At the inception of the online casino industry, the focus lay predominantly on the US where online casinos were most popular. This lasted a number of years until UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) was put in place in 2006, forcing online casino operators to expand into alternative markets.

At the time other online gambling jurisdictions existed in Europe and other parts of the world which meant that players speaking a variety of languages had to be accommodated if online casinos wanted to win their patronage.

This meant that online casinos began to recruit staff fluent in a variety of language for marketing and customer services and also adjusted and translated their casino software and promotional communications so that more players could play games and enjoy a full casino experience in their own language.

Nowadays many Microgaming and Playtech powered online casinos offer a variety of language options including English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and more. Even Asian languages like Chinese, Japanese and Korean have been added, amongst others.

Microgaming has been at the forefront of the language diversification process and while it does offer full online casino suites available in many languages, it also offers a set of language files which can be downloaded and installed by players who originally downloaded English casino software but who wish to change it to their mother tongue. This cuts down on wasting data by having to download the entire casino software in a new language.

Once online gambling becomes licensed and regulated in South Africa it will be interesting to see whether some casinos attempt to offer additional language options in any of the 11 official languages.

According to the Independent Newspaper, the National Assembly’s Trade and Industry Oversight Committee made up of a number of South African parliamentarians recently recommended that online gambling should be legalised and regulated.

This recommendation is in light of the fact that online gambling is becoming part of life not only within South Africa but also in the global economy and at present with undefined legislation, South Africa is losing out on the economic benefits including tax revenues and local jobs in what is a multi-million dollar industry.

Throughout deliberations, the committee interviewed a vast number of experts in various fields relating to online gambling and also reviewed the research report submitted by the Gambling Review Commission.

Geordin Hill-Lewis, MP for the Democratic Alliance was part of the committee that drafted the latest report commented that South Africa cannot continue to refuse the legalisation of online gambling because it is taking place and at present the only consequence is that the country currently derives no benefits from it.

Recommendations by the committee include the legalisation of online casino games such as slot machines, bingo, table games, sports betting and betting against the totalisator, all of which are all already available at land based casinos and bookies.

As with other countries that have opted for the legalisation and regulation of online gambling, the Gambling Review Commission has recommended that a restricted number of online gambling licenses should be set and adhered to.

In light of these findings, we should see the legalisation and regulation of online casinos within South Africa in the future which will be positive not only for the country’s economy but also afford those who enjoy gambling online an even greater experience and level of protection going forward.

Big Kahuna: Snakes & Ladders

This newer edition boasts five reels and fifteen paylines as well as random free spins, wilds and two bonus games.  Unlike the original it is not a progressive slot but it still offers just as much if not more fun than ever before, not to mention generous jackpots of 25 000.00 in the base game, 50 000.00 in Free Spins and a 7500.00 Bonus.

The scatter in the game is the “snakes and ladders” symbol and when this appears on reels 1, 3 and 5 it not only completes the winning scatter combination but also triggers the Snakes and Ladders bonus game.  In this game you have to retrieve Big Kahuna’s stolen golden mask by “rolling the dice” in order to advance on the playing board.  If you are fortunate enough to land on a square containing a ladder you will start to climb but if you land on a snake you’ll slide down the length of the pythons body towards the bottom.  Then of course there is the randomly triggered free spins bonus game wherein you will receive 5 free spins where all wins are doubled.

The game allows for up to 300 coins as the maximum bet with coin size ranging from 0.01 to 0.25.  All in all Big Kahuna: Snakes and Ladders is a game you definitely shouldn’t miss!  Play it at your favourite Microgaming Casino like Platinum Play today.

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Recently though, a legal case arose after Piggs Peak took action to defend itself against the Gauteng Gambling Board’s efforts to prevent the casino’s advertising campaigns from being aired by radio and TV stations in the province. The casino stated that they were not based in South Africa and operated in Swaziland which meant that all gambling took place on servers located in Swaziland and not in South Africa.

Judge NB Tachten of the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria dismissed the claim that interactive gambling took place outside of the province and on Piggs Peak’s servers as regulated in Swaziland, while also finding the Gauteng Gambling Board’s actions to be in line with powers ascribed by provincial and national gambling laws in South Africa. His ruling made online gambling at casinos in and by South Africans illegal when taking place at an unlicensed property. Currently South Africa has no licensing and regulation in place for online casinos, although betting online on horseracing and sports are licensed and regulated by various provincial authorities.

