The latter of the two takes you back to the times of Ancient Greece and the Trojan War.  If you know anything about Greek mythology, you will remember that Ares is the offspring of Zeus and Hera, who were the King and Queen of the Pantheon.  Ares held a title of his own, as the god of War, and played a key part in leading the Greeks to victory.  Ares is all about one particular battle of the Trojan War; the battle for the city of Troy.  Unlike most of the other slot games you are familiar with, Ares does not use pay lines to determine how much you win on any given spin.  Instead, it is an All Pays slot, where the pay lines are skewed slightly so you can win on just about every spin.

The sound effects and background music are very reminiscent of any kind of war or battle themed game, and the symbols used on the reels look just like the armor used in Spartan battles.  Shields, helmets and suits of armor hit a massive payout of 1k coins when you get five in a row, and the battle axe pays half that amount.  The lower valued symbols aren’t as spectacular and showy as the higher pay out ones, but still have a thematic element to them.

The wild card for this game, a Spartan warrior, can only be found in the middle three reels, and the iconic Trojan Horse is the scatter symbol.  You will have to get three of the Horse symbols in order to unlock the bonus game.  This bonus game features the player selecting their choice of fifteen Greek shields.  The rules are simple; you want as many as possible before uncovering the one that says “Collect”, which will end the game.  Likewise on round 2, where you choose from helmets instead of shields.

Ares is also one of Bodog Casino’s popular progressive jackpot game.  Unlike most other games, which require you to hit a certain sequence of reels, this one is completely randomized, and will payout on bets ranging from .25 to 125 credits.  The higher you bet, the more you will win.

As it sits now, just about every major casino in Las Vegas, Atlantic City and other major gambling ports are looking to develop their own online gambling websites to gain an even broader audience.  This would mean major competition for Zynga, and it would be hard to compete with companies that already have such a strong reputation in the casino industry.  Right now Wynn resort and Casino is also entertaining the idea along with Zynga.  However, since the majority of the information regarding Wynn has been published in blog posts, it has not yet been verified, and is thought to be nothing more than a way to generate some free advertising.

Since there are so many factors against legalizing online gambling right now, it is hard to tell what the big picture scenario for Zynga’s online gambling is, since they seem to operate on more of an annual frame of mind.  Right now, the only logical group that could potentially gain access to legalize online gambling would be the Native American-run casinos.  Since these tribes are considered sovereign entities by the US government, they go by many of the federal rules and regulations, but may still be grated the necessary permission to legalize online gambling.

Another big problem with Zynga creating an online gambling forum is the problem of age restrictions.  The large majority of Zynga players are those under 13 years of age, so in turn, most of their audience for their marketing campaign is those that are too young to gamble.  They will have to develop different marketing strategies to target the appropriate audience, and will have to have strict policies on monitoring underage gambling to try and prevent that from happening.

There are other subcategories included in the Rich List as well, including one that highlights those who have made a substantial mark, financially speaking, in online gambling.  This shouldn’t be too surprising as a category, since the UK has always been recognized as one of the first nations to regulate and legalize gambling online.

For the current list the owners of Bet365, Peter Coates and his daughter Denise, take the top spot.  They are currently valued at more than £750 million, but what really makes an impact is that they were only sitting around £500 million last year.  They are actually ranked in the top 100 richest on the main list, at number 90.  Denise Coates also had the honor of making the Queen’s honor list this year as well.

Second in the gambling online subcategory are the PartyGaming founders, Russ DeLeon and Ruth Parasol.  They are just below Bet365 by a mere £17 million, but they are also about £100 million lower than last year’s list.  Sitting in fourth place is another PartyGaming member, Vikrant Bhargava, with £230 million.  Breaking up the PartyGaming family and taking the third place spot are Peter and Fred Dones of Betfred, who have also made recent headlines from their purchase of the Tote.  Fifth place is marked by £160 million Victor Chandler, and Betfair founders take the sixth and seventh spots in the ways of Ed Wray at £132 million and Andrew Black with £125 million.  The remaining two spots on this list are occupied by Richard Koch of Betfair (£92 million),  and Phil Cronin of Tombola, who has gone up to £82 million this year, from a mere £55 million last year.

Fifth place is marked by £160 million Victor Chandler, and Betfair founders take the sixth and seventh spots in the ways of Ed Wray at £132 million and Andrew Black with £125 million.  The remaining two spots on this list are occupied by Richard Koch of Betfair (£92 million),  and Phil Cronin of Tombola, who has gone up to £82 million this year, from a mere £55 million last year.

