PayPal back in the game at select casinos
July 30, 2010
Every gamblers favourite online payment method and e-wallet, Paypal is reportedly renewing its full service to select online casinos which means that players will once again be able to use this popular payment method when playing online. This decision comes a year after withdrawing from the online casino industry due to industry instability.
It has been reported that while the Ladbrokes and 32Red group’s were the first two companies to establish new agreements with the e-commerce giant, Virgin Casino also reached an agreement with PayPal last week.
The shift is very good news for online casino players who once enjoyed the safety and convenience of PayPal’s money transfer services. While the organisation has largely moved away from the online gambling sector due to a decision made by its parent company (eBay) after being accused of violating the law by the United States federal government when transferring funds to offshore gambling websites.
The company did however still maintain some ties to the industry through agreements like those signed with casino giant 888.com whereby e-wallet provider Neovia was employed to enable players to use PayPal as an online payment method to online casinos via the Neovia’s Netbank system. Which just goes to show where there is a will there is a way for the world’s most widely used online payment company, it really is no wonder that they generate annual revenue well in excess of $2 billion.
Microgaming Top Software Provider Yet Again
April 26, 2010
Microgaming has long been our online casino software of choice for a number of reasons. Not only do they provide a quality gaming experience to players through their use of state of the art, lifelike graphics and sound in all of their games, but the casinos powered by this brand also offer the best service around.
This notion was re-enforced for the 4th time when Microgaming was yet again named the winner of the prestigious iGB Affiliate Awards evening held in London earlier this year. The iGB Awards recognise the leaders in the online casino industry and allow the casino affiliate community to vote for its own winners in 23 categories from software to the best casino payment methods. The winners are chosen from amongst over 4000 votes.
Microgaming’s CEO Roger Raatgever expressed the company’s delight at being honoured as the best software provider for the fourth year in a row. He stated that an award received from the affiliate community was a true honour and that the company remained passionate and commited to continuing to provide an outstanding product offering.
The entire industry can’t be wrong, but don’t take our word for it, check out reviews of the top of the Microgaming powered casinos like Spin Palace here.
The Lord of the Rings licensed to Microgaming
February 8, 2010
Microgaming has been an industry leader for many years now and it’s recently signed multi-year licensing agreement with Warner Bros Digital Distribution to create a series of video slots based on the legendary The Lord of the Rings trilogy once again proves this.
Tolkien fans are guaranteed to be glued to their PC’s (and seats) as these slots are set to be as iconic as the trilogy movies have been due to the fact that Microgaming has acquired permission to use animation materials, themes and characters from all of the motion pictures to date including: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
Microgaming is renowned for strategic business decisions that this seems to the best one yet. Not only did The Lord of the Rings trilogy generate $3 billion in box office revenue, it also earned 30 Academy Award nominations and received 17 first place awards, including Best picture. It is only a logical conclusion then that the film will translate well into an online game and that players will be delighted to become a part of this fantasy world in the form of a high quality, graphically superb video slot.
Roger Raatgever, CEO of Microgaming, recently announced that the the group was very excited at the prospect of creating state-of-the-art video slots from the best movie trilogy of the decade and are looking forward to bringing The Lord of the Rings to Microgaming powered casinos across the net, where the company’s expertise in game quality and speed to market will ensure its success. He added that The Lord of the Rings had a massive loyal fan base with over 97% awareness of the film franchise, as well as phenomenal and unprecedented home video success.
A release date has not been finalised as yet, but you can be sure that when it has been announced, Royal Casino Guide will be at the top of the list for all the latest updates, so make sure you check back often!
Extending the Royal Family
August 21, 2009
RoyalCasinoGuide.com is pleased to announce an extension to the “Royal Family” with the introduction of its sister portal MonarchGaming.com.
While RoyalCasinoGuide.com is focused primarily on slots and the best places on the net to play them, Monarch Gaming offers a greater variety of information across all casino games including (but not limited to) Slots, Blackjack, Roulette, Video Poker, Baccarat, Craps, Keno and skill games. It’s a sure bet that if there is a casino game out there that you want to learn about, you’ll find it and a whole lot more here.
