Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa

Too competitive, restrictive regulations and disappointing market the reasons

The Kerzner International Limited 4th Quarter Results this week contained sad news on the Interactive Division, which is to be shut down.

The gambling group, which has extensive land-based international gambling and resort interests revealed that it intends to shut down Kerzner Interactive by the end of the first quarter 2003, and observers note that this might mean the loss to the industry of the top-quality Casino Atlantis.com.

Management at KI have responded to our request for clarification thus:

"It is correct that Kerzner International, our parent company, has made a strategic decision to not continue in the Internet gaming industry. However, we are in discussions with various parties with regards to the future of Casino Atlantis Online.

"In the meantime, Casino Atlantis Online will continue to operate as normal. Customers can deposit, play and cash out as they wish; customer deposits have always been safe with us and are backed by over $3,000,000 on deposit in the Isle of Man.

"To reiterate: Customer deposits are safe. Winnings will get paid. Promotional incentives will be fulfilled."

In two paragraphs of the quarterly report the fate of Kerzner Interactive's Got2bet operations was sealed. Commenting that the Divisional operations targeted play only from jurisdictions that permitted online gaming, the report said that jurisdictions have become more restrictive in their acceptance of play, the market size has been reduced and competition has intensified. Without the potential for expansion into other markets, including the United States, the outlook for new business had substantially decreased and achieving profitability was unlikely in the short-to-medium term. In June 2002, the Kerzner had renegotiated a previous agreement with Station Casinos ("Station"), granting to Station a renewable option to purchase a 50% interest in Kerzner Interactive. The Company and Station have mutually agreed to terminate this transaction. The Company intends to wind down operations by the end of the first quarter of 2003.

Net Entertainment launches new java-based product

Swedish turnkey provider and public company Net Entertainment has just launched Casino Game Module, a gambling software package that is designed to incorporate casino games into sportsbooks.

The first customer is Expekt.com, based on Malta. Net Entertainment claims that their latest client is one of the fastest growing sportsbooks in Europe, offering betting on 800 - 1 000 new sporting events each week.

Casino Game Module is a system allowing virtually any site that has user registration and payments to offer casino games to their customers. This is done by connecting the module to an existing system through a standardised API. The package is designed to maximise the revenue of the sportsbook through the creation of no-download games that play within the site, in any language chosen by the player, in an environment the player is used to.

Israeli mobile gaming company ropes a TV client

Mobile games software developer Zone4Play was in the news again this week with the launch of a new casino games service to UPC Digital TV subscribers in the Netherlands and Austria. And there are indications that the company may have been involved in developing the Casino Bar gambling software, according to its website.

Under the UPC deal, Zone4Play is responsible for developing an interactive gambling offering that will include some of the most popular casino games such as Black Jack, Slots Machine, Baccarat and Video Poker. The company will also refresh the content service and add more games periodically. The formats are played using points balance method in a risk- free environment, and players acquire "points-for-play" through a premium rate telephony system. A dynamic TOP 10 leader board will be refreshed to feature those players with the best point totals.

Zone execs claim that tens of thousands of subscribers in Europe will enjoy playing casino games via their TV set once the system is up and running.

Other recent successes of Zone4Play include the implementation of several interactive gaming platforms for Orange and O2 mobile carriers in Israel and Europe.

United Pan-Europe Communications N.V. is one of the leading broadband communications and entertainment companies in Europe. Through its broadband networks, UPC provides television, Internet access, telephony and programming services.

CEO says "no hard feelings" over Dr. Ho software change

Boss Media chief Peter Bertilsson has expanded on the rather terse press release last week that Dr. Ho has swopped to Playtech software.

The parting of the ways was "very amicable" according to Bertilsson, who wishes the Ho online empire well. Asked why he thought the change had taken place, the Swedish chief executive said that, "One of the reasons is of course our decision not to develop any live streaming software at the moment - another (is) probably pricing. We are more expensive compared to smaller competitors and will probably stay that way."

It is still not clear whether Dr. Ho will continue using the Casino Reality system for his live gambling via the internet. Playtech has traditionally offered the more conventional download gambling suite that is based on similar technology to Boss.

Superbowl meltdown disappoints licensee

"To be honest, it was a nightmare. In the middle of prime, peak-volume wagering time, the WG servers went down. We don't know if it was a software or hardware or firewall problem, but for 3 hours before game-time, the whole system was in a meltdown. Even then, getting us back online with perhaps old equipment, with a change in the DNS , customers were still not able to login even at half-time, and until their ISP's update these changes, still won't be able to..."

That's a frustrated World Gaming licensee talking about hassles during the Superbowl last weekend, when an internet "worm" apparently caused havoc by attacking the WG gaming servers.

Things just seem to get worse for the beleaguered turnkey provider, which faces a multitude of problems from defecting licensees and cash to management disputes it seems.

We didn't try and get a comment from the WG management on this occasion - their idea of PR seems to be to simply ignore any potentially embarrassing questions, as we have discovered repeatedly on past issues like the suspension of their CEO David Craven.

This licensee hits the nail squarely on the head in our view when he continues, "World Gaming has got to have redundancy in its servers and software, so that if there is ever again a major malfunction, there will be a seamless back-up system to immediately take over in the event of emergency. I can tell you that we lost thousands of wagers. I can also tell you we lost countless customers to competing sportsbooks, and permanently so, probably several percent of our customers.

"The most important thing for our customers is to provide reliability, and yesterday we failed to do that. There is a high price to pay."

New turnkey online casino ready for launch

Sporting Odds.com, a recently acquired subsidiary of successful British internet gambling group Sportingbet.com took delivery this week of a brand new online casino and sportsbook from the IQ-Ludorum studios.

Sporting Odds Casino is the first of a series of internet casino launches planned, following a licensing agreement between the two organisations. Under terms of the agreement, Sportingbet will harness the multilingual capabilities of IQ-L to launch English, Turkish, and German versions of the casino, each personalized to complement Sportingbet gaming properties: sites that currently serve more than 830,000 customers from over 150 countries.

Initially, SportingOdds Casino will utilize the java-based version of IQ-Casino, with a download version scheduled for a live launch in the coming weeks.

We had planned to include a brief critique on the new operation here, but we have been unable to access the site and SportingOdds suffered a 72 hour malfunction judging by a current apologia on their main sportsbook site.

Scam site exposed and removed

As InfoPowa went to press last week the Boom-casino.net affair was still developing. The new casino site had stormed online with claims that respected managers were involved, that a popular software was in use, that the casino owners were members of the IGC and that the licensing was legitimate.

All lies. The responses to our checking emails came streaming in and it soon became all too evident that:

With the help of Got2bet media a warning to players was soon circulating, and before the weekend was out the Boom-casino.net fraudsters got the message and the site was transformed to an innocuous portal with BC Inc. corporate branding.

Real Time Gaming has been busy with a number of new casino launches recently:

Sevens-and-stripes-slot-machines.com
This site is an affiliate of the Palace of Chance group of RTG-powered casinos that includes two other new additions as outlined below - Dragon Luck and Casino of the Future. The sites are of average presentation quality but are efficient and provide the usual facilities of e-cash choices via Comp-E-Cash and full Support. This casino has a patriotic US theme and boasts a 97.4 percent payout stat, which is middle-range these days. The good quality download RTG gambling software offers some 40 games in all. On the bonus front there's a matchplay signup maxed at a conservative and safe $75 with a minimum deposit of $20.

Dragon-luck-internet-casino.com
See above - another affiliate of the Palace of Chance casino group. Much the same comments as above apply.

Casino-of-the-future.com
As above.

Free-888-casino.com
RTG powered, with a professional-looking and appealing site that carries a wide range of financial options via Comp-E-Cash , full 24/7 Support and the latest quality RTG gambling suite of some 50 games in the following categories: 7 card, 3 table, 4 videoslots, 14 single line slots, 12 multiline slots and 10 VP/poker. There's a matchplay bonus for signups who deposit between $10 and $100, and for deposits in excess of $1 000 the bonus is 25 percent maxed at a generous $500. Wagerthru' requirement is Deposit x 8 before bonus or cashout. If you're one of the many dedicated Danish online gamblers this one is not for you - Danes are specifically excluded.

Embassy World Casino.com

With the latest RTG gambling suite on board this casino had a rather strange and somewhat unprofessional debut this week - it went "live" with none of the links between sections working! The site is of average quality in terms of presentation, but carries the popular range of RTG games backed up with a good range of payment choices through Comp-E-Cash and a 27/7 Support.

Cloud is still hazy
Following last week's warning on Cloud Casino.com, which has been plagiarising site printwork and telling fibs about its software we came across a number of complaints this week which suggest that players should be very cautious around this 3WGraphics powered casino. Even Gambling Grumbles is battling to get a fair accounting or indeed the courtesy of a response regarding one player stiffed for over $5 000 here. You can read the sad story on the GG pages at Gambling.com.

Rip-off at Ramada
Our friends at Casinomeister were busy this week challenging what we feel is a third-rate "Be The Dealer" casino site called Casino Ramada.com. These folks appear to be creatively challenged judging by the blatant rip-off they have done on the graphics from Gold Club Casino.com, a quality casino well respected in the market. Perhaps predictably, emails to Ramada tend to bounce as well. And for the techies out there, Ramada seems to be using script that overrides ZoneAlarm cookie screening - without permission. Gold Club is big and offended enough to sort Ramada out, which is apparently based in Ankara, Turkey but a word of caution to our readers is not out of place we hope. Any operation that pulls this sort of plagiarising stunt can be expected to do other stuff too -none of it good.

