2 Bet Online Casino

Around 200 Scandinavian players thought their gambling ship had come in last week when online casino Mr.Green dished out the dosh in unprecedented amounts following a software glitch. The Local.se, an English language news site in Sweden, reported that a technical glitch made the Betsoft Gaming-powered Mr. Green a truly safe bet, but was quickly corrected.

The computer problem affected a newly launched game on the Mr Green gambling website, lasting for half a day before management cottoned on.

Around 200 players were jubilant when the ‘House of Fun’ game proved that the house doesn’t always win, and can certainly be a lot of fun, as punters found they could play time and time again without any money being debited to their online bankrolls.

Mr. Green MD Michael Pawlo told the Agence France Presse news agency: “What happened is that people could spend money without it being withdrawn from their account. It was just like being at an automatic teller machine.”

Unfortunately for the gamblers who thought they’d hit the jackpot, the casino did not allow them to keep the money and their boosted accounts have since been brought back down to earth.

“We’re happy when our guests win, that is what makes us appealing. But in this case, it was a bit too much,” said Pawlo. “Those technical faults are exceptional, but happen sometimes with new games.”

The House of Fun game was developed by Betsoft Gaming and invites players to find their way out of a virtual house by navigating a maze of doors and animations.

Mr.Green online casino boasts a player base of around 150,000, resident throughout the Nordic states, Europe and the UK.

For both moral and practical reasons, most online gambling operators are vigilant in excluding youthful or problem gamblers, yet determined young punters keep trying to gain access, often resorting to underhand methods to do so, but then crying foul when exposed.

This week the UK problem gambler charity Gamcare released statistics from its support centre, showing that in 2009/10, calls for help across all forms of gambling from 18-25-year-olds rose by a shocking 22% on the previous year.

However, Gamcare reveals that most callers and clients in counselling are male and gamble in (land) betting shops, with the rise overall in male callers gambling on the Internet just 4%, with no discernible increase in the number of problem punters citing gambling on the Internet.

GamCare also saw changes in the gambling behaviour reported by its female callers, with a more worrying 14% rise in female callers citing gambling on the Internet, and increases in female callers gambling on fruit and slot machines at 36% and bingo at 19%.

The charity’s national telephone and online helpline teams answered over 35,000 calls in 2009/10, including a 47% increase in callers to the NetLine, which is favoured by female and younger gamblers.

19% of troubled gamblers calling Gamcare in 2009/10 were referred for specialised counselling, with a further 12% – double last year’s numbers – advised to implement blocking software.

The overall increase in clients opting for counselling was 34%, but in the age group 18 to 25 years those requiring this option increased by 44%.

Gamcare’s numbers indicate that the prevalence of problem gambling amongst adolescents is three times higher than that amongst adults.

40% of UK clients aged 18-25 were gambling in (land) betting shops. The predominant gambling activities they gave were FOBTs (15%) and fruit/slot machines (14%).

No clients under 18 cited their problem as gambling on the Internet.

GamCare CEO Andy McLellan commented on the statistics, saying: “This is a serious wake-up call that we need to take seriously the wider accessibility of gambling and the real importance of education and wider awareness of responsible gambling, particularly for women and young people.

“We want anyone who needs our help to know that they can call us in complete confidence, on the phone or online, and that we are there to help, not to judge.

“We also want to do much more, targeted prevention work – very little is going on at present but as soon as the funds can be made available we are ready with our partners to launch new initiatives.

“We also need to look carefully at online gambling. In many ways, (internet gambling) operators have more opportunities online to help the player, for example by putting in place checks and controls which anyone can set themselves.

Anyone gambling online should look for the GamCare Certification logo, which shows that the operator – wherever they are operating from – has satisfied us that they have a reliable approach to player protection.”

Videobet, a subsidiary of Playtech plc, has been chosen to provide the technology platform to Ladbrokes for around 7,600 gaming machines, representing some 95% of the firm’s gaming estate. Videobet secured the deal through an agreement signed by its partner The Global Draw, a subsidiary of Scientific Games.

Playtech chief executive officer Mor Weizer said this week: “The Global Draw’s deal with Ladbrokes substantially reinforces our partnership. We are delighted that Videobet has the opportunity to supply its platform, via The Global Draw, to such an important operator as Ladbrokes.

“This agreement underlines the strength of Videobet’s internet based gaming software proposition and positions us as the leading technology platform in the UK market, taking the total to in excess of 21,000 machines when fully converted. We continue to see significant opportunities for our innovative platform in the gaming machine market globally.”

