Best and Worst of 2007

[The Dude]

Yep, it's that time of year again when Vortran and I put our thinking caps on and determine the categories (and recipients) of the best and worst of the year.

For those of you who are newbies to the site, this is what I'm talking about:
Best Worst 2008
Best Worst 2005
Best Worst 2004
Best Worst 2003
https://www.casinomeister.com/static/bestworst2002.php
Old URL
Best Worst 2001

Besides the traditional categories, I'm looking for any new ones you'd like to see.

And of course if you have any suggestions for recipients, I'm all ears.

 

[SlotsWizard]

Here are my nominees for the categories I feel qualified to make a nomination in:

Best Casino of 2007 - 3Dice. I realize they're young, but they have really come to the rescue of us US players who have been hungry for fast payouts.
Worst Casino of 2007 - Atlantic Lounge
Worst Casino Group - Virtual Group
Best New Casino of 2007 - 3Dice
Worst Player Experience - See this thread
Best Software Supplier Award - Microgaming
Worst Software Supplier Award - Absolute Poker
Head in the Sand Award - Absolute Poker
Fall From Grace Award 2007 - Absolute Poker
Stupidest Named Casino - BeTheDealer
Biggest Disappointment of 2007 - The fact that the UIGEA has not been overturned
The Most Annoying Forum Member - Communic8
The Stupidest Casino Trick - Virtual Group's 9/11 promotion
The Best Warning Robot - Hmmmmmm, gee, I don't know... maybe, Vortran?
The Evil Player Award - Cipher

I also nominate a new category for "Worst Affiliate", and I think this year's award belongs to ActorEddie.

 

[GrandMaster]

Hippojo has to be in the worst of 2007 category somewhere.

 

[The Dude]

Hippojo has to be in the worst of 2007 category somewhere.

I have a feeling it will appear a couple of times

 

[jas2587]

Why hobbithumper
he posted 1 long post
an no result's never reposted
no casino even responded


Cindy

 

[The Dude]

Why hobbithumper
he posted 1 long post
an no result's never reposted
no casino even responded


Cindy

Hi Cindy,

I don't think the bingo site was asked to respond.

Good read though - and I'm sure it will win some coveted award

 

[satchmo]

Maybe a best casino slot award? (My choice is Jolly Roger or Hole in One)
Or best graphics award? (my choice is Jolly Roger, or Hole in one)
Best new developer?
Best European players casino, Best Us players casino.
Best customer service.
Most complained casino, based on the numbers of PAB.
Best Marketing?
I have more somwhere in my brainie, but it just wont come out.


I guess i win the award for the most useless thread started by a Casinmeister member tough. Dang i deserve an award for my Johhny thread, not for me, but for the sake of Johnny, if he dosent win he will cry, i just know it, and then i will have to tell you a bout his whining, and then you get sad becouse he didnt win, and since you cant give him an award in retrospective, he has to wait until next year. And when itell him that he will becomme more sad, and then i have to tell you again, how sad he is. Dang life is hard.

Or maybe me and BingoT are runners up for the most ussfull members who cheers us up.




Satchmo the man the myth the man who has changed his profile once again.

 

[babs7262]

1) agree with SW....3dice for best customer service..but the problem is that they missed 1/2 the year. Would that matter? If it doesnt matter, they should win

2) Longest payout wait for 2007....IMHO .....Bodog, there have been more bitches about how long they took this year than any other one (IMHO)

3} declining softwareRTG.......Through the year, there have been many many people in here complaining about throwing money away at this software ie..CW,Inetbet since moving to costa rica, again IMHO

4.most troubling funding.....Netteller...remember when everyone in the US had their funds frozen and some were not even paid their own money

5. Best New Casino....3 dice ..fast payout, good CSR, fair software, listens to the player and makes changes from requests...again IMHO

 

[pokeraddict]

Most annoying poster: ThodorisK

Of course AP deserves to win a bunch of "worst" awards.

For best poker room etc. Poker Stars should certainly be considered. VIP program for all in place of rakeback, A+ support and cashout speed and they stuck out the UIGEA when so many bailed making them by far the biggest poker room.

