua then made a 3.4 billion dollar claim against the US which they have not received a cent. Instead the US granted concessions in other sectors. The US is actually losing money by offering such concessions rather than allow its citizens access to online gaming.

The concessions were never made public in the interest of "National Security" even after Barney Frank and Ron Paul stated the concessions "could cost the United States billions of dollars in compensation" and demanded the agreements to made public. To date we are not aware these agreements have ever been made public.

Now the government is charging executives with Money Laundering and making accusations that online gaming funds terrorism globally. Well I ask this question, if a company is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange, and their financial records are public knowledge, how could they be funneling money to terrorists. Not saying it couldn't happen, but it would be difficult.

Now US residents must play at casinos and poker sites that are not publicly traded, and their financials do not need to be public. The legal, profitable, respected sites can no longer allow US players.

So what do we know and gain from the UIGEA?

1. We know it was passed at the last minute without proper research by regulators.
2. USA residents can no longer play at licensed, publicly traded gaming sites.
3. It has cost the United States millions if not billions in trade concessions to Antigua.
4. It fosters an illegal enterprise without regulation.
5. It puts US citizens in harms way by not allowing them to play at the best poker and casino sites.

So what is the answer? The easy answer is for the United States to legalize and regulate online gaming. It would produce revenue in the form of taxes and players funds were surely be safer. While we think this will happen, it will most likely be quite some time before we see truly USA legal poker sites and casinos in the US.

In the meantime, US players must continue to play at unregulated (by the US government or stock exchange) online poker and casino sites.

4 Tips to Organize Your Loft Bedroom

Converting the loft is an appealing prospect for those who want to extend their living space without necessarily expanding outside the area currently occupied by their home. It has also become attractive to many because it does not require a new structure to be built. Instead, one only has to renovate the attic such that it becomes fit to live in.

While one can convert the attic into whatever way legally possible, the most common end product of this renovation process is the loft bedroom. As lofts end up smaller than it originally was post-conversion, repurposing it as bedroom space is one of the most obvious choices.

As mentioned, attic space can be unfortunately smaller than it used to. It can end up cramped, and cluttered areas can be hard for some people to sleep in. Thus, if you have plans to convert your loft into some sort of sleeping quarters, you should always think about maximizing the space. Here are some tips for that matter.

1. Choose space-efficient bedding.
   
   Perhaps the largest and most space-consuming piece of furniture in every bathroom is the bed. One can take much space in a loft room, and two can be rather problematic. Fold down beds -- those hinged on one end so as to be stored vertically against a wall or in its closet -- can solve this problem for single occupants. Multiple occupants can opt for trundle beds or, if the headroom is high enough, bunk beds.


2. Minimize your furniture. Use versatile ones if possible.
   
   Owning furniture in your loft can bring convenience at the cost of living space. Consider what you'll need when choosing furniture for your attic room. Those that can be used for more than one purpose are highly recommended. Furniture that you'll have to get rid of are those that are too bulky for its use, gets in the way and those with unnecessarily redundant functions.


3. Be clever with your storage.
   
   Storing things in a small loft in an organized manner can be rather tricky. You can extend ledges with wooden boards to make shelves. You can also build closets into the walls, but make sure you don't affect the roofing support. Also, store small articles in containers appropriate for their amount and get rid of all the useless clutter.


4. Strategically position smaller rooms like bathrooms.
   
   Small rooms like dressing rooms and toilets can take considerable space from your attic room. When designing your loft, make sure that they aren't put in obstructive places, but are easily accessible from the bed.

For all these tips, organization is the most prominent word. Indeed it is the key to having an orderly and space-efficient loft bedroom, one where you'll most likely be able to sleep well in.

