Online Gaming News Weekly Review

BIG WINS IN INTERNET CASINOS
European online gamblers score big

Several online players hit into big money at online casinos over recent weeks, winning six figure amounts on both progressives and standard slots.

At the Playtech-powered Europa Casino, a Norwegian player using the handle SisselA was described as ‘ecstatic’ over a Euro 289 500 hit on the progressive jackpot, Queen of Pyramids. Sissel had been a member of the online casino for less than two weeks when she struck it lucky after wagering a mere Euro 2.25 bet.

In an interview with Europa Casino management, an Sissel said that she prefers to play at online casinos for convenience, privacy and security….and tends to stay calmer and more controlled when placing her bets.

Players at Europa have been fortunate lately with a number of big wins, including an extraordinary progressive hit on the Diamond Valley progressive by GuyJ. of Luxembourg who scored a major Euro 125 137 win on a stake of only Euro 5.

Later in the week, a 30-year-old unnamed player from Denmark won a remarkable Euro 323 578 in one day at Windows Casino…. all without hitting any progressive jackpots.

A press release from the casino reveals that the player is a relatively new arrival at Windows, who deposited Euro 110 and managed through good fortune to make it go a long way!

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like this,” Greg Gomez, the Windows Casino’s manager, opined. “This is one of the biggest wins we have ever seen at Windows Casino and certainly one that we will remember for many years”.

The lucky Dane achieved extraordinarily good results playing on a number of slots games: On ‘Football Rules’ he won Euro 224 000, on ‘Desert Treasure’ Euro 70 000 and by adding smaller wins from all the other slots games he played, he ultimately won in total a bank-boosting Euro 323 578 in prize money.

ONLINE GAMBLING STUDY RESULTS RELEASED
More males than females gambling online, and the biggest age group is between 18 and 34.

The UK Gambling Commission has released its latest independent study results, presented by ICM Research. The omnibus study was carried out via a sample of 8 000 adults between June 2007 and March 2008.

Key findings in the study are:

* Over the year to March 2008, 8.8 percent of the 8 000 adults surveyed said they had participated in at least one form of remote gambling in the previous month.

* Those participating in remote gambling remain more likely to be male than female, and are more likely to be aged 18-34.

* If those only playing National Lottery games remotely are excluded, 5.1 percent of respondents had participated in remote gambling.
* Overall, 6.3 percent of respondents said they had gambled remotely on the National Lottery/tickets for the National Lottery draw in the previous month.

* Remote gambling via a computer, laptop or handheld device was the most popular form of remote gambling (7.1 percent of all adult respondents), followed by gambling via mobile phone (2.4 percent) and interactive/digital TV (under 2 percent).

Still on the subject of surveys, the Gambling Commission has also announced that it has commenced planning for the 2010 British Gambling Prevalence Study – a key assessment of the UK business carefully analysed by industry practitioners in previous years.

The large-scale, nationally representative survey of participation in gambling and the prevalence of problem gambling in Great Britain will build on the two previous British gambling prevalence surveys carried out in 1999 and 2007.

A Gambling Commission spokesperson said the project will be divided into three phases:

1) pre-fieldwork: working with the survey steering group. The service provider will advise on study methodology and will design the study questionnaire

2) fieldwork: the service provider will carry out the fieldwork, providing detailed reports on progress

3) analysis and reporting: the service provider will provide detailed analysis of the findings, will draft the final report and incorporate peer review recommendations

Commission staffers plan to engage with academics and other interested parties who have expertise in gambling prevalence studies and have issued an open invitation for relevant persons to participate in a discussion on 17 June 2008 in advance of the tendering process.

Interested parties are invited to contact Kati Virtaal Toohill at [email protected]

CARVE-OUTS DON’T HELP HERE
Kentucky Derby could be impacted by UIGEA complications

U.S. horse racing companies comfortable with their specially exempted online betting status in US legislation have apparently discovered some inconvenient facets of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act which has so effectively reduced competition by offshore firms.

The Boston Herald quotes gaming and banking industry experts as saying that horse racing fans looking to place online bets for the 134th Kentucky Derby this weekend may find their transactions blocked by banks and credit card companies trying to avoid running afoul of unclear federal regulations.

“Unless the government takes the responsibility of telling the banks which merchants they shouldn’t deal with, and when banks take the position that they are not going to process these transactions without guidance, all heck will break loose,” said Tony Cabot, an attorney with the Las Vegas firm Lewis and Roca, which represents the Nevada Pari-Mutuel Association.

The Herald notes that advocates for the banking and online gambling industries, legal scholars and several members of Congress are pushing the U.S. Treasury, the Federal Reserve and the Justice Department to clarify whether a regulatory exemption in the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act that allows Internet gambling on horse racing could also mean that banks and credit card companies would be penalised for processing the money from those wagers.

