The largest and longest running gaming conference of its kind, the Asian i-Gaming Congress and Expo is ready to open its doors for the seventh time in the casino gambling capital of the Far East - Macau. Scheduled right around the corner for February 24-26, 2009 (at the Venetian, Macau casino resort) there is nothing left for the AiG’s organizers, Clarion Gaming, to do but sit back and wait for the 500 or so expected guests to start showing up.
Those in attendance will have a packed schedule of events, largely consisting of panel discussions, to choose from. One of the most anticipated will be the mobile gaming conference scheduled to last the entire first day of the congress. This isn’t too surprising considering the great potential that online mobile gaming has in the Asian market.
Going all out to make the mobile conference as comprehensive and informative as possible, Clarion has amassed an impressive team of speakers, including the CEO of Microgaming partner company and leading mobile casino solutions developer, Spin3 Technologies. Case studies on the various sectors within the mobile industry, including mobile casino game wagering, sports betting and lotteries will be discussed, not to mention market research analysis in Asia.
Attracting the gambling industry’s best and brightest from around the world, the Asian i-Gaming Conference has become an ever-growing valuable avenue for making the most of the opportunities presented in Asia for Web entrepreneurs and online gaming operators. Increasingly liberalized on both the land-based and online fronts, Macau and the Asian betting sector are fast becoming the gambling capital of the world. Yes, that means I’m talking about you Las Vegas.
For more information on the Asian i-Gaming Congress and Expo, including instructions for registering, please visit aigcongress.com.
There’s more good news from the fronts of the online gambling industry’s regulatory landscape. Another licensing jurisdiction has set up shop - and this time it’s surprisingly not in the Caribbean (or in Costa Rica for that matter). Located approximately one thousand miles off the coast of Kenya in the Indian Ocean (Northeast Madagascar), the Seychelles island chain is the home of this brand new online casino licensor.
Under the Republic of Seychelles’ newly enacted Interactive Gambling Act, online casinos and betting sites can apply for licenses to legally operate real money betting services under the supervision of a Seychelles regulatory authority. While any company can apply for a license, an agent residing in Seychelles must be appointed on behalf of the licensee. Online gaming licenses are granted upon a strict screening and background investigation of all individuals connected with the gaming operation, as well as approval of the software platform.
Ongoing compliance with regulatory laws will require each licensee to undergo annual audits, while the regulatory authority itself will have the power to undertake investigations and enforce compliance with operators. In other words, what a gaming regulator should be doing to begin with. For anyone familiar with the key points of Seychelles regulatory guidelines, it should be obvious to see the protocols are derived directly from Australia’s gaming legislation.
So, what about this chain of coral islands called The Seychelles? Well, besides the fact that they truly beckon images of “paradise” with their tropical climate, blue waters and undeveloped, white beaches, the Seychelles is its own country with its own currency. In fact, Seychelles is the smallest nation in the world with its own currency. The only downer is that Seychelles is actually the most highly indebted country in the world. Per capita, the GDP sits at about 123%. I suppose you could say that makes the tiny self-sufficient islands even more deserving to tax and regulate online gambling. At least that helps explain the sudden move to begin regulating.
The good news is that the telecommunications industry in Seychelles is being liberalized in conjunction with online gaming regulatory efforts. The idea is to not only attract licensors, it’s to get some of the online casino operators to set up shop in Seychelles and create jobs and additional revenue for the economy. Hey, if it worked for Antigua & Barbuda, then why not, right?
Leading UK/Euro online casino, Virgin Casino, has announced their latest promotional giveaway (for the month of February), and let’s just say that if Tina Turner could get in on this promotion, she wouldn’t be asking, “What’s love got to do with it?”. Called “Valentopia Online”, Virgin Casino’s latest giveaway is all going down in the name of love.
For all you sweepstakes hunters out there, listen up, ’cause this one isn’t just about free bonus cash. Over the course of ten days in February, Virgin will be giving away Ј2,000 in Amazon.com cash vouchers. Beginning today, all players who wager Ј250 or more in a day will be entered into a draw for one of four Ј50 vouchers. Pretty simple, right? Especially if you were planning to do some gambling at the casino anyways.
Some things to keep in mind, ie., terms and conditions, is that certain games are exempt from meeting the Ј250 play-through requirement. These include all forms of Blackjack and Roulette, Craps, Baccarat and Multiplier. Furthermore, players are only allowed one entry per day, and these can not be carried over to future draws. In other words, if you don’t win a voucher one day, you will have to wager another Ј250 on the day of the next draw if you want to be entered again.
If you want my advice, brush up on your video poker strategy and hit up the online video poker machines. This will give you the lowest House Edge of any other casino game considering the exemptions placed on others.
Other February promotions at Virgin Casino include a 50% reload bonus up to Ј75 free at the top of the month, 10-20% cash back on losses and multiple match bonuses on deposits made on specific days of the month.
