The respected UK bookmaking firm Stan James is the latest client to join the client list of the UK skill games provider GameAccount. The multi-year deal enables Stan James' online customers to engage in playing GameAccount's market portfolio of online games including Gin Rummy; Multiplayer Blackjack; and Backgammon.

 

All GameAccount person-to-person skill games offer multi-table tournaments - a first for skill gaming - together with head-to-head cash games.

 

"Skill games broaden the demographic appeal of our online sportsbook offering, particularly relevant for southern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries where Backgammon is a cultural phenomenon," said Russell Young, Head of eGaming for Stan James.  "GameAccount was chosen after an exhaustive process investigating the potential for these emerging games, the experience of potential suppliers and the technical capabilities of their respective platforms."

 

Stan James becomes the first licensee sportsbook operator in 2008 to join the GameAccount Network following membership by other leading bookie firms like William Hill, BoyleSports, PaddyPower and Sportingbet Europe.

 

All GameAccount licensees enjoy the benefits of GameAccount's recent software upgrade which includes navigation enhancements for the games lobby, more information for tournament players and brand new side games. Players can now easily find and register for the next tournament to start and simply navigate between game tables. And for the first time in the skill gaming industry, players can launch side games from the game lobby without missing a moment of live person-to-person skill gaming action.

 

"We are delighted to welcome Stan James into our fast-growing Network, which has experienced explosive growth in player numbers and staking activity," said Kevin Dale, Chief Executive Officer at GameAccount.

 

"Our blue-chip corporate customers benefit from unique skill gaming software in attracting new players - reducing the dreaded churn and driving meaningful revenues comparable to poker. Gin Rummy, Backgammon and our unique Multiplayer Blackjack form a compelling suite of person-to-person games super-charged by the presence of new instant win side games to fill idle minutes. GameAccount is integrated with several sportsbook platforms including Orbis and Finsoft. Stan James is our third licensee sportsbook operator utilising the Finsoft sports betting software platform."

 

 

Top poker pro and Full Tilt Poker Team member Allen Cunningham is $499 162 richer this week after winning the three day World Series of Poker Circuit championship at Caesars in Las Vegas.

 

Cunningham outplayed his heads-up opponent Ben Fineman, who took home the second place prize of $257 637. This was despite a 3 to 1 advantage in chip stack in Fineman's favour going into the final tussle.

 

The competition attracted an entry field that sported many famous names in international poker, including Todd Brunson, Alex Kravchenko, Erick Lindgren, 'ZeeJustin' Bonomo, Ralph Perry, Blair Hinkle and Chris Ferguson, and going into the final table Cunningham was low on the chip count totem pole at 296 000 - well behind his ultimate heads up opponent Fineman who started with a chip count of 828 000.

 

 

Several online players hit into big money at online casinos over recent weeks, winning six figure amounts on both progressives and standard slots.

 

At the Playtech-powered Europa Casino, a Norwegian player using the handle SisselA was described as 'ecstatic' over a Euro 289 500 hit on the progressive jackpot, Queen of Pyramids. Sissel had been a member of the online casino for less than two weeks when she struck it lucky after wagering a mere Euro 2.25 bet.
 
In an interview with Europa Casino management, an Sissel said that she prefers to play at online casinos for convenience, privacy and security....and tends to stay calmer and more controlled when placing her bets.
 
Players at Europa have been fortunate lately with a number of big wins, including an extraordinary progressive hit on the Diamond Valley progressive by GuyJ. of Luxembourg who scored a major Euro 125 137 win on a stake of only Euro 5.

 

Later in the week, a 30-year-old unnamed player from Denmark won a remarkable Euro 323 578 in one day at Windows Casino.... all without hitting any progressive jackpots.
 
A press release from the casino reveals that the player is a relatively new arrival at Windows, who deposited Euro 110 and managed through good fortune to make it go a long way!
 
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like this,” Greg Gomez, the Windows Casino’s manager, opined. “This is one of the biggest wins we have ever seen at Windows Casino and certainly one that we will remember for many years”.
 
The lucky Dane achieved extraordinarily good results playing on a number of slots games: On 'Football Rules' he won Euro 224 000, on 'Desert Treasure' Euro 70 000 and by adding smaller wins from all the other slots games he played, he ultimately won in total a bank-boosting Euro 323 578 in prize money.

 

More males than females gambling online, and the biggest age group is between 18 and 34.

 

The UK Gambling Commission has released its latest independent study results, presented by ICM Research. The omnibus study was carried out via a sample of 8 000 adults between June 2007 and March 2008.

 

Key findings in the study are:

 

* Over the year to March 2008, 8.8 percent of the 8 000 adults surveyed said they had participated in at least one form of remote gambling in the previous month.

 

* Those participating in remote gambling remain more likely to be male than female, and are more likely to be aged 18-34.

 

* If those only playing National Lottery games remotely are excluded, 5.1 percent of respondents had participated in remote gambling.
* Overall, 6.3 percent of respondents said they had gambled remotely on the National Lottery/tickets for the National Lottery draw in the previous month.

 

* Remote gambling via a computer, laptop or handheld device was the most popular form of remote gambling (7.1 percent of all adult respondents), followed by gambling via mobile phone (2.4 percent) and interactive/digital TV (under 2 percent).

 

Still on the subject of surveys, the Gambling Commission has also announced that it has commenced planning for the 2010 British Gambling Prevalence Study - a key assessment of the UK business carefully analysed by industry practitioners in previous years.

 

The large-scale, nationally representative survey of participation in gambling and the prevalence of problem gambling in Great Britain will build on the two previous British gambling prevalence surveys carried out in 1999 and 2007. 
 
A Gambling Commission spokesperson said the project will be divided into three phases:
 
1)    pre-fieldwork: working with the survey steering group. The service provider will advise on study methodology and will design the study questionnaire
 
2)    fieldwork: the service provider will carry out the fieldwork, providing detailed reports on progress
 
3)    analysis and reporting: the service provider will provide detailed analysis of the findings, will draft the final report and incorporate peer review recommendations
 
Commission staffers plan to engage with academics and other interested parties who have expertise in gambling prevalence studies and have issued an open invitation for relevant persons to participate in a discussion on 17 June 2008 in advance of the tendering process. 
 
Interested parties are invited to contact Kati Virtaal Toohill at k.virtaaltoohill@gamblingcommission.gov.uk.

 

Director of Monitoring and Enforcement to leave Commission in July 2008
 
The UK Gambling Commission has announced the imminent departure of Andrew Lyman, a Director at the Commission responsible for Monitoring and Enforcement, who will be leaving shortly to take up a senior executive role with the Association of British Bookmakers (ABB).
 