Under the law, passed in 2006 as part of the SAFE Port Security Act, the nation’s banks and credit card companies are prohibited from accepting payments for some online bets or wagers. However, the financial institutions are largely left to figure out which gambling transactions are illegal and block payments.

Financial institutions say this unfairly puts them in the position of trying to decide what’s legal with little clear guidance from the federal agencies responsible for implementing the rule.

Until the federal agencies issue better guidance, some financial service companies may refuse to handle any online gambling transactions, said I. Nelson Rose, a law professor at Whittier College in Costa Mesa, California. “The problem is that in some states online gambling is legal, in others it is not and in still other cases the question depends on where the bettor is, where the gaming operator is and what form of gambling is taking place,” Rose told the newspaper.

The Herald recaps recent Congressional hearings and requests from federal officials for comment on implementing regulations designed to underpin the UIGEA. Over 200 responses were received and are still being considered by federal drafters. On the hearings front, many witnesses across the spectrum of those involved in the process were sharply critical of the law, which they called vague and costly for financial institutions to implement.

One of the most common complaints is that the rules fail to sufficiently define key terms, leaving financial institutions to figure out how to comply, said Congressman Luis Gutierrez.

“For example, the regulation fails to adequately define what constitutes ‘unlawful Internet gambling’ or ‘restricted transaction,’ yet requires the financial institutions to make a determination on their own about what is lawful or unlawful,” Gutierrez said.

Also noted by the Herald are the current IGREA legislative attempts led by Congressman Barney Frank to legalise and licence online gambling, and a more recent move in concert with Congressman Ron Paul to halt federal drafters from further work on the now long over deadline regulations.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers and Rep. Chris Cannon took former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to task in a letter last year for the UIGEA’s ambiguity on which states should block online horse gambling transactions. They still await a definitive reply.

In response, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski said then (and the Department of Justice has since reiterated that) “…while the UIGEA requires that the regulations be issued ‘in consultation with the attorney general,’ the Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve have the primary responsibility for drafting the regulations, and therefore we would defer questions concerning the timing or the scope of the regulations to those parties.”

WEB GAMBLING STILL IN THE TOP TEN
ZD Net blog users by category shows growth in online gambling interest

The popular online information and news site ZDNet’s latest US statistics for February and March 2008 indicate a growing interest in online gambling, currently showing the third largest percentage monthly increase.

The Radio Entertainment category showed the largest visits growth from February to March 2008 with 27 percent, followed by Gay and Lesbian (albeit at very low actual numbers) at 26 percent and Online Gambling at 14 percent – an interest in March to 12 592 from 11082 the previous month.

The only other category showing growth over 10 percent was Retail Health Care at 12 percent.

ZDNet also notes that the top five search engines for March 2008 were:

* Google with 58.7 percent of market share and a year-on-year growth of 25.5 percent.

* Yahoo! which was in negative year-on-year territory at -4.5 percent but still holds 18.1 percent of the search business.

* MSN showing impressive year-on-year growth of 36 percent to command a market share of 12 percent.

* AOL which lost Y-o-Y growth by -19.4 percent and now has a 4.1 percent market share.

* Ask.com tops the list in terms of Y-o -Y growth of 52.4 percent and now has around 2.4 percent of the market.

Other items of current Web interest on the informative ZDNet site include the fact that 68 percent of searchers click on entries in the first page of search results, 59 percent of Internet users make use of social media to vent on customer care issues, and Web 2.0 spend will reach $4.6 billion by 2013.

PUTTING ON THE RITZ
PKR Poker lays on a night of glam, glitz and celebrity in London

Jez San’s burgeoning PKR.com online poker company scored another marketing coup over the holiday weekend when it laid on a night of glam, glitz and celebrity by hosting an afterparty for the attendees of the Professional Footballer’s Association Awards.

The initiative is another interesting involvement by an online gambling company in events in the wider sport and entertainment worlds following Full Tilt Poker’s recent marketing partnership with the World Series of Golf (see previous InfoPowa report)

Held in London’s plush Albannach restaurant in Trafalgar Square, the PKR.com team served up fun poker and casino room action for the star-studded guest list.

Celebrations continued well into the wee small hours of the following morning at the invite-only after party. The blackjack and roulette tables, along with a private poker room were extremely popular, with prizes ranging from free cash to spend at PKR Casino.com to personalised, luxury poker-chip sets.

Partygoers at the bash included high profile Premiership stars Micah Richards, Jermain Defoe, Carlton Cole, Jimmy Bullard, Anton Ferdinand and the entire Fulham first team. There were also appearances from rugby legend Martin Offiah, as well as numerous celebs from the world of TV and music.

PKR.com added to the glamour factor with their own spectacularly costumed ‘team’ of eleven beauties in PKR football kit.