 

[Simmo!]

Most complained casino, based on the numbers of PAB.

Thats a good idea

 

[LaurieJim]

Maybe a best casino slot award? (My choice is Jolly Roger or Hole in One)
Or best graphics award? (my choice is Jolly Roger, or Hole in one)
Best new developer?
Best European players casino, Best Us players casino.
Best customer service.
Most complained casino, based on the numbers of PAB.
Best Marketing?
I have more somwhere in my brainie, but it just wont come out.


I guess i win the award for the most useless thread started by a Casinmeister member tough. Dang i deserve an award for my Johhny thread, not for me, but for the sake of Johnny, if he dosent win he will cry, i just know it, and then i will have to tell you a bout his whining, and then you get sad becouse he didnt win, and since you cant give him an award in retrospective, he has to wait until next year. And when itell him that he will becomme more sad, and then i have to tell you again, how sad he is. Dang life is hard.

Or maybe me and BingoT are runners up for the most ussfull members who cheers us up.




Satchmo the man the myth the man who has changed his profile once again.

.............................hey satch, i love lil johnny, who pms you when you dont post them? ME..............................laurie

 

[BingoT]

Satchmo I know I have you beat
And I should be on that list.

 

[BingoT]

GM is Skunxx
Where is Skunxx post? I can't seem to find it
Love them caps.
Hey where that post go lol
Ok Bryan I see you got rid of the Cap one.
I found it here too.after the poster posted it here.
https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/21028/

 

[The Dude]

Let's not derail the thread folks.

 

[pokeraddict]

It's too late for me to edit my other post.

Best detective work: Nat, Serge and Marco for busting out AP.

 

[heatherad]

Best Casino Award- Club World
Worse Casino- Simon Says
Best Customer Support- Club World
Worse Customer Support- InetBet. No live support, answers to emails is almost non-existent.
Best Named Casino- Club World
Worse Named Casino- HippoJo
Stupidest Named Casino- Simon Says
Worse Casino Group- Virtual Group
Most Annoying Poster- Think I'll stay quiet on that one

Theres my 2 cents worth

 

[The Dude]

Theres my 2 cents worth

Looks like four cents to me

 

[heatherad]

Looks like four cents to me

LOL, I'll put myself in time out for going over the limit. Unless of course, one or more of my choices take home the prize, then I'm in the clear okay?

 

[jetset]

Most annoying poster: ThodorisK

Of course AP deserves to win a bunch of "worst" awards.

For best poker room etc. Poker Stars should certainly be considered. VIP program for all in place of rakeback, A+ support and cashout speed and they stuck out the UIGEA when so many bailed making them by far the biggest poker room.

I second that PokerStars nomination, although Full Tilt seem to be doing a sterling job too - except for that suggestion that cheating may have happened there as well. And PS has good tourneys, too - both online and land.

Absolute Poker for sure needs to be 'recognised' with a brickbat award.

Most enigmatic character this year - possibly AJ Green in the Absolute Poker scandal?

RTG - fastest declining, wasting some good games through bad player communication and (mostly) bum licensees.

Most criticised online gambling jurisdiction?

I like Satchmo's idea of most complaints based on PABs - that could provide a little incentive for companies to respond timeously to player problems before they go to PAB.

Hippo Jo - definitely due plenty stick after the shocking way the management has treated owed players in recent months - and bad, unprofessional lack of a plan or communications generally on the failure of the casino.

Biggest hypocrite - maybe Congressman Goodlatte? Plenty of other possibilities though! Consider the Scandinavian governments, for example, or the US horse racing business.

Biggest online progressive jackpot win? Millionaire's Club?

US online gambling politician of the year - Barney Frank?

Most confused enforcement agency? DoJ, with perhaps the French as runners up?

Most entertaining patents case....for sure Bodog.

Longest awaiting trial CEO - David Carruthers with Gary Kaplan as runner-up.

Saddest departure - perhaps Global-Player?

Most prolific games releaser - Microgaming?

