Issue N20, 2008
May 15, 2008
Bingo Lovers Welcome Love Bingo
A new bingo site is set to take the gambling industry by storm. LoveBingo is a United Kingdom-facing site, which aims to attract new players with exciting monthly promotions, jackpots and prizes. As a special gesture to new players at the site, LoveBingo.co.uk is offering players the opportunity to play ten free games, and even stand in line to win a super vacation by getting a draw ticket.
“LoveBingo.co.uk, which is powered by St Minver gaming, offers an animated and colourful site themed around fun, comedy and romance with Leo the Love Bingo Cupid as an integral part of the entertaining and jovial LoveBingo.co.uk experience,” said a statement released by the site. The statement went on to say that LoveBingo is passionate about improving online bingo in ways that will offer a more enjoyable bingo experience to its players, and facilitate the smooth transition of players from other sites to the new site.
One of the main aims of LoveBingo is to develop a tight sense of community. “Our whole team comes from people whose lives revolve around bingo and we think we'll be able to offer an experience that reflects that,” said Stephen Hare, LoveBingo.co.uk’s bingo manager. “We want to build a community of people who think bingo is the best fun you can have.”
888 in Expansion Flurry
888 Holdings, the popular internet gaming company, is continuing with its expansion policy to offer its players one of the most diverse ranges of games and products in the world. The company’s latest deal was signed yesterday with Electracade, the interactive gaming content provider, where it was decided that Electracade would provide 888 Holdings with 25 of its top games initially. The agreement would eventually expand to include all 100 of the company’s offerings, which include unique poker games, slots and sports betting games.
888 recently signed a three year deal with software supplier, Cryptologic and only this week sealed an agreement with Gaming Technology Solutions (GTS).
Referring to the latest deal with Electracade, the CEO of 888, Gigi Levy said: “As part of the continued execution of our strategy to select "best-of-breed" partners to provide us with additional games I am delighted that this agreement enables us to access Electracade's soft and instant games portfolio, which is complimentary to our existing internally developed gaming portfolio. Electracade's agile development technologies, with games in 23 languages, will allow us to introduce yet more choice in entertainment to our fast growing global community of players.”
Holland Follows US Online Gambling Suit
Dutch authorities have taken a lesson from the United States government when it comes to clamping down on internet gambling. Last week, credit companies and banks in the Netherlands were sent a list of fifty ‘illegal’ gambling companies and were told that they should not handle transactions between them and Dutch citizens. Failure to heed these regulations could lead to the banks being prosecuted.
This new policy is considered a way to protect Holland’s exclusionist industry from foreign competition – a direct contract to the demands put on the government by the European Commission to bring its policies in line with European Union trade agreements.
A spokesperson for the Dutch Ministry of Justice said: "It is illegal to offer gambling services in the Netherlands without a permit. These companies know they break the law."
Earlier this year, online gambling proponents tried to get the government to okay a state-backed gaming site but the idea was vetoed by the Upper House of the Dutch Senate. The European Union has threatened to take Holland, together with other member states, to the European Court of Justice for their protectionist policies.
Microgaming Releases New Video Slots
The leading software company, Microgaming, has released two exciting new video slot games, in line with its policy to keep the casino world continuously updated with innovative games and products. The games, Quest for Beer and Alley Cats will join the group’s superb collection of slot games.
Quest For Beer, a generous, colorful five reel, 25 payline video slot game is everything that one could expect from a Microgaming product in terms of graphics and features. The Viking-themed game comes with excellent features, including bonus games, wild, scatter symbols and even a gamble feature that allows players to double or even quadruple their winnings.
Alley Cats features an impromptu bowling alley where greedy cats eye sumptuous prizes on trashcan targets. This game, too, offers lucrative prizes and excellent features, including the chance to win up to 100 times one’s bet, free spins, bonuses and a Strike! scatter symbol.
The base game allows players to win 50,000 credits, although amazingly using the free spins feature can double this number!
The new video slot games, Quest for Beer and Alley Cats will be distributed to Microgaming licensees very soon.