CAI Games signs exclusive deal with Daily Express newspaper for white label casino.

Express Casino powered by CAI Games

CAI Games has announced that it has signed an exclusive deal with the Daily Express, a leading UK newspaper with a circulation of 720,000 readers, for the operation of a white label online casino. The deal will provide CAI Games with advertising space and an editorial column in the newspaper’s online and print publications.

The Daily Express Casino Service, express-casino.com, is operated by CAI Games, the online gaming platform of Casinos Austria International. Launched on 1 October 2010, Express Casino features an extensive choice of online casino, slot machine, video poker, jackpot and instant games.

It also offers users the opportunity to participate in unique promotions with landbased operations in the Casinos Austria International network around the globe. The opening promotion will be with Casino Semiramis in Cairo, Egypt. The lucky winner will enjoy a long weekend at the 5-star Semiramis InterContinental Hotel with a range of great excursions and a superb casino experience.

About Casinos Austria International

Founded in 1977, Casinos Austria International offers a unique portfolio of casino and gaming entertainment consulting development, management and investment services. Together with its local partners, Casinos Austria International currently operates a total of 58 gaming entertainment venues in 17 countries worldwide, including 38 landbased casinos, 5 shipboard casinos, 15 slot parlors, a lottery operation in Argentina, and the online gaming platform CAI Games.

For more information on Casinos Austria International, please contact:

Hermann Pamminger
Corporate Head of Marketing
Phone: +43 1 534 40 524
E-mail: hermann.pamminger@casinos.at

About CAI Games

CAI Games is committed to providing the best in interactive entertainment, leveraging Casinos Austria International’s extensive experience in servicing gaming customers. Casinos Austria International anticipates regulatory changes in other geographical jurisdictions, and plans to extend its online gaming activities to other markets when the appropriate legislative frameworks are in place. CAIGAMES.COM is regulated by the Lotteries and Gaming Authority of Malta.

For more information on CAI Games, please contact:

Francesca Raniolo
Intergame Limited
Phone: +356 20115506
E-mail: marketing@caigames.com

Although US players will still not be able to make use of the feature, payment processor Paypal is once again processing online gambling transactions.

The turnaround in Paypal’s policy towards online gambling transactions has begun in the UK market with a move to allowing online bingo, poker and casino sites to once again make use of its nearly instantaneous money transfer service.

Industry insiders speculate that the move comes after major players in thye search ads market opted to allow gambling advertising in the UK and that Paypal may be preparing itself to enter the US gambling market should UIGEA be repealed. According to a recent study, the US gambling market could be worth 12 Billion Dollars annually if opened.

For now only a handful of UK casino and bingo operators will be offering Paypal as a payment option, but Paypal assured players of secure transactions without the need to reveal sensitive finacial data to operators in the form of bank account or credit card numbers.

According to a report by Online Casino Advisory, Paypal still seems to be operating cautiously to avoid legal entanglements with US authorities and the move is seen by observers as the beginning of a reversal of the online gambling ban.

Poker rooms are hungrier than ever to keep players happy. If you’re an online poker player you should definitely think about maximizing the bonuses you receive from playing. Most advanced players settle on rakeback. A rakeback provider is a poker affiliate who will deal with the poker rooms for you and pay back a percentage of the rake you pay at the tables. Obviously this scales up the more you play and is a bonus which keeps on giving – unlike one time signup or reload bonuses.

There are several providers online and it’s worth choosing a reputable site as once you sign up through an affiliate you are usually stuck with them for as long as you play at a particular poker room. Nobody wants to give up their Full Tilt account because they’ve dealt with a bad affiliate. We can recommend rakeiteasy.com as they pay out on time, have great support and offer a large variety of poker rooms.

What is rake?

You might be wondering exactly what rake is. It varies a little from room to room but essentially rake is how the online poker rooms make money. They take a small percentage (usually around 5%) of each pot. It’s capped at a few dollars per pot. Although each piece of rake is small this soon adds up. A regular player can rake 100′s or 1000′s of dollars each month.

What is rakeback?

A major source of players for poker rooms is affiliate marketing. Whenever you see a site offering poker room reviews or bonus codes they are receiving a cut of the profit from every player they send on to a poker room. Rakeback affiliates share this cut with the players they refer. A standard rakeback deal will give the player back about 30% of the rake they pay. The affiliate keeps a small amount and the poker rooms see this as a good way to offer a loyalty bonus to players.

How much can I make?