Lucky online regulars at the PKR poker website were treated to complimentary tickets, allowing some lucky football fans a golden opportunity to rub shoulders with some of The Beautiful Game’s elite.

Marketing Manager Erika Schwartz said, “It was a great evening and a fantastic opportunity to introduce our brand to some influential people as well as reward some of our loyal players”.

PPA REMINDS SEN. KYL OF UIGEA IMPERFECTIONS
One of the most egregious flaws in the bill is that it does not define “unlawful Internet gambling” clearly

Las week’s report in the Las Vegas Review-Journal (see previous InfoPowa report) that Senator Jon Kyl was growing impatient with the protracted drafting process on regulations to support the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act elicited a tart response this week from the Poker Players Association.

The Las Vegas director of the PPA, Ken Illgen minced no words in his letter to the LVRJ editor, saying: “Frankly, the confusion regulators are dealing with as they develop the regulations to enforce the law is a direct result of how this act was written and sneaked into a must-pass port security bill in the dead of night, allowing no time for review and debate.”

Illgen goes on to point out that one of the most egregious flaws in the bill is that it does not define “unlawful Internet gambling” clearly – something that the legislators trying to make Internet gambling unlawful should have included.

“This law is clearly unworkable, as regulators, bankers and several members of Nevada’s congressional delegation have publicly stated,” Illgen concludes. “To truly place checks and balances on Internet gambling, Congress should look to existing legislation that would seek to regulate online gambling in order to protect children and problem gamblers and collect the billions of dollars in lost tax revenue from these transactions.

“Let’s not blame regulators for struggling to enact this flawed and ambiguous bill, and [instead] start looking for workable solutions to truly regulate this growing online industry.

IF YOU PLAY, HAVE A SAY
WSOP timing for Poker Players Alliance voter drive

The World Series of Poker timeframe represents a unique publicity opportunity where world interest is focused on the game of poker, and the one million members strong Poker Players Alliance intends to exploit it.

The organisation announced this week that it will launch a voter registration effort during the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas, which begins May 31 and runs through November, with the aim of rallying support for reversing or blocking federal and state laws that prohibit gambling on online poker.

The campaign is centred on the slogan “If you play, have a say,” with messaging and strategy developed by the Herald Group, which is also providing media outreach and other tactical communications support. PPA has already launched a Web site, www. poker-2008.org, where players can download forms and get information on voter registration.

Outreach timed for the 39th annual poker series will include speaking with trade magazines; posting comments on the online poker message boards where players discuss poker strategy, legislation, and other issues; running online, print, and possibly TV ads; and posting videos featuring top poker pros on social networking sites, such as Facebook and You Tube.

Formed in 2005, the PPA is flourishing, thanks to funding from individuals and Canada-based industry trade group Interactive Gaming Council, according to PPA executive director John Pappas. Membership was further enhanced by the 2006 passage of the Unlawful Gambling Enforcement Act, which, among other things, bans online gambling financial transactions, he added.

“Out of this has sprung a political constituency that [we’ve] tapped into to influence public policy in Washington,” Pappas said. “And we’ve found that one of the best things we can do is not only lobby members [to] send letters to members of Congress, and attend town hall meetings, but get players registered and active on election days.”

The PPA is encouraging members and other players around the country to support legislation currently proposed like Congressman Frank’s IGREA, that would regulate online gambling to prevent play by minors or “problem” players.

Outreach during the WSOP, which annually attracts tens of thousands of players and is broadcast on ESPN, will include a booth and online terminals for registration, advertising, and still-to-be-determined public events.

MORE RECORDS FOR PLAYTECH
First quarter results build on increases in revenues, with online casino activities making a memorable contribution

The Isle of Man based and London listed online gambling software developer Playtech plc turned in another record quarterly performance this week, showcasing record Q1 2008 revenues of US$39 million – an increase of 97 percent on the US$19.8 million achieved in the same period last year, and a 19 percent rise on US$32.7 million on fourth quarter 2007 revenues.

In terms of percentage increases, online poker operations was the star of the show with revenues totalling US$ 11 million, a remarkable 161 percent annual improvement on the US$4.2 million recorded in 2007 and a quarter on quarter rise of 17 percent.

Online casino revenues grew 79 percent to US$27.2 million on last year’s US$15.2 million, and were up 19 percent on the last quarter of 2007.

“This has been an outstanding quarter for the group, registering impressive month on month revenue growth,” said Mor Weizer, chief executive of Playtech.

“The addition of new licensees during the period and the anticipated full roll out of the new Asian P2P games and Flash Poker mean the group is well positioned to grow in Q2 and beyond. The group continues to pursue significant business opportunities across all the regulated markets and the Board is highly confident regarding the group’s trading performance for 2008 and beyond.”