With gambling professionals at the helm, this online casino website has been designed with the hardcore gambler in mind and offers wealth of information when it comes to online casinos, game strategies, bonuses and promotions and online casino news, not to mention some pretty entertaining and insightful gambling stories that these industry veterans have racked up over the years.
So if your fancy exceeds the scope of slots and slots casino royalty or there’s something you’d like to find out that RoyalCasinoGuide.com doesn’t currently offer, then the Monarch Gaming kingdom is definitely worth a visit.
€1,000,000 Grand Slam of Slots Tournament
July 14, 2009
Sun Vegas Casino is one of the many Microgaming powered casinos that will be hosting the biggest online slots tournament in the history of the industry, boasting a handsome first prize of €1,000,000 as well as many car giveaways and additional prizes to the value of $415,000.
This tournament will be held across the Microgaming network and looks set to be filled with fun and excitement every step of the way as hundreds of thousands of people compete in the hopes of walking away with the million Euro prize.
If you’re an avid slots fanatic, it may be difficult not to get embroiled in the promotional hype surrounding an event of this magnitude, but as with everything in life, there are advantages and disadvantages to these types of tournaments. So before you begin, consider the following:
Drawbacks
- You never get something for nothing: Microgaming casinos are businesses and as such need to make a profit. In these tournaments vast numbers of qualifying rounds are held, entry fees are charges and there are re-buy options, which means that they are making enough money to cover the cost of the prizes and then some. All of this comes out of player pockets.
- Tournaments are Time Consuming: If you’ve played in slots tournaments before you’ll know that the entire process takes a long time (up to five minutes per round with numerous re-buy options). So if you are planning to compete, you will need to clear your schedule!
- You are bound to a single machine and the reel spin is slow: There is no “quick play” option on the tournament machines to speed things up and make them more exciting which means there are times when you will get bored.
- Low Odds: The odds of winning are greatly reduced in these types of tournaments because every casino in the Microgaming network will be pumping in thousands of players who will compete with you for spots in the final.
Attractions
- Cheap to Enter and participate in: the tournament does not require huge amounts of cash to be laid out in order to participate.
- You can play for longer on a smaller budget: due to the slow spin of the reels and re-buy options you get more game for your money.
- There is always the chance that you will actually get lucky and win prizes along the way, even if you don’t make it to the final.
Winning Tip
If you are going to enter into The Grand Slam of Slots hosted by casinos like Sun Vegas, at least try to enter at the latest possible stage and buy-in to the qualifying round if possible.
Charters Released to Promote French Online Gambling
June 19, 2009
In light of recent announcements that the French government will regulate online gambling to a limited extent in 2010, online media group “Geste”, has released two charters calling for responsible gaming practices to be implemented throughout the industry. Based on results of a study conducted earlier this year, the charters are designed to provide European online gambling operators with an accepted standard to follow, thereby ensuring that the online gambling industry in France is viewed as a socially responsible and legitimate industry in the years to come.
Analysts and regulators will be keeping a close eye on the industry to determine its compliance with regulations and its efficiency in preventing problem and underage gambling.
No country knows that these issues do come up with regulation better than the UK, which passed the UK Gambling Act of 2005 and has since seen an increase in problem gambling and gambling debt. However, studies have shown that this wasn’t because of the internet but rather because the Act also called for an increase in land-based betting destinations, which have proven to be the culprit for gambling related negative impacts since 2005. Overall, the UK has faired well in spite of these setbacks, and has made swift progress in identifying and providing treatment for problem gamblers.
France however, will only open up the online sector of the industry and with this a more accurate determinant on the effects of regulated online wagering will be established.
While many are still opposed to regulations of the online gambling industry in France, many others like Geste, are being proactive in operating standards and measures which ensure that the online sector remains a favourable environment for both consumers and businesses to operate in.
So it would seem that if online casino operators and internet sports betting empires are looking to expand successfully into the French market, they would be prudent to adopt and implement best practice charters similar to those suggested by Geste.
Leonardo DiCaprio to Star in Online Casino Film
June 19, 2009
While complete details including the title are still a closely guarded secret, according to Variety and the Hollywood Reporter, Leonardo DiCaprio is set to star in an upcoming Paramount film based on the world of online casinos run out of Costa Rica.
