The APCW

JTodd
  • 104, Male
  • Bellingham
  • United States
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J. Todd ~ APCW Executive Director

Profile Information

Are you a Player, Webmaster, Affiliate Manager or Operator?
Webmaster
What's your favorite gaming website?
http://www.apcw.org
What are your favorite online games?
No Limit Texas Hold 'em Poker
How long have you been playing / working in the industry?
7 Years
Hobbies, interests, and anything else you'd like to add?
I'm the Administrator of the APCW with a serious work ethic, a dry wit, and one of the goofiest senses of humor you'll ever meet. =0)

Welcome to my personal page...

Hello, friends!

I started the APCW in late 2003 to be a unique and sincere outlet for information and help to players and webmasters. It's been an honor to work in an industry full of so many intelligent, outgoing, and genuine people! I thought I would take a moment to let you guys know a bit about me, and how I got to this point in the industry, and why I am uniquely qualified to help run this place!


Here's the condesed version! =0)


~ 2001 ~
I was just a marketer (a webmaster) who owned several websites which reviewed online casinos and poker rooms for players. I first became "known" in the industry for having silly videos on my sites that told visitors about online gaming rooms in a humorous and entertaining way, Some of those videos are still floating around these parts =0)


~ 2002 ~
Having gained some "status", I began speaking at industry conferences about how webmasters fit into the business of online gaming and could work more productively with online casinos. I became a member of several associations that worked for positive changes in the industry, which was largely unregulated at that time.


~ 2003 ~
After a great deal of turmoil, many of those early organizations self-destructed. So, during 2003 I started the Association of Players, Casinos & Webmasters, which audited online gaming sites to ensure fairness for both players and webmasters. We partnered with other solid, respected industry bodies like the Interactive Gaming Council, the Casino Affiliate Convention, and Casino Affiliate Programs.


~ 2004 & 2005 ~
The APCW grew at a steady rate for the next two years. We became one of the most highly respected "watchdog" sites for our fair and professional approach to investigating and reporting issues. We identified spyware issues, customer service problems, and recovered hundreds of thousands of dollars in players winnings and webmasters earnings from casinos programs.


~ 2006 ~
Everything changed. That June my casino review websites with the "funny" video content became the first casino portal to be shut down by a state government in the United States! Washington State made running my simple little websites a Class "C" Felony, which believe it or not has the same severity of punishment as someone who sexually assaulted a child! That meant they could put me in prison for up to 5 years for running a website about an activity that was otherwise legal in the state: Gambling!

As the year rolled on the US Congress passed a bill in an attempt to stop US cash flow to offshore casinos and poker rooms, called the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). This bill was passed litterally late at night on the last day of Congressional sessions, after Senator Bill Frist attached it to the back of another bill on Port Security, which was considered a "must pass" to help deter terrorism! Talk about crooked politics!


~ 2007 ~
This was the "great awakening" for the industry. A call to arms for some in online gambling... and a surrender for others. Many webmasters sold their sites and walked away, but not the APCW. We were not breaking any laws, and we were hell bent on exposing the truth about what the US Government had done! We began making Educational Videos about how the law was passed (and who passed it and why), and that led us to our news update webcasts which we released every Friday. Perspectives Weekly was a great success, and it was carried across hundreds of websites and viewed hundreds of thousands of times.

As we grew and grew we doubled our membership, partnered with more and more websites, developed a weekly live radio show in partnership with Rounders Radio, and interviewed some of the most important people in the industry, including Dan Starr (VP of NETeller), Mark Mendell (Chief Legal Advisor, Antigua), Gian Peronni (Former VP of Absolute Poker), and Michael Corfman (President of Casino City). For this hard work and dedication, I was named one of the 300 most influential people in the online gaming industry by the iGaming Business "Industry Aces" Awards.


~ 2008 ~
The APCW became the first to launch a Social Networking site for this industry, and our work finally paid off when we were acquired by the Casino City Group in October that year. This meant a staff of people to help us carry on our work, plus funding to help re-start our auditing program and get better equipment!

The year also had several interesting twist and turns, including the passage of the Barny Frank Bill, the election of Barack Obama, and a changing attitude toward our industry from the American Gaming Association.

I was also voted "Affiliate of the Year for 2008" by casino webmasters. This is an honor I did not take lightly, because the award means I was respected and recognized by my peers. It created an even deeper since of responsible for making sure that this fight is given my very best effort, and that players & webmasters are treated fairly.


~ 2009 ~
No one knows for certain what the year will bring, but we're a long way from the bleak months in late 2006. With positive changes all around us, and even casino on the Vegas strip thinking about getiing into the online business, this could be the year internet gambling becomes a legal and regulated industry in the United States.


Comment Wall (416 comments)

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At 4:52am on October 15, 2010, Martyn Beacon said…
handy hints and tips for those that spend too much time online at www.lubetube.com :o)
At 3:15pm on March 6, 2010, Chrys said…
Budapest eh? I'm not sure we'll be ready for that but Vegas is in the cards. (wow, that was a horrible pun!)

