Global Gaming Directory

Friday, July 23, 2010

Virgin Games Partners With NETELLER to Offer GBP 1k Bingo Tournament

Websites

Virgin Bingo

Virgin Casino,

Jul 16, 2010 - Leading online bingo provider, Virgin Bingo, has teamed up with the online payment solutions company, NETELLER (part of NEOVIA Financial Plc), to offer an exclusive GBP 1,000 bingo tournament. The tournament, which takes place on 30th July 2010, represents the first time a payment solutions provider has partnered with an online gaming company to offer part of the prize, demonstrating NETELLER's commitment to the online bingo community and Virgin Bingo's dedication to offering its customers absolute payment security.

To qualify for this event players are required to register with Virgin Bingo and make a minimum deposit of GBP 10 via NETELLER. Players will then receive a confirmation email granting them access to the Hidden Treasure room which will open its doors at 20:00 UK time on 30th July 2010. Each player will be given the same amount of tickets for each game during the GBP 1000 hour, giving all players an equal chance of scooping the prize pots.

Craig Perrott, Bingo Acquisition Manager at Virgin Games, commented: "Offering our customers assurance that we use only the most trusted payment solution providers is a key priority for Virgin Games. NETELLER has proven to be a trusted payment network and offering this fantastic promotion is a great way to tell our customers about them."

Dan Starr, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of NEOVIA Financial, said: "We are pleased to partner with Virgin Bingo to host an exclusive NETELLER bingo tournament. As one of the world's leading alternative payment networks, working with global brands such as Virgin helps to strengthen and maintain our strong foothold in the bingo market by providing instant and secure payments."

Founded in 2004, Virgin Games has over 1,000,000 players and more than 200 games on its site. A growing selection of games can be found at Virgin Games from a number of producers including Virtue Fusion, WagerWorks, Cryptologic, Freemantle, Ash Gaming and Microgaming.

For further details of how to enter the Virgin Bingo and NETELLER tournament go to www.virginbingo.com

Notes to editors

About Virgin Games:

Virgin Games launched in June 2004 and has quickly established itself as one of the leading gaming websites in the UK. Virgin Games comprises three distinct offerings:

-- Virgin Casino, offers content from a range of games suppliers including WagerWorks, Microgaming, Cryptologic, Freemantle and Ash Gaming, bringing consumers classic casino games like Blackjack and Roulette, as well as great feature slots like Monopoly, Rubik's, X-Factor and the highly popular MegaJackpots progressive games, with a current jackpot value of over GBP 2,500,000

-- Virgin Poker, part of the Boss Media network, offers a huge array of games and content for beginners through to experienced pros - as well as the most generous loyalty scheme in the industry

-- Virgin Bingo, part of the Virtue Fusion network, offers cash prizes worth thousands of pounds in the progressive jackpots, as well as Virgin prize bingo and a range of unique Virgin Games bingo games.

About NETELLER:

Trusted by consumers and businesses in over 170 countries to move and manage billions of dollars each year, NEOVIA Financial Plc is a leading alternative payments business. Through the NEOVIA Payment Network, merchants use the NETBANX(R) processing service to simplify how they accept and settle card, direct-from-bank, and cash payments, and the NETELLER(R) payment account to increase margins, capture new customers and increase customer lifetime values. Being independent has allowed the company to support tens-of-thousands of retailers and merchants in many geographies and across multiple industries.

NEOVIA Financial Plc is quoted on the London Stock Exchange's AIM, with a ticker symbol of NEO. Subsidiary company NETELLER (UK) Ltd is authorised by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to operate as a regulated e-money issuer.

Websites

Virgin Bingo

Virgin Casino.

Join now and get a £100 Casino Welcome Bonus at Virgin Casino.

Virgin Games has won a number of industry awards and commendations including awards from Media Man, Casino News Media and eGaming Review. Virgin Casino won the Media Man 'Online Casino Of The Month' for June 2010 and is in the running again this month.

At present Virgin Casino is unable to accept money players from the United States, Australia or New Zealand. Please see World Casino Directory.

Websites

Virgin Bingo

VirginCasino.com

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Virgin Bingo

Virgin Casino

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Neteller

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Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Virgin Casino Gets The War Of The Worlds Slot Game; Virgin Bingo Gets Three More Games - 21st July 2010

Virgin Casino Gets The War Of The Worlds Slot Game; Virgin Bingo Gets Three More Games

Profiles

Virgin Casino Virgin Games Virgin Bingo Virgin New Games Richard Branson

H.G. Wells Steven Spielberg Jeff Wayne

*Sorry, no U.S or Australian players. See World Casino Directory

The invasion has begun! Spin now to save Mankind and win a x700 bonus!

