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Investment in bitcoin as a form of virtual money has become popular among cyber age speculators because of its potential to transcend national currencies and provide global commerce participants with a single instrument of trade currency. But is bitcoin a good financial investment? Bitcoin Sports Trade CEO Tyler Wilson certainly thinks so, which is why he created BitcoinSportsTrade. Wilson subscribes to the basic premise of user-generated value: unlike global currencies in national and international banks, Bitcoin is not controlled by any single entity. Free-market Wagering Not by coincidence, casinos are the main entities utilizing the bitcoin trade, with gambling providing over half of the total use of the bitcoin economy. Wilson created Bitcoin Sports Trade to unify global sports wagering communities. Imitating other Bitcoin peer-to-peer exchange system platforms such as bitstamp, Wilson decided to let the user activity "set the market." User-generated Betting Lines Instead of offering set odds, Bitcoin Sports Trade's betting lines are determined by user activity, so that the supply and demand of betting preferences most equitably establishes the betting lines. In short, the house edge is removed completely. Obstacles to Bitcoin Growth The concept of user preferences setting market values is an extremely appealing component of the bitcoin online economy. However, among the remaining obstacles to a global bitcoin infrastructure is the gray area status that online gambling represents to the massive US market. Casino-Centered Bitcoin Investment Outlook By the same token, over 50% of bitcoin use is sustained by the multibillion dollar online gaming industry. In light of the fact that the online gambling industry continues to grow rapidly, bitcoin has the potential to be an attractive investment in that specific sector for now. If the model can develop and be adapted with integrity across diverse exchange environments - and gains US acceptance, the potential for bitcoin growth could be limitless. For now, a wait-and-see attitude and modest direct investment in bitcoin wagering or wagering news sites would appear to be the most prudent approach.
Luis Suarez is one of the most recognizable footballers on the planet. The recently anointed Professional Footballer's Association and the Football Writers Association, Player of the Year 2013-2014 has had quite a reversal of fortune over the last 12 months. He has also just signed with mega brand 888Poker as a global brand ambassador. From Pariah to Hero It has been quite a 12 months for the Uruguay and Liverpool forward. In one of the last games of the 2012/2013 season, Suarez bit the arm of an opponent and was subsequently banned for 10 league games with a hefty fine thrown in for good measure. This was in addition to other previous misdemeanors, including the racial slurring of a fellow professional during a game. A hero already for Liverpool supporters due to his goal-scoring exploits, last summer's close season was one of fear that this multi-talented player would leave the English game. Suarez's ban continued into this season and his tally of 31 league goals for the Reds is the first time in several seasons that anyone has beaten the 30-goal mark. World Cup June sees the start of the World Cup in Brazil and Suarez is expected to be among the leading lights. His 11 goals in the qualifying tournament helped Uruguay (he is the nation's leading goal scorer) to eventual qualification for the upcoming South American football bonanza. Suarez is already going to be one of the most followed stars of the World Cup and that exposure is one of the key things that 888 Poker is hoping to tap into. In a recent interview, Suarez was paraded as 888's newest signing where he talked about his love of poker, his prolific Premier League season and his hopes for the upcoming World Cup.
