“We can only guess which Hollywood stars will be winners, but we know we’ll have lots of Oscar winners right here at Grande Vegas,” said Casino Manager Oliver Smith. “And I know they’re going to love all the exciting bonuses we’ve got this weekend!”

From Friday 24th until Sunday 26th Grande Vegas is offering not one, not two, but 9 Oscar-themed bonuses totaling $900. Players have been advised to check their emails or the website on Friday 24th for all the bonus codes — all named after movies nominated for Best Picture: The Artist, The Descendants, Extremely Loud Incredibly Close, The Help, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life, or War Horse.

On Monday, all players who redeemed and played the bonus code named after the winning film in the Best Picture category will receive a 50% cash back bonus of their deposit made with this bonus. For example, if the Oscar winner in the category Best Picture should be the film The Artist, all players who used the bonus code THEARTIST will receive their 50% cash back of the deposit made with this bonus.

“We had a lot of fun and positive feedback with our Valentine’s contest on Facebook and I think our players are going to enjoy this one even more!” said Smith.

Players who Join the Facebook event ‘Oscars 2012 at Grande Vegas’ and Comment on their personal picks for the Oscars can win bonuses up to $150.

Complete details of the Oscar celebrations at Grande Vegas Casino are at http://www.grandevegas.com/oscar2012.aspx. Online casino players are invited to join others who enjoy state-of-the-art casino games and generous casino bonuses on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Grande-Vegas-Casino/153370074692076.

ENDS

Media inquiries:

grandevegascasino@lyceummedia.com

About Grande Vegas Casino (http://www.GrandeVegas.com)

A property of Tigress Management Ltd., BVI, Grande Vegas Casino offers more than 300 games provided by Real Time Gaming (RTG) including million dollar progressive jackpots such as Jackpot Piñatas, Caribbean Hold´em, Mid-Life Crisis, Shopping Spree and Aztec’s Millions. Every casino game features state-of-the art graphics and sound to provide a unique gaming experience. Instant-play Flash versions are available for most games. With its variety of deposit options Grande Vegas Casino is capable of serving players all over the world.

Article source: http://www.igamingbusiness.com/content/grande-vegas-casino-celebrates-oscars-facebook-contest-and-bonuses-900

Leading Facebook game publisher Zynga is adding Bingo and Slingo to its Zynga Casino family, which already features the most successful Facebook Poker game with more than 30 million active monthly users. Traditional gambling companies are quickly moving into the market as well. In January, slot machine maker International Game Technology acquired Facebook casino game publisher Double Down for $500 million.

The current crop of luck-based Facebook games are legal in the US because there is no way to cash out the virtual earnings. In Lucky Gem Casino players can purchase additional coins for real money, using the Facebook Credits system. But even if they hit the jackpot, payouts occur only in virtual currency and can’t be converted back into cash.

The big prize for social game makers could arrive when more states follow Nevada’s example and legalize online gambling, a move made possible after a Justice Department ruling in December that allows online betting as long as it does not involve sports. Companies who have already gathered large player communities could see revenue boosts if social game platforms allow money payouts.

Though the initial release version is limited to slot machines, PopCap pledged “to evolve Lucky Gem Casino to enhance the experience, add more games [and] community features” — which sounds a lot like the ideas behind Zynga Casino. PopCap VP Dennis Ryan also promises they will be “enlivening traditional casino games with our franchises,” as seen in the Bejeweled Spin slot machine. All of a sudden, a Plants vs. Zombies poker table doesn’t seem quite such a far-fetched idea.

Article source: http://venturebeat.com/2012/02/22/popcap-facebook-casino-game-gold-rush/

Great Griffin Video Slot

Great Griffin is a 5-reel, 50-payline online slot game featuring the mythical Griffin itself as the main character. Thanks to the best in Microgaming technology, this game takes you through a lifelike fantasy in which Wild Griffin symbols provide players with the opportunity to double their winnings.

Backed by state-of-the-art graphics and the latest in cutting-edge online slots technology, symbols in this game include griffin feathers, spell books, magic potions and crystals and strange plants. Then of course, there is the lady of the castle, who presents three “pick me” options if three of her symbols fall on the reels.

Free Spins also features here, providing players with a choice of how many spins they would like. Each choice leads you to a different multiplier, and to the possibility of having another go at the spins. Choose between 5 free spins and 10x multiplier, 10 spins and 5x multiplier, or 15 spins and 3x multiplier.

Gaming Club Casino

Gaming Club Casino allows you to play Great Griffin and all its other video slots just by using the flash version of the casino. No download is necessary, log on and start playing immediately from your desktop.