Introduction

Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of The Worlds is a 5-reel 100-line slot machine, with each reel being 4 symbols tall. In addition to a bonus round (where winnings are awarded for damaging and killing the Fighting Machines), the game features special Wild symbols which react together to fill a reel with wilds.

Step 1: Getting Started
When you load the game you will be given the option to load the Full high quality version of the game (which has all the animations and sounds) or the Reduced quality version which has fewer sounds and animations and lower quality graphics so the overall file size is smaller and quicker to download. The game functionality and payouts are exactly the same for both versions. After the version you have selected has all been loaded you will see the main screen:

Press the 'STAKE UP' and 'STAKE DOWN' buttons to choose a stake per line.

Your selected stake per line will be multiplied by 100 lines. You cannot change the number of lines in this game.

The total amount you have staked will be shown in the TOTAL STAKE box at the bottom right of the screen.

Click on the 'Paytable' button to view the paytable, which shows the potential winnings for each reel combination,

Step 2: How To Play
Press 'PLAY' to start the game (Alternatively you can press the Spacebar on your keyboard to spin).

The reels will spin and eventually stop at random.

If the combination of symbols appearing on the reels form a line (starting from the left reel) of 3, 4 or 5 matching symbols on one of the 100 win lines then you win.

Any symbols that were part of a win will be highlighted and your winnings will be credited to your account balance.

The total winnings are shown in the top right and the total number of lines that had a win are shown in the bottom left of the screen.

Fighting Machine Bonus
The Fighting Machine bonus game is a special bonus win, triggered by getting 3 BONUS symbols anywhere on the reels (this is a scatter win, so the BONUS symbols do not have to be on the same winline).

There is no line win attached to the BONUS scatter win - only entry to the bonus game, which itself guarantees a win.

When the game enters the bonus round, you will see the introduction screen showing details of the bonus game. The idea of this bonus is to shoot as many of the Fighting Machines as you can before they shoot all 3 of your cannons.

You have 3 cannons and there are 3 Fighting Machines to shoot, each of your cannons can only shoot forwards at the machine in front of it (you cannot aim left or right, you can only adjust the power by pressing the Fire button at a different time).

When the power meter is on the amount you want then press the Fire button to fire that cannon. The cannon will then be disabled for a moment while it reloads.

If you kill all 3 of the machines then you will get onto the next stage. There are 3 stages in total and you get a bonus of 500 times your total stake if you complete them all by killing all 9 Fighting Machines.

The game ends when you have no more cannons left or when you have killed all 9 machines. You will then be awarded your winnings and taken back to the main game.

Wild Symbols
The WILD symbol substitutes all other symbols except for the BONUS symbol to enhance your chances of getting a winning line.

If 2 WILD symbols are revealed on the same reel - one at the top and one at the bottom - then they will expand to change the two symbols in-between them to WILD symbols as well, and so increasing your chance of getting several wins. This expanding wild event occurs even if there are no wins created.

A row of WILD symbols on an active win line does not have any associated payout - the WILD pays only when used as a substitute for another symbol.

Auto Play
By selecting 'AUTO PLAY' you can choose to place up to 25 bets automatically, one after the other. Click 'AUTO PLAY' and select the number of automatic bets you want before clicking the 'PLAY' button to start those bets.

You can stop Auto Play from continuing onto the next spin by clicking 'STOP AUTO' (which replaces the 'AUTO PLAY' button when you are in Auto Play.

Auto Play will turn off if you get into the bonus round.

GENERAL NOTES
This game has a Return to Player of 94.7%. - System malfunction voids all pays and play.

Profile

The War Of The Worlds


Virgin Games Launches Three New Virtue Fusion Games

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - July 21, 2010 - Leading online gaming company, Virgin Games, has today launched three new titles to add to its extensive offering. The games, all developed by the innovative online games producer, Virtue Fusion, are Multi Balls (available on Virgin Bingo), George and the Dragon, and Treasure Time Traveller (available on both Virgin Casino and Virgin Bingo).

Multi Balls
Multi Balls is a multi-player game where the higher up on the leader board you are, the greater the share of the community jackpot you win. Payouts are awarded for achieving groups of 5 or more horizontally or vertically adjacent balls that are the same character – there are 6 different characters to play with.

George and the Dragon
George and the Dragon is a 5 reel, 20 five line slot with a progressive jackpot, a feature game and exploding reels. There is a Bonus Feature that is triggered when a Dragon symbol appears in reels 1, 3 and 5. The Bonus Feature will play out once all winning combinations on the reels have been completed.