Playtech has taken the necessary steps that will allow them to enter the business to business world of real money gambling.  They are currently not releasing the name of those they have partnered with, but it is thought that they will do so once everything has been finalized.  They are rumored to be pursuing into a venture through Brickington Trading Limited.  This partnership shouldn’t be any kind of surprise, seeing how Teddy Sagi, the founder of Playtech, is also a major shareholder for BTL.  All of these various transactions would allow Playtech to reach a much larger range of internet platforms, including social media ones, which would spawn off from there as well.  Right now there are B2C companies that are already allowing real money lottery and social gaming online, and the Playtech licenses on top of these would allow the existing companies to offer more games.

Another of the terms and conditions acknowledges that Playtech wants to develop an office in London for their UK branch of the company, GTS, or Gaming Technology Solutions.  Right now they have a temporary location, but Playtech wants to make it more of a permanent one.  The building’s owner, WOE, is working out two different leasing options.  The third stipulation has to do with Sagi himself.  He was named as an advisor to the company, and will be paid accordingly with an annual salary of €1.

Playtech has already announced to its shareholders about the independent stock exchange through the service of PTTS.  They are also gaining a discount of more than €4 million for having such a good review with PTTS, and are able to finalize the transaction far before the deadline.  This final payment for the acquisition will be taken from funds that already exist.  Incidentally enough, PTTS is also connected to Sagi through Worldwide Online Enterprises Limited, and the resulting transaction fits comfortably within the guidelines that were put into place by the AIM Rules for Companies.

The No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em events are the most popular, and with a guarantee of $400,000 in prizes, with a quarter of that amount going to the first place winner.  This tournament has a buy in of just $225, and will start off the events tomorrow, May 2^nd.  One thing that makes this tournament unique is that players who find themselves without a seat at the table after the first day or two is that they can re-buy in on May 3^rd and 4^th, giving them another chance to win.

These events will last more than two weeks, and what better place to hold them than at one of the biggest poker casinos in the world.  The Commerce Casino is well known for always having the best and most popular games available for the thousands of people that walk through their doors daily.

Other events to watch are the Twitter Exclusive No Limit tournament.  This game has just a $65 buy in, and will only last one day, with the winners walking away with $10,000 in prizes.  Besides the buy in, eligible players must have @CommerceCasino as one of their followers on a valid Twitter account.

The final event of the CA State Poker Championships is yet another No Limit tournament that has half a million in prizes being offered, and a buy in that is over $2k.  The event will start on the 17^th of May, with the 18^th as second chance re-entry day.

The start of the tournament season began with the LA Poker Classic at the same venue, and proved to have a surprise winner in Sean Jazayeri.  This young player claimed the title and over one million in winnings at the final table that was dominated by young amateur professionals.  The full schedule of all of the tournaments scheduled for 2012 can be viewed online at the Commerce Casino website, or by telephone directly to the casino.

The new version of the bill has reportedly had quite a few changes made to it that have made it more appealing to supporters and to those who have been on the fence.  There is also another piece of legislation that is geared more towards sports betting that will be going up too, and some of the same supporters of the previously mentioned legislation have already announced their support of the other bill as well.

The reversal by the Justice Department of the long standing Wire Act may have surprised some people, but others  were pleased that it was finally examined and portrayed correctly.One main reason these pieces of legislation are trying to get passed is to help improve the job market in the Atlantic City area.  They would create hundreds of new jobs in order to properly maintain all of the necessary aspects of the websites and customer service.

One of the biggest issues that is being faced with the potential legalization of online gambling is that New Jersey’s constitution has a stipulation in it that requires casinos to stay within the Atlantic City limits.  In order to make online gambling legal, this will have to change.   It is thought that this will not be something that will be that difficult to change or address once the initial legislation is passed.

This new source of revenue is said to bring in more than $1 million in the first year it’s open and hopes to increase that amount to $17 million by the end of five years.  The revenue will be divided up, with 5% going towards programs dedicated to helping persons deal with addiction to gambling.  This is an increase of three percent from what other venues give towards the cause.

The British Columbia Lottery Corporation has already offered to help Manitoba get their new venture of the ground, and they will be using a similar platform as to that which is used in BC, and has proved to be successful since its induction in 2010.  GTech and OpenBet software will be featured on this site.  The Manitoba Lotteries Corporation will be listed as the site operator, and the Manitoba Gaming Control Commission has also announced their role in providing and monitoring all regulations that are put into place.  The Lotteries Minister wanted to make it clear that the province of Manitoba is not increasing the availability of online gambling, but rather keeping up with the times and keeping the economy localized.  There is currently more than $35 million being put into online gambling sites, and keeping a large portion of that money in the province can do a lot for the local economy.

Just a step behind Manitoba in all of this is another province looking to make the leap into online gambling.  The government in Ontario is looking at all of the possible options they have with getting involved in online gambling.  Right now they are looking at more of a licensing angle rather than being a gambling operator.