And if its promos you are after, all new customers get 30 free spins on this and other games. In addition, make a first deposit and receive up to $100 (or currency equivalent) in free playing money.

Article source: http://www.onlinecasinoreports.com/news/gaming/2012/2/22/gaming-club-casino-launches-great-griffin-slot.php

Oscars Preview

The 84th Academy Awards, to be held next Sunday night at Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre, has already had some controversy when producer Brett Ratner and original host Eddie Murphy stepped down after Ratner made a gay slur when talking about rehearsals. Billy Crystal will now host the ceremony, for the ninth time, and Brian Grazer will produce it.

Every year there is a frontrunner which collects most of the punters’ attention, and this year that film is The Artist, which wowed audiences with its throwback to the silent black and white musical films of the 1920s and 1930s. This film looks like a certainty for Best Film Oscar, and is sure to feature heavily in other categories as well.

Latest Odds

William Hill is offering an almost unbackable 1/9 for The Artist to win best film, so better to look at the odds for best actor: Jean Dujardin (The Artist), 8/11, George Clooney (The Descendants), evens, Brad Pitt (Moneyball), 20/1, Gary Oldman Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (25/1), and Demain Bachir (A Better Life), 50/1.

The best actress odds also have two main contenders: Viola Davis (The Help), 8/13, Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady), evens, Michelle William (My Week with Marilyn), 16/1, Rooney Mara (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) and Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs), both 66/1.

Hills are also offering a special on the Best Actress Oscar winner being decked out in a Posh frock – as in the look sported by Victoria Beckham at London Fashion Week. The odds of this occurring are 33/1.

Grande Vegas Oscars Facebook Contest

Grande Vegas Casino has organized a week full of Oscars-related promos, including nine bonuses worth $900 and the chance for players to receive a 50% cash back bonus on Monday, just by using a bonus code corresponding to the winning film for Best Picture category.

Thanks to the online casino’s Facebook contest, players can win even more bonuses simply by guessing correctly who will take home the Oscar for each category come Sunday. Players who join the “Oscars 2012 at Grande Vegas” Facebook event and comments on their selections will also be in the running for bonuses of up to $150.

Article source: http://www.onlinecasinoreports.com/news/entertainment/2012/2/22/oscars-all-the-rage-in-online-betting.php

The first two Indian casinos have signed with ATIG’s Tribal Gaming Network: the Coushatta Casino Resort in Louisiana and Coyote Valley Casino in California.

ATIG established its Tribal Gaming Network in 2009 when the company was granted an opinion by the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) to operate its virtual private network in Indian Casinos nationwide.

Other prominent gaming vendors, which the press release does not name, have joined ATIG to offer Class III, Class II and online games. ATIG said its proprietary “private gaming network” will link together Indian Casinos from 28 States. Gaming options offered include table games, slots, simulated horse racing, nationwide poker, simulated sportsbooks, live online dealer games, as well as only the second powerball-like lotto product.

Last April when the FBI shut down major Internet poker sites (PokerStars, based on the Isle of Man, Ireland’s Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker of Costa Rica), ATIG’s Tribal Gaming Network Poker remained as the only legal nationwide online poker for live cash allowed on Indian lands in the U.S. Since then, the DOJ has softened its position and clarified the Federal Wire Act of 1961 only applies to sports bets. Certain tribal casinos continued to offer free-play sites during this time. For instance, the California Online Poker Association, a coalition of card rooms in the state led by the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, operates CalShark.Com, an online play-for-fun poker room intended to promote legalizing Internet gaming.

“We have a huge leg up on the competition, having mastered play-for-fun marketing sites since 2003,” said ATIG President and Chief Executive Officer Donald L. Bailey in the press release. “Now, based on the NIGC opinion, to date ATIG is the only gaming company that can legally offer online linking games other than bingo, nationwide for live cash, such as poker and progressive jackpots. This is a new technology that has never been offered in the gaming Industry before today.”

The company’s gaming platform works on slot machines, at kiosks, on Android mobile phones and Samsung Tablets. A few of the company’s games are available for play on iPhones. “It’s the next generation of server-based technology; in short, it’s a casino within a casino,” Baily said.

Article source: http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/02/22/atlantis-launches-intranet-gaming-signs-two-indian-casinos-99278

Now, Iowa is looking at taking a different approach to deal with it.

A bill currently in Iowa’s Senate proposes legalizing online poker. Lawmakers say instead of watching that revenue disappear in the abyss of the internet, why not legalize it and keep it local.

“Right now you have a lot of gambling going on via the internet, which is illegal right now in the State of Iowa,” Grand Falls Casino and Resort General Manager Sharon Haselhoff said.