"Having been involved in regulation for some years, I am looking forward to joining an organisation with a broad commercial focus.  This new role will provide an opportunity to develop my legal, negotiating and other skill sets in a challenging environment." said Lyman, whose remaining time with the Commission will be spent on internal project work, distinct from his current regulatory role. 
 
Gambling Commission Chief-Executive Jenny Williams said: “We are very sorry to see Andrew go but with his expertise and understanding of the Commission’s work he will continue to contribute to the promotion of socially responsible gambling in his new role at the ABB.”

 

Lyman's successor has yet to be named.

 

 

U.S. horse racing companies comfortable with their specially exempted online betting status in US legislation have apparently discovered some inconvenient facets of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act which has so effectively reduced competition by offshore firms.

 

The Boston Herald quotes gaming and banking industry experts as saying that horse racing fans looking to place online bets for the 134th Kentucky Derby this weekend may find their transactions blocked by banks and credit card companies trying to avoid running afoul of unclear federal regulations.
 
"Unless the government takes the responsibility of telling the banks which merchants they shouldn’t deal with, and when banks take the position that they are not going to process these transactions without guidance, all heck will break loose," said Tony Cabot, an attorney with the Las Vegas firm Lewis and Roca, which represents the Nevada Pari-Mutuel Association.
 
The Herald notes that advocates for the banking and online gambling industries, legal scholars and several members of Congress are pushing the U.S. Treasury, the Federal Reserve and the Justice Department to clarify whether a regulatory exemption in the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act that allows Internet gambling on horse racing could also mean that banks and credit card companies would be penalised for processing the money from those wagers.
 
Under the law, passed in 2006 as part of the SAFE Port Security Act, the nation’s banks and credit card companies are prohibited from accepting payments for some online bets or wagers. However, the financial institutions are largely left to figure out which gambling transactions are illegal and block payments.
 
Financial institutions say this unfairly puts them in the position of trying to decide what’s legal with little clear guidance from the federal agencies responsible for implementing the rule.
 
Until the federal agencies issue better guidance, some financial service companies may refuse to handle any online gambling transactions, said I. Nelson Rose, a law professor at Whittier College in Costa Mesa, California. "The problem is that in some states online gambling is legal, in others it is not and in still other cases the question depends on where the bettor is, where the gaming operator is and what form of gambling is taking place," Rose told the newspaper.

 

The Herald recaps recent Congressional hearings and requests from federal officials for comment on implementing regulations designed to underpin the UIGEA. Over 200 responses were received and are still being considered by federal drafters. On the hearings front, many witnesses across the spectrum of those involved in the process were sharply critical of the law, which they called vague and costly for financial institutions to implement.

 

One of the most common complaints is that the rules fail to sufficiently define key terms, leaving financial institutions to figure out how to comply, said Congressman Luis Gutierrez.
 
"For example, the regulation fails to adequately define what constitutes ‘unlawful Internet gambling’ or ‘restricted transaction,’ yet requires the financial institutions to make a determination on their own about what is lawful or unlawful," Gutierrez said.

 

Also noted by the Herald are the current IGREA legislative attempts led by Congressman Barney Frank to legalise and licence online gambling, and a more recent move in concert with Congressman Ron Paul to halt federal drafters from further work on the now long over deadline regulations.
 
House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers and Rep. Chris Cannon took former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to task in a letter last year for the UIGEA's ambiguity on which states should block online horse gambling transactions. They still await a definitive reply.

 

In response, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski said then (and the Department of Justice has since reiterated that) "...while the UIGEA requires that the regulations be issued ‘in consultation with the attorney general,’ the Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve have the primary responsibility for drafting the regulations, and therefore we would defer questions concerning the timing or the scope of the regulations to those parties."

 

Irish eyes and fortune are smiling on 33 year-old Ulsterman
 
33-year-old Marty Smyth of Ulster in Ireland scooped $250 000 this week after winning the PartyPoker.com World Open IV in London, truimphing over 72 other entrants in the $8 000 buy-in event that generated a total prize pool of $576 000.  The final table line-up was impressive to say the least, and included Neil Channing, recent Manchester GUKPT winner Marc “Mr Cool” Goodwin, Andy “The Spider” Ward, Dixie Dean and Ryan Fronda. 
 
“I’m delighted and very proud,” said Smyth, who won the 2007 Irish Open and has made the final table in the Poker Million the last two years. “With the way Neil (Channing) is running at the moment he was the last person I wanted to take on heads-up. I hope this sparks a run for me as good as his! I’m so happy to win the trophy and the money will come in handy for Vegas.”
 
Smyth's heads-up opponent was Neil Channing, who has been on fire in recent months, taking Marty’s Irish Open title in January and leading Great Britain to victory in the PartyPoker.com Poker Nations Cup as well as other impressive results. He also looked the most likely winner to everybody. As well as playing some majestic poker, the man they used to call ‘Bad Beat’ was getting cards when he needed them.

 

“I thought it was my day,” said Channing. “I believed during the final table that if I didn’t win this I would be disappointed and I am. That said, it would have been a bit ridiculous if I managed to take down this title as well!”
 
Channing went into the heads-up with Smyth leading 995 000 to 405 000. Many thought the writing was on the wall but Smyth clawed his way back and in an epic heads-up that lasted as long as the rest of the heat before it, the Ulsterman drew level making it an even match at 700 000.

 

Many started to fancy Smyth but were convinced that perhaps it was too much to overcome the “goldenballs” of the European poker circuit. However, the Irishman wore Channing down and eventually all the money went in the middle. Channing flat called in the small blind with 9h 9c, Smyth came over the top with Qc Qs. Channing pushed all-in and Smyth called. The board 10s 5d 2d Kh Kd brought no help and the PartyPoker.com World Open IV had itself a very popular winner.

 

Channing earned a useful $100 000 for his second placing.
 
A PartyPoker.com spokesman said: “It would be fair to say that Marty was an extremely popular winner. He’s done European poker a favour by derailing the Channing bandwagon, but make no mistake he is one of the finest players on the circuit at the moment.”
 
Eddie Hearn, Director of Matchroom Sport said: “This was without doubt the strongest field we have seen at the PartyPoker.com World Open and the players certainly didn't disappoint. The standard of play was simply stunning throughout and Marty was a deserved winner. The PartyPoker.com World Open is now firmly established as one of poker’s major titles.”
 
