Full Tilt is in hot water this month as a lawsuit processes through the California courts against the popular poker room. Full Tilt is an international online casino poker gambling brand that operates out of the Indian land owned by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission according to the company. A player in California has filed a lawsuit against the poker room on the claims that Full Tilt is manipulating and falsifying hand results using poker bots. Additionally, and extremely damaging are the claims that Full Tilt is operating out of the United States. The US has very strict policies against the internet gambling industry and online casinos and internet gambling sites have fled the market in recent years in fear of the US Department of Justice’s actions.

The current claims against Full Tilt are quite severe and would damage the high reputation that the online casino poker site enjoys internationally. Poker scandals were uncovered several years ago at two poker sites operating out of the Kahnawake Gaming Commission and these scandals were on such a scale that they rocked the foundation of the gambling industry when they hit the media. In this case though, there is no indication of the full truth to the Full Tilt players’ claims. The lawsuit alleges that the company itself is using poker bots to manipulate poker hands in favor of the company.

Even further though, the player alleges that the online casino poker gambling site has also seized player account funds under the allegation that the players are using poker bots to play the games. The company seizes the funds and often bans those player from gambling on the site. Lary Kennedy is the long-time Full Tilt player in question who has taken the issue to the courts in hopes of uncovering some unsavory situation.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in the UK has banned a Betfair advertisement on the basis that the online casino poker gambling company was targeting advertisements toward underage gamblers. Betfair has acknowledged that the advertisements were not intended for the UK market and has willingly pulled all ads that feature Annette Obrestad without fighting the ASA for the ruling. The current concern rising in the market though is the fear that the damage has already been done and yet there have been no repercussions for Betfair’s very blatant and obvious mistake on this online casino poker advertising campaign.

Other online casinos and internet poker gambling companies have made mistakes in the past several years following the slightly imprecise and interpretable policies in place as a part of the 2005 UK Gambling Act. But the difference in this case is the fact that Betfair knew that the advertisements were grossly unacceptable for use in the UK market and that they violated CAP Code because of the clear and blatant age issue with Annette Obrestad as the spokesperson.

The ASA has only given Betfair a mild slap on the wrist and asked that the ads featuring Obrestad be completely pulled. With the damage already done though, and the ad has already obtained a lot of widespread visibility in the market and exposure before the ASA got involved, some of the online casino gambling community are asking for harsher punishments for internet gambling companies that clearly violate advertising standards. At this point the situation is likely a moot point but perhaps in the coming years the ASA will develop more stringent standards regarding repercussions for companies running inappropriate adverts in the UK.

The UK has very tight standards when it comes to the very liberalized online casino gambling industry in the country. Although the UK’s liberal standards and regulations mean that the internet gambling sites are able to make use of advertising dispensations and other extensive and marketing opportunities there are protocols in place and the companies have to live up to the advertising restrictions that the Advertising Standards Authority in the UK enforces. Betfair entered the spotlight this month because the online casino gambling company launched an advertising campaign featuring Annette Obrestad and the number 15, alleging implying that Obrestad could be as young as 15 in the advertisements.

The ASA is very strict about age targeting within advertisements – this is actually a key concern. Underage gambling is a growing problem in the global online casino gambling industry and the ASA banned the latest Betfair advertisement because it could seemingly be interpreted to be targeted at the 15 year olds. Basically, the advertisement used the handle “Annette_15” for Obrestad and then a tagline that specifically talks about age. There could arguably be a case about the validity of the advertisement if the Betfair ad team hadn’t chosen the tagline “Online experience is measured in games, not years.”

The tagline is extremely fitting for Obrestad, who is a very young and highly notable female land and online casino poker gambler. She won the World Series of Poker and is a great brand spokesperson – except for the fact that although she is definitely old enough to gamble, she looks much younger. The ASA received complaints about the advertisement and has since a banned the advertisement. Betfair acknowledged the validity of the ban and noted that the UK advertising campaign was not supposed to feature Obrestad.

Internet skill gaming website WorldWinner has launched its latest online casino games, a cash game version of Hasbro’s classic mystery game in the whodunnit genre, ‘Clue’.

To crack the case in “Clue Mystery Match!”, players match identical cards in three separate rounds to identify the murder weapon, location and perpetrator of the crime through a process of elimination. Was it Mrs. Peacock in the study with a lead pipe? All of Clue’s classic characters make a cameo appearance in the online version of the game.

“Between the list of suspects, crime locations and murderous weapons, Clue has kept generations of game lovers guessing,” said Peter Blacklow, president of WorldWinner. “Now, we’ve taken the game of deductive reasoning and added a skill-based, memory-challenging twist where online players can challenge one another to achieve high scores and win cash prizes. Given our players’ enthusiasm for previously adapted Hasbro titles, we’re confident WorldWinner players are up for the Clue Mystery Match! challenge.”

