In Australia the government went as far as commissioning a study on online gambling that they were going to use to shut down requests for online gambling because they knew the study would show that online gambling was dangerous. They knew the answer, they just wanted evidence to back it up. And the answer came back showing that regulated online gambling would actually provide more protection for the population than trying to outlaw online gambling. Because when gambling is regulated, rules and restrictions can be put in place to help prevent those with problems from gambling and to ensure that the play is fair for those who enjoy gambling. Without regulated gambling, people don’t stop gambling, they drift to unregulated sites.

Because of course online gambling is more addictive than regular gambling. Right? Well, see, that’s where another study comes in. A university in the US did a study on online gambling to see if the ready availability and easy access increased the potential for people to become addicted. After all, the sites are always there so there’s no reason to stop gambling. And they found exactly the opposite results. While new players were at first tempted to spend more time playing online, within a few weeks that had dropped off significantly.  After all, the games were always going to be there so soon the novelty wore off.

But these aren’t the studies that politicians want us to know about or that they even want to use when determining if online gambling should be legal. The dangers are waved in front of the public and any contradicting evidence tends to be buried or ignored. We aren’t given the whole story. Gamble online, but take care to do so safely.

There is one interesting fact though, as in cases like Illinois, where these truck stops, bars, etc. are now starting to apply for video poker licenses so that they can offer them to their players: there are laws on the books that won’t let them offer it. There are tons of municipalities and counties that years ago opted out of offering gambling to their residents, and as the Illinois Gaming Board is discovering that even those that did not have it already on the books, that several more have recently added those ordinances as they do not want video poker in their towns.

After more than three years of trying to get video poker legalized, they are finding hundreds of places that they can’t put it. The Gaming Board is now looking at all of these locations to see where they might be able to bring in the games, and they are finding it difficult. They say that this will only serve to push off any money that would have come in from the games, which eventually would pay for the statewide infrastructure projects that they have on the books. The government had failed to take into consideration the sheer number of people that did not want to see these slots games come in, and were astounded by the sheer number of places that will not be offering it. They thought that these locations across the state would embrace the idea of bringing in the slots to make money but this was not the case.

However, there are those that do want to offer it and cannot. In the midst of finding out where they could offer slots in the state they are now faced with one that they do not want to offer slots. The Illinois Gaming Board just filed a complaint against a location in Peoria that was allegedly offering paid jackpots to players. This will be the first location that is facing losing their license and with so many other locations still up in the air it is going to be tough for them to close down one. But according to the complaint, the company is offering the illegal slots by paying out the jackpots to their customers and splitting the profits with the American Legion Post 979 located in Bartonville.

According to the state they have been dealing with those that would run these illegal slots type machines for years and that they are hoping that as they introduce legislation and spend some time getting to know these various sites that they will be able to really crack down on all of them that have been being run by organized crime groups.

The location has 21 days to challenge the complaint and if they don’t, they will lose their license.

But in other locations they have been inundated with requests for licenses, with more than 140 having come in over the past two weeks. The state is waiting to see how many apply before making any decisions.

Where is the Avengers slot? In case you’ve been living in a cave or imprisoned by the Chinese, you know that over the weekend the long-awaited Avengers movie was released. How big is it? Well, the studio was banking on it so much that it made countless pseudo-prequels first, introducing the different characters. The result was a movie that shattered box office records, making approximately eleventy billion dollars over the weekend. So where is the Avengers slot game?

Sure, InterCasino is running an Avengers Assemble promotion. The promotion features four different games based on different Avengers: separate games for Iron Man, the Hulk, Captain America, and Thor. That’s nice and all, but why not all of them together? Also, what about Hawkeye and Black Widow? I definitely want a game based on her, because I’ll accept any excuse to look at Scarlett Johnasson.

I think we need an Avengers online slot and quite honestly, it should have been released already. I mean, it’s not like they didn’t know the movie was coming and it’s not like they couldn’t have predicted a hit. With all of the buildup, constant promotions and supporting movies, it was as close to a sure thing as you get in the industry. It would have had to be a colossally terrible movie to not have a huge opening weekend, and that’s only if word of mouth about its awfulness spreads quickly. In short, while the slot developers are usually dead-on, this time they dropped the ball.

New Jersey came close to legalizing online gambling within the state last year. Well, close in the sense that the bill made it through both houses before coming up against the formidable block of Governor Chris Christie. Now, Christie has never come flat out and said he’s against online gambling. This is because Christie is playing politics. To be governor of New Jersey, you have to have some approval of gambling in general because that’s where Atlantic City is. But last year, it really didn’t look like the online casino industry had the favor of the land based casino industry, so Christie was perhaps in a safer political spot when he vetoed the New Jersey online gambling bill.

But a lot can change in a year. In this case, it was the Department of Justice’s interpretation of the Wire Act of 1961. They decided it only applies to sports betting and suddenly a number of more liberal states were jumping on the gambling band wagon. Which meant the Atlantic City casinos could see the online gambling industry snatched out from under them unless they acted quickly. And Christie seemed to realize this since suddenly he seemed to think that online gambling might be a good thing.

