New Software Restrictions for US Players?

[Anna508]

Hello Everyone,
I've never posted in the forums before but regularly read the threads. Maybe I missed this or just don't understand. I have an account with 7 Sultans Casino, which have always treated me well, I can't flame them but after getting off the phone with support I'm discouraged about playing there anymore.

From what I understood, the new software was suppose to be US friendly, but is anything but... I log into my account today w/the new software and I can't play some of the older MG slots AND I can't play any of the new slots being offered.

This is quite disappointing, the only MG account I have available to me & if I make a deposit I'm lucky to be able to play 50% (roundabout) of the games available? I don't want to stop playing at 7 Sultans, but why play if It's so restricted, right?

 

[lots0]

Because of new regulations the MGS casinos are all shifting around software platforms and moving existing US players over to these new software platforms.

I am not familar with exactly what is going on at 7 sultans. But across the board MicroGaming casinos are shifting players to these new platforms/casinos.

I would expect, but I don't know for sure, that all the most popular games will be avaiable for US players at most of these 'new' casinos as soon as all the details of this change over are worked out.

You can try to contact the customer service rep at 7sultans and ask them when you can expect your favorite games to avaiable, but I would not expect a quick answer as they are most likely swamped with customer queries about what is going to happen. Besides, there is a very good chance that they don't have a clue about when this is going to happen...

 

[Anna508]

I talked to support & was told that the new games would not be available to US players but as soon as the change was complete I should be able to play most of the old games.

I logged in tonight, it's not done with the updates but I was able to play a new slot, with 171 video slots I can't remember which one it was, but it played pretty good.

 

[footdr]

GRANDPRIVE CHANGED TO NEW PLATFORM FIRST

and when I logged in to grandbay I found only deposit method for me was credit/debit card, no Quicktender.

Only place I can still play is with mini-vegas group and casinoshare.

Done with the other microgaming casinos for now other than the ones I listed.

Obviously the fact that they will provide some of their games under the new platform(grandprive however changed platforms all together) and take credit/debit cards indicates nothing really has changed other than their nolonger accepting quicktender, why not accept quicktender, how do they plan to pay winnings? with a riskier payout by check?

 

[Anna508]

Contacted support again to try & clarify these changes and US players will not be able to play the new games that they offer. Most of the old games are still there and I suppose is still worth playing, except 7 Sultan's customer service was pretty freakin crappy so I think I'm all done with MG now :axeman2:

 

[ksech]

This is what is available to me at AllSlots USA...
Black Jack - 36 games
Roulette - 3 games
more table games - 6 games
Classic slots - 99 games
Video slots - 81 games
Video poker - 50 games
Other games - 2

I'm a little upset as I only play slots and most of the video slots I played are no longer available.

I just noticed that my loyalty points did NOT transfer over from Royal Joker. And no tournaments are available.

 

[Simmo!]

This is the word from the latest conference, all unofficial of course.

The key to the future for the US is payment processing. The UIGEA goes into effect this week and MG are pulling out to be seen to be complying with the new regs. By keeping things this way, if the US opens up in the future their hands are more likely to be clean to go back in - if the legislation permits it.

That will amost certainly be decided on a State by State basis and will vary depending on how each state wants to protect it's interests.

The new software provided existing palyers with some options, but has to be significantly different to keep it distinct from Microgaming's offering. There are another 60 or so games on their way over soon but anything which involves brand licensing is unlikley to go over for now.

The new laws put payment providers in the firing line. As such, it can't be guaranteed that US players can receive payments without problems, so progressive games and tournamemts will not be moved over as the amounts potentially involved may not be able to be paid. It is unknown how the authorities will react to the UIGEA and until such a time as payment processing in the States is known to be stable, it is highly unlikely there will be any further action on these fronts. That might mean the UIGEA needs to be overturned first.

Bottom line is (as it strikes me) that MG are doing what they think is right to stay within the law so that in the future, if the opportunity arsies, they maximise their potential for re-entering the US market.