The game is essentially a memory test where players uncover one element of the murder mystery in each round of match making. The one remaining unmatched card at the end of each round leads players to the murder weapon, location and suspect. When a match of two cards is removed from the board, players have the added challenge of the “gravity affect” where remaining cards collapse in to the now open spaces.

Players score points for making matches, as well as a time bonus based on how quickly all matches are made.

“Clue Mystery Match” joins a stable of online skill games developed from Hasbro games and offered by WW, including Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit, and Scrabble. New Internet skill games currently being developed from Hasbro licensed products, include Twister! and Battleship.

Solna, Sweden-based online poker network Entraction Holding AB announced its intention to sever ties between network site Cardroom2 and Boss Media’s International Poker Network this week.

In a statement, Entraction CEO Peter Åström said that traffic between the networks is not extensive and Cardroom2 only represents
approximately 5 percent of Entraction’s revenues from casino gambling poker.

Cardroom2 will be closed “no later than December 31st 2009″

”Cardroom2 has been a good possibility for players to play in two different networks using one account,” said Åström. “Because of the strong growth in the Entraction poker network there is no longer a need for Cardroom2.”

The US entertainment publication TMZ reports that two Californian players, Lary Kennedy and Greg Omotoy, have launched litigation against the giant online poker website Full Tilt Poker and various top players alleged to be associated with the company.

The duo claim that they opened an account at Full Tilt and were skilled and fortunate enough to win $80 000. However, when the time came to cash out, the online gambling winnings were denied on the grounds that the two men had used robots in their play, specifically forbidden in the terms and conditions which all players are required to accept before playing on the site.

The litigation has been filed in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, and include other accusations that Full Tilt manipulates its games through the use of robots of its own.

Full Tilt apparently engaged an independent specialist to review the two men’s accounts, and the ensuing report found that the records indicated that robots had been used. Insiders also claimed that the one of the complainants was suspected of having more than one account, another contravention of the T&Cs.

Washington politicians from both political parties have called for a hold on the implementation of the supporting regulations for the Unlawful internet gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), due to kick in on December 1st this year. The bipartisan call by nineteen Congressmen and women claims the move will place an unreasonable burden on regulators and the financial services online casinos industry at a time of economic crisis.

U.S. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank led Friday’s call, which complements proposed legislation to set the regulations back for a year whilst the legalisation of online gambling in the United States is debated.

“We are writing to strongly urge you to … to extend the date of compliance for the final regulations implementing the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act by one year,” the legislators appealed in a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, describing the regulations as ‘flawed’.

Congress passed the anti-online gambling legislation, which disrupts financial transactions with online gambling sites, in 2006, when Republicans still controlled both the House and the Senate.

The bipartisan group included Republicans Ron Paul of Texas, Judy Biggert of Illinois and Peter King of New York.

A spokeswoman from the Federal Reserve said they had received the letter and would respond to it. There was no immediate comment from the U.S. Treasury.

The controversial UIGEA caused the exit of major European companies from the US market, incurring billions in losses. The manner in which the law was passed attached to an unrelated security bill, and its imprecise nature, together with inequities that allow online betting on horseracing, fantasy sports and state lotteries have continued to create serious problems for the US, damaging its international reputation in the World Trade Organisation.

At home, financial organisations have warned that the imprecise nature of the Act will create ‘overkill’ situations in financial institutions burdened with its enforcement. These have already surfaced in the form of problems of definition that have adversely impacted at least two state lotteries.

Friday’s appeal to Geithner and Bernanke urges the officials to accept a petition filed by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, the American Greyhound Track Operators Association and the Poker Players Alliance asking for a delay in the implementation of the rules for one year.

Conservative Christian groups and the major US professional sports leagues are opposed to legalising and taxing online gambling.

With on average 3 high quality casino games released every month at BlackjackBallroom, games developer Microgaming is helping to create a very loyal player base for the popular online casino.

For fans of online blackjack, poker, roulette and slots, the regular influx of new games means a whole host of entertaining ways to win money online. There is a beautifully designed online slot for every taste imaginable, keeping gameplay at BlackjackBallroom.com fresh, original and for some lucky players, very profitable.

This month sees the release of Wealth Spa, a cheeky 5 reel, 20 pay-line video slot which is themed on an exclusive spa resort. Players earn gold tokens through a thrilling mix of Wilds, Multipliers and Scatters - the more tokens, the better the bonus possibilities. A rewarding new multi-bonus opportunity which players can take at any time during the game, opens up a series of five different bonuses, each with its own entertaining choice of potential rewards.

From virtual hot stone massages to a hot wax treatment, the graphics are sexy and sophisticated, treating the player to a roller coaster ride of relaxation to excitement and back! Infact, the gameplay is so smooth and entertaining that the player would be forgiven for getting carried away in the moment and forgetting the possibility of winning huge cash prizes.

