December 14th, 2009
The past day, the research and development team for Loto-Québec, Ingenio, announced a partnership with IntuiCode Gaming Corporation (IGC) of Florida to pursue the development and marketing of new casino products.
Also, both will engage in the creation and development of non-exclusive and new multi-player casino games.
With this partnership, IGC will take charge and distribute on a worldwide scale any new multi-player platform games developed and created by Ingenio.
“The combination of Ingenio’s creative expertise with all the flexibility offered by the open architecture of IGC’s platform will generate original games for the casino industry” explains Nathalie Rajotte, Director General of Ingenio.
Jeremy Stein, Chief Executive Officer of IGC adds: “Leveraging one another’s expertise will enable us to provide feature rich and engaging content; bringing new, profit yielding games to the market quickly.” IGC has over 30 years experience in the the casino technology industry.
We can expect the first multi-player casino game to come from that partnership to be released the first quarter on 2010.
Ingenio was created in 1998 and it focuses on the development of new gaming products, besides delivery channels for both the local, and international markets.
In the part years, Ingenio released several multimedia games used by Loto-Quebec. They are found in the gaming sector of lotteries, casinos, bingo operations and video terminals.
In the lottery area, Ingenio is known for developing multimedia instant lotteries of different durations. It did develop too Game Depot: it is a software architecture solution for multimedia lotteries hosting. Ingenio created many multi-platform lottery games, including random and probability lottery games.
In the casino area, Ingenio is known to create new contents for slot machines with interactive bonus modes. Examples done are: Hatch for the Cash, Groovy Machine, Dog Show, Cash Meteor and many more.
Ingenio is also active in the bingo industry. Working together with the Société des bingos du Québec (SBQ), Ingenio developed an original on line promotional game that was met with tremendous success in 2006. It was known as « Le Tour 2e Chance ». The game enables bingo hall players in possession of non-winning bingo card to participate free of charge in a second bingo draw for a change to win some promotional prizes on the SBQ’s web site.
Also, upon request from the Fondation Mise sur Toi, an organization affiliated with Loto-Québec and dedicated to the prevention of excessive gaming, Ingenio contributed to the development of an innovative sensitization tool.
Developed in collaboration with specialists, the 8/8 The Winning Combination questionnaire is made up of eight self-evaluation questions designed to help players maintain and adopt healthy gaming habits This multi-platform questionnaire is using Flash technology and is offered on the Internet and via consoles located in public areas of various casinos.
October 9th, 2009
Sometimes ago, we all heard about the UltimateBet Scandal. Finally, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC) issued an 11-page report documenting the findings of their extensive investigation into the cheating that took place on the on line poker room UltimateBet.
The report found out what many people already believed to be true and also offered some new information about how many people and screen names were involved in the scandal and how much money was stolen from UltimateBet customers.
UltimateBet has been around since 1999. Recently they merged with Absolute Poker to form the Cereus Network. All new graphics, bigger tournaments, better cash game table selection, and improved security has players coming back to UltimateBet to check out this overhauled poker room.
Their famous 111% deposit bonus is still part of their room.
So what happened with the scandal ?
Mostly, many people found out through the end of 2007 and the first part of 2008, players had noticed certain user names winning improbable hands to the point of several statistical deviations. The cheating ran from June 2003 until December 2007 and involved 3 accounts and 117 different user names used both for playing poker with illicit hole card information and transferring money.
Keeping track of hands that seemed suspicious eventually led to the exposure of a software glitch that allowed certain players the ability to see all cards dealt at a table.
The owner of the Ultimate Bet site, Tokowiro Enterprises, was fined $1.5 million, as well as forced to pay restitution of over $22 million to players whose poker outcomes were determined to be involved in compromised hands.
The report pointed out the individual who ultimately bears responsibility for that cheating is 1994 WSOP Main Event winner Russ Hamilton. The available evidence shows that Russell Hamilton, an individual previously associated with the eWorid Holdings Group, was primarily responsible for and benefited from the multiple cheating incidences. The vast majority of the computer devices and IP addresses used by the cheating accounts were directly associated with Russell Hamilton. The vast majority of the cheating accounts transferred money through Russell Hamiltons player accounts.
They, Tokwiro Enterprises, has reportedly refunded the $22 million cheated from players, and Paul Leggett, the Chief Operating Officer, stated, ‘A lot of our players have been patiently awaiting the release of the full list of user names involved in the cheating incidences, and we can now answer any of their outstanding inquiries related to their refunds’.
A lot of the frustration amongst others players is directed at Kahnawake’s refusal to submit the other 31 names involved in the scandal, and why if Russ Hamilton can be named and shamed, the others can’t.
Although not publicly disclosed, the KGC says it has provided extensive information to law enforcement authorities, including the names of those 31 individuals who were associated, to varying degrees, with Russell Hamilton, the cheating accounts and/or transactions related to the cheating accounts.
September 3rd, 2009
It has been a monumental year for the Bodog brand and its licensees, and Bodog is excited to officially announce yet another key milestone in the brand’s history: the launch of the Bodog experience to the Canadian market. Perhaps fittingly, Bodog Europe’s launch of www.bodog.ca coincides with the 15-year anniversary of the Bodog brand, for the first time giving Canadian players the ability to cash in on some hot new promotions just in time for the remainder of the CFL season and the beginning of the NFL and NHL seasons.
Bodog Europe is lead by industry veteran and Managing Director Keith McDonnell, and is regulated and licensed by the Antigua & Barbuda Financial Services Regulatory Commission, Directorate of Offshore Gaming. McDonnell noted, “We’re extremely excited to be able to bring the unique Bodog experience to Canadian players.