Future regulation, being State By State as is being suggested, will mean that a lot of players will find certain types of online gambling will become illegal in law (rather than just grey now), while others will become legal. However, operators are likely to be required to have an office in every State in which they wish to do business. Of course, they will also be taxed as (the assumption is) will be players.

It is expected that many of the originally banned States will continue to ban online gambling because of land-based interests and lotteries, but you never know. California and Florida are making noises about legalising poker, while the news out of New Jersey suggests casino games will also be alowed in any regulaton should it be successful.

The landscape is going to change in a big way (eventually), but it will be very strictly regulated, heavily taxed and a minefield that many operators may either choose not be involved with (or may not even be allowed depending on their stance pre-regulation). It is likely some States will want to clear everything out the way to make it easy for their own interests to get a foothold first, but every State who chooses to get involved will no doubt do it differently. The advice from one speaker to operators was to treat every State as a separate Country.

That's about everything I picked up anyway. For US players, you'll basically be in limbo until your politicians make the decisions as to what you can be allowed to do.

Cheers

Simmo!

 

[Mavin1]

Thank you Simmo for keeping us up on what's going on. I have a question or two though.
I had decided to unsinstall a couple of the new US MG's and the little box that comes up to continue with the uninstall clearly indentifies it as Microgamming, so I'm confused if this is still MG or something else?
Then the other day I logged on to CasinoShare US and now on their lobby page they are advertising Mega Moolah Isis as a featured game and they only have Isis, no Mega Moolah version, so I don't understand that either.

 

[vinylweatherman]

Thank you Simmo for keeping us up on what's going on. I have a question or two though.
I had decided to unsinstall a couple of the new US MG's and the little box that comes up to continue with the uninstall clearly indentifies it as Microgamming, so I'm confused if this is still MG or something else?
Then the other day I logged on to CasinoShare US and now on their lobby page they are advertising Mega Moolah Isis as a featured game and they only have Isis, no Mega Moolah version, so I don't understand that either.

Tut Tut, a tad careless of MGS to "let the cat out of the bag" with these silly errors

Time to "cut the crap". MGS haven't REALLY "sold" anything on to any INDEPENDENT company.

This new company DOESN'T EVER HAVE A NAME Whoever heard of a company with no name (although I have heard "A horse with no name).
MGS seem to think US regulators will buy in to this being a completely different software vendor, which has no name, and just happens to ONLY be offering a small selection of ex MGS games.

The new software is merely MGS with even DEEPER cuts than the "no new games and progressives" restrictions that have applied till now.

Payment of progressives would have been a nightmare, so it was right to exclude US players from these, BUT to exclude them from the tournaments with the BULLSHIT excuse about it being hard to pay the amounts involved, who are they kidding. If they cannot guarantee payment of the average tournament prizes up to a couple of thousand dollars, then surely this ALSO applies to winnings of a similar size in normal play.

US players should keep an eye on developments, mainly to see if promises of the other old games are honoured, and that visible development takes place, and technical support is offered to operators as before, and to the same standards.

To express disappointment, rather than closing the accounts, US players could tell support they are NOT going to deposit UNTIL the dust settles on this, and they see some more popular old games return, and they get BASIC (for the US) options such as Quicktender restored. The danger is that closed accounts might not be reopened on request, even if the offering improved. Those that are happy with the games now on offer should of course continue to play, BUT still express their desire for improvements at every opportunity.

If I were in the US, I would not close accounts, BUT I would "lie low" for a while, and would expect enhanced offers to make up for the reduction in service.

MGS could have done this MUCH better. Firstly, rather than deleting games, they could have REBRANDED, so that they were the same game "under the bonnet", but had different themes and reel symbols. This would certainly have met the criteria of the new offering being "substantially different from MGS", and would probably have been enough to fool the US authorities that it was the case that MGS pulled out completely, and operators transferred players to a completely new company. The new company should also have had a name, and proper offices, in a jurisdiction that not only accepts online gambling, but had made a complaint to the WTO about the stance of the US. Antigua springs to mind.

 

[Simmo!]

MGS seem to think US regulators will buy in to this being a completely different software vendor, which has no name, and just happens to ONLY be offering a small selection of ex MGS games.