During April 2014, four casinos from the Vegas Partner Lounge casino have paid some very big sums to players, amounting closely to €120,000. Let's take a closer look at the big winners, their payouts and the games which they played. Crazy Vegas Casino One of Vegas Partner Lounge's flagships, over the month of April Crazy Vegas Casino has seen three big winners among its players. The biggest winner was W.J. who took home a magnificent sum of €27,483 while playing Wowpot, one of the net's most popular progressive jackpots with a classic slot flavor available in 3-reel and 5-reel versions. Close behind W.J. was the lucky C.K. who pocketed €15,435 playing the classic 3-reel slot High Five, known for its 5x25 wild multiplier and jackpot which can reach 15,000 coins. Closing the list is C.S., who won AU$14,979 playing the 243-ways-to-win Break Away, Microgaming's hit video slot themed on the NHL featuring some big payouts with its unique "Smashing Wild". Casino Mate Casino Mate saw its player P.H. rewarded a sum of AU$25,400 playing Adventure Palace. A 5-reel, 9-payline video slot, Adventure Palace takes players deep into a tropical jungle where they meet symbols represented by a variety of wildlife like apes, elephants, tigers and tropical birds, with the size of the payouts equal to the size of the animal. To demonstrate this: five elephants are worth 10,000 coins. Adventure Palace also features up to 15 free spins with a 5x multiplier and a gamble feature where players can double their bankroll. Cinema Casino and Maple Casino Over at Cinema Casino the bank was indeed broken when M.A. scooped AU$25,400 while playing Break da Bank. One of Microgaming's contemporary classics, Break da Bank is a 5-reel, 9-paylines slot themed around a bank heist. Players meet symbols such as bank vaults, coins, gold bars and cash bundles as they spin the reels, hoping to land combinations of bullion symbols which can trigger free spins with a multiplier of up to 25X. Break da Bank was also the game played by P.A. when they won €16,185 at Maple Casino, Vegas Partner Lounge's signature casino with its unique Canadian theme and appeal. About Vegas Partner Lounge Vegas Partner Lounge is one of the net's biggest online casino groups. It has been around for over 13 years and it hosts more than 10 fine online casinos under its wing including names like Crazy Vegas Casino, Golden Riviera Casino and Casino UK. Vegas Partner Lounge member casinos are all powered by software powerhouse Microgaming, offering their players a huge collection of over 600 games available in instant play and download versions. All of Vegas Partner Lounge casinos stand up to the highest security standards bearing seals of approval from eCOGRA, operating under a full license from the Lotteries & Gaming Authority of Malta.
Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals tips off tonight from San Antonio at 9:00pm ET (2:00am UK time) as the Spurs face off against the Thunder. This is the 3rd straight season that these teams have finished as the top two seeds in the West and if not for a injury to Russel Westbrook last year this could be the 3rd edition of the Western Conference Finals trilogy. Ibaka Out The big news for tonight's game and the rest of the series was the announcement that Serge Ibaka would be missing the rest of the playoffs with a calf injury. Who will take his place? Ibaka has more playing time than everyone other than MVP Kevin Durant. The Thunder swept the regular season series 4-0 by an average of 9.2 ppg though they had Ibaka at full health. Will the Thunder coach Scott Brooks opt for 2 big men and Durant? Will he start off smaller with Durant in the power forward spot? The Spurs have an exceptional bench and the biggest question is will Oklahoma be able to keep up. Spurs Have the Edge bet365 Sports is airing this, and all of the NBA playoffs live at their online sportsbetting platform and have already posted a long line of pre-game bets for tonight's late match-up. Punters interested in getting in on the action will be able to find the Money Line in which the Spurs are favorites by 1.43 to the Thunders' 2.90, or one of the many Correct Score bets. There is also a list of winning margin lines as well as Double Result options too. Missing even one minute of this sure-to-be incredible series is not an option. Tune in late tonight and watch 4 high flying quarters of NBA action.
A recent report shows that New Jersey online gambling revenue, previously on a straight climb upward, has taken a downward turn in the month of April. While revenue in March was $11,878,374, April's revenue was $11,428,737 - a decrease of $400,000. While the decrease is relatively not a lot, it seems to have put a damper on New Jersey's optimistic forecast for the future on online gambling.OperatorsDifferent operators in New Jersey experienced different results in April. Borgata, partnered with bwin.party, saw a decrease in revenue from $4.39 million to $4.11 million; most of the loss was traced back to poker. Caesars, partnered with 888, also saw a decrease in revenue, from $3.71 million to $3.05 million.On the other hand, Tropicana, partnered with Virgin/Gamesys, reported a 10% increase, and Trump Plaza, partnered with Betfair, almost doubled their revenue, going from $509k to $926k.While some casinos lost and some casinos gained, it seems that the ones that gained did so at the expense of their competitors. In other words, they did not reach out to a new audience; rather, the same audience who has been taking advantage of online gambling just switched operators.The Forecast for MayAs of now, May traffic seems to suggest that there will be a similar drop in revenue, also due to the lack of poker play. The New Jersey report predicts that 888 Poker and Ultimate Poker will be hit the hardest, and that Ultimate Poker will eventually shut down. 888 Poker is owned by the same casino as WSOP, which still remains popular and thus gives some hope.
