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Will turning the page on the wall-calendar mean anything for our industry as well? Usually people underplay the calendar dates saying the world does not necessarily act accordingly. But the industry has still received some good news, a pat on the back if you wish, with the annual predictions of the markets for the coming year. Software providers are favored by a popular and respected online market analyst to be of the top performers for the year 2007. With attractive share values at the moment, a general re-organization of the entire industry with buyouts and mergers, and a re-shuffling of the industry focusing on new markets and devising themselves in new languages they are indeed the focus of market projections of the new year. To that market analyses can add the hefty cash amounts many companies have accumulated. This will allow them a backbone to rely on through the hard times and a leverage to experiment and develop in new directions. The success gambling sites have enjoyed during the holiday season, with greater numbers of gamblers visiting the sites and gambling bigger amounts, is expected to continue throughout the upcoming sports month (with the Super Bowl to top it all) and repeat itself over time with holiday seasons to come. The growth potential, with untapped markets in Asia and Europe, and hopefully accommodating regulations in existing markets, back these projections and give hope for a happy new year.
New publications online and in print have raised the issue this week in the United States and across the world. Posing morality versus money, the articles question governments' hypocrisy. Special focus of the criticism is directed at the habit of encouraging local and internal forms of gambling, while banning external gambling operations. The victims of this state protectionism policy are gambling websites. While the casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City and the state lotteries generate over $30 billion a year, the government has no problem banning other forms of gambling. Criticism of gambling as encouraging bad elements in society - being morally dangerous to the social fabric cannot go hand in hand with encouraging other forms of gambling. State monopolies of gambling operations that are applied to the sites seem also problematic. In a world of globalization and free trade across borders, such instances in which executives from a certain country are arrested when arriving at another country. Although claiming that they protect their societies, it seems more as if the governments are protecting their gambling monopolies, and sources of income, while acting hypocritically. The countries' fight against gambling operations is not futile. They can cause losses along the way and may even succeed in the end. Unlike commonly held beliefs, the Internet can indeed be policed - an example for this is China although it will not be easily accomplished and will need a united effort by many countries. A look at the present reveals a hypocritical policy of governments. A look to the future sees the sites still operating and even spreading to other media as technology and the gambling community gambles on and on.
As gambling expands across the Internet and becomes more legitimate as it does so, the sites allow players and fans of gambling to try their luck in the games. This trend has had its effect on the number of women who join as well and their overall portion of the number of gamblers. As more women play, more join the distinguished club of winners. Articles in major world publications came out recently with reports of women taking a greater part in online gambling. Factors such as the accessibility of the sites, the anonymity that they allow, a low-risk and high-reward opportunities are drawing women to the sites en masse. Before the launch of Internet gambling, women were a much smaller portion of the gambling community. This has changed dramatically over the years. Research of women's gambling habits reveals that women prefer gambling small amounts rather than risking high amounts. They still, however, go after the great prizes offered, just as men do if not more so. Betting small amounts of as little as a single dollar (or euro, or pound for that matter) may win them prizes upwards of 50,000 dollars, sometimes much higher. Fast games such as Wheel of Fortune and Monopoly that make them fast and big winners are often what women look for. And so, as women play more they win more! Women make up about 70 percent of sites' members today. They also make up about the same percent of winners. As gambling becomes more popular among women and word of their winnings spreads, stories of female online casino winners will be heard around the world.