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What's the Most You Could Win? The Biggest Lottery, Bingo and Online Slots Jackpots Ever

So where are the best Jackpots to be had in the world, and who has won the most EVER? I've looked into this and it is far from a science, but my research says the Biggest Jackpots ever won are as follows:

Biggest Lottery Jackpots:

The biggest Lottery Prize Funds reside not in the United States, but in Spain, where the 2011 Spanish Christmas Lottery had a Prize Fund of £1.2 billion and a Jackpot of £587 million. The way the Spanish Christmas lottery works is to generate lots of winners, so last year 180 winners received around £3.25 million each.

The biggest Single ticket Jackpot Winner in the world is one of our own - Colin and Christine Weir of Scotland won £161.7 million in July 2011. They won a multiple rollover Euro Millions Jackpot and were the only winners. So far they have bought a new house in 23 acres on the outskirts of their home town Largs in Scotland, employed a cook and sponsored a local boy racer Gregor Ramsay for a career in throwing cars around a track. The largest headline jackpot of $365 million occurred on February 18, 2006 and was won by a single ticket in Nebraska. It was shared by eight people who worked for a meatpacking plant. They elected to receive their winnings in cash, sharing $177,270,519.67 (after taxes), as the top prize in Powerball and Mega Millions draws are based on an annuity rather than just straight cash - those American Lottery marketers!

Biggest Bingo Jackpot:

Britain is the land of Bingo, and the biggest ever win at bingo was in 2008 when a 38 year old cleaner Soraya Lowell, from Lanarkshire won a huge £1.2 million. This beat the previous biggest bingo win of £1.1 million that was won by Christine Bradfield in a bingo club in Merthyr Tydfil in Wales. Soraya has been back in the news recently after being sued for Bankruptcy by South Lanarkshire Council over unpaid Council Tax debts. Go figure.

Online Slots and Casino Jackpots

Online Jackpots regularly get into the millions, and can be won at the push of a button instead of just once a week. They are much harder to verify, but for casino type games, but the generally accepted top dog is a student from Norway who won £9.5 million on Bettsons Mega Fortune game in 2009.

Casino game Mega Moolah has paid out a stupendous £5.3m to Georgios M, a small business owner from Greece who hit the Jackpot in 2011.

In the UK, the enigmatically named "Taaloo1" won £3,9 million on the Clover Rollover Slots Jackpot game on Christmas Eve 2010 via the Bet 365 website. Now that must have been a Christmas to remember!

Copyright 2011 findmeajackpot.co.uk | All Rights Reserved

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Important Factors to Consider When You Hire a Home Improvement or Remodeling Contractor

You have been dreaming of that new recreation room addition to your house for over a year now. You saved your money or built-up equity in your home to pay for it. Now, you are ready to go. But, where do you go to get a quality home improvement contractor that will complete the work on time, for a far price, and still do a good job?

There is an old axiom that states that there are three factors for every project. The first one, we will call option "A", is time, how long will the project take to complete. The next factor, "B", is quality and features. How good and how must stuff. The third factor is the "C" factor and that is Money! How much?

You now have a choice, you can pick any two factors but, you cannot have all three. If you want the job done on time and completed on schedule then you can spend a lot of money and get the quality and features you want (A+B). If you want the job completed on time for a low cost then, you will not have many features or the quality will suffer (A+C). Finally, if time is not an issue, go with the B+C choice. High quality at a fair cost but, will take time.

When it comes to home improvement contractors there are general categories that they will all fit into. The first category I like to call the "Bob Vila" of contractors. Very well known, an excellent reputation, has all of the right licenses and insurance, provides very high quality work, and all work is completed on schedule. This is by far the best type of contractor to hire if money is no object! Expect to pay considerably more than your average contractor. A good rule of thumb is to figure the material costs, plus the labor costs, and double that. This is what the average turn-key project will cost if you hire a general contractor, not a Bob Villa. Add about 50% more for this category of contractor. Check references however, this contractor will not give you anyone that has anything bad to say.

The next option is the contracting company that has their own employees. This company will take the whole job from start to finish. I call this the "turn-key" contractor. If the company is good, they will be booked for months in advance. This is the "Time Factor". If you have the time to find this company, check the references, and visit some of the job sites, this may be your best choice. Be sure to do a good reference check and make sure you know the questions to ask! Of course they will only give you the names of satisfied customers.