The new software is merely MGS with even DEEPER cuts than the "no new games and progressives" restrictions that have applied till now.

Its not uncommon for companies to licence software VWM but yeah, we all probably have our ideas

to exclude them from the tournaments with the BULLSHIT excuse about it being hard to pay the amounts involved, who are they kidding.

They haven't made any such statement. You're taking speculation and rumour as being factual.

I've moved this thread to ATB. For the benefit of American players it might be pertinent to be selective on what you post in the public forum. Yeah I know it might seem trivial, but hey...

 

[ksech]

That's about everything I picked up anyway. For US players, you'll basically be in limbo until your politicians make the decisions as to what you can be allowed to do.

Cheers

Simmo!

Oh great, the politicians in MY state can't even get a budget passed. I think they have passed the budget on time once in 25 years (and this is no exaggeration), we literally have the blind leading the blind in Albany.

Sorry to derail...
Thank you Simmo for the information! I guess it is back to the wait and see game...

 

[vinylweatherman]

Its not uncommon for companies to licence software VWM but yeah, we all probably have our ideas



They haven't made any such statement. You're taking speculation and rumour as being factual.

I've moved this thread to ATB. For the benefit of American players it might be pertinent to be selective on what you post in the public forum. Yeah I know it might seem trivial, but hey...

They HAVE removed tournaments from the US facing software, this IS factual.

I got this from YOU!

The new laws put payment providers in the firing line. As such, it can't be guaranteed that US players can receive payments without problems, so progressive games and tournamemts will not be moved over as the amounts potentially involved may not be able to be paid.

I stand by my suspicions, NO WAY does a company NOT have a trading name, it's illegal for a start to trade without one in most countries. Even sole traders have to use their own name, despite not being a company.

The ONLY way this company can be supplying casino software, AND this being perfectly acceptable for licensing jurisdictions, is for this company to be a subsidiary of Microgaming, rather than an independent supplier.

It is a corporate "game" many companies play, often to minimise tax. In this case, it looks like MGS have "ring fenced" the US product, so they will not be dragged down if the "Microgaming US" ship were to sink.
They have done this so OBVIOUSLY as to be fooling no-one who plays regularly. Maybe thay are relying on US authorities having no experience of actually PLAYING that they would not make the connection between the cut down "Microgaming US" software and the genuine article - they would just see a web portal offering illegal online gambling, and just target that.

MGS might also be worried that another Kentucky style action would target their OWN domains, not just those of operators using their software. They have missed a trick here, since they should have given this new software variant a name AND it's own (expendable) domain for the US DoJ (and the govenor of Kentucky) to go after.

 

[Simmo!]

They HAVE removed tournaments from the US facing software, this IS factual.

I got this from YOU!

My post stated: "This is the word from the latest conference, all unofficial of course." Yes we know the tournaments aren't there, but the reasons for it are speculative, NOT factual. We don't know why and we don't know if they are planned for a future release. When you said "...to exclude them from the tournaments with the BULLSHIT excuse about it being hard to pay the amounts involved" you intimated MG had said something to that effect, when they haven't.

The ONLY way this company can be supplying casino software, AND this being perfectly acceptable for licensing jurisdictions, is for this company to be a subsidiary of Microgaming, rather than an independent supplier.

Absolutely. Only Microgaming can licence their software. But they don't have to licence it to a subsiduary. They could licence it to you if they wanted

 

[venetian]

I had been playing at VIP Lounge for quite some time and on the day of the switch had come in second in a tournament that closed about an hour after the switch. I called support and asked if I would still get my payout and they said yes and I did get it. However the new All Slots USA is the same as the other except that 90% of the games I play are not there. I played out the $160 in a flash just trying to find anything that I would enjoy. I stayed mostly on VP but got empty hands one after the other. I did uninstall in disgust...now I wish I hadn't if in fact some more games will be added.

