The Montreal based Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment is headed by former PartyGaming CEO Mitch Garber. At the launch of Caesars Bingo Online Garber said that they were pleased to bring one of the world’s most famous gambling brands to the United Kingdom. He promised fun and excitement to the players and also exclusive prize packages to the Empire Casino in London and Caesars Palace Casino Las Vegas.

The Gamesys software platform will provide payment solutions and customer service along with gaming operations to Caesars Bingo Online. Gamesys CEO Noel Hayden said, “Harrah’s and Gamesys has to be a dream relationship. Caesars is one of the most prestigious and famous brands in Las Vegas and Gamesys is well known for its innovative technology and games. We’re understandably extremely happy to be launching one of the U.K.’s most exciting bingo sites.”

Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment was launched in May of 2009 in the expectation of the liberalization of the United States online gambling market. Harrah’s has spent more than $3 million in the past year to promote online gambling.

In order to participate in all these exciting promotions players at Bet365 Casino will need to deposit funds at the cashier. The cashier accepts deposits using the following payment options: Neteller, Moneybookers, PayPal, Click2Pay and PaySafeCard.

Net Points are extremely useful and much sought after by Neteller players. 5000 Net Points can be redeemed for one entry to the Neteller monthly $3000 cash giveaway. Therefore, 10,000 Net Points will offer 20 such entries. 1000 Net Points can be redeemed for one entry to the Neteller weekly $500 cash giveaway. So, 10,000 Net Points will offer 100 such entries. Selected online casinos host special tournaments that accept Net Points in lieu of entry fees. Also VIP Neteller customers can convert Net Points to cash for making deposits at online casinos.

One Neteller special online tournament is being hosted by William Hill on March 18. The prize pool is $1000. This one is a freeroll so players will not have to redeem any Net Points to participate in this event. All that players need to do is make a deposit at William Hill online casino before March 18 using Neteller as the deposit option. Neteller users will be on a roll this month.

There are still several steps to be taken before the bill is converted into law. On March 30 the bill will return to the National Assembly for a second reading. If it clears that hurdle then the bill will be referred to the European Union, the French Supreme Court and the French Constitutional Council. On clearance from all three the bill will be signed by the President converting it into law.

French Budget Minister Eric Woerth informed the French media that the law will be in place by June 1. The date is crucial because the football World Cup will commence in South Africa later in June. This is one of the biggest events for online gambling operators and punters alike. If the legislation is not in place by then the financial opportunity losses will be immense.

Though one would like to share the optimism of the French Minister, there are impediments in the smooth passing of the legislation. The European Union had pointed out several lacunae in the draft presented to them last year. It is not known whether these have been addressed to the satisfaction of the European Union, but considering the attitude of the French authorities it is unlikely that the new legislation will fully comply with the European Union requirements. Opposition is also expected from French land-based gambling operators who will try their best to prevent overseas online gambling firms from entering their turf.

Leanne, Marketing Manager at Neteller VIP Program, writes in her blog, “As a Neteller VIP you sit at the top of the food chain. You’re the entrepreneur. All you have to do is refer your friends, sit back, relax and count your bankroll. And because any friend of yours is a friend of ours, we’re making everyone you refer an instant VIP, with all the great benefits that come with it.”

VIP Neteller users who refer friends in the month of March will receive the following benefits. They will receive a 20% bonus on their referees’ first transfer to a merchant up to €20. The referees will receive a gift of a 10% bonus on their first transfer to a merchant up to €10. The VIPs will earn 30% of all revenue from fees generated when the member transfers money to merchants for 12 months from the date of first transaction. They will enjoy free money transfers between themselves and their referees for the first 30 days. All referees get 1% cash back on all transfers they make to merchant sites during their third month with Neteller. The maximum amount that a VIP can earn per referee is a whopping €100,000 and there is no limit on the number of friends that he can refer.

Leanne adds that this offer is attractive enough for all Neteller users to upgrade to VIP status and register for their official referral sign up link at the My VIP Network site.

Clay and Carnahan also pointed to the revenue that could be generated by taxing online gambling. Clay referred to a study by Price Waterhouse that estimated the revenue potential from online gambling and said, “I think $42 billion is a significant sum that the federal government needs to fund some of the programs that are worthy and that Americans benefit from.”

