Online Casino News and Information

In an email to players, Intertops has announced a temporary set back due to Hurricane Earl. As of this writing the hurricane is reaching Category 3 status with maximum sustained winds near 120 mph (195 kph). Currently Earl is causing havoc in the northeastern Caribbean with heavy rain and strong winds.

Please be advised that as a direct result of Hurricane Earl, we have suffered a major power outage in Antigua and the Intertops.com website and all its services are currently down.
We are diligently working round the clock to restore our services to you our valued customer and will send notification via e-mail as soon as we are back online.

Thank you for your understanding and patience in this situation!

Stuart Gordon’s led Blanca Games, Inc has acquired the Cereus Poker Network the third largest online poker network.  The acquisition includes the network operations, software and the two brands, Absolute Poker (AP) and Ultimate Bet (UB).

According to Gordon the Chief Executive Officer of Blanca Games in their press release,

“The acquisition of Cereus is a significant opportunity for us.  Cereus is a major platform of well-managed assets.  Over the past few years, it has created new brands, like ub.com, that are extremely well-positioned in the most desirable demographic in our market:  players in the 20s and 30s age brackets.  From our perspective, we have acquired a large, sophisticated online gaming operation with state-of-the art capabilities, ranging from compliance to business intelligence to online marketing to customer service.  We see a tremendous growth opportunity in this deal and beyond, as Blanca seeks additional acquisitions in the market.”

“We are confident that the Cereus Network has found an excellent home in Blanca Games.  Over the past several years, Cereus has developed into an outstanding platform, which is poised for significant growth.  This transaction will benefit Cereus players and employees alike.  We expect no changes in the playing experience on the Cereus sites, except for the improvements that will likely be the long-term result of this transaction.”

So what does that mean in terms of the future of poker players on these networks?  According to Mr. Gordon it seems that some of the main complaints are on is priority list, security and terrible customer service,

“We intend to leverage the existing strengths of the Cereus Poker Network, particularly in the areas of security and customer service.  Although we are impressed with many of the new security features on the Network today, security is and will remain our top priority.  We’re also pleased with the efficiency and the player-friendly approach of Cereus’s customer service operation, but we will always be seeking to improve in this area.”

Tokwiro who is the parent company of Cereus is expected to release their press release sometime next week. The terms of the acquisition have not been released.

What to do with online gambling has been a hot topic with cash strapped states, provinces and countries lately. California recently wrestled with it, some provinces in Canada have embraced it with others to follow suit and many other European countries have chimed in on one side or the other.

South Africa, Holland and Nova Scotia have been the latest to headline the online gambling news. One has made a decisive decision while the others are considering going in an opposite direction.  South Africa has decided this week to ban online gambling.

In a ruling by the North Gauteng High Court, companies can no longer offer online gambling services to the citizens of South Africa. It also made gambling online for the citizens themselves. It went further to include banning advertising for online gambling on radio, TV, print, and billboards. The punishment for violating the new law is quite steep including a 10 million rand fine ($1.4 million), 10 years in jail or both.

Holland however seems to be taking a different approach. Holland has a state run monopoly on online gambling but according to the Justice Ministry Commission this may soon change to involve opening up online poker to several different companies.  The Commission recommended opening up online poker because the current system of having one online site is not working. Companies outside Holland already cater to Dutch player’s which leaves the government two choices, block access to foreign sites or license foreign poker sites.

Another Canadian province, Nova Scotia is planning to introduce online gambling. There is opposition however from the Atlantic Lottery Corporation that is a joint venture between New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia. According to Finance Minister Graham Steele, a new gaming strategy is being developed that would include online gambling and that it was not necessary for all four provinces to agree on what products to endorse. Like PlayNow.com in British Columbia, Atlantic Lottery also has a site called PlaySphere.

RIP Louis Fabiano – the Professor
I write this with a heavy heart. This morning Lou, better known as the Professor, passed away after a prolonged struggle in ICU.

Lou was the founder of CAP and for many years he lead this affiliate community, solving a myriad of issues for affiliates and contributing to the welfare of affiliates like no other.

Lou was a prominent member of the affiliate community and affiliates as well as operators knew him as a cheerful, jovial and friendly person.

Just a few weeks ago, Allan, his best friend, passed away.