Operational highlights included:

* The iPoker network becoming the largest non-US poker liquidity pool worldwide

* Nine new licence agreements and the soft launch of Asian peer-to-peer games during the quarter, with full roll out expected in the next three months.

* The development of a Flash poker product was completed and will launch in the third quarter of the year.

* The company has also initiated a “homologation process in various regulated jurisdictions”.

* Strong pipeline of potential licensees with the signing of three new licensees. The Group expects to sign additional new licensees during the year which should further strengthen its revenue generation in the future.

* Playtech will further support its future growth with the addition of new products

Current trading during April was up 9 percent on first quarter activity levels and the licenses and new product pipeline and momentum was continuing apace, with two new licensees signed in Q1 a company statement revealed.

MICROGAMING POKER NETWORK SIGNS THREE NEW LICENSEES
New sites owned by Jenningsbet.com, Eurofootball.bg and Sunderlands.co.uk

The Isle of Man based online gambling software provider, Microgaming has signed three new licensees to the Microgaming Poker Network. JenningsBet.com, Sunderlands.co.uk (sunderlands.eu) and Eurofootball.bg are all expected to go live over the next few weeks, according to a company press release.

The announcement follows an impressively outstanding response to Microgaming’s recently revamped poker software – a more flexible and intuitive software upgrade, designed to get players to the right tables faster.

JenningsBet.com, the online arm of JenningsBet, is one of the UK’s most established bookmakers, with over 70 licensed betting offices across southern England, Jersey and the Isle of Man.

Sunderlands.co.uk has been providing its betting services to UK punters for over 60 years – making it one of the oldest and most trusted in the industry.

Eurofootball.bg is Bulgaria’s largest bookmaking operation with over 800 shops and twelve casinos to its name.

Roger Raatgever, Microgaming CEO says, “We are delighted to be announcing three new additions to our popular Poker Network, following a period of extremely positive feedback regarding our latest poker software upgrade. All three operations are extremely well respected in their markets, with solid heritages in either betting shops or online and telephone sports betting.”

PATENT ENFORCER IN ACTION AGAIN
1st Technology files suit against seven more online gambling operators

Seven more online gambling companies find themselves undergoing the unwelcome patent attention of Dr. Scott Lewis and his 1st Technology company this week, with the costly Bodog dispute apparently at a stalemate.

The St. Louis law firm Simon Passanate has filed patent enforcement suits on behalf of 1st Technology in the Eastern District court of Missouri, citing four Costa Rican, two Norwegian and one Netherlands Antilles companies, according to a report from the online gambling information portal Gambling 911.

The companies were named as Digital Gaming Solutions SA, Costa Rica International Sports, Action Poker Gaming Enterprises and SBG Global in Costa Rica; Playsafe Holding AS and eCom Enterprises in Norway and Digital Gaming Network, Ltd., in the Netherlands Antilles jurisdiction.

As was the case with Bodog and an earlier and now settled case against Sportingbet, the plaintiff alleges infringement of the 1st Technology US patent 5 564 001, issued in 2001 and entitled “Method and System for Interactively Transmitting Information Over A Network Which Requires Reduced Bandwidth.”

According to the 911 report, the plaintiff seeks an immediate halt to further patent infringement, treble damages and the impoundment and destruction of all infringing products.

Anthony G. Simon, representing 1st Technology commented: “1st Technology is a leading technology licensing company that invests considerable resources in developing its intellectual property and is dedicated to protecting and enforcing the same.” Simon’s law firm has an impressive track record in intellectual property actions.

Dr. Lewis, who heads up 1st Technology, told 911: “Our initial goal here, as in all of our cases, is to reach swift and fair settlements that respect our intellectual property rights for companies with U.S. facing operations and utilize our patents…if we are unable to reach a swift resolution of the dispute, we move forward quickly and apply all of our resources to enforce all of our U.S. legal rights.”

Dr. Lewis and his company have been embroiled in a long running and bitterly acrimonious dispute with the Bodog group and its erstwhile CEO Calvin Ayre in recent months (see previous InfoPowa reports) following the award of a $48 million default judgement against Bodog and the confiscation of its domains, forcing an extensive re-branding exercise by the online gambling group. Ayre has consistently claimed that service of the court documents was not effected.

PATENT ISSUES CAN BE EXPENSIVE (Update)
And ignoring an action can be dangerous, wherever you are

The patent infringement suits filed in a Missouri district court by 1st Technology this week against seven more online gambling companies (see previous InfoPowa report) has already triggered extensive Internet blog comment, including some interesting observations at Covers.com.

Poster Freedom@stake, who appears to have some expertise in the intellectual property field, observed that by concentrating on mainly offshore casinos, 1st Technology has shrewdly targeted managements that may have reasons not to visit America, adding a level of complexity to “…a defense which the outdated American patent system already makes pretty difficult.”

