Congress Pressured to Legalize Online Gambling
Surprisingly enough, all of the pressure that has been put onto Congress to legalize online gambling and put regulations in place is not coming from online gambling companies and poker players, but from many states and supporters of gambling instead. There are already a handful of states that have legalized online gambling and are putting the necessary steps in to place to regulate it efficiently. If each state continues to do this, that is potentially 51 different sets, with Washington, D.C. included, of online gambling regulations and tax structures that would need monitored individually, rather than putting a national regulation in to place.
One of the biggest concerns of instituting Federal regulations is that the larger gaming companies will be the ones to come out ahead. They will have more tools available to adjust to the regulations and be able to get up and running more quickly than most of the smaller companies. Right now, the battle for the best would lie between Caesars Entertainment, and the Bwin Party, Boyd Gaming and MGM conglomerate. These two sites would be able to support big names and big games, like the WSOP and Caesar’s Palace. They wouldn’t have to spend a whole ton of time and money to establish a large player database, since their names could do that for them.
Statewide regulations alone, on the other hand, make it much more of a reality for smaller, lesser-known gaming companies to be extremely successful. They wouldn’t have to focus on getting the entire country to play at their casino, but instead could put their energies into a much smaller area. There may also be the chance for casinos catering to specific states only to gain extreme amounts of revenue.
Regardless of what the final outcome is, it is very clear that there will be a huge push in Congress to come up with some kind of final regulations that will be instilled. If they successfully pass, the big companies will come out the winners, but if it is left up to the states, then there will be much more of a chance to be very successful.
Only time will tell what the end result will be, but it can easily be said that regardless of the outcome, online gambling will be fully legalized and regulated to some extent, and that there will be money to be made by large gambling companies in some capacity.
Zynga in the Mood for Gambling
Zynga has already cleared a path for themselves for greatness when it comes to social networks, and are looking to carve a new groove when it comes to online gambling. They have already established a type of online gambling through several social media sites, but despite this move they are still not performing as well as they would like.
Now that the Justice Department has ruled that it may be legal to gamble online, Zynga believes that they have the potential to earn billions as a result of offering online gambling and casino games.
Even though it is new to the United States, there are already estimates in place that by the year 2014, online gambling could be worth close to $50 billion, and that the majority of these profits would be earned through online poker. Some other companies that are looking to create online gambling that would be compatible with social networking sites are EA and Playdom, the latter of which was recently purchased by Disney. There are some other smaller companies that should make a splash as well.
Zynga’s most profitable game right now is their Texas Hold’Em Poker, with more than 25 million users each month, and has earned the spot as the most popular, albeit casual, gaming spots. If Zynga incorporates real money gambling into its poker and casino games, the revenue that will be earned for each user will undoubtedly take up a large section of their overall revenue.
There have been recent advances in slot social gambling also. Just last week Double Down Interactive was purchased by International Game Technology for the tune of $500 million. While this Facebook gaming developer doesn’t have nearly as many users each month as Zynga, this can quickly turn around.
How to Pick a Trustworthy Online Casino
If you are looking for a good online casino, there are several different things that you should consider. One big thing is how long the casino has been around. If it is relatively new, it is really hard to judge how successful it is or will be. If it has been around for awhile then there is probably a good reason. This is generally because of how trustworthy they are and how good their customer service team is. You also want to make sure they have certification from a reputable source, like CIGA, TST, eCOGRA, or KGC. Security is also a key point. After all, if you are gambling real money you want to make sure that it isn’t going to be subject to any sort of corruption.
Customer service is usually a very big selling point too. You want to make sure that any problem that you may have is handled in a timely manner and that you never feel like an imposition. A site with limited customer service hours should be avoided. If the casino website is running 24 hours a day, their customer service team should be as well. They should also provide several different ways to be contacted like phone, email and live chat to ensure you can get in touch with them when needed.
Online casinos that offer bonus and reward programs are more attractive to most people. Who doesn’t like free money? Of course, most of the time this requires some kind of deposit on your part, but the end result is generally worth it. You also need to make sure that you read over the rules of the various games before you play. Sometimes the rules vary slightly, so you want to make sure that you can get the most for your money.
When depositing and withdrawing money make sure that you know what options there are. Sometimes there is a limit on how much you can withdraw each week, or you may only be able to do so in certain denominations. You may also want to research the online payment companies that they use to make sure that they are reputable and don’t charge any kinds of outrageous fees. After you have done all of your research then the time is right to sign up and start winning some money. If you ever feel that anything is out of place or just doesn’t seem right with that particular casino you should find a new place to play.
French Roulette 101
French Roulette is not a game that is offered in every casino, and for a simple reason; not everyone knows what it is, so they don’t want to play it. Casino’s are around not only to provide entertainment to their guests, but to make money. While French Roulette may be a very profitable game from a casino operator’s stand point, the only way this will happen is if the guests play. Some online casinos may offer it, but there is usually only one game whereas there are multiples of others.
