What on earth is happening to the online casino industry?

[mitch]

I think the biggest problem in online gaming is that the majority of casinos don't reward their regular, loyal, players. They worry about getting new players, not keeping the players they have.

Mousey

Those type of casinos can not prosper in the long run against casinos that do look after their players well.

The number of casinos that I play at now are very few (due to the constant tightening of other casinos rules and conditions) but they do look after me well. (very very well in one instance!)

Market conditions rule, this business is still developing and the good casinos like Inter, Harrods and 32Red are playing the long game and will inevitably come to dominate casinos that just aim for turnover of new players.

Mitch

 

[Pinababy69]

Some affiliates seem to live in a different world. I read the thread about JF at CAP, and one guy was so impressed by JF's handling of this issue that he wanted to sign up as an affiliate.

I read that also GM. Pretty sickening if you ask me. And of course the 888 issue gets brought up, which is fine. But the common stance seems to be that stealing is wrong (which it is, no argument here). But making fun of those less fortunate, or those who are disadvantaged, or ill.....that's okay? Of course the latter one doesn't remove income from the pocket, whereas the first one definitely does. If it involves money, it makes a world of difference. All I can say is thank God I'm not bringing my daughter up to have that kind of attitude. I'll take having less money over selling my soul for a buck anyday.

 

[dominique]

Some affiliates seem to live in a different world. I read the thread about JF at CAP, and one guy was so impressed by JF's handling of this issue that he wanted to sign up as an affiliate.

Yeah, but he also came back another day and apologized for posting when he was drunk on his birthday.

Probably just read someone saying that Lloyd was a good aff manager (which he is) and made that post.

Anyway, he said he didn't mean it.

There is a lot of support for Lloyd because he does an honest, good job and affiliates appreciate that a lot, beings they are being stolen from consistently or at least suspect so. It is not like the playing where you can usually prove things with screenshots and records, affiliates and their families depend on casino generated stats for their livelihood, stats that are not possible to check for veracity.

In any case, personally I haven't really spoken out on that matter on either side because I see a dilemma.

To me, it makes a big difference whether Spiral Solutions owns this group or not, and whether they actually produced this garbage themselves.

It is the difference between gross negligence and malintent. If they contracted this out to Bozo and failed to implement proper supervision and controls, it is likely not intentional on their part and can be punished with temporary measures. If their own organization produced this, then they need to be taught a very strict lesson.

These casinos have had no problems with stealing and cheating players or anything until this crap. I want to know just how this stuff came to be published and live before I decide to blacklist them myself.

If I can't get conclusive info soon I will have to make an uninformed decision about intent - which I abhor.

So I am sitting on a fence, but not much longer. It would be good to hear what eCOGRA finds. The are supposedly looking at exactly who generated this indefensible SEO drivel and who is responsible for it making it live online.

I have had SEO text written for me before - in that case it was just incredibly stupid and ignorant rather than disgusting, and it never saw the light of day.

I want to know whose fault it is that this crap ever saw the light of day.

 

[AussieDave]

I think some of the "old-timers" will probably argue that things are a lot better now than they used to be

You can say that again
My first casino bet was made at River Belle in 97, belive me the industry back then could be compared to the wild west. With no places to my knowledge like CM's it was a case of gamble and hope for the best. Well imo opinion anyway.

What we're seeing at the moment, IMO, is casinos in a very competitive field trying to get an advantage. And yes, I know some of the tactics employed are "dubious" at best!

Another excellent point. Too many venues trying to keep their head above water. In this situation something's got to give. Unfortunately dubious tactics imo are an affect from the cause. The cause being (imo) there are just too many casinos.

But, also, it's a young industry and everything will probably happen once. Let's just hope with the exposure it is only "once". That's how new industries develop...by learning from experience.

So true, though, imo the industry has been allowed to get away with certain practices for too long now. It's conditioned itself into thinking that it can act as it likes and players will still drop their cash. Which in most cases they do. They put up with CSR's with crap attitudes, casinos that change T&C's and generally let casinos treat them anyway they like.

Boycotts and other strategies are only effective by the dependence of players support. In this regard, for instance say 5,000+ players stopped patronising an establishment due to their dubious conduct then the likelihood of this venue addressing the issue would be of a paramount concern to the venue.

As it stands now, I don't think the majority of players bother to get involved unless it affects them personally. Which given the current climate and the issues pertaining to the H.R4777 and other angles that this could take on, seems to be to be an aspect of the industry, (from a players perspective) that should be given more attention by those who hold influence.

 

[Jackpot Factory]

Hi everyone,

This is David Brickman, Jackpot Factory Spokesperson.

I would like to set the record straight regarding the JF search engine fiasco. Before I begin, I want to make it clear that we are in the wrong. I know that many people have been waiting for us to comment on this issue, and Id like to thank you all for your patience.

This issue tarnishes our longstanding good reputation. There was a blatant mess up, for which we take full responsibility, and we have done and will continue to do everything in our power to rectify this extremely serious situation.

