One of the reasons we enjoy playing slots so much, is the massive prizes that can be won. Even though the odds are low, every now and then another online winner land a prize that literally takes our breath away. The latest in a long line-up of these wins has become a history maker.

A 49-year old family man recently went to the "Party" branded website to play some online poker. He was keen to meet the requirements for the Montreal World Poker Tour. While he was there he decided to play the Melon Madness slot in the casino section of the site. Just as well he listened to this "inner-voice" because it cost him a $3 wager to land a staggering prize of $7,525,851. This was the progressive jackpot prize in a five-reel, thirty pay-line video slot that had been growing for quite a long while. Imagine a pop-up appearing on your screen, telling you, you had won this amount of money?

Lady luck has smiled on many such people, and more so since we have been able to play slots games online. In this instance we now have the largest ever recorded online slots prize at Party Casino, which is even better publicity for the Party brand. The nice thing about Melon Madness however, is the game is actually seeded with a progressive jackpot prize of $1,500,000. So anyone could go back right now to play, win, and still become an instant millionaire. They call this the "Big One Colossal Cash Jackpot".

In another huge online windfall; a 31 year old UK man recently landed a €3.1 Million, on the Mega Fortune Slot Jackpot. How do you like them apples? The father of two was wagering £2.50 per spin on Valentine’s Day, and recons this is the best Valentines gift he ever gave to his wife and children – saying it will be a hard one to top. We agree, but this is also not the largest progressive prize paid out by Net Entertainment ‘s Mega Fortune video slot.

Only a short while ago, this company saw one member win, the BIGGEST online slots prize that has EVER been given away. If you think that $7.5 million is a great deal of money, how would you feel about winning €17.8 Million? Yes… this is no exaggeration. On January the 20th 2013, 40-year old man from Helsinki landed this prize. This new world record came close on the heels of €6.9 Million win, and there is one thing that we can be sure of – online slots games are leading the way in making instant millionaires out of many players who are willing enough to buy a ticket in it to win it.

One of the reasons we say that the online gambling industry is a "mainstream" industry, is because of the size of the prize on the bottom line for operators. It is hardly surprising that the UK Government is re-visiting its taxation laws for this industry – during 2012 online gambling was worth more than £2 Billion; it is envisaged that this will grow monumentally. Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise hardly receives a share in this loot, as taxation mores are so tough that most UK operators provide these services to the UK-audience from White Listed, yet distant shores.

£2 Billion is a massive amount of money in an industry which grows, hour-by-hour, day-by-day, year-on-year. Now with mobile gambling being the new zeitgeist, Internet gaming is predicted to grow even more. Some remarkable growth percentages have been seen in this sector of the industry, especially during 2012, as more people get hooked up with a smartphone.

The leading gaming growth sector in the UK is currently real money sports-betting, and especially popular are the “in-play” wagers that can now be made from the convenience of a mobile phone. Just as an example – in the period 2011 to 2012, football betting has seen an increase of 69%. This makes it the second-most lucrative gaming market in the country, just a wee bit behind horse racing.

A recent study which revealed these result, also yielded other rather interesting results too. For example we now know that William Hill is in the lead in terms of market-share, but this does not necessarily mean they have the lions-share of the entire industry. 15% goes to William Hill, while Paddy Power, Betfair, Ladbrokes, and Bet365 each control the same at 11% each. 44% of the market is attributed to "other" operators.

Research is indicating that 29% of users who gamble online are using mobile devices, and smartphones to facilitate this form of entertainment. Searches for online gambling products from smartphones have also grown by 75%. This proves that the spirit of the times is for mobile gambling, and sport-betting is mostly what these users are looking for.

The Island of Jersey has now entered the race to become a licensee state. They are joining into the melee with territories such as the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, Malta, Alderney, and one or two other well-liked destinations. With so much attractive competition, the UK Government has a hard task ahead of them if they think they might be able to attract operators back to the fair shores of Pudding Island.

It is not the first time we have heard mention that tax Cuts could be looming for British online gambling ops. It is also no secret that most of these operational companies have joined the exodus to more temperate climes. Most UK online gambling concerns, even the BIG guys such as William Hill, long ago ran away to "White Label" shores such as Malta, Gibraltar, Isle of Man and Alderney.