Last year, Rational Group announced that Full Tilt was keeping up with the times by diversifying is offerings from online poker to include a variety of casino games. Real Money Casino Games But that was just the first step in the robust new Full Tilt model. Employing a system restricted to selected markets for now, Full Tilt recently introduced their first real money casino games, to be integrated within the regular poker client. The move was announced Monday in concert with the roll-out of a bold new software update featuring highly innovated images, sound effects and other details for the upcoming new casino games which Full Tilt will introduce on a gradual, progressive basis. For now, Full Tilt's real money games include only blackjack and roulette, and are being offered in single and multiplayer formats to small market segments on a limited test basis. New Bonuses Expected Look for new and generous bonuses from Full Tilt as it promotes its expanding casino game offerings and builds trust with its user base in the new real money format. Staying Ahead of the Competition As one of the Top 5 poker rooms in the country, Full Tilt has to keep finding new ways to stay competitive. Real money rooms and expanded casino offerings represent steps in the strategic direction of the revamped Full Tilt environment that has brought Full Tilt back to life in its new sleek, adapted version. Integrated Poker Accounts In addition, Rational Group will be linking the accounts of PokerStars and Full Tilt users to streamline the transfer of funds so that players can keep their focus on the games themselves—and increase their winnings.
EuroSlot Magazine's May edition has gone online, now available in digital format. A monthly magazine, EuroSlot is the go-to magazine for online gaming operators and industry professionals, as well as interested readers not affiliated with the industry. This is due to the magazine's very approachable coverage of the online gaming industry, reviewing the field's most important subjects such as regulation news, US markets, events, new games and the all the latest happenings. The magazine also features in-depth articles looking into emerging trends, successful iGaming related ventures, niche markets and anything else which could be interesting. On this month's edition, EuroSlot's in-depth articles include an in-depth look on South Africa's online gaming market, a feature about the renaissance of jukeboxes in the UK and a profile Q&A with Lars Rogge, CEO of German electronic game giant Bally Wulff. Slots Round-Up Another one of EuroSlot's features is its monthly slots round-up, in which the magazine takes a closer look on some noticeable or freshly released video slots (page 21 on this edition). Online Casino Reports is a regular contributor for the section, and this time our write-up was about Space Wars: Spin Long and Prosper from Net Entertainment. Space Wars: Spin Long and Prosper Space Wars is a 5-reel, 4-row, 40-line video slot themed around a furious intergalactic battle between no less than five species of aliens, all vying to put their hands on a highly valuable red crystal. Space Wars incorporates its features very originally with a Cloning Pod where symbols are sent to be cloned when players land winning combination - this creates bigger payouts, the highest being a 1000x payout for landing five precious red crystals. Space Wars is a showcase of video slot nowadays with its great 3D graphics, light and immersive theme and high winning potential for players.
