Proposed new German gambling law criticised by the European Commission

EGBA, the European Gaming & Betting Association, has stated in a press release that the European Commission has issued a ‘detailed opinion’ against the draft German State Gambling Treaty. Accordig to this detailed opinion, Commission believes that the proposed German State Treaty breaches the EU law. Unless the draft is changed substantially after this warning, Germany risks formal infringement proceedings, referral to the European Court of Justice (CJEU) and ultimately financial penalties.

The Commission objects that while the draft law appears to open the market for online sports betting operators from all EU member states,in practice it reserves the market for the incumbent German monopolies.

Short of Cash? Play Jackpot Pinatas & Win around $1,7 Million

I said in an earlier blog that I will be reviewing at random intervals casino games offered by US Friendly casinos. I started with reviewing my favourite slot machine Enchanted Garden. Now it is time to review a Progressive video slot with a huge jackpot, like RTG's Jackpot Pinatas which has now over $1.7 million in the jackpot waiting to be cracked since a pretty long time.

Jackpot Pinatas is a 5 reel 20 payline progressive slot machine with a minimum jackpot of $250,000. The slot has some brightly coloured graphics and some really cute icons like the Dog Pinata, the Bull Pinata, and the Donkey Pinata, all of them VIAs (Very Important Animals).

Donkey Pinata is Wild substituting for all other symbols except Bull Pinata and scattered Dog Pinata in a winning combination. 5 Donkey Pinatas in an active payline will pay up to 40,000 coins in Free Games.

When 3 or more scattered Dog Pinatas appear anywhere on the reels, the Pinata Feature is triggered. This is a truly exciting and entertainig feature containing prize multipliers, a bonus round and plenty of free games.

You choose at the beginning of the feature 2 of rhe 3 Pinatas displayed revealing prizes of up to 200 times the triggering bet. If one of the Pinatas you chose reveals a Rose, a Bonus Round is awarded. You can win more than one bonus round.

The Pinata feature ends when you fail to find the Pinata that holds the rose. But don't worry. Now you may get involved in an orgy of free games. Up to 25 Free Games are awarded at the end of the feature. More Bull and Donkey Pinatas are added to the reels during free games. Except Bull Pinata and Progressive jackpot prizes, all prizes are doubled during free games.

Perhaps you have won by now some very good prizes. You can top them by getting 5 Bull Pinatas in an active payline to finish the day with the biggest trophy of all, the PROGESSSIVE JACKPOT.

If you are looking for a good online casino to try this game, we would recommend the US friendly Aladdin's Gold Casino. Not only the oriental grandeur of the casino website and lobby will, I think, impress you, but also the absolutely unique welcome bonus offer in the online casino world - 200% Deposit bonus unlimited, as often as you want for 7 days! You can play the Flash Casino or download the casino software and play 100+ RTG casino games on your PC.

Bodog Brand to Leave US Market at Year End

Will the last online gambling site serving the US market please switch off the lights?
After the English Harbour Casino Group issued notices that it was shutting down Aug. 1, CalvynAyre.com has issued a press release announcing the exit of the Bodog Brand from the US market at the end of 2011. Since Bodog UK has been granted a gambling license, they have decided to withdraw from the US market, "in order to ensure the brand’s expansion is not affected by negative perceptions, both in the UK and elsewhere in emerging markets such as Asia". US residents will no longer be able to access bodog.eu or any other Bodog branded website after 31 December.

Proposed German State Gambling Treaty criticized by the European Commission

EGBA, the Eurpoean Gaming & Betting Association, reports on its website that the European Commission has issued a 'detailed opinion' stating that the draft German State Gambling Treaty breaches the EU law. The draft requires, according to EC, substantial changes after this warning, in order to avoid formal infringement proceedings, referral to the European Court of Justice (CJEU) and financial penalties.

Rewards Affiliates grows again!

Rewards Affiliates that currently manages 25 casinos powered by Microgaming,  including such popular brands as Blackjack Ballroom, Golden Tiger Casino and Casino Classic, are growing again. They are adding 7 more brands to the Rewards Affiliates/Casino Rewards umbrella:

- Colosseum Casino
- Grand Hotel Casino
- Luxury Casino
- Vegas Joker Casino
- Vegas Slot Casino
- Vegas Country Casino
- Vegas 7 Casino

Microgaming Poker Network celebrates its 4 Billionth Hand

Microgaming has announced prizes worth €100,000 when its poker network will be dealing the 4 Billionth Hand, which is expected to happen shortly. To celebrate this landmark event, cash rewards will be paid to 200 milestone hands leading up to the Four Billionth Hand. €60,000 in prize money will be split between players lucky enough to participate in one of the milestone hands during the lead up to the momentous event. The winner of the Four Billionth Hand itself will receive a whopping €20,000, with a further €20,000 shared amongst the other players participating in the winning hand.

You can make sure of your share in the €100,000 worth cash prizes by sitting at any of the cash tables of CoolHand Poker. You can also claim a 200% match bonus up to €200.

Microgaming releases 3 innovative games in July

Almost exactly two months back I wrote a blog wondering when will really innovative video slots be offered. I noted: "Why not bring out a game where a player will have to play in the bonus game a round of TEXAS HOLD' EM or LET THEM RIDE or VEGAS STRIP BLACKJACK or any other game where besides pure luck some strategical thinking will also matter?"

A few days later, I was delighted to read that Microgaming will release a video slot machine where you play Jacks or Better. In this video slot, Reel Play Poker - Jacks or Better.  a Royal Flush awards up to 320,000 coins!

And now, in the month of July, Microgaming has released Riviera Riches, a five reel video slot introducing a roulette wheel into its Bonus Feature.

Two other new releases are available only on Flash platform and through QuickFire, powered by Microgaming.