But that could change soon if Iowa lawmakers allow casino to run online poker.

“So, what the bill does is, through the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, it allows folks to go into a casino, register to make sure they’re not on the statewide ban list, make sure they’re 21-years of age, to set up their account, then be able to go home, within the State of Iowa, and play internet poker against folks throughout the State of Iowa,” Haselhoff said.

She says it would have a bigger impact on casinos farther within Iowa’s borders where their customer base is mainly Iowans. It would put them in the forefront of having these systems in place if any future legislation is passed.

“So, if the legislation is passed at the legislative federal level, then we’re not behind all the other states or the other big casinos that will take over and now they run internet poker.  And they could be in Las Vegas or Atlantic City and not in Iowa,” Haselhoff said.

Also, keeping the money that would be lost on the internet local and possibly increasing statewide gambling revenue.

Iowa officials say if the bill is passed, it could mean up to $13-million in extra money made off of online poker.

Article source: http://www.keloland.com/News/NewsDetail6376.cfm?Id=128072

CryptoLogic provided two of its exclusive and most popular branded slot games for initial roll-out. Additional games will be rolled out over the term of the agreement and the games will be distributed across the online scratch card provider’s network of over 30 online gaming operators. NeoGames is the second customer in six months to launch the games through CryptoLogic’s Instant Click platform.

Instant Click enables a more rapid deployment of a range of titles from CryptoLogic’s complete suite of more than 300 online casino games by online operators and technology providers on their own i-gaming infrastructure and electronic cashier systems.

Ian Price, group head of business development at CryptoLogic, said: “This agreement opens the door for CryptoLogic’s games to over 30 new online gaming operators and we are confident it will generate value for both companies.”

Shay Bar-Joseph, managing director at NeoGames Networks, added: “Integrating third party games into the NeoSphere platform is another important milestone for NeoGames.”

Article source: http://www.intergameonline.com/i-gaming/news/6875/cryptologic-and-neogames-sign-distribution-deal

PopCap enters Facebook’s growing casino game market with Lucky Gem


by Eric Caoili [Social/Online, Business]

1 comments

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February 21, 2012

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Electronic Arts subsidiary PopCap has launched an open beta for Lucky Gem Casino, its fourth release on Facebook and an original title allowing users to gamble with virtual currency.

The burgeoning casino-themed social game space has seen plenty of activity in recent months, with virtual gambling game company IGT buying Double Down Interactive (DoubleDown Casino) for $500 million, and Caesars Interactive Entertainment acquiring Playtika (Slotomania) and releasing Caesars Casino.

Social game giant Zynga is also preparing to jump into the market with its own Zynga Casino franchise, which will include its popular Zynga Poker/Texas HoldEm Poker game (33.2 million monthly active users, according to tracking site AppData) and its upcoming Zynga Bingo.

“Casino-themed social games are one of the fastest growing genres on Facebook,” says PopCap’s worldwide publishing VP Dennis Ryan. The company’s Lucky Gem Casino attempts to crack the space by featuring images and characters from the developer’s other popular titles like Bejeweled and Zuma.

To avoid breaking any laws that restrict online gambling in the U.S., Lucky Gem Casino‘s seven free-to-play games allow players to purchase and win only Facebook Credits — the social network’s universal virtual currency — which they cannot redeem for real cash.

This marks the fourth social game PopCap has released on Facebook, after Bejeweled Blitz (10.1 million monthly players), Zuma Blitz (2.7 million monthly players), and Pig Up (debuted in June, currently unavailable on Facebook). The company will launch Solitaire Blitz next month, too.

• Related news:
• PopCap’s Solitaire Blitz launching in March
• EA Popcap ends Baking Life over low user numbers
• Half of social game cheaters cheat in real life too, says study

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Article source: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/40425/PopCap_enters_Facebooks_growing_casino_game_market_with_Lucky_Gem.php

“The market for these services is potentially vast… It is now up to the service providers to seize the opportunity.”

Although online gaming remains illegal in many forms in much of Asia, as well as in the US, government attitudes towards online gambling have become increasingly more relaxed. Online gaming has taken off in Europe, with France, Germany and Italy all relaxing restrictions on online casino gaming recently. After their announcement in 2011 that certain forms of online wagering would now be legalised in certain states, there is also much potential for growth in the US.

The future looks bright for the global gaming industry. With the increasing availability of broadband access, 3G and even 4G technology, coupled with the growth in mobile gaming platforms, this is an exciting time for the online and mobile sectors and the industry as a whole.

Article source: http://www.sunherald.com/2012/02/21/3766384/new-technologies-set-to-fuel-growth.html