I remember looking into the G2E event last year and it didn't seem to have many online casinos represented there though (actually the person I spoke with said they didn't have any?) If you think it's a good idea as far as networking and getting new marketing ideas, we would definitely go....especially if you and the GPWA are going to have a contingency there :)

Thanks JT :)

Have a nice weekend,
Chrys

ps - hey, I don't normally go through reading other people's threads but I saw someone wrote to you about a close friend of yours who recently passed away. Take care...we don't know each other but I'm so sorry JT. You're in my prayers.
At 8:24am on March 6, 2010, Chrys said…
aha I see where you're going now. Our family business is a scratch off promotions company - nothing is gambling, we're insanely meticulous about that. We have a 30 year old business that we're not going to mess up b/c we crossed the line. That being said, we do print a scratch off golf game that's used as a fundraiser at golf tournaments, so I'm familiar with how different the state's laws can be - and Canada - when it comes to that. As long as it's a one time use and it's a small event, golf tournaments can use the cards without a problem. It's when the events get big. For ex in Michigan, we're doing something like 100,000 cards right now for Special Olympics as a statewide fundraiser and Special Olympics is filling out a permit for their state goverment since it's a considered by them to be a game of chance. It does seem rather haphazard though what the states allow and what they are stricter on - I'm a sculler and we're trying to raise money for our boathouse since at the end of the summer we're losing our land to Dan Gilbert's new casino (ironic, eh? lol) We looked into doing a bingo night and there are 3 state permits we have to fill out to make it legal - JUST to run a bingo night!!

I suppose I was thinking with Poker Shark Tournaments that it's the poker room who is organizing and running the tournament - and doing the payment processing. All we are doing is the marketing for the event and acting as a middle man between the poker room and the charity. (I guess I was rationalizing that our part in this was promotional and not the gaming end of it which would have the states' governments upset) I was also hoping to be able to talk with the poker room to see what their legal advice was on doing this on a per event basis. I know there are poker rooms who are already doing this and there are charities who've done a few online poker tournaments...but then they may not be in Cleveland, Oh. ha

You think I'm rationalizing our role JT?

Have a great weekend :)
At 8:45am on March 5, 2010, Chrys said…
duh...I wrote back to you yesterday but posted it to my wall instead of actually writing back to you. Sorry about that - it's been 2 weeks without Starbucks and it's starting to show. lol

What I "meant" to write back to you is this --- thanks for the compliments on our site. It's been a blast developing it. We've gotten approvals from 10 sites so far. Still waiting to hear from Bodog - fingers are crossed on that one!

We're in Cleveland, Ohio to answer your question. I've done some research on charity tournaments and on college gaming. Minimum age, maximum buy in so it's considered a legal charitable donation, how to market - I thought we were covered but now your comment has me a little weak in the knees. When you mentioned our butts being covered b/c of past issues --- what were you refering to JT?

Good luck with your new project. ahem, if you find you're in need of some online scratch off cards, please let me know. We have a proprietary product and would be very happy (and honored) to do something for you. I know whatever new project you're working on is going to be pretty phenomenal! Anything we can do to help you out, definitely don't hesitate to ask. It'd be our pleasure ;)

One more question for ya - how important are the conventions for an affiliate to attend? We're too new to go to Amsterdam and have it be worthwhile I think, but what're your thoughts on the GIGSE in Montreal, the CBG Affiliate Weekend in Toronto and the Affiliate Summit East in NYC in August? We'll at least have a track record (and hopefully a few clients!!) by then.

THANK YOU JT!

Have a great day.

Cheers,
Chrys
At 2:07pm on March 3, 2010, Chrys said…
Hey JT, it's been awhile....um, 2 years maybe? I hope you're doing well! My partner and I are just launching our poker affiliate (finally!!!!) - I feel like we've been in beta test mode forever. We're submitting tomorrow so it should be going live next week. Here's the link --- if you have any spare time and want to comment on it, I'd really appreciate any feedback you can give. I'm an affililate newbie. lol http://www.PokerSharkTournaments.com

One thing we're doing is really pushing the online charity poker tournaments. I have 5 charities here in the US who're interested in doing a tournament with us. I don't know if it will help change the way people (Barney Frank's adversaries!) view online casinos, but it can't hurt to be able to say how they're raising money for a great cause.

Take care! Cheers :)

Chrys
At 7:28am on January 6, 2010, Earl said…
Hey JT. Hope you and yours are well. I heard about the loss of your close friend and you have my sincerest condolences.
At 1:55pm on October 19, 2009, Dyno Don said…
Nice video for Oct 16 2009 JT!!!

That's how I remember you in your earlier videos, get to the point and have fun doing it (and the fact that it cracked me up :). Keep it up.
At 1:48pm on October 3, 2009, William Adams said…
any word on Eurolinx? Microgaming ever going to make an apology to it's customers for letting foxes into their henhouse?
I have met Kevin, Jordan and Dave at Pitbull. Liked them and hope they are not doing a bail. See that software is up and running but no games.
best wishes,
Bill
At 1:34pm on September 15, 2009, William Adams said…
Thanks for looking into it. I can be reached at [email protected]. If you need some stories to tell about Eurolinx, we probably have a few.

Best wishes,
Bill
At 10:42pm on September 14, 2009, Vicki said…
Hidey-Ho, JT! Keep up the great stuff ..... every bit of it! *wink*
 
 
 

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