One of them, Hexaline, is an ‘alternative slot’ style game where players aim to complete a coloured chain of adjacent hexagons from left to right on the honeycomb grid.

The other new release, Multi-Player Premier Roulette – Diamond Edition, offers players the opportunity to play roulette with other players, placing bets alongside each other and watching how they play. Players can choose to play on a 20, 40, or 60 second table and are able to build on and work out their own strategy, copy a lucky player, or compete to be the biggest winner.

You will read here reviews of all 3 games soon!

A step-by-step guide to profitable promotion of mobile casinos

If you are or become an affiliate of the Referback Casino Affiliate Program, a step-by-step guide will give you all the insight, knowledge and tools you need as a mobile casino affiliate to drive and monetise mobile casino traffic.  

Owing to the rapid advances on the mobile platform, driven largely by iPhones, the face of gaming is changing correspondingly.. The affiliate industry is seeing mobile as "The Next Big Thing", especially since 5 times more people are using their mobiles rather than their traditional PCs to search online. It is estimated that by around 2013-2015 the number of Mobile Internet users will have overtaken the number of Desktop Internet users.

Mobile gaming has for mobile casino affiliates various distinct advantages, two of them are

• High retention rates – mobile players tend to purchase more frequently and their lifetime value is very good
• Frequent players, VIPs, play on their mobiles.

Referback's step-by-step guide is primarily a guide to send affiliates mobile traffics to the JackpotCityMobile website or mobi site. However, if a mobi site is built, which is nothing but a ready-to-use coded template, also other mobile operators can be included.

Does Google Use Facebook Shares to Influence Search Rankings?

Here is an interesting article about correlation between Facebook shares and Google US search position. A 2011 Ranking Factor analysis conducted by Dr. Matt Peters, SEOmoz's data scientist, shows that among 100+ factors examined, Facebook shares was the single highest correlated metric with higher Google rankings.

75% of German players would stick to Full Tilt if reinstated

According to a poll of 1,215 players conducted on the forums of affiliate site Pokerstrategy.com, nearly 75%  of German players who have money on Full Tilt would continue to play in this poker room if it was reinstated. The rest would immediately cash out 100% of their balance which remains blocked since the US DoJ's actions on the 'Black Friday' dated 15th April 2011 leading to the seizure of Full Tilt's domains and bank account. Read here more on this subject.

Enchanted Garden, one of my favourite video slots

I said in an earlier blog that I will be reviewing at random intervals casino games offered by US Friendly casinos. So, here I start with a review of the 5 reel video slot ENCHANTED GARDEN powered by RTG casino software. One of the reasons why this is one of my favourite video slots is that I always win plenty of free games with all prizes tripled. You win 7 free games when the Garden symbol (the left icon above), which is a Scatter symbol, appears on Reel 1 and the Fairy Princess symbol (the right icon above), which is a Wild symbol, appears on Reel 5. All prizes are tripled during the free games. But that is not all! During this feature some symbols display a background firefly symbol. Whenever 3 or more firefly symbols appear anywhere, each of them awards up to 3 extra free games. During these extra free games more fireflies may occur awarding more free games. This process can go on and on, and you can win hundred or more free games with all prizes tripled. I find the free games feature very entertaining because of the fireflies which may appear again and again.

There are, of course, also other interesting winning combinations possible in this 5 reel 20 payline slot where you can wager between $0.01 and $5.00 per line. Fairy Princess, the wild symbol, appears on reels 2, 3, 4 and 5, and substutes for all other symbols except scattered Garden. The prize is doubled when one or more Fairy Princess symbols substitute in a winning combination. The highest payout, 5000 coins, results, apart from in the random progressive jackpot, when one or more Fairy Princess symbols substitute to create 5 Horse symbols in a winning combination. 5 Butterfly symbols in a winning combination are worth 2000 coins when one or more symbols in this combination are substituted by Fairy Princess.

Another interesting feature of this game is, as in many RTG video slot games, a Progressive Jackpot that can trigger at random at the end of any game.

If you are looking for a good online casino to try this game, we would recommend the Cherry Red Casino. This is a US friendly casino. I have always found its customer service immaculate. It also has some great promotions, such as

• 100% Match Bonus up to $777 on the first 10 deposits (Total $7777!)
• Blackjack Special Bonus: 200% Match Bonus up to $1200
• Slots Special Bonus: 400% Match Bonus up to $2400
• Weekly Bonuses: 10 coupons worth up tto $5,000
• Weekend  Bonuses: 150% Match Bonus worth up to $750
• High Roller Bonus: Deposit $1000 and receive $1500 on first & second deposit

European-based affiliates react to Full Tilt Shutdown

As a reaction to the recent suspension of Full Tilt Poker’s Alderney and France licences, the European-based affiliates are viewing security and communication as their key priorities in dealing with their players. Karim Wilkins, CEO of RaketheRake.com, says, "As an affiliate we are suffering obviously, and the key for us is trying to keep in touch with our players and let them know we are here and trying to make sure the rooms they are playing on are safe.” Read Tom Victor's comments in today's issue of the EGR magazine:

Affiliates respond to Full Tilt shutdown.

Review of games offered by US friendly casinos

Many of the visitors of The Gamblogger are from the USA. The 4th of July gave me the idea to start a series of blogs at random intervals that may be of some help to the US online gamblers who visit this site and are, like all US citizens who like to gamble online, confronted with the situation that, mainly due to the US anti-gambling law UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) of 2006 and the accompanying crusades against Internet Gambling by the US government and many land based gambling institutions, the number of online casinos where US players are welcome is becoming smaller and smaller almost from day to day.

So, now I plan to fulfil two of my wishes with one action (I don't want to use the phrase 'kill two birds with one stone' because I don't like killing birds): Write reviews of  casino games  which I like AND which are offered by US friendly casinos.