Editor's note: More here.

Worldly words of advice
eWorldwide Casino.com promise extensively on their website that they send payouts within 24 hours. But when some players went to withdraw via the Neteller link this week they found it disabled. Thinking it was a technical glitch the players contacted Support to ask about their honest withdrawals. Bad news. The phrase that sets alarm bells ringing because it so often heralds a casino going bust came next when they were told by eWordwide staff that all withdrawals were being "audited" because of bonus abuse. The other classic sign of a troubled operation soon followed when emails sent to the casino were ignored.

Manager Randy Peterson had an explanation for us. Apparently his marketing people launched a promotion that was only supposed to go to recipients on a specific email list. Unfortunately in the promo newsletter this was not stated. The promotion was then publicised by some of the players who had received the email. Inundated with bonus hunters, the casino management decided that as the fault was theirs they would open the promo up to all new players whether they had received the email or not. The "overwhelming" response brought with it an influx of bonus-hungry gamblers, and upon investigation while doing the payouts the casino staff apparently noticed that many players had illegally applied for the bonus multiple times. In a bid to sort out the situation, a decision was made to suspend all casino payouts whilst each and every player account that had applied for the bonus was thoroughly checked.

Peterson claims that at the time the suspension came into effect some 60 percent of the successful players had been paid, and he promises - without a timeline - that the remaining payouts will be forthcoming once the "audit" is complete.

Mind the bugs don't bite
To justify not paying a player who submitted a Grumble to Julie Sidwell at Gambling.com, gambling software provider 3W Graphics has claimed that the player exploited a bug expressed in several of their games. We understand that 3W Graphics originates from Moscow and offers Flash software using graphic elements that bear a startling resemblance to those of one of the turnkey industry leaders. Bugs in their product makes them a risky bet in our view, so here are a few of the casinos using their product: Atlantis-gaming.com, All Sex Casino.com, French Quarters Casino, Casino-Curacao.com, American Eagle.com and the well known Homebets.com.

No gold at this Venetian
What can players do if a casino refuses to enter into dialogue and mediation with a complaints site like Gambling Grumbles? That was the dilemma facing both the player and the mediator this week when a bonus abuse dispute at Venetian Gold.com turned sour. It also begs the question "Is it safe to play at a casino that will not respond to mediation if there is a hassle at some stage?"

The Online Casino isn't
Disgruntled players were still posting complaints this week about Real Time Gaming powered The Online Casino.com where it is alleged that the site is down, the 800 number doesn't work and emails from unpaid players bounce back. We asked for any comment RTG's Eddy Kleid may have on this some time back but our email remains unanswered.

Profit breakthrough five months earlier than planned - and 837,431 customers

Sportingbet.com's European operations broke into profit for the first time late last year, according to their latest numbers.

The online betting company's financial report this week reveals that its European operations made its first operating profit in October - five months earlier than planned.

Chief executive Nigel Payne says: "We are growing in Europe faster than originally planned. We are growing bigger and faster and we also managed to get good trading margins."

In Europe, customer numbers grew by 19% to 30,915 during the quarter, while the number of sports bets placed rose more than one million against the same period the previous year.

The group does not break down figures for its UK operations, which generates 10% of group sales, but this was helped by last summer's £4.5 million acquisition of Sporting Odds, the fixed odds business of spread betting firm Sporting Index.

Overall, pre-tax profits for the three months to December 31 rose to a record £5.6 million, against £4.8 million the same time last year.

Turnover figures were affected by the weaker US dollar and edged up to £354.3 million from £352.5 million.

Overall the business, which has grown from its London base and has operations in Continental Europe, the US and Asia, grew customer numbers by 84,725 during the quarter to 837,431.

Sportingbet employs 300 people worldwide.

Politicos attack the "promoters" in bid to kill off Got2bet

It was bad news from Indiana this week, where State politicians passed a Bill meant to curb Got2bet by targeting the operators of illegal casino Web sites and the Internet service providers that make them available.

The Kentucky Courier-Journal reported that the Bill was passed by 49 votes to 1 and makes operating gambling Web sites that are accessible by Indiana residents a felony. The bill now moves to the House for consideration.

“All of this (Internet gambling) is unregulated. We can't tax it. We can't control it,'’ said the Bill's author, Sen. David Ford.

The bill gives local prosecutors the authority to alert Internet service providers that specific gambling Web sites are illegal in Indiana. The provider would then have 30 days to remove the site or block its Indiana customers from accessing the page.

“If the providers failed to block the site, they also could be charged with felonies, Ford said.

Indiana lawmakers claim that Internet gambling is already illegal in Indiana under the federal Interstate Wire Act, which prohibits betting using telephone lines or other wire communications. But state law gives prosecutors few tools to combat it.

Ever tried "grabbing the joss stick?"

Several of Taiwan's gaming service providers are using the forthcoming Chinese New Year celebrations in February to launch new products and attract gamblers.

Legend is to launch a game called grabbing the first joss-stick (no, we don't know how that is played) and a brand new Got2bet casino will apparently be unveiled on the second day of the New Year, allowing players to try their luck with virtual money.

Jin Yong and Three Kingdoms are also introducing new games, with Three Kingdoms promoting Red Envelopes and Hsuchang City Casino, where punters will be able to play the popular and famous shi ba la dice game.

And another who will take advantage of it

The concept of thorough "due diligence" seems to have escaped some Got2bet investors who were ripped off by a con-artist recently, but justice prevailed when the fraudster was convicted in a San Jose, California court this week.

The self-marketed gambler was sentenced to 27 months in prison for scamming investors in Silicon Valley and Seattle out of more than US $ 4 million.

Robert Robb worked his scam by claiming that major Las Vegas casinos, software giant Microsoft and celebrity magician David Copperfield all backed his faux online gaming company. Robb admitted bilking investors by falsely stating that Mirage Resorts, M-G-M and Bellagio would be using his "prototype" gambling machines.

And where else would the conman spend his ill-gotten gains but Las Vegas - gambling and treating himself to expensive new cars!

Betting site given three days to shut down

Shock news of the week was that the respected UK gambling house, Ladbrokes has been told to close its Dutch fixed-odds betting site down or face heavy fines. The ruling does not apply to Ladbroke's international online casino, but does impact on it's football and lotto betting business from Dutch gamblers...and it raises some contentious questions on European Union policy.

News reports from Holland and Britain revealed that on Monday a Dutch court gave Ladbrokes three days to close its Dutch gambling website or face a daily fine of 10,000 Euros.

The origins of the squabble go back to the World Cup football events when Ladbrokes placed adverts in Dutch media to which the Dutch State monopoly Lotto objected. The Lotto authorities demanded that Ladbrokes close their site to Dutch bettors and the British licenced, regulated and taxed Ladbrokes challenged the demand, resulting in the parties appearing in a Dutch court early in January this year.

Monday's judgement will almost certainly be further contested by the British gambling group. Ladbrokes makes the point that gambling is not illegal per se in Holland and it seeks only just, free and fair competition in the European Union, where there is no clear European Union directive on these circumstances and competing EU organisations can come into conflict.

Ladbrokes also points out that normal sportbetting, online casino gambling and even horsebetting are not in contention - the focus is on football and lottery bets. Ladbrokes is currently studying a translation of the Dutch ruling before issuing any statement, but in any case the matter appears to be largely one of precedent and principle, as a Ladbrokes spokesperson pointed out that less than 2 000 accounts are involved.

As we went to press it was not known whether the Euro 10 000 fines would come into effect today (Friday) or whether Ladbrokes would accede to the Court ruling.

Lucky Mancurian wins major jackpot

A Manchester man is the latest big winner of a large progressive slots jackpot at Ladbrokes Casino, taking home almost GBP 67 500 after a short session of Got2bet and with only "a few weeks of experience in internet gambling"

Slots player Jason Carter paid out only GBP 2.50 to win the jackpot, playing the popular Lotsaloot progressive on the Jackpot Madness network. Asked the inevitable question, the lucky gambler said that he intended to buy a sports car with the cash.

In 2002 Ladbrokes paid out a record GBP 201,000 "Major Millions" jackpot to MichelleB, coincidentally also from Manchester, who remains Britain's top online slots winner.

Short-lived venture underperforms

The optimism of November 2001's MSN Gambling Channel launch was absent from this week's surprise announcement that the UK portal has closed the operation down, becoming the first major UK portal to shy away from the online gaming sector.

The portal had run a full gambling channel until earlier this month with several high profile partners, including Casino Atlantis, Victor Chandler's Spin Room and Aspinalls. Officials said that the channel was closed because it wasn't performing to expectations, although it is apparently now in the process of finding a sole partner to provide gambling and gaming services within its entertainment channel at www.msn.co.uk

MSN Gambling launched on November 11 with the prospect of good business from the portal's 13 million users. Features included special partnerships with respected Got2bet groups and an odds search engine from Bet Genius.

“Gambling is the biggest growth area on the internet and we believe its true potential as a traffic and revenue driver has yet to be fully realised,” said MSN business marketing manager Amanda Anthony at the time.