It will vary greatly player to player. The more you play, and the higher the stakes, the more rake you will pay and thus the more rakeback you can receive. It will also depend on the site you play at. Generally the bigger the room the smaller the payout. Popular poker rooms offer around 30% rakeback while new poker rooms will offer up to 50%. Trying out a new room can pay out some really nice bonuses.

A big misconception is that rakeback is only worthwhile to high stakes players. In fact because the amount of rake is capped small stakes players suffer more from rake. If you’re trying to build up your bankroll then rakeback will definitely help. If you want to see how much you could be receiving then have a look at this rakeback calculator.

How do I get started?

To get rakeback you will often need to sign up for a new poker room account. It can sometimes be added to an existing account but that will depend on the policy of the poker room and whether you originally signed up through an affiliate. If you did then you’re usually out of luck. Contact your rakeback provider with your poker room account details and they’ll see what they can do.

Our friends at rakeiteasy have over 25 poker rooms on offer including the big names like Full Tilt, PKR, Cake Poker, Ultimate Bet and Carbon Poker. Go check out their offers and see if you could be benefiting.

In an update to an ealier news item regarding Barney Frank’s plans to appeal the UIGEA ruling this morning’s edition of the eGaming Review snapshot revealed some further information regarding the Bill as well as its relase date which is now slated for as early as next month.

Barney Frank’s bill to repeal the UIGEA could be reintroduced as early as March, a congressional aide for the chair of the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee told Reuters.

Sources familiar with the EU’s formal investigation into whether Washington was singling out EU companies for enforcement actions while allowing US online firms to operate freely also told the news organisation they expect the report to recommend action at the World Trade Organization when it is released next month.

However, rather than move immediately to litigation, it’s thought EU officials will use the report as leverage to seek a negotiated solution with the US.

All roads lead to Las Vegas next month as BingoWorld Conference & Expo is attracting a strong attendee base for its 13th annual renewal, March 3-4, 2009 at the Riviera Hotel & Casino here. It is the world’s largest conference and trade show dedicated to the bingo industry.

Hundreds of bingo professionals have already registered for BingoWorld, representing a broad spectrum of industry participants, including charitable, commercial, online and tribal bingo hall operators, gaming regulators, suppliers and other interested groups. They are coming from more than 35 U.S. states, several Canadian provinces and from as far away as Australia, Norway and the Philippines.

“Our early registration numbers prove that BingoWorld couldn’t come at a better time, as our program will focus on how to succeed in today’s challenging environment,” said Charles Anderer, Group Publisher, Gaming, for BNP Media, the show’s producer. “The opportunities to network and learn from peers are invaluable, and perhaps defying the odds we are truly attracting an excellent international crowd this year.”

While the conference program is exceptional, with more educational opportunities than ever in a new two-day value-packed format, there should also be plenty of excitement in the exhibit hall. Several of the bingo industry’s largest suppliers will be on hand, and a number of new exhibitors this year add great variety to the mix. Keeping everyone entertained will be Stephen Kaplan, The Tradeshow Emcee. He will make sure everyone knows what each exhibitor has to offer and contribute to a very active show floor.

BingoWorld opens on March 3 with a full day of intensive conference sessions with something for everyone, including commercial, tribal and charitable bingo operators. The morning of March 3 also includes an all-new edition of Sellin’ Paper and Callin’ Balls, the customer service workshop presented by Raving Consulting’s Steve Browne.

The conference schedule continues on March 4 with two concurrent programs. One is the popular Bingo University, a hands-on workshop focusing on marketing that has drawn rave reviews each of its first two years. The other is Bingo and the Internet, a new three-session program which will explore the popularity of bingo as both a money game and a free-play game on the Internet. The emphasis will be on how all bingo halls can benefit from this exposure, and it will include a detailed look at how they can maximize the marketing potential of their own Web sites.

For more information on exhibiting at BingoWorld or to learn about sponsorships, contact Lesley Grashow at grashowl@bnpmedia.com or (203) 938-2782.

BingoWorld is produced by BNP Media Gaming Group, the leading producer of trade magazines, e-newsletters and trade shows serving the gaming industry around the world.

Media contact: Charles Anderer, Group Publisher, Gaming, BNP Media, andererc@bnpmedia.com or (718) 432-8529.

Executive Director of the Poker Players Alliance, John Pappas, was very happy when he stated, "This is a tremendous victory for Internet freedom and the rights of Kentucky residents who enjoy playing online poker." This comes after it was announced that The Court of Appeals for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Franklin Circuit Court Division II overturned an earlier seizure of 141 domain names.

The PPA has an estimated 130000 player residents in Kentucky. The Poker Players Alliance was a big part of bringing in a positive decision. The other groups included online gambling interests such as sportsbook.com, sportsinteraction.com, mysportsbook.com, sbglobal.com, carmenmedia.com and hundreds of others collectively.