If you have played Roulette, or knows someone that does, the first thing that they will tell you is that there are different house edges depending on what kind of Roulette you are playing. American Roulette is the most popular version, and also hs the highest house edge, at 5.26%. French Roulette is at the very opposite end with only a 1.35%, which means that it can be much more costly to operate. European Roulette is another more common version with a house edge of 2.70%.
Even though the house edge is so low in French Roulette, it is actually quite similar to that of Blackjack and Video Poker. Despite this similarity, it is still not nearly as popular as the other games, no matter how big of a gambler you are. If you are risking money, chances are you would like to have some amount of control over what is going on, and that just isn’t possible with Roulette; it’s all about luck, and it just isn’t in the casino’s favor with this game. They won’t make more than a dollar and a half on every hundred dollars that is wagered, and if there aren’t a whole ton of people playing then it just won’t make enough money.
One of the Top USA Gaming Hot Spots- Florida
Florida state senator Ellyn Bogdanoff has recently released a revised bill that will allow casinos to be established in the southern part of the state, thus making it one of the top gaming destinations in the United States.
The first version of the bill did not thrill too many of the of the current gaming owners, and was especially disappointing to the owners of pari-mutuels. They wanted to be able to offer the same type of gambling that casinos would and be real competition, not stay at their current stature and have to deal with the same.
The newer version is a much better version for everyone, and lowers the tax rate on slot gaming at casinos dramatically. This is good news for the pari-mutuels, who can now afford to offer the same great gaming options they currently have, as well as potentially having new gaming offers as well. Most owners of these locations are now fully cooperative of the new gaming legislation.
Casinos that are already in existence are now able to offer lots of different games that they couldn’t before, like table games, blackjack, craps and roulette. They would also have to pay a new licensing fee of $125 million, which is what new casino resort developers will be paying. There is still a long way to go, however, before this bill makes it all the way to the end of the legislative process.
There are a lot of different people that must be convinced when it comes to getting this bill passed. Of course, there are the members of the southern part that want it to pass, but there are always a lot of people that live in northern Florida who feel that casinos already have too large of a presence. The theory is that if the pari-mutuels and the members of the Seminole Indian tribes both back the bill, then there is a greater chance of it passing in Tallahassee. There would be an additional vote necessary by the pari-mutuels before they would be able to participate in the new gambling also.
There are already three different major companies looking to open casino resorts in various areas, and one company has already announced the plans for their casino as well as purchasing a location for it to exist. In addition to creating new land-based casinos, many legislations in Florida are also starting to consider how to handle online gambling as well, after the Department of Justice changed their ruling on the Wire Act.
Playtech Starts 2012 with More New Games
Playtech had a great year in 2011 and is celebrating by starting off 2012 with a good number of new games. While there are the typical table and arcade games, there are also several instant lottery games as well as video games. Multiplayer games have always been popular, and now there is a slot version of them. Fishing Buddies can have up to five players in one game and has an exciting double level bonus round.
While each players bets individually, you do have the ability to see what the other players are betting and their spins in each round. You also have the power to increase the amount that can be won in the bonus round. The faster that you play in the main round then the higher the bonus prizes will be. Keep your eye on the fishing lines of your bear avatar to see how fast you or any of the other players are playing. The deeper the line goes, the faster they are playing. If you play too slow then your avatar will fall asleep and you’ll miss out on joining in on the bonus game fun. While the first round of the bonus can be played with all five players, the second round is only eligible for three players.
Desert Treasure II is another new game that they are featuring. This game is the sequel to the popular slot game Desert Treasure, and while it may look the same, a closer look will show you how much has changed. The graphics have greatly mproved. They are much more vibrant and have lots more detail. The background music is more entertaining and less annoying, and the golden cobra symbol is back too, but is used slightly differently. Unlike its predecessor, Desert Treasure II does not offer payouts on wild symbols, but you have the potential to save your 10,000 coin payout with the Arab symbol. You can also earn up to 25 free spins.
The bonus level that can be found on the second screen is highly entertaining and much more exciting because it is a multiple level version. The first level is a very simple game; you just have to choose three to five treasure chests and hope that one contains the map that will lead you on to the next bonus level. Other chests may contain other prizes, but you must choose the map in order to move on and win more.
Online Gambling in Europe
The EU still doesn’t have it quite together when it comes to regulated, legalized gambling and their attempts to get everyone in line have been met with slow response to none at all. Currently, every member nation in the EU has its own rules when it comes to online gambling. The only country that really has their act together is the UK. In the UK anything gambling related is completely permitted. They even have it setup where they have approved other jurisdictions that work within their laws. Those other jurisdictions kind of bit the UK in the tail because the United Kingdom has not received as much revenue or any from some of those jurisdictions because of the difference in taxation. However, UK gambling operations are not opposed to moving their operations back into the UK as long as the country lowers their taxes.
Spain is in line to go live with their new online gambling laws. Many are concerned that there will be continued issues that will prevent this from taking place. Several gaming licenses have already been approved by Spain, but the majority of those receiving licenses are already owned by the government.
Italy seems to be thriving with their online gambling operations. They currently have a stabilized online poker industry as well as bingo and sports betting. Italy allows gambling operations that are licensed by the AAMS.
