The International Slots League, in association with Platinum Play Online Casino and all of the Fortune Lounge Group of Online Casinos, has just launched four new tournament types as well as four new guaranteed tournaments on 6th September 2010, which can be viewed within the Slots League Schedule.

The International Slots League has long been a fan favourite amongst online slots enthusiasts, and now with the introduction of four new tournaments to take part in, this popularity is set to continue. Each new tournament offers exciting ways to win incredible rewards. These tournament types are Extender, One-Shot, Reloader and Survivor.

The Extender tournament is one in which players build up a score using add-ons to extend their base score. In this tournament, the highest score will win. The One-Shot tournament gives players only one attempt in which to get the best possible score; with no re-buys or add-ons, the ante in this fast-paced game is exceptionally high. The Reloader tournament gives all players equal footing just like a lottery, it is a single-round tournament and there are no add-ons allowed. The final tournament type is the Survivor tournament, which has multi-round elimination tournaments to play in.

New additional guaranteed tournaments also introduced include the Midweek Moolah, Weekend Whopper and The Monthly Monster. With guaranteed prize pools of $25,000 players will have ample opportunity to walk away a winner.

All interested slots fans are encouraged to play in the International Slots League for advanced slots gaming and live tournaments at their fingertips. Players simply need to register a casino account at Platinum Play Online Casino or any of the other Fortune Lounge Casinos and become a part of the fastest-growing slots community online.

Gambling revenue in Macau, the world’s biggest casino hub, rose 40 percent to 15.8 billion patacas ($2 billion) in August after SJM Holdings Ltd. and its rivals added tables for high-stakes gamblers.

Revenue for the six operators in the only Chinese city where casinos are legal surged 63 percent from a year earlier to 117.9 billion patacas in the eight months through August, according to Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.

The revenue growth in August is the slowest this year and in line with a forecast made by CLSA Ltd. earlier this month. Wynn Macau Ltd., Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. and other casino operators have increased revenue from so-called VIP gamblers after boosting the number of baccarat tables with minimum bets of 10,000 patacas or higher.

“A slight moderation in the growth momentum of Macau’s gross casino revenue would probably be a healthy thing at this point,” independent industry consultant Jonathan Galaviz said late yesterday. “A significant real-estate market downturn is likely in China, and its ultimate effect on Macau would be pronounced.”

SJM, which has the greatest market share of the former Portuguese colony’s casino operators, said revenue from VIP gamblers more than doubled in the first half. Wynn Macau, the Hong Kong-listed unit of Wynn Resorts Inc., said revenue from high rollers rose 80 percent in the same period.

‘Robust’ Revenue Trend

SJM fell 0.1 percent to HK$7.42 at 12:50 p.m. in Hong Kong trading and has gained 73 percent this year. Wynn Macau has climbed 41 percent this year, compared with a 4.5 percent decline for the benchmark Hang Seng Index.

“Macau gaming revenues will continue to be strong throughout 2010 from a year-on-year growth perspective, despite a modest cooling of the Chinese economy,” David Katz, an analyst at Jefferies & Co. in New York, said in a note to investors yesterday. “Revenue trends in Macau should remain robust but coming up against challenging comparisons in the near term.”

Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson in June predicted Macau casino sales will grow more than 30 percent in the second half. Gambling revenue for the city’s casino operators surged 67 percent in the six months through June.

Tourism Surges

Macau surpassed the Las Vegas Strip as the world’s biggest gambling hub in 2006, after the government ended Stanley Ho’s four-decade gambling monopoly and allowed foreign operators including Las Vegas Sands Corp., Wynn Resorts Inc. and MGM Resorts International. The three Las Vegas-based casino companies compete in Macau with Ho’s SJM, Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. and Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd., all based in Hong Kong.

Tourist arrivals in Macau increased 18 percent in the first half, with visitor numbers from China surging 27 percent, according to government data.

Galaxy, part-owned by Permira Advisers LLP, plans to invest an additional HK$800 million ($103 million) to accelerate construction of a Macau casino resort to tap the gambling boom, Chairman Lui Che Woo said in Hong Kong Aug. 31.

The company also said Aug. 31 that first-half earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 91 percent to HK$990 million. SJM’s first-half net income rose more than fourfold to HK$1.57 billion, the company said Aug. 30.

