Archive for March 2010

A gaming and hospitality management company has plans to introduce another online casino to the online gambling industry. The casino will, however, exclude US citizens for now because they observe and respect the Secure Internet Gambling Initiative. It is only a matter of time before the US makes the decision to no longer miss out on the opportunities that come from the significant revenue.

Major Millions has just paid out a jackpot of more than $300,000 to one lucky winner. The game is well-known for the size of the jackpots and frequency of payouts as this is the second time in just one month that it has paid out a large jackpot; in the last two months, it has paid out three times!

Land-based casinos are taking a hit yet again as a recent, disturbing case of sexual harassment has emerged. Land-based casinos in Pennsylvania have recently enjoyed some unexpected popularity but that could change as people find out about an incident involving a casino employee and a patron.

A New Jersey Senator has introduced a bill that would legalize online gambling as early as this year. With the rest of the US seemingly at a standstill, New Jersey is forging ahead with their plans. Many who are in favor of legalized online gambling in the US believe that if one state passes the bill, others will follow. Currently, California, Iowa and Florida are all aiming to legalize online gambling but it looks like New Jersey is the first to take a giant step forward.

The ruling in Kentucky that is forcing anonymous online casino operators to come forward and claim their sites or risk losing the domains is officially underway. Operators have been hesitant to claim their sites because they would be admitting to running an illegal online gambling site and may face serious fines. However, at least one of the 141 targeted operators accepting players from Kentucky has come forward and admitted to running an online poker site.

As lawmakers in various provinces continue to explore the option of regulating online gambling, Canadian residents are also showing their support of the idea. According to a recent study, it seems as though Canadians are hopeful that online gambling will be legalized.

Something had to give. In the fight to legalize online gambling in the US, opinions were basically split down the middle. The recent proposal to legalize online gambling has been balancing in midair as the courts make a decision regarding the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act). Those in favor of legalized online gambling were convinced that they simply had to show those opposed to it that the dangers to society would not be much different than they are right now.

Mobile gambling is just the next evolution in the online gambling industry. With an ever-increasing population of smart phones, which have unprecedented technological capabilities, casino operators have seen the potential to expand their markets for risk-taking players who are always on the go.

St Minver has launched a new online slot machine game, based on Tim Burton’s blockbuster film, Alice in Wonderland.

The game features all the lovable characters of the popular film. The Mad Hatter, the twins Tweedledee and Tweedledum and the Queen of Hearts all play an important role, as their symbols are displayed the most prominently. Additionally, the game reflects the technological expertise of St. Minver – the incredible graphics are a huge leap in the online slots world.

Iovation, a company that is dedicated to preventing online fraud and abuse has joined online gambling software provider GTech G2. Together, they will develop device reputation technology as part of the transaction and risk management plan for online casino players.

In the past few months, the online gaming industry and the video game industry have been known to join the two phenomena into an exciting new style that can be found in online casinos. Sega, a well-known video game provider made a deal with Playtech, a gaming software provider for online casinos.

The Governor’s Task Force on Illegal Gambling in Alabama is facing some backlash for proceeding to take legal action against the casino industry instead of simply taxing them. Some say that the costs of taking online casino operators to court were too high while others agree that serious actions needs to be taken against those who break the law.

Legislators in Kentucky made a decision that would help them identify online casinos that were operating illegally. As online gambling is illegal under the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act), any operators accepting players from any state in the US would be doing so illegally.

Online Casino Wizard, a magazine devoted to updating readers on the industry, has developed a new section of the magazine relating entirely to online casino bonuses and promotions. Specifically, the Bonus section will give players up-to-date information on promotions being offered by the top online casinos.

The state of Kentucky has been battling illegal online casino operators by forcing them to forfeit their domain names. Operators are not able to do anything about it because none of them are willing to accept the consequences that will come with stepping forward and saying that they own the site.

Sports betting operators in Kentucky are waiting for a decision to be made regarding horse races. The Senator and other legislators are working out one small issue before sending it for approval. The change they are hoping to make would allow the government to hold 1.5 percent on every Instant Racing wager should the new form of horse gambling be approved.

