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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

Layout and Presentation

Slotland casinos do not try to overwhelm the player with glitz and glamor.  In fact, there is nothing fancy at all about its presentation.  All you will find when visiting a Slotland casino is an excellent selection of slots and video poker games.  The layout is compromised of well arranged rows featuring all the available slots and video poker options, making it easy to choose the game you want to play.  After making your selection, you simply register, fund your account, and start playing right from your browser, all without the hassle of a time consuming download.   If you are seeking quality online slots or video poker games and can do without all the bells and whistles that come along with the typical internet casino, a Slotland casino could be the place for you.

In-Game Graphics and Sound

In comparison to many other online casino providers, Slotland is lacking when it comes to replicating the visual realism of the land-based casino in the virtual world.  Because the vendor only specializes in slots and video poker, this is its sole focus.   With that said, the slots and video poker machines at Slotland casinos tend to have a more realistic look, sound and feel than what is currently offered by most other software providers.  The company also offers quality versions of their games for mobile platforms, opening up its technology to the market of players who enjoy wireless gaming.

Gaming Variety

Slotland online casinos offer an extensive assortment of slots games to keep you busy.  Some of its most popular slots include the extra bonus filled Lucky Stars, the action packed Slotris and the original favorite Golden 8.  All of its games contribute to the same progressive jackpot, which hits the six-digit market quickly.  The jackpot is usually cashed out every 40 days with one of the biggest winners taking home $163,000.  Slotland casinos ofeature some of the best video poker options around with options like Deuces Wild, the classic Jacks or Better and Striking Sevens as well as the increasingly popular Fourcast card prediction game.

Conclusion

Slotland casinos are not big on flare, but they do offer all the excitement an avid online slots or video poker needs.  Its software is easy to use and equipped with security features to ensure secure payment processing.  As a member of the Interactive Gaming Council, it is a vendor you can count on to deliver a safe and fair online gaming experience.

]]> http://onlinecasinospotlight.com/2009/09/slotland-entertainment-casino-software-overview/feed/ 0 http://onlinecasinospotlight.com/2009/08/what-is-ecogra/ http://onlinecasinospotlight.com/2009/08/what-is-ecogra/#comments Mon, 24 Aug 2009 18:49:41 +0000 gracechen http://onlinecasinospotlight.com/?p=143 eCOGRA (e-Commerce and Online Gambling Regulation and Assurance) is a non-profit organization that exists to ensure reliability and fair play in the online gambling industry.  While the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Act) is a legislation that stands against the regulation of internet gambling in the United States, the purpose of the eCOGRA is to establish the basis for what it considers to be high quality standards in the industry as a whole.  Working as an independent contractor, this body services all legitimate online casino operators throughout the world.

Recognizing eCOGRA

eCOGRA is perhaps best recognized by its Seal of Approval, which signifies credibility and excellence in the online gaming industry.  When out hunting for a casino, you will likely observer a number of sites that bear this official seal.  This particular honor is given to casino operators that meet a wide variety of criteria, such as providing adequate security for players, ensuring fair gaming and ultimately running a responsible business.  These operators are approved because they not only meet criteria of eCOCRA, but player standards as well.  Honest promotional offers, unbiased RNG (random number generators) and efficient payment processing all goes into approval requirements.

Resolving Matters Through eCOGRA

Choosing to play at a casino site that displays the eCOGRA Seal of Approval is something you want to consider.  Why?  Well, it is this simple logo that ensures your questions or concerns will be addressed accordingly.  Of course you should try to get your matters resolved through the casino first, but if they do not cooperate for whatever reason, rest assured that eCOGRA is a trusted body that will stand in your corner.  The organization, does however, ask that you allow time to pass, generally two weeks from the original report to work out a resolution.  For better service, it is advisable to provide eCOGRA with copies of all documents and correspondence to support your claim.  While it does not support any players you have been involved in questionable online gaming practices, if you have truly been wronged, this is the best ally to have on your side.

What separates eCOCRA from other independent regulatory bodies is the fact the it is not in the business for success or profits.  Instead, this organization is designed for longevity and to keep the industry fairly balanced.  Casino operators who earn its honorable seal agree to demonstrate their commitment to the both eCOCRA and the customer.  When choosing to play at a site approved by this reputable organization, you can relax a bit easier with the confidence of knowing your payments will be processed and distributed in a secure and efficient manner, and most importantly, that the site you are gambling on believes in fair play and will likely be around for some time to come.  If you are completely new to the online gaming experience, we highly recommend keeping your eyes peeled for the eCOGRA Seal of Approval.

You can find a list of approved online casinos on the eCOGRA website.