However, Pigg’s Peak won the right to appeal against the High Court’s decision last week and both they and Silver Sands Casino subsequently reopened to players last week pending the appeal.

The appeal is set to be heard in the Bloemfontein Appeal Court and although Pigg’s Peak did suspend operations after the initial judgement, the casino was soon back in action due to the fact that the leave to appeal allows the company to stay running. This statement was re-iterated by the company’s operations director, Lew Saul Koor who said “This good news entitles us to reopen the Internet Casino today in terms of the High Court rules which suspends the previous judgement”.

Silver Sands Casino also released a similar statement, saying “Please be advised that leave to appeal the decision by the High Court has been granted. This means that a decision regarding the legality of online gaming will be decided after the law has run its course. We can therefore resume our normal operations and continue offering online gaming services to the South African public.”

In spite of the appeal, the Gauteng Gambling Board (GGB) remains determined that they will win the appeal which will mean that online casinos will be outlawed until such time as they are licensed and regulated. A GGB spokesperson vowed that the organisation would continue to pursue operations conducting such businesses in what they term a “multi-pronged approach” including targeting ISPs, account processors and software providers.

As it currently stands, according to the parties involved, the subsequent appeal in the Bloemfontein Appeal Court at a future date will determine the legality of online gambling in South Africa.

Microgaming announced this week that it will be launching the second online video slot in the Lord of the Rings trilogy entitled: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and it’s set to be even better than its outstanding predecessor.

This will be the first online video slot of its kind to employ Microgaming’s new Cinematic Spins technology, which will allow gamers to see HD clips from the films with every spin.  Every aspect of the slot will be improved from the rich graphic animations to the sound quality, all of which will be integrated into scenes from each of the motion pictures within the trilogy based on the famous novels by J.R.R Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King). These online slot games will be available to adults only in countries where online gaming is permitted.

According to Microgaming, the slot is going to be a total treat, especially for Lord of the Rings enthusiasts and will feature scenes with the Ringwraiths during the attack at Weathertop, Balrog in the Mines of Moria, and Uruk-hai in the woods of Middle-earth and of course, all of the film’s popular characters will be featured including Frodo, Aragorn, Arwen, Legolas, Saruman and the deadly Black Riders.

CEO of Microgaming, Roger Raatgever stated that Microgaming had always been ahead of the pack with innovative offerings but admittedly this game does push the boundaries of what an online slot can do.  The company is confident that there will be high player demand for the game across its various online casino operators when it is released in September.  Raatgever added that the licensing deal with Warner Bros for the right so the title is an important one for Microgaming and highlights the group’s commitment to partner with the right brands at the right time.  He also acknowledged that The Lord of the Rings is one of the most successful and well loved brands on the planet and that Microgaming and its partners are excited at the prospect of combining this widespread appeal with their own groundbreaking software.

According to box office figures, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy generated $3 billion in revenue during its time at the cinemas.  The films were also nominated for a total of 30 Academy Awards; of which they won 17, including Best Picture.

So look out for this exciting new addition to the Lord of the Rings saga at your favourite Microgaming casinos like Spin Palace and Golden Riviera Casino. Unfortunatelye these casinos don’t take players from South Africa. We can hope that Virgin Casino will get these games. We will keep you posted.

According to the report, the online casino industry’s business could grow by 80 percent between 2010 and 2014.  It is purported that by the end of this year the online casino industry will be worth $4.7 billion globally in terms of gross gaming revenues.  Furthermore, this figure will see increases of over 1 billion by the end of 2012, with figures amounting to $7.1 billion come the end of 2014 which is a 79% increase when compared to revenues generated at the end of 2009.

The iGaming report also monitors recent trends and strategies of successful online casino operators, and gives a complete breakdown of the history of the online casino industry and statistics on starts-ups and expanding enterprises within it.  According to industry insiders interviewed in the survey, successful online casinos usually average $1.5million in start-up costs which is way less than their brick and mortar counterparts with huge staffing needs that require up to $300 million to start and operate.

The report also notes that larger non-gambling entities like media companies looking to expand into other markets or monetize existing online space and content are increasingly attracted to the online gambling market.