Best online gambling loyalty reward - a Porsche (at Pokerstars)

European gambling hero - Charlie McCreevy, EC Commissioner on compliance and a fearless pursuer of state monopolies.

Biggest (and likely most expensive) strategic stuff-up - the USA handling of the WTO online gambling crisis.

Most entertaining or best slot theme?

Most ridiculous sting operation - Louisiana's 70 cent pursuit of Betcha.com at the behest of the Washington state gambling authorities?

Maybe a sub-division of the above - most ridiculous legal penalty - C Class Felony for gambling on the Internet - Washington State.

Most interesting legal challenge to UIGEA - iMEGA?

 

[gerilege]

Microgaming

I would consider not giving the Best SW provider award this year for MG because of the Microgaming part of the below thread as a warning. There are a lot of more serious issues around with other entities which better deserve the "Head in the sand" award, which would be another option, but maybe I'm too strict.
https://www.casinomeister.com/forum...new-mg-games-august-2007-doctor-doctor.19625/

 

[Slotster!]

Best Overall Casino 2007 - 32RED... Faultless; again.
Best Software Provider - Wagerworks... Great slots, and getting better! Plus no download!
Best Withdrawal Service - Getminted/BlueSquare tied... ALWAYS in your bank one day later or Neteller INSTANTLY. Awesome.
So Much Potential, so Badly Executed - Any/All Rival... Great ideas, shame about the management.
Slot of The Year - Cleopatra. Wagerworks prove yet again that straight from Vegas simplicity always wins...
Forum Poster Of The Year - Jetset... Balanced, informative and always interesting.
Best Casino Promotion - Getminted's "progressive giveaway"
Must try harder software - Microgaming... clone after clone, with themes getting less and less imaginative and more and more contrived...
Best Regular Bonus (Available to all players) - Intercasino's 50/$1000 monthly match for life. Simple to credit, simple to understand.

More later...

 

[Mousey]

I need to give this some more thought, but I think Rival casinos needs some sort of honorable mention.

I also would like some sort of raspberry for the way inChili (stupid, stupid name) and what's the other one? screwed players (and affiliates) over and really screwed up some great software. I loved their slots. Someone post with the name of the software please? I'm having a blonde moment. (And BTW, inChili continues to send out sporadic promo emails. )

 

[uungy]

NOt sure where to put them, but surely Roccoscasino should come under one of those screw up ones too, they really kept alot of us laughing! Still waiting for the ombudsmans response for the money I deposited! (or maybe the screw up award should be given to Virgin )

 

[swampwitch]

Poster of the Year...Pina
Whiniest Casino Employee...VirtualDanny
Country and Casino That Folded Under The Bush Boot/The whole freakin' CONTINENT went chicken shit........Australia and Lasseters
Hall of Fame...iNetBet

 

[aka23]

My list is:

Best Casino of 2007 - Based on forum posts 3Dice, I'd choose Ladbrokes
Worst Casino of 2007 - Action Online maybe
Worst Casino Group - Virtual Group
Best New Casino of 2007 - 3Dice
Best Software Supplier Award - Microgaming
Worst Software Supplier Award - Futurebet
Head in the Sand Award - Absolute Poker
Stupidest Named (new) Casino - Simon Says
Biggest Disappointment of 2007 - UIGEA
The Most Annoying Forum Member - ThedorisK
The Stupidest Casino Trick - Prime Casino removing players' winnings from their Neteller accounts
The Best Warning Robot - Vortran
The Evil Player Award - Cipher

 

[Slotster!]

Whatever happened with the whole Cipher thing? Did anyone get paid? How did it end?..

 

[KasinoKing]

Best Overall Casino 2007 - 32RED... Faultless; again.
Best Software Provider - Wagerworks... Great slots, and getting better! Plus no download!
Best Withdrawal Service - Getminted/BlueSquare tied... ALWAYS in your bank one day later or Neteller INSTANTLY. Awesome.
So Much Potential, so Badly Executed - Any/All Rival... Great ideas, shame about the management.
Slot of The Year - Cleopatra. Wagerworks prove yet again that straight from Vegas simplicity always wins...
Forum Poster Of The Year - Jetset... Balanced, informative and always interesting.
Best Casino Promotion - Getminted's "progressive giveaway"
Must try harder software - Microgaming... clone after clone, with themes getting less and less imaginative and more and more contrived...
Best Regular Bonus (Available to all players) - Intercasino's 50/$1000 monthly match for life. Simple to credit, simple to understand.

