Online Casino Play

It seems a new casino is launched every week nowadays, I mostly stick to an online poker rooms but sometimes I will veer off course and play a little blackjack or craps.

Jennings Bet is an online gaming portal based in the United Kingdom that is popular for its sports betting and poker services. Last month it has added an online casino to complete the entire range of online gambling products. The casino goes by the name of Jennings Casino. Jennings Casino has licensed the software from the industry’s leading online gaming software provider, Microgaming. The casino is licensed by the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission. It has also been certified as “Safe & Fair” by independent auditor eCOGRA.

The lobby of Jennings Casino has been done up in a glitzy style with streaming banners announcing the best of the Microgaming online games. These include Tomb Raider Secret of the Sword, Hitman, The Great Galaxy Grab and the latest release Kung Fu Monkey Goes to Chinatown. The largest Microgaming progressive jackpot games are also displayed in the lobby along with their continuous tickers. Needless to add, that Jennings Casino offers the entire range of over 400 Microgaming online casino games.

I must admit I do love progressive jackpots so maybe I will take a crack at it.

April 7, 2009 - Ontario, Canada

The online casino gambling industry could be on the verge of a huge consolidation with PartyGaming agreeing to pay out a $105 million dollar penalty.

PartyGaming PLC said Tuesday it has reached a non-prosecution agreement with U.S. authorities over its defunct operations there, with the online gambling group agreeing to pay a $105 million fee.

After almost two years of discussions, the U.S. Attorney’s Officer for the Southern District of New York has agreed not to prosecute PartyGaming or any of its subsidiaries for providing internet gambling services to customers in the U.S. prior to the U.S. government banning the online gambling industry in October, 2006. In turn, U.K.-listed PartyGaming has accepted a “statement of facts” about its business activities prior to the ban, and will pay $105 million in eight installments over a period ending Sept. 30, 2012, from its existing financial resources.

Under the statement of facts, PartyGaming admits that it offered internet gaming to players in the U.S. from 1997 to Oct. 13, 2006, which was “contrary to certain U.S. laws.” PartyGaming has also “agreed to maintain, with respect to its operations, a restriction preventing internet gambling services from being provided to customers in the U.S. in violation of the prevailing law of the U.S. or any jurisdiction with the U.S.” Chief Executive Jim Ryan said it has been “a long and complex process but we have reached an amicable solution with the USAO that makes commercial sense for our business and is in the best interests of shareholders.”

“We are now well-placed to seize organic as well as strategic opportunities that previously were beyond our reach,” he said. PartyGaming’s successful resolution with U.S. authorities was seen as turning point for the online gambling industry, with many analysts forecasting industry consolidation.

So even on a ‘bad’ market day with the DOW down – companies like CryptoLogic Ltd is up over 7% on this exciting news. CryptoLogic’s share price has been beaten down over the past 12 months but now there seems to be a large pot of (buyout) gold at the end of the rainbow. After rumored to have turned down attractive offers last year it is expected that CrytopLogic would jump at a good offer from PartyGaming.

A recent review of the Italian gambling market has revealed a massive growth trend in the area of poker and a client base which will be approaching 5 million by the end of 2008. The country has literally gone poker mad and forecast for beyond 2008 look as though it could well be the next major online poker market in Europe.

A recent survey revealed that there are currently some 670,000 poker players who regularly play online but a substantial 11% of the Italian population (or 4.3 million people) have admitted trying poker at some point. This leaves a large, and growing market, for the Italian online poker companies to attack in the knowledge that the vast majority of them are literally just waiting for the online industry to catch their eye.

Interestingly, the survey also revealed that over 14 million people between the age of 14 and 64 have an interest in poker and would consider playing the game in the short term. However, like so many other countries around the world there is some debate as to whether online poker is legal in Italy or whether the authorities have until now been turning a blind eye. Thankfully, there is also speculation that a formal bill will be added to the statute books in the short term to officially legalise online poker.

Now if the Italian government will just release it’s stranglehold on the gambling industry things would be perfect.