Lou leaves behind his wife, Marie, and a large family. My heart goes out to them.

Dominique

After more than a month of being shut down due to a security breach just hours into their launch, PlayNow.com re-launched right before the weekend under much less fan fair. According to the British Columbia Lottery Corporation CEO Michael Graydon, the approval was given following a review by consulting firm Deloitte and the site had permission to be back online at 7p.m Thursday.

By 10 p.m., the site was still not online however and a check at 2a.m. Friday found it still not online. BCLC officials stated they were just making sure the site was running smoothly and assured everyone it would be up later and functioning properly

The security breach concerned personal information of 134 players. 12 players had found their personal information could be viewed by other players including being able to access their funds.  After an extensive internal review, a glitch was found in the newly released software.

Graydon said they spent 3 months testing the new system before the site went live but also stated that it was a very unique circumstance that caused the glitch and nearly impossible to foresee the problem before hand.  After the site was taken back off line, it took nearly 5 days to recreate the scenario leading to the glitch to even attempt to fix it.

The shut down has been estimated to cost the B.C. Lottery Corp. around $150,000 a day and with over a month to fix totaled up to over $5 million in lost revenue. Graydon said he is confident that the glitches are fixed and no further security breaches would occur.

He acknowledges also that clients of the software may have lost trust in their online security but hopes that with time everyone will see that they are doing everything to keep the site secure.

“I don’t think there’s any question that we have to work hard to rebuild that trust,” Graydon said.

There is a second review scheduled by Deloitte that will focus on the information security systems run by the BCLC as well.

It looks like support is coming together for one last push for legalized online gambling in California.  The question now: Is there enough time?  There is less than two weeks left for any bill to pass the state Legislature but the Morongo Band of Mission Indians is trying to form a coalition to get it done.

According to Morongo spokesman Patrick Dorinson, 21 tribes have either signed up for or sent documents in to join the California Online Poker Association.  This is a considerable improvement over the past year and a half of tribal fighting over internet poker.

The next step according to Dorinson is to put the new coalition in action if needed.

“We expect quite a few more signatures before midnight. We’re very pleased; we will use the coalition to try to get legislation passed to make it happen. Our next step is to go through the session to see if anything will come of the (Sen. Rod) Wright bill, and if not, prepare for next year.”

Senator Wright has a bill that would allow up to three hub operators each with a 20 year contract to conduct online gambling to California residents. The importance of these tribes now joining the association is that they will automatically be apart of the Tribal LLC for Internet Gaming and thus in the running for one of the hubs.

Wrights bill has already been heard by the Governmental Organization Committee and been voted down. The issue now though, according to Dorinson, is his bill is the only one far enough along in the process to even have a shot at getting passed. There are still some concerns among the tribe that internet gambling will have negative impact on the bricks-and-mortar casino ventures and the people that are employed by them. It is a concerned by everyone but at least for now, the tribal consensus shows a want for online gaming in California.

Senator Wright however acknowledging earlier this summer that more would have to be done to get everything worked out but also warned of what was at stake. He said that in the next ten years, annual gross gaming revenue from California will range from $1.7 to $2.1 billion.

In a story released through the Dow Jones Newswires, the defendants in the online gambling money laundering case have agreed to forfeit $13.3 million, The money was seized by the U.S. Government from two online gaming payment processors, Allied Wallet Inc. and Allied Systems Inc. both owned by  Ahmad Khawaja.

The FBI says this is just a small portion of what was run through the business for the first half of 2009. Some of the funds were allegedly linked back to Pokerstars and a few other off shore gambling sites. U.S. prosecutors argued that some of the money was traceable to wire transfers coming from outside and contended that this was “by individuals and entities who knew that the funds involved represented the proceeds of the illegal transmission of gambling information and the operation of an illegal gambling business.”

Since the UIGEA is very vague in defining what exactly is illegal gambling and only specifically spells out online sports betting in the law, sites that are just online poker sites contend they are doing nothing wrong.  Interestingly enough the Government may agree as the DOJ typically has been going after the payment processors and not the sites themselves.

As far as Pokerstars is concerned, a spokesman had this to say,

“PokerStars does not condone efforts by processors to conceal the nature or purpose of funds used to play online poker. PokerStars has taken steps to ensure that processors properly disclose the nature of their business to their relevant financial institutions.”