Representatives Clay and Carnahan have been on the forefront in support of online gambling in other spheres as well. They spearheaded the Missouri legislature’s efforts to pass an appeal to Congress to end the sports betting ban and regulate online gambling at a federal level. They were also among the federal legislators who influenced the Treasury to postpone the implementation of the UIGEA rules to June 1, 2010. This postponement has given online gambling supporters in the Congress an opportunity to overturn the UIGEA and put in place a regulatory regime for online gambling.

The appointment is significant because Bruce has a long and illustrious association with responsible gambling. He was formerly the Chief Executive Officer for the Responsibility in Gambling Trust, which is a major independent organization addressing problem gambling issues in Britain. Bruce has been assigned with the task of integrating responsible gambling into the objectives and strategy of Betfair. He would be developing sustainable and responsible gambling practices that would benefit all stakeholders of Betfair including customers, employees and the community at large. His focus will be on “evidence-based programs that will serve as the core components of a radical agenda for social responsibility”. Bruce has his work cut out because Betfair processes over six million transactions a day from two million global players.

Betfair already has several programs in the context of the responsible gambling. These include customer driven deposits and loss limits, game session timers to ensure that players do not over play, self exclusion tools for players who feel that they have a compulsive gambling problem, links to GamCare and other professional organizations involved in problem gambling and a self-assessment test. Betfair Casino has been licensed by the Lotteries and Gaming Authority of Malta. It offers an excellent range of online casino games and accepts deposits using popular electronic options like PayPal, Moneybookers and Neteller.

The news item at the Ukash web site goes on to say that many consumers still use credit cards to make online purchases. This includes players who fund their online casino accounts using credit cards. Since these purchases need not be backed by money balances with the players, they tend to overspend. They are unable to settle their credit card payments in time and pay exorbitant interest rates. In times of severe recession players and other consumers can ill afford to let interest eat into their incomes or savings. These players use credit cards for making deposits in the mistaken belief that alternative payment options like Ukash are not as secure. Ukash points out that its products are equally secure and since they are prepaid options players will not fall into the debt trap.

Mark Chirnside, chief executive officer Ukash, said, “At Ukash we have been working to make online shopping with cash a safe, secure and accessible option for shoppers.
In fact, we are developing our product range and in the coming months we will be launching a service that allows Ukash customers to shop online using cash anywhere credit cards are accepted, which will mean they can continue to shop at their favorite outlets without running up debt.”

The Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative was among the first to respond to the introduction of this bill. Its spokesperson Michael Waxman said that the prohibition on Internet gambling has failed to prevent the American people from gambling online. At the same time the country is losing much needed tax revenue to offshore operators. A regulated framework for online gambling is needed to protect the players as well. Waxman added, “We applaud Senators Wyden and Gregg for taking the initiative to address and drive this issue.”

Senator Wyden’s stand on using online gambling to generate tax revenue is well known. He had earlier introduced an amendment in the Senate Finance Committee to use tax revenue from online gambling to meet the costs of health care reform. That amendment was unfortunately not brought to a vote. At that time the Committee had decided to limit revenue provisions to matters closely related to heath care. Hopefully he will succeed through the Tax Fairness and Simplification Act of 2010.

Meanwhile the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act sponsored by Representative Barney Frank is expected to come up for a vote in the House Finance Committee in March. On June 1, 2010 the UIGEA Rules go into effect and that is the deadline everyone is trying to beat.

Gibbs then provided several arguments in support of his assertion. He said that US citizens spent an estimated $8 billion in online gambling in 2009. He reckoned that the average annual expenditure on online gambling per player would be around $500. Based on that assumption there should be 16 million American persons who had gambled online last year.

Gibbs points out that American citizens spend far more than that in the legalized forms of gambling. He cites that the revenues alone from Indian gaming crossed $28 billion in 2008. The revenues from state lotteries were a staggering $75 billion. This shows that Americans are not averse to gambling. Very recently a Joint Committee on Taxation concluded that legalizing online gambling would contribute to an increase in revenue of $42 billion over 10 years.

Gibbs also referred to an online opinion poll carried out by US News and World Report. Though that opinion poll was not carried out in a scientific manner the response was overwhelmingly in favor of legalizing online gambling. Even if one suitably discounts the result of 91% of the respondents saying “yes” to online gambling, it still shows a tilt in favor of online gambling.

Gibbs’ conclusion says it all. He writes “I find it surprising that in the land of the brave and the home of the free anyone would want to tell you what you can and can’t do with your money. After all, if it’s good enough for the states [lotteries] and good enough for Indian tribes, then why wouldn’t it be good enough for Internet users?”