AbsoluteCasino.com is creating quite a stir in the online casino gambling market. Its recent pounce onto the stage has brought a resurgence of life and innovation to the gambling world. According to their site, they are “a newly established and unique, community enabled online casino operator”, which has developed an innovative business model centred on social groups, networks and communities, all embedded in the gambling experience.” Their bare bones website draws in the online players as it creates a simple way for players to get on board and begin their time at the games. Advanced Games Lab is the umbrealla company that kicked off the online gambling site and plans to use the current trends of today to get the players involved with gambling games and interactive media.

Based out of Alderney, the company is in actuality a branch of HC Capitol Limited. This gambling company has raised the bar for its new online players as it offers the top of the line in upgraded and innovative computer technology. With this power in the field, they have the ability to systematically take care of businesses no matter what the size. Their software is proprietary, and therefore would be extremely difficult to duplicate due to the amount of work that has gone into the creation.

The goal of the company is to bring about products that offer the most in massive multiplayer functionality. At this time it is able to negotiate through different cultures by adapting different languages and customizing for different currencies. It’s use of social networking bring in an entirely new world to the online casino gambling arena. By making the most of social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, linked in, they company can therefore quicly expand and access a tremendous amount of users and bring them to the table. This ability will creat a social atmosphere for the online gambling players.

What’s the catch?  Where’s the fine print?  Nothing is ever free.    You can’t get something for nothing.  These are all the cliches usually attached when an offer looks too good to be true.  What is the point of someone offering you something for free if they don’t get something out of it.  With all the ads online, in the press, and on television, there always seems to be some disclaimer usually written in small letters or spoken very quickly.  Even medicine ads come with, “In some cases may cause death.”  In The United Kingdom the Advertising Standards Authority is the watchdog group who is responsible for monitoring this type of activity.  Even for online casinos.

They are doing just that, and recently they came down hard on the online bookmaker William Hill.  The ASA told executives at William Hill to stop running two press ads and one banner ad, at least not in their current form.  The ads in question state that new customers who open up telephone or online accounts would receive £100 (about $163 US) in free bets for the site.  However, a complaint was lodged.  The complaint stated that the ads were untrue because they did not clearly state that when a player collected his or her winnings the £100 was to be returned.

Obviously, William Hill officials did not think there was any confusion and that these types ads were not out of the norm with other ads of similar online gambling sites.  They claimed that the a player could keep their winnings and since they wining s were made on the a free £100 it was still a free bet.

The ASA’s ruling was as follows, “We considered that, because the increments of free bets were only awarded as a result of minimum spends by the consumer; customers would expect those bets to be treated in the same way as any other bet and to get their stake back along with any winnings.”  Thus all printed and online advertising for the gambling site must now be revised to more accurately describe the terms and conditions of the promotional offer.

In the constant game of the online casino and wagering business, companies are always making deals to update, improve, absorb, acquire and affiliate themselves.  It is not unlike the stories you hear coming out of Wall Street.  The goal is maximum exposure.  The prize is hoards of loyal customers and advertising revenue.  Even though it is common place to hear of deals being made everyday, it is always news worthy, as it directly affects the online casino markets and influences other deals that have yet to be penned.

Recently the online publishing group, Media Corporation, announced to the online casino community that it has an intention to buy PurpleLounge.com.  Purple Lounge is an internet casino and poker site currently based in The United Kingdom.  The reason is upgrade and improvement.  Justin Drummond who is the Chief Executive Officer for Media Corporation said, “Historically, we have never really had the gaming experience and the software was okay but not top level. This deal allows us that expertise and the excellent Microgaming software while, for PurpleLounge.com, which has great customer retention management but is less good at attracting new players than retaining new ones, this will allow Media Corporation to drive new customers.”

New customers are the prize.  Purple Lounge has online poker, casino and sports wagering products in Malta’s highly sought after online gambling jurisdiction.  This would give Media Corporation the ability to market its online gambling site, Gambling.com in The United Kingdom.

Mr. Drummond continued, “This is a very synergistic deal.”  He also stated that he would raise Purple Lounge’s turnover of £16.5 million (over $27 million US) to somewhere between £50 million (over $81.9 million US) and £100 million (well over $163 million US) within the next two years.  Drummond and the rest of the Media Corporation hopes that “…by combining our marketing expertise with Purple-Lounge.com’s operational online gaming experience, we hope to create a very profitable business.”  Media Corporation also announced that Chris Gorman who is the current Chairman for Purple Lounge would join its board as a Non-Executive Director.

