Dear Reader,

Well, I'm back. Finally. Three weeks is one hell of a long time to be away from home. But then again, I was visiting my homeland, and squeezing some business meanderings in with some non-business activities was my primary mission.

And even though three weeks seem like a long time, at least my wife and my two youngest children were traveling with me (except in Vegas- this was an "adults only" trip). The trip began in Southern California near my birthplace, and within a matter of two days we were at Disneyland.

Link to Trip Photos to enhance your reading pleasure.

Disneyland is more of a pilgrimage for me than anything else. My first visit was in 1962 when I was around three, but I remember it clearly. And as a child, my family and I visited every year or so after that. When I was a young boy, I decided if I would ever run away from home, Disneyland was to be my destination. I fantasized living on Tom Sawyer Island, and work on the Jungle Ride. I was to be a Disneylander. In love with the mermaids on the Submarine Ride I was. Disneyland was always magical to me; it served as a shield against reality. And this safety bubble lasted until I was around ten; I witnessed a woman vomit in the bushes in Tomorrowland, thus bursting my childhood reality bubble shield.

But now, I can still enjoy it like a child vicariously, thanks to my kids' wonderment. Hearing my five-year-old daughter scream with delight on the Star Tours space ride, and then looking up at me afterwards with an excitable, "Was that real?", spawns the parental lie, "Yes, that was real!" Some lies are good lies, and some are bad. Lying was a topic that was on my mind.

You see, I was to speak at the Casino Affiliate Conference in Vegas about the "Ethical Responsibilities of Webmasters" and I realize that there is tendency for all of us to lie from one degree to another. Some are good lies, and some are evil. We all do it to an extent, but there are some individuals who take it a bit too far.

And one thing that ain't no lie, I belong in the ocean. I had a near-epiphany while in the surf at San Clemente. The swells were huge and the water was unseasonably warm; the sun was setting and I was with a group of friends body-surfing. Pizza was waiting for us on shore, but...Pizza was insignificant at that place in time. It was one of those moments where nothing really mattered except where you were.

Where was I? Oh yeah, on my way to Vegas. I made it to my hotel (the Luxor) on Sunday, the first day of the affiliate conference. I flew in via American West airlines from San Jose, and the flight was surprisingly nice. Pleasant service, prompt, and no problems. Day 1 of the conference was over by the time I arrived. But this was no problem since the welcoming/icebreaking party was that evening.

Partnerlogic sponsored the "Coyote Ugly" party at the Coyote Ugly Bar in the New York NY Hotel. Unfortunately, this bar is run by Americans who are so anal about underage drinking and THE LAW. It's gotten to the point that the bouncers are given instructions to check everyone's identification at the door, no matter how old you are. Blind obedience to the rules. I was carded, and I had to laugh. "I'll be forty-five next month!" I said. The bouncer still wanted my ID. So I showed him my German driver's license (which is in German). He acted like he could read it and let me in. What was screwed up was that many of the affiliates who were from Europe weren't carrying their passports with them, and they weren't allowed entrance. What a bummer since it was an "all and anything" you could drink kind of event. I began to down the traditional Baileys (note the name), and perused the crowd.

And what a joy it was. Many familiar faces, and a few new ones. This was my first opportunity to meet "Sting" even though we have been in sporadic contact with one another over the past several years. It was nice finally meeting up with the dude who does somewhat the same thing I do, but on the Sportsbook end of things.

The place was crowded. And what was goofy, was that the bar consisted of a couple of stages where girls, who suffered from some bloated ego, danced and did karaoke. It was like they were mimicking all the moves they have seen on MTV. It was unintentionally comical. But if I were on the stage doing a gyrating pouty lipped body thrust, and had all the guys' attention, I guess I'd be on an ego trip too--if I were a girl of course.

I woke up fresh and early the following day ready for my presentation. And what I realized was that I prefer Vegas when I'm jet-lagged. I'll wake up at 3am, go downstairs to either eat something or play some games, and the place is relatively quiet. During this trip I was surprised about how many people were there. Everywhere I went, there was either a line for food or a taxi. I made it to the conference with a half-hour to spare.