The poster goes on to explain that the [US] system is set up very much in favour of the patent-holders, and “defending a suit can get very expensive in a hurry.”

“A company can easily get wrongfully included in a patent suit, and still have to spend $100K or more just to get their name taken off the suit – and there is zero hope for a return of court costs,” the poster observes, before informing readers that patents are only applicable in the countries in which they are filed.

“However, as the Bodog situation proved, that doesn’t mean that foreign companies can simply ignore any lawsuits and be damned with the results,” he cautions. “As Bodog learned when it lost its domain to 1st Technology, there are many ways in which compensation can be applied. Furthermore, many countries have treaties where legal judgments entered in one country can be enforced in others.

“So, no matter where you are, you still need to file a defense, no matter how much of an expensive nuisance it is,” Freedom@stake concludes.

MTV ‘REAL WORLD’ CELEBS FOR POKER ROOM
DoylesRoom marketers set up new bounty tournament

The tournament designers at popular online poker room DoylesRoom.com are promising interest, possible reward and the novelty of mixing it up with MTV celebrities from ‘The Real World’ in a forthcoming tournament.

For a buy-in of under $28 DoylesRoom players will have the opportunity to compete and interact online with the celebrity contestants from the current season of the popular television program, who will act as bounties in the promotion starting Wednesday this week.

‘Real World’ competitors Dave Sky, Will Gill and Parisa Montazaran will all take part in the poker contest, and if any player in the tournament manages to nail all three celebs they will receive a useful $25 000 cash prize. Those players who achieve two celebrity knockouts will win $5 000, and bounty hunters who claim one celebrity scalp will get $500.

First flighted in 1992, ‘The Real World’ reality television series has run for a record-breaking 20 seasons and is largely acknowledged as the pioneer of the genre.

Adding further icing to the cake, DoylesRoom is making it possible for first-timer bounty tourney players to practically play for free by using the poker room’s fee rebate incentive. All newbie Bounty Tournament entrants will receive a 100 percent rebate of their buy-in and fees.

TECHIE SPONSORSHIP BY BETFAIR
2008 TopCoder Open showcases computing skills and talent

The online gambling and betting exchange group Betfair has recognised the importance of technical talent in the high-tech world of Internet gambling by signing up as a sponsor for the 2008 TopCoder Open scheduled for May 11th – May 15th at the Mirage Resort in Las Vegas.

The company joins some illustrious fellow sponsors that include AOL, Lilly, NSA, VeriSign and BT.

The live finals for the TopCoder Open – competitive programming’s premiere tournament – will match the top 120 finalists spanning four tournament tracks in competition for a share of $260 000 in prizes.

The Chief Technical Officer at Betfair, Rorie Devine, said: “Betfair is committed to attracting the world’s best and brightest software technologists to its global team and challenging them to solve interesting and demanding problems. We are very excited to sponsor the Top Coder Open. It’s a great opportunity to raise our profile among a global community of talented software developers and to encourage their participation in the Betfair Developers Program.”

The Betfair Developers Program is a program dedicated to assisting Betfair users to integrate their business or personal needs with the Betfair exchange platforms. A member of the Betfair Developers Program can use the Betfair API’s to create custom applications for personal, commercial or third party use.

The annual TopCoder Open (TCO) draws the world’s top software developers to match skills in a variety of competitions, with more than 4 600 talented competitors registered across all competitions. This year’s TCO features four highly contested tournament tracks – the Algorithm Competition; Component Design and Development Competitions; Marathon Match Competition and Studio Design Competition.

A spokesman for TopCoder said that the competitions offer sponsors a powerful branding platform within the global community of proven developers that provides a unique opportunity to build valuable relationships and to hire some of the best developers in the world.

“Being a finalist in a TopCoder competition is a powerful resume builder,” said Rob Hughes, president and COO of TopCoder, Inc. “Smart organizations, like Betfair and our other TCO sponsors and patrons, understand the critical value of being proactive as they search for great talent.”

888.COM REVENUES UP 38 PERCENT IN Q1
Online casinos the star of the 888 Holdings show

Online casino operations made a stellar contribution to 888.com’s impressive Q1 2008 results released this week, delivering a 35 percent net gaming revenue gain over the same period last year. The performance enhanced an already positive overall group performance that saw net gaming revenues rise 38 percent to $64 million (Q1 2007: $47 million).

The online casino wing produced NGR of $35 million (Q1 2007: $21 million) over the quarter, with NGR from poker operations rising 5 percent to $22 million over the reporting period.

A company statement said that online casino NGR was in line with the “exceptionally high casino performance” in the fourth quarter of last year, while poker NGR was up 2 percent on the previous quarter.

The traditional seasonal downturn in business usually experienced in this timeframe has apparently not impacted 888.com performance, CEO Gigi Levy revealed, commenting that growth has continued into the second quarter of 2008.

