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

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.

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!

Party Casino

This innovative jackpot is structured as a five-tier pool with the highest Colossal Cash rank seeded at $1.5 million which means that you have the chance to walk away an instant millionaire every time you play!

In just a short period of being online during the holiday season, this slots has fast joined the ranks of Party Casino’s most played games. According to a Party Casino representative, their record Gold Mega Jackpot of almost five million dollars was hit in December and the jackpot ticker continues to escalate in 2010 as players turn their focus to The Big One.

To celebrate its large progressive jackpot, PartyCasino.com is giving away over $300,000 in prizes this month through “The Big Race” promotion. This campaign will see the group award the top 750 competitors with cash prizes simply for earning the most points which playing Melon Madness or any one of its other slot titles.

So get playing at Party Casino today and you could be 2010’s first millionaire!

RoyalCasinoGuide.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.

Adding its name to the list of organisations contributing towards these conservation efforts is Titan Casino who will be raising awareness of the need to conserve Elephants, Black Panthers, Dolphin and more in three all new Slot games: Safari Heat, Panther Moon and Dolphin Reef.

In a recent interview Titan Casino Manager, Robin Steele said, “We are encouraged by the launch of our new games and hope to bring much needed attention to this important issue. Titan Casino takes pride in providing world-class entertainment to our members with these exotic-themed games.”

The newly released slot machines host a variety of elements which add to the excitement of the game, including a “Gamble” option, where players can either double all or halve their line winnings in a special bonus round. Other features include, “free-games” bonus rounds where players can earn money as the reels spin, a “pick-type” bonus round and a variety of scatter symbols. These captivating features not only provide added entertainment but also an increased chance of winning big, both for players with conservation at heart and the animals they hope to protect.

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.

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.

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.

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.