We cannot highlight the importance of internet casino bonuses enough. It’s the distinguishing factor between internet casinos and brick-and-mortar casinos. We can divide casino bonuses into two main categories namely match deposit bonuses and no deposit bonuses.

With deposit bonuses the new player has to make a deposit first. In turn the casino will offer a bonus in proportion to the deposit with a maximum limit imposed. Strictly speaking, the player has to make his contribution first. The welcome bonus is the most popular deposit bonus, the moment the new player makes his/her first deposit, it becomes available prior to wagering. One of the largest casino bonuses offered is the welcome deposit bonus, normally it’s a couple of hundred dollars. However, there are casinos that offer new customers bonuses up to a few thousand dollars. The player immediately beefs up his bankroll.

The monthly bonus is yet another bonus offered by …

Normally online casinos are the culprits when it comes to allegations of fraud and scams. The FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) just released the details of a scandal that has been going on at numerous land-based casinos across the US and Canada. The swindling resulted in the accretion of unlawful wealth totalling $7 million.  Agent Peter Casey of the FBI handled the investigation explained how the scam worked.

It makes for a perfect Hollywood movie script the recent land-based casino scam. The brainchild of this scam was Van Thu Tran and her husband as far back as 2002; this “Bonnie and Clyde” couple were dealers at an Indian tribal casino in San Diego. Their fraudulent operation was simple. It entailed a bogus shuffle that created a “slug”; in a group of cards whose order does not change when the remaining cards are shuffled. As soon as the slug comes into …

There is a strong possibility, that the London Capital Group (LCG) might pay recompense amounting to £7.7m after a new appraisal had been made by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) pertaining to customer complaints concerning commission rebating of a spot FX fund set up in the first half of 2009.

According to a LCG statement today, at first it thought the financial impact on the group would “that severe” to date only one client incurred costs of £100,000. However, it added that a revised estimation from the FOS was received on the 11th of February and losses suffered by all clients in the fund could total in excess of £7.7m. Reports estimate that as many as 112 other clients could receive compensation.

“Based on a previous decision given by the FOS in with regard to this case, we anticipated that the impact of the FOS investigation would be of no …

Global Industry Analysts (GIA) is hailed as the world’s most esteemed market research publishers. Founded in 1987 it employs over 800 people across the world. It publishes more than a 1200 full-scale research reports per annum.

GIA recently publicized a new report titled “Casinos: A Global Strategic Business Report”. The report provides a detailed outlook on both land-based and the internet gambling industry. Topics covered are its overview, trends & issues, regulatory environment, associated industries, product innovations, recent industry activity and profiles of market players worldwide. According to GIA’s research in 2015 the global market for land casino gambling will reach $101.30 billion and there will also be a significant growth in gambling over the internet.

The GIA report says the casino industry represents the biggest and most rewarding sector of the land-based commercial gambling market. It points out that more and more governments are making use of the casino …

The annual report indicated that Nevada’s gambling and tourism economy has been boosted by baccarat, a high-roller game very popular amongst Asian players. A state record for the year is the $10.7 billion wagered on baccarat, said Mike Lawton, senior analyst with the Gaming Control Board. Our average hovers around $1.2 billion, which is another state record up 21 percent after an increase of 26 percent in 2009.

“We can say with absolute honesty that baccarat saved the day for us here on the Strip,” Lawton said. “We sincerely hope that our esteemed Asian players will return soon.” In comparison the yearly slot win which indicates mass market volume, totalled $63.8 billion, it dropped 2.7 percent from 2009 levels, plunging by 11.8 percent from the previous year as a result of the current recession which gripped Nevada’s vulnerable economy.”

State gambling regulators reported that Nevada casino winnings were rather low …

A couple of years ago online casinos had to entice players with the most suitable content to download theirs software before they could wager. The downloadable version offered superior graphics, a greater user interface and a larger selection of casino games. While browser based Flash games was placed in the back burner and to a certain extent seen as the lesser cousin to the great download. It’s always been convenient and formed an integral part of the mix for internet casinos.

Oh how have times changed! Browser based content in 2011 is now in decline. Those days are gone when slow internet connections prohibited games developers from designing premier quality graphics via a browser.

During the last five years the internet gambling landscape has changed considerably and internet casinos nowadays won’t sign an exclusive deal with a single content provider anymore. To say the least, the download client, with its …

The French government recently voiced its opinion over the “serious doubts” the European Commission (EC) has to its current tax regime for internet horse race betting that it is not well-suited to EU law.

The EU stated in its journal on the 14th of January that the protection given to just one area by means of handicapping competitive conditions to benefit former horse race monopoly PMU is not justified under the current economic EU State Aid rules.

The French government responded in a letter on the 18th of January stating that it did not believe the current French tax regime perpetuated any economic benefit to the country’s race courses and that it was assigned to a specific sector was not an issue under EC rules.

A formal investigation was launched by the EU last year to ascertain whether the online tax system combined with absolute control and lower tax on …

Two of the UK’s most prominent operators’ court case came to a grinding end yesterday when the judge ruled in favour of 32Red. The British High Court in London prohibited William Hill Online (WHO) from using the 32Vegas trademark in the European Union and must publish the court’s ruling on a number of its main websites including WHO-owned Affiliates United.

32Red internet casino won the trademark dispute last month after two years, a High Court judge imposed an injunction to 32Red prohibiting WHO from using the 32Vegas trademark – renamed 21Nova since August 2009 – any place within the EU. William Hill Online must publicize yesterday’s court ruling on its main websites including Affiliates United, which has 70,000 strong affiliate programs across all its brands.

The case continues today whereby 32Red’s legal team will seek reimbursement from Britain’s premier bookmaker, the legal costs might be astronomical. Its legal team will also …

Gold-Pay made a name for itself within the American market as an online gambling payment solution. It has become the US government’s latest online banking scalp and forced to exit the US.

The previous week Gold-pay’s clients received e-mails informing them of ensuing legal matters and Gold-Pay was compelled to suspend all gaming related transactions with immediate effect. The gist of the e-mail read as follow, “Unfortunately we can’t provide a definite date when these issues would be resolved or its outcome. We express regret for this interference in our operations; it’s unforeseen and ill-timed for all parties involved. Accounts can still be accessed but no account activity will be allowed until all the legal issues are addressed.”

Gambling forums started threads stating that players tried to correspond with Gold-Pay and did not receive any answers. Any details pertaining to”pending legal matters” were not discussed by any official of Gold-Pay. …

Pokerstars’ home games have been suspended by French regulatory authority ARJEL. It will assess whether the format introduced in January complies with French law.

According to a release on the Pokerstars.fr website, the duration of the “system analysis” is unspecified, while the decision to delay the games “is to safeguard player safety.” Other games of Pokerstars’ remain unchanged and will continue as normal.

Betsson in the meantime has decided to test the waters in China and concluded a business deal with a local company which is already in a joint venture with a state-owned business in the Asian republic. The joint venture will mainly concentrate on the sports lottery industry and will also investigate the Indian and Italian markets respectively.

La Francaise des Jeux and internet casino Lucien Barrière just concluded a business venture with Caesars Interactive Entertainment to promote the WSOP brand in French casinos and on the BarrierePoker.fr website. It’s more or less …