By Keila Brown | 27th March 2012 | Casino News
All avid online casino enthusiasts know that April 15 signals Black Friday in the industry. It was the day that Full Tilt Poker was almost completely decimated by the United States federal government along with other online gaming websites, including PokerStars, Ultimate Bet Poker, and Absolute Poker. While PokerStars and Ultimate Bet Poker have been able to rise from the ashes of that day, Absolute Poker still remains closed and Full Tilt Poker hangs in complete limbo with no assurances which way it will go.
However, according to some of the latest news in the industry, Groupe Bernard Tapie, a French investment company, is going to be purchasing the assets from Full Tilt Poker for approximately $89 million from the United States Department of Justice. Looking to the future, if the Alderney Gambling Control Commission does decide to issue Full Tilt Poker a gaming license, it could be back up and running as early as the first of March of this year. The commission was the one that originally suspended the license after Black Friday had occurred in the United States.
One of the latest things to hit the news with this store is that a number of professional poker players that had sponsored the website, including Phil Ivey and Barry Greenstein, and owe money to the online poker room are making threats to sabotage Groupe Bernard Tapie acquisition of the website. Groupe Bernard Tapie is not looking to acquire the debt, even though a few people have stepped forward to pay what they owe. This has in effect stymied the acquisition. Laurent Tapie has stated that the majority of the money that is owed by professional poker players needs to be paid off for the acquisition towork. Furthermore, players in the United States will only be refunded if the takeover is complete.
Looks like another standstill in this never ending drama.
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By Keila Brown | 26th February 2012 | Casino News
Horse races, car races, and even turtle races in some areas, nothing has more panache and some really crazy odds than the United States presidential race. With the a majority of the primaries completed, and candidates dropping out, many people are placing their bets to see who the front runner will be…and make a little bit extra cash on the side!
Currently, a majority of online sports booking websites have Mitt Romney as the favorite to challenge current president Barak Obama in the presidential elections in 2012.
Sports booking websites have Romney listed as a 1-5 favorite for the republican candidate for presidency. This puts Romney ahead of the likes of other candidates, including Rick Santorum (8-1), Ron Paul (12-1), Newt Gingrich (14-1) and recent dropout Rick Perry (50-1).
While current president Obama is the 8-11 favorite to win a second term as presidency, putting him ahead of Romney by 6-4, the odds of a Republican candidate winning the presidential elections in 2012 is now even at a number of sports booking websites.
Since the 2008 elections, there are now even more ways to bet on the current presidential election sweeping the United States. With the new inclusion of mobile gambling, more people are placing their money where their votes are, so to speak. Some sports booking websites even allow men and women to place their bets for the presidential elections via text message if they do not have internet available for their phone.
Some analysts are stating that watching how the betting works is a great way to see where people are lying in terms of who they are going to vote for in the next election. We will see!
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By Keila Brown | 8th February 2012 | Casino News
When Singapore set out with its goal of creating some of the most expensive casino resorts in the world, many of the experts felt that this would be a huge failure. The experts felt that with Singapore’s conservative native, it couldn’t be any more different than the Las Vegas Strip, commonly referred to as Sin City. However, the tides have turned and what was once the biggest gambling center in the world is not being upstaged by the small city of Singapore.
In 2011, it is believed that the two casinos in Singapore has received more in gambling revenues than all 39 casinos on the Strip in Las Vegas. And Singapore does not have “just two casinos,” but two massive integrated resorts that house a variety of attractions, allowing their profits to surge past the $1.5 billion mark. They are now some of the most profitable places around the globe.
These casinos have also greatly benefits the tourism sector in Singapore. In 2010, when the casinos opened, the percentage of visitors arrival rose to 20 percent while visitor expenditures when up 49 percent. The growing number in visitors can easily help create an explanation on why the revenue numbers are so high.
What is one of the differences between the casinos in Singapore versus the casinos in Las Vegas? Many experts attribute this new “Singapore model” to the fact that the government of Singapore planned out the casino development, whereas growth in Las Vegas was not expertly planned, but by entrepreneurs (and some of them mob-related) who had a dream and wanted it to come true as quickly as possible, and with no exact planning.
The only problem that the Singapore casinos face is collecting credit extended to the players as gambling debts are not enforceable in China. There is the inherent risk that a player will not provide money to pay their debt. Therefore, these uncollectable debts often need to be factored right into the financial statements of the casino operators.
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By Keila Brown | 19th January 2012 | Casino Game Updates
After Black Friday, online poker was put into shambles. Even with news that the United States may be opening up for the legalization of online poker, many online poker sites are feeling wary and are discouraged from making an entrance into the United States market. With the population in the United States still barred in the meantime from playing online poker, these companies are now looking elsewhere for alternative markets. One of the primary strategies that have emerged is to look into the market in developing countries, including India and around Asia.