New Jersey’s governor is finding it difficult to keep his campaign promises. He recently proposed serious spending cuts in order to keep New Jersey away from bankruptcy. The budget he presented was just under $30 billion, very modest as far as state budgets go.

2009 was a rough year for the entire online gambling industry. Although operators saw an influx of former land-based casino customers, profits were not as impressive as they had hoped. As a result, online casino designers suffered as well, seeing disappointing profits all year long.

Those in the online gambling industry may be getting a little ahead of themselves after a discussion about an online gambling television channel in the US. The discussion is premature as online gambling remains illegal in the US unless the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) is overturned.

Las Vegas is getting ready to add online casinos to their offerings to players. Operators are quickly preparing for a head start on the online gambling industry for when it becomes legal to gamble online at a federal level.

Northeastern US has had a very active winter. Several states have been slammed repeatedly with record amounts of snow and blizzard conditions. Online casino operators have noticed the pattern between the winter weather and increased number of visits to online casinos instead of land-based casinos.

Wynn Las Vegas and its dealers are finishing up their talks about unionization. They have informed the public that they have yet to agree on how long the contract will be in effect for but have gotten all the major issues resolved.

The subject of gambling in Iowa has come up time and time again as some legislators are keen to move forward while others remain opposed to the idea. Nevertheless, a bill was brought to the table several months ago and has been debated ever since.

Spin Palace has worked hard over the course of the past year to revolutionize the way we think of online slots tournaments. This year, the popular online casino has perfected its strategy, and is ready to add a whole new level of excitement to playing slots.

There are great bonuses for players from every country but this one particular bonus is great for Canadian players. The online casino is called SpinPalace.com and cater specifically to those players that are playing out of Canada and looking to gamble in the Canadian currency as well as play with their fellow Canadians.

Spin Palace Online Casino is attempting to stand out from the crowd by offering tournaments that are slightly different than everything else out there.

The first tournament they are offering begins December 7 and ends on December 13th. It is a video poker game and allows for multiple players to play up to four poker hands at one time. Currently, the jackpot winner stands to make $1000; other video slot tournaments set up for later this month but their jackpots are yet to be determined.

While this year has been a complete up and down for so many it has also been an overall thriving year for many successful companies in the online casino industry. While the market is becoming more and more saturated with competition the players are also increasing in quantity.

Even before online gambling is officially legal in Quebec, the health ministry is making room for problem gambling education in their budget.

There are currently several ad campaigns running on television, as posters in public bathrooms (including the universities), in bus shelters, as well as many other places. The ads they are currently using are costing them approximately $300,000 and consideration for the same type of campaign is being considered for 2010.

There a few times of the year that there are much more online casino games launched then previous times of the year. It seems that games often launch periodically and sometime during special times of the year but the holiday time that is just around the corner is always a time that new games get launched as well!

There were several online casinos that were taking bets on the winner of the popular reality TV series Survivor.

While there is no-sure fire way to secure a win while playing online casino games, there are ways to ensure that you never end up at a loss. The key to a successful experience is knowing how to spend your money and time wisely, ensuring that you never exceed the amount that you can afford.

This month, the slot machines and video poker games at Mummy’s Gold are the focal point of the online casino’s promotional offerings. Powered by Microgaming, Mummy’s Gold has some of the most exciting and interesting online slots available, and these promotions certainly want to bring attention to them.

These days, people can bet on just about everything. As American Idol narrows down their top 24 to 12, betting will be open to gambling fans of the show. Bettors can place wagers on who will win, the gender of the winner and many other factors that contribute to the show.

Winter is almost over, and land-based casinos are rejoicing. This winter was a rough one, encouraging would-be casino patrons to stay home and play at online casinos.

A recent poll done by a university in the US has shown that more than half of the people questioned are against online gambling. The study included people of all races, ages and both genders in order to gauge the success of their results. Multiple questions were asked regarding sports betting, land-based casinos and online casinos.

The start of 2010 has not been kind to land-based casinos. Instead of the boost that they were hoping for, revenue dropped another 3.2 percent in January 2010 when compared to January 2009.