One of the next blogs will be a review of the 5 reel video slot ENCHANTED GARDEN powered by RTG casino software. This is one my favourite slot games, especially because of the Free Spins feature with the fireflies fluttering into the background of various icons to offer more free spins. I also like this game because I have been often lucky when I played this slot machine. And I will name one or two casinos who offer this game, accept US players, have interesting promotions and are customer friendly.

Stand with Aung San Suu Kyi

The brave lady Aung San Suu Kyi has called on the military regime in Burma to free the thousands of monks and peaceful activists still held in horrific prisons, some in cramped dog cages. Yesterday, the regime issued an ominous warning to Suu Kyi – and the Generals may be deciding right now between dialogue or another brutal crackdown. Activists in Burma have appealed to the world for help, saying that pressure from the international community is crucial to preventing violence and freeing political prisoners.

You will find more details here. You can also sign a petition supporting Aung San Suu Kyi.

Court of Justice of the European Union questions consistency of the French gambling law

EGBA, the European Gaming & Betting Association has issued a press release on a ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) questioning the consistency of a French gambling law that would justify the state monopoly of gambling without proving gambling related problems actually exist and a particularly high level of consumer protection is granted by the monopoly.

KIng Solomons Player wins the Marvel Super Power Jackpot for nearly €31,000 earlier today

This is what every online casino player always dreams of - join a casino and win a jackpot within 3 months. A lady, Aglaia T., joined the King Solomons Casino in March 2011 and cracked today the  Marvel Super Power Jackpot for nearly €31,000 while playing her favourite game,  The Incredible Hulk Slots. Read the full story here.

Black Friday leads to suspension of Full Tilt Poker's operating licence

The EGR magazine has come out with a breaking news that the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) has suspended Full Tilt’s licences with immediate effect following a special investigation prompted by the US DoJ's actions on the 'Black Friday' dated 15th April 2011 leading to the seizure of Full Tilt's domains and bank account. After suspension of the licence, the poker room has to suspend all operations from the jurisdiction of Alderney.

The 2010 Great Women of Gaming Award Winners honoured

Casino Enterprise Management magazine, a leading gaming industry trade publication and training event producer, and the "Official Publication" of the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers (AGEM), announced the winners of its 2010 Great Women of Gaming Awards, now in its sixth year. 11 winners were announced instead of 10 because the judging panel was unable to break a tie in one of the categories. The prizes were awarded in two categories: Proven Leaders and Rising Stars.

Candidates qualifying as Proven Leaders must have worked for at least 10 years in the gaming industry and be holding a position of director or higher.

Candidates qualifying as Rising Stars must have worked for at least 3 years in the gaming industry and be holding a position of  manager or higher.

In both categories, the candidates must have demonstrated exceptional achievement in at least three of the following areas: 1) ability to go above and beyond job responsibilities; 2) commitment to company and co-workers; 3) contributions to the industry as a whole; 4) commitment to mentoring; and 5) strong overall life balance.

Gold Factory, one of the 4 new Microgaming's casino games of the month

All 4 new games released by Microgaming are full of novelties. We have already reviewed 3 of them:

• The Sterling Silver 3D, a real 3D video slot
• The Power Spins - Sonic 7s with a Power Spins extra bet
• The Reel Play Poker - Jacks or Better video slot where you can play Jacks or Better

Now we review the 4th new release, the Gold Factory, a 5 reel, 50 payline and 1000 coin slot machine.

The Gold Factory Logo symbol is a wild symbol. that substitutes for other symbols to complete winning combinations, except for the the Bonus Coin symbol.

The Bonus Coin symbol is a scatter symbol that can be scattered anywhere on the 5 reels to complete winning combinations, provided two or more of them appear. Winnings are calculated by multiplying the Bonus Coin symbol combination payout by the total number of coins bet.

Three or more Bonus Coin symbols scattered anywhere on the reels activate the Gold Factory bonus game in which you can win up to 619,000 coins. The Gold Factory bonus game is a multi-level bonus game that begins with a Boiler Room bonus game. You will find 12 containers in the Boiler Room, out of which you select 4 to either:

• Win random bonus amounts.
• Activate the Free Spins bonus game.
• Activate the Reactor bonus game.

To activate the Free Spins bonus game, you require Free Spins symbols in the containers you selected. You can win up to 35 free spins with prizes doubled. The number of free spins you win depends on a two-digit number formed on two screens, when the numbers stop scrolling. The winnings are calculated by multiplying the Bonus Coin symbol payout shown in the payout table by the total number of coins wagered.

To activate the Reactor bonus game, you require Reactor symbols in the containers you selected. In the Reactor bonus game, twelve chambers are displayed, out of which ten chambers hide random bonus amounts and two chambers hide Malfunction symbols. Choose chambers to reveal their contents. All random bonus amounts revealed are added to your win total. Once you reveal a Malfunction symbol, the feature ends. For each bonus amount not revealed, you get a consolation prize of 1x your bet amount.

If you are interested in trying this interesting game with plenty of variations and attractive prizes, we would recommend the Red Flush Casino which is offering 50 Free Spins on Gold Factory PLUS 100% matching first deposit bonus up to 150.

Use the NEW UkashOut MasterCard to convert online winnings back to cash

Ukash is an epayment method to pay or send money on the Internet without requiring a bank account or a credit card. To use your cash online, you need a Ukash Voucher corresponding to the value of the cash. The voucher can be sent online to any website offering Ukash as a payment method. Many online gaming sites offer this method and they also pay out the winnings to a player as voucher. So far the players required some e-wallet system to load the voucher and transfer it to cash.

Now Ukash has launched the UkashOut MasterCard which can be used to load the value of Ukash Vouchers and then withdraw cash at ATM's showing the MasterCard logo.