 

[felicie]

I've been racking my brains trying to figure out what the whole point of this transition is like what it does for MGS or US or the Feds LOL and while I'm certainly not the sharpest tack in the box, I generally can come to some kind of a conclusion thru good old fashioned common sense. However, this is not common sense in any way, shape or form imo so I thank you all for the interesting thoughts and ideas and maybe my brain can take a rest. For now.

 

[Mousey]

Last night was the the first I had any time to just 'goof off' on the computer. So I went thru a few of my casino shortcuts. Most MGs have me assimilated into the collective... er.... new USA software. And I don't like it. I can't access the practice play at any of them, the games I usually play aren't there, and I don't like being herded. *baaa aaaaahh*

Can someone give me a clue about uninstalling... Wild Jack and All Slots and All Jackpots all go to the 'new' All Slots USA. Now... if I uninstall Wild Jack or rather, what WAS Wild Jack, will I be uninstalling the All Slots USA or the old Wild Jack? I'm getting the idea from other posts, that if I accidently uninstall any of these 'new' USA only casinos that I can't get them back as we can't download from MG anymore.

 

[Simmo!]

Wouldn't bother uninstalling Mousey - things will likely evolve eventually and we have been told 60 more games should be on the way over soon. That said in most instances you can still download again.

 

[Mousey]

Wouldn't bother uninstalling Mousey - things will likely evolve eventually and we have been told 60 more games should be on the way over soon. That said in most instances you can still download again.

Yeah, but I've basically got 3 casino shortcuts that all go to just one ... All Slots USA. So do I have 3 instances of the software on my hard drive? And are the 'old' MGs still there taking up unecessary space?

 

[rockycatt]

id like to know also if space on hard drive can be freed up
by installing them [the previously used micro gaming ]

or better to wait , any takers ?

 

[ksech]

I checked my add and remove programs, the AllSlotsUSA shell replaced the Royal Joker shell ( program says Royal Joker but the icon is AllSlotsUSA). Also, I had to reload all the games, but they all loaded really quickly (faster than Royal Joker did).

 

[Simmo!]

Yeah, but I've basically got 3 casino shortcuts that all go to just one ... All Slots USA. So do I have 3 instances of the software on my hard drive? And are the 'old' MGs still there taking up unecessary space?

Ah ok - yeah, that seems a bit pointless LOL.

 

[Mavin1]

Hi Mousey, I had uninstalled one of the Borg ones as well and each individual one uninstalls the same as it did before the migration, so it won't take them all out.
However, I was thinking of uninstalling all of them, do a thorough cleaning of my poor pc and then re-install the one I want to keep.
The download at this point is much faster than before, when it was the nearly full MG. So maybe a good idea to clean it down before they add more games.

 

[Mavin1]

Okay, ran into a bit of a problem. I decided to uninstall all casinos from my computer, well my whole 2 or 3, but they were the new US MG's and now I can't find them to re-install. If I search MG casinos, every MG link I click on is blocked and gives me a error warning.
How do we get our US MG's back if they have been uninstalled?
So much for my thought on cleaning my pc and then re-installing.

 

[butterflyboogie]

Same Here

Mavin,

I did the same thing and when I tried to download River Belle it was slotastic I think...so, I went to yahoo and put in river belle and there were several links...one of them was belle rock gaming, so I kept on clicking on the different links until I found the download button and it worked. I think since all of this mess came up probably some casinos have linked in where it blitzes off of the actual ip address of the casino you are trying to get (sorry for my wording here) Anyway, just go to google or search and don't click on the "actual" casino link but perhaps others...that way you won't be blocked. I hope this helps =) If not, then contact the casino and see if they can send you a different link. Trouble for me was that I couldn't even get to the contact screen from the caino link. Good luck!!

 

[Mavin1]

Thanks Butterflyboogie, I'll try tomorrow again and see if I can get something back.

 

[Mavin1]

I was able to get a couple US MG's back by going to Casino Rewards and downloading from there. But still couldn't figure out how to get CasinoShare US back, since it's in a different group, but that's okay, as they are all the same anyways.

 

[Simmo!]

I was able to get a couple US MG's back by going to Casino Rewards and downloading from there. But still couldn't figure out how to get CasinoShare US back, since it's in a different group, but that's okay, as they are all the same anyways.

