As much as we hate to admit to this, one of our favourite casino games is definitely the slots. If we walk into a casino, we do not head for blackjack or roulette, we head for the nearest seat at our favourite slot game. The same applies to online gambling, and now let us think… hmmm… think some more…Nope. Never played any other game online but bingo and the slots!

Microgaming is one of the biggest and best of all slots designers, although they also design software for craps, poker, blackjack, casino poker, video poker, baccarat, pontoon, rummy… you name it… any virtual gambling game, and this brand is on the floor. One of the latest and greatest innovations in online slot design came when the marriage of the slot and movie genre met. Who innovated this first, we are not sure, it was either Microgaming or Playtech, and they did this through negotiating with the makers of trend-setting movies, and attaching these licenses to their games.

One of the latest marriages in this genre is the popular Dark Knight Slot. Recently launched in August, the last two months have been very busy for this game, and have spawned a whole slew of winners. It has already become one of the most prolifically played slots of the year, and has already given us three rather large progressive jackpot winners. There are four progressive bonus games up for grabs, and the highest starts at one million. Worth playing for? You bet your ass it is!

In the Dark Knight Mega Jackpot Slot game, the Mega Progressive prize starts at 1 000 000.00, the Major Progressive prize starts at 10 000.00, with the Minor Progressive at 100.00, and the Mini at 10.00. We also have to bear in mind, that each of these prizes grow as the game is played. So, there are winners in the base game, and of the progressive prizes.

Dark Knight Winners so far have seen two from Royal Vegas Casino where one lucky player from down under managed to bag AUS$ 22,895.78. Player two won a very impressive €32,823.79 prize, and the third winner, also from down under, won AUS $39,704.23 at Vegas Palms.

If this gives you even more incentive to play it should!

In the free spins bonus round there are 4,000,000 coins to be earned, and these are won apart from the PJP’s. This massive prize is generated by the fact that the free spins round offers a fifteen free spins and growing multiplier. What does that mean to you the player? It means that the sky is quite literally the proverbial limit.

The Joker character Feature can Award even more wins. These appear on the screen at any time they are triggered. Players are then rewarded with random bonuses, and there’s more. The fun just doesn’t seem to end when playing Dark Knight, despite the dark nature of the theme of the slot. Do make sure and join in the entertainment, because the winning just doesn’t stop too.

Things are changing rapidly in Asia, in particular in the economic sector. This is no longer one of the poor Global territories, and there is a rising middle class, which means various economic sectors are operating in over-drive. For example – the manufacturing industry in China – is there anything new you have purchased recently that has not been manufactured in China. In response to this, the new middle class Asian resident also demands their fair share of recreation. One of the most popular forms of recreation is gambling.

Therefore, not only the online gambling industry is experiencing a boom. The live gambling industry, in particular in Asia, is booming. Macau offers us a dynamically clear picture of just how rapid economic growth has been. This part of the world has benefitted hugely from the gambling industry, but they are also now taking a closer look at the social impact of gambling as an industry. While there is no gambling per se on Mainland China. Millions of Chinese tourist, save up every penny they can to spend in Macau taking a gamble.

After Macau was monopolised by the Chinese for a period of time (four decades), it has now been opened up to the rest of the world to develop this booming business, although there are moratoriums on certain pieces of property. Manila Bay, Macau, is the home to reclaimed land. Yes, they have re-claimed land from the sea to create a home for a $4 billion casino-resort. This will soon rise like the lost land of Atlantis, funded by foreign investors. US companies such as Las Vegas Sands, MGM, and Wynn Resorts have also flocked to this former Portuguese colony.

Foreign investors in the gambling business, are also currently breaking ground in South Korea. There are plans afoot here to hatch a whole clutch of casino-type resorts. Then on the Eastern edge of Russia, a casino resort area has also been planned to provide a catchment for Chinese gambling high-rollers. And when we talk about Chinese high-rollers, we refer to nose-bleed spenders.
Up-scale, glitzy, Las Vegas styled resorts are the name of the game for casino developments catering to the needs of Asian tourists. As they increasingly become more affluent, so to, do their needs change. Gambling is the order of the day, but then so too is a stay in an up-market resort.

Most areas are working on emulating the Macau business principle; understandably so. For every $1 spent in Las Vegas today, $4 is spent in Macau. This makes it the largest casino game marketplace in the world. However, Singapore is catching up rapidly, and a year after the first casinos had opened, they had already raked in about $6 billion.

We all know there is massive amounts of money to be made in the gambling business if it is done in the right way. The Asian market it seems, is doing it in the right way, and Beijing seems to be happy to allow its wealthy togamble their fortunes away.

Net Entertainment, the world’s leading provider of high-quality casino games, announces the release of its latest video slot, Evolution™.

Evolution™ is a 5-reel, 3 row and 25 fixed bet lines video slot with Wild substitutions and the innovative Evolution feature in Free Spins mode. The slot offers players an exciting gaming experience by having the reels spin from bottom to top rather than the traditional top to bottom, giving the feeling of the progressive evolution of life from the bottom of the ocean towards land.