This is not the first case this year involving money laundering charges and online gambling.  Back in April Daniel Tzvetoff faced off against the DOJ.  Hopefully though the future of online gambling in America will be getting brighter as HR 2267 keeps building to a full House of Representatives vote.

Betfair has gotten into the Apple app business and has launched a new gambling application for the iPad.  For those mobile gamblers in the U.S., no need to get excited and search long hours in your iTunes store, it is not available in the United States.

This app has only been launched to the residents of the UK and Ireland. The Betfair app uses GPS to make sure the bets are being placed from the proper region.  According to Charles Palmer, head of mobile at Betfair,

“There were no terms and conditions about gambling. We approached Apple with the proposal and our app, showing it does the normal KYC and age verification. We have also added the ability to locate where the customer is. It can tell if you are in the UK or Ireland, and if you’re not, it won’t function. We put that in there as an extra precaution – they (Apple) didn’t request that.”

Palmer goes on to say that thanks to the high tech innovations of the iPhone, customers using the mobile app will have the same core functionality as they would from the main Betfair site.

“The iPhone, touch-screen devices, smart phones, have picked up massively, and every manufacturer is desperately trying to catch up with Apple. The iPhone and the associated knock-on effects are fantastic for the gaming industry.”

This is just an added bonus to Betfair who, according to Palmer, brought on board 40% new mobile users last year which added 50% to the bottom line in mobile revenues.  Now add in the new iPhone app and expectations for mobile revenue this year is running high.

It seems the domino effect is going strong in North America as far as regulating online gambling is concerned.  British Columbia and Quebec already allow online gambling and Ontario will soon follow.  Now it seems Alberta is at least looking to follow in the same path.

Online gambling is legal in Canada but operating a site within its borders is not.   Studies show that up to $1 billion dollars are being wagered online by Canadians and now the cash strapped provincial governments want in. They are justifying the turnaround in their opinion by saying it can aid charities, increase revenues (thus keeping taxes in check) and will be used to help fight gambling addictions by having problem gambling help posted on the sites.

Gambling addiction is one of the biggest reasons those opposed of legalizing online gambling in the Provinces give. According to the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre 1 in 5 internet gamblers have a problem and that is almost 5 times higher than in land base casinos.

According to Dr. Garry Smith, a gambling researcher with the University of Alberta however the choice may have already been made. He also claims that close to 1,000 Alberta residents bet online which is about double the national average.

“Alberta’s government will also have no choice but to offer online gaming because they don’t want to see ‘any money leaving the province’ to Quebec and B.C.”

No decision has been made by Alberta as of yet however. Christine Wronko, a spokeswoman with the Alberta Liquor and Gaming Commission says, “We are monitoring what other jurisdictions are doing, as well as doing a bit of research into online gaming, but a decision will have to come from government.”

This sentiment is echoed by Alberta’s Deputy Premier, Doug Horner, who has said there are both pros and cons to be considered and the final decision is still a ways off. How far “aways” is is yet to be determined as Alberta will surely see more and more of its residents money leaving and finding its way into the government coffers of B.C., Quebec and Ontario.

As we have been writing about, Barney Frank’s HR 2267 seems to be gaining a lot of strength since it passed the House Financial Services Committee mark-up session.  Since that day it has gained a new co-sponsor and now it has lost a major opponent the stood in the way of legalized online gambling.

The influential NFL has softened its stance to legalized online gambling. The NFL has been linked to being a major influence in the passing of the UIGEA in 2006. What has taken the major stumbling block from the path of HR 2267? One of the amendments passed during the mark up session.

The language of the bill originally included wording that would legalize online sports betting.  An amendment voted on and passed during the mark up session withdrew this language from the bill and changed it totally around to prohibit licensing of companies that aim at sports betting.

Brian McCarthy, the vice president of communications for the NFL, now has said,

“We don’t oppose [HR 2267] since it now includes the language we had hoped for. The amended language adequately addressed our specific concern. We are pleased with the outcome.”

Does this effectively change the path of HR 2267? Probably not as far as it getting pushed through any faster but with the NFL effectively out of the way, it does make the road to passage a lot smoother.  There is still no time frame as to when the full House of Representatives may even hear the proposed bill but like most American’s looking to gamble online, we are waiting for the next news to come.