Online Gambling News

The very first time we saw Net Entertainment (NetEnt)games and websites, it was hard not to believe that this online gambling, gaming developer was not going to do big things. They have since divested themselves of operations in this field, to concentrate on development as well as turnkey solution for the industry from a back office perspective. Dropping the gambling website business meant ridding themselves of “conflict of interest” issues, and they have gone from strength to strength since then. Every operator who is anybody should want NetEnt games on their websites.

Already an award winner, this prominent Swedish software provider for online casinos has landed a hat-trick at the recent EGR B2B Awards. Any player in this industry wants these prestigious awards in their trophy cabinet, and NetEnt took three! These awards are:

• Innovation in Slot Provision
• Innovation in Mobile
• Mobile Supplier of the Year

This company’s commitment in the development of a top-notch mobile platform has paid off, for sure. “Touch” (the mobile platform) is thought to be the best in the business, and the awards it has won contests to that. The online gambling audience is now more sophisticated than ever before, and amore players move to the convenience of mobile to play on the go, NetEnt products adapt to this growing demand. Players want quality mobile casino games, and quality is what they get.

The Award for innovation in slots provision is highly commendable too – if you have not seen their great games – do yourself a favour and check out: Jack and the Beanstalk, Gonzos Quest, BloodSuckers, Egg-o-matic, Zombies, Starburst, Evolution, Jack Hammer…there are just so many to choose from.

Per Eriksson – the President and CEO of Net Entertainment, was understandably thrilled to share this good news with the industry. He said that "Innovation is at the core of everything we do and these three prestigious industry awards are a product of all the team’s hard work." He also commented that their team had been focussing heavily on mobile development during the past eighteen months, and this focus had paid off.

Mobile is without any shadow of a doubt a high growth area, and being regarded so highly at the EGR B2B Awards will only stand the brand in good stead for a very good future. These awards recognise achievements across all e-gaming segments, including networks, payment solutions, IT and infrastructure, mobile gaming, software, and so on.

Whilst speaking of Net Entertainmednt, you might also be interested to know that another recent BIG win took place on Mega Fortune™. It paid out a handsome prized of €5.3 Million at BetVictor Casino during the May Bank Holiday weekend. This prize was the 4th biggest in their history.

One of the reasons why gambling has in the past had a dodgy reputation, has been due to the fact that a "gambling underworld" has had, and in some instance still does play a role in this business. This type of illegal activity is not unique to gambling per se, but unscrupulous operators do have a penchant to try their luck. However, there are very many legitimate gambling businesses doing really well, offering fair games, etcetera, but even the legitimate sector of this industry seems to have been tarred (in some instances) with the same brush.

Now the online gambling industry appears to have been targeted for the same “tar and feathering” treatment, where fuel for this impression is being fired by who else – but the film industry? Justin Timberlake has taken time out of his newly re-vamped role as a successful pop star to get back into the movie making business, with a new role that has been based on the online gambling underworld.

The film dubbed – Runner Runner – is being released by Twentieth Century Fox and official video trailers are already hitting the silver screen. This gambling drama is due to be release sometime this September. Timberlake co-stars with Ben Affleck who is no stranger to gambling, and really enjoys his poker; Affleck takes on the role of an online gambling tycoon. But not just any common or garden gambling tycoon, he is tied to corruption, and of course bribery.

Playing a Princeton grad student named Richie – Timberlake – is caught up in the constant concern regarding how to pay off massive tuition fees. He also happens to be a mathematics genius, and recons he could probably come up with the $60K required, by playing online poker. The fact that playing online poker is still illegal in the USA has even been taken into consideration, as Ivan Block (played by Affleck) is situated in Costa Rica.

Nevertheless, Richie makes use of the law of statistics together with his own considerable know-how, and guess what happens next? He loses of course – and finds himself in an even worse position. But not only does he lose, he also believes that he has been cheated out of the money he lost.

After losing, Richie travels to Costa Rica to confront Block, but instead ends up being lured into this underworld. After being kidnapped by FBI agents, and informed of what Block’s shady dealings really are, he tries to switch sides. However, I guess we will have to wait for the movie to come out, before we find out what transpires in the end. Release is scheduled for 27th September 2013.

eCOGRA is an independent standards, testing and certification body for online gambling websites, who are there to protect the public too. It basically offers certification to reliable online gambling websites in regulated territories.

The internet gambling public have learned to look out for this certification before playing at any site, as they have learned how meaningful it actually is. This is particularly pertinent to the UK, because the audience for these games in the country are today highly evolved – what we like to refer to as knowledgeable and sophisticated players. This week it was revealed that eCOGRA would be expanding their operations, and is involved in the process of employing more staff.

These expansion plans are only one small indication of the type of growth that is still being experienced in the online gambling industry. It is also a further indication of how the growth of mobile gambling markets is taking off like a bat out of hell. Mobile concerns as well as online firms, require this form of accreditation.