Rachel Church-Sanders, the author of the report stated that each online casino operator is looking to participate in a sector which is becoming increasingly socially acceptable and are thereby benefiting from liberalized regulatory structures in some markets leading to substantial growth across many key demographics including those that have previously been difficult to reach through other types of gaming or betting such as women.  She added that the growth in social networking, mobile applications and micro transactions, as well as the growing number of people across the globe with access to broadband internet connections and wireless internet are all contributing factors to the positive future outlook for the casino sector.

It is definitely true that many casino operators are already integrating social networking sites and smart-phone applications into their marketing strategies to attract and retain new and younger players, however the success of these strategies is still to be proven.

While there are naysayers who will definitely disagree with the findings of this survey citing increased restrictions and regulations by governments to crack down on online gambling as well as economic recession and increased competition in the market as causes for concern and projections of lower profit figures, Church-Sanders insists that the industry consensus is that successful operators will continue to provide a wider variety of games and be successful.

The move comes in a bid to halt the stiff competition that the group’s GrandWest Casino which is doing a thriving trade thanks to a 10 year exclusivity agreement which has recently come to an end.  According to a Sun International media release, the group has found grounds to have the decision reconsidered and will be making representations through the public process.

Co-owner’s of GrandWest through their 29.24% share in SunWest, Grand Parade Investments (GPI), also released a statement that they would challenge the decision. GPI chairman Hassen Adams commented that the group would “engage the board on this decision, but we will not fight them on every issue”.

According to the gambling and betting board, the second casino will focus on niche high roller and tourist markets and will be located in an area that is untapped by GrandWest, which the board believes should not have a significant impact on the Grand West’s revenues.  One of the possible locations for the casino is rumoured to be the V&A Waterfront.

Sun International and GPI both disagree for obvious reasons.  The initial R1bn investment that it took to create Grand West a decade ago ensured that the casino was a major attraction and the only one of its kind in the city and having a competitor on its doorstep could definitely change things for their lucrative property. So lucrative in fact that in the year to end-June 2009, it churned out R1,642bn turnover before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation of R675m, making the property the largest contributor within Sun International’s portfolio.

On the other side of the coin, Sun International’s rivals are likely to welcome the decision and see it as a gateway to their own ventures into the province. In fact, late last year, the Gold Reef Casino group suggested to the Western Cape’s finance MEC Alan Winde that the issue of exclusive casino licences in the Cape Town metropole be reviewed.  Gold Reef Casino group’s CEO Steven Joffe reportedly said at the time that he was eager to explore the possibility of moving the group’s Mykonos Casino which is situated in the Langebaan area closer to the city center.

To date, the gambling board has provided few details regarding the decision to end the exclusivity agreement with Sun International conclusively.  It is reported that it is yet unknown even to those in the casino sector where the second casino will be located as well as what conditions will be attached to the license.  It is certain that these factors will determine whether or not Sun International will step in to bid for the second license.

In comparison to other major football tournaments like EURO 2008, the sportsbook enjoyed a gross gaming revenue increase of just under 40% with an average income of just over 1.1 million Euros per day.  These figures are double those generated during the 2006 Fifa World Cup.

Games with the largest number of wagers made included the Spain vs. Germany semi-final, the Netherlands vs. Spain final and finally the Uruguay vs Netherlands semi-final and the most popular wager was a three-way bet (1-X-2) in the 16 group stage on the Netherlands vs. Slovakia match.

Bwin is definitely a major contendor in the gaming industry and currently boasts-over 20 million registered players in more than 25 core markets on a number of platforms including casino, sportsbook, poker room, soft and skill games as well as video and audio streams of top sporting events.  With this kind of expertise as well as calculated business ventures such as it’s successful and well timed launch into France as the only international online gaming provider to enter the market with both a sports betting and poker license in June of this year, it’s not difficult to see why Bwin has enjoyed such enormous growth and success.  Investors must be smiling!

Despite growth, PartyGaming mentioned that revenue had been impacted by the results of the World Cup and subsequent favourable impact on sports betting margins, which lead to a decline of between 8% and 9% of poker players during the tournament. However, once the World Cup reaches its conclusion, the group looks forward to increased numbers and profits.

Online gambling is one of the top ten indicators of economic recovery and positive growth in this sector shows that the world may just be heading towards the end of the most recent recession which is great news for everyone.