Online Casino Gambling

Industry-leading online payments processor, Quick Tender, has been catching some heat from American online gamers. The service is located in Europe by tends to numerous countries across the world. Lately, Quick Tender has received an increasing number of complaints from American gamblers and their affiliates for payments being delayed. Ironically, the funds had been withdrawn from Quick Tender’s bank accounts in a timely manner.

Highlighting the Service

The payment processor investigated the issue and released a press release as to why this occurred. The statement began by reminding the audience that Quick Tender has been a reliable and efficient payment processor to online gambling players for many years. The company further detailed that excellent service can be offset by “the vagaries of the US administration.” This is a reference to the actions the U.S. Government has taken against the payment processors for the online gambling industry.

A Free by U.S. Bank Accounts

Next, Quick Tender got right to the point stating that the processor has transmitted withdrawals to their account holders in the United States over the past several weeks. They reconfirmed the funds had left their European bank accounts. Quick Tender went on to report that these funds are accumulating in American bank accounts because the money is frozen. The financial processor believes the funds are subject to a seizure order by U.S. Authorities.

Temporarily Freeze Future Withdrawals

They further stated that their intention is to ensure account holder’s funds are safe and has decided to freeze future withdrawals until the frozen funds are released. The specific release says, “If we continue to transmit bank wires into the US we could find that these funds also do not reach their ultimate beneficiaries. This would simply make the problem worse.”

Clarification from U.S. Banks

Quick Tender ended the statement requesting its users to be patient while it acquires clarification from the U.S. banks. Meanwhile, the processor will continue to investigate its exposure and how it can safely restart withdrawals ensuring the funds will not be frozen. The company has excellent exposure to U.S.-based online gambling players and is fully aware of the ramifications of going against the U.S. Government.

This is the same type of situation that knocked many other online gambling payment processors out of the U.S. market. Hopefully, this does not have a major negative impact on Quick Tender’s reputation and they will continue to provide payment solutions to U.S.-based players in the future.

Colorado recently announced they have taken the initial step toward legalizing and implementing online gambling despite the continued fight at the federal level. The Denver Post recently reported that the Colorado Gaming Association had requested a study be conducted toward the decision to implement the online activity.  The study found that if the state does not act on this opportunity, existing commercial casinos will suffer.

Reasons for Adopting Online Gambling in Colorado

The commissioned report further stated that Congress would regulate and tax online gambling. Once that occurs, those that have not converted to online gambling would be eventually run out of business due to the cutthroat competition inherent to the industry. The report also cited several reasons for the adoption of online gambling in Colorado.

First, global online gambling consists of approximately 17 percent Americans. Second, the total revenue generated from online gambling by residents of the United States equates to $6 billion per year including, online casinos, online sports betting and online poker rooms. The recent crackdown of three online gambling websites has proven that it is not affecting the demand or necessity of implementing the activity.

Benefits of Online Gambling

Online gambling industry experts agree that land-based casinos consume too many resources, take up too much space and require too much labor per unit of revenue compared to the alternative. Also, online gambling websites require a small startup and continued maintenance costs.

Response from the Attorney General’s Office

The attorney general’s office in Colorado chimed in by stating that the activity is still illegal despite a specific statute. Therefore, the office will continue to prosecute online poker players for money-laundering statues. At the same time, Colorado does not maintain any ventures to press charges.

The Colorado Gaming Association

The Colorado Gaming Association also stated that the reason for the study was to be prepared for the eventual passage of online gambling while providing jurisdiction and allow those specific states to regulate it.

For many, this is a major step forward in the fight to legalization online gambling. Colorado could become an industry trail blazer along with Washington, DC which has already begun creating hot spots around the city. The online gambling fight is not one that is going to disappear as many other countries are thriving on the extra incoming generated from these entities and taxes on player revenues.

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act or (UIGEA) was passed by Congress in 2006 much to the chagrin of the online gambling industry. Many online casino executives took the act so seriously it restricted players from the United States without even reading the statute so as to abide by the law. The history of the law is tremendously short due to the fairly new concept of internet gambling.