Got a copy of the install file as it happens...downloaded it here just to check it out. Want me to FTP it somewhere for you?

 

[vinylweatherman]

My post stated: "This is the word from the latest conference, all unofficial of course." Yes we know the tournaments aren't there, but the reasons for it are speculative, NOT factual. We don't know why and we don't know if they are planned for a future release. When you said "...to exclude them from the tournaments with the BULLSHIT excuse about it being hard to pay the amounts involved" you intimated MG had said something to that effect, when they haven't.




Absolutely. Only Microgaming can licence their software. But they don't have to licence it to a subsiduary. They could licence it to you if they wanted

Surely the various licensing jurisdictions would have to vet me BEFORE they allowed the license to be transferred to the new variant of the software. This has not happened, and it IS a change of software, and when Grand Prive moved from MGS to some other software, the Kahnawake chucked them out because they had not made a formal notification of the change.

If they licensed the games to me, what is to stop me from tampering with the RTP? MGS has been fully tested and audited for fairness, BUT this new "Microgaming US" variant has NOT. Players are trusting that this UNNAMED licensee has used the MGS games in their original form, and returning the same RTP.

How can players be expected to trust in this with all the other stunts pulled recently by various operators and software suppliers, including MGS.

From the discussions, this move seems to have been a flop, with many players disappointed with "Microgaming US", on top of all the problems the migration has left them with on their PCs. Quite a few seem to have thrown in the towel, rather than wait for promises of "jam tomorrow".

 

[Simmo!]

If they licensed the games to me, what is to stop me from tampering with the RTP? MGS has been fully tested and audited for fairness, BUT this new "Microgaming US" variant has NOT. Players are trusting that this UNNAMED licensee has used the MGS games in their original form, and returning the same RTP.

Wagerworks licence their games. Apart from 4 older style games, they remain hosted on the Wagerworks RGS server so the games aren't physically moved. Voila. Problem solved

 

[vinylweatherman]

Wagerworks licence their games. Apart from 4 older style games, they remain hosted on the Wagerworks RGS server so the games aren't physically moved. Voila. Problem solved

It would be, were this TRANSPARENT to players, but MGS do NOT want to be connected to US facing software, which was surely the idea behind this move to license games to this unknown third party provider. IF the games are on the same server, then this whole affair has been a deception from start to finish, and it would simply be the case that MGS have updated the software as per usual, except that they have removed a load more games that US players already had, rather than merely stop them having the new ones post December 2009.

It won't be long before some players have a terrible spell on this new software, something all MGS players are familiar with, BUT in this instance they would no longer be placated by the argument that MGS has been thoroughly tested, and games never altered. They would question whether this new provider had tweaked the games licensed from MGS in order to counter the losses expected from blocked payments and seizures.

It could be possible to determine whether the games are hosted on the same server though, no need to speculate. It just needs someone to check the IP address when playing a game in All Slots USA (for example), and someone else to check the IP address when playing the same game from the "rest of world" version.

I found that McAfee firewall would show the IP address when asking permission to allow or block the connection. This showed me that the AWP games are NOT hosted on the same server as the rest of the games in the lobby. This would explain why there are no AWP games in the US version, they do not belong to MGS, and cannot be sublicensed by MGS to this new provider.
I don't even think MGS have access to the source code for the AWPs, they just provide the interface, and the games are hosted separately. One clue to this has been the sheer length of time it has taken to fix a problem where the tabbed lobby does not work properly with around 8 of the older games, including Treasure Ireland. A small number of tabbed lobby casinos have had the game put back, but I suspect this is another case of MGS using us to test the games.

IF the games are hosted on the same server, what was the point of removing 60 or so games, only to put them straight back again. I suspect therefore that there is NO intention of putting these other games back, and that suggestions it will happen "soon" are merely to persuade players to be patient, rather than uninstall straight away.