Media Entertainment Consulting Network recently published a report pointing out that India and a number of Asian countries would be great potential markets for the introduction of online poker. 2UP also recently published a report that there is a potential market, which has been proven by an increase in the number of players from Asia and India looking to want to play online poker and win real money.
Media Entertainment Consulting Network started further that the current potential market in India for online poker is somewhere around $50 million dollars. A number of reports are coming out and saying that India offers the highest growth potential when it comes to online poker. However, it is important to note that gambling is currently illegal in India and the country has yet to publish statements regarding online poker.
South America is another location many online poker companies are starting to look into. While online gambling is often frowned upon, the latest economic crisis that has hampered the entire region over the last few years has pushed some countries to look further into online poker and open up their borders to it. Guyana, Antigua, and Barbados have established themselves to be part of the current online poker circuit.
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By Keila Brown | 16th January 2012 | Online Casino News
The current problems going on with the Euro throughout Europe’s Eurozone is starting to wreak havoc on casinos throughout Switzerland, especially in Ticino, which is near the Switzerland – Italy border and has the largest concentration of casinos found anywhere in Europe. While Ticino is no Las Vegas, it does have a number of casinos, include the largest in Europe.
The federal government of Switzerland mandates that the casinos pay a percentage of all profits to the state. And while they were still able to provide some money to the federal government, it is not as much as they have been able to. Between the newly created smoking ban in casinos, coupled with the current economic crisis and the introduction of video lotteries throughout Italy, the casinos have lost a minimum of 40 percent of their gross gaming revenues.
The situation is made even more difficult because employees as well as suppliers are paid in Swiss currency, Francs, while most people play the games in Euros, which has lost approximately 25 percent of their total value since the onset of 2010. While Italian players still use the same amount of Euros, the Euro crisis means much fewer Swiss Francs.
The casino will not cut out services to their clients, but will have to reorganize internally a bit without compromising quality. The casino does not want people to stop coming. They are also hoping that soon the economy will be in an upswing and the Euro crisis will dissipate.
One final measure to aid the casinos will be to try to renegotiate the profit revenues given to the federal government. Currently, casinos pay close to 50 percent to the government. However, the Swiss government rebuffed the request to change the amount paid.
There are no exact predictions for the future if the Euro crisis continues other than that the Ticino casinos will have start reducing investments and costs if the exchange rate does not start going in their favor.
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By Keila Brown | 20th December 2011 | Online Casino News
And the online casino industry continues to boom as some of the biggest players online start showing their interest in this lucrative industry. One of the biggest players starting to pique interest is the largest social media network website in the world – Facebook.
Facebook has already opened their doors to allowing online casinos to purchase advertising space on the website, but now the website is in talks with a variety of online casinos, consultants, and gambling experts to determine whether or not it should create real money gambling opportunities. According to a report from eGaming Review, Facebook is currently looking for new streams of revenue and the online gambling industry is looking for brand new ways to access the growing public. This could, therefore, become a very convenient match for both parties. However, it said in the report that it could take quite a bit of time before Facebook and the online gambling companies interested find an appropriate agreement regarding age verification procedures and revenue sharing.
As previously mentioned, this new announcement follows the heels of a decision made last month when Facebook decided to amend advertising guidelines to allow advertisements from online casino companies. Those who are for this new decision note that Facebook is already a leader in non-monetary online gaming. The Zynga-powered games in Facebook’s portfolio include games like Zynga Poker. However, those who are opposed to this say that it could be opening up a number of problems related to underage gambling. They believe it is irresponsible promotion, allowing children to think that it is only “fun and games.” However, James Bennet, the editor of eGaming Review said that while Facebook is searching for new streams of revenue and the online gambling industry looking for new markets, there is much work to be done in regards to age verification and the percentage of money the online casinos would have to give to Facebook.
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By Keila Brown | 13th December 2011 | Online Casino News
While Belgium may be heaven for most when it comes to food and beer, it has been one hell of a nightmare as far as online gambling has been concerned.
Beginning in January of 2012, Base, Belgacom, Mobistar, and Telenet, four of the major internet service providers in Belgium, will begin to block access to any illegal gambling websites. Working alongside the Gaming Commission in Belgium, two lists will be created, known as the ‘white list’ and the ‘black list.’ The white list will contain all the gambling websites that have current licenses with the Gaming Commission, and can therefore continue on with their legal online activities. The black list, on the other hand, will contain all the gambling websites that currently do not have a license from the Gaming Commission, or have a license that is currently suspended. The internet service providers have received these lists from the Gaming Commission so they will have the ability to block all illegal gambling websites.