The odds are against it this year

Intertops and BetWWTS are both offering light-hearted odds on whether or not the world's smallest and furriest weather forecaster will see his shadow predicting when winter ends and spring begins. Yes, it's Groundhog day next week.

For the 117th year on February 2nd, millions around the world will breathlessly await as "Punxsutawney Phil" emerges from his burrow in Gobbler's Knob to give his annual end of winter prediction.

The smart money has listed the early odds heavily in favor of Punxsutawney Phil seeing his shadow.

"With this winter being especially harsh, there's no doubt the millions of people feeling the effects of the cold snowy weather are hoping that Phil predicts an early start to spring," says Stuart Doyle, chief bet manager of BetWWTS.com. "This year there's a little added pressure for Phil to forecast an end to the dreariness of winter because for the first time in history the sitting governor of Pennsylvania will visit Punxsutawney's Groundhog Day celebration. Odds are that the historic trend of Phil seeing his shadow will prevail again, but there's always the chance that the furry forecaster will come through in the clutch and predict an end to winter."

Groundhog Day stretches back to ancient beliefs associated with Candlemas Day by northern Europeans, who believed that if the groundhog saw his shadow, it meant there would be six more weeks of winter. If not, then spring is "just around the corner." Today the holiday is most famously celebrated in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania where the tradition has made Punxsutawney Phil an American institution. As a result of his fame, Phil has made several television appearances, visited the White House, and served as inspiration for the renowned "Groundhog Day" movie staring Bill Murray in 1993.

An Australian icon departs

The Australian gambling group Tattersalls departed the online casino business in a surprise move this week.

Predictably, the closing of tatts.com was handled in an honest and professional manner, and all players were contacted with the bad news and reassured regarding their payouts, which will be made by early February.

John Mortimore, general manager of the Interactive Division at Tattersalls says the decision to leave the online casino sector was made following a review of the tatts.com Internet casino business. It was concluded that difficult trading conditions are not likely to improve and that, as a consequence, the company would not continue with internet initiatives beyond internet lotteries at - Tattersalls.com.au, Tipstar.com.au and Lotto.tatts.com.

Tatts.com was powered by Access Gaming.

Mysterious Boom, ancient Egypt and a WG disappointment

Mummys Gold.com is the latest from Microgaming with a Flash and download gambling suite broken down as follows: Table games: 4 including, multihand BJ; VPs 5; Multihand Pokers 4; Slots 17; Bonus Screen Slots 2: Progressive table games 3; Progressive VPs 2; Progressive slots 5. Check out the cool intro Flash presentation on an easy to use and informative site that features an ancient Egyptian theme and offers a full range of facilities such as a loyalty program, Playcheck, CashCheck, free CD, fully contactable Support and a wide range of Euro, Dollar and GBP financial options from Proc Cyber Services. The licensing is Kahawake, and the owners are members of the IGC. There's a signup bonus of deposit $75 and get $100, but the wagerthru' requirement is heavy at x20 D+B.

World Gaming.com Is this a smart move? World Gaming has just launched it's own casino and sportsbook site...they must need the money pretty badly with the Sportingbet loan repayment date looming. One gets the feeling that this is a rush job - a turnkey provider should be able to produce a far more appealing site and content than this "flagship" casino, sportsbook and racetrack offering. The games are java no-download and there are only four of them with one of those (blackjack at that!) still only available in fun mode. Four other games are scheduled soon. Perhaps they are still completing their latest software iteration and plan to add a full gambling suite at a later stage. Nicholas Jackson, World Gaming's interim CEO is quoted as saying "Players can look forward to using some of the most advanced software in the gaming market in the coming weeks.". The site does have Support and EFS Caribbean financial facilities, and a very conservative ten percenter signup is offered. Canadians are barred. There is nothing remarkable about the site, which is operated by WG subsidiary, World Gaming Europe Limited and is incorporated and operating out of the U.K

Boom-casino.net Appeared as a new launch this week and professes to be the product of a group of ex-land casino execs who are not identified beyond "Boom Casino group". This is intriguing because the manager, Robert Ashcroft has a USACasino.com email! And he denies any knowledge or connection with Boom. USA was a Boss-powered Intercontinental group casino at one time. The group casino manager of the Boom group, one David Washington says in the site blurb that Gold Casino is a member of the group, and that increases the mystery because there are .com and .net versions of Gold neither seeming to have a connection. We were awaiting clarification from Boom group as we went to press this week. Back to Boom-Casino.net the site is rather plain and utilitarian but it works efficiently enough and carries a suite of 49 Flash and download games from Playtech. There's a fully contactable round-the-clock Support, loyalty program and a good range of financial options, with an Antiguan license. The owners claim to be members of the IGC.

RTG again!
Disgruntled players were posting complaints this week about Real Time Gaming powered The Online Casino.com where the site is down, the 800 number doesn't work and emails from unpaid players bounce back. The older gambling hands pointed out that RTG's reassurance site SafeBet is absolutely useless in these circumstances, and that RTG's track record in resolving this sort of issue is unpredictable. During the TCO crisis, when that casino failed RTG would only cover players for fifty percent of their losses. Players who have been prejudiced by this latest RTG failure are advised to get their claims in as quickly as possible at http://players.realtimegaming.com/form.asp Asked for comment, RTG had not responded as we went to press.

Odd goings on
Vegas Players Casino.com has been causing heartaches too - after a relatively short life the Odds On powered casino abruptly closed, leaving the usual trail of forlorn unpaid gamblers in its wake. The mystery deepened when players noticed that the Vegas Players url now re-routes to Playtech-powered and notorious Black Widow Casino. Attempts to get a little help from Odds On were met with a stony silence despite repeated emails, indicating that players were on their own. With increasing numbers of online casinos going down the tubes, the issue of turnkey provider responsibility to the consumer/player is assuming greater importance.

Gambler's Lobby still not right
The long running saga of Gambler's Lobby and its unpaid players continued this week - for some players the unpaid debts go back five months and they are still battling to get the casinos in the GL group to pay them. Gambler's Lobby spokesmen announced last year that new management had taken over and that all outstanding debts would be settled before mid-December 2002. It hasn't happened and now there are alarming signs that funds may be tight - paying some players amounts as low as $1200 in installments, and not responding to complaining emails. Manager Kent Spaulding did however respond to InfoPowa's request for information. He advises that the new owners of GL find themselves faced with a more unfortunate and costly baby than they were led to believe was the case by the former owners. This has meant having to marshal additional funding to pay the overhead and the outstanding players, which GL is not obliged to do in terms of the agreement of sale, but which they are doing in an attempt to restore trust in the group. Spaulding's good news is that the funds should be coming through within the next week, enabling him to settle up with the many players still owed. You Go Girl, Gamble A Million and Gambler's Lobby are the casinos in the Gambler's Lobby stable.

High risk on this tower
Complaints are growing, mainly on the slow-no pay angle in respect of Skytower Casino.com, an iNetBet powered casino and sportsbook operating out of Costa Rica. This operation is apparently a part of Gambling Palace, which itself is something of a joke according to several sources. Whilst the players are hassling to get their money, reports abound of the casino owners living the high life at the Los Suenos Resort in Costa Rica.

Public company divests itself of Got2bet interests

They were at one time a continuous source of optimistic press releases on the promise of the online casino business, but this week Total Entertainment announced that it has successfully divested itself of all Got2bet interests and assets.

The company's new strategy will be one of providing growth capital to operating companies outside of the Got2bet industry with scalable business models and experienced management, where it can contribute both its financial and human resources. It has also relocated its head office from Montreal, Canada to the Red Bank, New Jersey area.

Challenge and Music Hall close

Turnkey provider Microgaming took the bull by the horns this week in announcing that Fortune Wheel Services Limited, the owners of Music Hall and Challenge online casinos had unilaterally switched off their servers and closed, leaving players unpaid.

The software company has once again responsibly stepped in and picked up the pieces by funding an international Trust Fund which will be independently administered by Price Waterhouse Coopers to adjudicate and pay out any outstanding player claims.

The MGS announcement says "PwC will receive player claims with a view to verifying the correctness thereof, and advising of any amounts that should be paid. This process is entirely under the control of PwC, and Microgaming will not be involved in any way. The funds to be used for such payouts are being placed by Microgaming in trust and will not be under the control or ownership of Microgaming. PwC will advise the trustees of any amounts that should be paid. Players should note that a time limit has been placed on the lodgement of such claims, and all claims should be lodged by the 21st February 2003."

Claims should be addressed to: trustadmin@pwcgaming.co.za and should clearly state the claimant's full name and login-id as registered at the casino.

When Goodfellows Casino failed last year the same procedure was successfully followed.

Rank buys into internet and telephone betting operations

Rank, the gambling group behind Mecca Bingo and the Hard Rock Cafe, is buying UK betting business Blue Square in a £65 million deal, it announced this week.

The business employs around 90 staff in two London offices with both internet and telephone betting operations, and Rank aims to integrate the business with its existing on-line gaming operations. The deal will give it more than 300,000 customers, bringing its online gaming customer base up to more than 375,000.

Rank aims to save £5 million a year from the deal, and could not rule out job cuts.

Competition for Microsoft's "Casino" game

It looks like Microsoft's PC game "Casino Management" has a Korean competitor on the way, according to a news article in PC Games magazine.

