General casino industry related articles that may well be of interest. These articles vary from general casino news, to regulation and well, just pretty much anything I want to write about to be honest. If you want information specific to individual casinos, then the Online Casinos section is where you should probably be heading.
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
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.
Many casino regulars already know that Wagerworks, a wholly owned subsiduary of IGT UK, have a strict policy when it comes to certain countries signing up to play their games online for real money (or even free play for that matter). In fact, the list of countries that cannot currently play at Wagerworks casinos seems as big as the list of ones that can!
In amongst this is Canada….alhough the laws for Canadians are a bit fuzzier. In Canada, alledgedly, there is no law to outright ban online gambling, however some casinos see the law there as so woolly and grey that they don’t wan to take the risk. In addition, banking legislation is such in Canada that
The 2006 UIGEA strikes! The long-standing and reputable Aussie based Lasseters has decided to close it’s online casino with immediate effect as a result of the changes in US law made 2 years ago this month.
“Following the announcement to the Australian Stock Exchange on 9 September 2008, the Directors have taken the subsequent decision to cease the operations of Lasseters Online Casino due to our inability to compete and retain our market share since the closure of the US market in October 2006.”
It came rather suddenly with everyone being emailed today. Turns out that they just can’t compete since the US introduced laws to prevent the flow of cash in and out of online gambling operations from players. That law is under increasing scrutiny with several politicians realising it’s folly are backing a new law to stamp on the original one. Quite right too as the perpetrators of the original UIGEA just didnt’ think it through - well they probably did, but votes rain down quicker on the moral high grounds. ”Ooh I know…let’s take steps to prohibit gambling and hope it goes away”. Or put another way, “Ooh I know…let’s get rid of the reputable operators and let the thieves in through the back door”. Brilliant Holmes!
D’oh!
And so here we have the first really high-profile reputable casino going down. No doubt the UIGEA politicians will pat themselves on the back at how well they are protecting their flock. Meanwhile some dodgy clip-joint will fill their place.
And the wheels of the universe keeps turning…
Now this is pretty serious stuff for ANY domain name owner or company trading online, irrespective of market, product or jurisdiction.
The State of Kentucky (actually, strictly speaking it’s a Commonwealth) has recently won a court judgement to seize control of 141 domain names that are related to gambling and shockingly, ICANN have agreed to hand over the domains! We’re not talking small companies here either. Golden Palace, Microgaming, Carmen Media and many more. This is causing serious waves in the industry, needless to say but has much more far-reaching repercussions beyond the online gambling market. Although it’s pretty straightforward for most to just switch domain names, there are two major knock-on effects of this landmark ruling which if enforced after the appeal on the 7th October, should worry many, many companies and doman name owners across all areas of industry.
Firstly, regards gambling, the residents of Kentucky are now even more open to fraud from illegal gambling operators than they were already
Most experienced online gamblers will be familiar with Neteller, the eWallet that is accepted at just about every sportsbook, casino or poker room going. Excluding US residents of course. Well anyway, they just launched an affiliate program which may be of interest - Neteller Affiliate Program - with a bounty for every new account holder on their first succesful transaction. Frankly, it’s not a great bounty at £20 a throw, but at least it’s something.
I’ve used Neteller for years and apart from the odd frustration, it’s served me well. It’s generally the quickest way to get money in and out of the merchants and can be treated like an offshre bank account to a degree. They are based in the Isle Of Man
The latest thing seems to be to do everything on your phone - or so we’re told. Download music, surf the web, email and now…poker and casino! To be honest, I used to own a PDA and found I never really used it except to - shock, horror - make phone calls! So I’m alitle sceptical. But then again, as a gambler, thought it would be interesting to check out this new one. This article sums up what I thought of it all. Is there a future? Is it the next best thing since sliced bread? Or a dud?
I downloaded one poker room and two mobile casinos: Aces Royal for the poker and for the casinos, Ladbrokes and Wild Jack (the only one of these that also accepts USA players by the way). As it turns out, the latter two are the same software so you get the same games. I’m not go into too much detail on games and stuff - only to say that graphically and operationally they are pretty impressive. If you want more on those - check out my Mobile Phones & Gambling satellite site.
Anyway - lets’ start with the Poker. 6 players to a table, various table limits, all Texas Hold’Em. You play against real people - it’s simply
As a casino affiliate, I get asked a number of questions by players who fancy a shot at earning a buck from the affiliate side of the game. For those who don’t know, an affiliate is a webmaster who runs a site that promotes, reviews or offers information on products and services in return for a commission. In the casino and poker game, it’s big business and highly competitive, but for a player who also has the skills to put a half-decent website together, it can be lucrative given time.
I intend to do a series of articles on what it takes to be a good casino affiliate. I’ll deal with content, domain names and the art of search engine optimisation (SEO) in due course, but by way of an intro, this article lays out the basics…the information you need that will help you decide if it’s a course you wish to follow. If you get it right, there is no better business to be in. You simply drive traffic to your sites and refer them to online casinos who then do the work of retention and everything for you. However, that isn’t to say you have no responsibilities: you need to put the player first and it does require regular attention, but once established
It goes without saying that different jurisdictions have different laws to govern online gambling, and as a player you need to be aware of your local laws before you deposit. A common mistake is to think that because you can find a way to deposit, you’ll be okay, but the laws also govern the casinos so getting paid might be trickier than you think if you live in a country where gambling online is illegal.
Below, I’ll look at the law in the USA nd Europe in a bit more detail, but always be sure your country of residence is comfortable with the thought of allowing you freedom to spend your own money before you play an online casino or poker room.
The law regards online gambling has always been fuzzy in the US since the inception of the web. Until relatively recently, many casinos were generally happy to take US players, but in October 2006, the US slid in the “UIGEA” legislation that forbade banks and financial institutions from allowing their customers to place
This is one of the first questions a “newbie” is likely to ask…after all, the history of gambling doesn’t exactly instill confidence when it comes to playing fair. The good news is, that in today’s world of stricter controls and in an industry dominated by a handful of top quality software vendors, most games use sophisticated Random Number Generators (”RNG’s”) which, at the high profile end of things at least, have been certified through licensing organisations. But it’s not all sweetness and light :) This article along with articles on understanding casino bonuses and caino jargon can now be found in the Casinos 101 section atthe A-Z of Online Casinos site.