Posts Tagged ‘gambling’

The Canadian provincial government for British Columbia will announce a significant expansion of its online offering this week, regulating and legalising online casino games in a first for North America, the Vancouver Sun reports.

The newspaper says that Minister of Housing and Social Development Rich Coleman, who oversees the B.C. Lottery Corp., is expected this morning to announce 75 new online games for the corporation’s website, PlayNow.com.

The games will be broken into separate categories, including bingo, lottery, sports betting and casino games. The casino-style games are expected to include blackjack, roulette and poker, among others.

The B.C. Lottery Corp.’s website was taken down Wednesday, and a message on the site said both BCLC.com and PlayNow.com would relaunch as of noon North West Canadian time Thursday.

The online expansion follows a move by the B.C. Lottery Corp. last August to dramatically increase the weekly limit for players on PlayNow, bringing the cap to $9,999 a week, up from the previous limit of $120 a week.

At the time of that increase, the corporation raised the possibility of casino-style games going online, adding they may be designed so players could access them not only from computers, but also from portable devices, such as an iPhone, BlackBerry or iPad.

The corporation has previously said only registered members whose ages and addresses have been verified will be able to open an online account.

One of the benefits of expanding online gambling cited by government is to provide a provincially regulated alternative to private websites.

The new PlayNow website is expected to include visible links to support programs for people who may be seeking help with a gambling addiction or related problem. There will also be safeguards in place to ensure proper online security and reminders about responsible gambling.

According to the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch, gambling in B.C. generated revenues of about Cdn$2.52 billion dollars in 2009-10. After expenses, including prize payouts and other costs, government revenues from gambling for that year were about Cdn$1.07 billion.

The announcement also comes on the heels of news that the B.C. Lottery Corp. is working with other Canadian provinces to create what could become a nationwide online gambling network.

In May this year, a gambling consultant working with Atlantic Lottery said that organisation and Loto-Quebec would be launching a common online platform this fall, and that he expected other provinces to follow suit within about 18 months.

Loto Québec has since confirmed it is partnering with GTechG2 and Openbet in opening up online gambling operations later this year.

 The online casinos have gained the amazing popularity they enjoy nowadays for many reasons, variety of games offered being one of the most important. Any reputable online casino today will offer its customers all the essentials – from table games, such as blackjack and craps, to slot machines, keno and other specialty games. But one thing has been fact from the birth of the online gambling industry until present day – at the online casinos the slot machines are the king.

 It's true that blackjack does offer the best odds against the house and many of the online casino patrons regularly enjoy playing a few hands at the virtual blackjack table, but the lack of "multiplayer" gambling is really preventing the game being just as big of a hit as it is at the brick-and-mortar casinos. There is no way one can sit on at the online blackjack table with other people and experience the same result as it would at the local casino. But the lost machines online are just as fun and even more than their offline equivalent.

 Since the slots at the online casinos have the ability to utilize computer graphics and complex algorithms better than the slot machines at the land-based casinos, gambling at the slots online is truly an unmatched experience. Very complex and entertaining slots are available at the popular online casinos, such as "Crazy Slots", "Slots Plus" and "SlotoCash", all online casinos basing their theme around the most popular gambling game online. Big bonuses are being offered to players who choose to gamble at the 100+ different slots these online casinos offer, which is one more reason people today prefer the slot machines at the internet casinos over any other game, including video poker. In the end, who would not prefer to play a slot machine which not only offers amazing graphics, the chance to win big while wagering little, but also gives you the chance to win 15 free spins with 3x multiplier?

 The bonus feature is certainly the main reason the majority of the online casino customers prefer the slots over any other casino game. Take for example Cleopatra's Gold 5-reel 20-line video slot, which you can play at the Slots Plus online casino. You can not only win big from one of the payline combinations, but also win a free-spins which triple your winnings and you can accumulate the free spins during the bonus round virtually forever. And to top it off, there is a random jackpot – a lucky player gets a jackpot at random at least once a day. With big winnings on the line like those, no wonder the slots are still the king at the online casinos.

 

Readers, punters, journalists, internet entrepreneurs, casino tycoons, and everyone else, major developments, or perhaps more accurately, a major news update on wait for it… the proposed Australian internet filter and blacklist, in what has developed into quite the saga… Media Man and and Gambling911 probe the Aussie web and political space again. One of the faces has changed, but the Aussie PM is standing firm with Senator Stephen Conroy at the communications inc internet helm. Will 3 times revisited work a charm, or is it going to be 3 strikes and your out? (come election time in roughly 3 months say experts).

Ok, we admit it, news of the delay (and reworking of the proposed internet filter and related blacklisted) brought somewhat of a smile to our kisser, but the fact remains, the internet filter and blacklist is still on the agenda. Does anyone one seriously think the Australian government will catch serious criminals on the internet? Crims are understood to use either p2p (peer to peer), closed networks, or not use the internet at all.