France allows online poker, sports betting and horse racing. However, the country has massive taxes on online gambling so most operations are staying out of that market.
Greece, that is a story all its own. Unfortunately, out of all of the member nations of the EU, Greece is the one that could benefit the most from online gambling. However, the country has a state operated gambling regime and will not break that up. The other major problem is that gambling operations are required to have their online gaming servers located within the country of Greece as well as only using banks in Greece for transactions. That model simply won’t work for the predominantly UK operated gambling companies.
Even though the EU calls the shots for services and goods that are traded between the nations, they can not get the members to agree on how to handle online gambling. Some countries may be removed from the union, but that would cause a potential collapse. Therefore, the EU may have to crackdown on the offending nations to bring them in line and may do so with restrictions, higher tariffs or other financially related penalties.
2012 Poker Tournament Season is Ready to Go
The poker tournament season is already starting and it is only a few days into 2012. More than six tournaments have already scheduled days in January. The first tournament to make an appearance is the WSOP which will be held Bell Gardens Bicycle Casino. The event started on the first of January and tournament play will continue until the eighteenth of January.
PokerStars is also holding a tournament, but this one is in a more tropical locale. The Bahamas are host to the Caribbean Adventure tournament which features some big rivalries and high roller action. The $10,000 main event is expected to be the crowd-pleaser.
The WPT is holding a tournament in Dublin. This is the first time that the organization has made an appearance in Ireland. The final table will be played on the eighth of January. Now, jumping over to Australia, Melbourne is host to the Aussie Millions tournament. This event starts on the twenty-second of January and has some of the biggest cash prizes going.
The Commerce Casino will be host to the Los Angeles Poker Classic. This tournament is one of the best known and longest running tournaments. The Poker Classic offers around twenty million dollars in prize money. This tournament will go on until the twenty-ninth of February.
There are also a number of other tournaments being held around the world. Even though they don’t offer some of the bigger cash prizes like the WPT or WSOP, some of them do have substantial prize pools. On the sixteenth of January, the Alberta Poker Championship 2012 kicks off followed by a million dollar main event called The Million Dollar Heater being held in Louisiana on the twenty-first.
There are several tournaments going on already in the first month of January and so many more scheduled throughout the year. Remember, that if you want to get into some of the tournaments for 2013, such as the PokerStars events, you will need to secure a seat this year. You will also want to check out the action of the WSOPC as it travels across the US. The last stop will be in Las Vegas at the Caesars Palace where tournament play will go from the nineteenth to the thirtieth of January.
A Look at Microgaming Software
Microgaming, a casino industry gaming software was one of the first to be developed. The software is highly versatile and, after modifications by the company, can now fit into any online casino anywhere in the world. This means that the software can support over twenty languages and multiple currencies. Microgaming software works in parts. There first part of the software is the core programming for the online games which is referred to as Viper. The software is very robust and has the most games available from any online casino software around, but that does take up a lot of storage space.
Microgaming software is also made up of a Flash gaming element in that they have their software ported over for browser use. This lets Mac users and Windows users play games across the internet without a download being necessary. This is great for those players that do not want to download for any reason from a slow computer to limited hard drive space.
The other component to Microgaming software is that the casino can pick and choose which games they want to make available. This is very different from other gambling software packages. More importantly, it allows for the casino operator to connect third party games into the system. This is great for the casino operators as it allows them to stay competitive.
Microgaming is one of the most well liked by casino operators, specifically because of the recent changes that were made to the core software. By allowing casino operators to add other games or remove games using the QuickFire system, Microgaming has secured their position as the casino software gaming leader for years to come.
NJ Betting Bill Pushed by Senator
State Senator Lesniak is taking advantage of the DOJ ruling that intrastate gambling is legal. The New Jersey Senator is determined to see the legislation on the Governors desk within a week. Lesniak has the goal of making New Jersey the first state to offer legal online gambling. Other states are seeing this as an opportunity for increased revenue from the DOJ decision. The law permits all intrastate betting except that involved with sports betting.
Nevada is also in a race to become the first state to offer online gambling to its residents. Some of the big names that have already applied in Nevada are Caesars Entertainment and Boyd Gaming. New Jersey already attempted to become the first state to get internet gambling approved, however the action was rejected by the Governor.
The bill that is in question for New Jersey has yet to have voting scheduled. Lesniak does plan to have it approved for voting by that time and stated that he expects to know on the following day if the bill will have enough support.
The bill does have some stipulations that may become hindrances later such as gambling operations will only be permitted to operate from Atlantic City. Taxation will also become a problem for some as many companies fear higher taxation on online gambling than what is taxed on regular casinos. Also, Lesniak included a stipulation that any casino operating within New Jersey will have to pay sixty million dollars over three years time.
If the bill should pass, casinos will have a new source of income and the state will be able to rebuild their racetrack industry according to Lesniak. However, the State Senator does not believe that the passing of the internet gambling bill will make it any easier for the approval of placing slot machines at the horse racing tracks.
One company that has already shown great interest in the bill is Trump Entertainment Resorts. Company representatives stated last year that they will open an online operation as soon as it is legal.