The new Evolution feature in Free Spins allows players to evolve up the evolutionary ladder in the game, at the same time increasing wins with every winning symbol. With sophisticated graphics and sound, players experience the evolutionary progress from underwater in the main game to the forest in Free Spins mode.

"Evolution becomes the latest innovative video slot game to be added to our portfolio and the sophisticated pay table design adds excitement on the reels." comments Per Eriksson, President and CEO of Net Entertainment. "This latest addition continues to see us drive the online casino market through better games and provide the ultimate gaming experience for the players."

Evolution™ game play and graphics are as exciting as one would expect from Net Entertainment’s long line of high quality video slots. With these exciting new features, Net Entertainment is once again proven to be the industry leader keeping innovation as a tradition.

The British bookmaker William Hill has very strong ties with various sporting associations, and quite rightly too. They make their money from sports-betting, but have a very strong online presence, not only in sports-betting, but for bingo, spread, betting, casino games and even online poker. Online gambling and sports-betting firms in particular have a long history of sponsoring sports teams, but this time William Hill has gone really big and is supporting an entire association – William Hill will become an "official supporter" of the national Scottish team, after signing a two year agreement with the Scottish Football Association.

William Hill’s Chief Marketing Officer – Kristof Fahy – says these are exciting times in football and they are extremely excited to be involved with the Scottish National team. The road to Rio is on, so, not only does the sponsorship agreement strengthen their ties with football in Scotland, they also get to jump aboard the Road to Rio bandwagon. The 2014 FIFA World Cup will be held in this World-class Brazilian city. The William Hill Scottish Cup is already sponsored by this firm, and they serve as the Scottish Premier League’s (SPL) official betting partner.

Obviously William Hill would love to see of the Scottish side go all the way to a place (if not the top) in the 2014 World Cup finals. But one thing it is going to be, is a fascinating journey.
Campbell Ogilvie, who is President of the Scottish Football Association is in turn delighted to have Will Hill as their official sponsor – heck they need all the help they can get – but the brand has already showed robust commitment to Scottish football, so this is not a new in-road for them. The online gambling company seriously are one of the biggest Scottish football supporters. This new sponsorship merely cements their position as such even more.

The agreement comes into force with immediate effect; in fact we expect they have had the new shirts made already! William Hill receives a whole host of sponsorship rights; these include; branding, hospitality, advertising, and exclusive content and imagery.

It is interesting to note that this British Bookmaker is also one of the sponsors of the English Football Association, but there is no conflict of interest. They have served as an official supporter of the England side and FA Cup in the past, and will continue to do so till the end of the FIFA World Cup in 2014.

After England’s dismal performance at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, let’s hope that the Scottish side can show them a thing or two this time. There was massive debate after England was sent home – about whether or not this team had become too spoiled by their mind-blowing earnings, and had somehow come to the conclusion that when they were playing for their country, they had the right to underperform. Let’s hope things have changed somewhat, and there will be a different performance in 2014.

While the word gimcrack might be a bit of a misnomer for devices such as iPhones, Androids and iPads, these portable devices are gewgaws of a sort. They are the latest zeitgeist for fans of fashion, and as a result are spreading all over the world. With the greater mobility, and fantastic technology, e-gambling activity is also increasingly on the rise.

Global Betting and Gaming Consultants (GBGC) are industry experts; it is their contention that the mobile industry is expanding rapidly. But they are not the only ones who see this, we can see it by just looking at how many online gambling firms are getting more and more mobile apps up and running, so, there must be a huge demand. We also see it in the numbers that the big companies such as William Hill, Paddy Power and others are releasing in terms of mobile growth. Honestly speaking, gambling analytics are great, but it is already clear we see increasing levels of demand.
Warwick Bartlett who is CEO of GBGC says that online gambling offers a good value for money entertainment option for millions of consumers. Something else we already know.

The powerhouses of online gambling are and have been enhancing revenues by adopting mobile gambling applications for a while; the evidence exists that what they are doing is good for business.
Smartphone gambling is transactional entertainment purely. Players are hugely excited by the fact that they can enjoy access to games with high prizes, switch from casino to casino with anonymity, and take advantage of great bonuses, as well as play lots of fun games. They also know that if they want a properly social casino experience, all they need to do is go to their nearest land casino. The online and live gambling business is two totally different channels; just with similar themes.

Betfair for example was one of the pioneers of mobile gambling, and they have reaped the benefits of their foresight – right from the beginning. They are the biggest online betting community globally – known as a betting exchange – and despite good earnings in the mobile market are showing a decline in share price. Core revenues for this company were up to £91.6 million, an increase of 13%, with the biggest growth trend showing in sports-betting. Apparently half of all their customers in the UK and Ireland have placed a bet by mobile during the first quarter of 2012. This is a volume of bet increase of a massive 114%.

It is like we said earlier, we just have to look at this type of performance and it becomes simple to draw the assumption that online gambling will go mobile for a large majority of fans. Rocketing revenues are not only being declared by Betfair; the biggest and many of the smaller brands in Britain and Europe are showing these increasing trends. Keep your eyes peeled too, there is strong evidence to suggest that things in mobile gambling are going to get a lot more interesting over the next couple of years.