“We are delighted with our Q1 2008 results especially given that we achieved further growth in the quarter well above the unusually high Q4 2007. Our growth has continued into Q2, driven particularly by Casino and Bingo and so far we have not experienced any impact of the historically quieter seasonal period,” Levy said. “Our various business initiatives are progressing well and we are therefore confident in delivering future growth during 2008”.

During Q1 2008 Casino NGR per active customer was US$453, a rise of 23 percent on the same period last year but a 5 percent decline on the previous quarter due to the product’s particularly strong performance then, the company said.

Poker NGR for the 2008 quarter per active customer rose 3 percent on 2007 numbers and 2 percent on the previous quarter to US$128.

888 now boasts 213 115 active customers across the group, a 3.5 percent rise on 2007 and 2% up on the previous quarter. The number of first time depositors has risen 19 percent on the previous quarter, and the successful launch of bingo site 888ladies, sportsbook 888sport and its Live Dealer product has engendered group confidence in producing further growth going forward.

FIVE NEW GAME RELEASES FROM MICROGAMING
A day at the races; birthday bugs; axe throwing Vikings; frisky felines and a good old game of Hold’em – more from online games developer.

Racetrack action characterises the 5 reel, 25 pay-line new video slot SURE WIN, which heads up five new games on the monthly release list from Microgaming. Sure Win offers Wild, Scatter, Multiplier, Gamble and Free Spin action and the opportunity to win up to 35 000.00 in the base game, or 140 000.00 with good fortune and skilled choices on the Free Spins.

With outstanding graphics and sound effects, Sure Win gives a ride that players won’t soon forget. The game’s leader scoreboard is Wild, tripling wins on successful combinations, whilst the bookie with the hot tip provides Scatter opportunities across reels 3, 4 or 5, triggering the Free Spin feature. With its pick of 3 jockeys and associated range of spins and multipliers it’s a feature that will help players to stay the course and come in a winner.

Rounding off a day at the races is the Gamble feature, where punters can bet on colour and suit to double or quadruple winnings.

With as many pay-lines as a centipede has legs, Microgaming’s next offering is the biggest video slot ever launched, with Wild, Scatter, Freespins, Multiplier and Gamble opportunities wrapped in a fun insect birthday party theme called CASHAPILLAR.

Microgaming bets that this massive 5 reel, 100 payline video slot will worm its way into players’ hearts as it introduces the brand new ‘stacked wilds’ concept across all 5 reels. Here a maximum of 5 ‘Cashapillar’ wilds can appear vertically stacked to create a win bonanza – and every time the wild substitutes to complete a win, that win is doubled!

The centerpiece of the friendly creepy crawly party is the birthday cake; get 3, 4 or 5 of these sweet symbols and 15 Free Spins are triggered where all wins are trebled, and when the Cashapillar appears there’s a special 6x multiplier gift as a birthday present.

There’s a wealth of ancient Viking axe-tion in the 5 reel, 25 pay-line video slot QUEST FOR BEER, which entices the player into a quest with party-loving, axe-wielding giants, rough seas, the famous longships and beer – lots and lots of beer. Stumbling into Lars the Lanternjaw’s Great Hall gives the opportunity to axe open the barrels of prizes that lie within.

Colourful and humorous graphics provide the backdrop for comedy, adventure and of course beer, which inevitably leads to reward. The most important keys to these riches are the Beer Tankard, which acts as Wild and therefore substitutes for most other symbols to enable the player to create winning combinations and Free Spins, and the sexy Beer Wench, who acts as a Scatter and gives entry to the Axe Throwing bonus feature.

When the Beer Tankard appears on reels 2, 3 and 4 at the same time the 10 Free Spins Feature are triggered, with prizes doubled, re-triggers possible and even an additional chance at the Axe Throwing feature.

If three or more Scattered Beer Wenches appear the player is swept into the Great Hall where 5 beer kegs are the targets in the Axe Throwing feature. Throwing 3 axes at the 5 kegs rewards the player with beer and cash prizes. Successfully filling your tankard with beer can reveal potential riches of up to 40x the triggering bet if all kegs have beer, significantly adding value to the players’ bottom line.

That bottom line can work out at a possible payment in the base game of 25 000.00, but with Free Spin action it can go as high as a cash haul of 50 000.00, and bonuses can add another 5000.00

Completing a rollicking good game is the Gamble feature, where wins can be doubled or quadrupled depending on the player’s successful selection of colour and suit.

Some of the coolest cats in town populate ALLEY CATS, a new 5 reel, 9 payline video slot. The action is a backyard bowling alley used by a variety of frisky felines with their eyes set on trashcan victory feasts, but for the player there’s a lot more temptation than catnip and fish heads; this is a magnificent slot where up to 50 000.00 can be won in the base game, double that in Free Spins and another 2700.00 on an amusing second screen bonus feature.

