Showing results for: ""
The deadline for the future of online gambling in the United States is nearly upon us. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, otherwise known as the UIGEA, is set to take effect on 1 June. However, there is a group of people, led by Republicans Barney Frank and Jim McDermott, lobbying strongly for it to be repealed. Their proposal would see the legalisation and taxation of online gambling. McDermott makes the point that many Americans are currently gambling online yet the country and lawmakers are turning a blind eye to it. Under their bill, a tax of 6 per cent would be levied on all deposits and paid to the state or tribal government where the player is a resident. Plus the federal government would benefit from an additional 2 per cent of all deposits. The congressional Joint Committee on Taxation has estimated that such a plan would generated a staggering $30 billion in revenue for states and tribal governments and a further $42 billion for the federal government over the next decade. McDermott argues that this source of money is too valuable and desperately needed for communities in today's economy to be ignored. He has also put forward the argument that adults ought to have the right to do as they please with their own money without interference from the government. Professional sports leagues, however, are opposed to the bill as they believe it will increase wagers placed on their matches. They are joined in their opposition by a number of Christian charity organisations. The bill was due to be considered in the House Financial Services Committee late last week, however, was cancelled. A vote is now due in spring and all online casinos - and some not yet invented - are watching developments closely hoping to tap into a new and huge source of revenue. Under the UIGEA, banks will be responsible for monitoring all credit card transactions to catch players who play at offshore sites.
The Euroleague Basketball Final Four Paris 2010 is in under 2 weeks time, and there are major developments in all that concerns sports betting. Ten days, to be exact. Visit the official Euroleague Basketball website and you will notice this message: SportingBet - Bet Now is the call. Yes, the sports book has become official Euroleague sponsor ahead of the Paris Final Four, where Regal FCB, CSKA Moscow, Partizan and Olympiacos will try and win the European basketball title. Sports illustrated called it a "provocative endorsement". Euroleague communications director Kirsten Haacksaid said the league feels comfortable with the association, adding that "Everything indicates that our players, our referees and our coaches aren't influenced by the betting results." The Legitimate Sports Bet Sports betting has been a legitimate, legal, and widely popular option for sports fans; the Euroleage is only one sport we can bet on these days at whim. Sporting Bet is actually traded on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). As far as battling fraud, the sportsbook has alarm systems installed that freeze betting if suspicion arises. What's In It for the Euroleague? This can be answered with a question: Will interest in the Euroleague increase following this partnership with SportingBet? The logic behind this says that fans who are invested - be it for 10 euros or 1,000 - care more and are more passionate as basketball fans. The ideal fan is an invested fan. Such leagues and tournaments as the NFL and the NCAA are prime examples for that. Did you place your sports bet already??
Fancy a game of poker which breaks all the rules? Party Poker's Bad Beat Jackpot is a progressive jackpot poker game with a twist. The winning pot builds as $0.50 is collected from each raked hand at the Bad Beat Jackpot tables. It may not sound like much but with more than 100 tables the jackpot typically increases by $1,000 every hour! For those wishing to keep an eye on the prize, the Party Poker lobby keeps track of the growing Bad Beat Jackpot. Past jackpots have climbed past the million mark. The Winner Loses Out and the Loser Wins! The twist in the tail of Bad Beat Jackpot is that the loser wins! In the topsy turvy world of Bad Beat Poker the progressive jackpot is taken if the loser of a hand has four of a kind, eights or better. The ‘winner' has to have one of the winning combinations, yet still lose the hand in order to net the big prize. Everyone's a Winner The Bad Beat rules mean that everyone around the table is a winner; with Party Poker's Bad Beat Jackpot 50% goes to the ‘loser' of the hand (our Bad Beat winner), 25% goes to the ‘winner' of the hand and the remaining 25% is shared amongst all the other players sat around the table and involved in the hand. Never has sitting a hand out been more risky! The Small Print The best hand for the winner and the loser must include their two hole cards and the hand must go to a showdown. Hands have to be raked and the jackpot contribution collected in order to qualify for the jackpot. In the case of two hands qualifying for the jackpot, the highest hand is deemed the winner of the hand and the second highest hand considered the loser of the hand and therefore the Bad Beat winner. Party Poker is one of the most popular online poker halls on the net and won eGaming's prestigious ‘Poker Operator of the Year Award' for 2009. The Bad Beat Jackpot is one of many exciting games and promos at the online poker room and is a popular place for players to hang out.