The event featured a top class field led by ‘Ambassador of Poker’ Mike Sexton and included Dave “The Devilfish” Ulliott, Juha Helppi, Theo Jorgensen, Ian Frazer, Roberto Romanello, Jon Kalmar, Thomas Bihl, Surinder Sunar, John Tabatabai, Christoph Haller, Jan Peter Jachtmann and Liam Flood. Coverage of the Matchroom Sport organised event will be broadcast on Channel 5 in the UK later this year and will be fronted by Jesse May. Last year, 45-year-old former Sidcup betting shop owner Anthony Hardy triumphed over a final table that also featured Ian Cox, Ram Vaswani, David Rudling, Ian Frazer and eventual runner-up Ian Woodley. The winner in 2006 was Pippa Flanders, while in 2005 Lee Nelson won the inaugural event.
 
The winner of each of the 12 heats progressed to the semi-final stage, and, for the first time in the event's history all was not lost for the runners-up on the table as they battled it out for the remaining two semi-final spots in “last chance” turbo heats. The two unlucky players who missed out on the bubble for the final table were Simon Craig and Andy Greekfish.

 

 

A new automatic invitation list to play in one of poker's premier televised tournaments - the NBC National Heads-Up Championship - is was released this week, providing a tourney with increased expert participation and viewer interest.

 

Now four years old, the championship generates so far unsurpassed poker television viewerships, with the likes of Phil Hellmuth (2005), Ted Forrest (2006), Paul Wasicka (2007), and Chris Ferguson (2008) the top stars so far.

 

According to a release from the NBC, the automatic invitation list will be used for the 2009 spectacular and will be structured as follows:

 

* Previous 5 National Heads-Up Poker Champions

 

* Previous 2 National Heads-Up runners-up

 

* Defending National Heads-Up semifinalists

 

* Any player who cashes in the past 4 consecutive years of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship

 

* Previous 3 World Series of Poker Main Event Champions

 

* Defending World Series of Poker Main Event runner-up

 

* Beginning with the 2008 WSOP, multiple bracelet winners in the same year will receive an automatic invitation to the next Heads-Up Championship

 

* Defending World Series of Poker Player of the Year

 

* Defending World Series of Poker Heads-Up Champion

 

* Defending World Series of Poker Europe Main Event Champion (21 or older)

 

* Reigning World Poker Tour Player of the Year

 

* Reigning Monte Carlo European Poker Tour Grand Final Champion (21 or older)

 

* Reigning Card Player magazine Player of the Year

 

* Reigning Bluff magazine Player of the Year

 

* Reigning ALL IN magazine Player of the Year

 

* Online and NBC qualifiers (1-3) (must be 21 or older)

 

* 2 x host venue qualifiers (2)

 

Players receiving an invite to the event are still required to buy-in for the full entry fee, unless they win a seat through an online qualifier.

 

 

The popular online information and news site ZDNet's latest US statistics for February and March 2008 indicate a growing interest in online gambling, currently showing the third largest percentage monthly increase.

 

The Radio Entertainment category showed the largest visits growth from February to March 2008 with 27 percent, followed by Gay and Lesbian (albeit at very low actual numbers) at 26 percent and Online Gambling at 14 percent - an interest in March to 12 592 from 11082 the previous month.

 

The only other category showing growth over 10 percent was Retail Health Care at 12 percent.

 

ZDNet also notes that the top five search engines for March 2008 were:

 

* Google with 58.7 percent of market share and a year-on-year growth of 25.5 percent.

 

* Yahoo! which was in negative year-on-year territory at -4.5 percent but still holds 18.1 percent of the search business.

 

* MSN showing impressive year-on-year growth of 36 percent to command a market share of 12 percent.

 

* AOL which lost Y-o-Y growth by -19.4 percent and now has a 4.1 percent market share.

 

* Ask.com tops the list in terms of Y-o -Y growth of 52.4 percent and now has around 2.4 percent of the market.

 

Other items of current Web interest on the informative ZDNet site include the fact that 68 percent of searchers click on entries in the first page of search results, 59 percent of Internet users make use of social media to vent on customer care issues, and Web 2.0 spend will reach $4.6 billion by 2013.

 

 

The Swedish online gambling turnkey provider and games developer Net Entertainment is off to a good start to 2008, with positive Q1 results showing improvements in sales, profits and margins.

 

Highlights of the interim report released this week include:

 

• Net sales increased by 27 percent to SEK 42.8 million.

 

• Operating profit increased by 35.1 percent to SEK 16.9 million.

 

• Profit after tax increased by 34.4 percent to SEK 15.4 million.

 

• Net profit margin was 36.1 percent, up 2 percent on previous quarter.

 

• Operating margin was 39.6 percent.

 

• 4 new license agreements for the firm's CasinoModule system were signed.

 

• The company received a pilot order for its CasinoCafé 'kiosk' system.    
 
Johan Öhman, CEO of the company said: "Net Entertainment achieved strong development in the first quarter, with a 27 percent increase in net sales over the same period in 2007 and a 17.7 percent increase over the previous quarter.

 

"Profitability continues at a healthy level and the operating margin rose to 39.6 percent for the quarter. Growth is being driven by the generally strong growth in the market, successful new games and new customers opening a number of casinos in the quarter.

 

"Net Entertainment continues to make good sales progress and four new licence agreements for CasinoModule were entered into during the quarter. One of the agreements is with leading Internet operator, Bet-at-home.com. In addition, a pilot order for CasinoCafe was secured."

 

Ohman went on to reveal that during the quarter, Net Entertainment has pursued its recruitment drive in order to strengthen the organisation and reduce its dependence on consultants. The company has also started the development of contracts in the Ukraine in a bid to accelerate the pace of development and to increase cost efficiency.

 

The company plans to switch to the Swedish small cap exchange, hopefully in the thrid quarter of this year, and Ohman revealed that Net Entertainment's Board of Directors is to file an application to move its exchange listing to the OMX Exchange in Stockholm. The transition to a different exchange will increase investor awareness in Net Entertainment stock and likely its liquidity.

 

Ohman predicts that the online gaming market will continue experiencing positive growth, benefiting the company through the organic growth of its current licensees.

 

"Our highly competitive product portfolio and continuing focus on the development of new, innovative games also present us with excellent opportunities for entering into agreements with new customers," he said.  "I am convinced that our healthy order book, strong product portfolio and brisk pace of development provide us with excellent opportunities for continued profitable growth."

 

Ohman revealed that the second quarter indications point to a strong start for Net Entertainment, too, with strong developments in the sales pipeline.

 

 

Jez San's burgeoning PKR.com online poker company scored another marketing coup over the holiday weekend when it laid on a night of glam, glitz and celebrity by hosting an afterparty for the attendees of the Professional Footballer's Association Awards.