Gambling groups are uncertain about the impact of the Gauteng Gambling Board’s move to effectively ban online platforms, but for now it looks like operators not registered in South Africa will be hardest hit.

This follows an announcement by the board last week that those involved in promoting, transacting or operating an online platform would feel the full weight of the law.

Regulators are apparently zeroing in on many operators based outside South Africa which are targeting local punters. These include casino and lottery operators in Swaziland and Europe, whose clients move money into offshore accounts without complying with foreign exchange regulations.

Brent Graham, who operates the Good For The Game online sports betting news portal, told Fin24 there had been a great deal of uncertainty in the market following the announcement last week. This included the sports betting industry.

“As I understand it, this won’t affect bookmakers with local licences taking online sports bets,” he said.

Graham pointed out that bookmakers offering online sports betting had to comply with strict regulations from their local gambling boards, including what software they use. This was conditional to licences being issued. Licences are still being granted.

The National Gambling Board stated: “South African gamblers shall be held liable for their gambling activities in cyberspace even if the web server is located offshore.

“Banking institutions’ credit and debit cards should not be used for the payment of any gambling transactions that are illegal, and the banks reserve the right to decline processing or paying any card transactions which are suspected to be illegal gambling transactions (to the exclusion of sports betting/online bookmaking).”

However, online casino Piggs Peak is not bowing to pressure. The company says that issue is being taken on appeal in the Pretoria High Court. When Fin24 approached a service consultant on the site to open an account, they indicated that they were still open for business and taking new accounts.

In a message to clients on Tuesday Lew Saul Koor, operations director at Piggs Peak, said: “On consultation with our senior legal council, they agree that we should appeal this finding which we believe is totally incorrect. Until the appeal has been heard and the outcome determined, our business will continue as usual as agreed with the gambling boards.”

Active policing, says the board

Fin24 approached a support consultant at African Palace casino – which is owned by First Grand Gaming and based in Curacao – to find out if it was still opening accounts. The consultant requested Fin24 to send an email to its support centre. The query remained unanswered.

It is not just the operators who could find themselves in hot water.

The National Gambling Board warned publishers who promote online gambling products that “much of the advertisements of internet gambling in South Africa are subject to prosecution, and the National Gambling Board will be prosecuting any advertising media and other transgressors who continue to act contrary to the laws of the Republic.

“All advertising media that continue to facilitate the offering of internet gambling activities in South Africa are deemed to be aiding and abetting unlawful, illegal gambling activities and shall be prosecuted and fined for up to R10m or 10 years’ imprisonment.”

Banks also appear not to be taking any chances on other forms of online gaming, including lottery tickets and sports betting. Fin24 users have reported that banks, including Standard and Investec, have warned them in correspondence not to use credit or debit cards to buy these tickets.

According to the Gauteng Gambling Board the industry is actively policed, with high levels of convictions of illegal operators.

In Gauteng there have been 462 convictions for illegal gambling activity since 2001, including 33 this year. There are 438 cases pending. There have also been 34 raids on illegal operations in South Africa in 2010.

Growth in online gambling industry fuels surge in casino jackpot prizes with over 1000% increase since 1998 seen among many online casinos.

Industry watchers predict that average jackpots for online casinos are set to break the $1,000,000 barrier by 2018. Exponential growth in jackpots is set to continue due to three key factors; growth in the industry itself, the success of individual casino groups and the networked approach to generating jackpots which is uniquely scalable in the online industry. For example, Gaming Club the world’s first online casino, has been live since 1994. Its first major jackpots averaged $5,000, this year its jackpots will average $50,000, and is expected to continue rapidly growing in the coming years.

The driving force behind this is the ‘networked progressive jackpot’. Progressive jackpots are jackpots which are generated by taking a small percentage of each every single wager to add to a central pot. Because the casinos are all online, you can very quickly network thousands of them together across the world to have a huge central pot for a lucky winner to win.

The World’s Biggest Online Casino Progressive Jackpot Winner

Georgios M’s passion for slot machines ensured that 2009 was a year to remember when the 36 year old business owner, husband and father hit the big one – EUR6.3 million ($8,6 million) – while playing the Mega Moolah Progressive Slot Machine For Georgios, his date with destiny made him the recipient of the largest ever Microgaming casino jackpot payout.

