Issue N38, 2011
October 6, 2011
Updated Da Vinci Diamonds Slot Games at Virgin Casino
Virgin Casino announced the release of an updated version of one of its most popular online slot games, Da Vinci Diamonds. The new Da Vinci Diamonds Dual Play slot, produced by International Game Technology (IGT), has some exciting new features, including the patented Tumble Thru feature which offers players the opportunity to enjoy double Tumbling Reels. This, according to Virgin Casino, allows players “additional win opportunities of the powerful Tumble Thru feature”. Players who land three bonus symbols on a pay line get to activate the Extra Paylines Free Spins bonus, which has massive winning potential.
“The original Da Vinci Diamonds has proved to be a massive hit with our VirginGames.com online casino players,” said Warren Eloff, speaking for Virgin Casino. “IGT has made some fantastic enhancements with its patented technology to ensure that the latest Da Vinci Diamonds Dual Play slot will be yet another huge hit.
“We're one of the first online casinos to get this new game from IGT, demonstrating VirginGames.com’s commitment to enhancement of both choice and player experience for our customers and thereby helping us cement our position as the home of online slots,” he added.
Trick or Treat with Intertops
Leading online casino, Intertops.eu, has launched an exciting Halloween themed promotion this month, where players have the chance to win a total of $60,000 in prizes. The competition will comprise of two draws a week throughout October, as well as a leader board promotion, where top players walk away with top prizes.
The two weekly draws will be held on Mondays and Thursdays, and 200 players per draw will enjoy bonuses to play at Intertops.eu. The second part of the promotion, the Trick or Treat Halloween Scoreboard, will eventually see 18 top players enjoy $7,500 in prizes, including $3,000 in cash.
A statement issued by the online casino read: “There are no tricks at Intertops.eu this Halloween, just treats. All players have to do is play our games and they’re automatically on our scoreboard. Hundreds of players will win hundreds of dollars in casino bonuses just by playing.” The players’ ranking on the leader board will be displayed on the gaming site so that they can keep tracks of their positions.
Potential Full Tilt Poker Buyer Reveals His Plans
The French group with which Full Tilt Poker claims it struck a deal with to buy out the poker room, Groupe Bernard Tapie, expanded on the plans it has to get Full Tilt back on its feet. “Full Tilt Poker is injured but not dead,” said Laurent Tapie, the Managing Director of the group.
Online poker players who are still waiting to access their money since April this year may be pleased to learn that the acquisition deal involved the full repayment of all players, estimated to be around $300 - $400 million. “We are going to put all the money into the company, we need to to please the players,” he said. “They are key asset, above all.”
Tapie reminded the industry that the deal would not go through unless Full Tilt Poker was able to find a resolution to its problems with the US Department of Justice, which has accused the site of running a Ponzi scheme. Tapie said that no FTP managers who had been found guilty of a crime would be able to work for the company in the future.
Betfair Falls Prey to Cyberattack
It was revealed this week that Betfair Casino came under attack by cybercriminals last year who managed to steal over 3 million account name with their encrypted security questions, as well as 2.9 million user names and the bank account details of 90,000. Betfair has come under fire for failing to inform its players about the attack, especially those whose details had been stolen. Betfair has defended its decision, stating that the information stolen was unusable due to encryption security. However, the gambling group has been accused of trying to hide the attack as it would have jeopardized its flotation which occurred several months later. The cyberattack was not mentioned – except for one very general line – in the prospectus.
“This is nothing short of a scandal,” said Nick Pickles, director for the privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch. “For the personal details of millions of customers to be lost are one thing but to then fail to inform those affected is outrageous. Whoever made the decision to sacrifice the financial security of millions of people for the sake of Betfair.com’s reputation should resign immediately.” Betfair, in the meantime, said that it has strengthened its system and has implemented all the recommendations from the reports it commissioned over the incident. “We have done everything we can to minimize the risk of this happening again,” said the group in a statement.