Treasure Time Traveller
Treasure Time Traveller is a 9-square scratch card. To qualify for the bonus round players have to scratch and match 3 odometer symbols.
The launch of these new games coincides with an exciting promotional offering at Virgin Bingo. For the first time players will be able to pre buy tickets for specific games incentivised by a range of some of the most fantastic prizes Virgin Bingo have ever offered, such as weekend breaks to New York and 42 inch Flatscreen TVs.

Warren Eloff, Product Manager at Virgin Games, commented:
"With these exciting new games and fantastic promotions Virgin Games truly offers one of the best online gaming experiences available. At the beginning of the year we stated that our priority was to offer great choice to our customers - and we're now doing that in spades. The range of games we have is superb and the promotional offerings have just raised the bar!"

Founded in 2004, Virgin Games has over 1,000,000 players and over 200 games on its site. Through the introduction of a custom built Virgin Games platform in 2008, Virgin Games seeks to provide its players with the widest possible choice of casino games. A growing selection of games can be found at Virgin Games from a number of producers including Microgaming, WagerWorks, Cryptologic, Freemantle and Ash Gaming.

Websites

Virgin Casino.

Virgin Bingo

Notes to editors

About Virgin Games:

Virgin Games launched in June 2004 and has quickly established itself as one of the leading gaming websites in the UK. Virgin Games comprises three distinct offerings:

-- Virgin Casino, offers content from a range of games suppliers including WagerWorks, Microgaming, Cryptologic, Freemantle and Ash Gaming, bringing consumers classic casino games like Blackjack and Roulette, as well as great feature slots like Monopoly, Rubik's, X-Factor and the highly popular MegaJackpots progressive games, with a current jackpot value of over GBP 2,500,000

-- Virgin Poker, part of the Boss Media network, offers a huge array of games and content for beginners through to experienced pros - as well as the most generous loyalty scheme in the industry

-- Virgin Bingo, part of the Virtue Fusion network, offers cash prizes worth thousands of pounds in the progressive jackpots, as well as Virgin prize bingo and a range of unique Virgin Games bingo games.

Websites

Virgin Bingo

Virgin Casino.

Join now and get a £100 Casino Welcome Bonus at Virgin Casino.

Virgin Games has won a number of industry awards and commendations including awards from Media Man, Casino News Media and eGaming Review. Virgin Casino won the Media Man 'Online Casino Of The Month' for June 2010 and is in the running again this month.

At present Virgin Casino is unable to accept money players from the United States, Australia or New Zealand. Please see World Casino Directory.

Websites

Virgin Bingo

VirginCasino.com

Profiles

Virgin Bingo

Virgin Casino

Virgin Games

Neteller

Cleopatra

Cleopatra 2

The War Of The Worlds

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Saturday, July 17, 2010

Virgin Games Partners With NETELLER to Offer GBP 1k Bingo Tournament

Websites

Virgin Bingo

Virgin Casino,

Jul 16, 2010 - Leading online bingo provider, Virgin Bingo, has teamed up with the online payment solutions company, NETELLER (part of NEOVIA Financial Plc), to offer an exclusive GBP 1,000 bingo tournament. The tournament, which takes place on 30th July 2010, represents the first time a payment solutions provider has partnered with an online gaming company to offer part of the prize, demonstrating NETELLER's commitment to the online bingo community and Virgin Bingo's dedication to offering its customers absolute payment security.

To qualify for this event players are required to register with Virgin Bingo and make a minimum deposit of GBP 10 via NETELLER. Players will then receive a confirmation email granting them access to the Hidden Treasure room which will open its doors at 20:00 UK time on 30th July 2010. Each player will be given the same amount of tickets for each game during the GBP 1000 hour, giving all players an equal chance of scooping the prize pots.

Craig Perrott, Bingo Acquisition Manager at Virgin Games, commented: "Offering our customers assurance that we use only the most trusted payment solution providers is a key priority for Virgin Games. NETELLER has proven to be a trusted payment network and offering this fantastic promotion is a great way to tell our customers about them."

Dan Starr, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of NEOVIA Financial, said: "We are pleased to partner with Virgin Bingo to host an exclusive NETELLER bingo tournament. As one of the world's leading alternative payment networks, working with global brands such as Virgin helps to strengthen and maintain our strong foothold in the bingo market by providing instant and secure payments."

Founded in 2004, Virgin Games has over 1,000,000 players and more than 200 games on its site. A growing selection of games can be found at Virgin Games from a number of producers including Virtue Fusion, WagerWorks, Cryptologic, Freemantle, Ash Gaming and Microgaming.