The gambling venues offer other ways to pass the time, have fun and profit from successful betting. They do so by offering bets on the most popular and interesting forms of entertainment. Celebrity lives and other news from around the world of entertainment are bet on daily by millions of gamblers at the sites. Sports events are perhaps the most prominent of them all. A new year and a new calendar, and a new sports season is on its way. In tennis, for example, the first of the four Grand Slam competitions is about to begin. The two week competition will begin on January 15, but the sites that focus on entertainment events, sports betting in particular, are already up and running. In Melbourne, where the sun is shining and the summer is at its peak, the crowds await the tennis players to take the court. All over the world, in cold climates and warm, the gambling crowds await the same thing to happen. Will Roger Federer, the Swiss tennis genius, win again on the hard courts of Melbourne? This is not just an innocent question. When talking about mere entertainment it is, but that is not the case when talking about entertainment betting. Entering 2007 and entering the Australian Open, Federer is the favorite to win his 10th Grand Slam title. The 2004 and 2006 Champion is a 2-5 favorite in the bets. To remain on the topic, this particular tennis competition works in a similar way to other entertainment events that are bet on around the gambling world. Federer, who had a brilliant year in 2006, is ahead of the No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal who is a 13-2 favorite to win. Following them are Andy Roddick at 10-1 and Marat Safin at 20-1. Betting, as well as following the tournament, is bound to be as entertaining as any online casino activity.
In addition to the official operation licenses they received, the companies also received new licenses for running centers across the country, in cafes, bars and run by newsagents, which feature and host horseracing and sports betting centers. A statement by one of the two companies included the following passage: "Strategy is to establish an Italian retail estate through both new licenses awarded in the tender process and the acquisition of existing centers." One of the groups added in its statement that it would continue to buy new licenses in Italy. This European country is becoming a new frontier for many Internet gambling companies around the world as they search for a new market to replace that of the United States. Since the UIGEA, or Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, many companies are closing their doors to American gamblers and moving their services to other nations. Sometimes, as this case shows, with success. The licenses owned by one group include 33 operating licenses for horse racing, 58 for sports betting as well as betting centers and 51 for franchises. Meanwhile, one of Austria's leading groups claimed that it had not required licenses in this tender as it already owned a license for sports betting in Italy and was not looking for licenses for betting centers. However, the firm did confirm that it would be interested in winning an Italian license for gambling and poker. So do they fare well in the beginning of the new year, as the doors close in the United States and new markets must be explored and developed? The Italian example seems to show this is the case. Other examples also exist, such as the Russian President signing into law a ban on online casinos. Yet the eyes of the industry and of millions of gamblers around the world are looking up and East, as new markets are entered.
This leaves them to offer various promotions, new adventures and game versions and other gambling related features. The story is different when it comes to land based casinos, the brick and mortar cousins of the websites. People must do a little more than just click their mouse to reach a land based venue. They must arrange for travel, lodging and even entertainment to get them to the city that hosts the venue and fill their day once they're there (during the time that they are not gambling on the gaming floor). That is why they make such efforts to advertise and promote their casinos more than others, by inventing new ways and promotions that will indeed draw the gamblers to their games. The first and most immediate concern for gamblers who are planning a day, or a weekend at such a place is travel and sleeping arrangements. Certain operations acknowledge this, and offer some kind of deal that will cover these expenses. Either in the form of playing chips, given out in some value that is proportionate to the travel or lodging expenses or free meals and tickets for evening entertainment shows. This is surely an expense that they must make. It gets even more considerable when dealing with bigger and bigger gamblers. The greater the sums the gambler bets, the more the venue wants him or her. Thus it is possible to see all-expenses-paid deals and other terrific promotions. Though different than the comfort of one's home and own bed, travel to land based casinos elsewhere in the country or the world can be fun and does not necessarily needs to be too much of a hassle.
But the changes are not negative, not all of them, not all the time. With borders becoming practically invisible, thanks to the Internet at large - online gambling included, companies need to face new markets on a constantly growing basis. We can label this stage as "Crossing Borders". As the sites spread globally and offer their games to different and new markets, so do the doors open for the affiliate programs. Moreover, there is profit to be made here. A gambling website cannot handle this expansion on its own, and so it would likely have to merge and join hands with another site. Even then the gambling site can enjoy the assistance and support affiliate programs bring with them. These affiliate companies across the world can join in on these business opportunities as they contribute to the growing industry. Affiliate programs can capitalize on a huge market, previously untapped, with the experience of past years. The market is no longer an entirely new field, unexplored and unknown. It has been around for over a decade and companies have set standards and designed proven work methods. Entering the affiliate services at this time and age is a unique business opportunity indeed. Companies that have worked and acted on the gambling scene in the past are better equipped to manage the entry into new markets. They, on one hand, can offer guidance in the new stage. But other companies have no secrets either and their operations are visible to all, as is their success. Therefore, affiliate programs around the world can prepare for the new stage, the entrance into new markets, and enjoy the fruits of the future of online casino sites.