Or maybe not. Or maybe the question is who would it be who would it be a good thing for. See, letting Atlantic City casinos get a head start in online gambling in the US would be to their benefit. Though Christie seems to suddenly doubt that. Not that doubting it would have anything to do with the possibility of a VP spot on the Republican ticket and the fact that a big GOP donor is a Vegas casino owner with a thing against online gambling.

So, once again, online gambling for New Jersey is in doubt. Of course, this is only New Jersey right now. Christie isn’t in charge of other states or the whole country YET.  So, I think this now means that Nevada has a chance to pull out the stops and bring online gambling and online slots into play in their state and then offer that to other states.  Who knows, we may be playing at USA online casinos by next year.  Until then, I’m keeping an eye on  thebestcasinoguide.com

Back in 2004, legislation passed to bring two casinos to Philadelphia. After the first casino opened, the Foxwoods project ran into problems. Due to financial difficulties, political factors and neighborhood opposition, the project stalled and then in 2010 the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board stripped Foxwoods of the casino license. According to CNN.com, The legislature is considering a bill that would allow that license to be bought so another casino could be opened.

There are problems, though. A recent market analysis conducted for Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi said that Pennsylvania’s casino market has reached a saturation point where adding another casino will no longer be beneficial to the state. Southern Pennsylvania already has five casinos, the Parx, Harrah’s, Valley Forge, the Sands, and Sugar House.

In addition, the gambling situation has changed in another way. Since passage of the 2004 law that awarded the license, Ohio and Maryland have both legalized gambling. Those are two neighboring states from which Pennsylvania had previously drawn customers.

Another issue is who should get the casino. The current legislation allows companies to bid on the license, with the Gaming Control Board getting final say on who wins the license and where the casino would go. However, the 2004 law that granted the license called for two casinos in Philadelphia, and so far there is only one. For that reason, their representative, Rosita Youngblood, proposed an amendment that would give Philadelphia first crack at the license. That amendment was defeated, with Representative Michael O’Brien saying that the smart thing is to focus on producing revenue, “not to take care of buddies.”

The House could vote on the bill as early as Tuesday. The bill seems to have a lot of support in the House of Representatives, where it is expected to pass. It should have more difficulty in the Senate, though, due in part to Pileggi’s concerns.

He wants to have things like pension and Medicaid reform on the list and many that support him think that his detractors are simply using scare tactics to bully people into voting for his opponent. He feels that “gambling proposals” could become a “political distraction” over the weeks to come. He is not just looking at the Republicans though, he says that both sides of the aisle are pushing for gambling expansion as he thinks that they are looking for a distraction so they do not have to think about the “hard things” and they say that “the solution would be expanded gambling and we don’t have to make hard choices.”

Anyone who knows anything about economics knows that this is not the way to go in terms of getting off easy. If you cannot count on a certain amount of money coming in each month then you cannot count on slots. A gambling expansion might bring in more money, but that money has to come from someplace. Not only that, but it has to come in steady in order to be useful. Let’s say you put slot machines in the state and you say that you do not have to cut anything because you now have all of this money coming in. Then the amount of money is reduced for competition, lack of funds, economy, whatever reason – and now you don’t have the money to pay for the things that you should have cut before you expanded your gambling offers. This is what many states do, and it simply does not work in the long haul.

However, instead of discussing gambling expansion – including the idea of bringing in slots to horse racing tracks – Quinn says that things like Medicaid and Pension Stabilization are “the highest priorities we can possibly focus on.”

Last summer lawmakers tried to bring in slots in a new gambling expansion that would have allowed for five new casinos to come into the state, as well as allowing racetracks and airports to bring in slots as well. The plan went through many stages before Quinn finally rejected it saying that slots could be brought in but that it had to be in a much smaller way and said that instead a more modified approach was in order.

With his plan not bringing in slots to the racetracks many were upset by what they felt was the governor stonewalling them. According to a survey that was done by a company hired by one of those racetracks –ArlingtonPark– the majority of people want gambling brought in. The survey says 62% of voters said that they were for the expansion in gambling. But Quinn said that he spent time talking to the officials at the racetracks and that he felt that they could “come to a meeting of the minds, but if it’s just smashmouth politics,” then he was going to “fight back.” He said that so far that was all he had seen, and was welcoming different viewpoints.

He said that he did not think that the proposals that he had seen so far were the best way to go and that it was his job to protect the public from the plans that had been put forth.

Take a look at the 3D slot game 2 Million BC. You can find videos of the game and the story line behind it on Youtube.com.  Yes, the game has a story line. And characters. But back to the 3D part. The game is part of the Betsoft Slots3 collection. The reels for the game are hovering in the midst of a prehistoric jungle. But the jungle isn’t just a background, it’s a setting for game action. The “main character” is a caveman who comes out to stand beside the reels and interact with the players. He’ll give encouragement and celebrate wins. But when the player hits the right bonus games, he’ll even go to action doing things like climbing to the top of the reels to throw acorns and a saber tooth lion.