For further details of how to enter the Virgin Bingo and NETELLER tournament go to www.virginbingo.com

Notes to editors

About Virgin Games:

Virgin Games launched in June 2004 and has quickly established itself as one of the leading gaming websites in the UK. Virgin Games comprises three distinct offerings:

-- Virgin Casino, offers content from a range of games suppliers including WagerWorks, Microgaming, Cryptologic, Freemantle and Ash Gaming, bringing consumers classic casino games like Blackjack and Roulette, as well as great feature slots like Monopoly, Rubik's, X-Factor and the highly popular MegaJackpots progressive games, with a current jackpot value of over GBP 2,500,000

-- Virgin Poker, part of the Boss Media network, offers a huge array of games and content for beginners through to experienced pros - as well as the most generous loyalty scheme in the industry

-- Virgin Bingo, part of the Virtue Fusion network, offers cash prizes worth thousands of pounds in the progressive jackpots, as well as Virgin prize bingo and a range of unique Virgin Games bingo games.

About NETELLER:

Trusted by consumers and businesses in over 170 countries to move and manage billions of dollars each year, NEOVIA Financial Plc is a leading alternative payments business. Through the NEOVIA Payment Network, merchants use the NETBANX(R) processing service to simplify how they accept and settle card, direct-from-bank, and cash payments, and the NETELLER(R) payment account to increase margins, capture new customers and increase customer lifetime values. Being independent has allowed the company to support tens-of-thousands of retailers and merchants in many geographies and across multiple industries.

NEOVIA Financial Plc is quoted on the London Stock Exchange's AIM, with a ticker symbol of NEO. Subsidiary company NETELLER (UK) Ltd is authorised by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to operate as a regulated e-money issuer.

Websites

Virgin Bingo

Virgin Casino.

Join now and get a £100 Casino Welcome Bonus at Virgin Casino.

Virgin Games has won a number of industry awards and commendations including awards from Media Man, Casino News Media and eGaming Review. Virgin Casino won the Media Man 'Online Casino Of The Month' for June 2010 and is in the running again this month.

At present Virgin Casino is unable to accept money players from the United States, Australia or New Zealand. Please see World Casino Directory.

Websites

Virgin Bingo

VirginCasino.com

Profiles

Virgin Bingo

Virgin Casino

Virgin Games

Neteller

Cleopatra

Cleopatra 2

Website Network

Media Man International

Media Man

Media Man Australia

Media Man Asia

Media Man Canada

Media Man Games

Media Man Casino

Media Man Poker

Casino News Media

Casino Travel Media

Global Gaming Directory

Cleopatra Games

Cleopatra 2

Cleopatra Slot News

Casino News Media.net

Monday, July 12, 2010

Bingo News Media

Website

Bingo News Media

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Virgin Casino Launches Break da Bank by Microgaming

Virgin Casino Launches Break da Bank by Microgaming

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM — Virgin Casino, part of the leading online gaming company - Virgin Games, has today announced the launch of Break da Bank, a new game from Microgaming. This new slot game is the third addition by Microgaming to Virgin Casino's extensive product suite following the pair's partnership last month.

Break da Bank is a three reel, five payline slot game, with a wild multiplier symbol. The game is great example of the classic slot machine, with state of the art graphics that truly capture the image of landbased slots.

Warren Eloff, Product Manager at Virgin Games, commented "Last month we introduced Tomb Raider and Thunderstruck by Microgaming - both of which have been a hit with our customers. We believe this new slot will also be a firm favourite, particularly with fans of the traditional slot machine. They have introduced fantastic graphics that makes playing Break Da Bank feel like you're in a Vegas casino!"

Founded in 2004, Virgin Games has over 1,000,000 players and nearly 200 games on its site. Through the introduction of a custom built Virgin Games platform in 2008, Virgin Games seeks to provide its players with the widest possible choice of casino games. A growing selection of games can be found at Virgin Games from a number of producers including Microgaming, WagerWorks, Cryptologic, Freemantle and Ash Gaming.

To play Break da Bank visit www.virgincasino.com

About Virgin Games:
Virgin Games launched in June 2004 and has quickly established itself as one of the leading gaming websites in the UK. Virgin Games comprises three distinct offerings:

- Virgin Casino, offers content from a range of games suppliers including WagerWorks, Microgaming, Cryptologic, Freemantle and Ash Gaming, bringing consumers classic casino games like Blackjack and Roulette, as well as great feature slots like Monopoly, Rubik's, X-Factor and the highly popular MegaJackpots progressive games, with a current jackpot value of over GBP 2,500,000

- Virgin Poker, part of the Boss Media network, offers a huge array of games and content for beginners through to experienced pros - as well as the most generous loyalty scheme in the industry

- Virgin Bingo, part of the Virtue Fusion network, offers cash prizes worth thousands of pounds in the progressive jackpots, as well as Virgin prize bingo and a range of unique Virgin Games bingo games.