 

The initiative is another interesting involvement by an online gambling company in events in the wider sport and entertainment worlds following Full Tilt Poker's recent marketing partnership with the World Series of Golf (see previous InfoPowa report)

 

Held in London's plush Albannach restaurant in Trafalgar Square, the PKR.com team served up fun poker and casino room action for the star-studded guest list.

 

Celebrations continued well into the wee small hours of the following morning at the invite-only after party. The blackjack and roulette tables, along with a private poker room were extremely popular, with prizes ranging from free cash to spend at PKR Casino.com to personalised, luxury poker-chip sets.

 

Partygoers at the bash included high profile Premiership stars Micah Richards, Jermain Defoe, Carlton Cole, Jimmy Bullard, Anton Ferdinand and the entire Fulham first team. There were also appearances from rugby legend Martin Offiah, as well as numerous celebs from the world of TV and music.

 

PKR.com added to the glamour factor with their own spectacularly costumed ‘team’ of eleven beauties in PKR football kit.

 

Lucky online regulars at the PKR poker website were treated to complimentary tickets, allowing some lucky football fans a golden opportunity to rub shoulders with some of The Beautiful Game's elite.

 

Marketing Manager Erika Schwartz said, “It was a great evening and a fantastic opportunity to introduce our brand to some influential people as well as reward some of our loyal players”.

 

 

Las week's report in the Las Vegas Review-Journal (see previous InfoPowa report) that Senator Jon Kyl was growing impatient with the protracted drafting process on regulations to support the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act elicited a tart response this week from the Poker Players Association.

 

The Las Vegas director of the PPA, Ken Illgen minced no words in his letter to the LVRJ editor, saying: "Frankly, the confusion regulators are dealing with as they develop the regulations to enforce the law is a direct result of how this act was written and sneaked into a must-pass port security bill in the dead of night, allowing no time for review and debate."

 

Illgen goes on to point out that one of the most egregious flaws in the bill is that it does not define "unlawful Internet gambling" clearly - something that the legislators trying to make Internet gambling unlawful should have included.
 
"This law is clearly unworkable, as regulators, bankers and several members of Nevada's congressional delegation have publicly stated," Illgen concludes. "To truly place checks and balances on Internet gambling, Congress should look to existing legislation that would seek to regulate online gambling in order to protect children and problem gamblers and collect the billions of dollars in lost tax revenue from these transactions.
 
"Let's not blame regulators for struggling to enact this flawed and ambiguous bill, and [instead] start looking for workable solutions to truly regulate this growing online industry.

 

 

The World Series of Poker timeframe represents a unique publicity opportunity where world interest is focused on the game of poker, and the one million members strong Poker Players Alliance intends to exploit it.
 
The organisation announced this week that it will launch a voter registration effort during the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas, which begins May 31 and runs through November, with the aim of rallying support for reversing or blocking federal and state laws that prohibit gambling on online poker.

 

The campaign is centred on the slogan "If you play, have a say," with messaging and strategy developed by the Herald Group, which is also providing media outreach and other tactical communications support. PPA has already launched a Web site, www. poker-2008.org, where players can download forms and get information on voter registration.

 

Outreach timed for the 39th annual poker series will include speaking with trade magazines; posting comments on the online poker message boards where players discuss poker strategy, legislation, and other issues; running online, print, and possibly TV ads; and posting videos featuring top poker pros on social networking sites, such as Facebook and You Tube.

 

Formed in 2005, the PPA is flourishing, thanks to funding from individuals and Canada-based industry trade group Interactive Gaming Council, according to PPA executive director John Pappas. Membership was further enhanced by the 2006 passage of the Unlawful Gambling Enforcement Act, which, among other things, bans online gambling financial transactions, he added.

 

"Out of this has sprung a political constituency that [we've] tapped into to influence public policy in Washington," Pappas said. "And we've found that one of the best things we can do is not only lobby members [to] send letters to members of Congress, and attend town hall meetings, but get players registered and active on election days."

 

The PPA is encouraging members and other players around the country to support legislation currently proposed like Congressman Frank's IGREA, that would regulate online gambling to prevent play by minors or "problem" players.

 

Outreach during the WSOP, which annually attracts tens of thousands of players and is broadcast on ESPN, will include a booth and online terminals for registration, advertising, and still-to-be-determined public events.

 

 

The handle 'ZeeJustin' used by top Internet poker player Justin Bonomo (22), is recognisable to most online poker players and could become more so following his agreement to join the professional player list at online poker site Bodog Poker.

 

The young pro joins David Williams, Evelyn Ng, Josh Arieh and Jean-Robert Bellande on a team with big ambitions that include an appearance at this year's World Series of Poker.

 

In a statement released by Bodog, Bonomo said: "I'm extremely excited about joining the select ranks of Team Bodog pros and becoming an ambassador for the Bodog brand alongside David, Evy and Jean-Robert. I know each of them personally and I have tremendous respect for each of them."

 

Bonomo added that he was ready to start his team involvement by playing online against players around the world on the Bodog virtual poker tables, and that he hoped for a big win and a gold bracelet at WSOP 2008.

 

The young poker professional has done well in his short but successful career, which started online and developed into land tournament achievements of note, with numerous cashes in WSOP, WPT and EPT events. He made the final table of the 2007 $2 000 No-Limit Hold'em event, as well the 2005 EPT French Open and the 2007 Caesars Palace Classic. His most recent success was a fifth place finish in the 2008 World Series of Poker Circuit at Caesar's Palace, which boosted his bank balance by $69 594.

 

Morris Mohawk Gaming Group, which now handles the North American operations of Bodog, announced Bonomo's involvement, with CEO Alwyn Morris saying: "Justin is one of the most feared and skilled players in poker today and we're thrilled to officially have him join our team of world-class poker pros. We expect him to make a lot of noise this year for Team Bodog, beginning with the WSOP this summer."

 

 

Matthew Hilger, poker author, poker publisher, and poker pro, won the Full Tilt Poker $750 000 Guaranteed Poker Tournament over the holiday weekend, pocketing over $132 000 for his first placing. The win topped an rewarding tournament record this year, with 9 entries that yielded 3 top 100's, 2 final tables, and finally the big win.

 

Hilger now has his eyes set on the 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP), where he has cashed three of the last four years in the main event and nine times overall.

 

Hilger became closely associated with Internet poker when he released his best-selling book, 'Internet Texas Hold'em'. Following the book, he created an online community, visited poker forums and read strategy articles to get exclusive poker bonuses. Hilger is a contributing writer to Card Player Magazine, has been featured in magazines and periodicals including the Wall Street Journal, All-In, and the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, and serves on the board of directors for Colombianitos, a charity that helps disadvantaged children in Colombia.

 

This year will hopefully see the release of several new poker books, and the development of websites from his company Dimat Online.

