Posts Tagged ‘poker’

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 Gibraltar-based online betting and gaming firm 32Red has reported record revenues with total gross win of £7.8 million in the half-year to end-June (H1,2009: £5.8 million).

The performance was underpinned by good results at the company’s flagship operation, the 32Red Casino, which has continued to flourish in the first half of 2010.

Trading stepped up once again during H1,2010 with casino operations experiencing strong levels of performance across all disciplines:

• Gross win £6.8 million ( H1,2009: £5.2 million)
• Active casino customers 19,497 up 35% on H1,2009
• Casino player yield £353 (H1,2009: £360)
• New Casino players 12,289, up 26% on H1,2009
• Casino cost per acquisition: £86 (H1,2009: £89)

Poker revenue followed a general industry trend and was down 14% at £400,000 and Bingo revenue declined 3% to £100,000.

Management reported that the encouraging performance both in terms of player numbers and revenues reflects the effectiveness of marketing activities and supports the company’s belief in the strength of the 32Red brand, reputation and operational expertise.

32Red continues to take steps to protect its Intellectual Property Rights and litigation with William Hill remains ongoing with a trial date set for October 2010.

On 15th February 2010, the Company announced the acquisition of the assets of two European-focused online casinos, Nedplay and Golden Lounge, both purchased for nominal consideration. Both casinos have been fully integrated and have generated £500,000 in revenues from the period since acquisition up to 30th June 2010. Players of both Nedplay and Golden Lounge have responded well to direct marketing and the company is assessing the marketability of both brands going forward.

The group chief executive, Ed Ware, commented: “Our strong first half performance is particularly pleasing given the challenging economic conditions in the United Kingdom, which remains our core marketplace.

“We believe that the 32Red brand and its core values continue to provide us with the tools to penetrate the online and mobile casino market successfully.

“Another period of strong recruitment at reduced cost per acquisition rates since the end of 2008 gives us optimism for the prospects of the business going forwards.

“The group has further strengthened its balance sheet and, having repaid all outstanding bank debt, will increase marketing spend during the second half of the year. While the focus remains in the UK, the Board continues to monitor regulatory developments in Europe and the rest of the world with a view to expanding into new markets should attractive opportunities arise.’

 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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Portals

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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 third (Day 1c) heat for event 57, the $10,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em competition that is the main event of the World Series of Poker attracted the biggest field yet Thursday as 2,314 hopefuls signed up to play.

The signups bring the total number of players registered in the first three days to 4,928, with one more heat – Day 1d – still to be held. The current record for registrations at a WSOP Main Event is 8,773, set in 2006.

Last year’s champion Joe Cada made the shuffle and deal call for the day, immediately getting down to business himself.

11-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth chose Day 1c to make his now traditional fancy-dress grand entrance, this time masquerading as an MMA fighter with all the attendant hoopla. Unfortunately it did not stand him in good stead as he was eliminated in the poker action during the day.

Another big name casualty was Tom Dwan, who lost out on his last chance this year to win his first bracelet, and in the process reportedly saved many side-betters a bundle of money.

Day 1c saw a host of top players entering the venue, notably Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Annie Duke, Tom Dwan and his Challenge opponent Patrik Antonius, David Williams, Barny Boatman, Johnny Chan and Huck Seed.

The latter was just one of many poker aces to bite the dust during the day in a list that included Howard Lederer, David Benefield, Steven Begleiter, Ayaz Mahmood, Men Nguyen, Jerry Yang, Faraz Jaka, Dario Minieri, Jeff Madsen, Isabelle Mercier, Bill Gazes, Neil Channing, Chau Giang, Jeff Madsen and David Benefield.

Once level 5 was reached late night Thursday, tournament officials called it a rap and the 1,674 survivors of the day bagged up their chips. Leading the field was Mathiu Sauriol on 168,900, with former main event champion Johnny Chan his nearest opponent on 163,700.