Website

Virgin Casino

Play for free or play for money.

*Sorry, no U.S or Australian players. See World Casino Directory

Website

VirginCasino.com

Profiles

Tomb Raider

Thunderstruck

Hitman

Microgaming

Virgin Microgaming

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V*Points

Richard Branson

Angelina Jolie

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Friday, July 09, 2010

PartyGaming Group Awarded Second eCOGRA Affiliate Trust Seal

PartyGaming Group Awarded Second eCOGRA Affiliate Trust Seal

Websites

Noble Casino Casino Las Vegas Casino King Swiss Casino AffClub.com

PartyCasino.com

PartyPoker.com

World Poker Tour

AffClub Affiliate Program passes tough affiliate administration tests

London, 7 July 2010 - Following the approval of PartyPartners.com in January this year, a second affiliate marketing administration program in the PartyGaming group of online gambling companies has successfully passed the on-site inspection and monitoring requirements of player protection and standards body eCOGRA.

AffClub handles affiliate marketer relationships and administration for PartyGaming Plc subsidiary iGlobalMedia Entertainment Limited, which operates the websites acquired from IOG Casinos and the Tradal Group in 2007.

Nine well-established, tier one internet casino brands and one successful online poker room comprise the AffClub business portfolio.

"In keeping with the various other PartyGaming operations that eCOGRA reviews, AffClub operates in a highly professional manner and its focus on meeting the needs of affiliates within given control frameworks provides for a reliable and effective platform for affiliates and regulators alike," reports eCOGRA Compliance Manager Sean Roberts who conducted an extensive inspection and assessment of AffClub’s operations before the eCOGRA Affiliate Trust Seal was approved by the standards body.

Having successfully met the eCOGRA affiliate program standards, AffClub is now entitled to display the eCOGRA Affiliate Trust Seal, which certifies that the company observes best practice operational standards of fairness and efficiency in dealing with affiliate marketers, and is independently reviewed on a regular basis.

eCOGRA chief executive Andrew Beveridge said that among the criteria for accreditation, applicant programs for the seal must show that affiliate revenue is calculated fairly and accurately, that payments are prompt, and that there are appropriate controls in place to accurately link players to affiliates.

"Achieving accreditation such as AffClub has done requires high levels of commitment and sound administrative and business systems," he said.

Notes for editors:

About eCOGRA’s Affiliate Trust Seal:

eCOGRA is an independent, non-profit London-based standards organisation that sets online gambling standards and provides an international framework for best operational and player protection requirements, with particular emphasis on fair and responsible gambling.

Best practice standards relevant to affiliate programs have been established through an extensive international research and consultation program, targeting key areas of affiliate program activity to ensure that:

Affiliate revenue is calculated accurately and deductions are correctly allocated
Payments are completely and accurately processed
Preventative and detective controls are in place to ensure accurate and correct linking of players to affiliates
Program software applications are developed, implemented, maintained and secured in a manner representative of best practice international standards
Affiliate programs must be able to demonstrate that they can recover from a system disaster

About AffClub:

AffClub’s portfolio of brands include:
Casino Swiss
Noble Casino
Casino Las Vegas
Casino King
EnterCasino
ClubDice Casino
MagicBox Casino
Carnival Casino
50Stars Casino
Noble Poker

AffClub is a collaboration of the industry's oldest and most respected marketing businesses. With many years of experience, iGlobalMedia Entertainment has provided affiliates with professional management and extensive assistance, motivating affiliates to achieve excellent results and earnings.

London-listed PartyGaming plc purchased IOG Casinos and Tradal Group in January 2007, creating AffClub as the affiliate program for nine well-established online casino brands and a thriving online poker room.

PartyGaming's principle brands include PartyPoker.com, PartyCasino.com and World Poker Tour

Profiles

Playtech

Noble Casino

Casino Las Vegas

Swiss Casino

AffClub.com

PartyCasino.com

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World Poker Tour

PartyPoints

PartyBingo.com

PartyGaming

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Thursday, July 08, 2010

Bingo News Media

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Bingo News Media

Sunday, July 04, 2010

Australia To Get More Casinos And Regulation, by Greg Tingle - 5th July 2010

Australia is likely to get more land based casinos and extra regulation, if the recent turn of events is anything to judge by... Media Man and Gambling911 along with sniffer dogs, Bluey and Timmy, board the Aussie Regional Express and come up with a bush tucker bag of Aussie casino and gaming news as the global hunt continues... Kangaroos get hopping to it...