 

When asked if this would affect his WSOP plans, the energetic poker pro said, "I definitely feel more ready than I ever have [been] as I have played a lot more online in the past year so I won't be rusty going into the WSOP. I must also say that working with [online players like] Rizen, Pearljammer, and Apestyles on the poker hands book has been helpful in simply being able to talk with these guys on a regular basis as well as learning a few tricks here and there by reviewing their manuscript."

 

 

The Isle of Man based and London listed online gambling software developer Playtech plc turned in another record quarterly performance this week, showcasing record Q1 2008 revenues of US$39 million - an increase of 97 percent on the US$19.8 million achieved in the same period last year, and a 19 percent rise on US$32.7 million on fourth quarter 2007 revenues.

 

In terms of percentage increases, online poker operations was the star of the show with revenues totalling US$ 11 million, a remarkable 161 percent annual improvement on the US$4.2 million recorded in 2007 and a quarter on quarter rise of 17 percent.

 

Online casino revenues grew 79 percent to US$27.2 million on last year's US$15.2 million, and were up 19 percent on the last quarter of 2007. 

 

“This has been an outstanding quarter for the group, registering impressive month on month revenue growth," said Mor Weizer, chief executive of Playtech.

 

"The addition of new licensees during the period and the anticipated full roll out of the new Asian P2P games and Flash Poker mean the group is well positioned to grow in Q2 and beyond. The group continues to pursue significant business opportunities across all the regulated markets and the Board is highly confident regarding the group’s trading performance for 2008 and beyond.”

 

Operational highlights included:

 

* The iPoker network becoming the largest non-US poker liquidity pool worldwide

 

* Nine new licence agreements and the soft launch of Asian peer-to-peer games during the quarter, with full roll out expected in the next three months.

 

* The development of a Flash poker product was completed and will launch in the third quarter of the year.

 

* The company has also initiated a “homologation process in various regulated jurisdictions”.

 

* Strong pipeline of potential licensees with the signing of three new licensees. The Group expects to sign additional new licensees during the year which should further strengthen its revenue generation in the future.

 

* Playtech will further support its future growth with the addition of new products    

Current trading during April was up 9 percent on first quarter activity levels and the licenses and new product pipeline and momentum was continuing apace, with two new licensees signed in Q1 a company statement revealed.

 

 

The Isle of Man based online gambling software provider, Microgaming has signed three new licensees to the Microgaming Poker Network. JenningsBet.com, Sunderlands.co.uk (sunderlands.eu) and Eurofootball.bg are all expected to go live over the next few weeks, according to a company press release.

 

The announcement follows an impressively outstanding response to Microgaming’s recently revamped poker software – a more flexible and intuitive software upgrade, designed to get players to the right tables faster.

 

JenningsBet.com, the online arm of JenningsBet, is one of the UK’s most established bookmakers, with over 70 licensed betting offices across southern England, Jersey and the Isle of Man.

 

Sunderlands.co.uk has been providing its betting services to UK punters for over 60 years – making it one of the oldest and most trusted in the industry.

 

Eurofootball.bg is Bulgaria’s largest bookmaking operation with over 800 shops and twelve casinos to its name.     

 

Roger Raatgever, Microgaming CEO says, “We are delighted to be announcing three new additions to our popular Poker Network, following a period of extremely positive feedback regarding our latest poker software upgrade. All three operations are extremely well respected in their markets, with solid heritages in either betting shops or online and telephone sports betting.”

 

 

Martin Higginson, the energetic entrepreneur and CEO of the UK interactive television gambling firm NetPlay made another shrewd move this week, acquiring Sky Channel 848 as a stablemate for the already purchased 847. The new channel will be used for the launch of the company's new blackjack product "Live BlackJack," scheduled to air at the end of this (May) month.

 

A statement from the company said the deal was agreed with previous owners Hollywood TV Ltd for a consideration of GBP 475 000, to be funded with 2.375 million NetPlay shares at 20 pence each.

 

“This is another key milestone in the evolution of our business," said Higginson. "Blackjack is the most popular game in traditional casinos and as such it was a natural progression for us to launch a “live” TV version of this popular game. Having a dedicated channel next door to our successful “Live Roulette” channel on Sky 847 makes perfect sense, allowing our customers to easily flick between channels depending on which game they want to play."

 

 

Seven more online gambling companies find themselves undergoing the unwelcome patent attention of Dr. Scott Lewis and his 1st Technology company this week, with the costly Bodog dispute apparently at a stalemate.

 

The St. Louis law firm Simon Passanate has filed patent enforcement suits on behalf of 1st Technology in the Eastern District court of Missouri, citing four Costa Rican, two Norwegian and one Netherlands Antilles companies, according to a report from the online gambling information portal Gambling 911.

 

The companies were named as Digital Gaming Solutions SA, Costa Rica International Sports, Action Poker Gaming Enterprises and SBG Global in Costa Rica; Playsafe Holding AS and eCom Enterprises in Norway and Digital Gaming Network, Ltd., in the Netherlands Antilles jurisdiction.

 

As was the case with Bodog and an earlier and now settled case against Sportingbet, the plaintiff alleges infringement of the 1st Technology US patent 5 564 001, issued in 2001 and entitled “Method and System for Interactively Transmitting Information Over A Network Which Requires Reduced Bandwidth.”

 

According to the 911 report, the plaintiff seeks an immediate halt to further patent infringement, treble damages and the impoundment and destruction of all infringing products.

 

Anthony G. Simon, representing 1st Technology commented: “1st Technology is a leading technology licensing company that invests considerable resources in developing its intellectual property and is dedicated to protecting and enforcing the same.” Simon's law firm has an impressive track record in intellectual property actions.

 

Dr. Lewis, who heads up 1st Technology, told 911: "Our initial goal here, as in all of our cases, is to reach swift and fair settlements that respect our intellectual property rights for companies with U.S. facing operations and utilize our patents...if we are unable to reach a swift resolution of the dispute, we move forward quickly and apply all of our resources to enforce all of our U.S. legal rights."

 

Dr. Lewis and his company have been embroiled in a long running and bitterly acrimonious dispute with the Bodog group and its erstwhile CEO Calvin Ayre in recent months (see previous InfoPowa reports) following the award of a $48 million default judgement against Bodog and the confiscation of its domains, forcing an extensive re-branding exercise by the online gambling group. Ayre has consistently claimed that service of the court documents was not effected.

 

 

The patent infringement suits filed in a Missouri district court by 1st Technology this week against seven more online gambling companies (see previous InfoPowa report) has already triggered extensive Internet blog comment, including some interesting observations at Covers.com.