Apparently ten specially recruited professional staff will be joining the current team, with skills sets such as certified information IT systems auditing, chartered accounting (courtesy of the Big 4) and software test engineers.

Tex Rees – the Executive Director of eCOGRA – released this breaking news during a recent management update. Substantial investments have also been made in areas such as audit software, internal control systems, programmes, and testing laboratory infrastructure. It is Rees’ opinion that these expanded capabilities will extend capacity, and better enable them to service an ever-growing online gambling operations client base, within licensed, and regulated territories.

Founded in 2003 – eCOGRA has seen this industry through its infancy and well into a new era. They are now responsible for testing many of the biggest online operations, and recently inked a software deal with Net Entertainment. A Swedish software firm – Net Ent are certainly putting some of the best games we have ever seen out into the online gambling marketplace, and more and more operations are clamouring for their products. eCogra also has an eGAP standards and monitoring agreement in place with Paf – another Scandinavian operator.

eCogra certification has become synonymous with superior operating standards, and representation in terms of the highest quality for fairness in the online gambling industry. They are recipients of ISO approval from the UK Accreditation Service (UKAS), and what this means to the online gambler, is that any site bearing this seal has been rigorously tested, and is being continuously monitored. It also offers a protection aspect for the gambler themselves, and may be requested to help in terms of mediation, should any fairness disputes arise.

It’s been two years since the independent i-gaming standards, testing and certification company eCOGRA was the subject of a management buy-out from the original 2003 founders and the organisation has undoubtedly flourished.

In a management update this week, Executive Director Tex Rees revealed that ten additional professional staff, predominantly in the fields of chartered accountancy, certified information systems auditing and software test engineering have recently been selectively recruited by the company, extending its capacity to service a growing client base of tier one operators and software suppliers who have chosen to contract eCOGRA for i-gaming testing, monitoring and preparatory certification work in numerous regulated markets.

Among newly signed clients has been the respected and itself rapidly expanding Swedish online gambling software development group Net Entertainment.

eCOGRA has also won new eGAP standards and monitoring contracts with other leading industry companies, the most recent being the online gambling operator Paf (Ålands Penningautomatförening).

Rees says that her company has made significant financial investment in new audit software and programmes, internal control systems and testing laboratory infrastructure to support effective management of the growing business.

"Our substantial investment in technology and human resources will favourably enhance our ability to meet clients’ needs and the licensing jurisdictions’ stringent criteria for accredited testing facilities," Rees said this week.

"Based on unsolicited feedback, we are confident that our clients are more than satisfied with our testing and certification services, particularly in regulated markets such as Spain, Denmark and Italy.

However, the foreseeable introduction of diverse regulations and requirements by national licensing jurisdictions will continue to provide unique challenges for both licensees and testing houses, an industry dynamic for which eCOGRA is suitably positioned to excel." she said.

There is huge money to be made in the gambling industry, in particular in low cost wagers where life-changing amounts of money can be won. The Irish are selling their National Lottery with a €600 Million price tag, and Minister Brendan Howlin has been warned that he should be compelled to introduce measures that will protect players from gambling addiction. This comes as a section of a social responsibility charter that the new private operator must be prepared to adhere to.

A Gambling expert has been advising both buyers and sellers in this new deal. This expert is of the opinion that the sale actually calls for new measure to be put into place. This is a very controversial sale of a licence which will allow the private operator to run this lotto for a period of twenty years.

At the moment, despite the price, any buyer would be taking a gamble. The new operations company would have to be able to increase both turnover and revenues substantially. Last year sales for the Irish Lotto dropped by 10.6% – down to €252.3 Million, so any return on investment for the new operator, looks particularly bleak, unless they can pump up the sales.

However with the need to increase ticket sales, a massive push into advertising would obviously be a necessity, and it is this that causes concern. When a lottery product and the amounts of money that can be won are advertised on a grand scale, this takes place amidst fears that vulnerable members of society may be drawn into purchasing tickets that they can actually not afford. Or that under-age gambling may take place online.

There are a number of online gambling concerns that have an interest in this Irish license, and this is chiefly due to the fact that the online market for it remains largely untapped. Gaming giant Gtech (Italian) has shown an interest, and have actually admitted that this aspect is its chief selling point.

Declan Harkin who is chief operating officer of Gtech has hinted that if their bid were to be successful, a roll-out of self-service points in retail shops, as well as a "significant refresh of technology support", would definitely be on the cards. However, present laws need to be relaxed before lotto purchases may be made online.
Currently a cumbersome system is in place in terms of player registration.

This system is intended to be relaxed under a new Lottery Act, and experts in gambling, and gambling problems, believe that as long strong social responsibility ethics are adhered to by operators of online lottery-style games. Problem gambling will not be inevitable.