ONLINE NEWS
QuickFire signs two new operators Q
uickFire has signed new deals to provide its flash-based casino content to two new operators, Cashball Network and RedStar Poker.
Owned by NYX Interactive, Cashball Network is an Isle of Man-based casino operator, while Red Star Poker is an established poker operator. Both will soon be launching their QuickFire casino offering, enabling them to compliment their existing services with an expanding portfolio of over 220 of Microgaming’s premium titles. QuickFire Spokesperson, Ashley Sandyford-Sykes, said: “In terms of ease of integration and quality of content, QuickFire is a versatile offering within the industry and we are delighted with the feedback from the operators. We look forward to working with these new operators and are sure QuickFire will continue to appeal to operators looking for a fast and cost efficient way to bring premium casino content to their players.”
U.S. DOJ gives green light to internet gambling
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n the 23rd of December the US DOJ issued an interpretation of existing gambling laws and concluded that the prohibitions were only applicable to sports betting and not to other forms of gaming that could include Internet poker, casino, and lotteries. The interpretation was sought by the New York State Lottery and the Illinois Lottery on behalf of their software suppliers GTECH. Commenting on the news, Warwick Bartlett, CEO and founder of Global Betting and Gaming Consultancy, said: “This is an important game changer; Internet companies have had a tough 2011 and with the prospect of a relaxation to current law in the US 2012 looks like being a better year. The main beneficiaries to begin with will be the state lotteries, and the software suppliers to those lotteries. Various European lotteries have proven that the lottery model works particularly well for Internet because the player has an audit trail of his selections; the lottery notifies him when he wins and no embarrassment through potential loss of a ticket.” According to GBGC the current Internet market in the US is worth as follows: Internet Casino US$372 m, Poker US$485m (down from US$1,806m in 2006 after UIGEA), Bingo US$445m.
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Olympic Match- fixers targeted
rganisers of the 2012 Olympic Games have announced that they will be establishing a dedicated
intelligence unit to target betting syndicates that may attempt to influence the outcome of events. The Government Olympic Committee - a division within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport - revealed that it will be creating a specialist team to monitor suspicious betting patterns and share intelligence on those who may be attempting to bribe athletes into fixing events. Hugh Robertson, Minister for Sport and Olympics, said: “Match-fixing has overtaken doping as the biggest threat to the integrity of the Olympics. The moment that spectators start to feel that what they are seeing is not a true contest, that’s when spectators stop turning up and the whole thing falls to pieces.” Robertson declared that western betting authorities
were well equipped to identify illegal activities and revealed that the intelligence unit will target syndicates who may try to ‘spot fix’ events or outcomes within matches. “We have a very sophisticated information sharing system so the moment there is any spike in betting activities that is recorded and investigated,” Robertson told the BBC.
A spokesperson for the Department for Culture Media and Sport stated the new unit will be operational throughout the 2012 Summer Olympic Games will people also able to report any suspicious activities via an ‘e-mail hotline’.
“It will be able to obtain and draw on information and intelligence from various sources including the Betting Commission, national Olympic commissions and Interpol on any suspicious betting patterns or intelligence surrounding match-fixing,” said the spokesperson.
Switch Poker launches Android App S
witchpoker.com has announced the launch of the only real money Android poker app to allow multiple tables to be viewed on the
screen, making multi-tabling easier and faster its real money poker app for Android mobile devices. The app allows users to ‘swipe’ between tables so that they can easily and quickly move from table to table when multi-tabling on small devices. Unlike other Android poker apps, Switch Poker Android does not require Flash and is compatible
with Android version 1.6 and up, which covers over 99% of Android devices. It’s also suitable for both the smallest and largest of Android screens, smartly adjusting the view to fit the screen size. Additionally, and unlike other sites, the Switch Poker Android app allows users to register, deposit and play, all from within the app. Switch Poker co-founder, Conor McCarthy, said: “We were the first company to launch a poker app for iPhone, pioneered play with Bitcoin,
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and are now the first to allow players to register, deposit and multi-table on Android devices. With over 500 million Android devices shipped in 2011 - 64% of which are used for games - the future is looking bright for poker on Android.”
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