 

Poster Freedom@stake, who appears to have some expertise in the intellectual property field, observed that by concentrating on mainly offshore casinos, 1st Technology has shrewdly targeted managements that may have reasons not to visit America, adding a level of complexity to "...a defense which the outdated American patent system already makes pretty difficult."

 

The poster goes on to explain that the [US] system is set up very much in favour of the patent-holders, and "defending a suit can get very expensive in a hurry."

 

"A company can easily get wrongfully included in a patent suit, and still have to spend $100K or more just to get their name taken off the suit - and there is zero hope for a return of court costs," the poster observes, before informing readers that patents are only applicable in the countries in which they are filed.

 

"However, as the Bodog situation proved, that doesn't mean that foreign companies can simply ignore any lawsuits and be damned with the results," he cautions.  "As Bodog learned when it lost its domain to 1st Technology, there are many ways in which compensation can be applied. Furthermore, many countries have treaties where legal judgments entered in one country can be enforced in others.

 

"So, no matter where you are, you still need to file a defense, no matter how much of an expensive nuisance it is," Freedom@stake concludes.

 

 

Further evidence of the popularity of the Net Entertainment online casinos system Casino Module was shown this week by licensing agreements with another two new licensees - Happybet Ltd. and Simbat Entertainment Systems Ltd.    
 
A statement from Net Entertainment revealed that Happybet is one of Europe's largest betting shop operators, with well over 350 betting shops throughout the European Market. Having a substantial base of loyal players, Happybet now intends to re-focus its online operations with the CasinoModule product at the heart of a new online casino to further grow this business.

 

Simbat Entertainment Systems Ltd. has been operating online casinos since 2002. The company claims access to well over 500 000 registered players and focuses mainly on the European market.

 

"The agreement with Net Entertainment will substantially strengthen our offering and further increase our revenues," said a spokesman for the company. "Our need for a scalable and reliable platform which can cater for our growing business volumes was a key decision criteria in our systems selection." CasinoModule will be launched on www.drgambler.com and the white labelled www.telecazino.com during the third quarter 2008, he added.

 

"Our continued success in closing new deals shows yet again the strength of our product and service offering. With mounting competition it is imperative for operators to offer the latest in gaming technology to attract and retain players. The Net Entertainment CasinoModule provides the competitive edge operators require." says Johan Öhman, CEO of Swedish listed Net Entertainment.

 

 

The tournament designers at popular online poker room DoylesRoom.com are promising interest, possible reward and the novelty of mixing it up with MTV celebrities from 'The Real World' in a forthcoming tournament.

 

For a buy-in of under $28 DoylesRoom players will have the opportunity to compete and interact online with the celebrity contestants from the current season of the popular television program, who will act as bounties in the promotion starting Wednesday this week.

 

'Real World' competitors Dave Sky, Will Gill and Parisa Montazaran will all take part in the poker contest, and if any player in the tournament manages to nail all three celebs they will receive a useful $25 000 cash prize. Those players who achieve two celebrity knockouts will win $5 000, and bounty hunters who claim one celebrity scalp will get $500.

 

First flighted in 1992, 'The Real World' reality television series has run for a record-breaking 20 seasons and is largely acknowledged as the pioneer of the genre.

 

Adding further icing to the cake, DoylesRoom is making it possible for first-timer bounty tourney players to practically play for free by using the poker room's fee rebate incentive. All newbie Bounty Tournament entrants will receive a 100 percent rebate of their buy-in and fees.

 

 

The online gambling and betting exchange group Betfair has recognised the importance of technical talent in the high-tech world of Internet gambling by signing up as a sponsor for the 2008 TopCoder Open scheduled for May 11th - May 15th at the Mirage Resort in Las Vegas.

 

The company joins some illustrious fellow sponsors that include AOL, Lilly, NSA, VeriSign and BT.

 

The live finals for the TopCoder Open - competitive programming's premiere tournament - will match the top 120 finalists spanning four tournament tracks in competition for a share of $260 000 in prizes.
 
The Chief Technical Officer at Betfair, Rorie Devine, said: "Betfair is committed to attracting the world's best and brightest software technologists to its global team and challenging them to solve interesting and demanding problems. We are very excited to sponsor the Top Coder Open. It's a great opportunity to raise our profile among a global community of talented software developers and to encourage their participation in the Betfair Developers Program."

 

The Betfair Developers Program is a program dedicated to assisting Betfair users to integrate their business or personal needs with the Betfair exchange platforms. A member of the Betfair Developers Program can use the Betfair API's to create custom applications for personal, commercial or third party use.

 

The annual TopCoder Open (TCO) draws the world's top software developers to match skills in a variety of competitions, with more than 4 600 talented competitors registered across all competitions. This year's TCO features four highly contested tournament tracks - the Algorithm Competition; Component Design and Development Competitions; Marathon Match Competition and Studio Design Competition.

 

A spokesman for TopCoder said that the competitions offer sponsors a powerful branding platform within the global community of proven developers that provides a unique opportunity to build valuable relationships and to hire some of the best developers in the world.

 

"Being a finalist in a TopCoder competition is a powerful resume builder," said Rob Hughes, president and COO of TopCoder, Inc. "Smart organizations, like Betfair and our other TCO sponsors and patrons, understand the critical value of being proactive as they search for great talent."

 

 

The inaugural Latin American Poker Tour organised by online poker giant Poker Stars.com ended in victory for the nineteen year old Dutch player Julien Nuijten this week. The Hollander prevailed over an entry field of 314 poker fans who travelled to Rio for the event, either stumping up the $2 500 buy-in, or winning entry packages online through Poker Stars satellites.

 

The tournament, held at the Intercontinental Hotel, attracted some respected international names hunting down the top prize of almost $223 000. Vanessa Rousso, Chad Brown, Humberto Brenes, Chris Moneymaker, Gavin Griffin, Isabelle Mercier and Greg Raymer all made an appearance, together with more 'homegrown' stars like Fabio Deu_Zebra, Decano, Andre Akkari, Igor Federal, Sergio and Alessandra Braga and Sequela.

 

By Day 2 the field had been thinned out to 103 players, and after some thrilling and aggressive poker 39 of these had fallen by the wayside by the first break. The attrition continued through to Day 3, when the final table formed, headed by Julien Nuijten with an almost three-to-one chip lead over his nearest opponent, Vitaly Kovyazin from the United States.

 

The other players seated around the table constituted a veritable United Nations of poker, hailing from Costa Rica, Germany, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil and Switzerland.

 

Severin Walser of Switzerland was the first elimination, battling against a short stack and taken down by Rafael Pardo. A few hands later it was Juan Carlos Burguillos's turn to head for the rail, eliminated by Oliver Kugler. Seventh placing went to Pardo, who was shown the door by Julien Nuijten, and German competitor Oliver Kugler followed him in sixth position after tangling with American Vitaly Kovyazin and his big chip stack.

