Of late many prominent European countries are thinking of legalising online gambling. However, there are European countries that are trying to weed out it in all its formats and made headline news the previous week.

Cyprus Legalization

The Cyprus government is still trying to impose a ban on internet gambling but still awaits feedback from the European Commission (EC). The Cyprus police conducted raids on internet gambling establishments and last week three properties were raided. According to the Cyprus Mail large sums of cash, computer equipment and title deeds were confiscated in the raids.

The owner of one operator had been arrested but no conclusive evidence was found to persecute him and he was released on bail. Loucas Louca, Justice Minister said that the Cyprus government notified the public a few months ago that they would start investigating all parties guilty of operating internet casinos. He concluded, “If parliament passes the …

One of the most sought after and trustworthy payment solutions utilised by online casinos today is Neteller. Neteller manages to stay ahead of other ewallet rivals by offering its customers money-spinning promotions on a regular basis. A Lucky Day promotion has been announced by Neteller for the month of April 2011.

The invitation to the promotion reads as follow, “You don’t need to be special to win with Neteller; the only thing needed is a bit of luck and clients must register an account with Neteller before they can participate in our Lucky Day promotion. So, when will it be your Lucky Day?” Via its lucky draw throughout April Neteller will be giving away €100 on a daily basis. The main draw will be held the end of April 2011 and some lucky player will be the recipient of a whopping €4,000.

Players must first register for the promotion and …

It goes without saying that Prepaid cards will be the payment solution of choice used by players to fund their accounts at internet casinos. A key aspect of Prepaid cards is that a player can control the amount of cash spent in contrast to using credit cards. Arguably one of its best features since it prevents players from becoming problem gamblers.

One of the premier eWallet solutions today is Neteller. Two years ago Neteller introduced its very own prepaid card Net+ two. Neteller guarantees that its cards act as a financial safe house equipping internet casino players with added security and expediency. Recently the ewallet payment solution stated on its blog that all their hard work that has gone into its Net+ prepaid card has finally paid off. “It gives us immense pleasure if our critics praise us and customers laud all our efforts that we’ve put into making the …

All the major internet casinos as well as the European Commission (EC) are predominantly focusing on developments in France, Italy and Germany. The Polish government on the other hand might clamp down on its budding online gambling industry.

The new Polish Gambling Act might be enforced by the Polish government soon but the EC must still approve it. Jacek Kapica, the person responsible for driving this new Gambling Act’s legislation in Poland can’t wait before it’s legalised. However, it seems that the EC does not share the same sentiments when it comes to the ban of internet gambling as Kapica.

Key points within draft state that sports betting only would be permitted in Poland. Internet casinos that aim to host sports betting must receive a license from the Polish government first and must be prepared to carry out all financial dealings in Poland.

At this stage the bone of contention …

The online gambling industry has a third party accreditation organization called eCOGRA. It not only champions player protection but also ensures that casino software and operators are up to standard. eCOGRA was founded by the three heavy weights within the industry namely Microgaming, 888 and Bwin. One of the stand-out features of eCOGRA it is audited regularly further enhancing its transparency.

eCOGRA’s management has bought it out spearheaded by Andrew Beveridge its chief executive. As a result of this buy-out eCOGRA’s ownership structure will change and won’t include casino software providers, internet casinos or any other organization within the industry anymore. This delineates eCogra’s independence going forward.

The founding members noted that the time was ripe to move on and decided to sever former ties, thus enabling eCOGRA to forge new tactical and policy guidelines in future. Before the buy-out was concluded it stated that the independent directors would stay …

The long anticipated European Commission’s (EC) Green Paper on internet gambling has been publicized this week. It outlines the need for player protection, gambling related problems, scams and money laundering and the ramifications that local restrictions might have on free services within the EU.

Basically the EC uses the Green Paper as a vehicle to harvest all the necessary information pertaining to the internet gambling industry and in accordance with facts garnered will then impose the mandatory legislation. Many internet casinos see this policy in a positive light and as a step in the right direction. However, there are those within the EU who don’t share the same sentiment with regard to this train of thought, in affect it might hamper the progress of internet gambling.

If one has a look at the bigger picture there might be a “silver lining on the horizon”, although no quick fix for those …

Casino owner Wynn Resorts Ltd recently concluded a business venture with Pokerstars in support of centralized internet casino legislation in the United States.

The aim of this business venture is to form a new internet poker site namely PokerstarsWynn.com, on condition the bill introduced this month receives the thumbs up from Congressman John Campbell. Steve Wynn CEO of Wynn resorts informed Cassaon-casino that “The Company has operated in America for more than four decades; it’s in our best interest to bring an internet poker site to fruition.”

As it is there’s some hefty debates going on in the U.S concerning the legalization of internet casinos and its future and whether or not American players should be permitted to take bets, since the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was promulgated by the Bush administration in 2006. Steve Wynn is confident that his casino would receive an egaming license to host …

A team of experts will soon be drafted by the European Commission (EC) to dissect the EU’s current online gambling laws and how it impacts upon players and operators alike. It will also broadcast the much anticipated Green Paper on internet gambling services within the internal market.

Experts will mainly focus on information that has been gathered by the ECJ (Court of Justice of the EU or CJEU) taking into account a number of cases brought forward by European internet casinos the likes of Bwin, Ladbrokes and Betfair that have been denied access to Member States’ gambling markets, that has violated single market protocols set forth in Articles 49 and 56 of the EU Treaty.

The French and Italian licensing gambling markets’ feasibility within the EU law will also be investigated by the Commission (of late in France) and concerns put forward pertaining to the proposals of Belgium and Romania. …

Henrik Tjarnstrom, Unibet’s chief expressed his utter disappointment toward the French government’s inability to lower the egaming tax rate for 2011. Reason being it hampered Unibet’s re-entry to the French market. Francois Barion French budget minister said tax rates will not be lowered before the 2012 elections.

Tjarnstrom’s operator must still enter the regulated market in spite of securing licences for poker, sports betting and pari-mutuel horse race betting (through a partnership with Zeturf). He said, “As stipulated in the communication around our Q4s in February, we submit an application for licences based on profits and France is not a very lucrative environment right now. There are other ventures we could pursue, unless the conditions become more favourable here we’ll have to look at other alternatives to make cash. So far the opening looks bleak.

“The license is in our possession, right now it’s all about timing and allocating the …

Former Unibet chief executive Petter Nylander is the founder of Rent Spel (meaning Fair Play). It comprises of different Swedish parties interested in the egaming industry.

Rent Spel’s Professor Henrik Jordahl requested a report on internet gambling in Sweden based on research done by the Stockholm based Research Institute of Industrial Economics. The report’s findings indicated that 26% of all gambling done in Sweden is via the internet. In Sweden internet casinos is one of the largest employers, hence the reason Professor Jordahl prompted the Swedish government to push internet gambling more.

The report indicated that internet gambling in Sweden is huge in comparison to other European countries. Gambling operators in Sweden, apart from the state owned Svenska Spel’s total market cap comes to SEK19 billion. Online casinos employ roughly 2,000 employees, in addition to this government gaming operations employs another 2,500 people.

The report also pointed out that Swedish car …