Those of you who have had contact with the JF Group, know our reputation and know that we take our casino operation seriously and that we have always taken a proactive stance towards responsible gaming issues. That said, this incident leaves an indisputable blemish on our record and we apologize to the entire gaming community.

In the past, we have ALWAYS held true to our word whether dealing with players or with affiliate issues via Lloyd Apter, our Affiliate Manager at BrightShare. To this end, I give you my word that we are conducting a thorough investigation as to how these marketing practices slipped under our radar, why no managers were aware of them, and finally and perhaps most importantly if they were aware of these practices, why no action was taken to stop them.

And in response to the comments about the speed in which we worked to resolve the situation, I would like to reiterate that we worked as fast as possible to remove all the content and offensive materials from our sites. While this might not satisfy everyone, it is the truth.

Finally, if anybody has any questions or comments that they would like to address to me personally, please feel free to email them to press@jackpotfactory.com. I promise that I will deal with every single email in an efficient manner. If you have an affiliate issue, I have spoken with Lloyd and he also is available for you. You can reach him at lloyda@brightshare.com.

I understand it might take some time for people out there to trust us again and I can only hope that our previous record and our future actions will speak for themselves.

Sincerely,

David Brickman
JF Spokesperson

 

[The Watchdog]

Nice..

Nothing better than a honest and brief answer.

Good move by this guy. He addmited they had done wrong and provided a professional and simple answer to the issue.

The worst thing is when a casino or casino group denies everything and keeps silence on the matter.

It doesn't matter how long it took for the group to answer, for me the most important thing is taking care of the situation and work on beneffit of the customer as well as on beneffit of the company.

You can tell from the post of JackPot Factory that is their best intention to keep providing a reliable service and keep their reputation as good as it has always been.

A company that focuses on dealing with their mistakes instead of creating more is something I respect. My belief is that online gambling companies are ran by human beings, we are not perfect and we make errors which sometimes can lead to a major problem on any type of business. This doesn't mean everything is finished or that a company should be judged by one mistake. Of course problems should be avoided as much as they can be, but the good thing is having the courage and motivation of dealing with it an making an effort to solve it.

Good for JackPot Factory, I am positive that this won't affect their operation since their professional team is capable of handling issues like the ones mentioned on this thread.

 

[dominique]

Although I have already written the text for the blacklisting of JF due to this, I have not yet moved on it.

These SEO stories were morally so corrupt, it's just disgusting. I shudder at the thought that people might think I agree with that sort of attitude because I recommend the casinos.

I would like to know exactly who was responsible for policing the SEO content.

Games and Casino hires writers too, all the time, and some of them deliver unacceptable content. It never sees the light of day.

How come this junk was published, and widely so? Who is responsible?

I would like to see this person fired. And if no one was assigned this responsibility, I would like to see the person who neglected to do so fired.

This is gross negligence. (pun intended)

I am still waiting for eCOGRA to comment on the matter.

I hate to see casinos that treat players well blacklisted, we need more of them.

But that doesn't mean we can just look on while they besmudge and damage the industry.

888 is still blacklisted because they have caused major damage to the industry and are either unwilling or unable to fix it. I will never know which because, on top of the orignal problem, they have decided not to communicate, in public or private. If they don't set the matter straight, it will remain as is.

I commend JF for speaking out on the matter. It is yet another sign of a responsible organization.

I am still watching and hoping this will be dealt with in the most responsible way.

 

[The Watchdog]

eCogra pfffff

Keep waiting...

I wouldn´t expect hearing from them if I were you.

The ecogra subject has been left behind dunno why, but for me they are as good as trust worty as the devil him self.

Having them comment on the issue wouldn´t make change my mind or I would even bother on reading their post.

I believe I am not the only one dissapointed with their work and have lost total respect for their operation.

 

[lucky21]

here here

hi all
I am currently taking a casino to court because of the very problems spoken in these threads, due to the low regulation of the industry these casino's seem the think making it up as we go along is fine, i made $150,000 in BJ from a start of $1000 over two weeks, i was initially deemed to be using a device to play (bot) but upon me subbmitting detailed explainations of how i play they now consider my play to be the device sheesh.. that is basic strat and progressive bet, the jurastiction that these casino's reside really need to link all aspects of the casino to there licence including a legaly recognised disputes process otherwise it is in danger of continuing down the make it up as we go along path

 

[Simmo!]

hi all
I am currently taking a casino to court because of the very problems spoken in these threads, due to the low regulation of the industry these casino's seem the think making it up as we go along is fine, i made $150,000 in BJ from a start of $1000 over two weeks, i was initially deemed to be using a device to play (bot) but upon me subbmitting detailed explainations of how i play they now consider my play to be the device sheesh.. that is basic strat and progressive bet, the jurastiction that these casino's reside really need to link all aspects of the casino to there licence including a legaly recognised disputes process otherwise it is in danger of continuing down the make it up as we go along path

Which casino? Can you keep us updated on this one? Sounds like a mini PirateC21 Saga in the making!