 

Eduardo Henriques of Brazil fell victim to a wired and aggressive Nuijten, heading for the exit and a fifth placing pay check worth just over $47 000.  Alex Brenes, brother of Poker Stars team member and international pro Humberto, exited in fourth place after a confrontation with Nikolai Senninger, earning himself respect and a $63 000 payday.

 

With a heads up in sight, play intensified as Kovyazin, Nuijten and Senninger - in that order on chip counts with the American well ahead - entered the final phase of three handed play to decide the heads-up players. Some exciting moves and counter moves took place over the next 30 minutes, but in the end it was Senninger who left the table in third place, taken down by the confident Dutchman Nuijten.  Senninger pocketed a well-earned paycheck of $86 350 for his journey back to Germany.

 

Going into the heads-up, Kovyazin on 1 740 000 held a comfortable but not unassailable 340 000 chip lead over Nuijten, with both players confident that the cards were with them, playing with skill and an aggression that made for highly entertaining poker for the spectators.

 

With the chip lead swinging from one player to the other it looked like a closerun and exciting finish as the game neared its climax with the young Dutch player pushing his luck to the limit with some major 100 000 chip bets.  His bold strategy paid off as the American player was eliminated and Nuijten took the title and the main prize of $222 940, leaving Kovyazin with second place and a reward of $117 750.

 

 

The Nasdaq-listed WPT Enterprises, Inc. has released its Q1 2008 results, showing a 10 percent increase in overall revenues over the same period last year, but a $2.8 million net loss for the quarter.

 

Business highlights included the delivery of seven episodes of Season VI of the World Poker Tour television series; the premiere of Season VI on the GSN Network; continued progress in the development of the WPT China National Traktor Poker Tour and the launch of ClubWPT.com.

 

The company also reports its agreement with Cryptologic (see previous InfoPowa report) for the provision of a full suite of online casino games and the development of Spanish and German language online gaming sites, expected to go live by June 2008.

 

Online gaming revenues sank to $200 000 compared to $600 000 in 2007, reflecting lower levels of player activity on the Cryptologic network in the 2008 period versus the site operated by WagerWorks in the 2007 period. 

 

Revenues overall increased 10 percent in the first quarter of 2008 to $5.0 million, compared to $4.5 million in the same period in 2007. The increase was primarily due to an approximate $900 000 rise in hosting and sponsorship revenues, primarily driven by international television sponsorship revenues that did not exist in the prior year period.

 

Domestic television license revenues were down at $2.1 million in the first quarter of 2008, (Q1 2007: $2.4 million). The decrease was due to lower per episode license fees under the GSN contract. However, international television licensing revenues increased 69 percent to $800 000 compared to $500 000 in the prior year with the increase due to lower than expected third party distribution costs.

 

Product licensing revenues decreased to $700 000 (Q1 2007: $900 000).

 

Cost of revenues increased to $2.7 million in the first quarter of 2008 from $2.2 million in the first quarter of 2007. The increase was primarily a result of the delivery of seven episodes of Season VI in Q1 2008 versus the delivery of five episodes of Season V in the prior year period.

 

Overall gross margins were 46 percent in the first quarter of 2008 compared to 52 percent in the first quarter of 2007. The lower fees per episode under the GSN contract impacted domestic television licensing margins dramatically, inducing a drop to 6 percent (Q1 2007: 37 percent) The lower domestic television margins in the 2008 period were partially offset by increased margin contribution from international television and sponsorship.

 

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased to $5.5 million in the first quarter of 2008, compared to $5.3 million in the first quarter of 2007. Higher costs associated with the implementation of WPT's sales and marketing plans for its online gaming, WPT China and ClubWPT.com businesses were partially offset by a reduction in general and administrative expenses resulting from reduced headcount across the company.

 

The company reported a net loss for the quarter of $2.8 million (Q1 2007: net loss of $2.3 million.)

 

The positive news was that, as at March 30, 2008, WPT had no debt, and total cash, cash equivalents and investments in marketable securities of approximately $26.9 million.

 

“Our first quarter results reflect the delivery of seven Season VI episodes, increased international television and sponsorship revenues, and moderate progress in our online gaming and ClubWPT.com businesses,” said Steve Lipscomb, President and CEO of WPT Enterprises.

 

“The Company is focused on capitalizing on our three primary growth initiatives: real-money online gaming, ClubWPT.com and WPT China. We are excited about our prospects in 2008 and are confident in our ability to continue to expand the World Poker Tour brand, both in the domestic and international markets, and execute our strategic plan.”

 

Lipscomb said that revenues in the second quarter of 2008 are expected to be in the range of $5.5–$6.0 million. WPT also expects:

 

*To deliver the remaining eleven episodes of Season VI of the WPT television series in 2008: eight episodes during the second quarter and three episodes during the third quarter.

 

* Lower gross margins for domestic television on a year-over-year basis as a result of the terms of the agreement with GSN.

 

* To realise host fee and sponsorship revenues as WPT domestic episodes are aired during the second and third quarters of 2008.

 

* To launch Season II of the WPT China National Traktor Poker Tour and begin to reap revenue from China-related activities by the fourth quarter of 2008.

 

* Higher sales and marketing costs associated with the company's online gaming, ClubWPT.com and WPT China businesses.

 

 

The UK listed gambling group Rank plc appears to be pleased with it's start to 2008 in a statement issued this week. The land and Internet betting group has successfully adjusted to the smoking ban and new British gaming and advertising regulations, and has taken timely action to protect profits, a company spokesman said.

 

"We have experienced a modest improvement in average weekly revenue levels compared with the final four months of 2007 ... and cost-saving initiatives have strengthened the group's profit performance," the company said, although it It still anticipates that the rest of 2008 will be a challenging year for the gaming sector.

 

Group like-for-like revenue was 8 percent lower in the 17 weeks to April 27, driven by a 14 percent fall at its Mecca Bingo halls and an 8 percent decline at Grosvenor Casinos.

 

That was partly offset by a 10 percent rise in like-for-like revenues at its online Blue Square business and a 7 percent gain by its Spanish operations, although this improvement was because of the strengthening euro with actual spend per head flat and admissions down 2 percent.

 

Bingo revenues in Scotland, where a smoking ban was introduced much earlier than in England, were marginally ahead year-on-year.

 

 

Online casino operations made a stellar contribution to 888.com's impressive Q1 2008 results released this week, delivering a 35 percent net gaming revenue gain over the same period last year.  The performance enhanced an already positive overall group performance that saw net gaming revenues rise 38 percent to $64 million (Q1 2007: $47 million). 