Gamblers left out of the Consumer Rights Directive by the EU

According to a press release by the Remote Gambling Association (RGA) that represents the world’s largest licensed and stock market-listed remote gambling companies, gamblers have been left out of from an agreement reached between the EU institutions on the final text of the Consumer Rights Directive, which laid down general requirements for businesses in their contracts with consumers. RGA regrets that certain Member States of the European Union interested in protecting their own gambling monopolies succeeded in excluding gambling from the general scope of the Directive which would have given gamblers additional protection.

Clive Hawkswood, Chief Executive of the RGA, said:

We are truly disappointed by the exclusion of gambling from the scope of the Consumer Rights Directive, which shows, once again, that some Member States will do anything to protect their own gambling monopolies, also at the expense of consumers. It is particularly disturbing that the same parties that falsely accuse the European private-sector online gambling industry of not wanting regulation actually do their utmost to avoid any EU obligation.   

Reel Play Poker - Jacks or Better: Another slots innovation from Microgaming

In an earlier blog titled Can video slots become more innovative? I commented: "Why not bring out a game where a player will have to play in the bonus game a round of TEXAS HOLD' EM or LET THEM RIDE or VEGAS STRIP BLACKJACK or any other game where besides pure luck some strategical thinking will also matter?

That will be a real innovation!"

I did not know at that time that Microgaming will release a few days later a video slot where you can also play Jacks or Better. The game is called Reel Play Poker - Jacks or Better, "slots with a  Poker twist". You are playing a video slot machine where a Royal Flush awards up to 320,000 coins!

It is a five reel, twenty payline, and four hundred coin slot machine. There are two sets of reels, the decision reels and the main reels. Card combinations are formed across the main reels paylines. All standard Poker Hands like Royal Flush, Straight Flush and Jacks or Better can be formed by clicking the Deal Spin Button. This spins 5 decision cards on the 5 decision reels. There you can hold the cards you want to hold by clicking them. They are marked held. Then you click the Draw Spin button. With that all positions of a reel corresponding to a 'held' card are stacked as held card. The cards not held are faced down. While the stacked reels are held in position, the remaining reels are spun. If a winning combination is possible on any of the active paylines, it is highlighted.

If you do not have a special Microgaming casino you favour to play this really innovative slot machine, we would recommend the Sun Vegas Casino where you can also claim 150% Match Bonus up to $100.

us$ 100,000 raised for responsible gambling research by the gaming industry

According to today's report, us$ 100,000 was raised for the National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) during the 13th annual AGEM/AGA Golf Classic. NCRG is the only national nonprofit organization in the USA which is dedicated to funding research on gambling disorders and increasing awareness about responsible gaming. AGEM (Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers) and AGA (American Gaming Association) were two of around a dozen top sponsors who participated in the fund raising event AGEM/AGA Golf Classic presented by JCM Global, also one of the top sponsors.

Microgaming's new release: Sonic 7s - Video Slot with Power Spins

Sun Vegas Casino

Microgaming is without doubt trying to bring in some interesting developments of the online video slot. One of the 4 new games released this month is Sterling Silver 3D, a real 3D video slot where you need a pair of 3D glasses to play the game in 3D mode. Read The next evolution in online gaming.

Another interesting new slot game released this month by Microgaming is Power Spins - Sonic 7s, although this game is more traditional than evolutionary. The most interesting feature of this 5 reel 9 payline 90 coins video slot is the Power Spins, an extra bet that changes the normal substituting wild symbol to a multiplier symbol with a maximum of an 8x multiplier value for the symbol combination it completes. Although a single wild multiplier symbol only doubles the winning combination, up to 4 such symbols may appear simultaneously in a winning combination. In this case,  the multiplier values for each wild, multiplier symbol in the combination are added and multiplied by the line win.

When Power Spins™ feature is activated, an extra bet equal to 3x the total bet per payline is added to the regular bet. Thus, for example, if the regular bet is 5 coins bet x 9 paylines = 45 coins, an additional 5 coins x 1 payline x 3 = 15 coins will be added when the Power Spins is on, making the total bet equal to 60 coins.

You can win up to 200,000 coins when the wild Sonic Logo symbol appears 5 times on an active payline. Two or more Scatter Logo symbols scattered anywhere on the five reels create a winning combination. While 2 Scatter logos create a winning combination of 2 x total bet, 5 such symbols pay 300 x total bet = up to 27000 coins.

The game does have neither a free spin feature nor a bonus game.

If you are looking for a Microgaming casino to play this game, we would recommend the Sun Vegas Casino.

Call for special task force to fight football match-fixing in Italy

We had reported last week about a new match-fixing scandal in Italian football leading to the arrest of 16 persons including Beppe Signiori, a former Italian international player. According to a report published today by a popular gambling news portal, the Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni has given orders for elite police forces to begin investigating football corruption. He wants to "determine the best ways for prevention and repression of clandestine betting on football matches."

The next evolution in online gaming: Microgaming's Sterling Silver 3D - A real 3D video slot game

Microgaming has done it again - another evolution in online gaming. This time it is a real 3D slot game where you need a pair of 3D glasses to enjoy the game to the fullest extent. It is the 5 Reels, 25 Paylines and 125 coins video slot Sterling Silver 3D. You need a special pair of 3D glasses containing a red lense for the left eye and a cyan lense for the right eye. You can either buy these glasses or create them yourself using Cardboard,  Scissors or sharp-blade knife, Red and Blue Semi-Transparent Sheets and Glue. As soon as you download the game, you will find instructions for making your own pair of 3D glasses. If you start the game without the 3D glasses, you will see everything blurred, out of focus, including the paytables. However, you can turn off the 3D mode in 'Option'.