Outlaw Ban On Aussie And International Crooks From Casinos Down Under...

Australia with its grand plan to build more casinos and increase regulation, is looking to tighten up laws to ban criminals, both Aussies and tourists. The wide believe in the industry, society and police is that more needs to be done, Media Man having researched this and assisted some authorities for the past number of years.

As we go to print (technically Web) plans are being drawn up to stop criminals laundering money through casinos and gambling venues nationally.

Gambling exclusion orders are already imposed, but only at state and territory levels, and there's room for improvement.

Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor advised crims who have been subject to one state exclusion order have moved to other jurisdictions where venues are unaware of the order!

Our learned friend said the federal plan will see each state and territory pass and execute legislation to enable gambling exclusion orders that are issued in other jurisdictions to be recognised within their borders.


Cairns Casino Mecca Proposal Political Casino War...

You've heard of the Aussie Casino Wars, namely Sydney's Star City VS Melbourne's Crown Casino... well, the wars are expanding north to regional Cairns and taking on an ultra political spin. A far Northern Queensland mayor says a plan to turn the city of Cairns into a Las Vegas-style gambling destination is "bizarre and unwelcome". Liberal National Party defector and now independent MP Aidan McLindon wants all of Queensland's pokies, except those in casinos, moved to Cairns and a gambling strip like Vegas established. Cairns Mayor Val Schier says she is opposed to the idea. "I think the suggestion is absolutely bizarre and I'm not quite sure what his motivation is in making it," she said. "Perhaps he is just seeking attention." Cr Schier says the gambling destination will not get public support. "The plan would never get any wings at all," she said. "There would be no support for it at all - the last thing we want is more poker machines concentrated in one area. We know the problems that there already are with gambling but certainly Cairns would not want to have a bar of it." Tourism Tropical North Queensland chairman Bill Calderwood says the plan has no merit. "I don't think it's an idea that makes a lot of sense for this destination," he said. "We have many wonderful, natural attractions and wonder products and experiences that attract people here. "I doubt very much that we need the artificial injection of casinos to attract people up here.". Some struggling business owners beg to differ hesitant to provide their names in fear of repercussions. "My business is struggling. We need more cashed up tourists. The casino proposal would bring in additional attention, tourists and money to the area. They would spend some of that in the local township also. It's a no brainer mate".


Australia's Cairns In Northern Queensland To Become Aussie Las Vegas?...

Cairns would become Australia's equivalent to Las Vegas under a somewhat controversial scheme to transform it into the national centre for poker machines. Aussie Casino King, James Packer, his prize casino being in Melbourne, Australia, isn't speaking on the matter as yet. Packer also has his Burswood Entertainment Complex in Perth, Western Australia, so don't expect Packer to support the proposal. It's not a Crown Limited venture either, but maybe we would buy them out one day. The current proposal is to be heard within 24 hours in Brisbane, north of Sydney, and south of Cairns, at one of the tourism industry's key annual conventions, Tourism Futures, to be attended by international tourism heavyweights and politicians, including Federal Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson and Queensland Premier Anna Bligh. It is being championed - sphere headed by breakaway Liberal National Party MP Aidan McLindon, who has previously had campaigned against the spread of pokies. But Mr McLindon, who quit the party in May to form the Queensland Party, is now pushing for debate on a scheme that would create a Las Vegas style gambling strip in gorgeous Cairns by relocating poker machines from existing pubs and clubs across Queensland to a new "Aus Vegas" to be built in the region. Punters may recall Aus Vegas was an online casino name owned and operated by Lasseters, but they closed shop roughly 3 years ago, unable to compete with competitors which snatched online casino tuna, dolphins and whales. Aussie punters turned off Aus Vegas (online), finding the likes of PartyCasino.com, Captain Cooks Casino and Virgin Casino.

The Beaudesert MP first tabled his vision for a Vegas-style pokies hub to reduce gambling in April last year in his virgin speech to State Parliament. It somewhat replicates the US model, where Nevada is the only state to have no significant restrictions against gaming machines. Under the "Aus Vegas" proposal, clubs would have to sell their poker machine licences back to the Government or relocate their pokies to Cairns and become "shareholders" in the new venture. The state's existing 4 major casinos would be exempt.

The plan would be supported by a shake-up of the current distribution of gambling funds collected by the State Government, with pokies revenue instead being poured into recreational sports through a scheme that would hand sports clubs a cash grant for each child they put on the sports field! (a suitable connection between pokies and kids). "The location is ideal given the Cairns region is suffering some of the highest unemployment levels and the tourism industry is plummeting," Mr McLindon said. "It already has the international airport there, which is under-utilised. Ideally, you want them (gaming machines) all in one place so people can go away, have a holiday, blow their money and come home." But welfare groups fear the plan could turn Cairns into another "Sin City", following Vegas, Sydney and Melbourne to a certain extent...making residents the sacrificial lambs of the nation's gambling problems.