Korean games company Konami is marketing its new casino management game "Casino Inc." in direct competition with the established Microsoft rival that has been on the shelves since Christmas 2001. The game will "challenge players to build and manage a successful casino empire using any means necessary, concerning themselves with happenings in the surrounding city as well as within their casino."

Among their goals will be effective advertising, getting players into their site in comfort and, rather less ethically but perhaps realistically hiring "troublemakers" to disrupt the operations of competing casinos!

Expert says yes in his fifteenth book

Professional gambler John Patrick has launched his fifteenth book, John Patrick's Internet Gambling. The popular gambling author wastes no time in posing the question on every first-time Internet gambler's mind: "Is Internet gambling safe?" The answer, according to Patrick, is "yes." He says he played a number of online casinos as research, never got stiffed, and will continue to play online casinos. Presumably his pre-casino selection research was good and he emphasises the importance of that to newbie readers.

The 180 page book sells for $12.95, and gives plenty of useful general gambling advice, including important tips on loss limits, win goals and other money management issues. But perhaps the best advice Patrick gives is to buy in small when playing at a new casino so you can test their credibility. Or as Patrick puts it, "Test the water with your toe, before you dive in."

Experienced, hardcore Internet gamblers will probably not find this book useful. It's thin on detail and doesn't specifically identify any gambling websites. It is more targeted on people who have never gambled online before, but may consider giving it a whirl, and as such it is a good allround advisory.

Nicely timed for the ICE show in London

Influential Got2bet consultant, lawyer, lobbyist and author Anthony Cabot has launched the fifth edition of his Internet Gambling Report through Casino City Press this week, neatly timed to coincide with the popular ICE show in London.

The report is one of the top reference publications covering the complex and controversial Internet gaming arena and is now co-edited by Mark Balestra and offers a thorough, updated review of the legal and political climate for Internet gambling throughout the world.

With more than 500 pages of insight from the industry's top legal experts, the fifth edition of this comprehensive, authoritative guide includes several new chapters as well as updated versions of previously featured chapters. It includes information on game testing and transaction processing and new coverage of the jurisdictions of Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Scandinavia, South Africa, Kahnawake, and the Caribbean Basin. Also covered are the latest on advertising issues, emerging technologies, fraud prevention and compliance, and the threat of money laundering.

What are the Swedes up to in Monte Carlo?

Early this week the Boss Media press department issued a tantalisingly sparse statement that the Swedish turnkey provider and the Société des Bains de Mer, SBM, in Monte Carlo are "...in close co-operation in the process of developing and launching a system to be operated over the Internet from the principality of Monaco."

The lack of content immediately gave rise to speculation that the collaboration revolves around yet another "live dealers over the internet" venture following similar initiatives by Dr. Ho, Golden Palace, Playtech and the soon-to-be-launched CasinoWebCam.com.

Having seriously picqued everyone's interest, Boss uncharacteristically retreated into silence and do not respond to media questions attempting to obtain claraification on the release.

The recent success of the i2corp patent action against Dr. Ho in this field may have something to do with their reticence, of course...

Geographic locator a key to internet regulation

Virtgame execs must have breathed a sigh of relief this week at securing a vital patent for the access control of players on the Internet.

The software provider to the regulated gaming and lottery industries announced that it had been awarded patent # 6,508,710 for "Gaming system with location verification" by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The patent covers virtual gaming environments with verification of players' location to regulate access to players in authorized locations.

"As a solution and software provider to the gaming and lottery industries, VirtGame has been focused in developing state of the art technologies for border control. This patent protects some of the technologies that VirtGame has developed and deployed in the last six years", said a company spokesman. "We are pleased to receive such an important patent that is critical to our industry which is very jurisdictional. Our patent has a wide range, covering various remote gaming applications on networks such as Internet, Intranet, wireless, interactive TV, etc."

Truly revolutionary

Lucky Nugget Casino.com is the first Microgaming powered casino to offer the spanking new Viper software, and what a surprise package it turned out to be this week.

Players were immediately taken with the razor sharp graphics, the smooth running and the range of assistance and recording options Viper offers, but what really set tongues a-wagging was the "automatic pilot" facility that enables clients to set their play to automatic and watch every hand played fast and true to the best Basic Strategies. As we went to press the feedback was almost completely positive, although some of the veteran gamblers were not entirely sure the auto function was a good thing in removing the mental stimulation of disciplined play. Well....it is optional! A typical comment was "Microgaming has just upped the ante on all other casinos, online and on land to very dangerous levels."

Another player saw interesting possibilities if Microgaming would only add an easy way to change the screen resolution so that the program doesn't take up the whole screen, pointing out that players could use the MG video poker hand analyser while playing at competitors' sites if they did that.

Dr. Ho settles

For some time now industry observers have been speculating on whether i2corp's Home Gambling Network patent really did cover live gambling over the internet. The advent of Dr. Ho's live gambling operation resulted in an enforcement action by i2corp which many industry people thought would fail.

The denouement came this week with the news that Dr. Ho has settled.

In a media release from i2corp the company claims that its patent infringement lawsuit in the United States Federal District Court for Nevada with Caribbean Online Limited (DRHO.COM) has been settled.

The critical sentence in the release is this, "Caribbean Online Limited (DRHO.COM) has validated and licensed US Patent 5,800,268 from i2corp.com's wholly owned subsidiary Home Gambling Network. i2corp looks forward to working with Caribbean Online Limited (DRHO.COM) and developing the many opportunities that this license represents for both companies." Additional information will be released shortly.

i2corp.com's Home Gambling Network (HGN) U.S. Patent 5,800,268 covers all remote wagering on live games and events with electronic financial transactions and it is management's belief that it is poised to become the de facto standard for the remote wagering industry worldwide. The patent has been applied for in Australia, Canada, and European Patent Office. The European patent was published in November of 1999.

Worrying for others

Truegambler's Online Casino Analyser results have been keenly awaited by players for some time, and the initial stats on video poker at IGS-Cytech, Microgaming and Playtech powered casinos were the first to be released. In summary the three softwares were tested with varying numbers of hands Playtech (1.47 million hands), Microgaming (618 thousand hands) and Cytech (472 thousand hands) for their single line Jacks or Better game.

Although Truegambler avoided drawing conclusions and simply presented the numbers, readers were soon drawing their own conclusions although the software companies assessed remained mute as we went to press.

The analysis is carried out by using sophisticated technology resident on the testers' computers that mirrors all the game play to a central server. This collates the play from all beta testers and analyses the software fairness. By assembling and analysing the combined initial and next draw hands of large numbers of players who have been active at diverse venues since March last year a high volume sample was tested. A total of 2.5 million hands of video poker were played; the objective being to assess the likelihood of a random deal in the first deal and on the draw.

Microgaming has good results that show a 90 percent plus liklihood of fair play, especially on the first hand numbers which many believe are critical, but both Playtech and Aquaonline do not give results consistent with random deals from decks of cards. Playtech showed up the worst with a 99.4% liklihood of being non-random, or as one expert described it "Playtech had a baaaad fit. 99.4% likely to be nonrandom. Which is to say, if you had a hundred Playtech software companies producing identical software with identical results, less than half of one of the companies is dealing fair video poker."

The project is ongoing, and will be analysing other softwares and other games - most anticipated being blackjack.

And it looks like more litigation for troubled software company

Hitting the headlines late last year was the suspension by the World Gaming directorate of newly appointed CEO David Craven. The company accused him of unspecified irregularities and announced that an investigation would finalise the issue by mid-January.

Right on time, a tersely worded media release from WG has provided a sequel, with Craven apparently informing the directors that he considers his employment to be at an end as at 13 January, and claims that he has been unfairly dismissed. The directors "strongly deny" the claim, setting the scene for yet more litigation for the troubled company.

Details of the activities surrounding Craven's suspension have not been made public.

New moves Downunder.

Momentum seems to be building for a new Australian look at Internet gambling, according to the Australian Herald Sun as we went to press this week.

The newspaper reports that casino barons and the racing industry are expected to urge the Federal Government to amend its Internet gambling laws in a review due in a few months. The Australian Casino Association is expected to push for the right to offer online gaming to Australian gamblers. Under the controversial laws pushed through by the Howard government in 2001, local cyber casinos can deal only with foreign gamblers.

The racing industry, which is exempted from the laws, is expected to push protectively for the status quo to continue, along with a ban on overseas Internet bookmakers fielding on Australian races. Australian Racing Board chief executive Andrew Harding said offshore betting sites were taking bets on local races but paying no turnover tax to the local industry.

Poker.com Inc has a new legal approach

Poker.com (they're the folks with the hi-jacked domain remember) pumped out a press release this week indicating that they were going for the skilled game route to get around the alleged US illegality of internet gambling. But it all sounded a little speculative.

The company has entered into a letter of intent to purchase a provisional patent application and all the assets in relation to a skill based system of online gaming which includes the games of Skill Poker and Skill BlackJack from Blue Diamond International Capital Inc. of Switzerland. The acquisition is subject to the parties entering into a definitive agreement and to Poker.com receiving confirmation that the provisional patent is for a skill based gaming system.

