Online Gambling News

It has been years that the UK bingo industry has been trying to get HMRCS to cut bingo tax. This is tax for clubs of the live variety, not necessarily the online kind. Now, apparently all Britain is celebrating because the Government has finally realised that this industry is in serious jeopardy. Bingo tax has been cut from 15 to 10%. Chancellor, George Osborne has finally been convinced to attempt to “protect jobs and protect communities”. During the last thirty years – ¾ of bingo halls have gone out of business, and 2000 jobs have been lost.

But like all taxation concessions, the Chancellor is still compelled to balance the budget, and has predictably given with the right hand, while taking away with the left. The bad news is that fixed odds betting terminals have to bear the burden of the concession for bingo. According to Osborne, these machines have "proliferated" during the last ten years. So, he has raised their tax to 25%. On the good side – and there is another – beer duty has also been cut, and Rank (Mecca Bingo)will be building three new bingo halls.

On the other side of the tax landscape – online gambling concerns that are situated in white listed areas, have not paid tax to the UK since the industry first got its start. It is realistically speaking unfair, that these businesses may offer services to a UK-facing audience, make money from these services, and not pay tax to the UK Treasury. This is all set to change, and taxes on remote gambling are about to kick off from December of this year (2014).

In the meantime Ireland has not been as quick off the mark as the British have, where the regulatory process for online gambling tax has not yet passed the committee stage. The Betting (Amendment) Bill 2012 has passed through the Dailhowever, but who knows how much longer the bill will take to be passed? This act provides a regulatory regime for online gaming operators, but has been gathering dust since 2011. Apparently the Ministry for Finance has been dragging their heels, and all the bill needs is to be signed.

While the gravy train ride is not quite over for operations such as online bingo, casino, poker, and sports betting operators, in the UK and Ireland, the net is certainly closing in. New tax benefits for the bingo crowd, could not as badly materially affect British operators in the online game. So, there is something for these operators to look forward to – being taxed is not all doom and gloom.

Here is a turn out for the books (excuse the pun), a recently launched online video slots magazine is now being published in paper. That is right had copy, not soft. We seem to have become a society where paper is losing momentum, and just about every magazine is now published online. This first of its kind attempt to keep online slots fans in the UK, up-to-date with trending products, is quite an eye-opener indeed.

Jackpots Review Magazine is the name of the magazine, if you fancy picking up a copy hot off the press (real printing press that is). Remember – only available in the United Kingdom – but packed to the brim with what’s new in video slots. It is a bi-monthly mag which according to its bio – will offer an objective point of view for video slot fans. Online reviews can tend to be a little biased, as most of the people promoting these games are in the affiliate industry.

The Premier issue is said to be "exceeding all expectations", (we must assume in terms of purchases), and features the immensely popular online slot game – The Dark Knight Rises. This slot is licensed to the Batman copyright, and the Dark Night – Batman himself – is the cover picture. Not only does the mag feature big name games, but some of the more obscure slots are featured, as well as a few reviews of various casinos online.

We have come to trust the Online Casino Portal (generic term) for the reporting of reputation, reliability, and status of online casinos, we have to bear in mind that till now, these spaces were all the information we had. Now the UK gets Michael Caselli – Editor-in-Chief of Jackpots Review – educated opinions. This means a mainstream reporting format of where to find the games that we love, and what in it for us when playing these slots.

Playing both online and mobile slots games has become a virtual pastime for millions of fans in the UK. The popularity of playing these games has long surpassed many of the classic version that are found in arcades, bingo halls, adult entertainment centres, and casinos. It appears that hard copy reviews are not completely redundant for fans of the genre. Many still may enjoy playing slots online, but also enjoy the sensation of reading whilst simultaneously turning a real paper page.

It has only been a couple of years since casino type games went live on Facebook. At one stage this social networking site would not even allow casino game ads at their site. It appears that they have seen the error of their ways, and the effect of supply and demand now dictates what is popular or not.

In a recent list of the top twenty-three games played at this site, it seems that five of these are casino type games. Gaming in a social media type environment has grown in popularity, and grown exponentially for users at many of these sites. So, the 2013 top “Games of the Year” list was put together based on a selection of criteria. Facebook complied data from "user ratings, implementation, growth and overall quality."

The increase in mobile social media activity has also seen an increase in gaming, and gambling over this channel. This led to the fact that many in the top twenty-three can be enjoyed on both Internet and mobile platforms. Pundits are saying that approximately $12 million will be spent on mobile gambling this year (2014), so, the possibility exists that 2013 mobile growth may have contributed to the Facebook growth in gaming popularity. Hence the reason why five gambling games also made it into their favourites list.

