Over the past few years, socializing online has become very important to millions (if not billions) of people. Both Facebook and Twitter have seen to these, with a few more social media also trying their luck. But apart from an inherent need to share online, these users have also become increasingly mobile in their tastes. Certainly technology such as the smartphone, has made this more possible, and just as much fun. Now with online gambling becoming so popular, the need to share while we have a little flutter on a casino game, has also boomed.

Human beings are social animals by their very nature. We love communicating with one-another – Tweeting about the book we are reading, sharing with Facebook friends whatever is on the menu for dinner. It seems odd that online gambling and social media have become bedfellows, but they have.

Online bingo has always been known for the fact that the socialising is fun. But not only that, like-minded people play together, made friends, stay in touch and play a soft gambling game. Today this gaming and social activity has extended to many other gambling games, so, people now play games and chat simultaneously to other lovers of these games. The fact is that doing this by mobile media has become absolutely normal, and right now a social, mobile gambling boom is being seen!

Of course the reason why this form of socializing and wagering at the same time has become so popular, is because it is just so easy to do, and people love being winners. It is unlike that growth in this marketplace will stop anytime soon. More and more people are getting smartphone savvy, and realising that a lot more than making a telephone call can be done with these phones. It has even been predicted that smartphone sales will way outstrip that of desk-tops and lap-tops very soon.

Zynga is an example of a mobile an online games developer which has had huge success together with Facebook as its platform, but they are also seriously getting involved with developing mobile gambling games. In fact many once-social games only companies are talking about monetizing their games.

Once Zynga Poker was the benchmark for just about every social gaming company based on its Facebook success, and it will be fascinating to see what the future holds for the company. They have a massive reach in the social gaming marketplace, and they also employ some exceptionally experience developers who know that that marketplace wants from a social gaming perspective.

While Zynga appears to have reached critical mass in recent times, and is not performing very well financially, by monetizing their gaming offering, this might turn things around. Certainly if they succeed, again they will be the benchmark for other players who are interested in getting into the mobile/social gambling game. Experts are saying that the Facebook game bubble has burst, so, we wait with baited breath to see what becomes popular next.

One thing we can be certain of is that whatever it is, it will be mobile.

Predictions regarding the popularity and expected growth of mobile gambling have been pretty spot-on. Even though this boom got started a little later than predicted, this was only because the ideas and innovation were ready before the technology was. Now ideas and innovation are totally tying in with technology, and as once was expected this is going to be the next big internet gambling wave of growth. Websites offering mobile gaming options are already showing proof of this, with leaps in profit margins in some instances of 300% and more.

The big prediction is that the mobile gambling channel with be a $100 Billion Market by the year 2017. Why should we believe any different when the evidence is all there. Every time we turn on the television there is an advert for gambling online, and now for the mobile version of these games too. Not only that, we see it spread across gigantic billboards, see it in newspapers (if we read these), and also in magazines. Mobile gambling is here, and it appears it is here to stay.

It really is of no surprise that this business is predicted to top $100 billion within the short space of just five years. But what is kit exactly that makes this form of gambling so appealing to so many people? Basically any savvy casino should offer the capability of mobile real money gambling to their customers – why? Because virtually everyone, throughout all income groups, social sectors, and demographic has access to a mobile phone!

Even granny and grandpa are on mobile today. We all take our mobiles wherever we go, and check them all the time. We take them to the bathroom, to work, to restaurants, into meetings, check them in bed, and the big thing is that we don’t just use them to check up on granny and grandpa, we use them to entertain us.

It has been speculated that nearly half of the mobile phone users for example in the UK – make use of a smartphone. The people who own them might not be that smart, but the phones definitely are. They can be used to connect to the internet, access Facebook, Google stuff, and people, are getting smarter, they are using their mobile devices to connect to the internet more regularly. This function was available, but ignored just a few years ago.

The big appeal for mobile gambling or any kind of gambling at all, is that people can win prizes. Imagine getting involved in a game or two when on the commute home from work, and winning a prize? Well, people are doing it all of the time! Who doesn’t like winning prizes – especially if it is money? And who hates having nothing to do on the commute from work home?
Yes, today you don’t have to get home, get dressed and then commute again to the bright lights of the casino. Mobile gambling has done this for us, it is safe, easy, convenient and a rewarding way for many to end their day with a little light entertainment.

The regulatory auditing and testing agency eCOGRA has been selected by leading Stoke-on-Trent based online gambling group bet365 to serve as its "third party regulatory testing and certification partner".

Companies are increasingly recognising the value of partnerships that will oversee and conduct independent specialist audit and testing procedures to streamline the often complicated and varying matrix of national regulatory requirements in newly legislated, as well as existing, markets in Europe.

Bet365, as one of the world’s largest online gambling groups, identified the need to appoint a strategic partner that would provide it with quality and cost-effective compliance and audit services ensuring each aspect of its business is in sync with the myriad of legislative requirements adopted by the various markets it operates in or intends to enter.

eCOGRA’s 17025:2005 testing laboratory accreditation by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) and extensive mix of professional Big 4 audit firm, IT and industry experience, ideally places the firm to perform compliance and audit services across the diverse spread of regulation and testing principles and methodologies being adopted throughout Europe.