There seems to be one constant, even in this struggling global economic environment.  People will gamble.  It may not be as frequent.  It may not be as prolific.  However, people will always be looking for a quick score.  How many times have you done it?  There is a purchase you would like to make, or a debt you would like to erase so you venture to your local convenient mart and pick up a lottery ticket, or go online or to a casino and place a bet on a sports game or a horse race.  While it is not recession proof, gambling has stood the test of time from our ancient ancestors in almost every civilization to the present.

This being said SportingBet was pleased to announce that it turned a net profit for its financial year.  They saw a profit of £12.4 million  (over $20.3 million US) for the past twelve months.  Quite an upturn from the previous twelve months which saw a loss of £4.3 million (over $7 million US).  SportingBet, as one wold guess, is an online sports wagering site based in London.  They have recently made strides in updating and improving their online sports betting site.  They added live streaming to supplement in play betting.  They also dramatically increased their offerings per day from 1,000 a year to over 8,000. Sporting bet has also launched casino style games to it site widening its appeal and keeping players on their site while waiting to see that final score from a soccer match.

Andrew McIver, the Chief Executive Officer for SportingBet, doesn’t feel that is the only reason the company saw such a turn around.  “Sports betting is a more hardy recession-resilient product offer,” he said.  He believes that the ease of sports gambling and the introduction of it at earlier ages leads to this.  Mr. McIver was please to excited to announce that SportingBet is now showing a worth of £348.6 million (over $571 million US).  This is especially pleasing because now they will be able to resume paying dividends.

Governing bodies such as The United Nations, The European Union and even The United States were set up so that a reasonable amount of overseeing could be placed upon multiple governments that have their own needs and systems, but are generally congregated in one area.  The United States federal government sits above fifty independent states, The European Union is a loose body that maintains unity is several European countries, and of course, the United Nations is a world wide organization.  Not only are these bodies meant to keep peace and help defend, but they also maintain economic and business practices that protect a wide range of consumers from varied backgrounds, nationalities, and ideals.  Such a body exists in Europe and its job is to keep Europe’s online casinos in check.

The European Union has a commission for online casinos registered within its jurisdictions.  There job is to keep the industry on an even keel.  Sometimes this means coming down on a country.  Just recently the European Commission gave Denmark until November 9, 2009 to amend a draft on a legislation which would regulate online gambling in the Scandinavian country.  The commission felt that the current draft created barriers to European trade.  The commission also took exception to a Danish State monopoly on inter alia pool betting for horse racing.

The Secretary General for the European Gambling and Betting Association, Sigrid Ligne said, “We support the Danish government’s intention to move towards a regulated opening of the online gaming market but this has to be done in compliance with European Commission law requirements.”  He continued, “We welcome the European Commission´s continued resolve to ensure that all gaming and betting legislation in the European Union complies with the core principles of the European Commission Treaty.

It is the job of bodies like the European Commission to make sure that all nations are treated fairly while still honoring the sovereignty of independent states.  This is a daunting task in this day of easy travel and online access.  This is also a job that the commission take s seriously.  They not only wish to police but to help and encourage Mr Ligne also stated, “We would welcome an opportunity to share our expertise and knowledge of other licensing regimes in the European Union to ensure an effective regime can be introduced at the earliest opportunity.”

Ladbrokes as invasive of financial struggle this year as have many online casino gambling companies. This British wagering company is now under the gun to raise some much needed investments to help bail them out of a difficult financial situation. According to reports, Ladbrokes is attending to raise nearly £275 million in order to help offset their huge financial debt. As the economy continues to sag and not offer any relief to struggling businesses, Ladbroke’s debt as a community to nearly £962 million, a figure which they cannot possibly come up with in the immediate future. By beginning its investment policy, they are hoping to take a chunk out of that debt and begin their upswing toward balancing out.

Ladbroke’s is one of the few online companies that offers both online and land-based gambling companies. In fact, they offer nearly 2700 betting shops as well as the online bookmaking sites. Unlike many sites, the company is not blaming only the economy, but some poor luck along the way. It is not often that your companies squabbling about poor gambling wagers that have caused the house to not have profit. Such however is the case with this online bookmaker who faced many football results have not swung their way. Two impactful sports teams, Chelsea and Manchester United caused a recent downfall financially for the company and they exceeded their number of wins therefore adding shocking finals results. By winning 6/7 games these two teams turned the tables on the sports wagering.

This new investment program for the gambling company will allow the shareholders one share for each two shares that they own at the going price of £.95 per share. This is an incredible discount as it already sits 50% lower than last week’s closing price. If all goes well with his investment process, but online gambling company will see the selling off of nearly 50% of the companies existing shares.