Since 1998, Congress has attempted to pass anti-online gambling legislation. These efforts continued to fail due to the hurdles surrounding the law making process in the United States. Each year the bill was presented it was held up because of lobby groups each having their hand out. The result of this interference was Congress running out of time before the bill could be presented.

In 2006 the Republican Congress was fighting to segregate themselves from connections to online gambling lobbyist Jack Abramhoff who was surrounded by corruption and scandal. As a result, the party created the American Values Agenda which prohibited online gaming. The Agenda was led by Representatives Bob Goodlatte and Jim Leach.

They believed online gambling was removing billions of dollars from the American economy. Also, they stated online gaming was highly prone to fraud, national security, money laundering and various forms of theft. These angles attempted to deter Americans from participating in the activity.

Despite their claims, polls revealed American’s felt online gaming was a personal choice. In 2006, the Conservative Congress flipped to a Democratic Government. Despite this defeat, Republicans cleverly attached the UIGEA bill to a Homeland Security bill just before the power shift. Therefore, the bill was passed and online gambling was no longer legal in the United States.

The entire political environment in 2006 favored anti-gaming legislation in both Houses. In the summer of 2006 two bills were introduced by the House:

• The Leach Bill
• Goodlatte Bill

The Leach Bill attempted to halt electronic fund transfers to online casinos. The Goodlatte Bill expanded the scope of the Wire Act to include online casinos and poker rooms. This came about through a change in the terminology of the business of betting. The House eventually collaborated on a single bill that combined aspects from both bills.

The UIGEA is a tremendously important piece of legislation for the United States. Although the potential for reversal is always on the mind of gaming enthusiasts, this may never become a reality due to the strict guidelines set forth by this act.

The new American gambling resolutions have been pushed back once again, and the deadline for implementing the UIGEA is drawing ever closer. Many American online gambling advocates thought that 2010 would be the year that the U.S. finally rescinded the UIGEA and legalize regulated online gambling. Lately American gambling industry insiders, operators and fans are sounding a lot less optimistic, and now it looks like their neighbors to the north may get the job done before the U.S. government does.

The Canadian Gaming Summit is in Calgary, Canada this week and the online gambling industry’s leading officials have all gathered to talk about making Canadian online casinos a reality. While online gambling itself is not illegal in Canada – either explicitly or implicitly as it is in the U.S. – operating online gambling establishments inside the country is. Since online gambling is a $1 billion industry in Canada, even without Canadian sites, it’s easy to see how opening the door to native operators could be profitable for the country and some of its tech companies.

The Canadian government currently has a laissez faire policy toward offshore operators that does little to protect Canadian players. The Interactive Gaming Council, whose president is the lead speaker at the Summit this week, would like to see the government get more proactive about online gambling by attaching new regulations to any Canadian operating licenses. While profit potential is of course a driving factor, many Canadians believe that legalizing native operators would also offer security benefits to the large number of citizens that already play online.

Proponents of online casino licensing in Canada believe that the existing population of gambling citizens will be more likely to play at sites that they know are licensed and regulated by the Canadian government, and that the government can do more to fight the growing gambling addiction problem if it approaches it from the source.

Under the country’s current online gambling policy – or lack thereof – Canadian citizens are free to play what they like, where they like and when they like. The government has absolutely no involvement in the industry, regardless of how its citizens are affected. That means that Canadian players that choose a less than reputable casino and suffer from identity theft can expect no legal recourse via the Canadian government. It’s gamble at your own risk, but many citizens feel that it’s time for their country not only to claim its share of the revenue but to protect the growing contingent of online Canadian gamblers.

Grand Virtual Online Gaming Technology is a leading software provider in the online gambling industry.  In the business since 1997, the company has been an innovator from day one and never stopped making enhancements to its products.  What sets Grand Virtual apart from the competition is its commitment to flexible, highly scalable solutions that can be easily extended for future growth.  In simple terms, its software is able to accommodate a wide variety of casino operators and their ever changing requirements.  The company’s large number of international clients serves as a prime example being that each operator enjoys feature rich gaming systems that support multiple languages and currencies.   Considering the distinct advantage it has over the competition, it is no surprise that Grand Virtual casino games are used by millions of players in more than 200 countries around the globe.

