Gambling News: July 2009

It is reported that International Game Technology (IGT) has announced that it has entered an agreement with Boyd Gaming Corporation to install approximately 200 additional MegaJackpots machines at Boyd Gaming casinos across the country. These will be in addition to around 800 such machines already operational at Boyd Gaming casinos nationwide. Read more ..

Luck3 Online Casino and Poker Room announces a monthly "Win Ferrari!" contest for everybody keen on casino and poker games! It is very simple - the player has just to make a unique MINIMAL (!!) deposit for the contest and win an exclusive reward – a posh Italian style laptop Acer Ferrari 1200 from Luck3!

In order to win this extraordinary notebook of new generation distinguished by high capacity, exceptional portability and perfect design in the value of 1000 EUR, the player should make a unique minimal deposit into his Luck3 Account.

Each month Luck3 defines the winner of the LUCK3 "Win Ferrari!" contest. That player who made the minimal deposit for Luck3 “Win Ferrari!” in whole number of US dollars, and no one else has made the same deposit, wins this great prize!

Since Microgaming moved out of the US market, the US players do not have many online slots tournaments to choose from. Apart from the Vegas Technology casinos, hardly any other casinos offer slots tournaments. This seems to be changing. Thisis Vegas.com, powered by the Rival Gaming software has just announced a $25,000 slots tournament for the entire month of August. Read more ..

NeoGames Partners, the affiliate program for NeoGames’ world leading online scratch card brands, Scratch2Cash and Hopa.com, has announced today in a press release the launching of their very first major TV campaign in the UK throughout August. Channel 4 and Channel Five will run the commercial between the hours of 11am and 5pm every day. For the first two weeks in August, the Greater London area will be showing the commercial, whilst the North of England will be advertising throughout the month.

Diamond Jim's is a little casino in the Mojave Desert. But it seems to have a bright future with no local competition - the nearest casino is about 76 miles away and there is a moratorium on new card clubs in the state - and the owner is in a Mexican jail. But the casino is so valuable that its shareholders are fighting lawsuits in takeover attempts. Read this fascinating story in Los Angeles Times

Canada Statistics reports that although gambling generated us$13.6 revenue for the Canadian governement in 2008, the gambling revenues declined for the first time in 16 years. According to this report, number of households involved in at least one gambling activity also dropped across the country - from 74 % in 2000 to 52 % in 2007.

According to Henry Pold, senior analyst with Statistics Canada, casinos and slot machines are still on the rise, while Video Lottery Terminals are on the flat side.

Read more ..

Connecticut Post, Bridgeport, reports that although the state is suffering from heavy budget deficit, it has failed to levy $16 million on two Indian gaming casinos to cover regulatory costs which are typically spent on salaries and benefits for gambling regulators, liquor control agents, and police. Read the Connecticut Post report.

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Sources report that The New Orleans Saints have become the fifth National Football League (NFL) team to lend their name to branded lottery scratchcards. They have signed a deal with the Louisiana Lottery which will allow the latter to use Saints' logo on instant ticket scratchcards. Lousiana Lottery will also be able to use for ads Saints' website as well as their stadium. The players of the lottery games will be able to win highly-prized tickets for some of the matches of the Saints in 2009. Read more ..

Sources report that Las Vegas' South Point Hotel Casino Spa has introduced Bally Technologies' award winning  Business Intelligence Solutions (BIS) that will help South Point to gain a better understanding of the player behaviour in their 2,270-game slot floor through improved use of gaming data. Bally's reporting, analytics and visualization tools will help them to manage game mix and product placement better than before.

“Bally’s BIS visualization tools are superior to any that I have seen. It ‘walks’ the casino floor for you, 24 hours a day. The contouring and shading in the floor mapping tools are immensely helpful in identifying hot and cold areas over any time period, something you cannot do with just reports,” said Cliff Paige, Slot Director of South Point Hotel Casino Spa. Read more ..

We had already reported about the banning of gambling in Moscow casinos. The gamblers have now started to take recourse to televised poker shows. Further, a London casino is offering to send private jets for big-spending gamblers. Read original text

Cocoa Casino and Paradise8 Casino will launch Rival Gaming's first 3-reel slot with animated icons on July 14, 2009.