Poker.com Inc. plans to pay US$50,000 and issue 3,000,000 common shares to Blue Diamond International Capital Inc. In addition, the Company would pay, until 2099, the greater of US$3,500 per month or 4% of the network maintenance fees earned by the Company from operating the games.

The provisional patent application filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office covers a system of determining the skill level in a tournament setting for many different card games including all forms of poker.

Poker.com Inc. will acquire ownership of all materials in relation to the games of Skill Poker and Skill Blackjack, in addition to the domain names SkillPoker.com, SkillBlackjack.com, SkillOmaha.com, SkillHoldem.com and SkillStud.com.

Mark Glusing, the recently arrived President at Poker.com Inc claims that most online gaming operators are located in offshore jurisdictions in order to avoid U.S. gambling laws. In relation to processing credit card transactions for online gaming, up to 30% of all gambling related credit card transactions are denied as banks will not honor illegal gaming debts. Poker.com Inc. intends to operate an online poker card room based in the U.S. and expects universal acceptance by banks engaging in credit card transactions with little or no deposit rejection, presumably on grounds that they are "legal" under their proposed new system.

Poker.com plans to use the concepts in the provisional patent to develop the software to enable it to operate its own skill based online poker card rooms to market directly to players in the United States, Canada and worldwide. Once developed, they claim that the poker card room will be the only online system of gaming with all operations including the game servers located on North American soil and operating within the parameters of legal skill based gaming as set forth by various jurisdictions.

"Certain jurisdictions in the U.S and Canada look upon the wagering of skill based games as not contravening gambling laws. Management considers the Skill Poker system as one of these skill based games," says Glusing, who has retained the respected legal consulting services of Professor I. Nelson Rose.

Willie Hill does it again
We don't know whether you have seen the new William Hill Poker.com site yet, but it is worth a visit as an example of how a multiplayer site should be presented. There are only two games at present on the professional, no-nonsense site but more are apparently to come. Multi-currency facilities are a feature of the stacks of financial options available through eCash Directand other features include hand histories, free CD and full Support including tollfrees and Callback. Ten players at a time can use each table and the site has a capacity of 70 tables. Novel signup bonuses that pay players (up to a set maximum) around GBP 5 per hour to play are available, or $10 an hour to selected players to balance any empty tables. We were interested to see the range of links integrating the poker site with other group operations such as the WH casino, an arcade, sportsbook and a radio service.

More live dealers
Casino Web Cam.com is currently in Beta test mode with players invited to give suggestions, but the English, German and Chinese language site is up and worth a visit. The manager of this new live dealer over the internet venture is an experienced hand from the pioneering Dr Ho equivalent and really knows his apples. It shows in the slick, easy to use design of the site and the myriad facilities with which it is fitted out. And players will like the feature whereby they are asked right at the outset whether they wish to use the bonuses on offer or not. Talking of bonuses there will be a matchplay on signup deposits over $20, maxed at a sensible $100 and carrying a hefty x 15 wagerthru' of D and B. Full Support, together with comprehensive e-cash options through Secure Processing in Gibraltar are all available and there are five games of good quality at present. The owners are Inversiones VC Dos Mil SA out of Costa Rica. The news elsewhere in this bulletin regarding the i2corp vs Dr Ho patent settlement could impact on this new operation, the software for which originates in Canada, we understand.

Vive la difference
Roi des casinos.com is the latest, French language version of King Solomans (Empire of Gold group) With 40 download games powered by IGS, full Support and all the facilities it is at the quality end of the casino spectrum. The guys at Empire of Gold reckon they're onto a good thing here - they have seen an increase in French speaking players of sixty percent in 49 countries over the past year and the new casino is catering to the demand. "King Solomon's top priority is customer service, and with more than 126 million people worldwide speaking French as either a first or second language, we felt it was important to specifically address their needs," said Nicolas Bigaignon, marketing consultant for the casino. "The addition of French brings our number of supported languages to eight, making King Solomon's one of the Internet's largest multilingual casinos available."

Conversions and add ons

Daylight Casino.com has shaken the Gambling Federation and iCrystal software dust from its shoes and has converted to Grand Virtual software. Manager Mark Drosser has been busy these last weeks with the revamp, but the effort is worth it in a good-looking site with all the usual facilities.

Talking of changes, King Solomans (kscasino.com) has augmented their IGS-Aquaonline software with one of the Play & Deal P2P systems supplied by Avi Goldman's ADLM. The new site is called Be The King.com and a new poker site has been added to their stable under the domain kspoker.com. Casino Grande has changed from Chartwell Tech software to the standard iCrystal-powered Gambling Federation package and has undergone a revamp. The casino closed early 2002 and recently reappeared in its new colours. GSS-powered Jokers Casino.com was closed early-mid last year but has just re-surfaced as the seventh casino in the Internet Casino Network group run by GSS.

Six Gun Casino.com is in the throes of a management and/or ownership change, which has been confirmed by software provider Chartwell Technology's CEO Darold Parken. There are several outstanding player issues ongoing with the casino, which has promised to address same once things have settled down.

Spanish 21 rules are not OK

Real Time Gaming seems to have a somewhat offbeat interpretation of the rules on Spanish 21 (re-titled by RTG as Matchplay 21). Several players have been bitten by this interpretation "bug", and players are therefore urged to learn from their experiences. The veterans tell us that under normal rules if a player doubles down and gets a total of 21, and then the dealer also gets 21 (not bj), THE PLAYER WINS THE HAND. However, RTG counts this is as a push and not a win. All player twenty-ones under these circumstances should win regardless of what the dealer has except if he holds a blackjack.. Anyone who doubts this, we are assured should check the Wizard of Odd's website, or refer to the many books on the subject.

One player had this situation come up several times, and on each occasion it showed up as a push. Being a veteran, he finally took a screenshot and sent it to the casino, which promptly refunded his money. By now thoroughly alarmed, he asked the casino for his gaming logs, where he found two more instances involving very large bets. This led to a dispute with casino management which was only resolved after he contacted RTG direct, whereupon he was paid out and given a bonus. The alarming thing about this story is that the same player recently noticed that the incorrect rule was still being played and had not been adjusted by RTG.

Obscured by Cloud
Experience has taught us to be leery of casinos that are coy about their software, plagiarise other sites' printwork or who claim that their gambling software is proprietary when it isn't. Such a place is Cloud Casino.com it would appear. Both the Casinomeister webmaster and InfoPowa, acting independently checked out the revamped Cloud Casino this week and asked the casino direct what software it was deploying. The unequivocal response to both queries was that the software was developed by the casino and was therefore proprietary. It isn't - in fact it is a rather shabby gambling suite emanating from developers called 3W in Russia. BTW, the "license" jurisdiction is Costa Rica so don't expect a whole lot of action from there if things go wrong, either.

Bungle Palace
Either they are inefficient or they are seriously out of touch at Jungle Palace Casino.com, which this week pushed out a hype media release claiming to accept payments through PayPal, which ceased this service to online gamblers last year!

But you can still get there on the usual url

Gambling911.com was incorporated into new domain Sports911.com this week in order to make mainstream advertising easier for potential clients that might otherwise prefer not to appear on a gambling related website. Gambling911/Sports911 has already begun to capture a small portion of the sports radio market and in doing so will offer a more feasible product to better catch the attention of listeners.

Sports911.com operators are also confident that the title change will allow readers to access the ever popular Rumor Mill during office hours (an estimated 80% of all firms prevent their employees from surfing gambling-related websites.) It is also hoped that the new name will help build a stronger search engine presence, thus making Sports911.com a top traffic site.

Speculation on financial health of Main Street Vegas group

Las Vegas USA, Twin Aces, Vegas Casino Online, Slots.com, Sun Palace and Diamond Deal casinos in the Main Street Vegas group were the subject of some intense speculation on the message boards this week as players compared notes on increasingly slow payouts and "creative" excuses.

Impertinence by CSR operatives accusing players of "lacking patience" after waiting a month for a payout did not go down well either.

Players are concerned because this pattern of behaviour in the past has often heralded casino failures that have left clients out of pocket, and there is the worrying thought that the software provider - Playtech - may not have a player safety net policy in place. As we went to press players had emailed for clarification but no response had been received.

Prosecute the promoters, says Ford

Last week we reported on a proposal to make the promotion of internet gambling illegal in Indiana, and events since have moved with remarkable speed. The Bill, proposed by Sen. David Ford was approved Monday by the Senate's Economic Development and Technology Committee in a 10-0 vote despite reservations about the State's ability to enforce the legislation.

Ford's Bill does not seek to ramp up penalties for Internet gambling per se, which includes betting on college basketball games or playing online slot machines. Such offenses already are a class B misdemeanor. Instead, it aims to curb promotion of the practice, targeting radio advertisers and Internet pop-up ads sellers that urge people to gamble online.

Those who promote Internet gambling would be subject to a Class D felony conviction under the bill. Enforcement would fall to local prosecutors.

The bill will now move to the Senate. Last year the Senate passed a similar bill, but it died in the House of Representatives

This one's in Boston

After successful shows in London, Denmark, Australia, Singapore, Germany and all across the United States, the acclaimed Search Engine Strategies conference is returning to Boston at the Park Plaza Hotel this March 4-6 and will again feature some of the Internet's top search engine technology and marketing experts.