The main gaming features of Sterling Silver 3D are a Free Spins Feature, Doubling Multipliers, Stacked Wilds and a Gamble Feature (to double or quadruple your winnings).

The Sterling Silver Wheel symbol is a wild, multiplier symbol that substitutes for other symbols to complete winning combinations, and multiplies the win with a random multiplier value up to 10x. The Sterling Silver Coin Symbol is a scatter symbol. Three such symbols scattered anywhere on reels 2, 3 and 4 activate the Free Spins bonus game, during which you win 10x your total bet amount and fifteen free spin. There is also a Gamble bonus game activated by any win. A correct guess for the card colour doubles your win. A correct guess for the card suit quadruples your win.

Playtech's multi-level Marvel Mystery Jackpot linked to all Marvel slot games

Playtech's Marvel Slots are a recreation of the world of the famous comic book and movie heroes like  Iron Man, X-Men, The Hulk, Fantastic Four, Blade, Elektra and others. There are 9 Marvel slots and then there is the Marvel Mystery Jackpot, a 4-level progressive jackpot linked to all Marvel slot games. The trigger starting the Jackpot game can occur at random after any spin in any of the linked games. It is remarkable that even a spin that did not win anything can trigger the Jackpot game. However, the chances of triggering the Jackpot game increase with the size of the bet.

There are four different levels of jackpots that can be won - Power Jackpot, Extra Power Jackpot, Super Power Jackpot and Ultra Power Jackpot. Entering the jackpot game guarantees win of one of the 4 jackpots. At the start of the jackpot game, a gamescreen appears with 20 sqauares turned upside down. Clicking on a square will turn it around and display one of four jackpot symbols. Once three matching symbols have been found, the jackpot corresponding to these symbols is won. By the way, this jackpot game has a timeout timer. If a square is not chosen within the given amount of time, a price will be automatically awarded. The Ultra Power Jackpot starts out with €100,000.

Germany may curb performance of AWP machines

It is reported by iNTERGAME that the 16 German states or Länder are considering introducing a law to curb the performance of the AWP machines by reducing payout levels, banning advertisements and other measures.

Herr der Ringe - Die Gefährten

 
Mit Herr der Ringe - Die Gefährten hat Microgaming tatsächlich einen Slot geschaffen, der über alles strahlt. Mit Tomb Raider hatte Microgaming als erster Online-Spiel-Anbieter aus einem Markenprodukt ein Slotsspiel gemacht und damit auch einige seiner Mitbewerber wie Cryptologic oder Playtech zum Nachahmen angeregt. Auch Microgaming selbst hat weitere Onlinespiele aus Markenprodukten entwickelt wie das Hellboy Automatenspiel von Dark Horse Comics. Mit Herr der Ringe ist Microsoft aber einen weiteren großen Sprung nach Vorne geglückt. Dieses Spiel basiert ja auf der "Herr der Ringe"-Trilogie, die mehr als ein dutzend Oscars gewann, einige davon für die besten visuellen Effekte. Microgaming hat nun mit Warner Bros. Digital Distribution eine mehrjährige Lizenzvereinbarung abgeschlossen, um Themen, Charaktere und Animationsmaterial der Filme in Spielautomaten zu benutzen. Herr der Ringe - Die Gefährten ist der erste Teil der Trilogie. Sie werden hier die tatsächliche Geschichte des Films wiederfinden, einschliesslich der bekannten Filmhelden wie Lord of the Rings, Frodo, Bilbo, Aragon, Arwen, Legolas und Gimli. Was die visuellen Effekte betreffen, bei jedem Drehen laufen im Hintergrund diverse Filmausschnitte mit.

Dieser Spielautomat bietet auch grosse Gewinnchancen. Er hat 5 Walzen, aber keine Gewinnlinien, sondern 243 Wege oder Kombinationen die permanent aktiv bleiben. Man gewinnt, wenn die Gewinnkombinationen von links nach rechts erscheinen, egal in welcher Position auf den Walzen.

Man kann bis zu 1,9 Millionen Münzen gewinnen, wenn 3 oder mehr Ring-Symbole 15 Freispiele auslösen. Bei jedem Freispiel wird eine zufällige Walze zur Jokerwalze, wobei das Jokersymbol (Herr der Ringe) jedes Symbol - außer dem Ringsymbol und dem Jokerwalzensymbol (Eye of Sauron) - ersetzen kann, um eine Gewinnkombination zu komplettieren. Das Jokerwalzensymbol kann sich an beliebiger Position auf der 3. Walze erweitern und die ganze Walze in eine Jokerwalze verwandeln.

Wenn Sie nach einem geeigneten von Microgaming betriebenen Online Casino suchen, wo Sie Herr der Ringe spielen können, würden wir Ihnen das River Nile Casino empfehlen. Dieses Casino sieht sehr elegant aus, bietet alle Microgamingspiele (über 400) und gleich nach Ersteinzahlung 50 Freispiele bei ihrem, natürlich ägyptischen Slot, Avalon.

About legal rights and risks of advertising online casinos in the US

Especially after DoJ's 'Black Friday' actions against a number of online gambling sites, many questions have cropped up about the future of online gambling in the USA. The current DoJ actions are against online gambling sites and payment processors interacting with online players resident in the USA. Two other groups involved in internet gambling have not yet been targeted - the players and those who advertise online casinos, like e.g. the affiliates promoting casinos on their web sites or via mail actions.

Advertising Online Casinos - An Analysis of the Legal Rights and Risks is an excellent article written by Lawrence G. Walters, a partner of the Walters Law Group specialized in the area of Free Speech regulation, Internet law, Gaming law and Advertising issues. 

New match-fixing scandal in Italian football

Various sources report a new match-fixing scandal in Italian football five years after the Calciopoli scandal which led to the relegation of Juventus Turin to the third division. This time, 16 persons have been arrested including Beppe Signiori, a former Italian international player.

