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February 19, 2012

International Gaming Awards

Filed under: Casino — Tags: , — OCE News @ 12:00 am

The International Gaming Awards is all set to take the casino world by storm starting this week. This awards ceremony is so huge that it is often looked upon as the Academy Awards ceremony for casinos. The ceremony is understandably huge and elegantly orchestrated. The venue for this prestigious event is London’s Sheraton Park Lane Hotel. Aside from being perhaps the greatest event so far as gaming is concerned, this event is also charity-driven and is organized annually. The purpose of this event is to award those who have performed dramatically well in both land-based and online casinos. All the top contenders of the previous year will attend this event and only the best from amongst them will be honored.

This glamorous event is also an ideal platform for socializing and networking with other members of the huge gaming world. All the senior-most executives from the different gaming establishments are expected to be present for the ceremony. The glitterati will even have members from establishments providing gaming software. Amongst the big names attending the event are Playtech, Paddy Power, Bally Technologies, Microgaming, eCOGRA or e-Commerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance, RGA or Remote Gaming Association and IGC or Interactive Gaming Council. PokerStars is the platinum sponsor for the ceremony while Gold sponsors include John Huxley and Playtech and Silver Sponsors are Ritz Club in London and Bally Technologies. Like every other year, this year too, some deserving charities have been selected as beneficiaries like the Horn of Africa Food Crisis Appeal, CARE International, and the GREAT Foundation, etc.

Kahnawake Gaming Commission

Two important changes for helping players interact better with licensed casinos online have been introduced by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission. While the first deals with player self-exclusion, the second deals with dispute resolutions. This will help those casino players suffering from gambling addictions to deposit limits with their casinos. This time they can inform the gaming commission directly about this intent so that his instructions are abided at all the concerned casinos online. The commission has come up with a special self exclusion web page where there is scope for players to enter their e-mail addresses. They can also avail of an online form to register their needs to the commission. There is a Compliance Officer who will then get in touch with the concerned players to verify the details submitted, to check their identity and then to execute the request. When this request pertains to a particular casino only, that casino has to be informed about that request. It is then expected to carry out the requests and accordingly notify players.

The Commission has also taken a concrete step to improve the dispute resolutions process. A Dispute Resolution Officer has been appointed to this effect – he can be approached for addressing players concerns. All the complaints are to be given in writing and should ideally contain clear information about the identity of the complainant. It should clearly specify and elucidate the complaint made and the corresponding steps to be taken to resolve it. The Kahnawake Commission has been therefore, awarded the Phoenix award which is used to honor those casinos that identify their mistakes and take steps to rectify them.

February 17, 2012

How SOPA And PIPA Can Change The World Of Internet Gambling

Filed under: Casino — Tags: , , — OCE News @ 12:00 am

Internet freedom is likely to be threatened by two enactments namely the PIPA or Protect Intellectual Property Act and the SOPA or the Stop Online Piracy Act. Although these two actions had been temporarily shelved, it would indeed be interesting to analyze the consequences that they could have otherwise had if they were made legal. There are no chances of there being an immediate voting on these proposed enactments and it is possible that they would be significantly changed eventually before voting takes place.

The effects of these laws on online casino gambling sites will not be felt at once; however, the fact remains, that when the laws get altered, they may lead to future problems for the casino industry flourishing in the country. This is because these laws will bring them a degree of censorship which is likely to revolutionize the ways of the Internet as it functions today and this was bound to have far reaching consequences.

Had these proposed enactments been passed as laws, the US Attorney General could get court orders forcing servers, payment processors and advertisers, blog sites and search engines to blacklist those websites which were suspected to be violating or infringing copyright laws. So this measure would have effectively given third parties like Internet Service Providers and financial institutions, the power to police the Internet gambling world.

Such stringent measures had earlier been adopted to block some gambling websites. This kind of censorship on the Internet may spell doom for the gambling industry in the course of time. These bills, according to Chief Legal Officer of Google, could make it simpler to sue all law-abiding American companies. Moreover, this measure was not enough to eliminate pirate sites because these websites could simply alter their addresses to continue their illicit activities.

Gambling in Asia

Gambling on the internet has become a rage all across the world, whether in countries which have legalized it or in those that have not yet regulated or legalized it. Although there are many nations where internet gambling has been held as illegal, thousands continue to participate in these games. So, there are efforts being made by these countries to at least regulate internet gambling since this has not been legally accepted.

In the Asia Pacific region as well, internet gambling has witnessed a sporadic growth and the PWC report recently came up with certain fascinating facts. The report by Price Waterhouse Coopers reveals the possibility of the Asian gambling industry growing from a $34.4 billion industry to a whopping $79.3 billion industry in the next five years. Given this figure, there is the need to legalize online gambling in some of the Asian countries.

A gaming analyst, Jonathan Galaviz, feels that since people would, in any case, practice illegal gambling, it was wiser to tax it instead of letting unlicensed operators amass all the revenues. He mentioned that in Singapore for instance, although online gambling was illegal, it had grown remarkably in the past year. Therefore, according to him, the time has arrived for governments to engage in researching this issue deeply and come up with thoughtful discussions on gambling policies.