It is currently estimated that approximately 30,000 to 40,000 online gambling players throughout Belgium utilized websites that have a license. However, there are around 150,000 players that are using gambling websites that do not have a license. This is exactly where the Gaming Commission looks to target. According to Peter Naessens, the Gaming Commission’s head of their regulatory unit, the commission has already received a number of official reports from the police that indicate which online casino websites are currently running illegal operations. The Gaming Commission is going to determine which of these illegal websites have more players, and target those ones first as they are a bit more relevant.
Under the Belgium Gaming Act, while betting services and gambling operations are still majorly prohibited, licensed groups will be the primary exception. The act requires licensing for all gambling services, which will be controlled through the Gaming Commission in the country.
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By Keila Brown | 5th December 2011 | Online Casino News
According to a poll recently done by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (or the UGC for short), the popularity associated with remote gambling continue to be on the rise. Remote gambling includes personal computers, laptops, smart phones, and tablets. The online casino industry has especially taken note of the increased use of smart phones for mobile gambling purposes. Research from Ofcom showed that numerous consumers in the United Kingdom are spending approximately half of their time away using communication devices, especially smart phones.
However, one of the problems the United Kingdom is facing is that most of the online casino companies that offer mobile gambling are licensed and located offshore. Often, this is done for tax-related purposes. Unfortunately, the United Kingdom is not ready to revise any of their tax laws.
With the widespread availability of devices that are internet-ready, the government in the United Kingdom is extremely worried about irresponsible gambling. The Minister of Tourism and Heritage, John Penrose, recently announced new plans to combat the irresponsibleness. His proposal is aimed at protecting the public from a possible gambling addiction by requiring that all online gambling companies have a license in order to be able to operate in the United Kingdom, no matter where they are located. Penrose said that the system that is currently in place to regulate remote gambling does not work as operators overseas are provided an unfair advantage over companies based in the United Kingdom. The British consumers end up having little, if any, protection based on where the online casino operator is located.
The goal is to have these offshore websites get a license from the UGC. This would create a level playing field for every single online gambling operator. However, before the UGC is able to do this, they may have to think about revising their tax and trading laws so it will be attractive for these offshore operators to get a license.
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By Keila Brown | 29th November 2011 | Online Casino News
In the last month, the European Union has been showing no difficulties in compromising and working out the best solutions regarding online gambling for all concerned parties. In a recent resolution created by the European Union in regards to gambling online, the Parliament agreed that all European Union member states that restrict access to the gambling market in their country will have to face court proceedings in order to ensure they comply with the European Union law. This is seen as many to be good news.
A number of member states tend to be very guarding when it concerns their online gambling business, especially when foreign operators are concerned. The states refused to give up monopolistic policies regarding gambling. However, the marketplace policies as far as the entire European Union is concerned, are strictly free market.
The Remote Gambling Association, which represents some of the largest licensed gambling companies, praises this new resolution. It provides a new outlook for many private sector online gambling operators as it provides guarantees regarding compliance with European Union laws. Clive Hawkswood, who is the CEO of the Remote Gambling Association, said that this resolution marks the change in the approach the European Union makes with online gambling to regulate it rather than prohibit it, as well as putting pressure on member states that do not comply.
This new resolution provides clarity concerning the European Commission’s duties to take action when any member state violates what is written in the treaties.
For example, Italy was taken to the European Court of Justice when the country refused to provide an online gambling license to a British online gaming company. Because Italy is one of the newest countries within the industry, the refusal to allow access by a British company was not taken lightly by the court.
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By Keila Brown | 10th November 2011 | Online Casino News
After a number of proposed changes, including chat features, privacy issues, video calling and so on, Facebook, arguably the most powerful and well known social networking website, has changed a number of their advertising guidelines. One of the prominent changes is that online casino advertisements may now be posted on the website. This enables casino websites, poker websites, sports betting websites, lotteries, and various other gambling organizations to target their primary demographic on Facebook.
It used to be that Facebook prohibited online gambling advertisements on their website. However, Facebook is now looking to increase their revenue and one of the major ways to do this is to provide more industries with the opportunity to advertise on the website. Online gambling websites still need to keep in mind though that there are some rules which must be followed to allow for advertisements. One of the most important rules is that the online gambling website needs to, at all times, follow the local laws in the area and all consent and authorization must be approved by Facebook prior to utilizing the social networking website for advertising purposes. All ads that facilitate or promote online gambling, lotteries, sports booking, poker, bingo, and all other games of skill and chance are only allowed in those countries that have authorization from Facebook.
A number of rules concerning this new advertising scheme have been set up regarding the United States. All online casino advertisements are not allowed to target the United States market due to the illegality of online casinos in the country. While this rule will not affect a majority of online casino websites as most do not have operations that come out of the United States, it could hinder any American based affiliates who would like to utilize Facebook in an effort to target players.
The minimum cost for an advertising campaign with Facebook is $30,000. Most likely, due to this price, it will be the larger online casinos that are able to “cough up” this price and place their advertisements on Facebook.
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