Similar to the United State’s UIGEA, the UK Gambling Act has always been a controversial matter and even more so in recent times.  Most of the chaos has been centered around the significant tax increase that is leading some of the country’s premiere gambling operators away from the UK.  Ladbrokes and William Hill are just two notable companies that moved their operations to the offshore locations of Gibraltar and Malta, regulatory jurisdictions where taxes are much cheaper and more in line with their competitive needs.  In addition to the issue of skyrocketing taxes, online gambling opponents are expressing concern that the UK Gambling Act is not doing its part to prevent compulsive and underage gambling.  Though many published reports attest these claims, the current state of internet wagering in the UK has given anti-gambling parties all the ammunition they need to stir up some noise.

For the most part, the concern of problematic and underage gambling is directed towards land-based casino gaming.  This is because UK Gambling Act passed in 2005 allowed the opening of numerous brick and mortar casino establishments.   However, the concern over higher tax rates seems to be the more glaring issue because it is specific to the UK’s online gambling sector. A number of UK bookmookers, prominent firm Will Hill included, are not thrilled about the recent happenings, stating that whitelisting allows the online casino operators regulated outside of the United Kingdom to unfairly reap benefits.   Their big gripe is that whitelisted companies are given the privilege to advertise their business in the UK., while not being subject to same regulations and most importantly, the same tax rates handed down by the UK Gambling Commission.  To make it simple, Will Hill and others are being forced to pay more than ten times in tax dollars as operators regulated in other jurisdictions.

When taking all these problems into account, it becomes clear to see that the need for the UK Department of Media and Culture to review the UK Gambling Act is well warranted.  This is especially true if the body wants to keep its most profitable gambling operators on UK soil.  As of this time, the study is projected to be completed later this year and lobbied to Parliament early in 2010 for further review.  This final review will determine whether or not the whitelisting of offshore online casino operators will simply be a temporary or freeze, or dropped altogether.

]]> http://onlinecasinospotlight.com/2009/08/uk-gambling-act-at-the-center-of-more-turmoil/feed/ 0 http://onlinecasinospotlight.com/2009/07/should-the-president-take-a-closer-look-at-online-gambling-regulations/ http://onlinecasinospotlight.com/2009/07/should-the-president-take-a-closer-look-at-online-gambling-regulations/#comments Wed, 08 Jul 2009 18:17:25 +0000 gracechen http://onlinecasinospotlight.com/?p=74 The major focus of Barack Obama’s presidency campaign were the issues of education, health care and tax cuts for middle class U.S. citizens.  Now the head of the state, the new President, is working diligently to make his campaign slogan become a reality – change.  Sure, Obama has a lot on his plate as there is no easy fix the damage that was years in the making.  With that said, it would be nice if he could take a look into another mess – the regulations of online gambling in America.

Billions up for Grabs

The online gambling industry is flourishing to say the least.  In fact, the market has globally generated more than four billion dollars in the past two years alone.  Keep in mind that these revenues were garnered with very little participation from the U.S., which has pretty much been isolated from the market since the implementation of the UIGEA in 2006, a legislation that some online gambling proponents are calling the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.  Observers are projecting that the online gambling industry will exceed $15 billion by 2012.  That is, with or without the participation of the U.S.  A recent study released by Price Waterhouse Coopers shows that the United States has the potential to rake in at least $8.7 billion and up to $17.6 billion in as little as 10 years.  That is, if Congress decided to legalize, tax and regulate online gambling.  The study hints that if all U.S. states got onboard, a whopping $33.9 billion in taxes would be collected over the next decade.  Considering the current economic state, this seems like a move U.S. lawmakers should seriously considering.

So, what is the United States Congress waiting for?  Well, in their defense, there are still a number of aspects that would need to be addressed in order for online gambling to be regulated in an effective manner.  Some of these issues include age verification to prevent underage gambling, policing rogue and black market casinos, and the fear of compulsive gambling among others.  However, just as the nation has done with the prohibition of alcohol, which actually shares many similarities with internet gambling including an economic crisis at the time, there is a way around these issues if U.S. lawmakers could just see the big picture.  Just as alcohol proved to be a lucrative business in the way of taxes, online gambling could be the same and breath life into an economy that is obviously struggling.

The Bottom Line

The factor of the matter is as simple as this: the UIGEA remains unclear to this day and was a terrible idea from the start.  Anyone looking at the situation with a clear head would agree that it needs to revoked and quickly.  While there may be bigger fish to fry in terms of health care, education and national security, it wouldn’t hurt for the Obama administration to take a closer glance at the state of online gambling and its potential as a huge generator for future tax revenues.  Alcohol prohibition proved that it can be done and because of that, sensibly regulating online gambling should be a heightened priority.