 

The online casino wing produced NGR of $35 million (Q1 2007: $21 million) over the quarter, with NGR from poker operations rising 5 percent to $22 million over the reporting period.

 

A company statement said that online casino NGR was in line with the “exceptionally high casino performance” in the fourth quarter of last year, while poker NGR was up 2 percent on the previous quarter.    

 

The traditional seasonal downturn in business usually experienced in this timeframe has apparently not impacted 888.com performance, CEO Gigi Levy revealed, commenting that growth has continued into the second quarter of 2008.

 

“We are delighted with our Q1 2008 results especially given that we achieved further growth in the quarter well above the unusually high Q4 2007. Our growth has continued into Q2, driven particularly by Casino and Bingo and so far we have not experienced any impact of the historically quieter seasonal period," Levy said. "Our various business initiatives are progressing well and we are therefore confident in delivering future growth during 2008".

 

During Q1 2008 Casino NGR per active customer was US$453, a rise of 23 percent on the same period last year but a 5 percent decline on the previous quarter due to the product’s particularly strong performance then, the company said.

 

Poker NGR for the 2008 quarter per active customer rose 3 percent on 2007 numbers and 2 percent on the previous quarter to US$128.

 

888 now boasts 213 115 active customers across the group, a 3.5 percent rise on 2007 and 2% up on the previous quarter. The number of first time depositors has risen 19 percent on the previous quarter, and the successful launch of bingo site 888ladies, sportsbook 888sport and its Live Dealer product has engendered group confidence in producing further growth going forward.

 

Fruits of the deal with Paramount Pictures now available to online slot fans  

 

The much awaited new series of movie-themed online slots flowing from a licensing agreement between Party Gaming and Paramount Pictures (see previous InfoPowa report) was launched on the Party Casino website this week. 

 

Popular film themes for the slots series include the disco dancing Saturday Night Fever; jet fighter combat from Top Gun; spy action thrills from Mission Impossible and a touch of the Mafia in The Godfather.

 

Announcing the movie deal earlier this year, Party's Chief Executive Mitch Garber said: “Popular brands are a differentiating factor in online gaming and this alliance will enhance and distinguish the quality of PartyCasino’s offer.”

 

Garber revealed that a similar deal with another studio was under negotiation and would be disclosed before the middle of the financial year, introducing more themed slots for Party Casino's almost 60 strong games inventory.

 

Party's initiative follows a trend to slot themes encompassing major comic heroes or shoot 'em up stars pioneered by Cryptologic and Microgaming in recent years, which has seen the debut of Marvel comic range heroes on Cryptologic slots, and Hitman and Tomb Raider on top-of-the-range Microgaming offerings.

 

 

The Mexican land casino operator Entretenimiento De Mexico (Emex) has launched its new Playtech-powered Palmas Casino.com, extending its solid reputation and long experience to the Internet.

 

Emex operates 15 casinos throughout Mexico under a full federal permit, and a spokesman said this week that the firm is looking forward to the potential of Interneyt gambling, which its federal licence allows it to offer, providing online players with a safe and enterytaining "one-stop gaming experience”.

 

Emex Entertainment centres are recognised throughout Mexico as the latest generation of land casinos, operating under the Palmas flagship brand which has become respected for a combination of customer service and quality entertainment.

 

The new site is of a high professional standard and carries over 100 games from the Playtech studios, with full player facilities and services. English, Spanish and Mexican language versions are available, together with signup incentives.

 

A day at the races; birthday bugs; axe throwing Vikings; frisky felines and a good old game of Hold’em – more from online games developer.

 

Racetrack action characterises the 5 reel, 25 pay-line new video slot SURE WIN, which heads up five new games on the monthly release list from Microgaming.  Sure Win offers Wild, Scatter, Multiplier, Gamble and Free Spin action and the opportunity to win up to 35 000.00 in the base game, or 140 000.00 with good fortune and skilled choices on the Free Spins.

 

With outstanding graphics and sound effects, Sure Win gives a ride that players won't soon forget. The game's leader scoreboard is Wild, tripling wins on successful combinations, whilst the bookie with the hot tip provides Scatter opportunities across reels 3, 4 or 5, triggering the Free Spin feature.  With its pick of 3 jockeys and associated range of spins and multipliers it’s a feature that will help players to stay the course and come in a winner.

 

Rounding off a day at the races is the Gamble feature, where punters can bet on colour and suit to double or quadruple winnings.

 

With as many pay-lines as a centipede has legs, Microgaming's next offering is the biggest video slot ever launched, with Wild, Scatter, Freespins, Multiplier and Gamble opportunities wrapped in a fun insect birthday party theme called CASHAPILLAR.

 

Microgaming bets that this massive 5 reel, 100 payline video slot will worm its way into players' hearts as it introduces the brand new 'stacked wilds' concept across all 5 reels. Here a maximum of 5 'Cashapillar' wilds can appear vertically stacked to create a win bonanza - and every time the wild substitutes to complete a win, that win is doubled!

 

The centerpiece of the friendly creepy crawly party is the birthday cake; get 3, 4 or 5 of these sweet symbols and 15 Free Spins are triggered where all wins are trebled, and when the Cashapillar appears there's a special 6x multiplier gift as a birthday present.

 

There's a wealth of ancient Viking axe-tion in the 5 reel, 25 pay-line video slot QUEST FOR BEER, which entices the player into a quest with party-loving, axe-wielding giants, rough seas, the famous longships and beer - lots and lots of beer. Stumbling into Lars the Lanternjaw's Great Hall gives the opportunity to axe open the barrels of prizes that lie within.

 

Colourful and humorous graphics provide the backdrop for comedy, adventure and of course beer, which inevitably leads to reward.  The most important keys to these riches are the Beer Tankard, which acts as Wild and therefore substitutes for most other symbols to enable the player to create winning combinations and Free Spins, and the sexy Beer Wench, who acts as a Scatter and gives entry to the Axe Throwing bonus feature.

 

When the Beer Tankard appears on reels 2, 3 and 4 at the same time the 10 Free Spins Feature are triggered, with prizes doubled, re-triggers possible and even an additional chance at the Axe Throwing feature.

 

If three or more Scattered Beer Wenches appear the player is swept into the Great Hall where 5 beer kegs are the targets in the Axe Throwing feature. Throwing 3 axes at the 5 kegs rewards the player with beer and cash prizes. Successfully filling your tankard with beer can reveal potential riches of up to 40x the triggering bet if all kegs have beer, significantly adding value to the players' bottom line.

 

That bottom line can work out at a possible payment in the base g