Online Casino and Gambling News: January 2010

It's hardly Vegas - a large shed-like building in the middle of a snow-covered field 60 miles from the nearest reasonably sized city - Rostov-on-Don. But the newly opened Orakul Casino represents a fresh start for a Russian gambling industry that was almost obliterated by draconian government action that banned it to four remote regions in the vast country last July.

The French state gambling monopoly Francaise des Jeux has continued its flurry of deals in preparation for the liberalisation of the French gambling market, announcing this week that it has engaged with the gambling software provider LVS to order its fixed odds sports betting platform.

Cherryforetagen, the land based casino element in Sweden's publicly listed gambling group Cherry, is said to be making moves on the a wider front that includes online operations with its acquisition of Coys, a significant player in the Scandinavian online gambling market.

The Europa, Titan and Tropez online casinos have announced the availability of the latest licensed Marvel branded games from software provider Playtech plc. The new Marvel games Blade, Daredevil, Elektra, Fantastic Four, and X-Men, are slot games featuring engaging graphics, animation and feature-rich gambling action.

Members of the EU parliament are starting to react to a petition organised by Stanleybet and supported by other online gambling operators and players demanding that the European Commission acts quickly to enforce EU principles of free movement of goods and services in competitive markets.

True to its undertaking that it would release the results of a major independent survey on integrity in gambling during the ICEi show this week, the UK-based Remote Gaming Association did just that....but its findings are unlikely to please those bodies wishing to profit from contributions for enhanced integrity in sports.

One of the more controversial provisions in France's new gambling liberalisation legislation - that applicants shut down their existing lists of French player accounts as a prerequisite to obtaining a French online gambling licence - has been abandoned by the French Senate.

There have been rumours for months about a new-look Kahnawake Gaming Commission emerging as the regulator discussed the future with its licensee operators in an industry where there is a growing demand for real regulatory compliance. The first official confirmation that a new approach was in progress was the announcement during the ICEi week by the KGC that it had appointed the independent player protection and standards body eCOGRA to carry out compliance testing and ongoing monitoring on its licensees.

The UK online gambling group Sportingbet has announced that it is to augment its wide range of gambling options with the addition of live dealer action through a deal signed this week with Evolution Gaming. Live roulette, blackjack and baccarat will be offered.

Online casino iNetBet has reported that one of its players has achieved what is likely to be one of the luckiest winning streaks in online casino history. The lucky player scored 5 big wins (and a few smaller ones) in 6 days on iNetBet Casino's progressive jackpot slots. Her initial deposit of $30 turned into $37,000 in under a week, making her iNetBet Casino's most successful jackpot winner in its 11 year history.