More later...

I have to strongly agree with Slotster & AKA's posts - hit the nails on the head!

Best casino (for me, due to scratchcards) = Ladbrokes!
2nd (due to innovation) = 3Dice.

Always worth a mention (What happened to Pat H ???) 32Red!
And eternally great (due to excellent monthly bonus) Intercasino!

Biggest disappointment = all PlayTech's & RTG's - c'mon guys - you can do better!

KK

 

[hippo925]

i'm kinda biased i think since i really only play one casino, but keep in mind i used to play all of them. just tried villento and inet for just a quick change of scenery which makes my opinion even stronger that 3dice has to be the best new casino and in my opinion, best casino period.

whether i'm winning or losing, it doesn't matter. in regards to everything outside of the luck factor, 3dice is far superior to ANY casino i've played before, and that includes vegas (except for maybe the plaza in downtown, they treat me like a king, )

and hah! finally got the christmas lights up, though they look like crap. the christmas tree looks fantastic though!

may you all have a fantastic holiday season and good luck to you all

p.s. medieval moolah is my vote for the best slot game though i can't win on it very easily. the more i play it, the more i appreciate the thought and work put into it. very innovative!!

 

[chuchu59]

Most destructive poster - Nitromixer (he had a number of members engaged in bitter squabbles).

 

[chuchu59]

I need to give this some more thought, but I think Rival casinos needs some sort of honorable mention.

I also would like some sort of raspberry for the way inChili (stupid, stupid name) and what's the other one? screwed players (and affiliates) over and really screwed up some great software. I loved their slots. Someone post with the name of the software please? I'm having a blonde moment. (And BTW, inChili continues to send out sporadic promo emails. )

Yes, the Rival slots are engaged in a neck and neck race with 3 Dice. The support is miles apart though. Enzo as the best casino manager? He definitely needs to be mentioned.

 

[Westland Bowl]

Whatever happened with the whole Cipher thing? Did anyone get paid? How did it end?..

Nothing happened. The Visalia (CA) District Attorney's office was supposed to investigate this but they apparently didn't do anything with it. It may have something to do with Cipher's wife being a court reporter with connections having some influence, but I don't know.

Meanwhile, the Wizard of BJ is a-cookin' up something called "The Cutthroat Tour" listing yours truly and a few other "competitors" including Casinomeister himself. "Blackjack Just Got Cutthroat!" I is s-s-s-sooo scared! The website is a work-in-progress.

You do not have permission to view link Log in or register now.

 

[jetset]

You're right - this is from the site:

Cutthroat Competitors

Erik Chen

David Watson

Marcus Dalton

Damian Dunlap

Greg William

Tim Bell

Bryan Bailey


The Cutthroat Tour will be comprised of on going hourly, daily, weekly, monthly qualifying events that will lead up to the Annual Cutthroat Tour winner take all tournament. All of the Cutthroat Tour qualifying events will be played with (4) four contestants each with the player who has compiled the largest amount of profit from their prospective qualifying event sessions of play moving forward to the next round.

Now there’s been an awful lot said over the last year or so as to whether or not the CIPHER program is effective, so with that in mind I have decided to make this personal (or so to speak) in that anyone wishing to participate in the Cutthroat Tour events will first need to demonstrate that they’re up to the task of being a worthy opponent by beating Cipher in heads-up competition first. All of the heads-up events will be video-taped for accuracy and then posted on Link Removed ( Old/Invalid) website and/or blog.

 

[jetset]

But back on track - isn't this an enjoyable jog down the 2007 memory lane....I have to agree with aka23's inclusion of Futurbet -truly amazing that this notorious outfit continued to stagger along screwing players left, right and centre.