Yesterday I reported that the Michael Jackson estate is suing over a shady online casino that uses MJ’s name and likeness. Now things are getting bigger and nastier. A separate lawsuit will now involve GoDaddy.com, the popular domain name registrar.

As mentioned yesterday, Michael Jackson Casino features a number of photos of Jackson from different movies, videos, posters and other promotional spots. Howard Weitzman, an attorney for the Michael Jackson estate, is suing the company over using his name and likeness without permission. Now another Howard – Howard Mann, to be exact – is suing the online casino and Go Daddy, claiming that he owns the copyright to the photos featured on the website.

Go Daddy is perhaps best known for their commercials that feature hot women (sometimes Danica Patrick) in ridiculously innuendo-laden situations. They also sell domain names and host websites, though, in case you were wondering.

I’m not a legal expert, but it seems unlikely that Mann could win a lawsuit against Go Daddy. All they did is sell the domain name to the casino and agree to host the site. I don’t believe they have any legal obligation to make sure the content of the site does not infringe on the copyrights of others. Even Mann admits that the reason he named Go Daddy in the lawsuit is to “flush out the name of the person” who owns Michael Jackson Casino. That casino owner is currently unknown.

A Go Daddy representative said that the company will “vigorously defend itself.” He also stated that when their “customers are involved in a legal dispute, Go Daddy complies with court orders.” Mann is seeking more than $100 million in damages from both websites.

Aside from claiming ownership of the copyright to Jackson’s images, Mann co-authored a coffee table book on Jackson and is producing a new documentary with Katherine Jackson. That documentary itself is not without legal controversy, with the Jackson estate claiming exclusive rights to Jackson’s name and image while Katherine Jackson and Howard Mann claim ownership as well.

*No Michael Jackson photo accompanies this story because I don’t want to get sued next.

Paddy Power’s poker division today announced the inclusion of a ‘Blind Mans Bluff’ poker event at the 2010 Irish Winter Festival tournament which this year takes place over October Bank Holiday weekend – 22nd–25th – in the Burlington Hotel, Dublin.

Blind man’s bluff – also called Indian poker – is a fun twist on the traditional game of poker whereby each person sees the cards of all players except their own.

A spokesperson of Paddy Power said: “The Irish Winter Festival is back in Dublin city centre and it’s bigger than ever before. We’ve even added a World Championship event to the proceedings with the new Blind Mans Bluff tournament – so it’s the ideal chance to come down to the festival, play some poker, have the craic, and leave a winner.”

Participating players are dealt cards which they display to all other poker players by sticking them on their foreheads.

All players on the table then attempt to guess if they have the highest hand based on the distribution of visible cards and how other players are betting.

The Minnesota Twins are currently in one of the tightest races for a division lead in the Major Leagues. They are 1 1/2 games back of the Chicago White Sox in the American League Central, and were searching for an arm to bolster their bullpen. They found that arm in Matt Capps, and added him to their roster Thursday.

The Nationals get top catching prospect Wilson Ramos and minor league pitcher Joe Testa. Along with the All Star closer, the Twins received cash considerations. MLB future betting lines are sure to favor the Twins down the stretch.

Twins general manager Bill Smith believes that the addition of Capps is just the piece he needed to put his team in the playoffs.

“The motivation is that this makes us a better club,” said Smith. “This gives us more depth in the back of that bullpen. Matt Capps is an established, veteran closer who is going to give us a better chance to win our division and advance to the World Series.”

Capps has been impressive for a Nationals team resting at the bottom of the National League East. His record is 3-3 this season with a 2.74 ERA. The former Pittsburgh Pirates draft pick has 26 saves in 30 chances with the Nationals. He will fill the closer role left open by Joe Nathan when he underwent Tommy John surgery in spring training. His MLB player proposition odds are sure to be more favorable with a fresh start.

Jon Rauch had been performing the closer duties, but the team’s faith in him was wearing thin. He did well in save opportunities (21-25), but had only been given one save opportunity since July 11.  Rauch is known to pitch to contact instead of blowing pitches by hitters, and has a 5.40 ERA in nine appearances in July.

“Jon Rauch stepped up and has been phenomenal for us,” Smith said. “This gives us three quality, veteran guys late in the game. I can’t say enough great things about what Jon Rauch has contributed to this club and we expect him to continue to be a huge contributor to our success.”