Terry Maverick Spokesperson for Gaming Club and Riverbelle says:

“We’re very proud of our progressive jackpots, it’s amazing to think that only 12 years ago it was less than $5,000 and, you never know, within a few years we’re confident that jackpots will regularly make our winning players overnight millionaires.”

GamingClub Casino are owned and operated by The Carmen Media Group, a global gaming and entertainment group which was incorporated in Gibraltar and formed in 2002 out of the Demmy Group of companies. It is wholly owned subsidiary Tower Rock Ltd is licensed from Gibraltar to operate casinos and multiplayer poker in the online domain, and all flagship casino brands have been awarded the eCOGRA seal of approval.

Carmen Media owns many of the world’s oldest and most respected online gaming sites including Gaming Club Online Casino (founded 1995), Jackpot City Online Casino, River Belle Online Casino (founded 1997) and Lucky Nugget Online Casino, as well as Cool Hand Poker.

Carmen Media products and online gaming brands are promoted through the industry leading gaming affiliate program ReferBack, thereby affording its partners opportunities to market English, French, Italian, German and Spanish products.

Games available in most casinos are commonly called casino games. In a casino game, the players gamble casino chips on various possible random outcomes or combinations of outcomes. Casino games are available in online casinos, where permitted by law. Casino games can also be played outside of casinos for entertainment purposes, some on machines that simulate gambling.

 There are three general categories of casino games: table games, electronic gaming machines, and random number ticket games such as Keno and simulated racing. Gaming machines, such as slot machines and pachinko, are usually played by one player at a time and do not require the involvement of casino employees to play. Random number games are based upon the selection of random numbers, either from a computerized random number generator or from other gaming equipment. Random number games may be played at a table, such as Roulette, or through the purchase of paper tickets or cards, such as Keno or Bingo.

Fraudulent behavior on the part of online casinos has been documented. The most commonly reported behaviors are refusal to pay withdrawals or cheating software with rigged payouts. An online casino with multiple confirmed cases of fraudulent behavior is often called a rogue casino by the online casino player community.

One commonly reported behavior related to refusal to pay withdrawals is the refusal to pay withdrawals promptly. A rogue casino may intentionally delay a withdrawal in hopes that the player will continue gambling with the money in the account and lose it all back. Other rogue online casinos attempt to not pay their customers by retroactively applying unfair terms to their house rules.

Cheating software appears to be less common than payout problems.

Some Casino software has been mathematically proven to cheat, such as Elka System/Oyster Gaming and Casino Bar. Screen shots from the back office of an older brand of software indicated the odds could be adjusted by the operator.

Some Casinos were proven to give higher winning probability when players play in fun mode comparing to playing for real money, In order to attract players to register and play for real money.

Some Casinos use spamming techniques excessively in order to promote themselves.

Many casino gambling portals and player forums maintain blacklists of rogue casinos. While some carry more authority than others, most blacklists constitute individual webmaster and player opinions rather than anything official from any type of regulating body.

Online casinos, also known as virtual casinos or internet casinos, are online versions of traditional (“brick and mortar”) casinos. Online casinos enable gamblers to play and wager on casino games through the Internet.

Online casinos generally offer odds and payback percentages that are comparable to land-based casinos. Some online casinos claim higher payback percentages for slot machine games, and some publish payout percentage audits on their websites. Assuming that the online casino is using an appropriately programmed random number generator, table games like blackjack have an established house edge. The payout percentage for these games are established by the rules of the game.

Reliability and trust issues are commonplace and often questioned. Many online casinos lease or purchase their software from well-known companies like Microgaming, Realtime Gaming, Playtech, and CryptoLogic Inc in an attempt to “piggyback” their reputation on the software manufacturer’s credibility. These software companies either use or claim to use random number generators to ensure that the numbers, cards or dice appear randomly.

Online casinos can be divided into two groups based on their interface: web-based and download-only casinos. Some casinos offer both interfaces.

Some casinos offer ‘Live gaming’, either exclusively, or as part of a wider online casino offering. In live online casinos, popular casino games such as roulette and blackjack are dealt by real dealers in casino studios, in an attempt to convey more of the atmosphere of a physical casino. Player actions (including chat) such as ‘hit’ in the game of blackjack may be transmitted to the dealer; in some online casinos more than one player may ’sit’ at a particular ’seat’ on the table, and in this case there is no interactivity between player and dealer, the question of which player(s) requested the extra card that the dealer dealt and which chose to ’stand’ will be handled by the software. It is usual for players to be able to observe a video feed of the action, and equally common for players to opt to turn it off, if they lack the bandwidth – as the cards are read by OCR and other technology, the video feed is only ever a visual cue.