Media Man Profiles

Northern Queensland

Aus Vegas


Adelaide Casino In South Australia: Changes Afoot...

Seems not only is Star City and Crown Casino duking it out, along with the Cairns casino proposal, Adelaide in South Australia is throwing its hat in the ring as the Aussie casino wars approach boiling point. Down Torren Riverbank land way, west of the Morphett Street bridge is the proposed worksite for a brand new Adelaide Casino. Relocating to a new purpose-built casino complex overlooking the Torrens Lake is the subject of confidential post-election talks between the State Government and casino management - with both parties bent on progressing the much-talked about riverbank precinct into a "a major tourist and entertainment hub". A key feature of a new casino complex is likely to be underground parking for several thousand cars, which would potentially solve parking issues for a redeveloped Adelaide Oval. Treasurer Kevin Foley has now confirmed he has been in extra talks with the casino over a waterfront redevelopment, advising casino management has "exciting ideas". Water features and light shows are part of developing plans to turn the Torrens Lake area into an entertainment hub. We think he's been borrowing a few ideas from Packer, Ho and Co. re City Of Dreams, Macau, and a number of Las Vegas casinos having been "playing" with water and lights for decades. Chatshave included options for either a Las Vegas-style resort and a more discreet European-style gambling plaza but the consensus appears to be a more homely development incorporating plenty of alfresco style dining, walkways and you get the idea, to take make good use of the outdoor-friendly climate. West of the Morphett St Bridge overlooking the Torrens Lake is regarded as the superior site for a new casino-hotel-entertainment venue. Relocating the casino creates new opportunities for transforming the historic Adelaide Railway Station. Casino general manager David Christian this week said the casino wanted to be part of a new riverside entertainment precinct linked to the redeveloped Adelaide Oval and new Royal Adelaide Hospital in the western railyards. "Adelaide Casino is one of several major businesses that call the riverbank precinct home and fully supports the idea of turning the area into a major tourist and entertainment hub," Mr Christian said. "We believe that Adelaide deserves a bigger casino but there is due process to work through before we finalise any plans and present them to the State Government." Mr Foley revealed during a recent business lunch speech he had been in talks with casino management but declined to elaborate. He has made a series of positive based talks recently...speeches which have championed Melbourne's Southbank development, which has the Crown Casino as one of its key attractions. Last month, Mr Foley told an American Chamber of Commerce lunch the CBD was "underdone". "We need to be more pro-development," he said. At another function, he said "Do we really want to see Adelaide in 10 years' time with a River Torrens precinct that is like going for a stroll in an Outback town where no one has any money or interest in developing something?" In May 2009, News Corp's Sunday Mail reported two construction consortiums were working on plans to present to SkyCity for new casinos at two landmark sites: Either on the Torrens river bank or on the current RAH site. Casino operator SkyCity Adelaide previously has confirmed it wants to move from the heritage-listed Adelaide Railway Station site into bigger, purpose-built premises incorporating a hotel, with chief exec Nigel Morrison telling budding investors Adelaide deserved a bigger casino. In 2008, casino management stopped plans for a $30 million underground car park at its current railway station location, as it looked at "conceptual" plans to relocate. In 2001, Adelaide developers revealed detailed plans for a $200 million, 22-storey hotel with casino and 240 apartments on the railyards site, and revived them in 2006, but failed to win Government support. This time around there appears to be a lot more government support and many locals have employment opportunities on their mind, as well as business owners in the area hoping to gain some positive spin offs from the proposal.


Australian Politics - Kate Lundy VS Sen Stephen Conroy ("Censorship Minister")...