Notable Qualities

Boasting an extremely high level of modularity, Grand Virtual gaming platforms are capable of supporting traditional and emerging models.  This includes innovative features such as skilled-based, chance-based, multi-hand, lotteries, progressive games, real-time and many others.  The software also supports a variety of client platforms, most notably personal computers, mobile phones, gaming consoles, and interactive TV systems.  Furthermore, Grand Virtual software is compatible with an array of multimedia and web development technologies for enhanced graphics and user interfaces.  These technologies include Flash, Active X, Shockwave, AJAX, Java, DHTML, and various streaming formats.

Key Components

Grand Virtual software is compromised of various components.  One is the Universal Gaming Platform, which consists of the back-end of the gaming infrastructure.   Based on the powerful Unix operating system, the platform enables the functioning of several related components.  These components include gaming servers, a game points manager, e-commerce engine, financial stored value manager, and central database.   It also includes a robust toolset that facilitates data mining, fraud screening, player support, and affiliate and partner programs.  Due to its flexibility and extensibility, the Universal Gaming Platform enables Grand Virtual software to support virtually all forms of online gambling.

Another important component is the Casino Client Software.  This platform is essentially a customizable gaming module that runs on Microsoft Windows operating systems and features a visually impressive 3-D casino floor.  The software allows operators to gives players the power of choice when it comes to selecting the types of games they play and how funds are transferred.  Players also have access to their transaction records and the ability to customize the audio and video effects of game play to their liking.   The Casino Client Software offers a variety of casino games including multi-player poker with 3D tables, selectable avatars, step-by-step tutorials, automated training rooms, and a wealth of promotional features.

Conclusion

The online gambling market is changing rapidly and the Grand Virtual software platform is perfectly suited for the evolution.  It has been strategically designed to support new modules for emerging applications and can be easily integrated into existing platforms.  Therefore, it is clear to see that Grand Virtual technology will not only power the industry today, but into the future as well.

It looks as is if the online gambling industry in France will be changing very soon as the country is on the verge of enacting a new legislation largely based on the successful models of the UK and other European nations.  One of the most important components of this legislation is to prevent problem gambling by setting fixed limitations on wagers among other measures.  In addition, gambling operators will be required to post warnings about underage wagering and the potential dangers of compulsive gambling.

The opening of the online gambling market in France will consist of sports betting, horse racing, and community games of skill such as poker.  At this point, it is believed that online slots games, lotteries and common casino games such as black and roulette will be excluded from the market as the French government considers them to have a higher risk of addiction.

French Gaming Authority

ARJEL, a new independent public gaming authority, will be established specifically to regulate the online gambling market.  This authority will be responsible for the following:

Making suggestions on requirements for different types of gaming licenses to the government.

Ensuring compliance for policies associated with internet accessible games.

Preparing and attributing requests for online gaming operation licenses.

Monitoring internet gaming operations and taking action against illicit gambling sites and fraudulent activity.

According to a recent report, ARJEL with be given the power to prevent access to illegal websites through a direct relationship with internet service providers, which will allow them to block financial transactions.

Operator Responsibilities

The new online gambling legislation will impose strict requirements on the operators that service French players.  These requirements include:

Operators must provide information and confirmation on their identification, shareholding, and experience in the gambling industry.  They are also required to take the measures necessary to secure online transactions, protect minors, and prevent fraud and money laundering.

Online gambling websites must be accessible via a first level domain ending in the “fr” TLD (top level domain).

Licensees must be located within the member states of the ECC and EU.  If any headquarters of operators or shareholders are based in jurisdictions considered as non cooperative tax havens, they will be refused the licenses needed to legally offer their services in France.

Possible Time of Implementation

With the implementation of the legislation known as the Draft French Gaming Law in the works, ARJEL will likely need more time to establish an efficient architecture for regulation and license distribution.  According to senior officials within the French government, France will not begin granting online gambling licenses until sometime until 2010.  In all likelihood, the Draft French Gaming Law will not be officially enacted on January 1^st as originally expected, partly because of the detailed opinion of the EU Commission rendered back in June.  For this reason, French government officials are expecting the online gambling market to open up for the launch of the World Football Cup in June at the very latest.