Web-based online casinos

Web-based online casinos are websites where users may play casino games without downloading software to the local computer. Games are mainly represented in the browser plugins Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Shockwave, or Java and require browser support for these plugins. Also, bandwidth is needed since all graphics, sounds and animations are loaded through the web via the plugin. Some online casinos also allow gameplay through a plain HTML interface.

Download-based online casinos

Download-based online casinos require the download of the software client in order to play and wager on the casino games offered. The online casino software connects to the casino service provider and handles contact without browser support. Download-based online casinos generally run faster than web-based online casinos since the graphics and sound programs are located within the software client, rather than having to be loaded from the Internet. On the other hand, the initial download and installation of a download-based online casino client does take time. As with any download from the Internet, the risk of the program containing malware does exist. Still the graphics and sounds at download-based online casinos are most of the time much better than those at web-based online casinos. Moreover, in some online casinos game effects in download-based games run more smoothly and much faster than in web-based online casinos (which is noticeable in spinning slots and dealing cards in blackjack).

New players at Play United Casino can avail of a welcome bonus of up to 750 credits in the unit of wagering spread over four deposits.

Play United Casino is powered by Playtech. It is licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission and has its operations audited by Technical Systems Testing. The online casino offers a fair, transparent and secure gaming environment. Unfortunately players from the United States are not accepted at Play United Casino.

Play United Casino is powered by software from Playtech. There are over 120 online casino games to choose from including some of the most popular progressive jackpot slots. Play United Casino is a multi currency and multi lingual online casino. It accepts deposits in U.S. Dollars, British Pounds, Euros, South African Rand and Canadian Dollars depending on the currency version of the casino selected. The software is available in the following languages – English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.

Play United Casino accepts a number of common payment options. These include Visa and MasterCard credit cards, Neteller, Moneybookers, Click2Pay, EcoCard, wire transfer and Ukash. Deposits through all options, except the wire transfers, are credited instantly. The Cashier section of the online casino provides further details on minimum deposits, currency restrictions and withdrawal delays for each payment option. Play United Casino’s financial transactions are completely secure and are facilitated by Aquapay London.

Play United Casino offers a number of bonuses to its players. These bonuses extend the players’ bankrolls and allow the players to wager with a minimum of their own funds. The welcome bonus offered by Play United Casino is one of the best in the online gaming industry. Not only does it offer up to 750 credits but it also spreads the bonus over the first four deposits. As a result players need not make a huge deposit initially and this is a big help. There are other bonuses on offer as well, which are discussed in the bonus section of the review.

The customer support of Play United Casino offers assistance round the clock to its players. Players can choose any of the three options provided for contacting customer support. Usually the live chat support is preferred. The e-mail option works through an online form in which players are prompted to enter the required details along with their message. Play United Casino has provided toll free telephone numbers for players from nine countries. The others can use the international number provided.

Lucky Nugget Casino has been in business since 1998, offering over 250 games to its customers, in all genres ranging from video slots to table games. Owned by Belle Rock Entertainment, a subsidiary of Carmen Media Group, it is based and licensed in Gibraltar, and is a member of the Interactive Gaming Council.

The software is powered by Microgaming, and features over 250 interactive games, sharp graphics and sounds, and the flexibility to operate across several currencies (US dollars, Canadian dollars, Euros and British Pounds) as well as multiple payment options.

Lucky Nugget Casino offers its first-time depositors the opportunity to come in and take advantage of the sign-up bonus, which involves getting $1000 free from the casino to play for one hour, during which time you will be able to keep all the money you win.

Aside from the regular casino download, Lucky Nugget offers a free “Lite Casino” download that is designed for those with slower modem speeds, as well as a Quick Play flash casino that can be played through the browser.

Unlike many of its colleagues in the online casino world, Lucky Nugget’s web presence comes with a face on it – chairman of Belle Rock, Tim Johnson. Part of his personal message on the site: “We are continually exploring new ways of improving our entertainment brands – introducing new games and promotions, and improving the speed and reliability of our support. We are also working to develop localized products specifically for different parts of the world.”