Online casinos have opened up a wide range of opportunities for people with competitive spirits. One of the most interesting developments has been the introduction of entertainment betting, which allows people to place bets on virtually anything, from political elections to award show results and even to celebrity relationships!

Two men from Michigan have pled guilty to operating an illegal sports betting outlet. Over the course of their operation, they were estimated to have processed millions of dollars for bettors, making themselves a lot of money.

As credit cards become increasingly more difficult to use for online casino players in the US, another method of payment is becoming widely accepted and is both easy to use and fast. Electronic Checks (also known as eChecks) are quickly earning the reputation as being user-friendly- an important quality in online casino payment.

The state of California, who currently follows the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) just like the other states in the US, is ready to move forward with online poker. State representatives understand that there is a lot of money in online gambling and has the potential to generate a great deal of money that can go to improving any public systems that require more money.

The state of Iowa is making serious headway in their quest to become the first US state with legalized online gambling. State representatives are pushing the bill forward because they hope to lead the rest of the country to make the same move.

The current enforcement of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) has not stopped casino players in the US from gambling online. In fact, the online casino industry is booming more than ever.

For the past year, online gambling websites experienced a huge boost, as the global recession caused people all over the world to seek out more home-based forms of entertainment. This resulted in a large number of people staying home; renting movies rather than going to the cinema, cooking at home rather than eating out and gambling online rather than going to land-based casinos. While this has saved former casino patrons a great deal of money, a recent survey has revealed that online gambling is also contributing to the distress of land-based casinos.

Players no longer have to download an entire online casino suite in order to have access to their favourite online casino games. Instead, online casino operators have started offering “no download” casinos, which are browser-based programs that are usually programmed by Flash or Java. Aside from allowing Mac users to play, no-download casinos offer players a wide range of benefits.

Iowa’s recent consideration of online gambling has generated a lot of response, both positive and negative. Some accept that online casinos will generate a lot of money for the state while others don’t believe that people should be put at risk just for that reason.

A research organization in the US did some digging and found that of the people they surveyed, 12 percent admitted to gambling online in the past year, even though it is illegal. They also found that men are more likely to play poker and other online card table games while women tend to stick to online slots and bingo.

With the Oscars just days away, online gamblers are taking the time to bet for their favourite actresses, actors and other industry members. After the nominees were announced, online casinos began taking bets on who would win in each category.

Online gambling remains a controversial topic, especially at the senate level. Many legislators are wary to pass laws that will allow legalization and regulation of online gambling because of the concerns that the freedom will lead to problem gambling. Problem gambling, of course, may lead to financial devastation and some members of parliament are not ready for that type of responsibility.

Unfortunately for online casino players, scammers have taken advantage of the popularity of online gambling. To combat this, several websites have stepped up to help find reputable online gambling sites for players.

Spin Palace regularly hosts some of the greatest online slots tournaments, and this month will be no different. During March, the popular Canadian online casino will be hosting two exciting new tournaments that will be sure to captivate players.

The US Military have long been subjected to internet restrictions, especially while overseas. It isn’t clear why that is, maybe the military would like to maintain a stoic image and many of the services offered on the internet just don’t allow for that.

MasterCard has begun their campaign to block payments made to online casinos. They have been threatening to do it for some time now and the final decision was made recently. The company has a list of red flags for employees to watch out for and anything that is questionable will be blocked until an investigation is completed.

Cryptologic, an online casino software provider, has released all information on how they did in 2009. Not surprisingly, there was a loss in revenue; $39.8 million from $61.5 million from 2008 to 2009, a net loss of $35.5 million. This is attributed to players wagering smaller amounts and less often than before the economic recession.

The state of Iowa is pushing for the legalization of online gambling. While they are not the only state to come up with the idea, if the bill is passed Iowa will be an online gambling pioneer in the US. The entire country still follows the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) which bans banks and credit cards from processing transfers to and from online casinos.

CBC will be airing a special documentary that illustrates how online gambling is affecting youths. It will focus specifically on three young boys ranging in ages from 14-20 and will discuss the problems they endured when their gambling got to be out of control.

InterCasino has recently launched its brand new makeover, complete with a futuristic design to ring in the new decade.