Andrew Beveridge, the chief executive of eCOGRA, welcomed the appointment saying: "eCOGRA specialises in providing services to tier 1 software suppliers and operators, and bet365 certainly meets this requirement. eCOGRA looks forward to assisting bet365 with future certification endeavours while ensuring the group remains compliant in the markets in which it currently operates."

Steven Degg, regulatory compliance and information officer of bet365 commenting on the appointment said: "bet365 selected eCOGRA based on the depth of skills, experience of their resources and a successful track record in providing compliance services to other leading operators and software suppliers. Bet365 successfully submitted challenging Spanish and Danish certifications in partnership with eCOGRA, and look forward to working with eCOGRA as we expand into new markets going forward."

About eCOGRA

Founded in 2003 to set and improve operational standards and player safety in the online gambling space, eCOGRA has amassed a wealth of experience in implementing international best practice standards and requirements and ensuring these are maintained through regular review and monitoring.

Over 200 of the most established and successful internet gambling websites are accredited and policed by the independent, London-based company, which is staffed by professional auditors with Big 4 auditing firm experience, information system experts and responsible gambling specialists.

The company is an accredited testing agency with several jurisdictions, and has been awarded the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) ISO approval ISO/IEC 17025:2005 : General Requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories. This accreditation is one of the quality assurance requirements for approval as a testing agency in various European remote gambling licensing jurisdictions.

About bet365

Bet365 is a world leading eGaming company and a driving force in the development of Enterprise and Internet technology. Established in 2000 from a portakabin in Stoke-on-Trent, bet365 has grown into a global operation that employs over 2,000 people, is live in 17 languages and delivers an unrivalled online experience to over 9 million customers worldwide.

Giving its development teams the freedom to innovate is key to bet365’s success. The company has worked hard to cultivate a culture of innovation where good ideas and a techno-entrepreneurial attitude are encouraged and rewarded. Today bet365 continues to push technological boundaries and break new ground in software innovation.

Virtually every month Microgaming releases a couple of new games. The latest releases for November are Both Break Away and Octopays video slots. These are not the only new things in the pipeline however, there will be plenty of new games on offer to help you while away the long cold winter nights. Microgaming is an Isle of Man based software provider with a very good reputation as a mainstream online casino gaming provider.

The new releases are an ice hockey themed game, and an underwater treasure hunting theme. They will be available online in the new month and available at most of the good Microgaming powered casinos.

Break Away as we said is a video slot – it invites players to take to the ice and win their way to victory. The theme is a super combination of this exciting winter sport and unbeatable online casino software. It offers great bonus features, scatter pays, the new Rolling Reels feature, Smashing and Stacked Wilds, Stacked Wilds, as well as the chance to win twenty-five free spins and up to ten x multiplier. Icons are all thinks ice hockey, so, if slots and ice hockey are the names of your games why not give it a spin or two.

Octopays, another video slot offers appropriate underwater treasure hunting graphics, and we know this has all been done before. But it is a fresh look at the theme, with the 243 Ways to Win feature, there is no pay-lines as such. The Kraken is a monster bonus feature and there is up to 16,000 coins to be won in the free spins feature.

But now for the really big news, Microgaming has announced a new partnership and licensing deal with the makers of Battlestar Galactica™. What this means is there is bound to be a game in the pipeline based on this Sci-fi theme. The licensing agreement is with NBC Universal TV and they are definitely in it for an online slot game. Sci-fi fans this is one for you.

Battlestar Galactica is one of the most critically acclaimed television programmes, it has reached an audience of more than 14 million viewers globally. The final season of the tale sees the last vestiges of humanity under attack from deadly Cylons whilst at the same time trying to find a new planet to call home. It has captured the imagination of millions of people and at the same time, created a new generation of fans. The series has also picked up three Emmy awards. The series ran between 2004 and 2009.

Microgaming are obviously delighted with this new partnership, and Battlestar Galactica’s strong international appeal should mean that the new slot game will be well received. "We can’t wait to see the finished product, but there will still be a wait. Be prepared for something truly special. Roger Raatgever, who is CEO of Microgaming, says they are thrilled to be creating video slots which are light years ahead of the rest".

Influencers will receive £48 of digital lottery tickets to play and share with friends.

A new strategic betting game, has launched an social influence marketing campaign via Klout, a company that measures users’ online influence, to promote their lottery to a targeted group of influencers.

The campaign enables qualifying users worldwide to sign up via the Klout Perks program and receive a continent ticket pack with a value of £48 and share the oer with friends and followers in their social networks. The campaign, which launched on November 7th, has already attracted hundreds of new players to the TWLV lottery. The oer is limited to the first 2000 players who sign up via Klout

Ab Olde-Scheper, founder of TWLV, said: "Influencer marketing is proving the perfect marketing tool for launching our game. We are delighted to welcome hundreds of new players now all interacting with their friends and followers. It’s a promising start and we trust the player volume to grow continually helping us contribute to a great charity Jackpot at the end of this year".

After a successful influencer campaign with PeerIndex last month, where users were oered a similar promotion, TWLV now partnered with Klout to target a new audience of influencers, attracting new players from around the world. TWLV is the first game of chance to use social influence marketing to drive interest in a gambling platform.