John Pappas adds, "We are pleased that the appeals court has forcefully reversed Judge Wingate’s earlier ruling and confirmed many of the arguments that have been raised in opposition to the seizure effort. The Court of Appeals has agreed with the PPA’s position that Judge Wingate did not have jurisdiction to issue the order that he entered against these domains and that Secretary Brown has no legitimate right to deprive the citizens of Kentucky of the legal right to play poker online."

Rich Muny, Kentucky State Director for the PPA, said, "This common-sense approach would benefit Kentucky’s poker enthusiasts and the revenue will benefit the state as a whole. Rather than spending hard to find dollars on this case, the Governor could actually turn this into a much needed new revenue stream for the Commonwealth."

This is a massive decision for the world of online poker. Domain names are not a ‘gambling device’ the court has ruled and therefore are not subject to seizure or forfeiture. Internet freedom was in question in this case, so this outcome was an important one.

Source: swiss-press.com

According to the eGaming Morning Snapshot of 4 February, US Democrat Barney Frank is launching an offensive to roll back legislation against online gambling passed under the Bush administration, reports the Financial Times.

The chairman of the House financial services committee will reintroduce a bill in the next few weeks to establish a licensing and regulatory framework for online gambling operators.

Frank said the prospects for his bill, discussed in the last session of Congress but not voted on, were greater than before because public opinion was now demanding the right to gamble online. Frank also said he expected UIGEA regulations making it illegal for financial institutions to process online gambling transactions, finalised during the final days of the Bush administration, to be among the measures Congress will look to rescind.

Free Bingo website LiveBingo.com has thrown their weight behind the RSPCA’s efforts to encourage dog and cat neutering in the UK by offering a rebate service for a limited number of LiveBingo.com members.

Free Online Bingo website, LiveBingo.com, has placed its support behind a campaign to improve the affordability of pet spaying in an attempt to lighten the burden on animal welfare centres in these tough economic times.

Thousands of unwanted puppies and kittens are born every year, and the RSPCA strongly advises neutering at an early age. Neutering in the UK costs in the region of £180 for a bitch and £100 for a dog, which is an expense beyond the means of many households at the moment.

LiveBingo.com is offering a £30 rebate to the first 100 Live Bingo members who provide a current Veterinarian’s invoice and a photo of their beloved cat or dog enjoying their newfound lack of responsibility.

RSPCA chief veterinary adviser Mark Evans said: “The RSPCA re-homes thousands of unwanted cats, kittens, dogs and puppies every year. The Society strongly advises neutering at an early age to help reduce this problem. It’s a straightforward operation which can be arranged with a vet.”

LiveBingo.com Manager, Andrew Housego, who coincidentally shares his nickname with the traditional Bingo moniker “Housie”, is pleased to be assisting a worthy cause.

“It’s no coincidence that the RSPCA’s demand increases during tough economic times. People are finding it tough enough to keep their existing animals healthy and happy without the addition of unwanted arrivals.”

LiveBingo.com, whose lively television commercial has been attracting attention throughout the country, is quickly on its way to becoming a major player in the online bingo scene. With an entertaining, value packed product that’s absolutely free, Brits are going “nuts” over LiveBingo.com.

According to the eGaming Review morning snapshot Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear is to appeal last week’s decision by the Kentucky Court of Appeal to block the state from seizing up to 141 internet domain names belonging to online gaming companies.

Joe Brennan of the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA), which filed last week’s successful appeal on behalf of the industry, said he was not surprised by the news that Beshear and Secretary J Michael Brown were to counter appeal.

"They both invested a lot of political capital in this suit. They likely feel they can’t back down," said Brennan.

"Their attorneys took this on a contingency fee-basis, and have reportedly sunk over a million dollars of their own money in this suit, and other suits like this that they reportedly prepared for other states. Without a win in Kentucky, it will be hard to get those other suits off the ground, and they’ll have taken huge losses on their own gamble," he added.

I see that they guys over at Cool Hand Online Poker have put together a hysterical pilot video to build up their brand and educate poker players at the room about the importance of knowing your poker hand rankings.

After seeing this I don’t think I am ever going to forget that a straight flush beats for queens, not to mention the fact that every time I end up with either a straight flush or four queens I am going to have to resist the urge to burst out laughing at the table.

PS: If you liked this video, please take a moment to pop over to the YouTube video page and leave a comment or a rating so we can encourage these guys to produce more of these kick-butt funny poker tutorials.