A software company's chief executive said: "This is the most lucrative and fastest growing market and everyone wants to tap into it." It is true for investment, banking, information technology and the gambling industry too. The software company has gone the next step as well. It signed an agreement for five years with the number one online casino company in China. Now, and for the next five years, the software company will supply the infrastructure for numerous versions of classic and revolutionary games for the Asian market. The software company will face new challenges in the new market it is entering. Not only are the languages spoken in Asia different than those spoken in existing and established markets, but the Asian gambling community will also expect to find other games at the sites. Mahjong, the most famous of them, as well as Do Di Zhu and Choi Da Di are three examples of these games. The agreement between the two companies to join hands and enter the Asian is typical. Following some setbacks that the industry has suffered in the past year, joint ventures of this kind, and even mergers and buyouts are the best move. As a sign for this, one can look at the stock value that rose following the announcement, expressing the market's trust in alliances led by software companies. We shall follow the developments from Asia and see the fruits of this investment in 2007.
With later software developments and sheer inventiveness, with added spice of market competition, came Progressive Jackpots. Among these Progressive Games, with a large pool of prize sums growing with every gambler at all linked sites, the Jackpots reached new highs. Payouts of a million dollars are not unheard of. One leading English operator has broken all records recently with a $5 million Jackpot. The game? You guessed right: Progressive Slots. It seems that with this game, more than any other, with its fast rolling paylines has the greatest potential of running the Jackpot amount the highest. With very player who plays the game, the payout rises. It might be a $5 million payout at one moment, but the next moment it is even higher! That is generally true about payouts, especially concerning Progressive Jackpots and Progressive Slots. They cannot be reliably traced and reported without erring. With the number of players at record highs, the sites growing in popularity, the Jackpots too are steadily rising. Gamblers must visit a site and watch the Jackpot Meter at real time to see what is in store for them. A gamblers' minimal bet of 25 cents, for example, can lead to a $10,000 payout, a million or even $5 million as this example shows. What is the record at one moment or a record of the entire history of payouts may change over the course of moments, perhaps an hour, or over the period of a full day. Depending on the number of gamblers who visit the sites linked together, in addition to some hype or positive word that spreads across the information centers online, Jackpots may rise exponentially. Then again, they might disappear entirely off the market. How come? It only takes one strike of luck, one spin of the reel, one lucky gambler to become a millionaire.
The report of the new policy of HSBC says the bank is going to charge a new fee for credit card payments at gambling websites. The bank is going to raise the fee it charges gamblers for transactions by credit card, and bring it to the level of cash-advance payments. The change will take effect February 1st, 2007. Its significance to gamblers is that the rate will be higher than what is currently in place, which is the normal purchase rate for all telephone and online gambling. The fee will rise from between 15.9% and 22.9% interest to a new interest rate of between 21.9% and 27.8%. Such transactions will therefore be more expensive, but there is also good news, as the gamblers will not be charged the one-off fee, which is in place when involving purchase of foreign currency and other transactions. Mixed blessing for gamblers? It is if one would listen to the news carefully. The report explained that behind the decision is the fear of a continuing of bad loans and does not target gamblers who use their credit cards for their transactions. The bank's spokeswoman said that bad loans are not typical of gamblers' behavior in any way, but rather a general phenomenon. The bank joins other credit card companies in raising its fees of online casino transactions. However, there are some companies that still charge the older, lower rate of normal purchases. Alternative Internet payment methods supply gamblers with a way around the higher rates, at least for the moment. PayPal, a popular payment method among gamblers, is charged as a regular online purchase, and does not fall into the higher rate category. Few indeed use credit cards, and so few will likely be affected by the new policy.
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