Issue N24, 2007
June 21, 2007
Professional Internet Gambling Training Offered from Malta
As the online gambling industry becomes more and more competitive, players are less inclined to accept standards that are not up to par. They will shun online casino sites that don’t offer good customer service and a certain level of professionalism. Help is at hand for egaming managers who are looking to advance their knowledge and professional training: A new iGaming Academy has opened in Malta.
Professional development courses relating to the internet gambling industry will be offered at every level – from newcomers to the industry and up until managerial level. The academy employs specialist trainers and runs in conjunction with the Maltese Lotteries and Gaming Authorities to offer a number of excellent choices to those who sign up for the training. One possible option is the professional development course that covers a wide number of topics pertaining to the industry such as recruitment and selection, affiliate marketing and online payment methods, to name just a few.
2007 European iGaming Congress Promises to be Bigger and Better
Following a survey sent to all the potential participants in the 2007 European iGaming Congress, the organizers have promised that this year’s event will be even bigger and better than last year’s successful congress. The surveys were sent to over 200 firms and organizations who are planning to send delegates to the congress in a bid to understand what they are expecting out the of event.
After examining the results and seeing what could be realistically applied, the organizers uncovered their plans for the congress that will run in Barcelona, Spain from October 2 to October 4, 2007. The event promises to offer 1.5 more hours of conference time compared to last year, as well as 20 roundtable discussions to debate the latest happenings in the volatile online gambling industry.
Online Casinos Rapped for Spanish Sponsorship Deals
A Spanish communication watchdog has rapped several online casinos for their sponsorship deals that were signed with a number of top football clubs and their subsequent ‘contravention of Spanish law’. The Asociación de Usuarios de la Comunicación (AUC) sent formal complaints to the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Taxes where it stated that companies such as Bwin and 888.com were going against Spanish legislation by putting their logos on view.
Bwin signed a lucrative sponsorship deal with Real Madrid Football club and when the team won the Spanish league title this week, their shirts exposed Bwin’s logo. The AUC criticized this incident in their letter and said that it is illegal for unlicensed online casino companies promote their services in the country. 888.com is also in partnership with Seville, a deal that was not overlooked by the watchdog group. In response, the Spanish Ministry said that they would react to these claims and take further action if they felt that the sponsorship deals were indeed illegal.
Online Casino Companies Going Multi-Lingual
In a trend that is picking up worldwide, online casino companies are moving away from English-only software and making there programs and sites more accessible to speakers of other languages. This week saw the introduction of two such moves. The popular celebrity poker room, CelebPoker announced that it would be launching a new Swedish site that would allow Swedish speakers to finally play at CelebPoker. Sweden has a long tradition of producing poker greats and this new move will bring local players nearer to fulfilling their dream of becoming part of CelebPoker’s dream team (aka Team CelebPoker) that regularly represents the site at major poker events throughout Europe.
And French speakers will be delighted with the new website produced by Jeu De Casino En Ligne which serves as a marketing portal to all major sites in that language. The Parisian company has an English marketing site that has been painstakingly translated into French, opting to go for human translators after translation software did not prove to be good enough for the job. The site offers information about the online casino industry as well as links to sites that offer gaming in French.
New CryptoLogic Game Launched
The latest game to come out of CryptoLogic’s superb collection is the exciting Headhunter Challenge. This week CryptoLogic launched the new multi-tournament table game that will be available at InterPoker – the popular online poker room. What makes Headhunter Challenge different from regular poker tournaments is that it allows players who have to leave the event early, the opportunity to still win cash. For every other participant that they manage to eliminate, players will receive a cash prize, with prize amounts going up in every new round. This new system has a two-way advantage. Firstly it offers extra incentives for players to do their utmost to stay in the tournament, yet is also rewards players who are eliminated in the early stages of the tournament. The prize pool system is also slightly different from regular online poker tournaments. Half of the buy-in and entrance fee amount will go towards the regular prize pool at the end of the tournament, while the other half will go to heads that were knocked out along the way.