It's all happening at Betfair; 2010 is turning out to be a landmark year in more ways than one. As Betfair celebrate their first decade in business they reflect upon a year that has seen them notch up a host of other impressive achievements. This sportsbook, poker hall and online casino is a real hub of activity and now processes an incredible 6 million transactions each day. Over the period of the past year they have taken some 500 million bets and the customers just keep on signing up and staying around to enjoy the exciting range of sports wagers and online games on offer. All this activity is great for business and in the last five years their total revenues have nearly tripled, rising from £107 million in 2005 to £303 million for the year ended April 30th 2009. Three Million Milestone As if all those achievements and zeros weren't enough, Betfair has now announced that in their tenth anniversary year they have achieved record levels of growth and just signed up their 3 millionth customer. "Reaching our three millionth customer is a significant achievement of which I am extremely proud," said David Yu, Betfair's Chief Executive Officer. "Our continued growth is a testament to Betfair appealing to a wider range of people than ever before. The fact that we have passed this milestone in the year we celebrate our tenth birthday is symbolic of how far we have come in that time." The Mighty Mix Betfair has three sections on their ever-evolving website. The foundation of their gaming service is the sensational Betfair Sportsbook, which has a huge selection of sporting events to bet on and highly competitive odds. You can bet for or against a given outcome and enjoy the excitement of live in-play betting too. Their online poker room holds regular tournaments and has plenty of promos and big bonus games. Finally, the Betfair online casino contains 150 thrilling games and includes the Zero Lounge which has a zero house margin. World Cup to Create Continuing Custom Yu commented, "With what should be the biggest betting event of all time just around the corner in the World Cup we will be looking to build on this achievement as we power our way to four million." Between them, Betfair's three sites use state of the art technology, provide great games and the biggest array of bets with the best odds around. Why not find out what all the fuss is about and make yourself the 3,000,001st player to sign up. Sometimes it's wise to follow the crowd.
Last week, Windows Casino gave thousands in prizes to players from different parts of the world who had won playing their favourite slot games and video poker games. The biggest winner last week was a casino player in Greece who won over €12k with a 3 reel slot. Funky Monkey, which is a classic Vegas style slot machine game, won Theodoros P. a massive jackpot of €12,625. The game has only one pay line but can win players a maximum payout of 2500 coins on the maximum bet. Canadian casino player Jo Ann O. won $1,220 when she played the progressive slot game Diamond Valley. The progressive jackpot on this 5 reel 5 pay lines game is triggered when the player gets five Diamond Mountain symbols on the 5th pay line. The Irish Luck slot game was lucky for two players last week; Hernan A from Chile won $3,999 with the game that is themed on Irish lucky charms. Irish Luck has a delightful Gold Pots bonus round where a leprechaun helps you pick a pot of gold which reveals your bonus credits. The second lucky player was Arnando S from South Africa who won R2,301 when he played at the popular online casino. Australian casino player Kevin B scooped $2,102 when he had a go at the Sparta slot. This adventure game has free spins, scatters, an expanding wild symbol and a bonus round which is triggered when three or more Spartan Army symbols appear anywhere on the reels, awarding players with 15 free spins with a x2 multiplier. The online slot game has a maximum slots jackpot of 4000 coins; the second highest payout is 2000 coins. Windows Casino also had players win on online video poker games. Annie B. from France won €7,062 with Jacks or Better while Vegard B. from Norway won €1,410 when he played the 2 Ways Royal video poker game.
The Marina Bay Sands, the second of Singapore's two new casinos, has finally received its license just in time for its preview opening Tuesday. Las Vegas Sands, which has built the new casino, received the gaming license this week from the Casino Regulatory Authority of Singapore. On Tuesday afternoon it opened the first phase of the $5.5 billion resort, including 963 of the 2,560 hotel rooms, parts of the shopping mall and restaurants, the convention and events centers, and of course the casino. The rest of the complex is scheduled to open on June 23. Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson said on Tuesday that his company expected to recoup its investment in the complex within five years. The prediction means the new casino will be even more of a success than the company's Macau complex, which recouped its investment within four years but cost only around half as much to construct. The billionaire businessman said the Marina Bay Sands will be a "grand slam home run," adding: "Asian people just love to gamble." The opening makes Marina Bay Sands the second casino to open in Singapore this year. Genting's Resort World Sentosa opened in February. Over in Macau meanwhile, another big name in the casino business - Steve Wynn - has realized one of his goals with the opening of Encore at Wynn Macau last Wednesday. The new casino sits directly opposite Wynn's other casino in the Chinese territory, a copy of his two adjacent casinos in the world's other big casino city - Las Vegas. Visit Online Casino Reports local Singapore branch for more on online casinos in Singapore.