Game Details:

• Available Coin Denominations/Bet Size:  0.01,0.05, 0.10, 0.25, 0.50, 1.00, 2.00, 5.00. configurable, up to 3 coins.
• Default Coin Denomination/Bet Size:  0.10 coin, 3 coins Total bet: 0.30
• Default Jackpot: 0.10*2000 = 200
• Maximum  Jackpot: 5.00*2000 = 10,000
• Special features:
• Casing animations that occur for all wins, larger animations for larger wins.
• NEW! Rival’s first 3-reel with animated icons.

NeoGames, a global leader of Online Scratch Cards, has just launched its scratch game number 40, Dancing Domino, with a 200,000 jackpot. The game is based on the concept of the classic domino game. Read more ..

To the  young adults of today the Summer of 1967 is most probably ancient history. With that summer, also known as the Summer of Love, began the age known as Psychedelic Sixties which broke all rules from music to manners with Flower Power, Love-ins, Be-ins and, of course, psychedelic drinks. If you want to know more about that exciting period, read The Psychedelic '60s

That period has now come back to us in the form of an interactive slot, or i-slot, launched by Rival Gaming with plenty of free spins, expanding wilds, and the  Psychedelic Bonus Round which you will experience through interactions as a Summer of Love tour. Read more ..

Online casinos who accept US players are outbidding each other with numerous promotions on the eve of the American Independence Day. Here are some examples:

The Lucky Red Casino offers from Friday, July 03, 2009 to Sunday, July 05, 2009:

a) Unlimited 75% (coupon: JCG75) for Jackpot Cleopatras Gold only PLUS Get $50 free chips for every 5 coupons redeemed

b) Unlimited 50% (coupon: SUPERSIZE) for all games PLUS Get double the bonus on every dollar you deposit over $200 automatically! PLUS Get $50 free chips for every 5 coupons redeemed.

The Slot Power offers this weekend:

a) 50% up to $500 FREE for Slots

b) $500 All American Slots Tourney : Play any of the following slot games: Gold Rush, Sevens and Bars, Pigskin Payout, Gobblers Gold or Western Wildness after depositing minimum $25 and win one of 10x $50 cash prizes if you are in the top two wagerers in your game.

The 7 Spins Casino will give away from 12a.m. to 11:59p.m.(EST) on July 4 $1200 in bonus money. Every hour on the hour, they’ll be picking at random one online player and issuing him or her $50.00.

You will find many more such offers by clicking here

It has been reported by Herald Reporter that on  Wednesday  the Bombay High Court at Goa adjourned the hearing in casino petitions till July 20 and added Director General of Shipping (DGS) as a party in the matter. The petititions had been filed by some stakeholders of Goan casinos challenging the order of the Goanese government which would force them to move their casinos to Aguada Bay. The adjournement of the hearing became necessary because some of the petitioners required further time to complete their pleadings. Read more ..

Miami Herald reports the success story of an old fashioned casino near Hollywood which has to compete with a flashy new Vegas-quality hotel and casino across the street. 

Five years back, the Seminole Tribe opened the lavish Hard Rock Hotel & Casino near Hollywood and thought of tearing down the 30-year-old Seminole casino and bingo hall located across the street which neither offers popular games like blackjack nor any fine dining. Although the new casino on the other side of the street has been a roaring success, the ''original'' Seminole Casino is also going strong, even better than the newer and more modern parimutuel ''racinos'', according to industry observers.

While the Hard Rock casino attracts celebrities and big-money players, the neighboring casino remains a favourite of the working-class people who are lured by quick, easy parking and outlandish, generous promotions. Read more ..

As of July 1, playing slot machines and roulettes are not possible in Moscow. Only lotteries, bookmakers and poker in certain specially licensed clubs are allowed. Other types of gambling have been banished to 4 distant regions of Russia - yet to be developed. So, many lovers of slot machines and table games preferred to skip their work on Tuesday afternoon and throng to the few casinos which were still offering these games and place their last bets.. Some of the big casinos had stopped these games ahead of the deadline.  "There might be twice as many people today than usual," said a manager of a slot machine hall which was still operating. It is estimated that owing to the gambling ban around 400,000 people will lose their jobs in Russia. Read more ..

The Vegas Partner Lounge casino group has launched a slot tournament with a mega prize for the winner, Grand Slam of Slots – the first ever slots tournament where you will stand a chance to become a millionaire. The winner will get €1,000,000! Daily Free Rolls from July 1 until October 21 guarantees each winner a free entry into the final tournament starting on October 22. Read more ..