Online Casino and Gambling News: January 2009

Taking many online gamblers by surprise this week was the news that the Cryptologic-powered Playboy Gaming operation is to shut down. Curiously, the company was not displaying any notification on its websites when InfoPowa went to press, although service representatives and a Cryptologic spokesman have confirmed the reports.

A website set up by incoming US President Barack Obama's team to garner suggestions from US voters on priority items that deserve presidential attention has proved to be a useful vehicle for promoting legalised poker in the United States, reports CardPlayer magazine this week.

The "midnight rule" political tactic, in which the last-minute legislative push-throughs of outgoing US administrations can be reversed by successors, became familiar to online gamblers last year when the Bush Administration rammed through the flawed and controversial regulations supporting the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

Antigua's Finance Minister, Dr. Errol Cort must be racking up the airmiles on the Caribbean government's continuing World Trade Organisation dispute over online gambling with the United States. The peripatetic minister apparently flew to Washington again this week for further talks with the US Trade Representative, reports the Antigua Sun.

eCommerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance (eCOGRA) has extended its independent testing, standards and monitoring services to cover Internet bingo, sportsbetting and live gambling operations, positioning its influential Safe and Fair certification seal within reach of most online gambling operators.

The importance that the UK government places on containing the threat of problem gambling was again illustrated this week when Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe visited GamCare's London HQ to view the range of telephone, online and face to face services the charity offers nationally, free, to problem gamblers.

Mobile gambling provider Spin3 has added the popular Thunderstruck five reel online casino slot to its mobile games inventory, with Ladbrokes set to launch the new mobile offering within the next few days, followed by other licensees. The game brings to 15 the number of mobile games available from Spin3 and its associate Microgaming.

Companies allegedly associated with online gambling software firm Rival Gaming are being sued for some Cdn$464,000 by T2 Marketing, a Canadian marketing consultancy located in Montreal.

The Taiwan parliament approved a controversial bill to legalise land gambling on offshore islands by a 71-26 vote Monday. The government, led by President Ma Ying-jeou of China-friendly Nationalist Party or Kuomintang (KMT), pushed to end the ban on gambling for the Penghu Islands off Taiwan's west coast, reports Earth Times.

Online gambling may be illegal in Turkey, but the parallel and very popular entertainment of Internet gaming is tempting Turkish officials to try and raise taxes from the pastime.