"Ethical Responsibilities of Webmasters" covered most of the basics; focusing on player needs and how this is related to successful webmastering. I also explained why webmasters should check into the businesses that they associate themselves with, and why they should check out the software that they promote. I presented a few examples of problematic software: Wager21's apparent trademark theft of a few IGT's games, B3group's funky video poker results (two queens of clubs, etc.) and 3wGraphics who have Microgaming images and sounds bites in their slots. Interesting enough, the CEO from B3wgroup wrote to me since then stating that his company had sold the design to Microgaming. I'm waiting for a response at the moment, and if this is the case, well-one more mystery solved.

The affiliate conference went well, and the catered food was very well thought out. The biggest problem for most people who attend conferences is to get enough fruit and vegetables. Most of your conference food layouts focus primarily on sliced meat and white bread. This is not good if you want to maintain your stamina for all the activities that are associated with these conferences. Hat's off to the food man.

I spent most of the afternoon meeting with a number of affiliate managers and other webmasters, and then it was time for the 90 minute panel discussion which included many beers to be drunk enabling the lips to loosen and spawn a flowing uninhibited thought process. I was looking forward to chillin' in the back row and quenching my thirst, but it turns out the Professor who was scheduled for the panel group was AWOL. So I was volunteered to join by J. Todd of Integrity Casino Guide. Besides us, the panel consisted of Steve Baker from Golden Palace, David Carruthers from Bet on Sports, Got2bet's Ted Loh, and Adi Orzel from Random Logic. It was a good discussion that dealt with numerous topics. One woman questioned Adi about whether or not Casino-on-net was concerned about saturating the market with their ads and if they weren't troubled at all about being related to "adult" websites. He stated that they would not permit ads to be on sites that included animals or children. With that, there was a general sigh of relief. At this time my eyeballs were turning yellow. There is nothing like sitting for 90 minutes and consuming Beer. By the way, Bet on Sports supplied some outrageously cool plastic beer mugs that are designed to be stored in the fridge. Thanks BoS!

By the end of the conference, I met with a few more interesting people, to include Dominique (and we spoke a little bit in German) who at the moment is making an attempt to bring portal owners and players together here: http://www.playersandportals.com. I also spoke with 32Red's Ed Ware and Casinowebcam concerning fraudulent players. Casinowebcam just got nailed by the "Rainfall" group of fraudsters. Luckily for the casino, the evil ones got busted and they were tossed out.

By this time I was beat, and was hoping to catch some games. Ted Loh and I found some really cool video poker slots. It's your choice of VP games that are presented as nine line slots. Oh what fun! $80 richer, we moseyed around until we found the beloved IGT "Spam" slots. This machine sucked $20 from me, and I believe from Ted as well.

The following day was the beginning of the G2E (Global Gaming Expo) the largest exhibition in North America that deals with every aspect of the casino business. It was touted as being the largest and most successful, but strolling the exhibition floor I was seriously dismayed at the lack of participation of the online gaming community. I am afraid that this is a tell tale sign of the state of the industry. There were only a handful of software providers, Cryptologic, Boss Media, Net Entertainment, Playtech, and the troubled Futurebet. That was about it. No Microgaming. No RTG. No Oddson. No new kids on the block.

There was only one licensing agency, First Cagayan from the Philippines which has just recently picked up their first licensee, (which will be announced at a later date). But again, there wasn't much representation from anyone else. No Antigua. No Kawanakee. No Panamanians. Nobody else. It was slim pickins for an information gatherer like myself.

But the highlight of the online gaming section showroom floor was Gonegambling's booth. This was manned (or I should say womaned), by the multitalented Debbee Silverman - Gonegambling's leading representative. The booth was awesome and really goes to show that casino portals can step up to the next level of the business platform by offering merchandise, player services, and marketing opportunities for the casino industry. Assisting Debbee was Ray St. Jon from Slotland and the Elvis Onion. Amazing stuff. They had a groovy selection of Gonegambling merchandise, hats, T-shirts, coffee cups, mousepads and pens. Helping myself to whatever I fancied (Debbee was too busy for me), I noticed that on their kiosk table, her laptop screensaver was actually a slideshow from last January's ICE in London. Debbee looked up and noticed. "Ha!" she exclaimed, pointing out that I was wearing the same shirt as on the first night of the ICE convention. "Can't afford anymore shirts!" she said and we had a little chuckle. A crowd had gathered around the computer…but then all went silent as the next picture appeared.