However, this does not prevent large operators from offering this form of virtual entertainment to a UK-facing audience. Therefore the UK Government needs to find a way to bring some potential tax pounds back to the country. The best and most obvious way to do this would be to offer tax cuts. But will the Government actually enact this – that is the multi-million pound question?!

If we think about it logically, gambling is a numbers game, but then so again is collecting tax. So, we ask you a simple question, would you rather have 5% on millions of pounds of potential income? Or would you rather have 15% of nothing? It doesn’t take rocket science to see that online gambling firms have left the country to take advantage of tax shelters for very obvious reasons.

Apparently now Government Ministers are seeing the madness in the tax situation, it has taken the longest time; and is hoping to encourage operators to base themselves in, or return to Britain.
One thing that is for certain – IS – online gambling is going nowhere at all, and unprecedented growth is being seen in this industry still. Mobile gambling growth using Android, iPhone, iPad, and other tablets, and smartphones, is becoming an off-the-wall trend. This kind of growth in popularity and spending is just too good to resist not getting a share.

While the Government in the UK, mulls over the idea of tax cuts on revenues from this massive growth industry, the Governments of Alderney, Gibraltar, Isle of Mann, and so on, are all cashing in on what has become a mainstream industry. These territories are also cashing in on the perks that work hand-in-hand with healthy industry – job creation for example.

Rumour has it that taxes in the UK will be cut from 15 to 10%, but we don’t really know if 5% would make all that much of an impression. 10% does bring it in line with some other territories, but whether this will be incentive enough, still remains to be seen. The wheels of law-making turn slowly, and we all know that money likes speed. Perhaps a little less "mulling", and a little more action might be required.

You may not know this, but you have probably heard of the "Coral" brand in the UK. This company is the holding company for gala bingo, so, as well as Gala Bin go online, we also find Coral Bingo. This is a section of the main website, which also offers sports betting, casino games, bet-in-play, poker, live casino games online, mobile gaming, and Lotto. The convenience factor of registering with this site, means that one account may be used to access all these different types of winning entertainment.

If you were to register with the bingo site, just spend a fiver on tickets, and they will give you a whopping £25 for free. No catch! Thereafter newbies get to play in the Debutant Room. The Debutant Room offers five full days of free bingo and £15 worth of Bingo bonus funds to be won on each game. The room is open for four hours a day, and the newbie can play every day.

That is twenty hours of free bingo games – a smashing opportunity to build up your bingo bonus bankroll. These games are a great way to practice, and experienced chat hosts are there in the room to help you get off to a great start.

If you are a jackpot chaser, there are load of great games for you too, check out the Bingo Linx, this is where the BIG money can be found. Bingo Linx play daily, with a 12pm jackpot of £1,500, a 6pm prize of £2,500, a 10:30pm jackpot of £4,000, and Super Bingo Linx monthly on the last Sunday, for a guaranteed £10,000, and tickets that cost only 50p. Here it pays to take note that Bingo Linx tickets are available in pre-buy, so you can even start pre-buying them now, and that way have the best seats in the house when the big game plays.

Bet365 is the best place for all your football betting and, with the race to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil beginning to take shape, there are some intriguing matches to look forward to.

Friday 22nd March sees England in action in Group H, as the squad looks to build on an impressive friendly win over Brazil last month by claiming a comprehensive victory away at minnows San Marino.

Elsewhere, Scotland and Wales renew their rivalry at Hampden Park with both sides hoping to recover from a disappointing start in Group A. Wales recorded their opening victory of the campaign with a 2-1 win over Scotland in Cardiff, thanks to a dramatic late double from in form Gareth Bale.

If, however, either of these eagerly anticipated encounters fails to deliver and ends in a goalless draw, you’ll still be able to enjoy the result with bet365’s Bore Draw Money Back offer.

Simply place a pre-match Correct Score, Half-Time/Full-Time or Scorecast bet and if the game finishes 0-0 then bet365 will refund all losing bets on these markets.

This great offer means that you don’t need to be bored by a blank score sheet again. What’s more, it runs all year round and applies to matches from every league, cup and competition around the world. With bet365’s terrific Bore Draw Money Back offer, a goalless draw may not be the worst result.