A new choice entering into the market is a cooperative. This is not a new idea, but new to home improvement. Just like the farmers co-ops that have been around for years, contractors and sub-contractors have banned together to share the overhead costs. Cost such as advertising, a very large part of the budget. By combining their funds and run one large ad in a major newspaper, for example, they can have many sub-contractors in non-competing trades.

They may have a electrician, a few plumbers, drywall subs and so-on. I can think of about 90 different categories. The idea of a co-op is to combine resources for the common good of the group. The co-op has standards to prevent poor workmanship and dishonest members. The co-op's reputation is on the line.

The last choice and I do mean last, is the low-ball contractor. Low price almost always means low quality. Face it, you get what you pay for. Get three bids, and unless you know all of the trades and are very familiar with the project you should be very cautious about the lowest one. Why is it lower? You should always do an extensive check on this company. It would be worth it to hire a third party firm to check out the company.

Well, good luck on your project!

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5 Important Things That You Must Remember When Betting For Sports

Sports betting triggers pure excitement and support for sports teams and players. At the same time, it is an enjoyable way to earn more money. In order to win more money in sports betting, sports bettors need to come up with betting strategies. Whether a bettor wins or loses, sports betting is a fun activity to participate in, yet of course it is important to know how to win bets.

It is true that there is no definite way of determining winners in sports competitions, but it is helpful to observe discipline when betting for sports events. In light of that, here are important things to remember when betting on sports.

Tip # 1: Manage Your Money

When betting on sports, always think about your money and how you could make it grow. You should designate a definite budget for sports betting and use it for different small bets so that you could have more winning chances to make profit. Bet your money on sports events that you know better as well, so that you could gain more profit with your knowledge. To win more money, check out the odds from a reliable sportsbook that has large odds values such as 12BET.com.

Tip # 2: Analyse the Whole Situation

See if your favourite team finishes strong in its home stadium when it faces its rival in a match. Determine what happens next if a player from your preferred basketball team gets injured. Also, it might be best to bet for a team that is challenged with threats of relegation in a make-or-break match. Analysing the whole picture, including current events, issues, and everything related to sports will give you an advantage.

Tip # 3: Bet on Underdogs Playing Home

Underdog teams playing home games have high motivation to win. Another factor is that larger odds values are assigned to underdog teams. Thus, when an underdog team is scheduled to play a home game, then that is the best time to bet for it.

Tip # 4: Perform the Proper Strategies

After analysing sports events, the next thing that you need to do is to perform the proper strategies. Think about what you must do when betting for sports using your analysis. Caution is always advised when betting for sports teams.

Tip # 5: Always Consider Timing

While you study the numbers and think of your plan before placing a bet, think about timing as well. For instance, place your bets for underdogs at a later time so that you could see the progress of those teams as they fight against the favourites.

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What Does an Interior Architect Do?

Interior architects typically pick up where traditional architects left off. These are the professionals who fill in all of the empty space that the architects design. Naturally, this is more than just telling someone where to place a desk or what colour scheme best suits a room. Whether it`s the brand new corporate headquarters of a multinational firm, your country estate or your garage, they help shape the way we live and work.

These specialists aim to design indoor spaces and areas that are functional, safe, and aesthetically pleasing. They create, present, and implement design concepts according to a client`s spatial needs and wants. Interior architecture considers many variables from building and safety codes to how the way a room looks from another interior room. An interior architect might even consider how lighting looks during different times of the day. A talented professional will always find a way to make all of these variables work together seamlessly. An interior architect generally looks to achieve this objective through the use of proven interior architecture principles and techniques.