Media Man has spoken to hundreds of people about the proposed internet filter and blacklist over the past three years or so, and the general belief is that its more a part of the government puzzle as to the control of information, monitoring who says and writes what, and you get the idea. In a world where there are video cameras monitoring citizens on the street, cross referencing faces aka "mug shots" (slang) to drivers licences, red light cameras, telephone listing devices ("bugs") – overt or covert, why would one be surprised that the Governments of the world want to more closely monitor, even largely control the internet. Former mayor of Minnesota and host of ‘Conspiracy Theories’ said it well. "The government wants to try to control the internet. Internet control is what’s next"!

Let’s take a closer look at what’s happening down under as we go to press…

Communications Minister Sen Stephen Conroy has apparently listened to widespread community and business concerns over his internet censorship policy and delayed any mandatory filters until at least next year. It’s perceived and his, but its largely in his portfolio, and under the Labour government. Conroy is not the PM (we hear the collective sigh of relief).

Entrepreneurs, academics, ISP gurus, political commentators, media company owners, publishers, humanitarians, the United States government and a cross-section of community groups have long said that the plan to block a secret squirrel "blacklist" of "refused classification" web pages for all Aussies was tangled with complexities such as for eg: blocked RC content could include innocuous material.

Having consistently ignored these concerns, Senator Conroy announced less than 12 hours ago that implementation of his policy would be delayed until a review of RC classification guidelines could be conducted by state and territory censorship ministers. This is not expected to commence until the middle of 2011.

Sen Conroy remarked "Some sections of the community have expressed concern about whether the range of material included in the RC category … correctly reflects current community standards. As the government’s mandatory ISP filtering policy is underpinned by the strength of our classification system, the legal obligation to commence mandatory ISP filtering will not be imposed until the review is completed."

As of time of publication many Aussie ISPs including Telstra Bigpond, Optus, and iPrimus – have pledged to block child-abuse websites voluntarily. The voluntary approach has long been advocated by internet gurus and experts, bringing Australia into step with other countries such as Britain.

"It will be just child porn, and that will be consistent with best practice in Scandinavia and Europe," Peter Coroneos, chief executive of the Internet Industry Association, said.

The government has not scraped the bastard mandatory filtering policy altogether, as it has now announced a range of transparency and accountability measures to address concerns about the scheme.

The List…(thank you to our friends at Fairfax Media who also supply Media Man newsfeeds)

an annual review of content on the blacklist by an "independent expert".

clear avenues of appeal for people whose sites are blocked.

content will be added to the blacklist by the Classification Board, instead of the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

affected parties will have the ability to have decisions reviewed by the Classification Review Board.

people will know when they surf to a blocked page as a notification will appear.

"The public needs to have confidence that the URLs on the list, and the process by which they get there, is independent, rigorous, free from interference or influence and enables content and site owners access to appropriate review mechanisms," Senator Conroy said.

One of Senator Conroy’s most vocal political critics (other than Media Man) is Greens party communications spokesman Scott Ludlam, who took the move by the government as a signal the detractors were winning their battle to have the policy altered more in line with what is supposed to be a society that respects privacy, freedom of speech, freedom of the press et al.

"A review of the RC is helping; that’s a good idea. I think the fact that ISPs are putting their own initiatives forward voluntarily is also helpful," Senator Ludlam said.

"(But) if we’re still pursuing mandatory ISP-level filtering then obviously we’re not there yet. All we’ve got today is a useful acknowledgment of some of the flaws in the system and I’m hoping that they take this period to reflect on the overall objectives of the scheme."

He disclosed even if the policy was narrowed to just child-abuse material, major issues remained, such as that the filters are easy to bypass and will not block even a fraction of the net nasties. There was nothing stopping future governments from expanding the blacklist to cover other types of content.

"I don’t interpret (the move) as killing it but I do interpret it as trying to neutralise the issue in the short term as far as the election is concerned," said Colin Jacobs, spokesman for the online users’ lobby group Electronic Frontiers Australia.

"They’re tinkering around the edges with the classification scheme without having a rethink around how you apply a system that was designed for books and movies to the internet."

The Safer Internet Group, which includes state schools, libraries, Google, iiNet, Inspire Foundation, Internet Industry Association, Yahoo and the System Administrators Guild of Australia welcomed the new approach the government was taking on cyber safety.

Google, which has seemed to have been at war with Senator Conroy over the policy, advised it was "heartened" to see the government had taken into account "the genuine concerns expressed by many" on the RC category.

"While we’re yet to see full details, a voluntary proposal by ISPs, limited to child abuse material, is consistent with the approach taken in many of Australia’s peer countries worldwide," Google Australia managing director Karim Temsamani said. In addition, "Our primary concern has always been that the scope of the proposed filter is far too broad. It goes way beyond child sexual abuse material and would block access to important online information for all Australians."

Simon Sheikh, chief executive of the online activist group GetUp!, said the delay on the mandatory filters was proof that the government had heard the voices of the hundreds of thousands of Australians prepared to vote on this issue.

"But a delay is not enough…the Government needs to announce that they will either scrap, or change the policy to an opt-in model, so that Australians themselves can judge how best to protect their children online. When it comes to protecting our children online we need investment in education, home-based filters and the federal police. These investments will better equip parents to protect their children at home, and better equip police to combat the issues at their source."