Wealth Spa represents a new and very entertaining slot experience with a good range of betting options from as low as 0.01 to 0.25 a line. Playing maximum bet, the base game can deliver rewards up to 12,500.00, and the bonuses provide a slew of extra earnings ranging from 2,800.00 to 25,000.00.

With much more than just free online blackjack, BlackjackBallroom.com gives all new players the chance to use $500 of the casino’s money to play any of the 320+ Las Vegas style online games absolutely free for one hour. Any money that the player wins can be used after the free hour, with the luckiest players hitting the jackpot without having wagered a penny of their own! In 2008, Klaus E from Finland hit the $5.5 million Mega Moolah jackpot after placing a 0.50 cent bet at BlackjackBallroom.com, proving if proof were needed that small bets really can win big.

The two popular Casino Rewards online casinos that can be found in the free play section at Secret Casino Club, GoldenTigerCasino and CasinoAction have become well known in the online casino community for huge, regular payouts and the interested free play promotions that allow players to enjoy the casino games for free before staking any real money.

The two popular Casino Rewards online casinos that can be found in the free play section at Secret Casino Club, GoldenTigerCasino and CasinoAction have become well known in the online casino community for huge, regular payouts and the interested free play promotions that allow players to enjoy the casino games for free before staking any real money.

Last weekend, one slot machine paid out two jackpots in the space of just 2 hours at these well known casinos.

Maria S from Portugal hit the $56,650 jackpot and Robert M from Norway won an incredible $97,419 on the popular online progressive slot Treasure Nile.

Treasure Nile is a five reel, nine payline online slot in the theme of ancient Egypt. The nature of the progressive jackpot means that with each bet a player makes, a portion of the bet is contributed to the jackpot total, meaning an ever-growing kitty ready to be won by one lucky player… or in this case, two!

The European online casino CasinoAction has been in the news regularly for large jackpot wins. In June 2009, a new player from the Netherlands netted a cool half a million Dollars playing online roulette after having deposited only $40 of his own money!

For a limited time only, CasinoAction is welcoming new players with a massive $1250 for free to use for one hour on a selection of their award winning games, with money left over after the hour carried through to the real casino.

Treasure NileEffectively, this gives the user a risk-free opportunity to not only test the online casino games, but also to build up more free money to use as a head start in the real casino after the complimentary one hour expires, to play any game from the entire selection and aim for the huge jackpots on offer.

Currently the total of jackpots on offer at CasinoAction is an incredible $2.4 million and rising every second.

California’s slot machine market is about to get bigger.

A federal judge in Sacramento has ruled the state’s Indian onlines casinos can add 10,549 slot machines to a jurisdiction that is now approved for more than 83,000 games, the largest Indian gaming market in the United States.

By comparison, Nevada has 194,180 total slot machines in casinos and other locations, including bars, taverns and supermarkets.

Wall Street saw the news as another positive catalyst for Nevada’s slot machine industry, which has been seeking any signs of potential sales opportunities after several years of dwindling revenues and earnings.

“We continue to believe the equipment manufacturers are the way to play the gaming group,” Janney Montgomery Scott gaming analyst Brian McGill advised investors. “In addition to the potential new gaming machines in California, we see 55,000 games as likely over the next two years.”

McGill said slot machine expansions are expected to take place over the next two years in Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The California expansion news on Wednesday came as a surprise.

The order stemmed from a federal lawsuit filed by two tribes against the state and California’s Gambling Control Commission. The tribes claimed the state miscalculated the formulas used to allot licenses for slot machines.

U.S. District Judge Frank Damrell Jr., agreed with the Indian casino operators and said the state has 45 days to divvy up the slot machines among 55 tribes, although the state may appeal the ruling to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

In a statement, Morris Reid, chairman of the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians near Fresno, one of the tribes that filed the lawsuit, said California lost some $30 million in potential tax revenues because the slot machines had been denied to the casinos.

“This is a great win for all of Indian Country,” Reid said.

Bally Technologies Chief Operating Officer Gavin Issacs said: “California is a great market for us and its one of those markets where (all the slot machine makers) do equally well. This is an opportunity we are very happy about.”

When California’s original Indian casino act was approved 10 years ago, tribes were allotted 2,000 slot machines apiece. In recent years, several tribes negotiated new compacts with the state, agreeing to pay higher gaming taxes in exchange for additional slot machines.

At the end of 2007, California’s 60 Indian casinos operated 66,115 slot machines according to Casino City’s Indian Gaming Industry Report. In February 2008, California voters approved a ballot measure allowing the state’s four largest Indian casinos to add up to 17,000 slot machines.

Because Indian casinos report numbers privately, it’s unclear how many of the games have been added since the vote took place.

Analysts said that if all of the 10,549 potential machines are added in California, the sales could be worth anywhere between 7 cents per share and 17 cents per share for each of Nevada’s gaming equipment manufacturers.