Organized by Danny Sullivan of SearchEngineWatch.com and sponsored by Yahoo!, the conference features speakers from the major search engines and experienced search engine marketers. This conference consistently provides the most up-to-date developments and techniques for mastering search engines and includes sessions for beginners, as well as new content.

Readers can view the impressive agenda at:
http://www.jupiterevents.com/sew/boston03/index.html

Banning on the cards

Web-based casinos, online gamblers and their Internet providers could all face felony charges and jail time in Indiana under a bill slated to be considered next week by a state Senate committee. "Internet gambling is completely unregulated. It's pretty insidious,’ claims Sen. David Ford, sponsor of the legislation.

The Senate Economic Development and Technology Committee is scheduled to consider the bill Monday.

"Internet gambling already is illegal in Indiana under the federal Interstate Wire Act, which prohibits using telephone lines or other wire communications to place bets", said Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter. That's also the position of the U.S. Justice Department, but a federal appeals court has ruled the Wire Act does not apply to Internet gambling..."

Intercasino player hits a biggie as 2002 closes

Never mind positive beginnings - here's a player that had a great ending to 2002.

The last online casino mega-jackpot winner of 2002 was "amartin" who took home $82,283.25 at the end of December playing Video Slots at Intercasino. The win brought the casino's jackpot wins for the year to $5 million.

Certification awarded by Australian jurisdiction

Gambling software and turnkey provider Online Gaming Systems (OGS) was over the moon this week at the long awaited news of their FIRE system certification by the Northern Territory Treasury.

The certification of the FIRE software system is part of the on-going approval process by the Northern Territory Treasury for Casino Paraiso. Casino Paraiso is owned by International Gaming & Entertainment Corporation, a Sydney based company.

The FIRE product has been designed with security, performance, third party integration and scalability in mind, says OGS. The java-platformed design has been loaded with controls that comply with operating a casino in a regulated environment as well as giving the casino operator the flexibility of integrating with their existing systems. The system has been tested to handle more than 1,000 simultaneous users on a single Game Server and can be scaled up to many times that figure by utilizing additional game servers.

The certification was completed by GGS, an independent Internet testing company that is accredited in the world's leading regulated jurisdictions. The certification testing will be summarized in a report to be submitted to NTT during the next month.

"We are the only software developer to have two products certified, having completed certification for our ICE product during 2001, said Herman Suarez, Director of Marketing for Online Gaming Systems, Ltd. Northern Territory was the first regulated jurisdiction for Internet gaming in the world, and its regulations are the world's most stringent. We are confidant that our FIRE product can be certified anywhere in the world, thereby reducing the time to market and cost of compliance for our customers."

But where are the Got2bet numbers?

The William Hill betting group, which includes a prestigious Cryptologic-powered online casino reckons its first set of annual results since last year's flotation will meet market expectations. The final results are due in March.

Profits should hit the middle of forecasts predicting underlying earnings of between £136 and £145 million for 2002 say William Hill officials. That compares to a figure of £105 million the year before meaning that, prior to one-off costs, earnings would be significantly up by between 30% and 38%. The predictions did not seperate out online gaming results from the rest of the group.

The group did experience poor horseracing returns in the third quarter as milder weather led to several unexpected results. But chief executive David Harding says: "Despite poor horseracing results in the third quarter, a return to more normal results in the fourth quarter coupled with further product diversification has enabled us to deliver broadly in line with expectations."

The London-based chain, which floated on the London Stock Exchange in June 2002, has almost 1,600 betting shops across the UK. Shares were up 1.5p at 229.5p earlier this week.

Lower jackpots, less "machines"

The Independent newspaper in the UK reports that the proliferation of "virtual casino" machines in betting shops, offering jackpot prizes of up to £50,000, is to be limited by the Government in a crackdown on problem gambling.

Tessa Jowell, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, said this week that the spread of the machines in relatively unregulated locations could lead to a significant growth in gambling addiction.

Online betting has grown rapidly in recent years, particularly "internet slot machines", where players wager by credit card and click the reels with their computer mouse. Alternatively people can be offered odds on events on sporting events, such as horse races.

Ms Jowell said in a written House of Commons statement: "The Government has noted with concern the increasing installation in licensed betting offices of machines, described as fixed-odds betting machines, which enable customers to play virtual casino games for prizes of up to £50,000.

"Our current plan is to introduce new legislation which will be drafted in such a way that those betting machines which in reality involve gaming will be brought within the relevant controls for gaming machines. We take the view that the uncontrolled proliferation of high-prize machine gaming on the high street risks seriously increasing problem gambling."

Under legislation currently being drafted, bookmakers are to be limited to four gaming machines, each offering a maximum £500 jackpot. The laws are being written to include Got2bet.

Meanwhile, the Gaming Board for Great Britain and Association of British Bookmakers are about to fight a test case in the courts to clarify the legal position of the machines. It is unclear whether they are covered by legislation on "gaming machines" or the less stringent restrictions on "betting machines". Ms Jowell said she welcomed any action to bring certainty to the issue, but made clear that the Government would act whatever the outcome of the case.

The Government produced a White Paper, A Safe Bet for Success, last March, hailed as the widest-ranging liberalisation of gambling laws for 40 years. Although it dramatically loosened restrictions on the £7bn a year industry, the Government also moved to curb under-age gambling on fruit machines and set up a tough regulatory body.

Authorities tighten up on internet cafes

All internet cafés offering games on their computers will in the future be required to hold a valid gaming licence in Germany following a high court ruling in that country. In their judgement, the judges argued that a computer – as a multifunctional device – falls under the same law that requires a gaming license because it can potentially be used as a gaming device.

The ruling creates difficulties for many internet cafés, because with the licence there is a requiriement to pay entertainment taxes that can range from Euro 12 to Euro 600 (up to $600) a month per computer. Europmedia reports that in one case where an internet cafe was raided, the owner was forced to pay a one-time Euro 85 000 tax payment that brought about the closure of the establishment.

Germany's Office of Economic Affairs had been closing down internet cafés where children and teenagers where playing shoot-’em-up games, such as Counterstrike prior to the ruling. As a consquence, the owners of the cafés petitioned the German courts, claiming the computers were primarily used for surfing the internet, and therefore no special gaming or gambling licences should be needed.

Since late last year, Berlin police have repeatedly raided internet cafés and closed down a number of them because they were offering games on their computers. So far, there has been no secure legal ground on which to base this police activity, but the new ruling now makes it official - no gaming at i-cafes without a license.

The police justified their pre-judgement raids as a need to protect children against gambling and exposure to extremely violent games.

Winners Playground gets a mate

Grand Royal Casino.com This Real Time Gaming powered casino is related to Winner's Playground, which does not have a great rep. with the players and imposes 25 year age restrictions on membership. This one also bans Chinese and Danes. The download gambling suite is the latest from RTG with a good VP-heavy selection of 35 games. The full Support is through GICS (Global Interactive Casino Service) and the e-cash is via Cybergrove - Sylvan Tweed Limited out of London, England. Central Coin, NetTeller, PrePaidATM, On Demand Funds are all available. The site is professional and appealing, with heavy promotion of an unusual bonus system. This works out at $1500 on a first deposit of $100 or more. Players then have 3 days in which to push their account balance to $20K, after which up to $2 500 can be withdrawn. Player reactions to the bonus seem to be mixed.

Casino 4 Aces.com this new casino is really not in the "cool" category because it is being operated from the notorious Casino Bar and Casino On Air servers out of Nicosia in Cyprus. The 14 game download and Flash software appears to be the same although the owners are listed as Cyprus based Alpinia Limited. There's a VIP Club loyalty program, 24/7 tollfreed Support and a range of financial options that includes PrePaid ATM, NetTeller, Firepay and 900Pay. Interestingly they are offering a thirty percent High Roller Bonus, a matchplay signup of 30 percent up to a max of $300 on first deposits below $400 and $1 000 max on first deposits above that. With a 15 percent D and B wagerthru' requirement! A further ten percent is available on all future deosits subject to the same x15 wagerthru'. 20 percent of the first deposit of all referred friends is also available. Generally an average site at best, but the experienced players will avoid it due to the Casinobar reputation.

Slots Casino.biz Playtech's newest was worth a visit last week thanks to special matchplay signup bonuses maxed at $100 with a reasonable wagerthru' requirement of D&D x 8. The site is slick and professional with a wealth of player information, and carries the latest Playtech download gambling suite of 9 progressives, 10 blackjacks including BJ Switch, 14 multi-line slots, 9 VP and Keno, 9 video slots, 8 Bonus Rounds and 20 single line slots. A full range of financial options and round-the-clock Support are available.

IQ Ludorum provide the power at High Point Casino.com, a cool, professional-looking casino site operated by the respected Olympic Sports Book guys. There's a full range of good quality download and java games in the gambling suite, full banking facilities and Support that is available between 08h00 and 12h00 presumably EST as this is a Jamaican based operation. The signup bonus is only 5 percent but it has a very generous cap at $1 000 for the high rollers and continues on every deposit made up to a maximum of $500.

The jungle can be a dangerous place...

IGS-Aquaonline powered Jungle Palace Casino.com has not been around for too long, but it is already taking flak from angry players who claim they have been screwed out of promotional bonuses without just cause, and that their emails are ignored and telephone calls go unanswered. Either we were lucky, or media calls get express attention because within an hour we had a response which didn't tell us anything more than the fact that "management" were "investigating". Whilst they are doing that and aggrieved players remain, perhaps a little caution out in the bush would be wise...