The screenplay is written by Brian Koppelman and David Levien, the authors of the box office hit ”Ocean’s Thirteen,” and cult film ”Rounders,” which in a similar vein, starred Edward Norton and Matt Damon as high-stakes players in the underground poker scene.
DiCaprio will also have a hand in the production of the film with his company Apian Way employing the expertise of Jennifer Davisson Killoran as producer.
It is yet to be seen which brush this team will choose to paint the online casino industry with, but one thing is for sure, it will be interesting to see nonetheless.
BetStopper - blocking underage gamblers
June 5, 2009
There is much concern over minors attempting to gamble at online casinos, and while the casinos have stringent measures in place to prevent this, including Identity checks and verifications, The Nova Scotia Gambling Corporation has taken it one step further and designed content blocking software which may aid parents and caregivers in preventing children from accessing gambling related sites in the first place.
The new program, BetStopper can be installed on home computers to prevent children from accessing gambling related websites and casinos, giving them peace of mind when their children are online.
The software has been stringently tested in order to ensure the effectiveness of the program, however as with similar programs of this nature, it cannot be expected to be 100% effective all of the time and parents and caregivers will still need to monitor their children’s online activities.
A number of Online Casinos from across the globe have supported the launch of this program which is set to go a long way to eliminating problem gambling in future generations.
Casino Sued over Millions spent in Minutes
May 20, 2009
Melbourne’s Crown Casino is being sued by compulsive Australian gambler Harry Kakavas after he lost more than 2 million Australian dollars (approximately $1.5million US) on their card tables in just 43 minutes.
The 42 year old property baron claims that the casino intentionally facilitated his gambling in spite of being aware of his addiction and ban from neighbouring state Sydney’s casinos. Kakavas alleges that the group flew him to their casino in a private jet where he was given gift boxes of 50,000 dollars in “lucky gambling money” on more than 14 occasions to encourage him to gamble.
Evidence presented has shown that in 16 months between 2005 and 2006, Kakavas turned over 1.5 billion dollars at the casino and was authorised to place bets of 300,000 dollars per hand. His total losses are allegedly totalled at 30 million dollars and as such he is suing the Crown Casino group for 20.5 million.
Crown’s defence team reject the claim that Kakavas’s gambling addiction was exploited and states that he was banned from the casino in August 2006 after losing the now infamous 2 million dollars in just 43 minutes at the baccarat tables.
The case is currently pending, but if Crown is found to have breached the Casino Control Act by allowing Kakavas to gamble despite knowledge of his addiction and ban from casino properties in Sydney, the group could also be liable to pay as much as 700 million dollars in illegally-paid winnings to the Victorian state government.
Calculating Progressives With Different Currencies In The Pot
April 28, 2009
Players play in different currencies…so how are Progressive Jackpots calculated?
This may be a question you’ve asked for some time and we have the answer for you!
As an online player you will probably select an account in the currency of your country when you sign up an account at an online casino. This will make things a lot simpler because you usually “think” in the currency in which you live making it a lot easier to gauge how much you are winning or losing and you won’t have to pay conversion fees on winnings credited to your account. This part is pretty straight forward.
The question however, comes in as to how casinos who operate in nearly every currency, each with very different values, can offer the same jackpot for example $/€/£50,000, regardless of that fact. In the current market, one could not be blamed for getting the impression that it is more favourable for the casino if a dollar player wins the jackpot due to its weaker value when compared to the Pound or Euro exchange rates.
Ultimately however, this becomes irrelevant for the casino. Some jackpots like Microgaming’s Cash Splash are won often; in fact on average this one goes every 2 to 3 days. With that in mind, let’s suppose 60% of the players playing this progressive play in dollars, and 40% in Euros. Both player groups on average, over the long-term, will win the jackpot at a ratio of 60/40. Meaning that those playing in dollars would win more often and in these times, the casino would actually reap large profits due to the Euro pay-in’s but dollar payouts. If only those playing in Euros won, the casino would incur 45% losses in their profit figures (calculated on 1.45 Dollars to the Euro rates) at that time, but would have gained a great deal during the Euro players losses which would compensate accordingly. In conclusion, over the long term and with many players playing it all balances out, if it didn’t, casinos would implement single currencies within player accounts.