Bonus games are big part of the action in 3D slot games. These games are designed for those used to play online computer games or arcade games with great graphics and interactive action. They take slots as close as they can to the arcade game experience. And to meet the demands of their audience, the 3D games seldom result to the standard (and somewhat boring) card based symbols of J, Q, K, A.  Developers are spending money for real artwork and animation in these games.

So, what’s really going on behind the 3D slot games? Well, it’s nothing more than slot developers working to appeal to a younger and more demanding customer base. Slots have been becoming more and more sophisticated over time and with the prevalence of slot games on the internet, players are no longer forced to choose whichever game is available on the casino floor. It’s just proof that more competition makes things better for gamblers in the end.

Fort Erie Mayor Doug Martin said that the slot parlor’s closing was sad because it was “like a family” there. “It’s very small and intimate. The people come here because they like it here.” The racetrack employed approximately 200 people at the slot parlor and those people are now seeking work.

The racetrack itself will reopen next week. Though the slots have only been around for 13 years, the Fort Erie Race Track has a 115-year history in the town. However, with the loss of the slot revenue, there is a feeling that the racetrack may be on borrowed time. Many expect the track itself to close soon, perhaps by the end of the year. Doing so would be another major blow to Fort Erie, the Canadian town that has already suffered major job losses from the closing of its hospital.

Residents taking part in the vigil are still holding out hope. They are asking Mayor Martin to reach some kind of a deal with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation that would allow the slots to reopen. The OLG does not want to continue running the slots because they are not profitable enough, but the residents are suggesting the slots be handed over to a private business or nonprofit organization. Such a deal would have to be approved and brokered by the OLG, which has regulatory authority over all gambling within Ontario.

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation is considering overhauling its gambling market. One of the proposals is to close down underperforming casinos and slot parlors in small towns near the American border, such as Fort Erie, and bring casinos to larger cities like Toronto. For years, casinos near Niagara Falls were profitable because Americans would cross the border to play, but with more American states in the north allowing casinos, the Canadian casinos have lost revenue.

However, with a poor economy and the advent of online gambling, they have discovered that their slot machines and their gaming tables are not performing as well as they could be; and as any good financial planner will tell you, basing your income off of something as volatile as gambling is never a good idea. Even when you are raking in the dough, you cannot be sure that this is the amount that you will make forever, and if you get caught thinking that this is the case, then you will be set up for disappointment.

But this happens time and time again with the slots and gaming industry where they put in the games and the money comes and they can pay the things that they wanted them to pay. And then there is more money than they thought that there might be and now they are paying other things too, and so on. And then their money source dries up or is not as prolific as they thought it could be and now they are behind on the bills, or they are unable to pay everything that they were funding when the money was good.

So in order to keep up with supply and demand, Nevada is wondering if they need to expand their horizons into the online gambling world and start finding ways of putting slots and table games into people’s living rooms as we way of increasing the amount of revenue that they have coming in. With the Department of Justice recently ruling that the Wire Act does not apply to online casino gambling, many states are thinking that this might be their chance to come in and start offering online slots and whatnot in order to improve their bottom line. There are some companies that are looking to the future as well, and International Game Technology is one of them. They have started taking forays into the online gaming world and are looking at ways that they can increase their market share and be prepared for what might come later on.

Experts say that IGT is only one of several that are looking towards the same thing and that WMS Industries, etc. are all wondering what they can do in order to help themselves out. So many of these big casinos spent so much time fighting against the online gaming industry that they are now in a position where they need to join with them or possibly find themselves extinct. Now, larger casinos are not going to go under due to this change in industry, but there are many that will. Smaller slots casinos will need to change who they are fairly quickly so that they can adapt to the new landscape.

For IGT that means purchasing other companies like Double Down Interactive for $500 million so that they have a foot in the social gaming realm. They said that they are not looking to operate an online casino but that they were using it to get their brand name out there. As long as they keep looking to the future and the ability to surpass expectations they should do just fine. But they are definitely not in a position to sit back on their laurels and wait to see what happens.

The first type of slot tournament is the unstructured kind. Here, players simply play online slots as they usually would, by depositing and wagering real money. Real money is won and lost on the games. However, the casino keeps track of the outcome of everyone playing the selected games and at the end of the tournament, those who fared the best win prizes in addition to the real money they won playing the slot. This type of tournament is sort of a bonus that goes along with standard play. There is no extra risk and players get to keep the money they win even if they don’t get any prizes.

Another type of slot tournament is the paid tournament. In this kind of tournament, players have to buy their way into the tournament by paying an entry fee. Once that is paid, the players are given a certain amount of credits to spend on the slots. Players do not actually win any money on these tournaments, instead simply accruing points. At the end of the tournament, the players with the most points win prizes, which are usually in the form of cash. Those who did not win any prizes do not win any money, regardless of whether or not they won positive points during the tournament.

The other type of slot tournament is the freeroll. A freeroll is a free slot tournament that is like a paid tournament except that the entry fee is waived. Players can enter the tournament without buying in and are given credits to wager on the slots. At the end of the tournament, those with the most points win prizes, while the rest of the players win nothing. Freeroll tournaments are popular because there is no risk to the games.