Canadians are passionate sports fans and are extremely savvy consumers. The Bodog brand is known world-over for its unmatched customer service and here at Bodog Europe we put the player’s experience and entertainment ahead of all else - I’m confident that we’re going to quickly earn Canadians’ loyalty and trust.”
Bodog.ca offers Canadian players safe, secure and simple access to world-class sports betting, a thriving and dynamic poker community, and a full Vegas-style casino with more than 80 web-based and downloadable games. Bodog Europe offers its players a simple, feature-rich sports betting product, offering a vast selection of sports betting opportunities across all major leagues and featuring live betting and an 80+ track Racebook.
The Bodog.ca Casino and Sportsbook also has a particular focus on Canada’s most popular sports: NHL Hockey and CFL Football.
Bodog Europe – the upstart Bodog brand licensee already taking the UK by storm with its European-facing site www.Bodog.co.uk – had originally secured the rights to the world-famous “Bodog” brand for use in Europe only. However, when Bodog Europe Managing Director Keith McDonnell learned of BodogBrand.com’s willingness to entertain proposals to license the brand for use within Canada, he was quick to act, and secured the exclusive Canadian license.
“The Bodog brand is celebrating its fifteenth year anniversary this year – an absolutely remarkable pedigree and testament to its enduring values in an industry that quickly kills off mediocrity.
The brand has gone through quite an evolution during that long history, and Bodog Europe is looking forward to carrying the torch forward for at least another fifteen years of world-class customer service, unbeatable promotions, and, above all – fun.”
Click here to check the Bodog.ca Now!
July 16th, 2008
June Cotte, a marketing associate professor at the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario has called for the legalization of online gambling to allow for better regulation and to potentially reduce harmful effects.
“One potential solution is to allow legitimate corporate sponsors, like the corporations that run the major casinos in Las Vegas or the government sponsors in Canada, to enter into a newly regulated market for online gambling,” opined the academician. “Just as legalised commercial gambling in casinos allows governments to regulate it, so, too, could the legalisation of online gambling
allow for better regulation and attempts to reduce the growth of problem gamblers.”
CNW reports that Cotte and colleague Kathryn A. Latour from the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, carried out a study, “Blackjack in the Kitchen: Understanding Online Versus Casino Gambling,” which is to be published in the Journal of Consumer Research in the winter of 2009.
The duo interviewed 20 regular casino gamblers and 10 regular online gamblers using pictures as stimuli to learn what gambling feels like and how it is perceived. Results show online gamblers gamble more frequently and aggressively, and the indications are that this is because [land] casino gambling, which requires travel to an outside location, is more difficult to hide.
In contrast, access to online gambling is easily integrated into daily home routines, meaning more time can be spent on gambling. Online gambling lacks social interaction so participants are involved for the game, rather than other aspects, which may appeal to gamblers’ competitive streak.
“The unregulated online environment results in a more chaotic environment with no clear social norms and rules,” said Cotte. “The meaning of gambling changes, moving from a shared conviviality available in the casino to a no-holds-barred battle online. It brings out the gamblers’ more competitive side.”
Cotte observes that although online gambling is illegal or in a legal grey area in Canada and the U.S., except when initiated by Canada’s provincial lottery corporations, it is still easily accessible through Internet companies located offshore. According
to the study, more than $10 billion annually is spent worldwide by consumers on online gambling.
In contrast, casino gambling, which is now legal in all but two U.S. states, is highly regulated and scrutinised. Cotte and Latour suggest that legalizing and regulating online gambling, similar to the way casino gambling is regulated, may help reduce the incidences of problem gambling.
The academicians suggest that the following elements could be tied into online gambling regulations:
* Better use of age checks when signing up for an online account;
* Cross-checking new users with lists of pathological gamblers;
* Setting financial limits on gambling and having the site communicate to gamblers spending long hours and excessive money;
* Making information available about problem gambling treatments via pop-ups on instant messages;
* Having an online gambling counselor available online;
* Mandatory “cooling-off periods,” which force online gamblers to stop gambling for a pre-set amount of time before they are allowed to wager money from their accounts;
* Making tabulations of wins and losses more central and larger on the computer screen to increase the players’ awareness of where they stand.
The study also recommends that online gambling casinos minimise the use of bold, flashing graphics to signal wins in order to moderate the ‘emotional experience’ for gamblers.
July 3rd, 2008
The high cost of gas may be adversely effecting the world economy, but it also may be reducing gambling addiction across the globe. With less money to spend on recreational activities because of high gas prices, players are not spending as much at the online casinos.
As you know, since the new Congress took over the United States in 2006, gas prices have increased by 78%. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have been unable to deliver results due to their lack of understanding in world economics principles like supply/demand.
With extremely high gasoline prices in effect, fewer players are entering online slots tournaments and less people are playing poker online. Now, instead of risking their money in a casino, they are wasting it at the pump going to and from work.
As the prices continue to rise at the gas pumps, there is no doubt that people are changing their gambling habits.
“I use to gamble every Saturday night from my home computer after I put the kids to bed”, says Angela B. of Calgary.
“With gas up 78% in the past two years, I have to rethink how much money I am willing to spend gambling online”, she added.
With some players cutting out online gambling altogethor, other players are just slowing down. More people are playing less, without the need to complete eliminate their favorite past-time.
Source: http://www.onlinecasinosphere.com