I'd forgotten Roccos Casino - that was a good inclusion on the negative side of the scales, Uungy.

Likewise Mousey - how could I forget those very questionable individuals David Ohlson and David Jenkins behind Player Preferred software and Firebrand Interactive respectively....and the erratic performance and cover-ups on Inchilli, Hype and Giant Vegas online casinos, all of which deserved that big red warning sign Casinomeister hung on 'em.

 

[pokeraddict]

Certainly Futurebet deserves a mention along side of Absolute. It's hard to decide which is worse.

 

[satchmo]

I really think we going to have to divide the us and european casinos, since us players, cant play everywhere.
So maybe best us players casino and best european casino. Otherwise the best casino is based on that one casino accepts and payes us players. And thats not whats it is all about.
It's not the money transaction that makes the best casino.
It should matter if you are european or us player.
But maybe thats just unlikely to happen, just like a swedish movie would win best movie at the oscar's.


Most inovative developer (new games, or so)
Best money transfer (company that handles transaction)
Worst money transfer (company that handles transaction)
Best Beer brand
Worst gambling license country/state
Best gambling license country/state
Best suggestion from Casinom member forum.
Most remembrance thread at casinomeister forum.
Worst thing happened at casinomeister past year. (wild card going)
Well i still think we should use the PAB more to this year based awards.
Like best/worst commucative representat, fastest/slowest clearup, this would also give another pointer on how good or bad casinos are at an overall.
But then i guess casinos that havent been spoken about that are good, will never win or loose. Like the ones i know.


I still wonder how gambling online can be banned, when project entropia isnt, i make money gambling, and i make money from project entropia, whats the difference i pay, i get paid, and alot of us citisens to.??? Take the discussion about gambling/playing online to another level.

Satchmo the man the myth the man with no ho, and wonders if santa is paying his three hoes?

 

[SlotsWizard]

When it comes to FutureBet, I have a hard time feeling sorry for anyone who got screwed by them. There was/still is plenty of information available to the average John Q. Schmuck about them and how they screw players. If someone is silly enough to just deposit willy-nilly without doing their homework on such a gray-area industry, I have a hard time feeling sorry for them.

I think the [expletive]-of-the-year awards should go to those casinos/groups who had a good reputation but threw it all away. It seems silly to keep giving "awards" to those groups that everyone with half a brain knows, year after year, is - lo and behold - still in the toilet.

 

[classymom]

I really like the Rival software - Ive had 0 luck at either Microgaming or RTG's - Rival was the only place I could play for any period of time and enjoy playing. I think Poker Stars is the only place to play poker.

 

[Kaynos72]

My vote for the Best New Casino is obviously 3Dice, i even give them the Casino of Year vote.

 

[tim5ny]

Let's not forget that "Best Casino Manager" award should go to Enzo of 3Dice without any second guesses. I don't think there's anyone who even comes close at the moment.

 

[Chipeez]

What about "best screenshot" and "worst screenshot"

If anybody has the time to go through all the posts again..

 

[retlaw]

Best casino manager of 2007 : Pat Harrison of 32Red.

I think it is time that this man gets a price for the fantastic job he does, although I understand not all prices can go to 32Red, which is of course also the best casino of 2007.

 

[Mallorca]

I agree with you retlaw.Pat deserves to get the price.

 

[refre]

The awards for best casino, best new casino, possibly best software and best casino manager should all go to 3dice!

freddy

 

[mysticjoz]

Most destructive poster - Nitromixer (he had a number of members engaged in bitter squabbles).

Absolutely agree with you here chuchu!
Nitromixer must be in there somewhere for most annoying poster, or most "destructive" poster as you said. (another one that comes to mind, actoreddie)
Best new casino- 3dice
Worst named casino "shark casino"

that's the "little bit" I have to add. :notworthy

 

[BBKPoker]

My suggestions based on last year's categories. Absolute Poker falls under a lot of my negative categories, but when you mess up/cover up/deny/outright lie about your response to a situation where there is overwhelming statistical evidence that your customers have been bilked for over a million dollars, you absolutely deserve most of the negative awards:

Best Casino of 2007

32 Red - I really feel like this casino has done such an excellent job in maintaining their excellent customer service and management that until they do something terrible, it is going to be very difficult for other casinos to compete with them for this award. There are several other casinos that probably deserve this such as Intercasino in one way or another, but no one has been as consistently awesome as 32red year after year.