Microgaming releasing 4 new games

You can play soon at the River Nile Casino four new Microgaming casino games:

1. Gold Factory: 5 reel video slot with a multi-level bonus feature
2. Sterling Silver 3D: 5 reel 25 payline 3D slot game with actions bursting from the screen
3. Power Spins Sonic 7s: With debut of a new feature
4. Reel Play Poker - Jacks or Better: This is what happens when Video Slot and Multi-Hand Video Poker mate and have children together.

You will read here reviews of all 4 games soon!

Introducing Online Slots Tournaments - Part 2

As I said in the first part of this introduction to online slots tournaments, Microgaming casinos offer the biggest choice of slots tournaments, in number and varieties. You will always find at least a dozen scheduled tournaments waiting for you to join - daily, weekly, monthly or other special tournaments. The entry fee can be anything between FREE and $25. In case of certain super tournaments with mega prizes the Buy-In price could be considerably more, like in the currently running Grand Slam of Slots II. Unless you were lucky to sneak in by qualifying in one of a large number of feeder tournaments, you will have to pay $200 to join this 10 day long tournament which is offering a prize pool worth around $400,000 PLUS a whopping Bonus Prize of $2.43 Million in Gold! The prize pools of the regular tournaments range from $50 to $25,000. You can join many of them for free or for as little as $3.

Each tournament has a specific and popular Microgaming slot game, such as Avalon, Break da Bank, Hitman, Lara Croft Tomb Raider, Loaded or Thunderstruck. It is necessary that you have a thorough practice in the tournament game if you want to finish the tournament with some degree of success. Even if you are quite familiar with the game, you should first play a free roll tournament, in order to have some practice in a live tournament situation before joining a tournament where you may have a chance of winning big.

Let us now turn to the rules of the tournament which you will find in the right window of a tournament information. You will find there information about prize pool, entry fee, minimum and maximum number of players allowed, number of rounds, duration of the tournament, starting number of coins allocated, play time of a round, Continue play time, number of Continue coins, Continue cost, Re-Buy play time, number of Re-Buy coins, Re-Buy cost, and some other details.

As soon as the tournament begins, you must try to use up the starting coins as fast as you can, always betting max, and gather coins to maximize your Win Box score! Don't forget that your starting coins will not be counted in your Win Box.

Your goal is to reach the top of the leaderboard. You have the chance to improve your position by making use of the CONTINUE option. You buy the continue coins and continue playing to optimize your Win Box result. Each tournament allows a limited number of Continue play.

You may also use the Re-Buy option if your Win Box amount has not been good enough to be among the best. With Re-Buy you start all over again. You can, of course, re-buy many times, but the leaderboard will show only the best score of all re-buys.

Introducing Online Slots Tournaments

Although online slots tournaments are becoming increasingly popular, I know several online casino players who have not yet tried this form of the game, although they like to play online slot machines. Since I love to play these tournaments, I thought giving a short introduction here, how to play online slots tournaments may be a good idea, especially because the whole procedure of choosing the right tournament and playing it well to reach the top positions at the end is not quite simple.You must be familiar with the basic strategy for winning slots tournaments.

While in regular online slot games you play alone, in a slots tournament you have to compete against others. The number of competitors may be as little as 2 or as many as 3000. There are two types of online slots tournaments, the Sit & Go tournaments which begin as soon as the minimum number of required players have registered, and the Scheduled tournaments which start at a specified date and time.

In order to join either type of the tournament, you require a Real Money Account with the casino of your choice. Since Microgaming casinos offer the biggest choice of slots tournaments, in number and varieties, I will use here as an example the Sun Vegas Casino powered by Microgaming. If necessary, download the casino and open a Real Money Account. Then go to the lobby and click on Games View -> Tournaments -> Slots. Under Slots you will find the sub-menus Sit and Go and Scheduled. Each of them contains a list of tournaments, each row of the list showing the name of the tournament, the entry fee and the status, either in Play or Open. If you click on a line in the list, another window will open on the right of the list showing some details of the game to be played, the exact schedule and also the number of players already registered.

Before selecting a tournament, you must know that in order to win the tournament, you must play fast because a round in the tournament lasts only 5 or 10 minutes. In this short time you will have to win as many coins as possible to climb to the top of the leaderboard. This means that you must know the game in and out, wager as much as you can, always betting the max, not looking right or left, just spinning and spinning. Therefore, if you are unfamiliar with a game of the tournament you want to play, you must practise the game thoroughly before playing in the tournament.

TO BE CONTINUED ...

What's the future of online gamblers in the US?

I do not live in the USA, but I can't help wondering what's going to happen to US online gamblers, especially after the latest Black Friday confiscation of 13 online poker sites and their bank accounts by the DoJ? How can they gamble online if they can't find a payment processor for depositing or withdrawing any cash? Even Quicktender has stopped processing US accounts. The poker sites were using the trick of disguising  the money received from U.S. gamblers as payments to non-existent online merchants purporting to sell various kinds of merchandise. But this has been declared by the DoJ as a 'fraudulent method'.

It seems the only solution to this problem is regulating gambling in the US. Will it happen soon?

Aftershock of DoJ's Black Friday actions against Pokerstars, Full Tilt, and Absolute Poker

We had blogged earlier about the seizure of the bank accounts and the domains of Pokerstars, Full Tilt, and Absolute Poker. According to a report published today, Bradley Franzen, a resident of Illinois and Costa Rica, pled guilty in a New York District Court to the charges of assisting the poker sites in  tricking banks and financial institutions into illegally processing US$3bn in payments originating from online gambling.

It is understood that Franzen is ready to testify at any prosecution against  Pokerstars, Full Tilt or Absolute Poker. In return he expects leniency at his sentencing, which in the worst case can go up to 30 years jail.

In the meantime, the DoJ is reported to have seized 11 bank accounts and domain names associated with 10 more internet gambling sites.

Playing Live Dealer Blackjack Early Payout

Since Live Dealer Blackjack is available online, one variation of online blackjack has become quite popular - The Blackjack Early Payout. In this game, every time your hand changes, you are offered an Early Payout whose amount depends on the cards served to you. If you don't want to risk losing the entire bet, you'd better take this money to end the game before any more cards are dealt. If you have, for example, a 20 and the dealer has a 10, you can cash in 50% profit immediately. Of course, you can refuse the offer and decide to go up to the bitter or sweet end.

You can try this game at the Royal Kahuna Casino.

The boom of mobile casinos in a mobile society

It is no wonder that in a mobile society like ours where carrying our mobile phones 24x7 wherever we are on this earth, in whatever situation we are - in bed, in bathtub, in a bar, on the beach or on a shopping spree -the annual wagers on mobile gambling is expected to exceed $48bn by 2015. The major reasons for this kind of upsurge in mobile gambling are

• the current growth of mobile phones in leaps and bound, especially in the emerging markets like China
• the growing popularity of the multi-functional fast smart phones with super graphics and sound features
• the availability of compatibilty devices for the communication between a phone and the mobile gaming site for downloading the casino, depositing funds and other required functions from practically all mobile phone manufacturers and their various phone models
• the possibilty of depositing funds from the casino lobby on the phone in a secure environment
• the availability of a dozen or more of the mobile versions of popular online casino games  

For information on available mobile casino games, read Best Mobile Casinos

Online gambling is now legal in Spain

The Congress in Spain has now approved a new gambling law that  regulates for the first time the Internet and mobile gambling, however with a series of measures to protect the consumers, especially the under-aged and those who are problem gamblers. It is reported that the operators will not be allowed to offer any loan or other kinds of  financial assistance to people wanting to gambler. It is not clear to me if that implies that online casinos will not be allowed to offer any kind of promotion.

The European Remote Gambling Association (RGA), while welcoming the passage of the gambling bill, has criticized that online gambling operators who are already licensed in another European country will also require an additional Spanish license. A further point of criticism is the high taxation, 25% of Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR).

Clive Hawkswood, Chief Executive of the RGA, said: "We appreciate the fact that, unlike some other European countries, Spain has not adopted legislation in blatant breach of EU law. We believe that this legislation is a step in the right direction but it’s still too early to make an assessment. We hope that, through the implementing decrees, the Spanish Government won’t miss the opportunity to create a valid model in Europe".

Quicktender holds back payments of US based players and affiliates

Various players and affiliates based in US are reporting that they cannot withdraw from their account with the ePayment system Quicktender because US banking partners of this payment system, highly favoured by US customers, have been targeted by the US DoJ.

Read the reports: Quicktender - Cause for Concern for US Players and affiliates? 
and Concerns growing over E-Payment processor

Interesting gag - $€£100 worth of scratch cards free on registration

The Quatro Casino has come out with an interesting variant of No Deposit Bonus offers. This offer is supposed to be valid for a limited period only. After downloading the casino software and registering as a REAL player, you can claim $€£100 in free scratch cards. To claim your winnings from the scratch cards, you must deposit at least $€£1. Later you can also claim  a 100% bonus up to $€£100 on your second deposit.

 I am sure scratch card fans and those who want to get some good practice in scratching cards will like this kind of no deposit bonus.
Quatro Casino is a member of the Casino Rewards Group and offers 430 Microgaming casino games.

US DoJ actions against Pokerstars, Full Tilt, and Absolute Poker

On April 15th, 2011, the US Department of Justice seized the domains and bank accounts of Pokerstars, Full Tilt, and Absolute Poker. As a result, the accounts of the players were also frozen. In the meantime the poker sites have come to an agreement with the US Department of Justice, so that it is expected the players will be getting their money back. However, it is not yet clear whether the Fed will come after the players for fraud and illegal gambling.

For more information see the YouTube video Pokerstars, Full Tilt, and Absolute Poker: An Online Gambling Call to Action!

Can video slots become more innovative?

There are multiple reasons for the popularity of online video slot games. It may be due to payouts being bigger by factors compared to other games. A look at a winners list of any online casino will prove this. It obviously does not matter that the percentage payout of the slot games is the lowest of all casino games. It is generally very tempting to play slots when you read every now and then that someone wagered $0.50 and won $5 million. It's a pity that the winners list of a casino says that a person X won $5000 on game Y, but nothing about how much he wagered to win that amount. Anyway, since the charm of gambling does not lie in counting the certified payout percentages, but in risking a few bucks hoping to win big, video slots are and will remain irresistible to many gamblers.

Another reason for the popularity of this genre of casino games is also the combination of the dazzling graphics and sounds together with the huge variety of number of paylines, free spins, wilds, scatters and bonus rounds. There is always a huge temptation to try all that by wagering till one wins free spins and bonus rounds, and maybe also to risk whatever one has won by activating the gambling feature, if it is there.


Undoubtedly, the slot game has gone through an impressive process of innovation since Charles Fey invented the first slot machine in 1887. This is an ongoing process with the invention of various new features. Microgaming has brought out two interesting innovations, one of them being the replacement of paylines by Ways which always remain active, thus increasing significantly the pay outs because the winning combinations require to be left-to-right, but not along any special line. The 5 reel Dolphin Coast has, for instantace, 3125 Ways. Another new feature introduced by Microgaming is the Respin Feature. After the reels come to a stop and the payouts, if any, are credited to the player's account, he can choose to Respin individual reels by placing an additional bet for a particular reel according to the value displayed under the reel. Since each reel has a different wagering amount, the player has to decide which reel to spin if he wants to use the feature. Reel Gems is such a game. The interesting characteristic of this game is that it is no more absolutely deterministic, as far as the actions of the player are concerned. In other slot games, a player has no possibility of influencing the course of action of the game after starting a spin. When the spin has ended, he can use in some cases the gamble feature to prolong the game. If not, because either he did not win anything or because the feature is not offered, he has to start a new game. This is different in case of the Respin feature. Here the player can prolong the game and produce different outcomes depending on the reel he chooses to respin (provided he uses this option). Each reel has a different wagering amount with different winning chances. Hence the further progress of the spin will depend on what action was taken by the player. This can be called a mini decision making process by the player influencing the final outcome of a spin.

The scope of decision making is bigger in Rival Gaming's I-Slots (Interactive Slots). They are also termed skill-based because the outcome of these games depend to a large extent on the physical skill of the player, on the quickness of his reaction or on his dexterity. For example, in Cosmic Quest the Asteroid Blasteroid Bonus is skill-based and includes 5 stages. Each stage has a unique rocket ship and background. The player is awarded coins based on the number of asteroids blasted away. In As the Reels Turn, the player must hit STOP at correct time to pick the best costume.

 All these innovations are quite remarkable, but I feel time has come for the game providers to go a step further where the outcome of a game will depend on the mental skill of the player.

Why not bring out a game where a player will have to play in the bonus game a round of TEXAS HOLD' EM or LET THEM RIDE or VEGAS STRIP BLACKJACK or any other game where besides pure luck some strategical thinking will also matter?

That will be a real innovation!

PLAY WITH $500 FREE FOR 60 MIN & KEEP THE WINNINGS. Really??

A promotion slogan like "Play with $500 Free for 60 min & keep the winnings" is rather common when a casino offers free play for a limited time with the casino's virtual money. But can you really keep the winnings? I have checked at least 50 casinos and couldn't find even one where you can keep more than $200 of your winnings from the free play - and that too only after satisfying some playthrough requirements. But this information is generally very well hidden in the promotion terms. Why don't they write with bold letters on the casino's homepage: "Play with $500 Free for 60 min & keep your winnings up to $xy?"

Every casino has a section on 'Responsible Gambling'. It is time to add a section on 'Responsible Promoting'.

Casinos would profit from legalized Internet gambling

A panel composed of top casino officials believes that if Internet gambling were legalized, America's casinos would be on the winning side, because the "upcoming generation of gambler -- the X and Y generation -- makes all of their decisions on the Internet," said Jan Jones, senior vice president of communications and government relations for Caesars Entertainment, and one of the panelists. Read more in the Yogonet article.

The Grand Slam of Slots II Tournament - $2.43 MILLION in gold to be won!

The Grand Slam of Slots II tournament will be the biggest of its kind, attracting thousands of slots enthusiasts from various online casinos powered by Microgaming. The starting prize pool of the tournament will be $290,000 - which will grow the more people play - with a guaranteed grand prize of $100,000. And there is also a gigantic bonus worth whopping $2.43 million in gold which will go to one lucky player who manages to complete the entire Pay Table Achievements within their tournament score!

The final of the Grand Slam of Slots will start on Friday 27 May 2011 and last 10 days and 12 hours. To get tickets to the final, one can take part in the daily freeroll feeder tournaments, the top three players qualifying for a seat in the fiinal. Alternatively, one can also join the extended 7 day long qualifying tournaments with the top 15 players in each tournament qualifying for the final.

The game of the final will be the Thunderstruck II with 243 ways to win. 
To take part in the qualifying tournaments just download the Golden Riviera Casino and register.

The sad fate of a gambler

"Without any fault of hers I have driven my devoted wife away because of a die exceeding by one [an unsuccessful bet]. My mother-in-law hates me; my wife pushes me away. In his defeat the gambler finds none to pity him. No one has use for a gambler, like an aged horse put up for sale."
- The Gambler's Hymn in The Rig Veda, a collection of Hindu religious hymns more than 3,000 years old

Found in The Economist's special report on gambling, Shuffle up and deal.

Some facts about slot machines in land-based casinos

Do you know

• the year in which Charles Fey invented Liberty Bell, the first slot machine?
• 1899
• the largest slot machine jackpot ever won?
• 138.7 Million
• approximately the number of slot machines operating in the U.S.?
• 833,000
• the average number of individual parts in a slot machine?
• 1,200
• the percentage of American who consider slot machines their favorite casino game?
• 50

If you want to know more about slot machines read Taking the Mystery Out of the Machine from AGA (American Gaming Association)

To Blog or Not To Blog - That's no more the question

This is the first blog of my life! I used to manage a casino portal affiliated to over 100 casinos, poker rooms, bingo rooms and sportbooks. Last year, I wanted to add a blog to it to communicate with the visitors of the site. But, before I could do it, the site had two hacker attacks within 6 months injecting viral code on each url of the site. Of course the google robot detected the contamination and their search engine posted a serious warning to all search results related to the site. The traffic went down to almost zero and I decided to give up the site and not risk a third, fourth or fifth attack from some crooks who had obviously chosen our site to carry out DoS attacks or something of the sort. For a while I was thinking of starting a new casino portal, but then I thought, why do that, why not start a gambling blog instead? So, voilà!

I want to make this a blog about everything related to gambling. Just dump anything and everything about gambling here! Nice or sad stories about gambling and gamblers, reviews on gambling sites, games, tournaments and software, gambling laws around the world, gambling conferences, problem gambling - in short - anything interesting happening in the gambling industry will be welcome here!

But most important of all! I hope many people will read this blog, give their feedback and share their views about gambling, their favourite gambling places and sites, the games they like, and whatever else.