Social gaming is one of the fastest growing markets in the world, and according to a new report by international research company, Research and Markets, it will be worth $17.4 billion by 2019. Much of social gaming's meteoric rise can be attributed to the widespread purchase of smartphones, tablets and mobile devices over the past few years. Traditional Gambling Companies & Social GamingGiven the industry's potential, many traditional gambling companies also want a piece of the action. In 2011, Caesars Interactive Entertainment acquired social casino games developer Playtika, a small start-up, for $90 million. While the large sum was surprising, Caesars was actually making a smart investment, one that would allow it to achieve its aspiration of becoming "the number one in casino and social games on Facebook."In 2012, IGT, the world's largest developer of gaming machines, acquired Doubledown, the world's largest virtual casino, for over $400 million. Mobile TechnologyResearch and Markets concludes its report by predicting that the use of mobile technology will continue to increase over the next five years, which will in turn drive the expansion of the social gaming market at a compound annual growth rate of 16.1%.The report states, "The growth of social games can be attributed to the growing demand of smartphones and tablets in the market. The ever-increasing demand of the mobile devices has made the social game developers rework their strategies and they are now designing games that can be played on these devices. The growth in the Internet subscribers has also contributed to the growth of the social game users. It is expected that in 2014 one-third of Internet users are likely to take to social gaming. Another factor resulting in the growth social gaming market is free cost of the games on the net." Currently, approximately 200 million people play social games online, and that figure is expected to double by 2019. Of the amount of time spent using social media, social gaming customers spent more than 50% on playing games.
Over the past few weeks, Betsafe Casino has added four new games from multiple software developers. Let's take a closer look at these new titles. Piggy Bank Piggy Bank is a Betsson Group exclusive video slot with 5-reels and 5-paylines. The game is themed on the iconic pig-shaped money containers, including symbols such as coins, cash bundles, a hammer and the traditional numbers and letters. With two scatter symbols and two bonus features, one in which players get to smash an actual piggy bank on the reels, some really nice payouts can be won. Firestorm Firestorm is a new 5-reel, 25-payline video slot from QuickSpin, taking place inside a gold-filled Aztec temple. The slot's symbols consist of precious stones including two wild symbols which substitute for others to increase winnings. 2 ore more burning Aztec mask wilds trigger a re-spin feature with a multiplier up to 5x. Jackpot Jester 50,000 (mobile) Jackpot Jester 50,000 is one of NextGen's most popular slots and it has now made it to mobile. A 3-reel, 5-payline game, Jackpot Jester 50,000 looks and plays like an old time slot machine. With classic fruit, jokers, sevens and bells as symbols, the game can pay a top 50,000 coin prize. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is a 5-reel, 50-payline video slot from Ash Gaming, based on the famous TV trivia game show. The show's signature lifeline features are included with 50:50, phone buddy and crowd help features. Big Jackpot Winners Betsafe Casino's progressive jackpots are known for their good fortune; just a week ago a Swedish player pocketed €300,000 playing one of exclusive jackpots from Betsson Group found in Betsafe. The Hall of Gods progressive jackpot at the casino has rolled over to a whopping sum of around €6.7 million.
Powered by their winning momentum from the first game which saw the Indiana Pacers dominating Miami Heat with a 107-98 score, the two teams will meet tonight yet again for the second game in the Eastern conference finals at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse arena. Pacers will try to widen their momentum with a 2-0 over the two-time defending champions from Miami, energized by the score from the first game which marked the most points scored in a game for the Pacers all postseason. Pacers Overview Indiana's performance was over the top, gaining an early 10 point advantage thanks to the combination of careless play from the Heat and good shooting. The Pacers' crazy energy on the field was just too much for the Heat which seemed fatigued after the road they have traveled to the final. Heat It Up Heat forward LeBron James wasn't too excited after the loss, saying his team will do better in Game 2 after evaluating the mistakes made in the first one. James scored 25 points for the Heat together with high-scorer Dwayne Wade. While the Heat have already faced a 1-0 deficit in a playoff, the last time they were down 2-0 in the 2011 NBA finals they ended up losing to the Dallas Mavericks. Basketball fans are sure to get a good game tonight as the Pacers will try to cement a 2-0 lead while the Heat will be under immense pressure to turn the wheel around. Where to Bet Live Winner Sports will offer live betting on today's game (8:30pm EST, 1:30am UK) with 7/10 on Miami Heat and 23/20 on Indiana Pacers in Head to Head bets. Punters can also bet on handicaps/spreads markets and total points for the game.
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