Julia Gillard's takeover of the Labor Party leadership has sparked calls for the communications portfolio to change hands also. Gillard became the country's first female Prime Minister after Kevin Rudd decided not to contest a leadership challenge. In her acceptance speech, Ms Gillard said she would make "consequential" changes to cabinet positions at "an appropriate time". However some bloggers and technology pundits have already decided on the two politicians they would like to see trade places. The minister they would like to see out is Stephen Conroy, currently in charge of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (BCDE), and the figurehead of the Government's controversial internet filtering policy. The favourite to replace him is Kate Lundy, a former shadow IT minister who has retained an interest in the area and the respect of industry figures. Technology wire service Delimiter speculated on whether Senator Lundy would replace Senator Conroy in a reshuffle, airing claims from critics of the current minister that Senator Lundy better understood the sector. Gizmodo Australia went one step further and launched a campaign titled "Kate Lundy For IT: The Change We Really Need" that was linked to by hundreds of users on Twitter. "If it's time for a change in Labor, there’s no better change than replacing Conroy with a forward thinking minister for BCDE like Senator Lundy," it said. Editor Nick Broughall said the campaign wasn't just a kneejerk reaction to the leadership change and had so far received encouraging support. "We're going to run with this until the new front bench has been named and we know whether or not the Government is going to change its approach to the BCDE portfolio, in particular its proposed internet filter," he told News Limited's news.com.au. Web filtering Much of the backlash against Senator Conroy is linked to the Government's controversial internet filtering plan. Under the scheme, internet providers like Telstra and Optus would be forced to block access to a secret list of banned webpages. One of the key differences between the two senators is the degree of their support for the plan. Senator Lundy has been one of the only Labor voices to publicly question the policy and earlier this month said she would propose an alternative to the Labor Caucus. "I am working to change the internet filtering policy to better achieve the policy goals of protecting children through empowering and educating parents," she wrote on her blog at the time. Senator Lundy's concerns lay with the mandatory nature of the filtering plan. She believes Australians should be given the option to choose whether their internet connections are censored. However Internet Industry Association chief executive Peter Coroneos said a change of minister wasn't necessary for the filtering plan to be dropped, if the Government chose to do so. "I wouldn't necessarily conclude from (Gillard's) comments that we're going to see a major rearrangement of the deckchairs," he told news.com.au. "To speculate on who will be the communications minister really is jumping ahead." Mr Coroneos said the association supported two of the Government's three main communications policies — the national broadband network (NBN) and its e-security agenda — but not its internet filtering plan. If the communications portfolio was up for grabs, Mr Coroneos said it would be a "difficult question to answer" which senator would suit it best. "Kate Lundy is someone we’ve worked with for a long time and we have a great deal of respect for both her commitment to our industry and also her understanding of the issues," he said. "But there's no doubting Stephen Conroy's commitment to the NBN either." Senator Lundy was one of the first Labor MPs to declare her support for Ms Gillard last night. Fittingly, she made the statement on Twitter. "I will be voting for Julia Gillard in the l'ship ballot. She will be an inspiring PM!," she wrote, from the @katelundy account. And speaking on ABC Radio this morning before the leadership decision was revealed, she seemed confident with what the outcome would be. When asked if Australia would have a new prime minister by lunch, Senator Lundy replied: "I believe so." She also took the opportunity to describe IT policy as one of "those areas I'm passionate about". Senator Lundy was Labor's shadow IT minister from 2001 until 2004 when the portfolio was handed to Senator Conroy under then opposition leader Mark Latham. Since that time Senator Lundy has maintained an active interest in communications and technology, speaking publicly about the NBN and initiatives such as Gov 2.0, and regularly updating her blog. Senator Conroy is also understood to have supported Ms Gillard, according to The Australian. His media advisor did not immediately return a request for comment about the reshuffle.


Aussie Casino Shares... (generally on the upswing in past 24 hours)

Crown $7.790

Tabcorp $6.45
Centrebet $1.130

Tatts $2.240

Reef Casino Trust $1.900

Aristocrat Leisure Limited $3.610

Lasseters Corporation $0.010

SkyCity $2.93

References: Casino corporate websites and ASX Website


Punters, as always, bet with your head, not over it, know the odds and have fun.

*The writer is a special contributor for Gambling911

*Media Man is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company. Gaming is just one of a bakers dozen of sectors they cover

*The writer owns shares in Crown Limited

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Saturday, July 03, 2010

Virgin Casino Wins Media Man 'Online Casino Of The Month' Award; Breaks PartyCasino Hold

Virgin Casino Wins Media Man 'Online Casino Of The Month' Award (Finally), Breaks Party Hold...

The PartyCasino VS Virgin Casino online casino wars have been going on for a few years now, much of that time PartyCasino having a lock on the coverted Media Man award. In a shocker, Richard Branson's Virgin Casino toppled Party for June. The new games, excellent affiliate offerings, gameplay, global expansion, addition of the Virgin Gaming arm and outstanding customer experiences were key reasons for the win. PartyGaming's casino got 2nd place, and Captain Cooks Casino in 3rd (comon' Aussie's)! Virgin doesn't accept Aussie or American players, but is big in Canada, United Kingdom, South Africa and much of Europe. PartyGaming remains ultra popular in Australia and New Zealand. Read about the PartyCasino VS Virgin Casino war here...


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