From the looks of it, players are definitely getting a good run for their money. The Recent Winners page on Virgin Casino’s website shows a steady stream of Ј7,000+ winners on games like Multi-Hand Blackjack, Three Card Poker and popular slots like Cleopatra II and Pyramid.
And if you do decide to sign up at Virgin Casino, don’t forget to rack up your V-Points, which can be redeemed for some very cool Virgin merchandise, like electronics, music and frequent flyer miles.
Read our Virgin Casino Review for more information…
Live dealer online gambling is thriving these days as more traditional online gaming providers expand their operations and services. Until now, a small handful of software developers and online casino providers, namely those under the Playtech brand, have offered a limited number of live dealer games. But as an increasing number of players begin to get wind of this innovative form of online gambling, more companies are beginning to offer live dealer solutions to their players.
No stranger to live dealer online gambling, MediaLive Casino has recently announced an apparent “first” in the live gaming sector. The Malta-based company says they are now hosting live Texas Hold’em Poker, and broadcasting the table action via webcams from its Malta gaming studio. On show at the recent International Gaming Expo (IGE) in London, MediaLive also announced they are working on developing more live dealer online casino games, including Chemin de Fer and Baccarat.
Also at IGE was the London-based Lucky 8 Ltd., which has apparently secured the first and only license (thus far) from the UK Gambling Commission to offer live dealer games via its website. Broadcasting live video feeds from its Birmingham card room, Lucky8 currently offers Baccarat, Blackjack and Roulette, which just so happen to be the three casino games most commonly offered by live dealer online casinos.
Playtech Software, for example, offers live dealer Baccarat, Blackjack and Roulette (as well as Sic Bo). Their selection of Baccarat games is especially impressive. In fact, Playtech was the first to offer VIP Baccarat via advanced video streaming technology. Complete with Baccarat score cards, real time game history feeds (on demand video playback and up to 3 shoe histories), Playtech allows Baccarat high rollers to tip the dealer, interact in live chat and “squeeze the cards” as they say. Equally impressive is Playtech’s selection of Baccarat variations, including 7 Seat Baccarat, Mini Baccarat, Progressive and Japanese Baccarat. To see them for yourself, OCS recommends the live dealer casino games at Golden Palace Casino.
I suppose its also worth mentioning that all the dealers are young, exotic, beautiful women. Obviously, the live online casino sector is catering to men, not to mention anybody who just doesn’t trust software platforms or who wants the closest experience possible to the real thing in the casino. And despite the higher operating costs on the operators end, more live dealer online casinos are going to be seeking larger crowds.
When it comes to playing slots on the Web, you would think that an online casino going by the name of VIP Slots would offer something unique in the area of slots action. Me personally, I would think that a large variety of different types of machines would be available, not to mention special slots bonuses and a comprehensive tournament schedule. And not to sound too cheesy and promotional, the bottom line is that VIP Slots Casino delivers on all fronts.
VIP Slots has been an approved online casino here at OCS for some time now. As it is our policy to constantly check up on approved sites and update our reviews with new and pertinent information, we more than did a triple-take when we saw VIP Slots most recent tournament schedule. In addition to their normal lineup of tournaments guaranteeing thousands in winnings every week, VIP Slots is currently hosting daily free roll tournaments (with $2 rebuys) that award the top ten daily finishers a free entry in VIP Slots’ March Madness tournament during the month of, you guessed it - March.
The tournament is actually being sponsored by EH New Ventures, which is the parent company of Vegas Technology Software’s most popular, longstanding online casino network. Consisting of a poker room and six online casinos, including English Harbour, Millionaire and Super Slots casinos (all reviewed and listed here at OCS), EH New Ventures is certainly hoping to draw up lots of traffic at its newest site - the aforementioned VIP Slots Casino.
What makes this tournament newsworthy is the fact that it is giving out an unprecedented $250,000 in guaranteed tournament winnings. The only other slots tournament to dish out more was the $500,000 World Series of Slots tournament hosted by Microgaming’s the Jackpot Factory (five distinct online casinos). The only catch, so to speak, was that since the Jackpot Factory is so popular (they were still open to U.S. players back then), there was a flood of players vying for their share of the tournament winnings.
And not to say that EH Gaming Ventures isn’t popular. In fact they have been one of the most popular online casino networks with U.S. players for some time now. Let’s just say that many players believe that Microgaming has gotten too big in some respects. As for March Madness, it will produce 5,625 different winners over the course of the tournament - one month. First place will take home $100,000; second place with nab $25,000; third place: $15,000, fourth place: $10,000; and so on down the line.
To see a full payout schedule and a listing of daily free roll tournaments taking place right now, Visit VIP Slots Casino.
Thirty computers seized
Police in Malaysia continued their anti-online gambling drive last week with a raid on an Internet Caf? in the Jalan Air Itam area.
A police spokesman said: “We have been conducting anti-gambling operations statewide over the past week. We are going after the syndicates and not those who gambled with friends.”
Thirty computers were confiscated in the raid, although there were no reports of arrests associated with the operation.