The Australians are renowned for their adventurous spirit and good-natured ways.  It generally takes quite a bit of prodding to get under the skin of the Australians, but it appears that the Island of Tasmania has managed to do just that.  Tasmania , noted for its pro-active approach to gambling affairs, has decided to drop all taxes on bookmaking operations in an attempt to lure online gambling operations to use Tasmania as its base of operations.

In lieu of taxing gambling and bookmaking operations, the Tasmanian government will impose a one-time flat fee of $250,000 for the privilege of operating within the Tasmanian borders.  The biggest loser figures to be , whose betting operators are planning to move from Sydney to the enticing shores of Tasmania .  Onlinegambling.co.uk will follow this development closely in the weeks to come.

The Russian government’s recent legislation against gambling turned the warm summer weather into a frigid ice storm for both land-based casino operators in as well as the millions of players who frequented the casinos.  The Russian ban on land-based casino gambling has resulted in a surge of online casino gambling and free online gambling on free casino sites.  Russian legislators are sceptical regarding the effect of the gambling ban, since there has been an increase of thousands of workers onto the jobless roles, while tax revenues have also decreased subsequent to the gambling ban.

In the State of Illinois in the , online gambling could become a reality as early as next week.  The Illinois Racing Board is scheduled to meet to review proposals regarding the handling of horse racing wagering online in order to increase the tax revenues for the state.  If the measure passes, it appears that online casino gambling in the State of Illinois would be approved down the road.

In the U.S. Congress, Barney Frank continues to gain Congressional support for his online gambling bill which would legitimize online gambling in the .  Online casino gambling, both the pay sites as well as free online gambling sites, would benefit exponentially by the new legislation.