Issue N14, 2007
April 12, 2007
Business as Usual for the Jackpot Factory
Many online casino groups left the United States’ gambling market after the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was passed last year. However, a handful of companies have stood firm on their decision to weather out the storm and continue to provide sites for U.S. gamblers to play at. One of these companies is the Jackpot Factory – a group of eight online casinos and poker sites that has decided to remain on the scene until further notice.
The Jackpot Factory, which uses Microgaming software and is considered one of the oldest and most reliable businesses in the internet gambling industry, issued a statement this week, saying that it is business as usual for the group. “We are committed to providing a safe and reputable online casino experience,” the statement said. The Jackpot Factory is fully aware of the new law and will continue to keep an eye on its development. However, the statement concluded that, for the meantime, gamblers were still able to find safe and secure gambling, combined with professional service.
Party Gaming Blocks Turkish Gamblers from its Sites
Following a clampdown on internet gambling by the Turkish authorities, at least one online casino operator has decided to suspend Turkish gamblers from its sites, effective immediately. Party Gaming PLC, the very popular and successful casino company, announced this week that it was pulling out of the Turkish market and would be suspending gamblers from that country from accessing its sites, due to recent legislation.
The move is not expected to affect Party Gaming’s revenue very much due to the low amount of traffic generated by Turkish players. This has not been the case, however, with the loss of income resulting from Party Gaming’s forced withdrawal from the United States’ gambling market. When the UIGEA was passed last year, the company – which is listed on the London Stock Exchange - experienced a loss of 56% in annual profits. The company has slowly begun to recover in recent months, thanks to its attempts to find other markets elsewhere around the world, and is relying less heavily on United States gamblers.
U-Kash Extends its Business to Europe
With so many changes taking place in the internet gambling world, it is not surprising that niches are filled immediately after other companies move off the scene. This is definitely the case when it comes to payment methods in the gambling industry. As it becomes more and more difficult to pay by credit card and as companies such as Neteller close their business to a huge part of the world, other companies are offering their services to gamblers who are searching for alternative payment methods. The most recent development in the industry has been U-Kash’s expansion into many parts of Europe.
U-Kash, a British based online payment service, is being offered by many online casino groups, including 888.com, Party Poker and Bwin as a payment option. Until recently, the e-wallet service was offered to gamblers in the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany and Ireland, however the company recently announced its intentions to spread these services to many other countries in Europe, including Belgium, France, Austria, Estonia, Portugal, Finland, Norway, Slovakia, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
U-Kash management is positive that the service will be able to fill the vacuum that has been left by companies that no longer provide online payment services. Paying by U-Kash is relatively simple, with gamblers needing to fill in a paying-in slip at their local bank, which will then provide players with a personal 19-digit U-Kash code. Once players are in possession of this code, they will be able to gamble at a number of top online casinos on the internet.
Gambling Report Pinpoints Why Italy is so Attractive in the Industry
Findings of a gambling report were recently made public and showed why Italy is considered one of the best bets in the industry today. The study and survey, entitled “The Italian Gambling Market - a Forerunner in the Liberalization of European Gambling Markets” was put out by a consulting firm, MECN and analyzes the Italian market in intricate detail. The report states a wide number of reasons why Italy is at the forefront of the fight by some European countries to legalize online gambling on the continent.
Recently, 14000 betting licenses were awarded to a vast number of casino operators who applied at the beginning of the year. In addition, the Italian government is keen to fill its empty coffers and is pushing ahead for legislation to make online and traditional gambling legal in the country, subject to regulation and specific conditions. The MECN report indicates that Italy has huge growth potential and that the market in that country is expected to turn over more than 60-billion Euro by 2010.