They perform a wide range of duties whilst working on site or in the office. In order to come up with the best strategies, designs, and concepts for a client, an interior architect must ensure that their knowledge is up to date. This includes knowledge of interior construction, interior decoration, building systems and components, building regulations, equipment, materials and furnishings. They need to know how to incorporate construction features including plumbing, electrical, and other mechanics into their designs. They need to work directly with professionals in these and other industries throughout the lifespan of any given project. Therefore, it is essential that he or she will have a firm grasp on how interior architecture works with these industries in order to facilitate and maximize a productive working relationship.
With that knowledge in hand, an interior architect can then identify, research, and creatively solve problems pertaining to the function and quality of your interior environment. They must conduct design analysis and space planning while considering aesthetics in order to develop a concept.

Following the research phase, a concept is finalized and presented to the client. This typically involves programming, preparing schematics, drawings and documents relating to the design of the interior space, with the underlying goal of enhancing the quality of life and protecting the health, safety, welfare, and environment of the people who will occupy it. Concept presentations can also require scale models, charts, and reports depending on the client and the scope of the project. Today, interior architects depend largely on computer-assisted design software to develop plans for interior spaces. Although some pencil drawing is still necessary, the use of computers is central to the process.

Once the client approves the concept, he/she then switches gears to implementation management. This includes inspection of the work site and can also involve overseeing a team of designers who create products for the project based on the design plan. In addition to visually interpreting verbal instructions and suggestions into a great design to satisfy the needs of a client, interior architects must also be creative within the constraints of a budget, which is why effective project management and implementation is essential.

With the right professional assigned to the right project, your interior dream can materialize seamlessly into a functional work of art and the key to building your dream is knowing the right person to look for and where to find them.

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The Positive Side To Lotteries

In Western countries like USA and UK, lotteries are widely popular. It was at the start of nineteenth century in USA when the history of lottery began. In those days, private lotteries were legal. Later on, some state governments got into this business and started offering lotteries of their own.

In 1985, the states of New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine formed the first modern lottery system. Later on, other states came along and in 1988, a Lottery Association involving these states were formed. Charter members of this Association mostly sponsor Powerball. These states include Missouri, District of Columbia, West Virginia, Oregon, Kansas, Rhode Island and Iowa. The Big Game was formed in 1996. Presently it is referred as Mega Millions. This interstate lottery was formed by states that include Virginia, Maryland, Michigan, Illinois, Georgia and Massachusetts. Later on, a few more states joined this Association. These states include Washington, California, Texas, New Jersey and New York.

Over the years, many interstate lotteries were introduced. Some of these include Lotto, Win for Life, Tri-State lottery, Mid West Millions, Wild Card 2, Cashola, scratch cards that are instant lottery tickets, Keno and video lottery terminals. Among these lotteries, Lotto is the most popular one together with number games like Pick 3. Some lotteries are played almost twice every day. In the range of lotteries, Sweepstakes are also involved. It basically involves marketing promotions along with promotional consumer sales. Depending on the lottery system, the winning amount can cross the one million dollar mark or it can be less than a dollar. Some lotteries are also available to international lottery players.

Lotteries have a positive side - a part of its profits are used for noble causes and charity programs. Among all these lottery options, the Pick 3 is very popular because of its minimum investment. It can be played with just $1, while there is no limit on the maximum amount that one can play. It can be played two times in the same day. Every week there are 12 drawings which include 6-day and 6-night drawings with 50-cent play offer. The top prize can reach $500. Nowadays, players use software and other strategies to win it.

Playing this lottery is quite easy. The player has to only pick three numbers in the range of 0 to 9. Thereafter, the player has to decide how to play it. Players are also required to select the day and time as well as decide how to play the selected numbers. Pick 3 lottery games are held CST times at 12:27 pm and 10:12 pm.

It has an exciting feature which is known as Sum It Up. This presents one more opportunity to win this lottery. If the sum of numbers selected by the player matches that of the sum of three declared numbers then the player is declared a winner. Because of this feature and lowest amount needed to play, this lottery remains widely popular. With a minimal investment of $1, the player stands to win $80 or $160. Players who get all matching numbers can win the maximum $500. When compared with other lottery systems, this one presents a very favorable odd.