Just like with any slot game, the bonus is the most anticipated feature.  In Indiana Jane you can gain access to this area by getting three scatter symbols on a pay line.  These symbols only occur on the first, third, and fifth reels.  Once activated, choose one of symbols to find out how many of the mystical orbs you will get to choose from in the next round.  These orbs contain bonus items like free spins and multipliers that are bonuses on top of the base amounts.

This new games has a whopping twenty five pay lines to win off of.  You can lower this amount if you prefer, but it is not recommended.   The minimum bet in this game is just .01 credits, with a maximum of five credits per line.  There is also an auto play feature that will spin the reels automatically until you tell it to stop or you do not have the necessary balance to fulfill the wager.  Random progressive jackpots offer an additional element of surprise and an added and often unexpected way to win.  There is no rhyme, reason, or pattern to this jackpot, and it can be won on any combination of symbols.  All of the rules of the game can be accessed from the info screen; this includes what the payout table is and additional information about the bonuses.

Bovada Casino is constantly on the up and up when it comes to the newest and greatest things associated with online gambling, and is seeing big wins all the time.  For instance, Robert from Indiana was dealt the fifty millionth video poker hand and walked away with a $5,000 bonus because of that.  They are still waiting on the 49 and 50 millionth blackjack hands to be dealt, each of which will also win a prize.

Zynga is now looking to expand their success even further and is currently dabbling in how to merge online gambling with social media.  Right now the link lets Facebook friends play against each other on their computers as well as tablets, smartphones and other mobile devices.  Casino gaming companies are now having to not only increase their revenue, but also how they do business.  Many of them have elected to create their own social networking gambling games too.  The success of all of these really stands on what the Justice Department decides in regards to what constitutes legal online gambling in the United States.

International Game Technology, currently based in Las Vegas, is one company that has already gotten a head start in the new technology when they purchased an online casino game company back in January.  Double Down Interactive has already popularized several different casino games via Facebook that use virtual currency rather than real money for their players to wager.

While gambling with real money online is thought to be inevitable, the changes that need to be made to some games is not going to be a task as easy as it seems.  For instance, just because Zynga is currently using virtual currency does not mean that they will have an easy switch to real money.  There are many different regulations that will need to be followed and integrated that the format and gaming system is not currently equipped to handle.

Gaming companies will also have to decide which games and what kinds of currency will be associated with them.  This type of decision can make a big difference in how much revenue will be earned.  It may take some research, but the effort spent will be well rewarded in the end.

Right now the top competitors in the social media online gambling site would be Zynga, IGT, a subsidiary of Caesar’s Entertainment and one of MGM.  PopCap, a division of EA, has also dipped their toe in the game by launching a slots game as a sort of test to see how they will do.  With millions of players using games from any of the companies, the amount of revenue that will come out of online gambling in social media is said to be in the billions, but how it plays out will have to wait for the court’s decision.

To install the software, there is usually a download link on the homepage of the online casino.  It’s normally prominently displayed and easy to find.  They want your business, so the download link is probably available on every page of the website.  Once you’ve clicked on the download link, a box will appear on the screen.  You will be able to either Save File or Cancel.  If you accidentally clicked the link, click Cancel to stop the process.  Otherwise, if you wish to proceed with the download, click the Save File button.  That will save the executable file on the hard drive of your computer.  Sometimes, a software provider will give you the option of installing the software by pressing Run rather than Save File.  The best option is to save the file first, then run it.

To run the file, double click on the icon while still connected to the Internet.  You’ll receive a security warning with the details of the program you want to install.  As long as the software is from a reputable provider, it’s safe to go on with the installation.  If the warning says “publisher unknown,” you might run a risk of a virus if you continue.  If necessary, click the Cancel button to abort the installation.   Otherwise, you’ll need to accept the End User License Agreement.  You should access the agreement and read it before agreeing to its terms of usage, then confirm your acceptance by checking the appropriate box.  You can then continue with the installation.  If you are familiar with these agreements, you can skip reading it and click the Install button.  By clicking Install, you’re implying that you agree with the terms and conditions of the agreement.

It will take a few minutes for the software to download.  If it allows you to register during the download process, do so.  If you choose not to register the software during installation, most software providers allow you to register it at a later time.  Registering during the download is just a timesaver.  You may be asked to choose your language of preference if the software is multilingual.  You may also be asked to choose your currency.  Once you have chosen your currency you cannot change it without contacting customer support.  You will also be asked to provide your name, address, any screen names/alias you wish to use and passwords.  If you are playing with real money, you will have to provide payment details for the option you selected.

Once complete, a registered player can log in and start playing.  If you have not registered, registration will have to be completed.  Other games will be automatically be downloaded, but you can override the sequence and download your favorite game first.