Archive for October, 2008

Microgaming Shuts The Door On Kentucky

In a move that follows on from the ongoing Internet censorship case being bought by the Governor of Kentucky to limit Internet access to Kentucky residents, online gaming software giant Microgaming becomes the latest company to “play it safe” and has implemented a system-wide block on all Kentucky domiciles.

As of this week, no resident of Kentucky is able to play at any gaming company that uses Microgaming software which accounts for a large proportion of the properly regulated online casinos and poker rooms previously available in the State. Additionally, one major licencee  

Online Casinos & The USA

Since the UIGEA law passed in 2006, for many American residents the options for gambling at online casinos seem to be getting more limited by the day. Many top operations pulled out of the US in fear, leaving many shady operators with more exposure to the market - bad news for the US gambling public.

But there is some help at hand. OnlinecasinosUSA.net has a section that allows US residents to select their State and see which of the good casinos will still accept them. The list only deals with the reputable casinos (I know as I was tasked with doing the research!).

Worth checking out if you want to play it safe, but bear in mind that even if a casino will accept your bets, that is no guarantee that online gambling is legal in your State so check your laws before you play.

Here’s the link: Online Casinos By US State

Corporate Waffle In Casino Land? Surely Not!

Check out this Wagerworks (IGT) page from their website. Now I love Wagerworks games, don’t get me wrong but honestly this is their “Plan For Success” (Sales pitch!):  

William Hill, CPays and Webroute To Team Up

An interesting development in my inbox this morning. It appears WIlliam Hill casino is ditching the Cryptologic casino platform and moving to Playtech, while at the same time merging with the infamous CPays brand and the lesser known offshoot Webroute Services.

Interesting and probably good too. For those that don’t know, CPays are a very aggressive and generally unpopular online casino operator who manage a few brands. I’ve never liked them myself - they are happy to have spamming affiliates and do whatever it takes to get players and keep them, and complaints are numerous. Whenever I came across a website with their brands on I intuitively knew the affiliate cared more about their commissions than about the players they were trying to inform. They are very closely linked to Playtech and recently, Webroute Services appeared  

Kentucky Fried Gambling

In a move few thought would happen, the legal processes started rolling today to censure online gaming websites that are deemed undesirable to USA citizens. In a Kentucky ruling delivered today, Judge Thomas Wingate gave the go-ahead for up to 141 domains in the online gaming sector to be siezed unless they agreed to block access to Kentucky residents within 30 days (Upd: extended deadline December 3rd).

The domains are no backstreet domains either. They include industry giants such as Party Poker, Full Tilt Poker, Golden Palace, Bodog, Absolute Poker and Microgaming among others. Observers have been quick to point out that should this go through, the precedent of website censorship will be set in the USA and could in future extend to any  

US Gambling Law

The Republicans have come out and said that they want to ban online gambling. I quote:

“Millions of Americans suffer from problem or pathological gambling that can destroy families.  We support the law prohibiting gambling over the Internet.”

Source: http://www.gop.com/2008Platform/Crime.htm

So there you go - can’t get more black and white than that. Family values though? Not so sure…if you look at the track record of the Republicans up to now, they have advocated State lotteries, land-based casinos and horse racing via carveouts to existing legislation. So it’s all smoke and mirrors - grab the moral vote while keeping the home-based gambling operators sweet. Have your cake and eat it.

They just need to be honest. It’s about keeping the US $ in the USA. It’s got absolutely nothing to do with protecting the “family”. If it was, they would ban gambling outright on land and in the virtual world.  

New Online Casinos Reviewed

I’ve been busy playing a couple of new online casinos recently for the purpose of reviewing them. Well, new to me anyway, although the companies behind them are long established. Both these casinos are focused on the UK, European and in the case of Canbet, the Asian markets, so no US players allowed, but if you want to read the reviews, follow the links below to my casino reviews site:

Canbet casino review (Microgaming)

Cantor casino review (Proprietary)

Worth noting that Canbet casino also has live dealer games, poker room and a sportsbook, while Cantor casino is run by the large globally known Cantor Fitzgerald - unusual for a financial institution to launch an online casino but this one is a bit different and has some original games too.

Update: Here’s a nice touch from Cantor (my review). I played on their “Beta” slot, “Heavy Metal Steel”…they say it’s beta and only available in fun mode and give an email address where you can send feedback. So I did - nice slot (nudity and violence!) - but areas where I felt it could improve. Today I received a thank you email and they credited my real money account with £50! Now that’s good service.

Working With RTG & Playtech Casinos

As mentioned elsewhere, I’ve been affiliating in this game for some 4 years or so now and if there’s one thing I feel I’ve learned pretty well, it’s who you can trust. And conversely, how to spot a problem before it hits. I’m talking about which affiliate programs you work with of course, and one thing affiliates can learn a lot from is the player. It’s not all about percentages and promises, it’s about TRUST.

It didn’t take me long at player forum Casinomeister to realise that most of the more serious problems I was seeing were coming from casinos using the Rtg and Playtech software platforms. I’m not talking about the games - those are certified and I’m pretty confident myself that these are very fair, although often streaky but then that’s the nature of gambling. No, I’m talking about the way players and subsequently affiliates are treated. Moreover, the way potential players  

Top 10 Online Casinos

As a regular player who has played way more online casinos than I care to mention, I thought it would be a neat idea to put together a list of my Top 10 for UK players. As I live in the UK I feel well qualified enough to justify my choices, so I stuck the full list up at Casino UK. Clearly any list like this is going to be subjective, but at least I can say I have played at them all and know my way around.

Many of the names you will know, but a handful you may not and there are some very good reasons to check them out. I think I might follow this up with a list of 10 casinos not to play! Ooh…controversial!

Incidentally, none of the casinos on the list will take US players.

Aladdins Palace Casino

A new online casino has launched this week. Aladdin’s Palace Casino ( I keep spelling it Alladins Palace d’oh!) is a new RTG (Realtime Gaming) online casino that is  part of the successful Club World Casinos brand. Now personally, I am very wary of new RTG casinos as they have a reputation for being less than strict who licences them, but in this instance, bearing in mind Club World’s good reputation, I think it’s going to be OK.

From what I read, it’s got all the games but is finding it’s feet. Not many players have stumbled across it yet so it’s difficult to know just how it will perform, but