February 15, 2012

Announcement Of Casinomeister Awards For 2011

Filed under: Casino — Tags: , — OCE News @ 12:00 am

Casinomeister works like an overseer of industry practices for the online casino space and has been striving hard in order to make it a safer and fairer place for players to indulge in. The Casinomeister Awards, which name the best and worst in the industry each year, are eagerly awaited in the month of January, and this year was no exception. The awards for the year of 2011 were finally announced last week. The announcement ceremony also stated that this was the 11th year for the awards, and there were as many as 40 categories in which the awards would be given. Some of the popular category results have been listed below.

The biggest of all categories is the Best Casino Global category, and this was won for the ninth year in a row by 32Red Online Casino. The primary reason for this continual success has been their unflinching customer dedication and sticking to fair practices. This is primarily the reason why 32Red has always been rewarded with five-star ratings by Top Casinos in the industry. Ever since the UIGEA issue in America, Casinomeister has added a separate category called Best Casino U.S. Friendly. The requirements and conditions for this award are totally different from the normal category. This year, too, the award went to 3Dice Casino, which took over the crown from Club World Online Casino in the year 2010 and has managed to retain their position.

Because online casinos form cartels and groups for effective function, a group brand image is considered to be a major criterion recognized by Casinomeister as well. The award for the best group was awarded to the 32Red Group, whereas Club World Group won the title for the best U.S. friendly group. Several online casinos who are members of this group have been awarded high ratings by Top Casinos. Prominent achievers include High Noon, Aladdin’s Gold, Manhattan Slots, All Star Slots, and Club World.

Special awards are presented to online casinos who involve themselves in charity work to bring smiles to the underprivileged. The award is named the Ted Loh Humanitarian Award. Ted Loh was closely associated with Casinomeister and worked relentlessly to bring smiles to the faces of those affected by natural disasters. This year, the award went to Golden Palace Online Casino. They committed income in excess of $100,000 to those affected in the massive tsunami and earthquake disaster that took place in Japan in 2011.

The online casino software is also a key driver for the business and is considered to be a competitive aspect. During the course of the last three years, there were three different software providers to be awarded with the Casinomeister Best Software Supplier Award each year. These were Microgaming, WagerWorks, and Cryptologic. This year was no different. The award for 2011 went to NetEnt on account of some of the most startling 3-D animations that they released during the course of the year. The free spin rounds provided by them include intriguing features like Shifting Reels, Walking Wilds, and Sticky Wins.

Along with felicitating the best, Casinomeister also declared the worst performers in each category with an aim to warn players of platforms they should avoid. They also hope that the worst would handle the criticism positively and strive for improvement.

February 13, 2012

Final Call For Grand Prix Promo At All Slots Casino

Filed under: Casino — Tags: , — OCE News @ 12:00 am

The date has finally been decided. The famous Grand Prix promotion at the All Slots Online Casino is slated to be carried out on the 30th and the 31st of January, 2012. Therefore, it now stands to be the last opportunity for players to enroll in order to qualify for a seat in this final promotion so that they have a chance of winning a handsome share of the total prize pool of a whopping 18,000 casino credits.

The last leg of the Grand Prix Promotions right before the finals began on the 22nd of January, Sunday. It is slated to continue till the 28th of January. The time is now to earn a position in the final event. In order to qualify, All Slots Online Casino registers players who play at least 100 credits in total on any of the available online slot games through the course of the promotion period. There is no discrimination with respect to the choice of slot games offered on this platform. All games are eligible apart from the live slot tournaments.

A couple of games have registered live entry during the course of this month. One is called The Grand Journey and encompasses the theme of a jungle adventure. The innovative twist lies in the free spin versions that are capable of multiplying payouts to almost 10 times. The second one is called the Mega Spin Break da Bank that allows players to play on as many as four reel sets concurrently.

Coming to the last leg of the promotion drive, the top 25 wagerers of this phase could win 5,500 credits. Those capturing the 1st to 5th positions will stand to win 500 credits each. For players between the 6th and the 15th positions, they will add 200 credits each to their names. For those making their mark between the 16th to the 25th places, 100 credits will be awarded to every player. Each one of all these 25 players also makes a place for him- or herself in the finals of the All Slots Casino Grand Prix Promotion.

Once the players enter the finals, there will be no requirement for additional deposits to be made to the cashier of the All Slots Online Casino Platform. However, they will have to wager around 300 credits on their choice of online slot games during the course of the event. The distribution of the 18,000 credits total prize pool will be as follows: The first five wagerers who score topmost positions will win 1,000 credits. The following 10 will win 500 credits. The next 25 in line are entitled to 200 each. An additional 5,500 credits will be paid out in the form of bonuses.

Considering that many members of the All Slots Casino are of Scandinavian origin, there will be a currency factor made applicable to them. They will have to deposit an amount that is six times the amount deposited by others. Their wagers will only contribute to one sixth of the complete leader board tally.

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