Online Casino and Gambling News: May 2010

Norwegian online players at UK gambling group Ladbrokes recently received a notification that government restrictions on internet gambling through the financial system was imminent, and that credit cards from Norway could not be accepted for online gambling by Norwegian banks.

Online gambling software provider Microgaming marks the start of the football World Cup championship in South Africa this (June) month with a new 5 reel, 30 pay-line video slot with a big game theme titled Soccer Safari. The game is one of three new offerings from the company and is released along with a Parisienne themed slot Voila! and an addition to the top quality Gold Series of table games branded High Speed Poker.

We're close to the final table of the $50,000 buy-in Player's Championship tourney at the 41st World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, with the 21 survivors of an original 116-strong field bagged up at the end of Day 3.

The first 2010 World Series of Poker bracelet has been handed to San Diego dealer Hoai Pham, who won the $500 buy-in Casino Employees event over the weekend. Pham bested an entry field of 721 players to take the honours.

The news that Irish lottery ticket sales declined significantly last (2009) year is perhaps an indication of the hard economic times punters have been experiencing. Sales dropped €40 million to €815.1 million as cash-strapped punters stopped buying Lotto tickets - a drop of 11.4% drop in overall sales.

Senator Rod Wright's recent promises to introduce a Californian bill legalising and regulating online poker were met this week when he launched an amended version of bill SB 1485 late on Friday. Wright leads a California Senate Committee responsible for gambling matters, and the bill seeks to introduce an intrastate solution to the problems of what to do about online poker, and how to generate tax revenues in the process.

The Baltic state of Estonia, which recently commenced regulating and licensing online gambling operators has named its third licensee. Triogames has been given the Estonian Tax and Customs Board's nod of approval to operate online casino games and an online lottery under its Triobet brand.

The weekend has seen a surge in mainstream reportage on internet gambling in newspapers across Australia; most of it related to the conclusions reached by the government's Productivity Commission. The report has broadly suggested that the regulation and licensing of online gambling better serves the protection of Australians than trying to stop the thousands of online websites on the Internet from accessing gamblers from Australia.

With much talk of Canadian provincial governments entering the online gambling sector as operators or regulators, the subject has become a priority with several governments. This is particularly so regarding the Atlantic Lottery Corporation which is owned by a partnership of provinces and is keen to get in on the internet action.

The Rio hotel and resort in Las Vegas is experiencing typically large guest bookings as the 41st World Series of Poker continues to produce a feast of poker, with the first three events presenting plenty of thrills for railbirds and players alike.