With vibrant, colorful graphics and crystal clear digital sound effects, Alley Cats provides hours of entertainment and good chances to win. The key to unlocking the winning opportunities in the game is the Strike! symbol which acts as a scatter and can additionally trigger a choice of Free Spins or bonuses for the player.

The Strike! logo can deliver up to 100x winnings and trigger 20 Free Spins in which all wins are doubled, or a second screen bonus that takes the player to the cats’ favorite alley and 3 chances to bowl for prizes on six home-made ‘skittles,’ one of them an unfortunate captive Chihuahua!

MULTI HAND HOLD ‘EM HIGH is the final game in this month’s releases. This is a sophisticated, top-of-the-line game that defines new quality levels in terms of smooth, fast action and outstanding graphics and sound effects, all backed by a generous pay table and the ability to make telling side-bets.

The gambler can choose to play a single hand or up to a maximum of 5 hands, with the option of a side bet. With the right cards creating a Royal Flush there’s a payback of 500 to 1 on the Ante and Call/Raise bet, with a possible maximum of 50:1 on the side bet.

That means that playing the seven card version, players can achieve wins of up to 75 000.00, with another 2 500.00 on side bets

With a chip range from 1.00 to 50.00, unlimited and mixed chip stacks can be used, automatically resizing to make up the current bet with the least number of chips.

This is the latest action packed offering in the Microgaming Gold series of table games and the designers have delivered entertaining action on a platform of precision animation, digital sound, pinpoint graphics and imaginative player views to provide an absorbing player experience.

FRENCH PROTECTIONIST GAMBLING LAWS ‘ATROCIOUS’
Brit political lords condemn French monopolistic policies

Judging by exchanges in the British Parliament’s House of Lords this week, the French protectionist attitude toward its gambling interests irks more than a few Brit peers.

The official Opposition Conservative Party’s Lord James of Blackheath fired the first salvo when he denounced French state monopolistic gambling policy, claiming that punishments meted out to non-French companies seeking to access the French gambling market in terms of the European Union Treaty, and those punishing French gamblers were disproportionately severe.

Lord James said the penalty for downloading child pornography and placing a small bet with a British bookie were the same – a year’s jail or a Euro 75 000 fine. He asked whether the British [Labour] government was considering a similar law on bookmakers operating from France into the UK to “restore a level playing field.”

Lord Davies of Oldham, answering for the government, pointed out that the playing field could be levelled in any case by European Commission demands that the French comply with European Union requirements for the free movement of goods and services between member nations.

Lod Davies said that the French policy was directed not at defending the consumer, but at protecting the French state monopoly on gambling.

“The European Commission has made it clear that the French law is not acceptable within the framework of the European Community, and as a consequence we have no intention of following that atrocious example,” Lord Davies asserted.

Entering the debate, which occurred during Question Time, other peers expressed concern that underage people may be able to use online gambling websites.

Liberal Democrat Lord Clement-Jones made the arguable statement that operators in the EU and in Gibraltar are allowed to have lower standards of age verification than those in the UK.

Describing this as “a fundamental flaw of the Gambling Act” Lord Davies replied that, although there were differing standards, the UK’s regulations had only been in place for six months and there had been “very few” complaints to the Gambling Commission about underage gambling.

He added: “Although we are keeping a very close eye on it we see no reason why we need to change our regulatory framework which seems to be working satisfactorily.”

LADBROKES DIG TRIGGERS SWEDISH THREAT
Svenske Spel umbrage over advertising line

The traditional Swedish sense of humour was notably absent last week when, according to a report in iGaming Business, the Swedish state’s gambling monopoly, Svenske Spel, threatened legal action against British bookie group Ladbrokes.

The cause of the Scandinavian umbrage appears to be a bit of fun in the slogan of a Ladbrokes advertisement designed for the Swedish market which read “Svenska Spel, Engelska Odds”, which translates as “Swedish Games, English Odds”.

Legal representatives of the Swedish monopoly have apparently corresponded with Ladbrokes in a threatening way, challenging the British company on grounds of trademark for the use of the Svenske Spel typeface and name, and demanding the immediate withdrawal of the offending ad.

Ladbrokes appeared unfazed by the threat, and welcomed the opportunity to defend its campaign in court, pointing out that the Swedish state-owned entity does not also hold a monopoly on the Swedish language and cannot own the phrase.

With tough talk on both sides, a meeting in a law court seems likely, providing a useful platform for once again airing the monopolistic nature of Swedish state-dominated gambling, which several major European Union gambling companies, and trade associations like EGBA have criticised as illegal and unfair in terms of EU requirements. Certainly such a legal confrontation will give the advert additional longevity.

