Online Casino Games

February 1 - Some Vegas sportsbooks have dropped the Steelers to -6.5, a move of a half a point after the line had been constant throughout the week.

A quick scan of online sportsbooks reveals the following odds:

According to aFox Sports Website poll of over 600,000 votes, 57% are predicting a Cardinals upset which is somewhat surprising.

Vegas as well as the online sportsbooks will be hoping for a lot more betting action during this weekend. Although the $93.1 million wagered on Super Bowl in Vegas last year was down on the previous year, Vegas sportsbooks don’t seem confident that they will get near that number. This doesn’t mean that the sportsbooks won’t be laying it on in Vegas. The Hilton will dedicate 30,000 ft to the event. Super Bowl is still the single biggest sports betting event on the annual sporting calendar and that is not about to change.

Most online sportsbooks we have spoken to also expect less betting turnover on Super Bowl this year, which can be put down to the economic climate and also the fact that the Cardinals aren’t one of the NFL’s big brand teams.

Vegas will be hoping for Super Bowl to deliver a much needed injection after the latest figures show a continued downward trend in spend.

Check our our NFL Sportsbooks for your last-minute betting.

January 30 - Online poker room PKR.com has another cause for celebration after winning the Gambling Online Magazine award for best poker software.

The Gambling Online Magazine Readers? Poll Awards are the only awards in the industry decided by public vote and recognize the efforts of gaming operators in a wide range of categories.

PKR.com picked up the prize for best poker software at the 8th annual ceremony, seizing the crown from Ladbrokes who placed top in the same class the previous year. This latest triumph caps off a fantastic start to the New Year following a hugely successful 2008 for the next-gen site.

PKR.com Marketing Manager Erika Schwartz said, ?We?re delighted that our software has been recognized by Gambling Online readers - it?s always especially pleasing to win awards that are voted for by customers."

About PKR

PKR is a revolutionary new concept in online poker that has changed the way that online poker is played.

Featuring stunning real-time 3D graphics and a uniquely engaging and immersive gaming system, PKR brings an unparalleled and previously unseen level of realism to online poker.

Developed by some of the brightest stars in the video games and poker industries, PKR was founded in 2005 by President Jez San, one of Europe’s most respected technology entrepreneurs and the first person to ever be awarded an O.B.E for services to the computer games industry.

(No US real money players)

January 30th is L-day for the giant European online betting group Bwin - it marks the start of the group’s innovative and technologically advanced live betting interface which has been designed to give customers an intensified live experience.

Cannily timed to coincide with the start of the second half of the German Bundesliga, the new service includes live commentary by Austrian football legend Toni Polster on the main match between HSV and FC Bayern later this week.

“With its new offering, bwin is demonstrating its lead, pushing the limits of what is technologically feasible. We specifically harnessed the power of the Web 2.0 generation in order to offer our customers a live betting experience they have never seen before”, said co-CEO Manfred Bodner.

Enhanced video quality in a larger format and a versatile betting interface are key elements in the new offering. Users will be able to arrange their favourite events to individual preferences, bringing ongoing bets and relevant game stats to the fore on demand during the event being watched. Similar flexibility of choice is available for parlay bets and chat windows, all linked with a navigation system that is highly intuitive.

Initially Bwin offers up to 150 different live events in over 40 sports daily.

The Australian gambling group Tabcorp’s latest financial results reveal a massive negative hit to the company’s bottom line - the result of a dud cheque for A$11.5 million from a high-rolling gambler at one of the company’s casinos.

Releasing its financial results for the first half of the 2008/09 financial year, Tabcorp reported this week that it had made a bad debt provision of A$11.5 million in respect of a single customer.

Tabcorp chief executive Elmer Funke Kupper told reporters that Tabcorp did not provide credit to players but did provide cash-chequing facilities. Asked if the player in question had cashed a cheque for A$11.5 million and the cheque had bounced, Funke Kupper said: “Yep”.

The casino executive declined to identify the casino where the cheque bounced, the whale involved or the country of origin, but said the gambler was an international player known throughout the region.

“These are people who play very large amounts of money over time,” he said. “They tend to be baccarat players, in some cases playing between a hundred and three hundred thousand dollars a hand, so these are very significant players. Therefore it is not unusual to have substantial facilities in place for some of these people.”

The casino executive explained that worldwide there were perhaps 10 to 30 players who gambled such big stakes.

Funke Kupper confirmed that Tabcorp was seeking to recover the money owed to it. “Like any business you expect your money back,” he said.

“The reality of this business is every now and then you get this, we got it, we make no excuses for it…it happened early in the half, nothing else happened during the half,” he concluded.

Online gambling software provider Microgaming's unique player-customisable video slot Myslot, launched early December 2008, is proving a big favourite with the players according to an independent study.

The publication e-Gaming Review tasked the independent customer experience consultancy Foviance with reviewing Myslot as presented on Microgaming licensee 32Red recently, part of a regular review of new products on the market.

Foviance returned a score sheet that showed the following high customer scores for the slot:

Usability: 21/25
Playability: 20/25
Design 20/25

Respondents found the introductory video and instructions easy to follow and the cropping of privately uploaded photos and illustrations efficient. Game play was found to include helpful overlays on the images to highlight the different types of slots.

“Overall, Myslot is an innovative, user-friendly slot and a clear sign of things to come, as sites across all industries are providing greater customisation and personalisation to engage their users. This product shows what a great future lies ahead,” the study concluded.

Online gambling marketing affiliates were surprised this week to receive notifications from the Rival Internet gambling company, believed to be owned by Canadian residents, that it intends to exit the Canadian market within the next few days - effective February 1st 2009.

The notification advises that beginning February 1st 2009 Canadian players will not be allowed to register new accounts with any Rival powered casino. Existing Canadian players will not be permitted to deposit in the casino from this point on, and will be ineligible for any bonuses.

Apparently Rival executives made the decision to cease operations with Canadian players because of a request from many of their suppliers located in Canada. For various reasons, these suppliers have asked Rival to sever ties with Canadian players and Rival has agreed. It does not specify exactly what type of suppliers it refers to.

“February 28, 2009 at midnight EST will see all existing Canadian player accounts suspended indefinitely,” the notification goes on. “Players have been urged to use the month of February to complete any wagering on active promotions and withdraw funds from their accounts. Any funds left in their account after February 28th, 2009 will not be cashable and the player will not be allowed to login to their account,” the advisory controversially informs.

The notification advises affiliates with Canadian-facing campaigns: “If you have campaigns running that are directed strictly at Canadian players, they will no longer be effective beginning February 1st. Paradise 8 and Cocoa Casino will continue to promote and accept players from the USA and every other country in the world with the same vigor and as always.”

The notice is signed off by Jaxon Lam of the affiliate marketing team.

Parlay Entertainment is making all of its popular side games available in the embedded mini-game format, which allows players to play mini-games within their bingo game window, the company announced this week.

The collection of new embedded mini-games further extends the Parlay5 offering, providing players with increased entertainment value, and includes some of the most popular brands from the Parlay catalogue. The mini-game feature has been designed for plug-and-play operation, allowing seamless deployments of new mini-games as they become available.

Parlay is also expanding its joint solutions portfolio with Orbis Technology by adding six additional Orbis 20-line slot games. The new Orbis games are integrated into the Parlay5 back-office system through Parlay’s open, FOG-compatible platform. With this latest release, Parlay has continued its commitment to customers by providing continuing expansion of its game catalogue and its ability to drop in new content from third parties.

Parlay is using the currently running ICE expo in London to launch what it claims are a significant range of new gaming products - the release of its new 80-ball bingo game as well as a new suite of pari-mutuel games. The pari-mutuel suite extends the Parlay5 multiplayer game system with additional bingo-style game variants as well as new pari-mutuel slots. This new suite of games from Parlay will allow players to compete with each other whilst socially interacting - giving Parlay’s clients new ways to enhance the player experience.

Perry Malone, chief technology officer and co-founder of Parlay, said: “We have introduced significant new capabilities, features and content to the ParlayGames platform. Parlay is rolling out a breadth and variety of games to our customers that are unmatched in the industry.”

The controversial attempt by the state of Kentucky to seize and ultimately confiscate or use 141 international domain names as leverage for “settlements” with online gambling firms failed in the Kentucky Court of Appeals recently but is still very much a live issue.

Governor Steve Beshear and his Justice Cabinet Secretary J. Michael Brown are taking the case to the state Supreme Court for further argument, a move that was not unexpected.

One of the main - and successful - opponents of Beshear’s unprecedented action, Joe Brennan of the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA), said this week that Beshear and Brown had invested a great deal of political capital in the state’s suit, and probably felt that they could not now back down.

“Their attorneys took this on a contingency fee-basis, and have reportedly sunk over a million dollars of their own money in this suit, and other suits like this that they reportedly prepared for other states,” Brennan opined: “Without a win in Kentucky, it will be hard to get those other suits off the ground, and they’ll have taken huge losses on their own gamble,” he added.

January 29 - The NFL’s biggest game will feature the Cardinals and the Steelers in what is sure to be an epic battle. As usual game speculation is reaching a fever pitch from analysts ? a different wrinkle has been thrown into the mix this year however as fans are under scrutiny as well. With history showing some odd behavior on behalf of fans on the NFL’s biggest day, the largest most successful sportsbook on the web, BetUS.com posted odds on all things fan behavior.

“Every year our site gets flooded with interest in the NFL’s biggest game,” stated BetUS.com spokesman Reed Richards. “This year is no different as fans are looking for answers on everything from game MVP, length of National Anthem, even wardrobe malfunctions. With some odd behavior on the part of fans in the past we decided to add a new wrinkle to our odds analysis this year.”

Analysts at BetUS.com posted the following odds on Super Bowl XLIII Fan Behavior:

Throw something on field
Yes 1/2
No 3/2

Throw something on field most likely: (1st Caught On Camera)
Soda 2/1
Beer 5/2
Hot dog 3/1
Burger 8/1
Nachos 10/1
Chili 15/1
Popcorn 3/1
Pizza 10/1
Coffee 4/1
Pretzels 6/1
Corn Dogs 5/1
French Fries 7/1

Number of fans ejected from game (On Camera)
Over 1 5/6
Under 1 5/6

BetUS.com represents a new generation of North American facing sportsbooks. The odds are generous and they run some hot promotions and some of the more entertaining prop bets around.

January 28 - An online slots tournament is the perfect way for slots fans to enjoy a twist to their regular ‘me versus the machine’ gaming sessions. It brings about a more challenging experience, with the player having to beat others on the leaderboard to take home massive prizes at the end of the day.

Golden Casino, the popular Vegas Technology powered online casino, announced that it is running a brand new slots tournament that is sure to impress slots players from around the globe.

The good thing is that, being a Vegas Technology site, players from the United States are also welcome to join.

If you’re short of cash to buy your loved one the perfect gift for Valentine’s Day, then head on down to Golden Casino between Friday February 13th and the following Friday, the 20th, to take part in the latest slots tournament.

This is the perfect opportunity to get your hands on some serious cash, because Golden Casino is giving away a massive $75,000 prize pool to over one hundred lucky players.

The first placed winner will take home $35,000, although players right down to the 125th place will not walk away empty handed.

Joining in the fun doesn’t take masses of money out of your bankroll either. Buy ins are at a very comfortable ‘less than a dollar’ range - a small price to pay for the chance to share $75,000!

This Valentine’s Day, make sure that you are where the true action is!

Read our Golden Casino review to learn more about this trusted online slots casino destination.