More Details…

iiNet is not currently involved in the voluntary filter but has not ruled out signing up.

An iiNet spokesperson said the ISP has yet to make a decision on the issue as it has not been clued in on the finer details of the plans.

"We haven’t seen details of what the Federal Government is doing today in terms of practicalities, technicalities and how it actually works," the spokesperson said.

The move contradicts the Minister’s statement made days ago that the filtering legislation would be introduced by November at the latest. According to the Senator Conroy, the Internet clean-feed will only block RC content which includes overtly violent material, child pornography and content involving bestiality.

A Media Man spokesman said "While the latest developments and announcements are welcome there’s still a number of other factors to consider. On good authority we under that the Australian government wants all Aussie ISP’s to track and keep record of their clients internet websites visited. One must ask the question… is that invasion or privacy or not. We know the answer. Furthermore, real criminals are not doing to be peddling kiddy porn of whatever on regular internet connections either, so what is this really all about… governments trying to control its citizens I might suggest, just as Jesse Ventura has been tipping off his American friends. Jesse went on record with ‘I will never commit suicide’, knowing that it might be easier for the U.S government if Ventura was not alive to alert his fellow citizens as to the Government ‘Big Brother’ and ‘Art Of War’ tactics. Read up also on Wikileaks, founded by an Aussie Julian Assange and also and Alex Jones who has the now famous tag line… InfoWars, Because There Is A War On For Your Mind!"

Online Poker, Online Casino Games, Poker Babes?…

It’s a wait and see situation as to what poker and gaming websites may get blocked. For the record, and some readers will know this already, both Media Man and Gambling911 are website portals, covering a range of sectors from gaming, gambling, poker, entertainment, technology and politics. Websites such as TMZ, The Daily Telegraph and The Sydney Morning Herald also cover gaming, gambling and sports betting, often having pro active advertising campaigns running and sometimes with editorials and Google advertising feeds and "sponsored links". The nature of the web is dynamic, so in theory website content, campaigns, links etc can be changed on almost a second by second basis. That makes for even more complex legal, technical and other aspects. Oh, Media Man has 10,000s of web pages cross dozens of websites and only probably has one set of tits…wrestling babes (and no private parts below), so MM is not an adult company either. Media Man is in fact in the Hitwise top ten (entertainment – personalities category), as has been for the past 7 years. MM also participates in dozens of affiliate programs across about a dozen business sectors, just one being gaming. Readers, get the point of how complex some of the elements are, as explained to Fairfax Media two months ago in a 30 minute interview.

Wrap up…

Did you enjoy your internet and political report? Be sure to check out some of the proxy websites (they are supposed to hide ones computer identification). Not that you would be visiting anywhere you shouldn’t be? We know… some lists are secret squirrel so how do you know.  Many folks just don’t like the idea of governments of the world monitoring their activities, which is fair enough. Some governments and defence forces also have equipment that can see through walls, and don’t forget about the satellites up in the sky! Google Earth is just the tip of the iceberg, as is internet monitoring. My fellow citizens, be vigilant and be vocal, as you have been over the years. The "war" has just begun. Punters, as always know the odds and keep it legal. Good punting and web surfing, and have fun.

Media Man Profiles

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Poker Babes

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*The writer is a special contributor for Gambling911

 

*Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company. Gaming is just one of a bakers dozen of sectors they cover. They also offer political commentary and analysis.

 

The Metro newspaper, a free daily newspaper that circulates widely throughout the UK, has launched an online casino. The casino is called ME casino and it’s a little different than your average online casino.

ME Casino has a decent selection of online slots, blackjack games, roulette, online poker, and scratch cards, as well as untraditional casino games like Bejeweled and Monopoly. In a unique way, the casino combines online gaming with the news. The toolbar at the top of the screen has sections for bingo, poker, an arcade and other online gambling games, but it also has sections for news, sports, music, crosswords and more.

The Metro’s online casino is powered by the GTech G2 software and is licensed in Gibraltar. While betting your money on your favorite games, all the headlines and stories you would usually find in the periodical are just a click away.

As the newspaper industry continues to collapse, periodicals are looking for innovative ways to raise money, since advertising and subscriptions are no longer paying the bills. I think this is a good idea. Maybe the New York Times should open up an online casino. Since they’re every bit the trashy tabloid that the Metro is (only without the nude spreads), it only makes sense. Maybe they can make an online slot where when you win, Paul Krugman is dunked in a tank or hit in the face with a pie. I know I would play that game. As long as they keep Maureen Dowd away from the strip poker table, we’ll all be fine. The only problem with the Times opening an online casino, though, is that it would be in conflict with their anti-capitalist principles.

Like the best online casinos, ME Casino offers welcome bonuses for new players, which in this case is a 100% match bonus on your first deposit. They also offer loyalty points and other things you would expect from any online casino.

I have not yet played any games at ME Casino, but if their games are as well-made as their news articles…well, let’s hope they’re actually better.

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