ONLINE GAMBLING CREATES ANOTHER INSTANT MILLIONAIRE
Cryptologic’s Millionaire’s Club progressive hits again

Cryptologic-powered Littlewoods Casino.com was the venue for the creation of the latest instant online gambling millionaire this week when an as yet unidentified player hit a $1.3 million progressive jackpot on the “Millionaire’s Club” slot in the early hours of the morning.

Brian Hadfield, CryptoLogic’s President and CEO claims that Millionaire’s Club has made more instant millionaires in the last year than any other online casino game in history.

“As we welcome another instant millionaire to the club, we also celebrate a game that’s earned global popularity — one that keeps players coming back again and again,” he said.

The game has paid out more than $15 million in jackpot wins in the past year alone, with four players winning more than $1 million. CryptoLogic also lays claim to the largest jackpot win in the history of online gaming – more than $8 million to a player from InterCasino.com.

Two weeks after that monster win, a UK online player at LittlewoodsCasino.com won more than $4 million, the second highest jackpot in online history. The last big win was in December 2007, when a player won $2.2 million at WilliamHillCasino.com.

ONLINE GAMBLING BAN CHALLENGE NEXT WEEK
PPA plans to support Rousso in fight against Washington state’s draconian anti-online gambling law

Lee Rousso, the feisty lawyer who represents the Poker Players Alliance in Washington state, will have his organisation’s support next Thursday, when he at last gets his day in court to challenge tough state laws on online gambling.

After many months of mainly state inspired delays on legal technicalities which demanded seperate court arguments, Rousso will face off against the state on its online gambling ban, protesting at punishments in the C-class felony category that seem to equate online gambling with heinous crimes such as torturing animals, possessing child pornography or threatening the governor.

The case will be heard in King County Superior Court in Kent, Washington, May 15 from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. (Pacific Time) and the PPA is planning a rally outside the court at which top poker aces Barry Greenstein and Andy Bloch will appear to show solidarity with Rousso in his challenge to the constitutionality of Washington’s online gambling ban.

Rousso claims that Washington state’s ban fails to comply with the US federal Wire Act, which does not make online gamblers liable for prosecution, whereas the Washington law makes it a serious offence to gamble online. He is also arguing that the state imposed its ban to protect its own interests in the many and diverse land gambling activities approved by the state, claiming that such protectionism is in violation of the US Constitution’s commerce clause, which forbids individual state legislation of this nature.

The Washington state ban was highlighted this week by the respected Card Player magazine, which conducted an excellent interview with Dino Rossi, currently a candidate seeking to unseat Washington state governor Christine Gregoire in forthcoming elections.

Answering a question on the draconian nature of the penalties laid down for Washington residents caught gambling online, Rossi said he would not have supported such harsh punishment, and commented:

“Well, it seems really excessive in the penalties they put forward, because if you really look at this, what they’ve done is that they’ve made it a felony. And it would clearly ruin someone’s life if they have a felony – it’s up to five years in prison.

“And if you want look at which other crimes are basically equal in nature in the eyes of the law now that this law is passed, it’s the same types of penalties for possessing child pornography, threatening the governor, or torturing an animal.

“I mean, in our state, you could have five DUIs before you can even serve time. You could steal nine cars in our state before actually getting any jail time. But, somehow, playing poker online rises to that level.”

Rossi narrowly missed defeating Gregoire in 2004, and may have more success this time around.

In the meantime, online gamblers who would like to support Rousso in his action will find the court at the Maleng Regional Justice Center, 401 – 4th Avenue North in Kent, Washington.

http://www.cardplayer.com:80/poker-news/article/12009/wash-state-governor-candidate-talks-about-poker-law

CRYPTOLOGIC SIGNS ONLINE GAMES DEAL WITH 888.COM
Major online gambling group to use Crypto games in three year deal

Two giants in the online gambling world, the Gibraltar-based betting group 888.com and Dublin-based online games developer Cryptologic have signed a three year licensing deal which will see 888 selecting and integrating casino games from CryptoLogic.

“Today’s announcement is consistent with CryptoLogic’s strategy to partner with the world’s biggest and best gaming brands – as a way to offer the ultimate player experience,” said Brian Hadfield, CryptoLogic’s President and CEO.

“888’s reputation, established player base and global marketing strength, paired with CryptoLogic’s industry-leading games – it’s a winning combination.”

888 owns and operates various websites, including http://www.888.com, http://www.Casino-on-Net.com, http://www.pacificpoker.com, http://www.888ladies.com and http://www.888sport.com.

“This reaffirms 888’s strategy of creating a game ecosystem, powered by an industry-leading integration infrastructure, which enables 888 to introduce a diversified offering to existing and new players, worldwide,” said Gigi Levy, CEO of 888.

Boasting more than 200 games, CryptoLogic offers a comprehensive range of online casino gaming suites.