Worst Casino of 2007

Atlantic Lounge, probably or any of the Oliver Curran clip joints that are now being investigated by RTG.

Best Casino Group

Really tough, I think I'd give it to Mini Vegas, overall. Jackpot Factory has had a really solid year as well, especially given last year's marketing fiasco.

Worst Casino Group

Virtual Group - Not even remotely close.

Best New Casino of 2007

If you count skill games too, probably Duplicate Poker for having an innovative new idea and backing it up with good customer service.

Worst Player Experience

Tie. Anyone who has had to deal with getting a Virtual Casino run around.

Worst Blundering Screw Up

Absolute Poker's rigged poker.

Casinomeister Milestone Award

No suggestion.

Best Software Supplier Award

Cryptologic, due to the hands on nature, quick payments and good customer service. Microgaming is a close second, but has been more and more lax about allowing casinos to steal based on "abusive play", that old arbitray term.

Worst Software Supplier Award

RTG for being hands off, and pretty much impotent in resolving player disputes.

Sitting on One's Hands Award

Absolute Poker for failing to investigate the rigged poker scandal.

Head in the Sand Award

Absolute Poker for insisting that super user accounts and hole card viewing were impossible in the face of mountains of evidence.

Fall From Grace Award 2007 I

Absolute Poker.

Fall From Grace Award 2007 II

Hippojo falling from pending accreditation to rogue.

Best Named Casino

CanBet. Freshly moved to Microgaming software, and with a simple, easy to remember name that doesn't involve the word Vegas for once.

Worst Named Casino

Casino Club (everytime I hear this casino's name, I think of the Virtual Group). Way to pick two of the most overrused terms and smash them together for one casino name.

Most Bizarre Press Release of 2007

Absolute Poker's release claiming they "immediately" responded to concerns regarding abuse, chip dumping and site rigging. Right. Only took you a month, a Kahnawake investigation, and three releases denying any wrongdoing.

Best Casino Manager of 2007

Pat Harrison of 32 Red.

Worst Casino Manager of 2007

Christopher DiAngelo of the Virtual Group.

Biggest Disappointment of 2007

Lack of action in repealing the UGIEA.

The Most Annoying Forum Member

All of the fraudulent posters who waste Casinomeister's time, are obvious fraudsters who are trying to extort casinos to get paid through this site, and who lessen by their sheer volume, the effectiveness of the site in resolving player complaints.

The Stupidest Casino Trick

Tie. Several playtech sites for sending bank drafts and delaying payments to players they view as bonus hunters.

Evil Forum Member
Cipher for developing a "system" and bilking customers $595 at a time, as well as bilking potential investors for thousands more. Currently being investigated in California.What

 

[tim5ny]

Very well written BB!

 

[hippo925]

best casino watchdog site.....

casinomeister.com

 

[BBKPoker]

best casino watchdog site.....

casinomeister.com

That one is pretty much a given at this point, I think. Especially with Max on board now.

 

[jetset]

Thought I would bump this thread in the hope of harvesting further interesting nominations - I have found it really good reading so far, and we have quite a few new members who have joined since the thread kicked off....

 

[winbig]

IMO, for a casino to be considered the "best of 2007", they should be one that still allows players from the USA. Else, there should be 2 candidates/winners for this award. One for non-usa, the other for usa. It's a no-brainer for those who don't allow USA players, but it takes extra effort to not only allow USA players, but to also PAY THEM in a timely fashion. That right there is integrity at its best.

Having said that, here's my votes:

Best new casino: 3Dice
Best Manager: Enzo
Worst PR stunt for 2007 (And forever in my book): JF's "testimonials" about how gambling is a cure for depression, cancer, etc etc etc...