The US legislative merry-go-round starts early

Hardly had 2003 been ushered in, than the politicians were beavering away at their favourite piece of legislation it seems - banning internet gambling. In quick succession Representatives Goodlatte, McCain, Kyl and Leach all announced an intention to resurrect their Bills, which failed to pass last year.

Interesting, if obvious thoughts on the US legislative future came from the business strategy company Williams Mullen, which opined that business would be brisk in Washington.

For example, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., plans to reintroduce legislation designed to stop the growth of some online wagers by amending federal gambling rules.

A recent decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in an Got2bet case is likely to motivate Congress to examine the definition of Got2bet.

The Wire Act currently bans interstate sports betting via telephone wires. The court ruled last month that MasterCard was not liable for debts incurred by individuals who placed bets over casino Web sites. The three-judge panel said language in current law does not apply to 'non-sports Internet gambling.'

Rep. Jim Leach, R-Iowa, this week reintroduced a version of his gambling-related bill, which failed before the Senate hurdle after the House overwhelmingly passed it in October. It would have prohibited the use of financial instruments to execute Internet gambling transactions. House Financial Services Chairman Oxley strongly supported the bill, but the 107th Congress ended before the Senate could address it.

A Financial Services Committee spokesman said the internet gambling issue will be a top priority in 2003, adding, 'It's very clear that the law is muddled on the issue.' A majority of lawmakers see a need to update the Wire Act to ensure that its language applies to online casinos, Goodlatte said.

Goodlatte noted that Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., the lead sponsor of e-gambling legislation in the Senate, will assume a leadership role in January, helping prospects for the issue in 2003.

Government is "neither for nor against" Got2bet

Looks like at least some of the authorities in the Canadian province of New Brunswick are keen to extend their lottery operations to online casino work...but others have reservations.

CNews reported this week that the New Brunswick government wants to find out more about Got2bet before endorsing it as a possible new money-maker for the province.

Finance Minister Peter Mesheau told the legislature that the Conservative government is neither for nor against an Got2bet program which the Atlantic Lottery Corp. would like to develop. "We are certainly interested in finding out more and we're putting together a file on it," Mesheau said.

There are no such doubts in the mind of the CEO of the Atlantic Lottery Corporation, who is arguing her agency should be permitted to offer and regulate online gaming in the region. Michelle Carinci said in an interview this week that millions of dollars are flowing out of the Atlantic region to offshore Internet casinos.

"It's really nothing more than just the electronic delivery of what we do today," said Carinci.

There are almost 2,000 online casinos based in other countries but available to Canadians, siphoning about $10 million out of Canada every year.

NDP Leader Elizabeth Weir urged the government to be cautious, pointing out that the province has seen a number of gambling-related suicides in the past few years. "Let's solve some of our current gambling problems before giving the green light to in-home gambling," she said.

The lottery corporation has studied online gaming and argues it could offer a better and much more regulated product. The corporation has informed its four shareholders -- the Atlantic provincial governments -- of its findings.

Banning on the cards

Web-based casinos, online gamblers and their Internet providers could all face felony charges and jail time in Indiana under a bill slated to be considered next week by a state Senate committee. "Internet gambling is completely unregulated. It's pretty insidious,’ claims Sen. David Ford, sponsor of the legislation.

The Senate Economic Development and Technology Committee is scheduled to consider the bill Monday.

"Internet gambling already is illegal in Indiana under the federal Interstate Wire Act, which prohibits using telephone lines or other wire communications to place bets", said Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter. That's also the position of the U.S. Justice Department, but a federal appeals court has ruled the Wire Act does not apply to Internet gambling..."

Intercasino player hits a biggie as 2002 closes

Never mind positive beginnings - here's a player that had a great ending to 2002.

The last online casino mega-jackpot winner of 2002 was "amartin" who took home $82,283.25 at the end of December playing Video Slots at Intercasino. The win brought the casino's jackpot wins for the year to $5 million.

Certification awarded by Australian jurisdiction

Gambling software and turnkey provider Online Gaming Systems (OGS) was over the moon this week at the long awaited news of their FIRE system certification by the Northern Territory Treasury.

The certification of the FIRE software system is part of the on-going approval process by the Northern Territory Treasury for Casino Paraiso. Casino Paraiso is owned by International Gaming & Entertainment Corporation, a Sydney based company.

The FIRE product has been designed with security, performance, third party integration and scalability in mind, says OGS. The java-platformed design has been loaded with controls that comply with operating a casino in a regulated environment as well as giving the casino operator the flexibility of integrating with their existing systems. The system has been tested to handle more than 1,000 simultaneous users on a single Game Server and can be scaled up to many times that figure by utilizing additional game servers.

The certification was completed by GGS, an independent Internet testing company that is accredited in the world's leading regulated jurisdictions. The certification testing will be summarized in a report to be submitted to NTT during the next month.

"We are the only software developer to have two products certified, having completed certification for our ICE product during 2001, said Herman Suarez, Director of Marketing for Online Gaming Systems, Ltd. Northern Territory was the first regulated jurisdiction for Internet gaming in the world, and its regulations are the world's most stringent. We are confidant that our FIRE product can be certified anywhere in the world, thereby reducing the time to market and cost of compliance for our customers."

But where are the Got2bet numbers?

The William Hill betting group, which includes a prestigious Cryptologic-powered online casino reckons its first set of annual results since last year's flotation will meet market expectations. The final results are due in March.

Profits should hit the middle of forecasts predicting underlying earnings of between £136 and £145 million for 2002 say William Hill officials. That compares to a figure of £105 million the year before meaning that, prior to one-off costs, earnings would be significantly up by between 30% and 38%. The predictions did not seperate out online gaming results from the rest of the group.

The group did experience poor horseracing returns in the third quarter as milder weather led to several unexpected results. But chief executive David Harding says: "Despite poor horseracing results in the third quarter, a return to more normal results in the fourth quarter coupled with further product diversification has enabled us to deliver broadly in line with expectations."

The London-based chain, which floated on the London Stock Exchange in June 2002, has almost 1,600 betting shops across the UK. Shares were up 1.5p at 229.5p earlier this week.

Lower jackpots, less "machines"

The Independent newspaper in the UK reports that the proliferation of "virtual casino" machines in betting shops, offering jackpot prizes of up to £50,000, is to be limited by the Government in a crackdown on problem gambling.

Tessa Jowell, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, said this week that the spread of the machines in relatively unregulated locations could lead to a significant growth in gambling addiction.

Online betting has grown rapidly in recent years, particularly "internet slot machines", where players wager by credit card and click the reels with their computer mouse. Alternatively people can be offered odds on events on sporting events, such as horse races.

Ms Jowell said in a written House of Commons statement: "The Government has noted with concern the increasing installation in licensed betting offices of machines, described as fixed-odds betting machines, which enable customers to play virtual casino games for prizes of up to £50,000.

"Our current plan is to introduce new legislation which will be drafted in such a way that those betting machines which in reality involve gaming will be brought within the relevant controls for gaming machines. We take the view that the uncontrolled proliferation of high-prize machine gaming on the high street risks seriously increasing problem gambling."

Under legislation currently being drafted, bookmakers are to be limited to four gaming machines, each offering a maximum £500 jackpot. The laws are being written to include Got2bet.

Meanwhile, the Gaming Board for Great Britain and Association of British Bookmakers are about to fight a test case in the courts to clarify the legal position of the machines. It is unclear whether they are covered by legislation on "gaming machines" or the less stringent restrictions on "betting machines". Ms Jowell said she welcomed any action to bring certainty to the issue, but made clear that the Government would act whatever the outcome of the case.

The Government produced a White Paper, A Safe Bet for Success, last March, hailed as the widest-ranging liberalisation of gambling laws for 40 years. Although it dramatically loosened restrictions on the £7bn a year industry, the Government also moved to curb under-age gambling on fruit machines and set up a tough regulatory body.

Authorities tighten up on internet cafes

All internet cafés offering games on their computers will in the future be required to hold a valid gaming licence in Germany following a high court ruling in that country. In their judgement, the judges argued that a computer – as a multifunctional device – falls under the same law that requires a gaming license because it can potentially be used as a gaming device.

The ruling creates difficulties for many internet cafés, because with the licence there is a requiriement to pay entertainment taxes that can range from Euro 12 to Euro 600 (up to $600) a month per computer. Europmedia reports that in one case where an internet cafe was raided, the owner was forced to pay a one-time Euro 85 000 tax payment that brought about the closure of the establishment.

Germany's Office of Economic Affairs had been closing down internet cafés where children and teenagers where playing shoot-’em-up games, such as Counterstrike prior to the ruling. As a consquence, the owners of the cafés petitioned the German courts, claiming the computers were primarily used for surfing the internet, and therefore no special gaming or gambling licences should be needed.

Since late last year, Berlin police have repeatedly raided internet cafés and closed down a number of them because they were offering games on their computers. So far, there has been no secure legal ground on which to base this police activity, but the new ruling now makes it official - no gaming at i-cafes without a license.

The police justified their pre-judgement raids as a need to protect children against gambling and exposure to extremely violent games.

Winners Playground gets a mate

Grand Royal Casino.com This Real Time Gaming powered casino is related to Winner's Playground, which does not have a great rep. with the players and imposes 25 year age restrictions on membership. This one also bans Chinese and Danes. The download gambling suite is the latest from RTG with a good VP-heavy selection of 35 games. The full Support is through GICS (Global Interactive Casino Service) and the e-cash is via Cybergrove - Sylvan Tweed Limited out of London, England. Central Coin, NetTeller, PrePaidATM, On Demand Funds are all available. The site is professional and appealing, with heavy promotion of an unusual bonus system. This works out at $1500 on a first deposit of $100 or more. Players then have 3 days in which to push their account balance to $20K, after which up to $2 500 can be withdrawn. Player reactions to the bonus seem to be mixed.

Casino 4 Aces.com this new casino is really not in the "cool" category because it is being operated from the notorious Casino Bar and Casino On Air servers out of Nicosia in Cyprus. The 14 game download and Flash software appears to be the same although the owners are listed as Cyprus based Alpinia Limited. There's a VIP Club loyalty program, 24/7 tollfreed Support and a range of financial options that includes PrePaid ATM, NetTeller, Firepay and 900Pay. Interestingly they are offering a thirty percent High Roller Bonus, a matchplay signup of 30 percent up to a max of $300 on first deposits below $400 and $1 000 max on first deposits above that. With a 15 percent D and B wagerthru' requirement! A further ten percent is available on all future deosits subject to the same x15 wagerthru'. 20 percent of the first deposit of all referred friends is also available. Generally an average site at best, but the experienced players will avoid it due to the Casinobar reputation.

Slots Casino.biz Playtech's newest was worth a visit last week thanks to special matchplay signup bonuses maxed at $100 with a reasonable wagerthru' requirement of D&D x 8. The site is slick and professional with a wealth of player information, and carries the latest Playtech download gambling suite of 9 progressives, 10 blackjacks including BJ Switch, 14 multi-line slots, 9 VP and Keno, 9 video slots, 8 Bonus Rounds and 20 single line slots. A full range of financial options and round-the-clock Support are available.

IQ Ludorum provide the power at High Point Casino.com, a cool, professional-looking casino site operated by the respected Olympic Sports Book guys. There's a full range of good quality download and java games in the gambling suite, full banking facilities and Support that is available between 08h00 and 12h00 presumably EST as this is a Jamaican based operation. The signup bonus is only 5 percent but it has a very generous cap at $1 000 for the high rollers and continues on every deposit made up to a maximum of $500.

The jungle can be a dangerous place...

IGS-Aquaonline powered Jungle Palace Casino.com has not been around for too long, but it is already taking flak from angry players who claim they have been screwed out of promotional bonuses without just cause, and that their emails are ignored and telephone calls go unanswered. Either we were lucky, or media calls get express attention because within an hour we had a response which didn't tell us anything more than the fact that "management" were "investigating". Whilst they are doing that and aggrieved players remain, perhaps a little caution out in the bush would be wise...

Committee member slated for unauthorised deals, non-disclosure.

It appears that views as to what the Online Players' Association should be all about have differed in committee recently, leading to an unprecedented walk-out by the volunteer committee and the Players Advisory Board.

In a mass resignation notice mailed to members as we went to press, the committee cited unauthorised payout percentage deals, non-disclosure of financial information, unilateral assumption of "ownership" and unelected presidential claims by committee member Mike Craig as reasons for their departure, together with an attempt by Craig to set up an unauthorised "UK Branch" of the OPA.

Committee members are reported to be unhappy with Craig for attempting to usurp the "non-commercial" vision they had for the OPA by entering into probably significant financial deals with the Playtech turnkey software group to verify payout percentage statistics for their casinos with the OPA logo. Members were not adequately briefed and there are consequently unanswered questions regarding the probity of the exercise in terms of professional auditing input and the amount of money that changed hands...and where it went. Despite repeated requests by the committee, Craig has declined to disclose this information, and Playtech officials have not been forthcoming either.

Friction apparently also existed over Craig's claims to "own" the OPA and his unauthorised portrayal of himself as the unelected president of the organisation. Committee members are adamant that the Association is the property of the members.

The final straw came this week when Craig unilaterally announced on his CasinoGazette site that he was the "CEO" of an unauthorised "UK Branch" of the OPA which would start operating in the new year.

It is understood that committee members own both the Online Players' Association trademark and the .com and .co.uk domains.

Editors note: My official statement was published in the 10 January issue of our newsletter. You can read a copy of it here.

No purchase necessary in new Jackpot Madness prize

Microgaming's progressive jackpot division, Jackpot Madness is ringing in the new year by offering its players a new $1,000 monthly draw, with multiple chances to win.

Players simply register on www.jackpotmadness.com to participate, with no purchasing pre-condition. Once registered, the player wins an additional ticket every time he or she logs on to the JM site and clicks through to one of the 72 casinos on the network. Sharing the news about the big jackpots will also be rewarded -- every "Tell A Friend" recommended to Jackpot Madness, will give the player another ticket in the monthly draw.

On the first Monday of each month, the network will draw the winning ticket, and the winner will be announced on the Jackpot Madness site.

World Gaming still mute on 3.2 scandal

The troubles at World Gaming culminating in last week's suspension of CEO David Craven reminded many readers that the formerly Top 4 turnkey software supplier remains silent on the scandal in March 2002 which left many players bereft of bonuses and winnings.

In the affair, nine World Gaming casinos using the much criticized 3.2 version WG software offered over-attractive bonuses due to what a WG official described as inefficient use of their backend bonusing software. Players were quick to accept the offers and wagered many thousands of dollars, only to have their wagers and rewards retroactively disqualified by revised T&Cs.

The casinos then exacerbated this by ignoring player complaints and in some cases returning deposits only. Attempts to negotiate with the then CEO, Michael Aymong fell on deaf ears, and when a fresh approach was made recently to newly appointed replacement CEO Craven, that too was ignored.

World Gaming management does not seem to realise that this skeleton in their cupboard will return to plague them over and over again if it is not fairly resolved.

A telling postscript came to notice this week when WG plans to migrate all licensees to a more efficient software platform was posted by an alert player.

Wagerworks could be on the warpath

A number of alert players have commented on the apparent violation of several slot machine designs by Playtech's gambling software package, and because the turnkey provider has a presence in the Netherlands they would presumably have to honour US intellectual property rights.

The word on the street is that Wagerworks could be asking some awkward questions regarding the similarities.

Playtech's new Slots Casino.biz is worth a visit this week thanks to special matchplay signup bonuses maxed at $100 with a reasonable wagerthru' requirement of D&D x 8. The site is slick and professional with a wealth of player information, and carries the latest Playtech download gambling suite of 9 progressives, 10 blackjacks including BJ Switch, 14 multi-line slots, 9 VP and Keno, 9 video slots, 8 Bonus Rounds and 20 single line slots. A full range of financial options and round-the-clock Support are available.

IQ Ludorum provide the power at High Point Casino.com, a cool, professional-looking casino site operated by the respected Olympic Sports Book guys. There's a full range of good quality download and java games in the gambling suite, full banking facilities and Support that is available between 08h00 and 12h00 presumably EST as this is a Jamaican based operation. The signup bonus is only 5 percent but it has a very generous cap at $1 000 for the high rollers and continues on every deposit made up to a maximum of $500.

Ollie the lockout man

"Well aged" online gamblers will remember the Laurel and Hardy comedy team of bygone years and the plaintive cry "Well, Ollie look what a mess you've got us into now". That could have a modern day application if the manager of Crystal Palace Casino.com, one Ollie Curran keeps on locking player accounts for no good reason. Apparently Ollie's version of customer relations started within days of the RTG-powered casino opening for business, and there are now any number of bitter players complaining about disallowed bonuses and winnings, and being locked out without being given a reason.

New casino test results imminent

After months of tantalizing hints and rumor, and following the playing and analysis of literally millions of hands of Got2bet, it looks as if the Online Casino Analyser project is ready for launch.

Webmasters were pre-briefed this week by Truegambler.com, the guys behind this innovative and ambitious project that the extensive initial test program was complete and that the first statistical results and conclusions will be released on January 13 this year.

The first results have been compiled after various gambling software products at a variety of online casinos were tested, an exercise involving some 2.5 million hands of single line Jacks or Better video poker.

The results are a closely guarded secret at present, but Chris Hughes of TrueGambler says they may surprise some people.

Thinning out the static

Most of us are fed up of the unwanted spam from integrity-challenged marketers which daily clogs up email boxes all over the Internet. So any new products that can be used easily to thin out this online garbage without protracted unsubscribing procedures is eagerly welcomed.

ContentWatch Inc. has recently released EmailProtect, an application that allows e-mail users to eliminate unwanted e-mails based on category.

The blurb says that, unlike other spam management software, EmailProtect incorporates an advanced engine that analyzes and categorizes the content of an e-mail message. With this feature, users can choose a category, such as pornography or gambling, and automatically block hundreds of phrases that would normally require writing separate word rules for each.

One of the main problems with gambling spam is the size of the emails: typically they are heavy on graphics, resulting in large sized emails that eat up your inbox space. For those who don’t mind getting new email offers from online casinos, but don’t like the graphics, EmailProtect allows users to choose to restrict images from being shown in an e-mail.

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa