Wednesday, 25 January, 2006
In a recent press release, the eCommerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance (eCOGRA) released the final online casino dispute figures for 2005 through the Fair Gaming Advocate, the international standards body of the not-for-profit company. For the year ending 2005, a total of 439 complaints were received by the Fair Gaming Advocate (FGA). According to Tex Rees, and FGA official, 103 were for non-eCOGRA approved sites, so the complaints do not count towards the final tally of the 66 online casinos that bear the eCOGRA seal. Of the 66 seal-bearing casinos, a total of 336 disputes were filed. Of these, Rees says that roughly 10% were found to be true complaints that needed addressing by the group. This total represents a very small percentage of the overall business at the casinos, which make up the bulk of the most popular and heavily-visited online gambling sites. The rest of the 336 complaints that did not fall into the 10% category were simple Terms of Use or Conditions infractions where the customer usually did not understand the rules, or Customer Support errors that could be quickly resolved. Though complaints are expected to rise this year, it’s not because of faulty sites, but rather the expansion of the watchdog group, which has become a leader in the industry because of their attention to customer fairness and honesty on the part of the casinos. They expect to have over 100 casinos bearing their seal by the end of 2006. For more information, please visit the eCOGRA website.
Monday, 9 January, 2006
Wall Street and all of its power and money has taken a closer look lately at the online casino industry. And why not? Hot on the heels of the Poker boom, online casinos have shown that they have just as much staying power as the ultra hot card games. There is just one problem with Wall Street investing in online casinos- they are actually illegal in the United States. Now, they are not illegal to play at, but it is illegal for them to operate within the United States, which is why they are always located offshore. But recent studies by some of the biggest investment firms in the country have been very favorable towards the current and potential future growth of the online gaming industry, and most are ready to invest. The hang-up is that since online casinos are still illegal, any brokerage house that has mutual funds in their portfolios could be in some serious hot water if they invest in the online casinos. With many challenges to the legality of online casinos still tied up in various bills and legislation, it is too early to tell what will come of all this. But if Wall Street is taking heed of this growth industry, can the government be that far behind?
Monday, 9 January, 2006
Online casino software provider PlayTech recently announced the expansion of its games portfolio. Five new games have been added, three of which are 20-line 5-reel Video Slot machine games. These games are called “A Night Out”, “Desert Treasure” and “Dr. Lovemore”. In addition to these games, they have also added multi-hand capability to all existing Blackjack games. Now customers at PlayTech casinos can now play up to five hands at one time while playing Blackjack. Building on the laser-hot popularity of Texas Hold ‘Em, there is now a simplified version called “Casino Hold ‘Em” that all PlayTech software licensees may elect to offer to their customers. Though this can game can be picked up by all of the online casinos offering PlayTech software, it is at the discretion of each casino as to which games they do offer. PlayTech has also added additional games to its Flash version of software. The Flash version allows players to start playing right away without a download of any software. But like most software providers, the game offerings on the Flash version were limited. Realizing the increasing demand for Flash games, they have expanded how many games you can play without download. After testing the new games and software, the feedback was so great that PlayTech marketing director Iris Toledano has said that the company intends on releasing more games with more frequency in the coming year.
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