With the opening of new Target Field, the Twins front office wants to justify the expenditure by building a team ready to win a World Series. The team now features a strong youth core with veterans Orlando Hudson, J.J. Hardy, and Jim Thome to show the kids how to mature into their roles on the team.

Ramos was not expected to see much playing time with catcher Joe Mauer signed to a new eight-year, $148 million deal. Smith says it was tough to let the prospect go, but is focused on doing what it takes to win now.

“He’s a tremendous talent and he’s got a bright future,” Smith said. “Anytime you’re going to get an All-Star closer, you have to give up a good player. It was a tough decision, but one we felt we had to make.”

MLB betting lines have set the Twins as the favorites in the first game of their next series with the Seattle Mariners at -190. The Mariners’ underdog line is set at +160.

For fans of online blackjack, it can be hard to find some good tournament action. Fewer and fewer online casinos are holding blackjack tournaments, as they continue to focus on the more popular slot tournaments. River Belle Casino, though, has a good number of blackjack tournaments every month.

The online casino holds scheduled and Sit n’ Go blackjack tournaments. The scheduled tournaments last longer, have more contestants and larger prize pools. They usually have larger entry fees, though. In the Sit n’ Go blackjack tournaments, they will start any time that there are a specified number of players entered in the tournament. Some of the Sit n’ Go tournaments are freeroll tournaments, which you can join for free.

The scheduled blackjack tournaments, on the other hand, start at a specified time and you must register in advance if you want to play. Right now, River Belle Casino is running scheduled blackjack tournaments that kind of feel like the Sit n’ Go variety. They are short and have low prize pools and entry fees, but they are multi-tiered.

There are several tournaments scheduled each day and those small tournaments continue until the end of the month. They can be thought of as a multi-stage tournament. The blackjack tournaments have small prize pools, entry fees and numbers of participants. The largest blackjack tournament in this promotion has an entry fee of $10 and a $126 prize pool. Only 250 players can enter the tournament and only the top three players in the tournament will win prizes, with the top player winning $63. That may not be an exciting amount, but players have the opportunity to win multiple tournaments during this promotion while paying only a small  buy-in.

If you like fast-paced blackjack tournaments, this is a good promotion for you. More information can be found on River Belle’s website.

Bingo Day is looking to start this new year with a promotion that is almost too good to be true. This promotion will last for six months on a row, but is certainly worthwhile your time and effort as the reward is exotic, sunny and luxurious.    

Caribbean Bingo Cruise
The promotion we are talking about is the Bingo Cruise Promotion and this promotion will come to an end on June 30^th. Three lucky players will win tickets for the luxurious 7-day Bingo Cruise, a world-famous yearly recurring bingo spectacle. Last year 888ladies.com was kind enough to grant one of its roomies a set of tickets to this amazing event.

Win Tickets at Bingo Day
This year Bingo Day is the first to start a promotion for its bingo players to qualify for this amazing Caribbean adventure. The best news is that Bingo Day doesn’t just treat one roomie with a cruise ticket, but gives away 3 all-inclusive cruise packages worth a staggering £12,000!  

How to Win
In order to successfully compete in this bingo battle you have to play bingo as much as you can in the special Bingo Cruise games. For more information on the schedule of these games you can just take a quick peek in the Bingo Day lobby.

At the end of each month up until June 30^th the 20 top finishers of the month will join the Hall of Fame. Then when all monthly top 20 finishers have been determined, this group will battle it out in the final playoff at the end of June. The three best players will head to the port of Miami and hop on board of the Carnival Liberty to have the bingo cruise of a lifetime.

The French investment house Louis Dreyfus is preparing to buy a stake in Mangas Gaming, a 50-50, Paris-based Internet betting joint venture between Bains de Mer de Monaco and the holding company of French TV producer Stephane Courbit.

Louis Dreyfus will take part in a Mangas Gaming capital increase that will give it 25% ownership, while Courbit will reduce his stake to 25% and Bains de Mer de Monaco will keep its shareholding unchanged.

Mangas Gaming is now Europe’s third biggest internet betting group, after Austria’s Bwin and Gibraltar’s PartyGaming. The online gambling group, which owns BetClic, paid around $100 million for 60% of online poker company Everest Gaming on 16 December in a deal with parent group Gigamedia.

Earlier in the year, Mangas acquired Germany’s Bet-at-home and Scandinavian sports betting operator Expekt.

The company has over 4 million customers, 600 staff and a presence in 25 countries.

Louis Dreyfus notified the European Commission of its planned acquisition on 14 December and expects a decision by the middle of January.