Online Casino and Gambling News: April 2010

The Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative, an advocacy group pressing for the legalisation and licensing of online gambling in the United States, reports that Congressman Barney Frank's Reasonable Prudence in Regulation Act (HR2266) and Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act (HR 2267) will be the subject of further legislative hearings in the House Committee on Financial Services next Friday, April 16th.

Online gambling software provider RealTime Gaming is currently rolling out its latest two online slots, Lucky Last and Hockey Hero, to its online casino licensees. Hockey Hero is a 25 pay-line, 5 reel video slot that features two random jackpots (a minor and major), a wild symbol, scatter symbol and up to 18 free spins, with a wagering range of 25c to $25 a spin.

The Morongo Band of California Mission Indians were disappointed this week when the National Indian Gaming Association laid aside its proposal to block Barney Frank's federal legislative attempt to legalise and tax online gambling in the United States.

BetSoftGaming, specialists in developing cinematic 3D games known as the Slots3, has announced the 12th release in the series with of the latest ambitious creation - Mr. Vegas. "The eponymous title character brings all the flash and dazzle of classic Las Vegas directly to our players," says Aliya Alpiyeva, BetSoft's Director of Marketing. "Mr. Vegas truly has it all and we are proud to offer this latest release to the iconic Slots3 series."

Party Casino has launched a new online game branded Circus Slot that innovatively combines slot action and gaming activity. The casino bills the new approach as "the world's first role-playing online slot," and says that players are invited to choose from four memorable characters with varying abilities and unique storylines to take them through an entertaining - and cash-grabbing - circus adventure.

Shareholders of two Vanguard Group Inc funds have launched litigation in a Delaware court against the company and fund executives for allegedly investing their money in four illegal offshore Internet gambling businesses, reports the news agency Reuters.

February gaming revenue jumped 32.9% on the Las Vegas Strip according to the latest official statistics, lifting shares of MGM Mirage, Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Boyd Gaming Corp. And Nevada state-wide gambling winnings were up almost 14%. The Nevada Gaming Control Board revealed this week that land casinos' winnings increased to $946.6 million, compared with $831 million in February 2009, with most of the momentum coming from the Strip, where casinos won nearly $568 million, up 33% from $427 million in the same month last year.

Industry observers have for some time been predicting that major media companies will become a growing and influential force in the online gambling industry, and it certainly appears from recent deals between Internet betting firms and major newspapers and television stations that this coming about.

The UK's largest online and land gambling group Ladbrokes looks set to enter the newly liberated French market for the first time in its century-and-a-quarter corporate history. Spearheading the move to compete in the French online gambling sector will be Ladbrokes' joint venture deal with the major French media company Groupe CANAL+

The Vienna-listed online betting giant Bwin is planning to restart its French online gambling services as soon as the recently passed liberalisation legislation has been implemented and licensing is opened, reports the newspaper Die Presse. Bwin, which had an unhappy joust with French authoritarianism some years ago over football advertising that resulted in the brief detention of its joint CEOs, hopes to obtain a licence before the summer, the group's investor relations manager Konrad Sveceny told the newspaper.