Most online gambling operators are not surprised by the fact that despite the diversity of games available in this space – Hit it Rich Casino Slots, Double Down Casino, Slotmania, DoubleUCasino, and Heart of Vegas, made it to the top. Hit it Rich Casino was also dubbed the Best New Game of the Year. Consumer behaviour seems to be dictating that the Facebook space will soon be inundated with popular online gambling games.

We are not in the least bit surprised by this latest list. The online gambling industry has turned into a mainstream industry Globally, and looks set to grow even more with doors opening in the USA. There are still quite a few global market places that still remain untapped, and with the spread of high speed broadband into Southern American Countries, Africa and Asia, even more growth is bound to be the order of the day. Add to this the fact that mobile, and smartphone use is spreading across the world, and it appears as though the industry might be in for a nice growth surprise. In fact this growth has been speculated on, but could even turn out to be better than the industry is betting on.

Having recently read that a boost to gambling online is being experienced by means of mobile devices, and that this is a bad thing, we couldn’t resist putting in our tuppence worth, because gambling is not the problem. If you have ever been known to drop a few bob on the ponies, while playing a game of poker, or at the local bingo hall, and don’t find this to be a compulsive activity, then you will know that it is people that gamble compulsively, and not the game that force them. Gambling games are inanimate, while people are animate, and should be able to control their addictive urges, or get help for them.

Mobile devices such as phones and have made it easier to gamble online, but no easier than when we only had lap-tops and 3G. So, why do some pontificators call mobile gambling a “worrisome trend”? It is simply because most of these people are offering their opinions, in many instances, even when they have not been asked for an opinion. But then that is the human condition, and many human beings would rather judge, than live and let live. When people judge others, this makes it easier for them to not have to take a long hard look at themselves.

The increasing popularity in gambling online bothers some people a lot. They say it is simply to easy to lose money when all that has to be done is open a website or app. Mobile gambling apparently makes things even easier.

This broad generalisation is a bit narrow minded we believe. We are exposed to online gambling websites continually when reviewing these sites for customers, and have never been tempted to drop money, because losing money is just not our scene. Some people like gambling, others do not, and having gambling available wherever one is and whenever, has never once increased the temptation to play.

That does not make us any better than a person who loses their shirt when playing online, but unfortunately some of us have to learn life lessons, and choose to do this the hard way. If online or mobile gambling were banned, as it purportedly is in the USA, we would still find a way to do this, and it has been proved throughout history that prohibition just does not work.

Most cultures are hardwired to take a risk on something or other, and gambling for money, is a modern-day form of entertainment that millions of people partake of. It is what it is, no more and no less!

The online gambling marketplace, while certainly not bottomed out, has become pretty saturated from the point of view of the affiliate industry. With the emergence of gambling online as a massive money spinner, quite a number of other sectors benefited off the bottom line. Advertising and affiliate marketing were two of these sectors.

The online gambling industry, especially in the UK and Europe has become mature, and this changes the way things in marketing need to get done. While years ago it took very little money for someone to get set up as an affiliate online, this has changed, and it is not so easy for these small one-man ops to make a decent living off affiliate earnings. This is a performance based industry, and due to complexities in the marketplace, rewards are fast becoming diluted. Cornering this market today we find specialized third party vendors, super affiliates and affiliate management agencies. These days it is far more beneficial to select a specialized niche and concentrate on this, rather than on a generic area. In other words, concentrate on "slots" for example, rather than "gambling online" per se.

However there are certainly ample opportunities popping up where we are seeing exponential growth. For example the mobile gambling industry, and perhaps turning our envious eyes upon an emerging market in the USA.

In the few short weeks that online poker has been test-played in the state of New Jersey – up to 33 000 new players, or more have registered and these are only intrastate players. Who knows what the possibilities could be as more and more states open their doors to poker at first, then perhaps other online gambling games too. But change management for affiliates is certainly a strong recommendation too. Affiliate business owner need to learn how to tap into a new market place.

Just out of interest – including the usual Thanks Giving holiday traditions they had to deal with, punters found the time to create 5,000 new online accounts. Testing commenced in New Jersey on the 21st November, and while it was difficult for assessing how many wagers were actually placed, some gamers had registered with more than one online brand. This indicates the largest expansion of gambling in the state since 1978, when the first Atlantic City casino opened its doors to the public. They are the third stat in the USA to offer legal and regulated gambling online.