SportingBet has now joined the forces of the horse racing teams in the United Kingdom as it has recently announced its support thanks to the racing left. The online company has been a huge contributor to the sport of horseracing even before this time, but now they are stepping up their game and helping out as much as they can for the sport. Now the gambling company is showing its support aside from its current sponsorship by submitting a payment to the levy board. This financial investment equates to almost 10% of gross profits taken in last year.

The reason that the online gambling company has decided to contribute so much is that it feels that the revenue generated from horseracing is a substantial part of the United Kingdom’s profits and is crucial to maintaining its longevity. According to Andrew McIver, Group Chief Executive for SportingBet, “We have recently set ourselves the goal of increasing this revenue stream and have stepped up our sponsorship activity in British racing.” The interest in the horseracing gambling and wagering is a smart business plan since it incorporates the interest of the consumers that matter the most to the sportsbet community. Although the online gambling company is not based on the United Kingdom, a majority of their profits and consumers reside in British local areas.

In addition to their already generous offer, began the company has decided to create a three-year sponsorship deal with racehorse owners Association. This partnership will see their name branded on the ROA awards given out each year. According to Paul Dixon, President of the ROA, “We hope this will set an example to other bookmakers who are either offshore or are planning to take part of their business offshore.” The theory behind the payment of these levees is to increase quality of horseracing within the United Kingdom, and sports that is willing to participate to keep their own interests in mind.

Gala Coral is going the way of many other online gambling companies in the sense that they are hurting financially and need to find a way out. With the economy still hurting many online businesses, there is a need to stay in business long enough to get themselves out of debt. The way the economy continues to decline, it appears as there is no end in sight for these companies. Some are finding crafty ways to pull themselves out of debt. But at what price? Well for companies like Gala Coral, the price is up to 50% stake in their properties.

Currently the online gambling company sits in about £540 million debt that they are trying to negotiate their way out of. One plan is to write off loans for part of the stake in the company. These transactions could be completed by the end of the month, therefore giving them a chance to creep out of a bit of debt. This online gambling company is responsible for major gambling sites including: GalaCasino.co.uk and virtual bookmakers Coral.co.uk as well as EuroBet.com and bingo site GalaBingo.co.uk. Although they have been able to keep their heads barely above water, these drastic measures are necessary for the continuing of the company.

Scratch2Cash and Hopa.com have been skillfully navigating the online press presenting new innovative games as well as large jackpots. The customers at Hopa and Scratch2Cash are excited about the games as they are finding that it is possible to take home the jackpot when gambling online. Recently these two sites found themselves with a couple of lucky winners.

The two players were Sandra V, and one more player who wished to remain anonymous. These two players both were from France and enjoyed the online casino games. The two lucky online winners took home nearly €20,000. The two winners both were participating in the online scratch cards games at the site when they hit their jackpots. Sandra V. won her prize by playing the Lucky 21 scratch game featured at Hopa.com and the anonymous winner took home their fortune after playing Jungle joy, a game that brought the jungle fever to the lucky winner.

Sandra was excited about her win stating, “I want to thank Hopa for my win! My heart actually started to pound like a mad because I couldn’t believe it. But yes!!! I really won.” She, like many other online gamblers though that this type of win could only be possible for other people, and never expected to win the jackpot herself. Her spirit was passed on in her statements to others by saying that you have to play to win. Hopa was proudly founded in 2005 and has since grown with their employees and brought about a great reputation with the public. Their Malta License has given them the credibility to expand into various markets and hold a high level of integrity in the online gambling world. Scratch2cash also entered the online gambling world in 2005 under the gambling license in Malta. These two companies will be around for quite a while still as their fan base continues to grow.

Bingo continues to be one of the top online games drawing attention around the globe. The simplicity and entertainment value of the game can simply not be topped by any other platform. It is conceivably why the game has been around for so many years and has been such an exciting pastime for people young and old. Now, the United Kingdom’s top online bingo company is expanding to tap into markets and offer their services throughout the globe. Parlay, in online bingo company has been expanding its base throughout the past couple of years and focusing on its networking. Recently, the online bingo company has paired up with The Gaming Network in order to get its bingo platform out to large media brands such as Magic FM, NewWoman magazine and Mother and Baby magazine.

Based out of Ontario Canada, this online bingo company is now pushing forward by acquiring the only international remote gambling software license. With this control then the only ones that can provide bingo gambling solutions throughout the entire globe. The success of this software will grow as each country incorporated into their own system. This would provide the opportunity for local languages and the use of multiple currencies. According to the chief executive officer, Scott White, “Creating a fresh look and feel for a site develops it’s personality to players. Parlay5 software offers operators the ability to market, brand and theme any of their bingo rooms without additional customisation from us.” It is with this capability that they are able to corner the market on bingo software.