I was told the fault with the 8 games including Treasure Ireland was known, and would be fixed, and the games would return "in about 2 weeks". This was back in JANUARY, and it is now JUNE. I was fed a line of BS, because my source was also fed the same BS from Microgaming (they are an operator of an accredited casino, and I don't believe THEY would have lied to me). MGS may well be feeding similar BS promises to operators to keep them on board, but if they see all their US players deserting, things may change.

 

[jod5413]

I had the same problem as you, Mavin. I deleted and cleaned up after this MG fiasco, then had a Hell of a time finding and reinstalling the correct casino. Trying to download Allslots from Casinomeister led me to an RTG site, which I thought was odd.

I finally went through my e-mails from Casinoshare, and that gave me the proper download. I finally downloaded Allslots USA after trying to get to them through Alljackpots (which was the only casino I played at).

Now I have managed to "create" two USA versions that will work.

Gawd, I am so disgusted with myself for giving in to my "urges" to play with Microgaming games. I like too many of their slots, and I do know if I win I will get paid. Although winning does not look too promising right now!

Sigh.... what can ya do?

 

[anniemac]

Here's a little poser for ya. I have Villento downloaded on a thumbdrive instead of my laptop and have had it downloaded for ages. My thumbdrive stays plugged in most of the time because that's where I have all my casinos downloaded. Anyway, about a month ago I noticed that Villento looked a little different but I haven't played there in a while so didn't think much of it. Now this was way before the new casino software/MGS mess. Well, guess what, I have the new software. I have 106 games instead of 160+. I didn't delete and redownload the new games. I guess Villento just did it for me? Oh, and I never got an email from Villento telling me about the changes or anything. Interesting!

 

[jod5413]

Here's a little poser for ya. I have Villento downloaded on a thumbdrive instead of my laptop and have had it downloaded for ages. My thumbdrive stays plugged in most of the time because that's where I have all my casinos downloaded. Anyway, about a month ago I noticed that Villento looked a little different but I haven't played there in a while so didn't think much of it. Now this was way before the new casino software/MGS mess. Well, guess what, I have the new software. I have 106 games instead of 160+. I didn't delete and redownload the new games. I guess Villento just did it for me? Oh, and I never got an email from Villento telling me about the changes or anything. Interesting!

Quite presumptuous of them, don't ya think?

 

[Mavin1]

I had the same problem as you, Mavin. I deleted and cleaned up after this MG fiasco, then had a Hell of a time finding and reinstalling the correct casino. Trying to download Allslots from Casinomeister led me to an RTG site, which I thought was odd.

I finally went through my e-mails from Casinoshare, and that gave me the proper download. I finally downloaded Allslots USA after trying to get to them through Alljackpots (which was the only casino I played at).

Now I have managed to "create" two USA versions that will work.

Gawd, I am so disgusted with myself for giving in to my "urges" to play with Microgaming games. I like too many of their slots, and I do know if I win I will get paid. Although winning does not look too promising right now!

Sigh.... what can ya do?

Thanks Jod for your info. I am getting a bit disgusted as well, only because when I first played, the rtp was excellent, now it has gone the opposite way, playing a lot like RTG.
VWM, brought up a good point about if the RTP is the same now as it was with MG or is the US one now going to be different and possibly manipulated? I guess we will have a worry about that until we know more, or get tired of no return, whichever comes first. But then I did have a few good sessions here and there, where if I had been wagering higher would have had a nice cashout again, but was enough to greatly extend my play time.
However, on the worry about getting paid, I did make a wire cashout at Casinshare US, all went exactly as usual, no delays, or docs or any problems. So far...........

 

[anniemac]

Yep, Jod. You'd have thought they would have let me know before they just changed things on me. That's why they are not getting another dime from me and the software is gone.

 

[lost2much]

Yeah Annie, the same conversion happened at Golden Tiger (Casino Rewards). I only found out because I went to play Thunderstruck and it was gone. Talked to support and they told me the conversion had taken place.

 

[Mavin1]

Got a copy of the install file as it happens...downloaded it here just to check it out. Want me to FTP it somewhere for you?

Thanks Simmo, all is well now! Well if I can make another cashout, then all will be well again.