It was an over the shoulder shot of a famous portal webmaster taking a leak into a hotel room toilet. I could identify him by the partial exposure of his face; nothing else. How shocking! I won't say his name, but this individual has since challenged me to Gone Gambling's Onion Sky Diving Plunge this upcoming Sunday. A rack of German Bier is a stake, and I know I will kick some serious butt. If you are wondering who the infamous exhibitionist was, click here http://www.gonegambling.com/sky-diving/votes.html and vote for me!

I digress. While Debbee frantically tried to hide the computer screen, it was too late, the damage was done. The cat was out of the bag. Oh the lurid tales that could possibly be hidden in that laptop. I didn't want to guess what else lay under the surface, so from there I went off to visit the International Gaming Technology section; the leader in landbased slot machines.

On the way over to IGT's spot, I ran into Michael Shackelford the "Wizard of Odds", and we discussed the problems we had with the True Gambler findings on Blackjack. (I stated how I felt about this in the 5 September's edition of this newsletter). We both felt that the presentation was incomplete, and I explained that had met with numberer of Microgaming operators and they just didn't "get it". Most of the operators explained to me that Blackjack is their biggest paying game to the player, not the other way around. So at press time, it seems that this issue is still getting kicked around in the forums a month after it was presented.

Anyway, with a free beer in my hand. I checked out the IGT floor -- the size of a football field. There were a number of celebrities who were invited to help launch some of the newer slots. "I Dream of Jeanie's" Barbara Eden was there, much older than most of us remember her, but still very attractive. And Bob Denver from "Gilligan's Island" was there as well, grey haired but still had the Bob Denver sleepy eyed look.

I had to do a double take as a young Lucy Ricardo from the "I Love Lucy" show was strolling the showroom floor carrying a hand basket full of fruit. She was there to help promote the line of "I Love Lucy" slots. She is the "official" Lucy impersonator, and has her own website as well http://www.officiallylucy.com. Moving on, members of the Star Wars entourage had surrounded a grouping of the new "Star Wars" slots. Utterly fantastic it was. This machine is one to seriously look forward to. Placed above the video monitor is the great Death Star which spins as a globular bonus round. This machine is scheduled to be released in the next six months or so.

"Monty Python and the Holy Grail" slots is another one to look forward to. Full of humorous "pythonish" game play, the cutting edge technology really kicked into high gear during the bonus rounds. Totally awesome. It's unbelievable what they can do now. This machine will be hitting the brick and mortars in twelve months.

But the slot highlight was the "The Twilight Zone". If you were a fan of the Rod Serling classic, this video slots will amaze and mesmerize you. I was speechless watching the bonus rounds unfold. IGT has captured the essence of this classic television series with mind boggling results. Unfortunately, we'll have to wait about twelve months before this hits the casino floors.

One of the main reasons that I was hanging around IGT's showroom area was to get a feel of what online casinos may try to mimic in the near future. This is important since most of us can tire easily of the same sort of slots and what-not. IGT games can inspire programmers to come up with something new and refreshing. But it's a bummer when a software provider uses the creative properties of another to make a profit as in the case of Wager21.

I spoke briefly with IGT's marketing Vice President Ed Rogich, and I explained what I do and that a number of players were concerned with IGT's stance on Wager21 using images and game names that are clearly IGT's. Some of these players are IGT stockholders. He mentioned that he was aware of Wager21, and that paperwork was being processed that would address this issue. Coincidently at this time, LargoCasino.com http://largocasino.com/ reared its funkified head and claimed its newly launched casino was one of the best on the web. At the same time, I had posted a warning at Casinomeister stating that the future of this software provider was uncertain. This was primarily a player warning suggesting that they should close their accounts and move elsewhere. Well, this didn't go over well with the manager at Largo Casino (code name Chris Anderson ) who stated at Oysterboard's forum (this is the original text, spelling errors and all) the following: