Wednesday, June 29, 2011

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.

Monday, June 27, 2011

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.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

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:

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.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

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.

Monday, June 20, 2011

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.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

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.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

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

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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.

Friday, June 10, 2011

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."

Thursday, June 9, 2011

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

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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.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

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

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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.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

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.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Herr der Ringe - Die Gefährten

 River Nile Casino
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.

Friday, June 3, 2011

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. 

Thursday, June 2, 2011

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!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

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.