Whoever would have thought that all those childhood favorites you brought out the toy cupboard on rainy days would become this year's Next Big Thing. Like the remarkable resurgence of bingo, skill games are currently storming the net and have become a growing phenomenon that is catching the on across the globe. A Growing Market Industry pundits are predicting the online skill gaming market, which was worth just over $382 million globally at the end of 2009 will rise further to more than $472 million by the end of 2010. The trend is set to continue with a massive hike to over $957 million on the cards by 2014, according to ‘The Global Business of Skill Gaming', a report published by iGaming Business. Future Trends The report on the online skill gaming industry also identifies key business trends that are predicted over the next few years: increasing consolidation more non-traditional gaming brands entering the market more targeting of growth markets increasing use of television and sponsorship more cross-selling of products reaching out to non-traditional online gamers holding onto to existing players more innovation/production of new games and formats/localization increased use of social networking continued roll out of mobile gaming Skill Games that Pay! Online skill games are like a nice claret; they mature with age. The transition of skill games onto the net has lead to their natural evolution, prompted by the necessity for them to meet the needs and expectations of today's techno gamers. Software developers are increasingly looking at developing multiplayer options, chat features and team versions of games. Alongside this development, the industry is looking at how to integrate casino-style features such as cash prizes, jackpots, tournaments and wagers. However, free options of play-for-fun games will still be available alongside modern, monetized thrillers. The Future is on the Way! The online skill games market is the new growth area in the gaming sector. It is attracting an increasing global audience of all ages. The industry is responding quickly with software enhancements, game refinement and the added spice of bets and bonuses. Sites such as William Hill are already promoting an exciting array of online skill games. As the online skill game and online casino markets gradually merge, all eyes are on the biggest sites to launch new, souped up versions of classic games boosted by added sophistication to make them fit for the modern age.
Hollywood stars Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have confirmed to participate in the World Series of Poker's Ante up for Africa charity tournament in Las Vegas on July 3. The pair previously competed in the inaugural event in 2007, along with 200 other celebrities and poker pros. Since then, the tournament, which was created by Don Cheadle, Norman Epstein and poker pro Annie Duke, has gone from strength to strength, with its ability to attract celebrities as its drawcard. Duke said the event organizers were "very excited" to have Damon and Affleck compete in the event's fourth instalment, saying: "We look forward to hearing from more big names in the gaming and entertainment industries as they come on board to give their valuable time and energy and bring attention to the dire crisis taking place in areas in Africa like Darfur." Ante up for Africa specifically raises funds for Africa-related charities such as the Enough Project, which works to prevent genocide. In the past it has also contributed to other organizations such as Not on our Watch and the International rescue Committee, with players asked to donate half of their winnings from the tournament back to the charities. Other celebrities to have participated in the past include former basketballer Charles Barkley, former boxing champion Mike Tyson, and Seinfeld star Jason Alexander. This year's event, which will be held once again at the Rio All-Suite Casino, will no doubt attract just as many high-profile celebs.
European gaming giant bwin has launched a new World Cup themed solitaire game just in time for the real thing. A new version of the card classic solitaire, "World Cup Solitaire" requires players to match cards in pairs so that the total reaches thirteen. Matched pairs are then removed, with the game over when all cards are cleared and no legal moves remain. The game begins with 28 cards laid out in seven rows on the table in triangle formation. The top row has one card, the second two cards and so on. Only the seven cards in the bottom row are shown at the beginning of the game, while the remaining 24 cards not in the triangle are seen below. To begin, the top card is flipped over to be revealed and moved to the play pile. Players can then begin clicking on pairs of cards to reach the target total of thirteen. Players score points for each card successfully removed from the table. The amount of points is dependent on the initial position of the card, with the card at the top being the most valuable. World Cup Solitaire can be found in the skill games section on bwin's gaming website.
Calling online casinos a house of cards, as did the York Daily Record in Pennsylvania earlier this week, seems hysterical. "Online gambling: A house of cards" Better yet, they claim the pro-online gambling argument to be a pyramid scheme. "Pyramid scheme" - just like that. The YDR is afraid online casinos would take away some of the income from land based casinos (slots parlors, horse racing tracks, etc.) and that states would have to share tax revenues with the federal government. Afraid the Pennsylvania government would lose out does not stop the YDR from supporting the state's table games at casinos, which compete with Atlantic City, Vegas and Indian reservations. The economic model might yet be sustainable, if land based casinos of all sorts stop fearing the Internet and join hands, contributing from their knowledge and experience for added value. Assuming they have such knowledge and experience. Meanwhile, warning of the risks of legalizing online casinos, the result of which might be a "tumbling down like a house of virtual card," makes for poor metaphors and poor economic forecasts.
Blackjack
Slots
Roulette
Baccarat
Craps
Poker
